Immortality Starts With Generosity

“Good morning Young Master Chen!”

Manager Song had taken to his forcibly occupied role with gusto. It hadn’t taken him long to get familiar with the estate and the serving staff. He was remarkably diligent in performing his new duties as well. Chen Haoran learned this because he had grilled Manager Song with questions, ostensibly under the guise of testing him, to learn about all the inner workings and details he couldn’t ask Manager Lin. Seeing as how he was stuck with Manager Song he might as well extract whatever benefits he could.

“Don’t you have anything more important to do?” Chen Haoran said.

“What could be more important than serving Young Master Chen?” Manager Song said, smiling.

Chen Haoran snorted in annoyance. Manager Song was just as cheerful as he was shameless. It aggravated him even more that he was so tense around such a happy-looking man. Manager Song’s cheerfulness wasn’t enough to make him drop his guard however, he wouldn’t forget just how easily the bald man shrugged off his strongest blow.

He needed to keep his distance.

————————

In the following days, Manager Song would not leave him alone. In the halls, in the dining hall, in the gardens, in the bedroom, and in the baths. Constantly flittering around like an attention-starved pet and chirping in his ear all sorts of questions. What are you doing today? What are you doing tomorrow? What are you doing here, there, everywhere.

But Manager Song never asked what he did before.

The training field was Chen Haoran’s only sanctuary. The rhythmic circulation of his qi calmed his mind; the furious torrent of the Canyon Carving Sword vented his frustrations. The basics that Lan Fen first beat into him, then taught to beat into himself, tempered him. For all the stress that playing another life took on him. For all the fear that hung behind every thought he had. Chen Haoran was grateful for this. Lan Fen had called cultivation an act of continuous self-perfection. He could feel the truth of it with every breath of qi, and every perfect cycle. It was a feeling he would have killed for back on Earth. A feeling he probably did kill for if he was responsible for whatever happened to the original Young Master.

Chen Haoran only ever thought about the history the person before him left behind. He never considered what happened to the Young Master after he occupied his body. Perhaps he died and moved on. Chen Haoran hoped that wherever the Young Master was, it sucked.

He completed his routine. Basic stabs, thrusts, and slashing. It was good to practice on his own but he needed a sparring partner to put it all together. He’d have to find one of the guards despite his discomfort, if he wanted to grow he couldn’t just practice against Lan Fen forever.

There was a sound of ecstatic clapping. Manager Song had appeared out of nowhere. Chen Haoran frowned. Manager Song had no presence in his sense. His superior cultivation didn’t burn him the way the Golden Lily Association’s supervisor did. Lan Fen had said he’d adjust to it but it was too soon for that to be the case. Chen Haoran thought of how Manager Song appeared right behind him when they first met, and the shadow that emerged from his hand.

Manager Song was a super cultivator ninja. A wonderful fact that surely wouldn’t keep him up at night.

“Your progress is outstanding Young Master Chen!” Manager Song exuberantly said. “Truly it brings a tear to this servant’s eye to see how diligently you practice.”

“Stuff it. What do you want.”

“How could I dare desire anything from Young Master Chen? I was merely passing by when I noticed you were practicing.”

Pigs would fly before Chen Haoran believed that. Manager Song was clearly monitoring him, had been monitoring him every time he went to train in fact. Even though he couldn’t sense Manager Song it was obvious he wouldn’t actually leave him alone. The question now was why he chose to reveal himself. It wasn’t like his real strength was unknown to Manager Song.

Was he looking for the techniques? Chen Haoran was familiar enough with them now that he didn’t really need the books anymore so he hadn’t pulled them out. It wasn’t a bad idea to try and use them to get the Chen family off his back though. It wasn’t like he worked hard to get them anyway.

“Would Young Master Chen care to hear this servant’s meager experience?” Manager Song said.

The question startled Chen Haoran. He didn’t think the offer was in good faith but he wasn’t sure what else Manager Song could find by helping him practice. Perhaps an attempt to lower his guard? Whatever the case getting guidance from a higher realm was an opportunity he couldn’t pass up.

“Enlighten me then o’ wise one,” he said.

“I see that you’re focused on the fundamentals. But have you attempted to harmonize it with your sword technique?”

Harmonize? There was nothing like that in the Canyon Carving Sword’s book. Seeing the confusion on his face Manager Song brushed his hand past his waist. There was a storage bag on his hip and without reaching in a dagger flew out into his hand. Chen Haoran’s storage bag certainly couldn’t do that. Manager Song waved the dagger at him, a curved, jagged pitch black blade. It looked more like someone had smashed a piece of obsidian till sharp and attached it to a hilt than any kind of dagger he had seen before. It was completely at odds with Manager Song’s image of happy buffoonery.

