Chapter Twenty-Seven - Grumpy Elders

  Nie Ruyi

  Nie Ruyi’s next stop was to see if she could figure out where exactly these ‘halls’ were. As she wandered around, she began to realize that the sect was about as big as college campus, or maybe bigger? She wasn’t quite sure. But there were several buildings spread all over the acreage, and while the buildings had signs indicating what they were named, they did not indicate what they DID.

  For example, the Pine Hall that she just passed, when she peaked into various rooms in there it seemed to be some kind of alchemical lab? Many of the rooms had bubbling pots and people putting leaves and ingredients in them, so she could only guess what that was.

  The next hall she found was Osmathus Hall, and that one had many rooms filled with lecturing teachers who stood at the front of the class, with half-empty seats, and people frantically taking notes. She managed to find a few libraries in this hall, but each one had different types of texts. One library seemed devoted entirely to the ages and dates of people who had been in the sect and what they accomplished. Another seemed entirely dedicated to the local towns, specifically about the monster sightings in each town.

  She found most of this out by asking, rather than looking herself, or she’d never find any sort of insight. One of the young ladies she spoke with, a lovely An-Shimei, told her that if she was looking for a hall specifically dedicated to martial arts, she’d need to find either the Willow Hall or the Oak Hall. “But I recommend the Willow Hall for Shijie.”

  Giving the girl a sweet smile and a thanks for pointing her in the right direction, she trudged along gravel-and-stone paths towards Willow Hall. She couldn’t help but notice as she followed the path that the number of flowers and ‘pretty’ plants increased, as well as the number of ruqun skirts over regular pants. Ah, was she headed to the ladies section of the sect? Was the sect divided so?

  Inside Willow Hall, she found a number of classrooms all arranged around a central courtyard. In the courtyard, there was in fact a class going on. Specifically a class full of young women led by an older woman. Each woman was moving in slow, dedicated force, and Nie Ruyi blinked, pausing. Something tickled her memory, and she found a stone bench to sit down on as she watched the class take place.

  The girls shifted their weight this way and that, almost like blades of grass blown in the wind, lifting hands this way and that as if to block oncoming blows. Then, one of the forms they took reminded her of something, and she opened up the book she’d gotten from the library, Glowing Fragrance Chill Earth style, and sure enough, after flipping through a bit, she found the form. They were practicing the very art she was looking to learn!

  For a moment, she got excited, thinking perhaps she could jump in and join the class, the way she had the self-defense classes for the very young disciples. The teacher then had told her to just stand at the back of the class and try to do what they were doing. If she messed up, that teacher had corrected her, and she hadn’t been the only one corrected. Here, she saw too that the person she’d assumed to be the teacher leading the class was perhaps not, since there was another older woman wandering the rows of girls and correcting this stance here and that arm-length there.

  She considered then, seeing if she could feasibly join in the clothes she was wearing, and realized that she was not the only one wearing a ruqun and outer robes that were quite flowy and would get in the way of movement. It seemed encouraged, almost, as all of the girls were wearing such clothes and many had jangly hairpins in their hair and jewelry and makeup on. With that settled, she set her books on the stone bench and headed for the back of the class.

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  She slipped herself into the back row, careful not to crowd anyone, and then proceeded to try and follow the movements. Drawing her left hand along the length of her right and down her chest, only to thrust it out, slowly, in front of her, she struggled to turn her left ankle the way the others did. She nearly toppled over, but the elder came over and adjusted her hips which set her weight back where it was supposed to be, and she realized she’d been holding her weight in the balls of her feet and needed to plant them better.

  She followed along, clumsily, for a long while more, her movements straining and hard, but eventually the elder women called a break, and the class broke up into little cliques. She realized she didn’t know anyone here, and decided the easiest thing to do would be to go to one of the teachers. So, she stepped forward and waited until the teacher ceased speaking with two of the young women (both in peach-pink ruqun that looked as if they hadn’t been sweating at all).

