Ran Qiang leaned against the stairwell of the library’s first floor as the distant bell rang. Her eyes closed and her lips pressed together. She couldn’t wait any longer, there were matters of importance in the city.

Yet just as she was leaving, she spotted and stopped in front of the person she was waiting for. “Follow me.” She began walking down the shelves without waiting for a reply from a surprised Ruidie.

Footsteps told her that the girl followed.

“What is it?” Ruidie said.

Ran Qiang quickened her pace towards the southern building.

“You want me to meet someone,“ Ruidie said as a fact. “What for?”

She actually got it right... “My Ran Family used to produce and sell incense and ink. It still does with additions like paper and brushes. We have no connection to the ascetic world. It is a wonder I even passed the Thousand Thought Exam.”

“Someone outside supported you to enter the school.”

Ran Qiang was glad her face couldn’t be seen from her back. “Cultivation is still an individual affair, and I have little talent.”

“You also feel indebted to someone else inside the school for succeeding in your studies,” Ruidie concluded. “Do you have to be so cryptic to say something so simple?”

Crossing over to the first floor of the southern building, she stopped before the staff kitchen.

Ran Qiang finally turned and faced Ruidie. Her lips shifted into something that resembled a frown but wasn’t. “These types of initial bottlenecks aren't uncommon. You need to change your perspective if you want to cultivate.”

“I know.”

Ran Qiang raised an eyebrow.

“I understand my problem, but change is only possible if I want to change,” she said.

“When a village boy enters a city for the first time, their perspective changes by becoming wider. Nothing is lost, but something's gained.” Ran Qiang stepped past her. “I have business to take care of outside the school. This opportunity to widen your world is not something you want to waste.”

“Why?”

Without turning around, Ran Qiang waved her hand. She understood what was asked. “Do you know who keeps the study room you took over from being disturbed? The other staff is beginning to take up issues, and I can’t be bothered to address them. So enter cultivation already and take books to your dorm like a normal person.”

There was almost no reason to explain why she would go out of her way to help. She did not believe that fairness existed in the world. Yet, while many people are motivated, a drive to succeed that kept someone mechanically referencing books for every moment of their day besides eating and sleeping, was rarer. If even someone like that failed, then where would I be?

She did not look back when she turned the corner and stepped outside the building. On the street which split the Capital Schools, a carriage waited for her.

A hand lifted the curtain for her to get in.

“New information?” Ran Qiang said.

“Yes, and I’m waiting for more later. Where do you want to discuss?” a young man’s voice said.

“Your store like usual.”

...

Ruidie’s eyes became distant, contemplating something. She turned and entered the kitchen.

A single old woman was operating the stove with her back turned. She was small in frame and as short as Ruidie. Her grey hair gathered in a single bun. In a way, she was the opposite of her grandmother, someone that could get mistaken as one of the school’s caretakers. However, she wore the grey robe of Thousand Thought. In the ascetic world, age represented wisdom, experience, and cultivation realm.

She guessed her title and bowed. “Hello, Senior Instructor.”

“Ginger,” the woman's husky voice said.

On the wide table in the middle of the kitchen were many plates of ingredients, most grounded into spices. So a test it is. She entered the kitchen and handed the woman the ginger.

“Lotus roots,” the woman said again.

Eighth plate on the left. Ruidie handed her the plate of sliced lotus roots and got a clear view of the pot at the stove. Some sort of pork and lotus root broth was being prepared. The woman was also perfectly familiar with the arrangement of the kitchen, despite the fact that Ruidie had never encountered the woman when she retrieved food from here.

“Ginseng.”

Second plate on the right.

“Peony root.”

Twelfth plate on the left.

“Pale lovage.”

Fourth Plate on the top.

“Rehmannia root.”

Last plate on the bottom.

After placing a lid on the pot, the woman finally turned around but her eyes ignored the girl. Her hands mixed several herbs into a mortar and took up a pestle. “Do you study medicine?” her voice was distant and static.

“No. I cared for a herb garden.”

The woman's expression remained unchanged. “I heard the words between you and Ran Qiang. As much as I favor the Ran girl, you are not my student. I have things to do.”

Ruidie got the idea and nodded with a relaxed smile on her face. She preferred this over someone feeling obliged to treat her any differently than a normal student. Turning around and passing the door to leave, she froze. Wait a second. A wry smile crossed her face and she couldn’t resist. “Actually, now that I think about it, I am one of your students, and you do owe me something.”

