The Magistrate: Chapter 47 (Patreon)

Chapter 47

Homecoming

Tobias's family arrived at his compound late the following day. Lingling met them at the gate to help direct them to their accommodation so they could rest and recuperate. His compound was more than large enough to accommodate all five generations of his family, with several entire wings of mansions still empty. Elder Kang had assumed Tobias would relocate his family to Cloud City when the compound was built, so he had ensured there was ample space.

Shortly after they arrived, Aunty Nang informed Tobias that his family were alive, but not well. They were covered in dirt and dust, exhausted from days of endless running. Those without any cultivation were beaten and bruised from being carried for so long and so far, unable to be put down because they could not keep up.

Aunty Nang wasn't too concerned, though. His family had put aside their own needs once they reached their rooms to perform Reiki on the children to accelerate their recovery. However, the thin air of Cloud City would make that hard, so Aunty Nang organised for several junior healers who had retired to Cloud City provide them with additional medical treatment.

Dropping everything to flee assassins that were no longer restricted from moving in the shadows because of the war meant his family had arrived at his compound with little more than the clothes on their backs and his grandpa's tea plans. The members of the Wo family who had sworn themselves to Tobias through Steward Wo had put aside their work in his shopping and entertainment district and were waiting to source anything they needed. Medicinal creams for the children had been the first thing to arrive, but clothes, furniture, and accessories were also on the way.

Tobias had succumbed to exhaustion the moment he knew everyone was safe, but his parents hadn't let their exhaustion stop them from seeking him out the moment they learned he was injured. The sight of his swollen and broken sleeping form made his mother believe he was dead. She'd wailed in grief and tried to leap onto him to hug his corpse, which forced the Lee Clan's physician to intervene and protect him. It was also not a pleasant way for Tobias to wake up, and it had taken his mother nearly an hour to calm down and accept that he wasn't about to pass away any second.

She now sat beside him on a stool with a worried expression, spoon-feeding him broth Lingling had prepared, under the watchful gaze of the physician. The chi dense broth had been strained until it was little more than flavoured spirit water, but his mother refused to leave until he had eaten, not accepting the explanation that food might do more harm than good.

His father was passed out on his bed, and his grandfather was sharing tea with the physician in the corner of the room, while they played a game of Go.

Tobias had been using the sect's pill auctions to supply them and his siblings with golden meridian opening and cleansing pills, so they all had six open energy meridians. His extended family had only two, but with such a large family, even that was financially crippling.

Before selling his discoveries, Tobias had burned through his fortune. But Tobias didn't regret it.

Opening their body and energy meridians had healed a lifetime of malnourishment and abuse. His grandpa's hair was still as white as snow, but his skin was tight and free from wrinkles, and there was an energy in his gaze that said he could challenge anything life threw at him. He'd grown taller, becoming six foot three, and his shoulders had widened. His body was now covered in hard, wiry muscle, returning his mobility.

Tobias's father still had streaks of grey in his hair, but his wrinkles were also gone. He was taller than Tobias, but not as tall as his father, standing at six foot one. His features were undoubtedly much more handsome than before, and he moved like a man who found life effortless.

When they parted ways, Tobias's mother was a short, squat woman and that had barely changed. She'd only grown a few inches taller. The extra height helped to balance her wide frame, giving her better proportions. Her squashed face was much more symmetrical, but she was still considered ugly by cultivator standards.

Her short stature was likely the reason he was shorter than his father and grandpa, despite his transformations. However, Tobias didn't care about that. All he cared about was that she was healthier than he'd ever seen her.

Tobias wore a tired smile as he opened his mouth for more broth, remembering his childhood as the hot liquid ran down his throat. Pretending to be a toddler had been an infuriatingly boring experience, but seeing his mother's love for him as she helped him through daily life despite their situation was the most beautiful part of growing up. The love and care she had shown was something he would happily spend lifetimes repaying.

Everything was finally peaceful when Xu Ling burst into his bedroom with a movement technique. Tobias hadn't seen her since he'd entered the foundation realm, and he physically flinched when she appeared, causing his body to flash with more pain. Her cultivation presence was like a tiger moving among sheep as she stormed across the room and tore the spoon from his mother's hand.

"Are you trying to kill him?" She yelled. "Where is Aunty Nang? Who let this woman in here?"

Xu Ling turned and glared at his father, who had woken, and his grandfather in the corner. "My master is injured and supposed to be resting. Get out!"

Tobias watched his mother rise to her feet, place her hands on her hips, and look Xu Ling dead in the eye. She had a divinity of four, so she could sense what Tobias could now feel, but she didn't back down. "Who are you to barge in here and make such demands?"

