Cai Xi Kong sipped his tea as he studied the man across from him. Master Rou’s eyes were closed as he smelled the tea before him. Xi Kong frowned. He could almost detect… discomfort from the expert before him. His face had been stone during the last meeting. He had received the reports of the Lord Director on their reparations. He had listened to the testimony of the sects upon the resources given to those who had participated in the defense of Tigu.

Then he, calmly and matter of factly, nodded his head and announced his intention to leave the next day. Xi Kong had already known. The man had discussed it with his disciples last night and offered to allow this “Rags” and “Loud Boy” to accompany him. To Xi Kong’s surprise though, the Loud Boy had politely declined for the moment.

But the statement had been taken in stride. Who would dare to argue with the man? Lines of communication for emergencies were set up… and that was it.

When asked if he had any guidelines to follow, the man had simply raised an eyebrow and stated:

“Protect the people and live virtuous lives. Otherwise it's hardly any of my business.”

And that was that. The halo of light upon the chair went out and Master Rou had left with that simple edict..

Xi Kong knew that there would be many, many discussions over the months and years about Master Rou’s actions and words. But there was one thing that was certain.

The Azure Hills had a new master, one who ruled by might and with benevolence.

And now he was having tea with the expert as the younger generation vented the last of their rowdiness. The buildings were awash in the colours of Yun Ren’s murals and the shouts of Tigu. The Young Masters and Mistresses spoke in hushed voices with his daughter, nodding solemnly and pledging to whatever she was saying.

All his disciples were in the thick of it, as the servants delayed their departure for one last night.

Xi Kong stared at the man for a moment longer. The days had been busy and full of meetings before so he barely got any time to truly sit down and have a personal conversation with his daughter’s saviour.

“Master Rou?” The man opened his eyes and shook his head.

“Please, call me Jin,” he said.

Xi Kong inclined his head. “Then I hope you would do the honour of calling this one Xi Kong.” The man nodded and Xi Kong continued. “My daughter told me of your actions in saving her life from Sun Ken. This Xi Kong has not yet had an opportunity to thank you.”

The man sipped his tea. “It was the least I could do. The first thing she did on seeing us was warn us of a dangerous monster.”

“Still, we are in your debt…”

“The debt has been paid,” he said with finality. “We are friends now, and that is all that matters.”

Xi Kong nodded. It was as the rooster said. His daughter was in good hands.

“Master Rou… Jin. I entrust my daughter to you,” he said, bowing his head.

“I think… you should entrust her with herself,” Master Rou returned.

Xi Kong looked up at the man. The absolute confidence he had in Xiulan. “Yes, I think she has learned quite well how to take care of herself,” he said quietly. “She will be a fine Elder of our sect when she returns. A new dawn for the grass upon the plains.”

The man chuckled and took a drink. “Xiulan definitely has some ideas, I think.”

They returned to silence for a moment, both of them amused until Xi Kong recomposed himself. This was a rare opportunity to speak with a Master like this, and so he decided upon the opening question that his father had liked to use. It was a question his father had told him allowed one to get a quick measure of a man. To see his priorities and what he valued at a glance.

“Jin, what do you believe is the most important thing to remember?” Xi Kong asked.

The man’s lips twitched. “You know, Xiulan asked me the same question once,” the man stated.

“Oh?” Xi Kong asked, curious.

“Always remember a clean pair of socks.” Xi Kong barked out a laugh and felt some of the tension fade.

They sipped their tea and made small talk about their plans. Jin spoke at length about his “still” which looked curiously like the contraption in Pale Moon Lake City that Xi Kong had seen once, some thirty years ago, when the troubles in the mortal capital had required his attention.

It was an interesting subject, and he was surprised the man would share his profound secrets so easily.

Or perhaps that was just his nature? Xi Kong knew some men taught as many as they could instead of hoarding their knowledge, but they were few and far between. Could this new method be the next Thousand Li View?

=======================================

Tie Delun swallowed thickly as the sun was setting. He had missed most of the goodbyes as he rushed to finish this and had only just managed it.

He shifted the box he was carrying under his arm and pondered Master Rou’s words. Perhaps… perhaps he was too suddenly devoted. Tigu had been the only woman to… well, ever compliment his appearance instead of calling him an ugly brute. The splotches on his nose, the deep tan of his skin and his bulging muscles were hardly considered attractive to most other cultivators.