“What was that?” The old woman raised her head as a breath left her mouth. Although unseen, the exhaled breath dispersed to permeate the entire room.

Ruidie found herself stuck in place. The air and pressure around her obstructed any movement. “Senior Instructor Cui, I am Hei Ruidie, a student of your Natural Sciences class which has been neglected for more than two months now.”

Senior Instructor Cui sized up Ruidie. She held out the pestle. “Help and I can spare a simple conversation. What would you ask someone as wise as me?”

Ruidie took the pestle. “What kept you occupied at the Spring and Autumn Archives.”

“Creating recipes,” the woman answered loosely.

“Cooking?”

“I am a dietician for a certain someone.”

“Just one person? Who is so important?”

“The Emperor.”

Ruidie blinked. “That is important.” She glanced behind her towards the north. For the first time since she entered the capital, she felt the closeness of the palace.

“While you are born to be a part of the Spring Generation, I am from the Previous Spring Generation. This was a hundred years ago, during the changing of dynasties. When heroes rose on the chaotic battlefields throughout the land. When Taizong first raised his banners. Since then, I have fed the last three emperors. The one sitting on the dragon chair right now, Zhenzong, and Taizong.”

Ruidie gazed at the table of herbs in a new light. “Medicinal cooking. Do you also teach it here?”

“Besides Natural Science, I only teach Medicine. If you are able to join the Spring and Autumn Archives, you can choose to learn Gastronomy under me. Altogether, I combine my practices as medicinal cooking, my last purpose in this life. Knowing the direction you want to walk can get you past any roadblock. Solving whatever problem you have is simple. What is your purpose?”

Ruidie frowned. Her plan of competing in cultivation already crumbled after the first week, and even if it didn’t, was competition really considered a purpose? “I don’t know.”

Instructor brows creased in amusement and annoyance. “You don’t know? Aren’t you trying to cultivate The Way?”

“Of course.”

“Then it's obvious what your purpose should be.”

Ruidie tilted head. “What’s obvious?”

“Ascension! It is ascension. Prove your path to The Way is true and escape mortality. It is the goal of every cultivator. Or is it too great for your heart to consider? Is if it is, you have no potential to cultivate.”

She did think about it, many times actually. “How often does someone ascend?”

“Once every several hundred years.”

“Do they come back?” Ruidie asked innocently.

“Of course not.”

The girl slowly breathed and said her next words carefully. “Then, aren’t they dead?”

For the first time in years, Senior Instructor Cui faltered. Her eyes widened. Her hand shook. “What...” escaped her.

Ruidie uneasily shifted in place. “If it has never been seen, how does anyone even know something exists after ascending. If no one comes back from ascension, then what’s the difference between that and someone killing themselves in trying to reincarnate?”

“Are you implying that the sages and immortals all died by suicided?”

“No. Well, maybe. Yes?”

The woman silently stared at the girl in disbelief. “Let’s try this,” she muttered. “Do you know what ’demon’ refers to?”

“Instructor Mishra actually went over this.”

“Isn’t she covering me for Natural Sciences?”

“Sometimes she goes on tangents about her specialty.”

“Is that why you have a problem with the class?”

“No, the days when she goes on tangents are actually the most productive in terms of learning something new.”

“Fine. Forget I said anything. Continue about what you know.”

Ruidie nodded quickly. Her mood worsened even more, didn't it? “Humans are not the only life that can cultivate, they are just the most talented because of their intelligence. Any life possessing intent can do so. Animals each have many differences in their cultivation, just like Primal Paths, however, there are two successful patterns that exist. At one point in their cultivation, an animal will either transform their body to give itself stronger features or transform its mind to give itself higher intelligence. Those that transform their bodies are referred to as monsters and those that transform their mind are referred to as demons. Principal Mei Hou is thus a demon, our guardian animal.”

Senior Instructor Cui nodded. “There is a third pattern. An animal can also transform both their mind and body. A total transformation or rebirth. Doing so would mean losing all its cultivation progress as well as memories, but they do so to gain the talent to cultivate further than they could otherwise.”

Ruidie closed her eyes and crossed her arms. “A human. They would choose to be reborn as the creature with the most talent.”

“If they ever encounter a human and recognize our cultivation talent, they will likely choose to rebirth into a human. Unlike partial transformation, full transformation means that they are human in every sense, so it never mattered enough to form a word associated with them. Dwell on it alone. More importantly, the word ‘demon’ is always used to refer to threats. While demons and monsters have always been what threatened humans since the days of the wilderness, there are more ‘demon’ can refer to.”

