Dao Of The Salted Fish (Salted Fish Cultivator)

Wen Zhihao awoke at the sound of movement. He yawned, cracking one eye open. The sky was just starting to streak with colour, and yet Sun Fuyu was already standing on the other side of the clearing, practising some standard sword forms.

So very dedicated.

Wen Zhihao greeted him briefly, then went lazily to the stream to wash his face.

When he returned, he placed all the bedding etc. back into his spatial ring, and called out, “Sun-shidi, do you want to see the sunrise with me? We can go up the mountain a little more, a high vantage point is key.”

Sun Fuyu immediately stopped and hurried over to Wen Zhihao.

“We have time to walk,” Wen Zhihao said, ushering him along. After his many days here, Wen Zhihao was fairly familiar with his surroundings. The dim-but-brightening sky was surprisingly enough for him to see and navigate. “Did you sleep well?”

Sun Fuyu nodded. “Yes, Wen-shixiong.”

“Good sleep is the start of a good day,” Wen Zhihao said in a knowledgeable tone. When Sun Fuyu nodded seriously again, Wen Zhihao couldn’t help but crack a smile. “I hope you don’t believe everything that other people say,” he teased.

“I don’t,” Sun Fuyu said, his cheek puffing out slightly in indignation. “I can judge who’s good and who’s bad for myself.”

“Very good,” Wen Zhihao praised. “Continue to work hard.”

Not long after, they emerged in a clearing of a cliff. It wasn’t at the top of the mountains, but it was still far above the plain forest below.

Wen Zhihao took out some bedding again to use as a picnic blanket and sat down, legs sprawling. He patted the space next to him. “Come, the sun takes a while to rise.”

Sun Fuyu carefully sat down, crossing his legs neatly.

Wen Zhihao smiled faintly and looked at the horizon and the pinkish glowing sky. The ache in his chest eased a little. It was indeed nicer to have someone to see the sunrise with him.

Sun Fuyu, however, was sneaking glances at Wen Zhihao. What are we doing here? Is there something Wen-shixiong wants me to see? Sun Fuyu followed Wen Zhihao’s gaze with anticipation, but there was merely the horizon, bumpy with treetops and building tops, and the lightening sky heralding the new day. They would have to get back in time for morning sword practice. Sun Fuyu won’t be able to beat Wu Qingqing yet, but he will soon.

Wen Zhihao noticed Sun Fuyu’s restlessness. “Are you hungry? I can take out our food boxes.”

Sun Fuyu shook his head. “I don’t eat before sword practice. Wen-shixiong…”

“Hm, what is it?”

“Wen-shixiong, forgive me if I say something wrong…”

“Ask me without worry, don’t be polite.” 

“This shidi would like to know...what are we doing? Is this a new cultivation technique?”

“Aiya, is cultivation the only thing you think about?” Wen Zhihao joked. He wanted to pat Sun Fuyu’s head but resisted. “Last night, we visited the town. That wasn’t cultivation, and neither is this.” Wen Zhihao looked at the sky and at the peeking sun. The glow of orange-pink was slowly overtaking the dark blue of the night sky. “The scenery is beautiful. Enjoy it, Sun-shidi,” he said gently.

Sun Fuyu stared a little at Wen Zhihao’s eyes, looking calmly into the distance. Sun Fuyu lowered his eyes, and said softly, “En, shixiong.”

Wen Zhihao felt a bit helpless at how polite and obedient Sun Fuyu was being, even though it was clear that he didn’t understand what Wen Zhihao meant. But Wen Zhihao was too lazy to explain,  what with the sunrise happening right now. He’ll have to make it up to Sun Fuyu later.

Back when he lived in the city, seeing the sunrise was virtually impossible. Tall buildings blocked the horizon, and lights and air pollution cheapened the rise of the sun. Not to mention that Wen Zhihao was either asleep whenever the sun rose or was already working (or working all through the night).

In this xianxia world, Wen Zhihao wondered whether or not the sun was the same nuclear ball of plasma, or whether the sun was a literal god or something. The memories of the original ‘Wen Zhihao’ were not particularly helpful.

He wanted to capture the sunrise with a camera again...or was that a weird 21st-century habit? The sunrise (probably) came every day unless there were OP xianxia things that disrupted it. Unlike how restrictive his life had been, now, Wen Zhihao could come here every day to see the sunrise in person, which was much more immersive than in a picture.

Streaks of sunlight lit the forest canopy bright green against the shadowed darkness, pulling Wen Zhihao’s thoughts back to the present. Light spread across the landscape, long shadows shortened. The leaves rustled, and birds tweeted, and roosters crowed off in the distance.

The sun rising every day was part of the rhythm of life. It was so common, yet so fundamental to the flourishing of nature on earth. The sun was bursting with energy and vitality and even qi. As it rose higher and higher, the dark blue sky faded to light blue.

A vague feeling caught in Wen Zhihao’s chest as the sensation of the sun’s qi spread across his face. He felt like a plant capturing the sunlight, except that he didn’t need more qi, and it was threatening to overflow inside of him.

Something on the ground glinted as the sun’s rays alighted upon it, almost as bright as a star. Wen Zhihao leant over and picked it up. It was a rock with smooth glass-like sides. It was in fact a dark grey colour, but when the light reflected from it, it was very bright.

I wonder…

Wen Zhihao imagined grasping the overflowing warm qi in his body, drawing it down to his hand and out into the rock. The too-full-on-qi feeling in his body dissipated as the rock warmed and began to glow softly.

The corners of Wen Zhihao’s mouth turned up. Haha!! Unexpectedly, it worked! If he needed night lamps, he could just do this: it was like the garden lamps that used solar panels to charge up during the day, so that they can emit light during the night. It was a good cost-saving measure!

The small capitalist side of Wen Zhihao’s brain also added, Do cultivators use lamps? Do mortals use them? These can be sold, no risk of fire, no harmful smoke!

He turned to show it to Sun Fuyu. Who knew when Sun Fuyu had turned to look at him: his light brown eyes were a little dazed, staring at the glowing rock in Wen Zhihao’s hand.

Wen Zhihao’s eyes softened. “Here, Sun-shidi.”

Sun Fuyu’s eyes widened. “Wen-shixiong, this shidi does not covet…”

“Then I should discard it here then if you don’t wish for it, and we’ll see whose fate it is to pick it up,” Wen Zhihao said, teasing him.

As expected, Sun Fuyu immediately changed his tune, swallowing. “Wen-shixiong…” he said, sounding wronged.

Okay, I really should stop teasing him! “Here, take it and do as you wish with it,” Wen Zhihao said. He took Sun Fuyu’s hand and pressed the stone into his palm. Then, he kindly looked away, so that Sun Fuyu wouldn’t feel undue pressure.

By now, the sun was fully above the horizon.

“Thank you, shixiong,” Sun Fuyu said in a quiet voice. His fingers curled around the stone. He could feel Wen-shixiong’s qi emanating gently from it, even and warm.

Aside from the sect scouts who had first brought Sun Fuyu to the Golden Sun Sect to train, Wen Zhihao was the first person to give him multiple things like this… He sneakily glanced at Wen-shixiong and looked away in embarrassment when Wen-shixiong smiled back at him.

Meanwhile, back at the sect:

Zhang Wu stood outside Wen Zhihao’s door, meaning to collect him early for once. Except there was a sign stuck on the door in poorly written characters: “In secluded cultivation, don’t disturb!”

Zhang Wu: (╯°Д°)╯ ┻━┻