After dinner, they proceeded where they left off the night before. Chao guided Huifen through the task of getting a feel for the water laws. His main aid to her was comparing how water felt to ice. Even though they would feel slightly different to each person, it wasn’t a solely unique experience. Chao had also learned by watching his mother, so he didn’t come at it from purely a male’s perspective either.

Instead of sitting by the fire, they did as he’d recommended and ended up standing at the edge of the garden with a large bucket of water to Borrow from.

Chao had wavered between cultivating the garden and helping her but ultimately chose her because this was an opportunity that may never come along again. He simply wouldn’t have had the energy to do both because he’d wrongly chosen against extending his energy cultivation session earlier in the day.

There was certainly something about having Huifen there, but it was more than just having an exquisite looking girl at his side. As the sun fell and the moon took over as their main source of light, it caused the ice fairy beside him to shimmer with the mystical eloquence more fitting for the realm of dreams than men, but that quickly became a secondary matter. She possessed an intensity in which she sought to understand the water and ice laws that was equal to his own fascination. He’d met girls that cultivated, but never one that would listen for more than a few minutes with any true interest when he tried to explain the laws. Besides his father and mother, Huifen was the first true cultivator he’d had the chance to know. He was able to feed off her eagerness, and she fed off of his willingness to show her.

They stayed up even later than the previous night simply because he had more energy reserves than before. By the time they were done, she had gained a firm grasp of the first water law even if she’d yet to reach small success. Borrowing small drops of water in her first session was simply remarkable. Given another few days, she probably just make it. From there, she’d have a good foundation to attack the other laws head on.

“You have to promise me that you will cultivate energy for a sufficient amount of time tomorrow,” she said before they went in.

“I promise,” he replied without argument. “If I knew you’d be this fervent, I would’ve been more disciplined today. It’s great working with someone that loves to cultivate.”

“I agree. If you put this much effort into energy gathering, you’d reach the earth realm in no time.” She stopped walking as they reached the door with a serious expression.

Her face was partially hidden in shadow, but the eyes of a cultivator, even at the nascent realm, were much improved over those of mortals so he saw her clearly enough.

“What is it?” he said.

“Have you not considered joining a sect?” She watched his response closely.

He optimistically nodded and replied, “I have, and I plan on it… I’ve just had a few techniques I wanted to perfect before I did.”

“Good. You have a lot to offer, so it would be a shame if you didn’t. Even if it’s later on… Also, I have a request that you don’t have to agree to.”

He had nothing but a positive reaction to her recommendation. “Just name it.”

“Can I sit with you as cultivate the garden tomorrow night? I’ve heard of such things but never seen them.”

He almost agreed without question, but the way she worded it made him falter. His father often watched him, he knew, but never had he sat on his mother’s stump beside him. The thought of letting her sit next to him was a little abrupt, but he didn’t reject her.

When he didn’t answer right away, she was quick to give him a way out. “It’s nothing you have to agree to. Listening is enough—”

“No. I would like that,” he said with an indiscernible smile that was gone as quickly as it came. He then entered the house and left it at that.

They had to pass by her bed, where he wished her a good night, then headed toward his bedding by the fireplace. When he settled down, he found she was already lying down, and her chest was rising and falling at a steady pace. It was possible she was already asleep, but since she hadn’t told him not to, he pulled out his pipa and began to play. He played with a lighter touch tonight and toned down his music’s enhancement, but he still sent the empowered lullaby humming through the cabin.

He couldn’t be sure, but at the height of her breath, it looked like she froze for the slightest moment before returning to her normal breathing. He could’ve mistaken it.

Although he was running low on energy, he wasn’t as low as he was the night before, so he played even longer. When he put his pipa away, he’d played a full twenty minutes, and the only change he noticed was that her breathing had slowed even more. Maybe it was just his imagination…

In the morning, he was true to his word and cultivated for four hours after his chores. His father was kind enough to forgo the grueling martial training before he got started.

Zan appeared in the afternoon and examined Huifen once again. Her blood supply had recovered to a safe level, so her meridians had begun healing at full speed. In two days, she’d be able to return to cultivating on her own. She’d also leave soon after.

They were already by the garden working on the water laws when dusk drew near.

“It’s time,” he said, drawing Huifen’s attention from her marble-sized drop of water hovering in her palm.

She followed him while hanging on to the water as long as she could. He motioned for her to sit on the taller stump as he took a seat on the shorter one. She gave him a questioning look before joining him.

“It’s okay,” he said with a warm smile and giving it a pat. “It’s where Mother used to sit. I know it’s silly, but I would feel awkward sitting there myself, but it’s fine if you do.”