But thinking on Master Rou’s words… well, he was right. Tigu seemed completely oblivious, even with her calling him handsome. She demanded he take off his shirt so she could carve him with pure eyes.

It hurt to think about it, but he would persevere!

He entered the open gates of the Verdant Blade Sect’s manor.

Even if this wasn’t an official courting gift like he intended it to be… it was still fine, it would be his parting gift instead.

Most people had left already, going out into the town with Yun Ren to record their images onto stone. He had seen Xianghua dragging Gou Ren off again.

So, when he was guided in by the servants into the room, there were very few people to greet him. Tigu, Xiulan, the Petals, and the two annoyances, Loud Boy and Rags.

Tie Delun pushed the them out of his mind and focused on the one who mattered.

“Handsome Man!” Tigu enthused on seething him and his face flushed. “Finally! I was going to come hunt you down if you had disappeared for too much longer!”

Delun chuckled and scratched the back of his head. “Sorry. I just had to finish this up. It’s… it’s for you,” he said, holding the lacquered box out to Tigu.

Tigu’s eyes widened as she opened the lacquered box, revealing two shiny silver arm guards. They would cover her knuckles and go up her forearms to her elbows. They were carved with the runes of power from his family, and though they mostly didn’t work nowadays… They were still arranged with all his skill.

Tears sprung up in Tigu’s eyes as she stared at the carvings. She swallowed thickly and flushed crimson

“Handsome Man! These are masterpieces!” the young woman declared. “You dare shame me by giving me a better gift than this Tigu is about to give to you?!”

Delun’s eyes widened as Tigu pulled out her own gift. A wooden pendant carved in the shape of a strange hammer. It had intricate knotwork upon it and it was flanked by two blue feathers that felt of Qi—

Delun’s eyes shot to the Spirit Beast rooster, the rooster that had the same blue colouration on his wings.

“I couldn’t find any good feathers, so I asked… Senior Brother to give me some!” she stated.

The feathers of a Profound Realm Spirit Beast, given willingly. The rooster turned to Tie Delun and offered him a bow.

“Hey look, we’re brothers!” Rags japed, showing his own pendant that looked like a boar. Loud Boy had what looked like an oddly plump and fishy dragon.

Tie Delun for a brief moment felt a twinge of jealousy, but crushed it down. Instead, he nodded to the two others, who nodded back.

Then Tigu slammed into him and started talking about how great it would be to see his home and more of his carvings before inviting him over.

Tie Delun couldn’t help it. At her earnestness, he fell in love all over again.

Waiting… wouldn’t be too bad, would it?

==========================

Zang Wei, known to most as Loud Boy, stared fondly at the pendant. It joined the other one around his neck. A piece of dull blue horn, inlaid with jade.

‘What is the Nature of this world?’ the booming voice asked.

He shook his head and started packing up. He was amused at how quickly his world had changed. Who would have ever thought that things would have come to this? Certainly not him. He kept up his packing, staring around at the room.

“Are you certain of this?” Miss Cai asked. “Master Jin would welcome you with open arms.”

Wei paused at her gentle words. She was concerned for him, he could tell that much.

The young man hesitated before he nodded.

“Yes, I’m sure. The manual said that to achieve the best effects one must travel to a place significant to their cultivation, to reconnect with their past and bring it to the present. And there's only one place I can think of.”

Back to a hidden old alcove and a nest of dragon bones. He clutched his necklace under his shirt. His resolve firmed.

“Besides! I finally have an answer to a question somebody asked me, long ago.” He smiled at her. “I gotta give it to the old bastard, yanno?”

“And it ain’t like he's headin’ out alone,” Rags said, staggering in and clapping Loud Boy on the shoulder. “I’ll take good care of my little brother!”

Wei shoved at him, glaring. Deep inside though, his heart felt… warm.

How long had it been since people had touched him with affection? He didn’t know.

Wei rolled his eyes. “I beat you when we fought the first time! I’ll be the Senior Brother!” Rags laughed and ruffled Wei’s hair.

“We’ve got to go back to our old stomping grounds, anyway,” he said. “Got some unfinished business! We’ll get Loud Boy his cultivation back and then come and visit!”

Miss Cai nodded before her face turned serious. “Dong Chou. Zang Wei. You will forever be friends of the Verdant Blade Sect. Honour and nobility can come from any, no matter how raggedy they look.”

Before he got to know her… He never would have realized that Cai Xiulan would have a sense of humour.

Nor that she hummed along to the song about the whore and the donkey.

