The two boys lunge at each other and hug long and hard, while a lot of words are simply left unsaid. They haven’t seen each other for more than two years however, any awkwardness evaporates at first contact. Two brothers, one life! In the intervening time Fatty has filled out even more. At least one of his long absent parents must have been the missing link... Or part mountain gorilla... Or just part mountain... It’s fortunate the commissary doors were double...

Li Feng orders some food, while Jian Cheng finds a quiet table in the corner, so they can talk in private. Fatty returns lugging - sometimes juggling - a range of dishes, plates and bowls, but Jian Cheng knows better than to assume any of it is for him. He isn’t even tempted to snake a single noodle, they’ve had fist fights for less... And while he would dearly love another wrestle with his best friend, this is neither the time nor the place.

Suddenly the slurps stop and Fatty is staring at him, spoon held up in front of his mouth.

"Hey, how come there's no sect badge on your robe? Have you lost it already?"

“I came to find you first, I haven’t signed into the sect yet,” Jian Cheng confides, leaning forward to keep their conversation more private.

"Oh, okay... I can't believe you can cultivate now - hang on, you can cultivate can't you? Why didn't you sign up then?"

“I'll explain all the details later, next though take me on a tour to scout the place out, but just act like we’re busy and both live here.

“Sure, you came to the right guy,” Fatty nods between long noodle slurps. “For starters, not to mention mains and desserts, this is obviously the Culinary Department; all outer court disciples who want to dine here will have to pay three silver taels per month or the equivalent in sect credits… Best dishes include the red pork...”

Jian Cheng isn’t listening. Money has been mentioned, and he is doing his mental sums in the hopes of sniffing out a bargain... Three silver taels equals 300 copper wen... Say 90 meals a month at four wen each... was 360 wen in total. So an approximate saving of 60 wen per month... Not bad, not bad... However, he doesn't plan on eating here for even a week so it doesn't really matter... Still, does the maths though...

So they sit there peacefully. Fatty waxes lyrical about food or shovels it into his mouth, while his friend just smiles wistfully thinking about all the savings he will make, compared to the benefits he’ll receive. An incense stick of time passes in this comfortable not silence.. One that is utterly normal to both boys. It’s like coming home...

After finally finishing his epic feed, Fatty constructs a tower of licked-clean plates and bowls and leaves them in the centre of the table to be collected. He tells Jian Cheng to follow him closely, and they stroll back towards the main square.

Having worked in the herb garden for several years already, Lin Feng is quite up-to-date on gossip. He always raised his hand to run even the most trivial errands. All for the purpose of gathering information about Fen Ling. Over time he has traversed the whole mountain on these mini-missions, meeting many other disgruntled, lower-rung underlings. Most were only too happy to bemoan their fate, making Fatty a font of inside knowledge.

“So where’s little sister Ling?” Jian Cheng isn't one for small talk.

Fatty sighs, looking sadly at his shoes like they had suddenly sprouted holes in them. “I’ll get to that when we get nearer, it’s still some way away....”

“Now if you look north, you will see a shallow cliff with rows of seats carved into it, that’s the Haoyu Auditorium. That is where the various sect elders occasionally hold lectures - on every 10th and 20th day of the month - for outer sect disciples. They usually give hints for using the sect’s special martial techniques or general tips about ways to cultivate. It’s always packed to the rafters, so try to get in there early.”

“No need. We won’t be going. Next.”

“Uh, sure. Follow me this way then.”

A wide well-trodden path leads out of the main square and encircles the Misty Mountain spiralling ever upward. After another few minutes of ambling, they round a corner and the path widens into a large clearing.

“See that adjacent peak across that rope bridge over there? That place is known as Qinghai He. That’s where all the thousand or so outer sect female disciples live. We, men are naturally not allowed to enter or even cross the bridge after dark."

Fatty waves vaguely, he's never been there so his details are scarce.

"Any requests must be submitted to the guard garret room on this side, then the female disciple will be notified by a female guard... They also have their own restaurant... Apparently it's not too bad....”

Jian Cheng files the information away, then promptly forgets about it. Fen Ling is in the inner court, so he had no interest in the whereabouts of a giggling gaggle of stranger girls... Or some random restaurant... Probably far too expensive anyway...