What else is there? “This information is not kept in the library or the public, or I would have found mention of it.”

“The Giants. The Dragons. The Devils. Things that you will likely never meet. Life that is not native to this world. Life that has threatened humanity at one point in the past. A tribe of devils is the most recent to cause the deaths of many cultivators until they were dealt with. Other worlds exist, what’s to say these ‘demons’ didn’t ascend to our world?”

Ruidie stood straighter at the prospects of other worlds. Then, after recounting some of the more elaborate texts she had read, she looked at the woman oddly. The girl seemingly judged the woman’s intelligence while simultaneously feeling guilty about it. “You do know about world-systems, a star and its surrounding planets, right? There are just as many planets as there are stars for life to exist. Whatever these demons are, they didn’t need to ascend. They can arrive here by crossing the distance of stars.”

Senior Instructor Cui teeth pressed together. “Of course I know! I have listened to a certain Buddhist monk say a hundred times that salvation will be brought to the Three Thousand Great Worlds." She described the billion world-systems and stars that include this one.

“So you know and was deliberating trying to trick me!”

“Yes, I’m tricking you!” Senior Instructor Cui placed her hand over her forehead and sighed. “I’ll try one last time. ‘Demon’ can also refer to something else.”

“There’s more? How many types of demons are there!?”

“Quiet, Child! They are most commonly called heavenly demons, conscious existences composed entirely of intent.”

Ruidie stopped and considered the concept. Her right hand momentarily touched her head. Intent was formed by physical complexity. It was a will that recognized the world, but it remained energy and laws, ‘earth’, nonetheless. Without her brain, she wouldn’t be able to think. Intent should not exist without energy. “What’s to say these heavenly demons aren’t also life from another world-system that sent their intent?”

“They manifest into the world as nothing but intent. They only survive if they arrive within the mind of a human or animal.”

She went over the words of her father. ‘Man’ interacted with ‘heaven’, which interacted with ‘earth’, which interacted with ‘man’ again. For ‘man’ to exist without ‘earth’ it needed ‘heaven’, yet ‘heaven’ interacted with ‘earth’ and not the reverse. “What are they?”

“Who knows?”

Without ‘heaven’, one could still potentially experience everything in the world, yet what about outside of the world?

“Do you want to know?” Senior Instructor Cui said.

Ruidie’s lips tighten. “Maybe I am somewhat curious,” she softly admitted. She paused and her eyes blinked. A feeling had just appeared in the back of her mind, telling that she, a person, undeniably existed in the world.

“Welcome to the Orthodox Path. Now get out of my sight. I need to clear all the nonsense I just heard from you from my mind.”

Ruidie did not move, she remained standing with a dumb grin on her face. She had succeeded. She has begun cultivating.

...

Walking up the staircase Ruidie went directly to her study room. As expected, Chen Xiaosi sat on the ground looking bored. “Let’s go. I’m teaching with words, so we don’t need to stay in the library.”

The boy got up. “Eh? Where are we going.”

“Into the city, to investigate.”

“What?”

“Something I am interested in.”

…

Ruidie initially led Xiaosi down Phoenix Avenue until turning right towards the west. In the middle of the day, the surrounding peddlers had already set up various food stalls and trinket stands, however, they ignored all of them.

“What’s the next exercise?” Xiaosi asked.

“On a flat plot of dirt, there are fifty logs. They are forty feet long and two feet wide. With an ax and a saw alone, build the best house you can.”

His features sank. “I can’t build a house.”

“You can try however many times you want.”

Xiaosi closed his mouth and kept walking. When he frowned, Ruidie knew that, in his mind, he had failed and was trying again.

Ruidie stopped at a familiar brick building that hung a large name board. The Taiping Mayor’s Office.

After patting down her grey uniform, she sized up Xiaosi. “Don’t move.” She adjusted his dark-blue uniform. “Alright, good. Now, just follow along.”

“What’s going on?”

“You’ll see. You don’t even need to talk.” Ruidie waved as she stepped towards the entrance.

Xiaosi hand landed on her shoulder to stop her. He spoke when the girl turned her head with a perplexed frown. “Tell me what we’re doing. I am clueless only because you don’t tell me. I am clueless only because I am still learning.” He was serious.

Ruidie’s shoulders lowered. She was in the wrong, but it was difficult to find the right words to reconcile. “Can you guess?” she said quietly.

“Guess?”

“Guess why am I here. I think you already have the most important clues.”

