The Magistrate: Chapter 134 (Patreon)

Sorry for all the delays. I spent last week proofing the formatting for the hardback release of Oh, Great! I was Reincarnated as a Farmer. And then had a friend's 40th on the weekend, which took a couple of days to recover from. Only to then get an old-man injury yesterday (old-man injury being I went to bed fine and woke up having done something to my rotator cuff, which was painful enough to leave me with a migraine all of yesterday. I don't get migraines, so this was like the 3rd one I've ever had, and I feel sorry for anyone who suffers from them).I'm playing catch-up. There are only like 4 more chapters in this book, so I'll try to get them all out by the end of the week, and then we're back to farmer full time.

Chapter 134

A Missed Connection

Years later, Tobias and Hun Jia were sharing tea with Xu Feng, Tobias's spymaster and Xu Ling's father. The three of them had been sitting together for days, waiting for Xu Ling to finish cultivating. Xu Ling had timed her cultivation to coincide with Tobias's seclusion, intending to recount everything that had transpired during his seclusion, weaving their lives back together as much as possible, before he returned to cultivating.

This time, her effort shouldn't have been necessary.

Tobias had had nearly a decade to reacquaint himself with his clan, his servants, and his friends. Which was time enough to manage the fallout from his absence. The Blossoms had soothed most of the trouble his absence caused, making everyone who mattered see his time away as positive, except Xu Ling's clone.

She still wasn't talking to him.

Within a day of Tobias's return, she had been informed by her father's spy network that he had returned with a mortal mistress, three female disciples, and an entire courtesan garden in his wake, several of whom had some familiarity with his yang energy, left over from when he was chasing the dao of hidden beauty.

By the time Tobias could leave to speak with Xu Ling in person, she was no longer willing to speak with him. Nothing Tobias could do could convince her otherwise. Even the insistence of her father hadn't made her budge, so today was Tobias's last chance to salvage their friendship.

There was no doubt about that.

Tobias had walked through the academy unseen and viewed Xu Ling's hidden heart. He knew if he didn't change her mind today, she would merge with her clone and never speak to him again.

She could forgive him leaving. She could forgive him not taking her with him. However, she couldn't forgive him becoming the philanderer the cultivation world believed he'd become.

The dao of hidden beauty was hiding the truth from her, as it was from everyone else. However, unlike everyone else, Xu Ling was Tobias's closest friend.

That hadn't changed.

Tobias missed discussing cultivation, dao, the latest research papers, and technology her academy had produced. He missed being able to share what he had found with her, opening her eyes and his to new possibilities. He wanted to see the smile that would cross her face when she realised that her academy needed multiple new departments to study everything he'd brought back.

Tobias knew a conversation wouldn't fix their relationship. He knew there was no quick fix. Even if today's conversation was successful, it might be months or years before Xu Ling was willing to talk to him, which was why he was in such a pensive mood.

Xu Feng stared at his empty cup of Three Towns Tea, clearly disappointed by the changes it had undergone. "The flavour is the same, but the chi adds an element that somehow dilutes it."

Tobias sipped his tea and shook his head. "My grandpa believes that the introduction of chi makes our mind expect more than a mortal flavour. You unconsciously raise your expectations, only to be disappointed when the flavour doesn't match them. Interestingly, the flavour is the same as it has always been."

Xu Feng opened his mouth to ask a follow-up question about the tea but felt a chi disturbance.

Servant Ho appeared beside Tobias with a movement technique causing no physical disturbance a mortal could notice. He hurriedly cupped his hands and bowed. "I know you asked not to be disturbed, Patriarch, but Elder Yin has come out of seclusion and is rushing towards our realm to speak with you. We will have to lower the defences to allow him entry."

Tobias had shut down their clan's realm for his conversation with Xu Ling. No one was allowed to enter or leave. Xu Ling needed to meet Hun Jia and come to her own conclusions before reintegrating with her clone. It was the only way she might change her mind. Hun Jia had also seen Xu Ling's hidden heart and confirmed that she was so filled with pain that there was no getting through to her anymore.

