Severing Time & Space

The Wu Clan Library

“In that case, the first thing we need is knowledge. It’s said that the first step to becoming stronger is acquiring knowledge about training. Should we head to the library?” she asked.

Wu Jian agreed, but they didn’t get to leave the hospital wing before the door opened and someone else walked in. She wore a white and blue ruqun hanfu with floral designs on it. Her skin was tanner than both his and Wu Meiying’s, but she was still a pretty woman with a kind smile and black hair tied into a bun on her head.

“Oh, my. Wu Jian and Wu Meiying. What are you two doing here? Did one of you get injured?” the woman asked. She was Wu Jian’s mother, the first wife of his father, and therefore the most powerful woman in the clan.

“Aunty Àiliàn,” Wu Meiying greeted. She paused and bit her lip. Wu Jian could see it in her eyes. She was thinking of telling his mother about what happened between him and Wu Yong.

“I just… slipped on the snow and smacked my face,” Wu Jian explained.

“Is that really what happened?” his mother asked with a raised eyebrow. Wu Jian looked down and nodded once. His mother remained silent for several seconds, but then she sighed. “I see. I’m glad that’s all that happened. Please be more careful in the future. I would hate it if something happened to my little man.”

“Mother… please don’t call me that,” Wu Jian muttered, but his mother laughed his words off, stroked his and Wu Meiying’s hair, and sent them on their way.

Mother was Father’s first wife and therefore the primary wife. She was something of an oddball among the clan too. Everyone called her a free-spirit, though there were some who called her stubborn. His mother liked to do whatever she wanted, which meant she often did a bunch of different activities within the clan, and woe to anyone who tried to stop her.

That was probably why she got along with Wu Meiying so well.

He and Wu Meiying traveled to the library next. It was a two-story pagoda even bigger than the hospital wing. Wu Jian entered alongside his best friend and looked at the shelves lined with books and scrolls. There weren’t a lot of people in the library, but that was because many people preferred to train their bodies instead of their minds. Most people only used the library when they needed to find a new technique to study.

“Oh ho ho. If it isn’t the young master and little Meiying. What are you two doing in the library? Are you here for another book?” asked a person sitting behind a desk. He was an old man with gray hair bordering on white and a drooping fu manchu moustache. His back was stooped like he had spent his entire life leaning over his desk.

“Grandpa Son, we’re here to look for a cultivation method for Wu Jian,” Wu Meiying said.

Grandpa Son was the custodian of the Wu Clan Library and had been since before Wu Jian was even born. He was a kind old man. Wu Jian would often visit the library to read because it offered him an escape from the bullying of Wu Yong and the other kids in their clan. He and Wu Meiying loved to read all the story books. Their favorites were the books about heroes going on adventures and saving the people from great evil. Grandpa Son always knew what books to pick for them to read.

Grandpa Son stroked his beard. “A cultivation method, you say? My dear girl, you know that both you and Wu Jian are far too young to cultivate, do you not? Attempting to cultivate your chi before you turn sixteen years old is detrimental to your growth. Not only will trying to cultivate before you reach adulthood leave a sequela, but it can also result in deformities forming in your body. You wouldn’t want the young master getting strange growths on his body because he tried to cultivate before he came of age, do you?”

“We know that, but that doesn’t mean we can’t find a good cultivation method to use once he comes of age, right?” Wu Meiying said with a smile.

Grandpa Son stroked his beard thoughtfully. “Oh ho ho ho. Yes, that is true. Hmm. Well, I wouldn’t recommend looking for a cultivation method right now, but how about I give you an introductory scroll that teaches you about cultivation instead?”

“That works,” Wu Meiying said after pondering for a moment.

“Thank you, Grandpa Son.” Wu Jian held out his hands, placed his right fist in the palm of his left hand, and bowed his head in a show of respect.

Grandpa Son waved off their thanks with a smile. “Think nothing of it.”

Grandpa Son walked over to a bookshelf with scrolls sitting on displays, plucked one from the shelf, and handed it to Wu Meiying.

“This one should suit your purposes,” he said.

“Thank you, Grandpa Son,” Wu Meiying and Wu Jian said in unison.

They didn’t travel into the library to sit on a table. Neither of them were tall enough for their feet to reach the floor. Wu Jian and Wu Meiying traveled to the passage connecting the library to the dojo and found a place to sit. Their sitting spot offered a great view of a snow covered courtyard. There were many such courtyards in the Wu Clan compound. During the spring and summer, these courtyards would become filled with flowers, flowing streams, and an array of trees, but right now, it was a winter wonderland.

Wu Jian shivered a little.

“Are you cold?” asked Wu Meiying.

“A little,” he admitted.

“Then let’s sit closer together. That way, we can warm each other up.”

Wu Meiying scooted closer until their shoulders and thighs were touching, then spread the scroll across their laps. He touched the aged parchment, which crinkled under his fingers. The scroll had a lot of writing and a diagram of the human body. Both of them could read what was said. Clan members were taught to read and write at a young age.