Sitting in front of the clan library, under the shade of the weeping willows, Xiao Yun and Wang Shu eventually reached an agreement after a few hours and finished hammering out the finer details. They had the contract written both on paper and inscribed on a jade slip and signed with each of their spiritual Qi, which had properties unique to each person. It was like using your fingerprint to stamp on paper.
The entire time Fatty Wang was a silent bystander. He watched in mesmerized daze. His father who was a man who could haggle a spirit beast down to the price of a chicken was being led by the nose by his slacker friend. The Xiao Yun he knew couldn’t even properly bargain for a new pair of slippers. This version of Xiao Yun spoke of markets and monopolies with the confidence of an experienced merchant.
Wang Shu took a deep breath, the scent of tea and sweet treats doing little to calm his racing mind. He looked at the jade slip then back at the young man. The calm confidence in Xiao Yun’s eyes was absolute.
A heavy silence descended, broken only by Fatty Wang’s nervous chewing. The tension of the negotiation evaporated and got replaced by palpable curiosity instead. Their teacups had already been emptied thrice since the negotiations started. Xiao Yun had ordered the servants to replace the pot.
Wang Shu poured them both a cup. He slid one cup towards Xiao Yun, his eyes never leaving the young man’s face. The initial shock had receded, leaving behind a deep well of questions.
“Jun’er.” Wang Shu said, his voice now devoid of its merchant’s edge and replaced by a cultivator’s gravitas. “Tell me, has your friend always been such an expert in making deals?”
Fatty Wang swallowed hard, shaking his head frantically. “No Father! Brother Yun usually just talks about which tavern has the best fruit wine or complains about this and that. I’ve never seen him like this.”
Wang Shu nodded slowly, his gaze sharpening on Xiao Yun. “My son speaks the truth. I have known you since you were a child, Xiao Yun. You were a good boy but you lacked ambition. You showed little talent in cultivation and even less interest in worldly affairs. Instead, wasting your time in brothels and gambling dens. Now you sit before me and negotiate like an old fox from the Merchant Union’s headquarters. You speak of concepts I have only half-glimpsed in my years of trade.”
He leaned forward, his large frame casting a shadow over the table. The air grew still. “So I must ask.” he said, his voice low and serious. “Not as a business partner, but as a senior who is both deeply impressed and deeply concerned. Where did you learn this? And more importantly, how in all the heavens did you conceive of something like the Mystic Cleansing Jade?”
The question hung in the air. Xiao Yun however, had anticipated this. He couldn’t just say “Oh I’m from a different world with advanced technology and no spiritual energy. One day I found myself in this world, which was nothing more than a fiction novel to me.” They’d think he was either mocking them or gone completely crazy. He needed a story. A story that fit this world of spirits, demons and immortal cultivators.
He picked up his teacup, letting the silence stretch and building the drama. He took a slow sip, his eyes gazing at the swaying willow branches as if recalling a distant and profound memory.
“It was a dream Uncle Wang. More like a vision.” he began, his voice taking on a melancholic and reverent tone. “A few months ago, I was at my lowest point. My cultivation was stagnant, my family’s dwindling fortunes and my own poor performance weighing heavy on my mind… I felt the weight of my ancestors’ legacy crushing me.”
He paused, looking at Wang Shu and his son, his expression a perfect blend of past sorrow and newfound strength. “In my despair I meditated for three days and three nights without food or water. On the third night the medallion I’m wearing now started glowing.” Saying so he pulled out the broken jade pendant he had under his clothes, a useless old thing. Now it had become the central plot point in his fictional drama.
“I fell into a trance and started dreaming. It was not a normal dream. I stood in an endless void, and before me stood a figure of blinding light. He said he was the founding ancestor of my Xiao Family, a man who ascended to a higher realm many millennia ago.”
Fatty Wang’s jaw dropped, his pastry forgotten. Wang Shu’s eyes widened, a flicker of awe warring with his inherent skepticism. Xiao Yun was weaving the story of ‘Spirit Grandpa Stuck in a medallion’ trope. Since he didn’t actually have someone like that, he decided that he might as well make one up.
“The ancestor told me that he had left a sliver of his consciousness in this family heirloom so that one day if his descendants ever needed guidance, he could offer it from beyond this world.” Xiao Yun continued, his voice thick with emotion. “He said that the path to power was not always through the sword alone. He told me that true strength could be found in influencing the world, in changing the lives of the many and showed me many things. He bestowed upon me a few gifts. Gifts even someone talentless like me could make use of. One of those was the way to craft the Mystic Cleansing Jade, a minor worldly creation he called it, to restore our family’s wealth. The others…well the other pieces of knowledge aren’t yet completely clear in my mind, but if they do become clear one day we can make new deals.”
He looked directly at Wang Shu, his eyes shining with fabricated sincerity. “When I awoke, the knowledge was simply… there. In my mind. I am as surprised as you are Uncle Wang. I am merely the vessel for my ancestor’s wisdom.”
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
The courtyard was utterly silent. The explanation was fantastical, unverifiable and yet, in a world where cultivators sought to defy the heavens and commune with laws of very existence, it was perfectly plausible. It explained everything: the sudden change in personality, the esoteric business knowledge and the creation of a miraculous new product.
Fatty Wang looked at his friend with newfound hero-worship. His wastrel buddy had been blessed by an immortal ancestor!