If Hun Jia's theory that prodigies were reincarnated immortals was correct, then whatever baggage Xu Ling was carrying from her previous life was pulling them apart. It was the only explanation for such an extreme reaction.

"Let him in."

Tobias added a cup and began brewing another pot of tea, sensing the barrier across the entrance to the realm vanish. As he refilled their cups with tea, Yin Hao appeared beside him, causing a slight rustle of the nearby spirit grass.

Tobias floated the cup to his old friend as he inclined his head. "I take it something has tweaked your curiosity, old friend. I didn't expect to see you in the flesh for another century."

Yin Hao offered a deep bow before accepting the tea and draining the cup. He frowned at the taste. "Did your grandpa change the flavour?"

"I asked the same question," Xu Feng replied. "Apparently we unconsciously expect more from the flavour because it contains chi."

Yin Hao floated the cup back to the table and took a seat, not addressing Hun Jia's presence.

He gave Tobias a steady look. "You need to move quickly, Patriarch. Lung Zhi's tiger secretly began his sage realm tribulation this morning near where I was meditating on my dao. I don't like what I saw. I think Lung Zhi underestimates The Republic's strength and is trying to make a power play to become emperor. If you move now, you'll be able to study the tiger's tribulation, the following transformation, and prevent her from making a disastrous mistake. I don't think she'll succeed, but the cultivation world will lose our anonymity if she goes through with her plan. I took the liberty of informing an outpost of the Science and Cultivation Academy on my way here. Xu Ling's clone should be leading her scholars to study the event and deescalate the situation."

A spirit beast hadn't attempted to reach the sage realm in Tobias's lifetime, so Yin Hao was likely right about Xu Ling going to observe.

Tobias withdrew his folding fan from his belt and flicked it open. The action was simple, and yet more than a thousand nascent soul realm cultivators paused what they were doing to give him their full attention. "Lung Zhi appears to be about to make a very foolish mistake. A mistake that may harm my disciple's path and our peaceful life. Please prepare gifts for her and her companion to celebrate his ascension and deliver them with my fondest wishes for their continued success on their path to immortality."

Thousands of servants immediately began waking their main bodies from seclusion while others pulled out weapons and armour that didn't exist outside Finch Clan. Until now, the Finch Clan had refrained from displaying their might to the older generation, but only because the older generation had not been foolish enough to disturb The Republic's peace. Lung Zhi was about to learn she was nothing but a frog in a well.

Yin Hao paled as he counted how many nascent soul realm servants were leaving to deliver Tobias's gifts. Tobias's mother had dropped what she was doing and was arranging to lead the procession. This would not be a small intervention, and the message could not be misinterpreted.

Yin Hao turned to Tobias. "This seems excessive, Patriarch?"

Tobias shrugged. "Perhaps, but a good teacher should always strive to teach a lesson once and have the lesson stick and Lung Zhi has earned no goodwill from me."

Hun Jia leaned over. "My love, you haven't introduced me."

Tobias reached out and took Hun Fen's hand. "My apologies, my love. Hun Jia, this is Elder Yin, an honorary elder of my clan and an old friend. He practices a form of luck-based cultivation that causes him to appear at both the most fortunate and the most unfortunate times. Elder Yin, this is my betrothed Hun Jia."

Yin Hao rose to his feet, cupped his hands, and bowed. "My manners appear to have escaped me, my lady. I apologise for not greeting you correctly."

Hun Jia smiled and inclined her head politely. "You have been in seclusion for nearly twenty years, from what Tobias's mother tells me. You cannot be expected to understand what has taken place during your absence."

Yin Hao hesitated, unsure how to address Hun Jia.

Tobias politely explained. "After an appropriate betrothal period, Hun Jia will become my first wife."

For someone in the nascent soul realm, that period was a century.

Yin Hao looked at what he believed to be a mortal woman, took note of Tobias's yang energy permeating her body, and concluded something strange was going on. Yin Hao hardened his aura so a mortal couldn't hear him. "I never expected you to be swayed by a pretty face."

Xu Feng snorted. "Tactful as ever."

Yin Hao turned and scowled at Xu Feng. "How was that not tactful? And why hasn't she begun cultivating?"

