~~~

Nothing happens during the first month.

There are no surprises and no changes. Liu Jin’s routine doesn’t change in the slightest.

Xiao Fang is the first to notice something is wrong, or rather, Xiao Fang is the first to confront Liu Jin about it. This leads nowhere. No matter how much Xiao Fang prods, Liu Jin keeps insisting everything is fine.

At some point, Xiao Fang stops prying.

Unlike his young cousin, Xiao Nan does not say anything. He does, however, make sure to run into Liu Jin more often, always managing to bring some sort of distraction with him. These distractions usually take the form of odd jobs that the Xiao Sect requires of him. Settling disputes. Helping decode some of Doctor Wu’s notes. Working with the Xiao Sect’s alchemists. They all prove to be useful at occupying Liu Jin’s mind.

Much like Xiao Nan, Su An does not say anything. Unlike Xiao Nan, Su An starts hugging him more often.

Liu Jin doesn’t fight these hugs as much as he could. At some point, he stops fighting them entirely.

During the second month, Liu Jin’s training with Old Jiang increases in intensity. During these lessons, Old Jiang does not teach him any new techniques or offer him any new insights into the manipulation of Qi. Instead, these lessons are all about theory.

For hours, Old Jiang drills knowledge into his head. Liu Jin learns about rare Spirit Beasts. He learns about herbs and plants, some of which are wondrous, some of which are utterly disgusting. He keeps learning about the human body. Liu Jin thought he had a good understanding of how Qi moved through the meridians and dantian. Old Jiang shows him how much there is for him to still learn.

Then there are times when Old Jiang speaks to him about the world outside the city.

“If we are talking only about the Crimson Cloud Empire, then the Red Sky Pavilion is the best one in terms of medical and alchemical knowledge and is in possession of many precious resources. Of course, this does not include the Four Great Sects. In the Storm Dragon Empire, the royal palace used to house many rare medical texts.”

“Used to?”

“Your uncle and father made a mess of the place,” Old Jiang tells him bluntly. “Well, moving on to the rest of the continent, the ones that can be said to be halfways capable are…”

His master always finds ways to tie the knowledge he gives him to medicine; Liu Jin is pretty sure he’s being educated in politics instead. Old Jiang probably thinks Liu Jin is less likely to complain if there is some medical knowledge thrown in.

Liu Jin never complains.

Liu Jin understands his master is using his last remaining days to impart as much knowledge to him as possible. There is absolutely no way he can dare to waste his master’s time by doing something as petty as complaining. If this is what his master has chosen to teach him, then Liu Jin will learn.

It is that simple.

By the time the third month arrives, Liu Jin should be in constant panic. His master is never wrong. If he says he has no more than three months left to live, then three months are all he has. Every day that passes is a day in which his master can walk up to him and tell him the time has come. Every day is a day in which his master can die. Liu Jin wakes up every day knowing that, and he goes to sleep knowing that.

By all means, Liu Jin should be a nervous wreck.

He isn’t.

Liu Jin can never stop thinking about it, yet his body and mind are simply too numb for him to panic. The pressure Liu Jin is under is such that his other emotions have been buried under its weight. Liu Jin does not have the luxury to cry like the child he is because he has already given up.

No, from the beginning, there was no fighting this.

All Liu Jin has been able to do from the start is accept it.

So when Old Jiang wakes up early in the morning and tells him they are going to Poison Fang Canyon, Liu Jin doesn’t cry. He doesn’t scream. He doesn’t even sob.

Liu Jin gets up, grabs his things, and follows his master for the last time.

That is a disciple’s job.

His father waves them goodbye. His face looks like he hasn’t slept at all, which is not far from the truth. The night before, he and Old Jiang stayed up late talking about various things. Liu Jin retired to bed early, thinking it was best to give them space. Even so, he managed to overhear a little. Not the words but the emotions with which they were spoken. Tense whispered sentences. Angry shouts. Silence.

Laughter was the last thing Liu Jin heard before sleep claimed him.

The day is bright and sunny, utterly at odds with Liu Jin’s mood. It almost feels like the sun and the skies are mocking him, but there is no point in getting angry. Liu Jin repeats that in his mind again and again, hoping he’ll start believing it.

If someone waves at them or tries to greet them while they make their way out of the city, Liu Jin doesn’t notice. He only has eyes and ears for his master.

Old Jiang walks slowly, more so than he ever has before. At some point, Liu Jin starts holding his arm to help him walk. His master’s body is warm in a way that has absolutely nothing to do with the sun, but Liu Jin doesn’t care.

He doesn’t let go.

The trip to Poison Fang Canyon takes hours. Throughout it, master and disciple remain silent. When they arrive, Old Jiang flares his Qi once to scare away all the animals around them. Immediately after, he stumbles and starts coughing. If Liu Jin were not holding him, he’d have fallen to the ground.

Liu Jin does not dare to ask his master if he’s okay or if he needs rest. The answers to those questions are something he already knows. Instead, Liu Jin waits until Old Jiang’s coughing fit is over and starts walking the moment his master does

It is the only thing he can do.