“I don’t think it’s silly,” she replied in her increasingly mild tone. “Are you sure it’s okay?”

“It would be odd if you stood behind me. Please?”

She finally agreed before sitting near its edge with her hands in her lap.

He didn’t push her further. “I’ll shield you from the effect of the first song. It still gets to me sometimes, and I’m the one playing it.”

“Thank you,” she replied. Her eyes were already watching the forest’s edge.

“It’ll take a few minutes for the lingering spirits to start appearing.” His pipa appeared in his lap, and soon, his fingers started to strum rapidly.

She’d glanced over to watch him play and noticed the sorrowful tune didn’t match the speed in which he played.

“There are two layers to the song,” he explained. “The background layer just adds atmosphere, and the slower layer is the actual melody.” As soon as he was done speaking, he added his energy to the song, and it flew into the forest like a mournful fog. He projected his energy so that it would swerve around Huifen. The sound reached her but not in its Enhanced form. This was only possible because of Morph, the fourth law of sound. He was literally changing its nature subtly so that it wouldn’t reach her.

He saw her examining the space around her and admitted to what he was doing.

“It’s amazing,” she said softly as if it would bother him.

“You can speak freely. I’ve played this song more times than I can remember. Here they come.”

The first lingering spirit had appeared between two trees in the clearing. It looked to be a redtail squirrel that was still prancing as it came even though it no long had physical legs. It hovered up and down through the air.

Such a weak spirit could only hurt a child and would only ever do so if it were in a state of rage. It would’ve been a rare occurrence to say the least. This spirit would dissipate in a few days.

Huifen let out a small gasp when another dozen small spirits appeared in less than a minute. They were mostly birds and a racoon or two, a fat possum, and a small cat. They were all milky white phantoms and would be considered mortal creatures.

“That’s a…”

“Boar. High stage body realm,” he replied as it joined the group. It was larger than the others, but the density of its energy was what gave it away. “The little ones will only last a few days, and the boar will probably last a week.”

“Why are they drawn to sad music?”

“That’s up for debate. Mother believed that lingering spirits are soulless unlike what is commonly believed. She didn’t hold to the cultivator’s philosophy that teaches that the seeking of glory mankind’s most noble pursuit and that reincarnation was our end. She believed that there was a single Creator that made every realm and everything in them. That He had made heaven’s laws as a gift for us to enjoy and that one of the best ways to show our gratitude was to master and enjoy them. She held that if the spirits of animals and dire beasts really had souls, then they had already departed to be with Him when they died, for He wouldn’t leave their souls to be tortured by cultivators who’d use them to grow in power. Instead, what was left was the creature’s spirit energy mixed with lingering instinct from when they were alive. They are drawn because they know something is wrong but no longer have the intellect to figure out what it is. That’s also why they simply disappear when they run out of energy. There’s no visible evidence of a soul being present when they vanish. Of course, that would also mean there’s no physical evidence of a soul existing in the first place.”

“She was a believer in the mortal’s religion even with her sky realm cultivation?”

“Yes,” he replied. It was called the mortal’s religion because rarely did cultivators who sought immorality choose to believe that there was another way of immortality that came through a deity outside themselves and not their own efforts. Although, there were exceptions and many nuances. It also wasn’t uncommon for people to blend the two beliefs.

“What do you believe?” She seemed sincere enough.

“I don’t know. I tend to agree with her about the spirits at least. I’ve seen them too many times to think there’s much more to them than left over instinct and energy. As for humans, though, I really don’t know. I don’t think she’s wrong about the laws being here for us to enjoy. At least, I like to think they are. If there is a God that created them for us, He would deserve my thanks. Do you think that makes me crazy?”

“No. I don’t know either. Without disaster, a cultivator’s path is long. There are many such questions I hope to find the answers to someday.”

He changed the subject as the largest dire beast yet bounded out of the forest, “That guy looks familiar.” It was the blood realm snow fox.

She leaned forward as if readying to stand up. “It’s the same one I was chasing. Its energy feels the same.”

“If you need its core, I can ask Father. He could probably track it down. If he doesn’t have a use for it, he’d probably be willing to give you that one too.”

“Too? You know about him giving me the other one?”

“Long Chao answers Senior Sister,” he said bowing his head without taking his eyes off of the garden. “I do. I never intended to keep it from you that I listened in on your conversation. It has just been difficult to bring up in normal conversation. Please, forgive me.”

“You heard everything?”