The cultivation world was now deeply divided. Those who could only reach the core realm were now viewed as mortals. Those who could reach immortality were viewed as cultivators.

"No one refuses to let her cultivate," Tobias replied. "She doesn't want to."

Yin Hao frowned. "That's even stranger."

Tobias felt Xu Ling enter the final stage of gathering spiritual energy as she began to reduce the amount of chi she was cycling. "I need to speak with Xu Ling before her clone arrives. Servant Ho will see that you are rewarded for your assistance today."

Servant Ho appeared beside them. "Elder Yin, please follow me."

Servant Ho disappeared and reappeared outside Lingling's kitchen. Yin Hao appeared beside Servant Ho a fraction of a second later. Servant Ho took him inside, and Yin Hao was immediately distracted by Blossom Genji's presence. She was expressing the dao of hidden beauty while preparing dumplings. The man was so used to his luck taking him to odd places or putting him in odd situations that he went with the flow, greeting Lingling while giving Blossom Genji his full attention.

Tobias prepared a new pot of tea for Xu Ling, one with a fresh, fruity flavour that his grandpa hadn't named yet.

Hun Jia leaned her head on his shoulder and hardened her aura so Xu Feng wouldn't hear her. She began to smirk. "I can see why you're friends."

Tobias raised an eyebrow.

"He's the only one who knows you well enough to recognise that you can be swayed by more than a pretty face." Hun Jia wrapped her arms around his arm, pressing her chest against his bicep, trying to distract him.

"I'm trying to make tea, my love."

"And I'm trying to say that the cultivation world considers my curves a flaw. You, however, adore them. And I love you for that, but it also takes a true friend to recognise your oddity in taste, and an even truer friend to point this out to you. He's worried you're making the wrong decision by marrying me."

Tobias reached up and patted her hand reassuringly. "No, my love. Yin Hao's worried for other reasons."

"What reasons?"

Tobias smiled. "Yin Hao's never encountered a situation where his luck hasn't intervened on his behalf. Your dao is hidden from his, so he was thrown off when he made a social faux pas by sitting in your presence before being introduced. For this to happen to him normally, it would mean that his luck is trying to burn any connection between the two of you before it can form. He believes your fate will negatively affect his."

"Are you sure my dao is hidden from his?"

"Absolutely. It offers too many benefits for Yin Hao to have never run into the Hidden Blossom Sect. If he'd been able to encounter it, he would have. It's what he needs to reach the sage realm without altering his path."

Hun Jia let go of Tobias's arm and relaxed her aura, allowing Tobias to finish preparing the tea. Tobias began filling their cups, then set down the teapot and waited for the last few seconds for Xu Ling to wake. 

A few feet away, Xu Ling opened her eyes.

The first person she saw was Tobias. Her face erupted in a smile, reading the changes to his dao the way he had taught her. "You came back."

Tobias returned Xu Ling's smile with his own as he reached out with his folding fan and tapped her shoulder, sharing his hidden heart. Xu Ling felt his feelings for her raw and without restraint in the most intimate way possible. She knew that he'd been in love with her for centuries and waiting for her to feel the same way. That he would always love her. That he loved her even now.

And then Tobias turned to Hun Jia and broke Xu Ling's heart. "Xu Ling, this is my betrothed, Hun Jia."

Xu Ling's eyes shifted to Hun Jia, and Tobias recognised the emotional shift within Xu Ling as she encountered a friend that she had only just met. It was one of the perks of being a prodigy. Pain and understanding flowed through Xu Ling's hidden heart, without any of the emotions touching her face. Xu Feng reached out and took his daughter's hand.  

Xu Ling plastered a fake smile on her face as she accepted her father's comfort before the woman who had taken her place. "It's nice to meet you, Hun Jia."

Hun Jia smiled back, offering a smile filled with genuine warmth. "Tobias talks about you more than anyone else, so I don't feel like this is our first meeting."

Xu Ling's fake smile became an honest one. "Does he?"

Hun Jia nodded. "He's missed you more than anyone else."

Xu Ling turned to Tobias. "I've missed you too."

Tobias returned her smile with one filled with all the beauty he could wield.

