Sen was wary of the cultivator the next morning. He kept waiting for another agony pill to appear. The memory of pain was still fresh, but Sen felt oddly removed from it. It felt like remembering something that had happened to someone else. He was at a loss to explain it. Sen’s fears notwithstanding, Feng didn’t produce any more pills. He just provided more of that food that Sen was increasingly sure had an extra something in it. Yet, he wasn’t sure. It didn’t feel like waves of energy coursing through him the way it had the day before. Instead, there was just a gentle pressure that left his insides feeling ever so slightly out of place. It wasn’t terrible, just a terribly odd feeling. Sen noticed Feng staring off into the distance with a faraway look in his eyes.
“Master Feng?” Sen asked quietly.
The cultivator gave himself a minor shake and looked over at Sen. “We should arrive today.”
“Is there a cave up here?”
Feng blinked several times before he cocked his head to one side. “Cave? Why would there be a cave?”
“Is that what cultivators, you know, do? Sit in caves for centuries and,” Sen wasn’t quite sure how to finish that thought. “Eat power.”
Feng gave Sen a level look for five seconds. It was long enough that Sen started to feel a bead of sweat trickle down the back of his neck. Then, Feng snickered. Sen released the breath he’d been holding. Feng just shook his head.
“While there may well be a cave somewhere on this mountain that might benefit a cultivator, I won’t be sitting in one for centuries.”
“Then, where are we going?”
Feng offered Sen a little smile. “You’ll know it when you see it. Now, let’s clean all of this up and get moving.”
Sen found himself looking around for the ghost panther, but it was either hiding or had wandered off after claiming its part of breakfast. Sen decided that he was just getting used to having the thing around. It was hard to stay afraid of something that shamelessly begged for food and chased things around whenever it could get someone to throw them. Even Feng had caved in a few times and thrown little treats to the oversized feline. Cleaning up was a swift process and Sen soon found himself trailing behind the cultivator. Yet, for all that the cultivator was still moving fast, Sen was sure that his own pace had improved. He still needed to jog along to keep up, but it had become hard work, instead of an impossibly difficult thing that he could barely maintain.
The farther up the mountain that they traveled, though, the warier Sen became of their surroundings. In town, there had been walls and guards to keep them safe. Although, after seeing that boar and the ghost panther, Sen’s faith in those protections had grown rather thin. He wasn’t sure if a similar boar could charge straight through the town’s wall. He did know that it wouldn’t have shocked him if it happened. He was supremely confident that the ghost panther could come and go through the town’s defenses at will. That was assuming it could be bothered to venture that far. Part of Sen had concluded that, all things being equal, the cat would choose laziness. Why go all the way down to the town when you just find or catch something close to home? Then again, the distance might not seem like that much to the big cat. With so much uncertainty, Sen kept a close eye on the surrounding forest. By the time lunch rolled around, he was wondering if it was a wasted effort. He hadn’t seen a thing, not even the big cat.
Sen was a little relieved that the forest was thinning out as they moved up the mountain, even if it was getting a bit colder. With fewer trees around, he could keep a better eye on their surroundings. Feng seemed unconcerned, but Sen didn’t feel comfortable adopting the same casual air. Feng could seemingly kill powerful spirit animals with his bare hands. Sen didn’t have that option. Late in the afternoon, the panther reappeared. It took up station by Sen matching his pace. It wouldn’t have bothered Sen, but the cat made it look like it was taking a calm stroll. They continued on that way for the better part of an hour before the cat abruptly stepped in front of Sen and stopped. The move was so abrupt that Sen very nearly toppled over the cat. If he had fallen, he'd have gone right off a small cliff face. After regaining his balance, he went to yell at the beast. Except, the cat wasn’t paying any attention to him.
Sen followed the cat’s gaze and came up short. He could see for miles and miles. He could see the town near the base of the mountain. He was surprised that the place that had loomed so large in his mind could look so very small. Instead, it was nature that loomed large from this vantage point. He could see that the forest stretched out to the horizon. The green canopy was only occasionally broken by small patches of blue that Sen assumed were lakes and one distinct blue line that must be a river. There were indistinct blurs that might or might not be other towns and villages. Like a lightning bolt, it hit Sen that he had likely ventured farther than almost anyone else in town. The world was so much bigger than the mayor, or the noble brats, or even Grandmother Lu.
The world was vast. There were things to learn out there. There were deep secrets and power, certainly, but those things only came if fate willed it. There were other kinds of secrets that Sen wanted to know about. Small secrets. He wanted to know what it felt like to stand in the sea. He wanted to know what tilled fields smelled like. He wanted to know if the sunset looked the same in a desert, whatever a desert was. While Sen wasn’t looking, wasn’t paying attention, the length and breadth of his universe expanded. The warm ball near his navel, something he’d nearly forgotten about during the long hike, flared to life. Sen reflexively clutched at his stomach, but the sensation wasn’t painful. If anything, it felt joyous. Just for a moment, it felt like the world was pouring energy into him. Then, the moment passed, and he was just Sen again. The cat never looked at him, just turned and trotted toward Feng. Feng, on the other hand, was staring at Sen with dark, intense eyes. Yet, the cultivator also said nothing. He just turned and resumed walking. At a loss, Sen followed along.
When the moment arrived that afternoon and evening were balanced on a knife’s edge, Feng, Sen, and the ghost panther entered a clearing. Sen was left speechless. Here, high up on a mountain, was a massive house. No, Sen thought, house isn’t the word for it. It was a manor, or maybe even a mansion. What was such a place doing so far up the mountain that it nearly touched the sky? Yet, Sen only got a brief look at the manor, rising behind the stone walls like a phoenix. Something far more alarming snared his attention. Standing in mid-air over the gate was a man, glaring down on them with fury in his eyes. He held a spear in one hand and pointed it at them, lightning wreathing the shining blade.
“Feng!” Roared the flying man. “You court death! What madness brought you to this place?”