An hour later it feels like they've tramped, and trampled, the whole mountain by and under foot, with many many li passing beneath their boots. During this time, Lin Feng, despite breathing heavily, hasn’t stopped talking once.

It is actually Jian Cheng, not being acclimatised to the altitude, that is struggling most, despite his outstanding stamina. To others, Lin Feng is simply babbling, but for Jian Cheng this is an opportunity to learn as much about the sect as possible. Information is power - especially when forming, or in this case fine-tuning, one of his devious plans.

“That place down there is known as Herb Valley, where I, your father, works. Naturally all alchemists are stuck up silkpants; as studying alchemy is essentially burning money--”

Jian Cheng shivers in terror at such wastefulness. “-- so a lot of them reside in the inner court, but I’ve never seen Fen Ling... The one elder who had heard of her, said she’s a recluse that never leaves her room!”

For Fatty, it is finally his chance to show off everything he knows about the sect and also unburden himself of two years of guilt, so he turns into an unceasing torrent of information for their entire sojourn.

“Those that have broken the sect rules are sent down there to the Wailing Valley. They say the icy wind howls a hundred li and hour and will strip the very flesh from your very bones… Worse, the food is reputed to be truly terrible...”

It is Fatty’s turn to shudder. He is naturally better at it. “Almost inedible.”

“The inner court disciples are up ahead, sequestered behind that wall where the good qi is. Don’t go near the gate without a good reason… Guards get nasty on days ending in "Y". They have a top chef though, and their food is cooked using many of the spiritual herbs from my gardens...”

“So Fen Ling is in there.? Let’s sit here for a while and watch.”

So saying Jian Cheng plops himself down on a grassy knoll and forms the lotus position. “Here, read this, then I’ll show you how to do it...”

Fatty accepts a the thin booklet.

“Karmic Chameleon Breathing Technique, hmm sounds interesting...” He too sits down.

Two hours pass before Jian Cheng finally nods, then springs to his feet. “Let’s go. Next.”

“Hey, I was enjoying that. My karma must naturally be balanced because I felt I was getting results already... ”

“Li Feng, need I remind you that every day is like survival, when you go, you’re gone forever, so we need to move on. Now tell me more...”

” Um sure. Next door, in that huge building there is the Pavillion of Enlightenment. It houses the collections of all of our sect’s secret books and scrolls. Usually though only inner court or core disciples are allowed in there… And there is strictly no eating inside...”

“How about in unusual circumstances?”

“What? Like you didn’t have time for breakfast and it’s lunchtime already?”

“No, I mean how do outer court disciples get access inside?′

“Do they have food? They sometimes search you so you can’t even hide it...”

“No matter. Next”

They arrived at a small valley where a hundred or so caves had been carved into the cliff-faces on either side. The majority were on the right hand side, where a rough switchback road of sorts wended it’s way up, meaning caves were stacked two or three high in some places.

They weren’t all the created equal however, many of the small caves had been excavated to become caverns, some even had shanty-like lean-tos or even shacks extending out from the entrance.

"This is the Valley of Caves."

"Did it take you long to come up with that name?"

"No, it was called that since ages ago..."

Fatty apologetically points out two of the plainest caves. They were on the ground level at the far end of the valley and had clearly been abandoned.

“This is where you can stay. Mine is right next door, sorry for the state of them.We can scavenge some materials and fix them up this week sometime...”

“That’s fine. We won’t be staying here for much longer.”

“What? Are we leaving the sect?” Fatty’s chins wobble in shock.

“No, we’ll be entering the inner court.”

Fatty’s face falls. “How? I’ve tried at least 10 times...”

“Don’t worry, while there are green hills, there will be wood to burn... Trust me, I have my methods.”

Jian Chen pats Fatty on the shoulder.

“First Brother Feng, you need to quit your duties. I need to sign in, and then we’ll both sign up as messengers.”

“Surely not. No-one with any intelligence wants to be a messenger. You run all around the mountain literally going in circles, for a pittance, you only get paid--”

“I do.” Jian Cheng interrupts. “I mean we do. We both do... Want to hear the plan?”

“If it explains why I would give up my dream career of herb gardening for aimless, underpaid exercise I’d love to hear it - It better be good that’s all I’ll say.”