Xu Ling's eyes widened, and then curiosity overcame her broken heart the way he hoped it would. "What have you done to your dao?"

"I encountered a rather interesting group of courtesans while I travelled. They are mortal women, yet they have tapped into the dao of beauty to such an extent that they can guide cultivators to dao enlightenment through a method we have never encountered before. Once this dao enlightenment is achieved, it offers an entirely new way of viewing cultivation and dao."

Xu Ling glanced at Hun Jia, putting two and two together.

Hun Jia moved forward and picked up the teapot and began pouring tea for everyone, harnessing the dao of hidden beauty. Xu Ling temporarily forgot everything as she watched Hun Jia's actions, caught by the dao of hidden beauty the way Tobias had been. Her academic curiosity was questioning everything she knew about dao as she watched a mortal express dao more clearly than most cultivators were capable of expressing it.

Hun Jia handed Xu Ling her cup and broke the spell.

Xu Ling frowned and turned to Tobias. "Why are you blocking my aura?"

"Because I'm trying to save our friendship," Tobias replied. "You haven't given me a chance to explain."

Xu Ling's frown deepened. "I'm not talking to you?"

"No. You reached the wrong conclusions upon my return and have refused to speak to me or anyone in my clan. You're not even talking to your father right now."

Xu Ling raised a questioning eyebrow at her father.

Xu Feng sighed. "I was originally on your side. Then Tobias convinced me to undergo the dao training his clan is undergoing. Now I understand his relationship with Hun Jia and the others."

"Others?"

"I am not the only courtesan Tobias has been intimate with," Hun Jia replied as she returned to her seat with her tea.

Xu Feng winced. "You will understand if you go through the training."

Xu Ling scowled. "You approve of Tobias's choice."

"I understand his choice. I also believe that if you were in his position, you would have done what he has."

Xu Ling was far too old to blush at the suggestion, but she did frown. "Why would I go so far?"

"I have gathered more dao insights and comprehension in the past season than the previous two centuries, and that is with a fraction of what Tobias has achieved. If you could see what I can see, I do not doubt that you would take this as far as you can."

Xu Ling sighed. "You want me to undergo this training before merging with my clone."

They both nodded.

"And if I don't?"

Tobias gave her a sad smile. "Then this is likely the end of our friendship. When your clone returns, her experience will shape your experience, and I doubt we have done enough to prevent this from being goodbye."

Xu Ling's aura trembled at the suggestion before she regained control. "How long is this training?"

"The longest anyone in the nascent soul realm has taken in two years."

"And all you wish is for me to undergo this training."

Tobias nodded.

"I do not have to speak with you or interact with you if I do not want to?"

Tobias shook his head, hearing how much he had hurt her. Her excitement had masked the pain, but it was quickly fading.

"Then I will undergo this training for the sake of our friendship," Xu Ling replied. "Whether we remain friends when it is over will have to wait."

Tobias knew he couldn't ask for more.

When one person was in love with someone and the other was not, often the easiest way to deal with it was to stop being friends. There were those who could be happy for the other person and keep them in their lives, abandoning their love to some degree, but that was rare.

Usually, they were just waiting and hoping for a chance for the other to see them the way they saw them. This rarely happened, because while they were with them, they did not change. They did not grow or develop becoming someone the person they loved might be interested in. Ending their friendship allowed them to move on and change themselves, which could have the effect of making the other person see the new them. The new them might even be someone they could love, but that was just as rare as remaining friends without it being a problem.

Tobias hadn't been that kind, though.

He hadn't told Xu Ling he didn't love her. He'd told her he'd loved her for centuries and still loved her but had chosen to spend his life with someone else. He had essentially said she had taken too long to make up her mind and he had moved on.

Tobias and Xu Feng rose to their feet.

Xu Ling frowned again. "Where are you going?"

Hun Jia smiled. "I've offered to teach you your first lesson. They are leaving so they don't distract you."

Xu Ling turned her gaze to the tea set.

Hun Jia's smile grew. "I teach tea ceremonies."

Xu Ling plastered another fake smile on her face. "I can see why he likes you."