  “Forgive me for joining your class so late,” She started, only to startle and realize that as soon as she’d begun talking, the woman (who looked fourty or fifty)’s face turned hard and annoyed, “Ah… Sorry, have I been rude? I’m very new to this country…” She hoped that would help.

  “One should be polite when speaking to an elder. Let’s begin with an introduction. This one is Elder Chun. And who might this Xiaojie be?” She said Xiaojie like someone might say “Snooty bitch”, which made Nie Ruyi kind of want to wither.

  “Ah.. Nie Ruyi, Elder. Please accept my apologies. I’m unsure what I’ve done-”

  “Nie-Xiaojie is speaking rudely. Nie Xiaojie keeps saying “I”, “You” as if she is some high concubine or rich man’s wife. Nie Xiaojie is-?” Elder Chun prompted, hands planted on her hips.

  Nie Ruyi felt her body heat with shame as she realized she’d forgotten one of the most important things about cdramas and ancient china. NO ONE talked the way she did unless they were arrogant. She swallowed and offered up a bow of contrition. “Forgive this foolish girl, Elder Chun. This Nie Ruyi is newly arrived in this country and unused to manners and etiquette here. Please, whatever advise the wise Elder can offer would be appreciated.”

  “Better.” Elder Chun sniffed, as her coworker came up to her side. The two shared a look, and then Elder Chun turned back to Nie Ruyi. “Nie Ruyi has still not told this Elder who she is or what she is doing in this Elder’s Class.”

  Nie Ruyi straightened up and forced herself to ignore the embarrassment and speak, “This Disciple has recently been looking for a Martial Art to study for self-defense, and was suggested Glowing Fragrance Chill Earth style. Upon arriving at Willow Hall, which this one was told was a good place to look for martial arts training, she saw that there was a class in progress and that the movements matched the book she’d been given. So, this Nie Ruyi joined your class in hopes to pick up a few pointers.”

  “Nie Ruyi moves like a child, unpracticed.” Elder Chun’s coworker stated, tilted her head to look down a crooked nose at her.

  Elder Chun nodded, “Has Nie-Shimei studied any other martial arts?”

  Nie Ruyi shook her head, and then paused, “Ah… This one has been joining the beginners classes for brand new disciples for the last week or so? Before this, she has had no martial arts training whatsoever.”

  “That explains it.” Elder Chun sighed. “You’ll need quite a bit of practice before you are able to move as required for this particular branch of martial arts. You see, the Glowing Fragrance Chill Earth Style is best practiced by those with water and earth roots, so it is best not to take it up lightly.”

  “...Roots?” Nie Ruyi blinked, and then remembered He Qina saying something about that. “This one has Willow Veins, intertwined with Earth veins. Is that what the elder means?”

  Both of the elder woman stared at her for a moment like she’d lost her mind.

  Mini Character List -

  Nie Ruyi - Our protagonist. 34 year old american woman - Okay these ladies seem upset by what I just said. Shoot.

  Lao Xiaojun - Lao Minghui's little brother and Sect Heir. Mr. Does-Not-Appear-In-This-Chapter

  Cai Bingtian - Disciple of Severing Firefly Sect. Still Mr. Does-Not-Appear-In-This-Chapter

  Song Fengling - Nie Ruyi's little assistant. also not appearing in this chapter

  Missy - Worried, although it does not know how to express that.

  The Green Egg - Not forgotten. Currently lives wrapped in blankets on Nie Ruyi's bedside table.

  Goober & Izzy - Sedimentary Sludge Hounds who now live in Nie Ruyi's canopy of her bed. Following Nie Ruyi on her walk. They waited outside like good puppies. This of course, scared the SHIT out of anyone who left the library while she was in there.

  Sun Xirong - Nie Ruyi's maid, a fifteen year old mortal girl. This particular flower is giving her trouble... maybe if she folds this this way?

  Elder Chun - An elder of the sect, who is in charge of teaching one class of the Glowing Fragrance Chill Earth Style to the young women of the sect.

  Unnamed Elder - an elder of the sect who works with Elder Chun to teach.