They make their way deep inside the poisonous mists of the canyon. By now, purging his body from poison is second-nature to Liu Jin. For a moment, he worries that his master’s condition will cause him to have trouble with this, but no such thing happens. Perhaps, it occurs to him, the poison inside his master is so strong that it burns the poisonous mists the moment they enter his body.

Distantly, Liu Jin notes that the toxicity in Poison Fang Canyon has decreased far more than expected.

All the creatures have been scared away by his master’s Qi. The only sound accompanying their journey is that of dry, fallen leaves crunching under their feet. It makes the total silence that ensues once his master’s footsteps finally come to a stop all the more empty.

“This place.” Old Jiang looks up, a beam of sunlight manages to make its way through the thick canopy of trees and graces his face. “This place will do.”

A simple clearing in a high-toxicity area of Poison Fang Canyon.

This is where his master will die.

“Sit down.” Old Jiang says as Liu Jin helps him do so. “There are a few things I want to tell you. Consider them my last words.”

Liu Jin struggles not to react to that. Judging by the sad smile on his master’s face, he’s unsuccessful.

“Do not make that face. It ill-suits you, disciple. That this Old Jiang gets to choose his dying words is cause for celebration. Those who reach for immortality often end up courting death. It sneaks on us and takes us without warning. Being able to die with my affairs in order is a privilege few receive.”

If his master says it, then it must certainly be true.

It does not help him feel better.

His master takes out his spatial pouch and puts it in front of him. From it, he takes out a jar and talismans that Liu Jin does not even want to look at. He also takes out a thin wooden box.

“I want you to have this. That spatial pouch holds all my valuable possessions. The bulk of it are ingredients you should be more than familiar with by now. This, however, is different.”

He taps the wooden box and opens it.

In it, there are rows of pure white jade cut into hexagonal prisms, each no larger than his pinky. Purplish smoke seems to swirl inside each of them. Even without his master telling him, Liu Jin can recognize what they are.

Memory Jades.

A memory talisman, like the one Xiao Fang sold to Xiao Nan, can be used to view someone’s memories. In Xiao Nan’s case, he used one to watch Xiao Fang’s memory of Liu Jin’s fight with Yun Han.

However, a memory jade is far more complex. In fact, only the rarest of memory talismans can compare to it. A memory jade allows someone not just to see but to experience someone else’s memories as if they were happening to them.

In other words, if one were to use it to, for example, teach someone a technique, it’d be frighteningly effective.

Suddenly, it becomes clear why all his past lessons with Old Jiang have been focused so heavily on theory.

“By the look on your face, I can see you already understand. In that case, I won’t mince words. You can consider these my last lessons to you. Each one contains something I think you’ll benefit from. Use them at your own discretion.”

Having said that, Old Jiang closes the box and places it inside the spatial pouch.

“My own discretion? Are you sure, Master?”

“There is no need for you to let the words of a dead man control your progress. My teachings are yours to use however you want. That is something I have made clear to you numerous times now.” Old Jiang chuckles. “How curious. I never thought I’d take another disciple, yet I do not regret it. In fact, I’ll say this truthfully. I am glad to have met you, and it is my honor to have taught you. My only regret is that I will not live to see what you will become.”

His master’s smile. At that moment, his master’s smile is the kindest Liu Jin has ever seen.

“Master!” Liu Jin’s forehead hits the ground. His eyes burn with unshed tears. “This Liu Jin does not deserve those words! If anything, it is this Liu Jin’s privilege to have learned under Master. Whatever I become in the future, it will only be possible because of Master.”

“Oh, foolish disciple of mine. Of course, it will be. That is the fundamental truth of the relationship between master and disciple, so do not grieve my death. No matter what you do, you cannot escape being proof that this Old Jiang once lived. Embrace it. Take pride in it.”

As he speaks, the heat around his master’s body keeps rising until the air starts becoming distorted around him.

It is just as Liu Jin saw him so many years ago.

“Take care of yourself, disciple. Take care of your father too. For such an intelligent person, he’s remarkably prone to idiocy. You’re better than him in that regard but not by much. I can tell you have it in you to be quite an idiot too.”

Old Jiang laughs, and Liu Jin can’t help but laugh along with him even though there is something wet on his cheeks.

“Disciple… Little Jin.”

“Master?”

“I am proud of you.”

Those are his master’s last words. Blinding light erupts from his body, taking the shape of flames. Liu Jin shields his face with his arms on reflex, but he needs not have bothered. Somehow, the heat around his master doesn’t travel far.

In a flash of light, it is gone, leaving behind his master’s body. It doesn’t fall or scatter into ashes. It stays intact, a look of supreme peace on his master’s face.

It would be good if Liu Jin could leave it like that.

Liu Jin clenches his fists so tightly his nails draw blood. His heart beats once then twice. Two heartbeats are all it takes for him to see the poison within his master’s body is still at work.

Liu Jin stands up and takes out his tools.

Fighting the rising nausea within him, Liu Jin moves his master’s body, making it lie on the ground.

Liu Jin makes the first cut.

~~~