Wang Shu stared at Xiao Yun for a long hard moment, his mind racing. True or not it was a masterful answer. It elevated Xiao Yun from a lucky boy to a chosen descendant, a man with a destiny. It hinted at more secrets and more gifts to come. Investing in Xiao Yun was no longer just a business deal, it could be an investment in a potential legend.
Finally a slow, wide grin spread across Wang Shu’s face. He raised his teacup.
“To the wisdom of the Xiao Ancestor.” he boomed, his voice full of genuine respect and avaricious glee. “And to a long and prosperous partnership Nephew Xiao.” Xiao Yun’s story wasn’t concrete but the profits he’d already made from their deal was concrete enough in his imagination.
Xiao Yun smiled and touched his cup to Wang Shu’s. The lie had been accepted. The foundation was set. One shouldn’t look down on humble soap, if utilized correctly anything can become an efficient tool. It was building a small empire and a safety net for Xiao Yun.
“Ah uncle Wang, I should also ask you to keep this whole thing a secret. About our Ancestor’s revelation and how I’m the one who’s making the Mystic Cleansing Jade. It would be better if the Xiao clan’s name isn’t mentioned at all. You can say that the mysterious master who’s making this miraculous product is an old acquaintance and he decided to entrust you to sell his product because he doesn’t like dealing with worldly affairs, or something along those lines.” Such excuses were common enough in the fantasy stories he’d read, so they came to mind much more easily.
Wang Shu nodded thoughtfully. “Of course.”
Wang Jun looked at his friend in confusion. “But brother Yun, why would you want to hide something like this? If people learn of this everyone who called you a wastrel will have to eat their words and feel like they got slapped in the face! Don’t you want to see the embarrassed faces of the people who mocked you for years?”
Wang Shu shot a displeased look at his son and clicked his tongue. “Tch tch little Jun, you have much to learn.” He felt that there was a huge gap forming between his son and his friend.
Wang Jun looked around in confusion. “What do you mean father?”
It was Xiao Yun who answered his question. “It’s like this Fatty. The cleansing jade is not my own achievement, it is a gift bestowed by the ancestor. I have no right to brag about it. Additionally, the Xiao clan has old enemies, rivals and people we owe hefty sums to. If they learn that we have found a new source of income do you think they’d let us be without trying to sabotage us or claim this source for themselves? Not to mention that if they learn about the medallion and how I was bestowed with knowledge from the upper realm, it could put both the family and me personally in grave danger. The reason I even revealed that piece of information was because you’re my closest friend and I trust neither you nor Uncle Wang would do anything to harm me or the Xiao clan.” In reality he told them that because he needed a convenient excuse for his carried over earth knowledge and when elders asked the Wang father-son duo would play the witness for him. After all, he was planning to rely on his earthly knowledge, his only advantage, to increase his chances of living a safe life. And he’d need a ready made excuse for all the things and new concepts he could recreate in this world. The visions of the ‘Immortal Realm’ from the ‘Spirit Grandpa’ was it.
“Oh so that’s why!” Understanding dawned on Wang Jun’s face.
The trio eventually finished their tea and snacks and Wang Shu got ready to depart with his son.
“We should leave, after all there many arrangements to be made.” They got up and left quickly after wishing each other a short farewell.
As Xiao Yun left the library grounds as well, he was confronted by the questioning gazes of the three elders, who had been waiting impatiently. They had barely restrained themselves from rushing into the library grounds and shaking Xiao Yun for answers after learning what Mystic Cleansing Jade was and it was apparently their wastrel young master who had made such a thing. The poor guard they sent to check out the rumors couldn’t even obtain a sample and when he insisted he was ridiculed and almost got beaten up by the other would-be customers.
The fifth elder, whose wrinkle covered face almost looked to be vibrating from excitement stepped forward and spoke with barely contained urgency and disbelief.
“Little Yun, is what we’ve been hearing true? What Wang Jun told his father in the courtyard? Are you really the one who made the Mystic Cleansing Jade!?”
The third and seventh elders looked at him with just as much curiosity and disbelief.
‘Well, looks like it’s time to weave more stories.’ Thought Xiao Yun.
“It’s true Elder. Although it wasn’t really me who invented it.”
He told them exactly what he told Wang Shu, that his chipped jade pendant he’d been wearing as far back as he could remember started glowing one day when he was mediating and many things were revealed to him in a dream by a glowing figure, who told Xiao Yun that he was an ancestor of the Xiao clan, who had ascended many millennia ago.
“I-is what you’re saying really true?” asked the seventh elder with astonishment, his wiry figure looking even shakier than usual.
“Yes, it’s indeed the truth. The ancestor guided me, but he only gave bits of knowledge that could be used by someone powerless like me. I don’t know why he didn’t offer any rare and powerful cultivation techniques. Maybe he thought that our family’s technique, Luminous Celestial Flow was enough to attain immortality, or maybe he only wanted to offer minimal help, hoping that we would earn our place through struggle, becoming something stronger through adversity. Or maybe the Ancestor only had little bit spiritual power left in the pendant, thus his legacy is incomplete?”
He kept weaving his web of lies to counter any questions the elders might ask. He looked at the elders befuddled and thoughtful expressions and started. “In any case elders, it is best to discuss this at length when the everyone is together. I should go make some arrangements of my own so we can produce this valuable cleansing artifact at larger numbers. It should be of some help to the clan’s finances.”
Saying so he left, leaving behind the three awed and confused elders.
