Chapter 195 — A Broom, a Cauldron and a Debt

CHAPTER 195

A Broom, a Cauldron and a Debt

Shi Feng was awake before the rooster, sitting on the plank bed with his eyes closed. Outside, the pear tree was still dark.

Two sets of footsteps stopped at his door.

He opened it before anyone knocked. He Zhen stood on the step, looking as if he hadn't slept. Behind him, Li Changyuan held a lantern in one hand and a long-handled broom in the other.

“You're up,” Li Changyuan said.

“You said dawn,” Shi Feng said.

“It's not dawn yet,” Li Changyuan said.

Li Changyuan walked in without being asked, set the lantern on the table with the short leg, and sat on the only stool. He Zhen closed the door and stood beside it like a guard who'd been told to look at nothing.

“Close the shutter,” Li Changyuan said. “No lamps. No sound. Elder He, you saw nothing.”

“I saw nothing, Sect Master,” He Zhen said at once.

“Good,” Li Changyuan said. “Kneel, boy.”

Shi Feng knelt.

Li Changyuan accepted him as a personal disciple without any grand ceremony. Shi Feng was surprised by how quickly it happened. Then the old man made the condition clear: there would be no announcement. Only the three people in this room would know.

“Why?” Shi Feng asked.

“You carry a broken sword wrapped in cloth and you don't complain,” Li Changyuan said.

“That isn't a reason,” Shi Feng said.

“Enough of one for now,” Li Changyuan said. “You’ll learn the rest as we go. Don’t stand there waiting for praise.”

He Zhen stared at Shi Feng like a man watching a stranger win a bet he hadn't known was running.

“Sect Master,” He Zhen said carefully, “in the last forty years, you haven't taken…”

“Elder He,” Li Changyuan said.

“I saw nothing,” He Zhen said.

Shi Feng bowed his head to the packed-earth floor three times. “Master,” Shi Feng said.

“Get up, then,” Li Changyuan said. “And don’t shout ‘Master’ down the lane before breakfast. I’ve just told you this stays between us.”

Shi Feng stood.

“Three gifts,” Li Changyuan said. He leaned the broom against the table first. “One. This.”

Shi Feng took it. The handle was worn smooth by decades of one hand.

“It's a broom,” Shi Feng said.

“Best broom on the mountain,” Li Changyuan said. “Start with this lane every morning. Sweep all the way to the second gate, and don’t skip the corners.”

He Zhen made a small, strangled sound. Li Changyuan ignored him and pulled a cracked iron cauldron out of his bundle. It thumped onto the floor, a long black fracture running down one side.

“Two,” Li Changyuan said. “You brew in this. Don't fix it. It'll teach you to hold heat.”

“Is it meant to leak?” Shi Feng asked.

“Only a little,” Li Changyuan said. “And three.”

He laid a folded paper across Shi Feng's palm. It was thin and yellow, and several different brushes had written on it.

“Coal,” Li Changyuan said. “The sect owes Fan Coal House two thousand three hundred and eighty spirit stones. Fan paid three years' rent in advance, which covered some of it. This is what's left. It's yours now.”

He Zhen's eyes went wide. “Sect Master, that debt has been on the Treasury's books since…”

“Since before you were an elder,” Li Changyuan said. “Yes. Now it's on his.”

Shi Feng read the paper line by line, the way he read every contract. The numbers were what the old man had said.

He had more than that in his ring, from the tournament prizes. But the old man wasn't asking for money. Shi Feng thought, This is a test, and I still don't know the question.

“Does it carry interest?” Shi Feng asked.

“Not from me,” Li Changyuan said.

“Then I accept,” Shi Feng said. “Who holds the receipt?”

The room was silent.

He Zhen put a hand over his mouth. Li Changyuan looked at Shi Feng for a long moment, and the corners of his eyes creased.

“The receipt,” Li Changyuan said slowly. “Not why, not how, not what happens if you can't pay. The receipt.”

“Then let Elder He write it down,” Shi Feng said. “When I clear the debt, I want proof. I’m not paying the same coal bill twice.”

“Ha,” Li Changyuan said. “Elder He. Write him a receipt. Today. Make it honest.”

“Yes, Sect Master,” He Zhen said faintly.

At the door, Li Changyuan paused. “Sweep slowly,” Li Changyuan said. “People will watch you, and they should believe what they see. As the saying goes, a tall tree catches the wind.”

Dawn arrived with Shi Feng standing in the eastern lane, sweeping.

The first outer disciple opened a shutter and froze. The second came out to fetch water and dropped the bucket. By the time the sun cleared the roofs, the lane had filled with an audience that stood well back from the dust.

“The champion is sweeping,” someone whispered.

“It's a punishment!”

“Which elder did he offend?”

“Who cares? The champion of the whole kingdom, with a broom!”

“So much for the inner court…”

Wu Qiang stood at the edge of the crowd with his arms folded. He opened his mouth. Then he looked at the closed door of hut ten, and closed it again.

Shi Feng swept on while Zhu Liu followed with his receipt book open. The boy looked from the dust to his brush, unsure how the Treasury expected him to record this work. Shi Feng pretended not to notice.

Near the second gate, a shabby old man with a bundle stood scratching his neck.

“Who's that?”

“The night sweeper, I think.”

“…”

“Not bad,” Li Changyuan said. “Now put it down.”

Shi Feng stopped. Every eye in the lane followed the broom to the ground.

“First lesson,” Li Changyuan said. “The Flame Cavern. Tomorrow. Don't die.”

“Is there a reason?” Shi Feng asked.

“Funerals cost money,” Li Changyuan said.