“I must enrich each plant, regardless of how long I take to find it,” Leander countered.
Master Yang came down his steps, his heavy belly shaking with each thudding footstep.“You are trying to take advantage of my good nature.”He spoke as if he had any good nature to take advantage of.One of the servants even graced Yang with a disbelieving look.Hell, Xi had likely figured out Master Yang’s true nature already.
Leander bowed.“I would always hope to find mutual benefit for any arrangement,” he said.That was almost true.He wanted any deal to benefit himself and for the other party to get enough out of it to avoid hard feelings.With this deal, Master Yang had no right to any hard feelings at all.He was getting plants enriched beyond anything he could do.Leander knew pills were not only highly valuable but also highly dependent on the quality of the ingredients.
Master Yang stalked forward, a sense of foreboding filling the surrounding air.“You should worry about benefiting the village.We have taken you in when your own country has thrown you aside.And yet you stand there and try to negotiate?”
Leander debated bringing Auntie Daiyu into the conversation, but he had the feeling she was the nuclear option and he didn’t want to suffer radiation poisoning.“I do not negotiate at all, honored pill master,” he said.“We have agreed on ten yuan per plant, and given the difficulty of enriching the ingredients, I would ask for more, but I will not negotiate an agreement already made.”
“Master Yang,” the female servant said, “I have heard that he uses his powers on the reeds of the river instead of your ingredients.”Her smile was vicious.“In fact, it is said that his baskets can hold ling, which must take a great deal of chi to manage.”
“I have not heard that, and I am the one who wove the baskets in order to make a little more money to support my son,” Leander said.“I wove them to hold water, so anything more is a surprise to me.”Leander wasn’t sure whatlingmeant exactly.He knewlingshiwere stones that were imbued with power–enough that cultivators could use them to develop their own abilities.They were tiny spiritual energy batteries.Lingqiwas some sort of spirit power that Leander didn’t understand, butlingby itself was a new term for him.
But if his baskets could holdling, he assumed that had some value.
Master Yang looked from Leander to his servant girl, his eyes narrowing.He raised a hand, and she fell silent even though her mouth was open.He stepped down the final step and stared at Leander.“If you hope to find peace here, you must honor those of us with roots in this land.”
Leander bowed.“Of course, Master Yang.I honor your knowledge and your power.To make pills is a great and honorable occupation.”One he couldn’t do half as well without Leander’s plants.If Yang had worked with the supplies Leander had brought back yesterday, he knew that.He kept a neutral expression even though Yang was a short-sighted, pig-headed moron who would not just kill the golden goose but throw its body to the pigs.His brain was rattling around in his skull because it was too small to fill the space.Yang breathed through his mouth because he wasn’t evolved enough to know how to use his nose.Leander fought to keep the insults behind his teeth.
“Yet you challenge me,” Yang said.
Leander bowed again.“Never, great Master Yang.If you wish me to expend all my chi on ginseng, then I will bring you as many plants as I can.I will return as soon as I can with fifteen or twenty good-sized roots, the largest I can find.You will make incredible pills with the roots I will harvest for you.”
Master Yang’s nose flared.Leander wondered if that was some affectation he used to intimidate people or if he genuinely had so little control over his emotions.That was strange because Leander thought separating from the concerns of the world was vital for Chinese magical cultivation.Maybe Yang was just bad at cultivating.Maybe he was skilled with making pills the way Leander was with plants, and he couldn’t do anything else well.
Without another word, Yang turned and headed back up the stairs, disappearing into his house after slamming his door with a startling crash.
“Here.”The servant woman shoved the donkey’s reins at Leander.
“Thank you,” Leander said.
He didn’t bow to her, and her eyes narrowed.Clearly she thought her own status was higher.Either that or she expected Leander to want to impress her.Objectively, she was attractive, but Leander thought her cold expression made her appear constipated.He led the donkey away from Master Yang’s house.
“Nice guy,” Xi whispered.
Leander glared him into silence.“Those with magic can develop a much wider range of skills.Many will have heightened senses, so it is particularly rude to make loud noises when people don’t expect it.For the same reason, people are expected to avoid strong smells.”He would never call Yang rude, but he was happy to imply it.
Xi made a show of sniffing the air.“There are strong smells here.”The scent of cooking drifted on the breeze.
“Those are normal smells, delicious ones, even,” Leander said.
Xi gave him an incredulous look.Chinese cooking wasn’t the same as Chinese-American, but Xi better get used to it if he planned to stay.
“Do you know where to find ginseng?”Xi asked.
“I think so, although I don’t want to take fifteen large roots from one place.”Leander also did not want to bring the best roots back, so he sorted through the locations he had found yesterday.He was developing a mental map of the local vegetation, reinforced by his connection to the plants physically closest to him.Plants had a chemical understanding of the surrounding vegetation, so he could send his awareness sliding along that network.
“So, it sounds like we’ll finish early today,” Xi said with far more cheer than appropriate.“What do you do for fun around here?”
“Work,” Leander said dryly.
“Sounds fun.Anything I can help with?”
“I started making baskets,” Leander said.“If the woman back there is telling the truth, it sounds like they are more valuable than I thought.”
“About that.”Xi hurried ahead and kicked a ball back to a cluster of young children who had kicked it out of bounds.He turned back to face Leander.“What’sling?”
“No idea,” Leander admitted.