He closed his eyes for a moment, and the surrounding sound seemed to close in on them. When he opened them again, he answered her. “Unlike my father’s, my sound barriers are capable of keeping all sound out. And yes, I heard everything. Sometimes even if I don’t want to it’s hard not to. The sound laws are different than those of the elements. It’s like they have a mind of their own sometimes.”

“Then you know everything…that happened with the sky realm snow fox?”

“I do, and please don’t be worried that knowing will negatively affect me. I’m not as immature as my father believes. I went through his morning torture session for his sake as much as my own. He’s a father, so he worries. The only thing he was completely right about was that I would’ve insisted on you taking the peak sky realm beast core.”

She watched the approaching spirits a while before answering. “Then I thank you. And…I do forgive you.”

“Thank you, Fairy Huifen. The fun part is about to begin. Be ready.”

She readjusted her posture and turned her full attention to the myriad of lingering spirits that had gathered in the garden.

In the next moment, not only did the sound barrier shielding her collapse and the song change, but each and every spirit seemed to jump as the feeling of the music shifted. The squirrels scurried back and forth as if playing with one another, but they didn’t actually see one another. The birds swooped and spun, and the racoons stood on their hind legs, looking about curiously as if trying to find where the music was coming from.

It was the snow fox Huifen watched the most. He had no need to give the song his full attention, so he watched her instead. She might have not realized it, but her emotionless mask had crumbled, and she followed the spirit’s dance with an awe-filled expression. In a few days, her Heart of Ice technique would return to her and she might not experience the feeling music could bring for an exceptionally long time, if ever. He remembered his father’s advice to her about taking full advantage of experiencing life without the numbing of her technique. This was something that only he could give to her to such an extent thanks to his sound laws, and he planned on extend his play much longer than normal because of it.

Almost half an hour passed before she seemed to notice something was off. She turned to see him watching her. His grin widened.

Immediately tearing herself from his spell, she stared into her lap. “You shouldn’t grow too attached to me. I have no time for friendship, and I’m not a kind person.”

“I don’t believe you—about being kind. You may choose to not show kindness because you think it’s unwise, but that doesn’t make you unkind. I’ve seen enough to know that’s not the case. You’re probably right about not having time, but as for whether I should or shouldn’t grow attached to you, I haven’t decided yet. I think it would be unwise for me to forget the time we’ve had together. I know you seek the apex of the martial arts, and I—well, I’m not exactly sure what my goals are. But after meeting you, I think I must aim higher. So, I thank you for that.”

“That is good, then.”

“You can say it, you know.”

“What?”

“That you’re happy. Happy that you’ve made a difference. You aren’t going to wait until you make it all the way to the highest realm of the heavens before you let yourself be happy, right?”

Her lack of expression had returned, but she was seriously considering his words.

“It helps if you smile,” he offered.

He was startled when she actually took his advice and gave him a quaint grin. She was still staring at her lap, but it was unquestionably directed at him.

“I was wrong. Never smile again.”

She turned away. “Why? Do I look strange?”

“Not at all. It’s just that if you start smiling at everyone, then it would make the one you just gave me worth far less.”

“You tease me?”

“Yes, and this time, I won’t apologize, but please don’t freeze me to death when you can cultivate again. I’m really just trying to say you have a beautiful smile without saying it outright because doing that could make things between us disagreeable. So instead, pretend that I said it just the right way where my words had their intended meaning without any of the awkwardness.” His smile was growing uncomfortable. He knew that the more he spoke, the more he was digging his own grave. He played the up-tempo music desperately. Maybe it would help.

Her head was completely turned away from him now, but, then he heard the most wonderful sound. She laughed. Not a long, extended jovial laugh, but the single chuckle that escaped because it came on so unexpectantly.

He didn’t say anything for a long minute before daring to add, “Does that mean you aren’t going to kill me when you recover?”

She turned back to look at him, having recovered her poise. “I’m not sure yet.”

It was well past time to play the lullaby to encourage the spirits to leave, and he wrapped Huifen in a sound barrier once again to protect her from the energized song.

When they’d left, it was time for dinner, but he had to say something to entice her to want to continue cultivating laws tonight just in case he’d put her off with his earlier words. “I think you’re ready to try using Create with your water laws.”

She was standing, but his words kept her in place. “Is that possibly without reaching small success in the first law, and doesn’t that cost too much energy for me right now?”

“You’re very close to small success already, and the laws don’t really require you to always master the ones that come before the next one in order. Plus, it won’t cost too much if you start with Borrow and just try using Create to enlarge your orb.”

They’d already begun walking toward the cabin when a flood of questions followed. His scheme had worked.