Cultivating Chai

37: Interlude: Alchemist Jia-Rui.

Alchemist Jia-Rui had a visibly angry expression on her face as she pushed the door to her private chamber down the residences passageway open, if only slightly, before stepping inside.

She was not surprised to find another sitting on bed, a man who shared most of her defining features. His azure hair was streaked with strands of vibrant jade green, his gray eyes mired in thought before he turned to acknowledge the new entrant in the room.

Alchemist Jia-Rui’s expression turned to one of concern as she took in her brother’s features, his high cheekbones and aquiline nose that stood in contrast to her slightly plump, rounded face and button nose.

“I didn’t have to look for him,” Alchemist Jia-Rui initiated the conversation, her tone echoing her dissatisfaction.

“Oh?” Alchemist Zhi-Rui remarked, a question contained in his inflection.

“He came to my store in the Junior Division,” Alchemist Jia explained. “Wanted a bunch of ordinary Moonlit Dew plants.”

“And?” Alchemist Zhi asked, an almost desperate eagerness to his tone. “Did you tell him to leave Lianhua alone?” He asked.

“I did,” Alchemist Jia replied through pursed lips. “He refused.”

Alchemist Zhi gazed into his sister’s gray irises, searching for any sign that she was jesting with him.

He found none.

“That arrogant recruit,” Alchemist Zhi snarled, pure venom leaking into his tone. “Does he have any idea how long I’ve spent trying to get in Lianhua’s good graces? Just when I was beginning to finally see progress, he comes along out of blooming nowhere!” He bellowed in rage, his visage taking on a pinkish-red hue from the sheer anger flowing through his veins.

“I understand but—,” Alchemist Jia tried to explain, only to abruptly cut off.

“I’m going to teach him a lesson,” Alchemist Zhi snarled.

“You will do no such thing,” Alchemist Jia’s tone sharpened, her expression tightening as she met her brother’s rageful gaze head on.

“Sister dearest of mine,” Alchemist Zhi addressed, his tone softening a little as he remembered that the one before him had done nothing to deserve the tone he had been speaking in. “Surely you understand why Lianhua is so important. Must I really say it out loud?”

Alchemist Jia’s firm expression deflated a little as she listened to her brother’s words.

“We, the both of us, do not have what it takes to become Senior Alchemists, let alone reach the Grand Alchemist designation,” Alchemist Zhi spoke the unadulterated truth, the fact that they had been dancing around for the last few years. “Yet, our legacies need not end there. I am not proud to admit that my own talent, bestowed upon me by the heavens, is lacking. But it is a gap we can bridge. If I secure Lianhua’s hand in marriage, then no matter how stuck up Grand Alchemist Xin Wu is known to be, as his son-under-the-heavens, his alchemist’s flame will be ours,” Alchemist Zhi appealed to emotions he knew his sister would resonate with.

The plight of those who had seen the true nature of the pinnacle they were chasing only to be crushed by what they had found.

“What do you intend to do?” Alchemist Jia asked.

“I can drug him,” Alchemist Zhi said. “It is a simple enough matter to arrange as long as he takes his meals in the Junior Division’s mess hall. Don’t look at me like that, sister. It will not leave any long term effects, just weaken him enough for me to knock some sense into him,” He explained his cowardly plan without an ounce of shame.

Alchemist Jia shook her head, before speaking, “You don’t know who he is, do you?” She asked, her tone laden with annoyance.

Realizing that there was more to it than he had initially thought, Alchemist Zhi decided to first answer the question the best he knew, “A disciple from the Martial Division, here to try and make money. Don’t worry, I will not underestimate him. Maybe I’ll wear a mask while I send the message.”

“He is a war hero, elder brother!” Alchemist Jia all but bellowed, her tone shrill. “He survived the strike of a Nascent Soul Demon on the battlefield. Do you know how impossible that is? There is not a single precedent before him in the entire recorded history of the Frontier Sect. You could not defeat him if he had his arms and legs chained to a mountain,” She angrily explained, watching as the color drained out of her brother’s face.

That had not been Alchemist Jia’s intention, but it was better than having her brother make a grave mistake.

The silence between the two siblings stretched on for minutes on end as Alchemist Zhi considered the crucial new bit of information that had been forced upon him.

“A war hero,” He muttered under his breath, his expression grim but not defeated. “Do you think that is why Lianhua has decided to personally tutor him?” Alchemist Zhi asked, the envy in his tone unmasked.

Of course, it was not Lianhua he coveted, but rather an Alchemist’s flame that had been refined by a Grand Alchemist of all people.

“Almost certainly. Though if their interactions in the Grand Library are anything to go by, they have gotten quite close,” Alchemist Jia explained, revealing that she had been monitoring their interactions.

Alchemist Zhi was silent, except for the sound of his clenched fist striking his own thigh echoing out. His features were warped out of the frustration he felt, before he got up from the bed and began to pace around the room in thought.

“If you remove this Xiao Feng out of the picture, somehow managing to convince him to leave the Alchemy Division, are you truly certain you can win her over?” Alchemist Jia asked, her tone betraying the unease she felt at the thought of messing with a veritable war hero.

“I’m certain,” Alchemist Zhi replied, as confidence returned to his firming gaze. “The other alchemists think Lianhua cold, but I know that it is only a facade that she has put up. She has had a tough upbringing, with her mother tragically passing away and her father being absent for most of her growing years. It is not surprising that she chose to focus on her alchemy, to best assist her father as she could, even if it came at the cost of distancing herself from her peers,” He assessed, his tone devoid of any real compassion for her plight.

“How will that help us?” Alchemist Jia asked.

“A facade remains a facade no matter how much you wish it were real. Once I snake past the guard she maintains, her real personality will blossom. She is naive when it comes to matters of the heart, so it will not be difficult after,” Alchemist Zhi explained, having thought his plan through many times.

“That’s not very honorable,” Alchemist Jia jested, though her tone didn’t seem all that amused.

Alchemist Zhi was on the verge of countering, of asking what Lianhua had done to deserve an alchemist’s flame that she had very easily just inherited from her father, when a thought struck him like lightning.

“Honor,” He said. “The Martial Division cultivators value honor above all. That’s how we get him to leave.”