"I'm Magistrate Finch's first disciple. Now get out, before I make you get out!"

Tobias wanted to chuckle but couldn't. Xu Ling was clearly upset about his condition and seemed to think his mother was a member of the Wo family she hadn't met. Someone had also explained his condition to her, because she seemed fully aware he shouldn't be eating.

Xu Ling let her protective side get the better of her and flexed her chi, restraining all those in the room except Tobias.

Tobias knew his mother had to have felt the restraint, but she didn't back down. Tobias figured it was partly because of how Xu Ling had spoken to her, but mostly because her husband was gawking at the beautiful woman who had just claimed to be the disciple of his son's disciple. "Where is your chaperone?"

Xu Ling took a rapid step backwards at the word 'chaperone', realising she didn't understand the situation she had walked in on. No member of the Wo family would dare talk back to her, especially when she was flexing her chi.

Xu Ling dropped her gaze. "I didn't have time to find one. I just came out of seclusion and heard my master almost got himself killed breaking through to the foundation realm."

Tobias noticed his mother's shoulders relax.

"You heard your master was injured and you decided to come over here instead of holding to etiquette?"

Xu Ling lifted her gaze and glared back, thinking it was an accusation, but caught Tobias beginning to smirk.

Tobias watched Xu Ling process his mother's demeanour and features, before glancing at his father and grandfather, slowly piecing together who she may have just yelled at. Tobias had described his family to her many times over the years. However, none of them matched the descriptions he'd given her.

There was a brief moment of shock, and then Xu Ling stepped back and bowed, "Xu Ling greets her master's mother."

Tobias's mother folded her arms. "You didn't answer my question, first disciple of my son."

"Yes. I heard Magistrate Finch was injured, so I came here, ignoring etiquette."

Tobias's mother unfolded her arms and turned to Tobias. "I like her." She turned back to Xu Ling. "You may come with me." She started walking towards the door.

Xu Ling rose from her bow and obediently followed. "May I ask where we are going?"

"You have seen my son is alive. Now, we must return to your family and collect your chaperone, so that you can stay here under less scandalous circumstances."

Xu Ling glanced back, begging Tobias to save her with the look she was giving him. Tobias smirked and gave a small wave goodbye, despite the pain. Lingling had told him that his mother had changed a lot since he had last seen her, but this was more than he'd expected, considering the way she treated him when she appeared. This sort of behaviour was the sort of conduct a woman of refined station would show, perhaps not a noble, but a wealthy merchant's wife.

The moment they were gone, Tobias's father leapt to his feet and rushed across the room. He gave Tobias the biggest grin Tobias had ever seen him wear.

"My son's first disciple is the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. I could not be prouder. You must marry her, so this old man can die happy."

His grandfather rolled his eyes.

***

Three hours later, Xu Feng shared a table with his parents and grandpa in the middle of his bedroom. They were drinking tea his grandfather prepared while actively trying to ignore Xu Ling's impropriety.

Xu Ling gently removed her chi and hand from Tobias's chest but continued to glare at him before turning to the physician. "Do you know what happened to him?"

The physician nodded. "Magistrate Finch was unable to properly manipulate chi within his body before breaking into the foundation realm, so he was unable to prevent his meridians from extracting and incorporating the healing chi that had been holding his body together. Patriarch Wei believes the chi acted as a form of body cultivation, so it was both physically and spiritually anchored in place. His injuries were caused by the healing chi being torn from its proper place. However, as a foundation realm cultivator who now has healthy, normally sized meridians, he will naturally recover from these injuries given time."

Xu Ling folded her arms. "Would he not recover more quickly in his cultivation chamber?"

The physician shook his head. "When Patriarch Wei oversaw Magistrate Finch's initial recovery, he noticed that the cultivation chamber did allow him to recover more quickly, but it significantly increased the demands on his body. Magistrate Finch's flesh and spirit have undergone several transformations which are not fully understood, so further strain is ill-advised."

Xu Ling frowned. "How are they not fully understood?"

"Magistrate Finch's muscles, organs, and bones appear to have undergone a transformation similar to body cultivation, yet the magistrate has not consumed any of the materials necessary to undergo body cultivation. A quicker recovery may put demands on his body that he cannot handle in his condition, or it may cause no lasting issues. As we do not know, and Magistrate Finch seems to be recovering on his own, Patriarch Wei felt it was wise to leave him to recover slowly."

Xu Ling didn't seem to like his explanation, because she scowled. However, she couldn't argue because Patriarch Wei was considered the third-best physician in Cloud City.