Xiaosi looked up at the name board of the building. “I have only heard of the Mayor’s Office being mentioned once before.” His face lit up. “You are here for the Tiger Tail Gang?”

Ruidie raised an eyebrow. He actually got it. “Do you remember what the building you found burning was?”

“It was… a brush store right?”

“How do you know?”

“Senior Ran said so.”

“How did she know?”

Xiaosi paused and his expression shifted when it dawned on him.

Ruidie went past the entrance as Xiaosi followed along.

The storefront was charred that night, and the darkness did not help in identifying what small store sold from the outside. But a young woman whose family business happened to also sell brushes realized immediately what the burning store was. It had been on the back of Ruidie’s mind since that night and she was finally confirming it.

She went straight to the receptionist, the same young man from before, who didn’t seem to recognize her. “Is Official Sun Ming here?”

The young man sat up confused. “What do two students need?”

Ruidie cupped her hands and bowed. “I am the daughter of Official Luo Yizuan. I would like to pass an urgent message from my father to his student. Would Sir comply with my request.”

The young man frowned as he considered it, but eventually stood up. “Wait here.”

There were chairs against the wall, so she sat down.

“Is meeting an official this easy?” Xiaosi said, sitting down next to her.

“The factors were all aligned. The time of day. Our uniforms. Sun Ming’s post. My father. Even if something was missing, there would be another way to get what we want.”

He hummed over the sound of heavy footsteps.

Sun Ming appeared from around the corner, wearing his black hat and blue garb. He had his stoic mask, but his lips were twitching. “Follow me, Little Miss.”

Ruidie smiled and pushed off her seat to follow behind Sun Ming.

At the end of the central hall where a wall split into four smaller hallways, was a table and four chairs. All around, different officials, merchants, and others walked between the connections to the central hall, however, only officials walked into the four hallways.

“Civilians are not allowed further inside, so we can only talk here in the open.” Sun Ming said.

Ruidie sat down and waved for Xiaosi to do so as well.

Sun Ming gazed over the boy. “You are?”

“Chen Xiaosi, just tagging along.”

Sun Ming slowly returned his eyes to Ruidie. “Did Teacher really have a message for me?”

“No," Ruidie acknowledged.

“Of course.”

“I did meet him this morning.”

Sun Ming paused, his posture relaxed slightly.

Ruidie tilted her head. “What’s wrong?”

“It’s nothing.” Sun Ming shook his head. Since the Lantern Festival, Bi Tong had been increasingly furious over Teacher’s excuses, that is until she failed in trying to visit the girl as well. Hopefully, things will settle down. “Then, what did you need.”

“I have recently overcome some academic challenges, so we’re going into the city to celebrate.”

“‘We’?” Sun Ming settled another glance at Xiaosi.

Xiaosi thought he felt some animosity, so he smiled and gave a small wave from the side.

Ruidie ignored them and continued. “During the Lantern Festival, we encountered some Tiger Tail Gang members who were less than friendly. So, I want to know where to avoid them.”

Sun Ming focused on the girl immediately. “Stay on the avenues, don’t bother going into the streets of wards you don’t know. Keep away from the gates unless you want to speak to or get the protection of the guards. Don’t remain outside when it’s dark.”

“Are there any stores we should avoid?”

“Actually there are. Unlike normal protection rackets, there have been a large number of reports of harassment to Ran Family stores by the gang, so it’s best not to use them.”

“Any other names to be aware of?”

Sun Ming considered it. “The Nine Dragons Gang is the other large capital gang. You likely won’t need to worry about them if you stay away from the casinos. As for any others, avoid the names Black Fan Society and Escort Agency.”

Ruidie nodded and stood up.

“Wait,” Sun Ming said. “How much money do you have?”

She took a pouch out from her uniform. Since leaving Lanzhou she had only used the coins that Grandma gave her once or twice to pay for restaurant food with the Ashina siblings. “I still have twenty coins and fifty copper pieces.”

Sun Ming rummaged inside and robe and handed her another pouch. “This is twenty more coins. Teacher forgets about these things.”

“Thanks.” She nodded and pulled Xiaosi up as well.

They exited the building and returned to walking on the avenue.

“What now?” Xiaosi.

“Nothing. I confirmed the suspicion that was nagging at my mind. We go back to me teaching you Memory Palace and then reading and writing.

“Oh. I thought we were going to completely ignore what that man said and do the opposite of avoiding trouble to help Senior Ran.”

She shook her head. “This is Ran Qiang’s business. We have no place in the affairs of other people and shouldn’t care. She has to solve whatever problem she has herself.”