“Observe.”

Manager Song slashed at the air in curving, brutal, strikes. Chen Haoran could imagine him using those same strikes to tear out the vitals of an unsuspecting target. Manager Song finished his terrifying routine and twirled his knife in an elaborately unnecessary flourish.

Then his knife disappeared.

Manager Song slashed out again but this time Chen Haoran could not keep up with his knife. It wasn’t that Manager Song was going any faster than before, the knife itself was just harder to see like a gnat buzzing around and avoiding focus. He caught glimpses of the knife when the light caught its edge but that was it. Manager Song finished and with another flourish put away the knife and bowed.

“What do you think Young Master Chen?”

That his life was much better before he learned Manager Song was a super cultivator ninja assassin.

“How did you do that?” he said instead.

“Simply circulate your qi as if you were going to use your martial technique while you practice,” Manager Song cheerfully said.

He already knew it wouldn’t be that simple or else Lan Fen would have already taught it to him. He cycled his qi according to the Canyon Carving Sword’s pattern and held it. After confirming it was stable he began his normal practice routine. What followed was miserable failure. Chen Haoran couldn’t hold his qi together at all when he tried to swing. Instead, it exploded out in a formless blast and left Chen Haoran feeling like he had been punched in the chest. His subsequent attempts fared no better. Chen Haoran was sweaty and sore when he gave up and turned to a smiling Manager Song.

“Will you tell me what I’m doing wrong now, or are you just enjoying the show?”

Manager Song dared to laugh. “You’re not doing anything wrong. You’re just not good enough, I recommend getting better.”

“Did you come here just to be a dick?” It was completely in line with what he had seen from Manager Song so far but Chen Haoran was speechless nonetheless.

“I’m not lying to you,” Manager Song said. Wiping an imaginary tear from his eye. “To Harmonize is to infuse your being with the essence of your martial technique. It takes practice and familiarity to properly achieve.”

“How is this supposed to help me with my fundamentals? The whole issue is that I’m bad at fighting.”

“Consider it a multiplier. You are correct that, on its own, Harmonization won’t directly improve your fighting ability. When combined with proper skill, however, Harmonization can bring your combat potential to a whole new level.”

“Why are you helping me?” he asked. Manager Song was annoying but what he was teaching him wasn’t nonsense. Chen Haoran could appreciate just how much potential Harmonization had with the power of the Canyon Carving Sword. The issue was what Manager Song had to gain from it. Chen Haoran’s cultivation? He knew it already. His trust? Manager Song took every moment to aggravate him.

“You are the Young Master of the Chen family I serve,” Manager Song said. His tone was surprisingly formal. “Assisting you in your practice is only natural.”

Manager Song made it sound obvious but it startled Chen Haoran to hear it. He had known, intellectually, that he was the Young Master of the Chen family. He knew it was an identity that brought him protection and benefits but he never actually thought of himself as a member of the Chen family. To him, they were a threat that at any moment could expose the lie he’d been living. In Manager Song’s eyes, however, despite being the object of his investigation he was still the Young Master. Perhaps Chen Haoran had been approaching this situation all wrong.

“Should I still keep calling you Manager Song?”

“Pardon?” The confusion on Manager Song’s face was sweet.

“You’re teaching me, and you’re a higher realm than me. I can’t just call you Manager Song all the time now can I?” Rather than push him away Chen Haoran should use his identity to get closer to Manager Song. What better start than his nominal superior calling him by name?

Manager Song’s smile bloomed. “Then in that case Teacher So-,”

“Hell no.”

Manager Song laughed. He looked just as happy as he usually did but it felt… gentler. “If it pleases Young Master Chen then you may call me Song Yuelin.”

“Thank you for your help today then Song Yuelin,” Chen Haoran said. He clasped his hands. He didn’t bow but the gesture was enough. “I look forward to working with you in the future.”

“Likewise, Young Master Chen.” Song Yuelin bowed in return.

“Now if you’ll excuse me I have to continue my practice.” Chen Haoran turned to leave.

“Where are you going Young Master Chen?”

“To find a guard to spar with.”

“Don’t you have a sparring partner right here?”

Chen Haoran stopped dead in his tracks. Song Yuelin blinked at him innocently. He reached out with his sense. Song Yuelin was still a Liquid Meridian Realm cultivator. There was only one answer.

“No.”

“Excellent! Here I come Young Master Chen!”

Chen Haoran regretted ever trying to be kind.