Tobias forced in a deep breath and braced himself for the pain. "I'm going to be fine."

It wasn't as bad as when he'd spoken to the 3rd Prince, but it still wasn't pleasant.

Xu Ling turned her scowl on him again. "Patriarch Lee's advice nearly got you killed."

"His advice saved your life."

"I might have survived."

Tobias stared at her, glanced at his own transformation, and then stared at her again.

Xu Ling sighed. "Probably not." She dismissed the physician and took a seat on the edge of her fainting couch. "Do you need anything?"

"Sleep."

"Do you want me to check in on your family while you rest?"

"Steward Wo can do that."

Xu Ling sighed. "Since you have everything organised, I suppose all that is left for me to do is meet your parents and grandpa."

Tobias smiled. "Good luck."

***

Days passed, and Xu Ling didn't leave Tobias's side, watching over him every minute to make sure he didn't come to harm. Tobias wasn't in any danger of being killed by an assassin while in Cloud City, but the Great Clans and sects would not protect him from his own family. Steward Wo insisted Tobias's family didn't have any ill will towards him, but Xu Ling wouldn't listen, remaining by his side. She had never met them and did not understand how close they were or how different they were from cultivator families. All she saw was a cultivator family, and cultivator families would use a situation like this to overthrow their patriarch.

A week after his family arrived, Patriarch Lee entered his bedroom and stopped beside Tobias's bed. "The 3rd Prince perished during the final moments of his tribulation as we predicted."

Xu Ling frowned but didn't say a word.

A week wasn't nearly enough time for Tobias to recover, but his pain levels had dropped enough for short sentences. "What do you mean by' predicted?"

"The 2nd Emperor was a coward who prevented anyone in The Three Kingdoms or outside from entering the sage realm. We correctly assumed he had done something to his sons' cultivation to prevent them from entering the sage realm, which is why we gave the 3rd Prince our full support when he said he wished to attempt a breakthrough and end the civil war."

"I suppose that's easier than killing him yourselves," Xu Ling said.

Patriarch Lee nodded. "Now that he has been removed from the board, Patriarch Wei and I are being repositioned to the frontlines."

Tobias didn't think Patriarch Lee was here to say goodbye. Even if he did expect to die, he wasn't the sort of person to come and say farewell. "What do you need?"

"I was hoping to see if there was anything in the storage rings the 3rd Prince traded you, which I can use."

Tobias motioned to the bowl of storage rings sitting on a shelf in the corner of the room. "I'll give you a discount if you pile and sort the contents and check it all for traps."

"How big a discount?"

"Depends on what you find."

Patriarch Lee chuckled as he walked over to the bowl and began going through the contents. It only took him a few minutes to gain access to the storage rings, which belonged to the core realm generals. Storage rings internal capacity was limited by a person's cultivation and how much chi they were willing to expend to maintain it. However, even the smallest core realm ring could hold a dozen large chests.

Tobias couldn't examine the rings himself, but he was certain that leaving them on a shelf for a week wouldn't have caused any issues. Slowly feeding chi into a storage ring was more efficient than recharging it all at once, so cultivators kept their rings fully topped up.

Sixteen chests appeared in the centre of the room, and Patriarch Lee began sorting through them. He separated what he found into money, spirit stones, arrays, artifacts, pills, talismans, weapons, armour, and resources before opening the next ring.

Tobias sent the closest servant to get Aunty Nang and Steward Wo to inventory everything Patriarch Lee found. Many of the core realm products were entirely unknown to him, so without Patriarch Lee's help, Tobias had no clue what most of them were.

Aunty Nang got to work the moment she arrived, but Steward Wo stopped by Tobias for a moment. "Have I done something to upset you, Patriarch?"

Tobias wasn't surprised by the question. He had sent Steward Wo a brief message thanking him for taking care of his family and telling him he was too injured to meet, so they hadn't spoken since he arrived.

"No," Tobias replied. "Use your cultivation to assess my condition."

Tobias no longer looked like he was at death's door. In fact, he looked entirely healthy. But that was only skin deep. Beneath the surface, he was still a broken mess.

Steward Wo stepped forward and gently placed his hand on Tobias's chest. Tobias felt Steward Wo's chi enter his body and then immediately retreat.

Steward Wo's eyes bulged. "How are you alive?"

"I'm in too much pain to die."

Steward Wo raised an eyebrow and chuckled. "I apologise for misunderstanding the situation, Patriarch. I thought your mother was overreacting."

"We can talk about it when I'm recovered. For now, inventory what we received from the 3rd Prince."

"As you wish."