Rags grabbed his chest with mock pain, groaning as he leaned back.

Rags laughed at her words—and then cut off when he saw what she was handing out to them. A vial with two pills in it.

The prize from the tournament. The Profound Breakthrough Pills.

“Just in case that which you have gained from the Shrouded Mountain Sect is not enough,” she said, smiling at them.

“You… you were hurt too. Your cultivation is—” Wei began, but Xiulan just shook her head.

“Indeed, it probably could bring me back up to the Profound Realm, or at least knock upon the door to it. But a good friend taught me to treasure a slower path. They were useless to me when I earned them and I would rather they go to you.”

Her words were soft and full of conviction. There was no pity in her words. Only that she believed them worth the reward.

Tears gathered at the corner’s of Wei’s eyes.

The truth of this world was cruelty.

And yet, that answer had changed.

He took a breath and clasped his hands in front of himself. “I will never forget what you did for me, Cai Xiulan.”

Rags too stared at the pills, his hands shaking.

“You know… when I came here, I didn’t expect this to happen,” he muttered.

“And I will never forget your courage,” Miss Cai returned. She studied them for a moment, before clasping her hands in front of her. “Live well, Rags, Loud Boy. I look forward to seeing you again soon.”

They returned her salute.

And then Tigu stormed into the room, carrying a bottle of alcohol.

“We forgot to do this!” she shouted out as both men jumped. “Rags! Loud Boy! Will you be my sworn brothers?” Tigu asked the two men, her eyes wide. The two of them looked at each other.

“I get to be the senior brother,” Rags declared.

Both Tigu and Wei objected to that, even as they clasped their hands together.

Miss Cai smiled at them.

Wei had come to the tournament for glory. To cast aside his sorry past and embark upon the lonely path to the Heavens.

Two grins met him. One from a ragged looking man and another from an orange haired girl.

He had lost everything that he came here with. A lesser man would be broken. Wei had almost broke, but as he looked at the Profound Breakthrough Pills he found himself musing on the pendant around his neck.

Putting the pills away Wei thumbed the feathers of the pendant and smiled at what he had gained and would regain.

He would get his cultivation back. And then he would give the old dragon his answer.

==============================

I thought back to the first time I had left the world of cultivation. The lonely mountain above, the Cloudy Sword Sect, hadn’t cared. I had nothing but a backpack, wandering alone across the Empire in a mad dash to get away from it all.

There had been nobody who even really noticed I had left.

It was a far cry from this.

“Bye!” Tigu shouted, jumping up and down and waving both arms. “Goodbye, Brother Loud Boy, Brother Rags, and Handsome Man! Smaller Blade of Grass, practise what I showed you, and match the Blade of Grass! Fish Eyes, hug your little sister for me! Head of Grass, remember to practise! Smallest Blade of Grass, grow taller!”

She shouted out a barrage of nicknames for people, dashing from one to another. From Blue Man to Bright Smile and Hairpin, each one with something directed at them. For all that she seemingly couldn’t remember most people’s actual names, she did seem to know at least something about them, shouting for them to get better or be stronger, challenging some of them to fights later on.

It was cute how bouncy she was being… and how surprisingly sociable. Who would have thought that a cat would turn out to be good at making friends. Her new bracers glinted on her arms.

Ri Zu was watching fondly from up on Big D’s back. She had already said her goodbyes and out of all of us she surprisingly had the most luggage. Satchels of herbs and several scrolls she had seen were the main thing, but she also had a crapload of bottles of alcohol that she had no idea what to do with. Presents from Rags, I was told.

Gou Ren suddenly burst out from the crowd, his face flushed and Bowu on his shoulders. The kid was laughing his head off as Gou Ren dashed forwards. From out of the crowd appeared Xianghua, a languid smile on her face—before she too got accosted by Tigu as the girl rubbed their cheeks together.

Yun Ren chortled as he hopped down off the cart, putting away his recording crystal and checking over everything one last time.

Gou skidded to a stop before us and set Bowu down in the carriage. Xianghua herself would be along later.

In the end, all the extra people who were joining us were a kid who knew what steam engines were and a monkey.

I looked up at the sky, then back down to the people.

As one, the line of cultivators bowed their heads to us.

“May the Heavens Favour You!” the people shouted.

I raised my hands and bowed back.

A rooster let out an ear-splitting crow.

I chuckled

“You tell ‘em, Big D,” I said, as we started marching off.

Finally, marching back home.