“Do you know that you lie a lot?”

Ruidie stumbled. She spun around.

Xiaosi continued. “If you didn’t care, if you didn’t want to help Senior Ran, why did you bother coming this far?”

She silently stood, not speaking, as the boy waited for her answer. “Then you?”

“I also owe Senior Ran.”

Ruidie looked out into the streets of the city. There was no pause in the passing of pedestrians, carriages, and wagons. Taiping was a city of millions.

She sighed. “Lanzhou used to be my playground, and after finally having some free time, I realize I haven’t done anything in Taiping except being holed up in the library. Between cliques of children and gangs of criminals, is there really a difference?”

“I don’t know. Is there?” Xiaosi replied.

“Of course there isn't. In the end, they are all ignorant children.” She pointed ahead. “The first step to any goal is always collecting information. We’re going to ask where the Ran Family stores are located.”

...

By evening they had visited the many Ran Family stores within the city. Brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones. It was not wrong to assume, they made up a large portion of the market for study materials. Although they did not encounter people harassing the stores they visited, a couple of stores they learned about had recently closed down.

As Ruidie and Xiaosi left one of the Ran Family paper stores, a carriage stopped in front of them and blocked their path.

The two youth standing in the middle of the street exchanged gazes. They were just about ready to run and start yelling ‘kidnapping’ when someone they both knew stepped out from within the carriage.

“So it was you two.” Ran Qiang rested her hand on her forehead and groaned. “Hei Ruidie. Chen Xiaosi. What are you two doing!?”

“This is unexpected. What are you doing here?” Ruidie said.

Xiaosi nodded.

The young woman was not amused. “Answer the question.”

Just as Xiaosi was about to talk, Ruidie pulled him back. “We were obviously shopping for study materials,” she said.

“You’ve visited more than a dozen stores now and haven't bought anything.”

The girl deflated and appeared resigned. “To be honest, I was really disappointed with the quality of your goods. But I wanted to support your business so I kept visiting more stores in hopes that the quality was better in other stores.”

Ran Qiang's eyebrow twitched.

“Lady Ran, they asked about the Tiger Tail Gang, remember?” a clear voice said. A tall young man exited from the carriage. Long reddish-brown hair framed his face which possessed thin lips and green eyes.

Ruidie eyes focused on the man. They know about that? But that was within the Mayor’s Office.

The young man bowed and gave a small smile. “I am Arsi Chunjie, a humble storekeeper.” He passed Ruidie a piece of paper. “This is the address of my store if you want to patron it.”

Orchid Bookstore? In a way, it made sense that a bookstore would be affiliated with the Ran Family, but then, with her fingers, she felt ink on the underside of the piece of paper.

She scrutinized Arsi Chunjie closer. She noted that his face was handsome in an almost effeminate way. “I think you two are perfect for each other.”

Whereas Chunjie went off balance, Ran Qiang lightly slapped her fan over Ruidie’s head.

“Ow!”

“Do understand how dangerous what you’re doing is? Don’t concern yourselves with my matters, okay? I want a verbal agreement,” Ran Qiang said.

“But we really want to find some way to help?” Xiaosi said.

“Yes, how are you going to stop us from helping you? There is nothing that you can do,” Ruidie said.

As Chunjie was about to speak, Ran Qiang raised her hand to stop him. “Do you think a capital gang would waste their time harassing stores for no reason. What you’re seeing is the surface of a business conflict that goes deeper than you understand. So let me handle it, alright,” she ended slowly.

Ruidie closed her eyes. “I understand. But just in case you’re lying, tell me the name of who you’re in conflict with and we’ll agree to stop and let you handle everything. If they don't exist then, then I hope you don’t slander someone.”

Ran Qiang nodded. “The Xiao Family.”

Xiao Family. “Okay, we’ll return on our own and promise not to involve ourselves unless we’re asked to,” Ruidie said.

Xiaosi nodded.

Ran Qiang looked over the two carefully. “Good. Do you two want a ride back?”

She shook her head. “No, we plan on getting something to eat.”

“Then you two better take care of yourself.”

“It’s been nice to meet as well. Be sure to patron my store,” Chunjie said as he climbed in the carriage after Ran Qiang.

The two youths watched the carriage leave.

“So is it over?” Xiaosi asked.

“Of course not.” Ruidie raised the piece of paper that Arsi Chunjie handed to her. On the reverse side of Orchid Bookstore’s address was another note. ‘Tomorrow. Lunch. Period Seven. Golden Spices Pavilion.’