In eternal struggle, red chased after blue. A giant snake of yang relentlessly chased after a little fleck of yin, fire after water, always round and round in an endless circle, along a course of human design. In their struggle, they ground against the edges of their confinement and got thinner and slimmer in the process. As time went on, both became faster, more agile, a result of their efforts.

In time, the eternal link between them would rupture, and set them free from their confinement, to thrash about and follow the whims of their empty, destructive minds. However, that time was not today. They were far from freedom yet. Even so they carried on, tirelessly back and forth, ever closer to the day of their liberation.

Yet just as they had found their rhythm, a disturbance entered their quiet world. A giant jolt ran through their prison like an earthquake and muddled their path. For now, Thurain decided to interrupt his training.

When Thurain opened his eyes, his face was already dominated by a frown. Something had interrupted his meditation, and it hadn't been the constant, soft chunk of the train's wheels below. Outside the window, an endless landscape of brown, dead shrubbery rushed past him. Hidden beneath the brushwork, tiny creatures jumped to and fro, in constant search for more food, as sparse as it was. The cloudless sky was dominated by the sun, which spiraled the same as ever, its arms reaching out into the blue around as if to grab a hold of it. Just as advertised, his ride was a quiet, steady route through the vast wilderness. These modern trains really were worth the cost, even though the asking price for a first-class ticket had almost bled him dry.

The train still runs the same as ever. What disturbed my practice?

In search of the culprit, Thurain turned his back to the drab landscape outside the window, and his front towards his fellow passengers. Since his master had left him with quite a bit of money, he had decided to spend on a good ticket to further his training. Rather than be locked up together with the peasants and livestock in the rear cart, here he could sit with some leg room. Earlier, the staff had even brought him some lunch, a lavish, juicy piece of red meat with some warm bread and beans.

Unfortunately, his travel inside the first-class compartment came together with several other passengers, none of whom would understand the struggles of deep meditation at the circulation stage. Any one of them could have been responsible for the disturbance, so Thurain began his search with the closest ones.

Right across from him sat a middle-aged couple, frowns on their faces as they looked back at him. The man's clean, three-piece suit proved that he was somewhat better off, as did his small, gold-framed glasses and his wife's neat, ankle-long beige dress. However, as a cultivator, Thurain's eyes were better than most, so he wasn't fooled by their facade. He could see the frayed seams of the man's clothing just the same as the red in his eyes and the small bulge of a flask in his breast pocket to indicate the man's recent, unhealthy habits.

If he had to guess guess, the man was someone who had run into problems back wherever he had boarded the train. Now he was on his way to the big city, where he hoped to regain some of his former shine. The lady didn't look in the best condition either. The pronounced wrinkles around her brow indicated that her current frown had become a regular occurrence for her. Ever since he had sat across from them, they had answered his greeting and attempts at polite conversation with nothing but huffs and scoffs. Maybe Thurain's own, old-fashioned robes led them to believe he wasn't worth enough money to interact with. Maybe his own first-glance poverty reminded them too much of their own situation.

Either way, there was no reason to force any conflict, despite the rude stares he received. In the end, he wasn't traveling to the city to start trouble with some short-lived folk down on their luck.

Just as Thurain was about to continue his search for the disturbance, the answer came to him all on its own.

“Is that correct? No one is willing to speak their minds? Believe me, if no one confesses, I will call the police as soon as we arrive in Heliana. No one will leave this compartment until I find out who did it, and when I do, you better wish the culprit won't be you or anyone you know!”

In the center of the compartment, in the middle of the walkway, stood a middle-aged man with short, orderly cut hair. Although he was quite stout of stature, his clothing was fitted well, the same type of suit the drunkard across from Thurain wore, but made out of much shinier, more expensive looking materials. The gold chain that hung from his breast pocket also spoke of the man's wealth, and hinted at the treasure of a pocket watch that would be hidden inside. Thurain couldn't remember if this man had been one of the passengers in the compartment when he had started his training, so he surely hadn't been. After all, Thurain's memory was better than that of most people.

Thus, the intruder must have come from a different compartment. If his appearance was any indication, he hadn't come from the peasant compartment behind them, and instead had sat in the compartment in front of theirs.

Higher than first class. This guy was in the private compartment, a real magnate.

Maybe the rich man had heard a slight from someone in the compartment behind him or maybe some unlucky soul had gained his ire for another harmless reason, but Thurain had no incentive to get involved. Sooner or later, the man would scream away his anger, and then Thurain would be able to return to his meditation. However, just as the young cultivator had closed his eyes again to await the impending calm, the rich man spoke up again.

“Good, fine,” the magnate sighed in exacerbation. “I understand now. You feel like you got away clean, and no investigation will find you. You think that that you made a real score so long as you remain hidden. But I can tell you now that you will be disappointed. The ring you took, it holds no value, not any material value at the very least.”

At the mention of theft, Thurain opened his eyes again to observe the compartment's intruder. If he had been robbed, maybe he was justified in his tirade.

“Compared to this watch here,” the magnate continued as he took out his pocket watch. The a fancy piece of goldsmithing and array work screamed decadence with its inlaid emeralds and the filigree inlays of silver that would conduct the qi and made the construction tick. “Compared to this, the ring you took is worth nothing. Do you understand? The ring itself is made of nothing more than simple brass, and the ornamentation on the front is colored in, not even a real stone, even though it may look like a precious gem to an amateur. I carry the ring with me not because it is valuable, but because it is a family heirloom and identifies me as a member of my clan. If you try and sell my ring for its material's worth, you stand to gain nothing but maybe a warm meal. If you aim to sell it for what it truly is, you will find no buyers and will only expose yourself to the authorities. There is only one ring like this in the entire world.”

The rich man walked up and down the rows of seats, as he stared in the face of each and every passenger.

“How could you possibly sell this ring as the Aubert family's possession without giving away your own identity and thus marking you as the thief? No matter what your aims may have been, the ring will have no value to you. Yet to me, this ring is worth much. I have only come to the city after my brother's death, but without it, I will not even be able to attend his funeral. Thus, I have a much more enticing offer for you. If you come forward right this instant and return my family ring to me, I will give you this gold watch instead, with no strings attached. You can simply say you found my ring on the ground, and we will forget that anything ever happened. Even if I was a liar and the ring were to be made of pure gold, it would be worth much less than my watch, as it is much larger in size and a cultivator's instrument. Now, there should be no more reason for you to remain silent. Please stand and return my ring to me.”

As soon as he heard the details of the man's plight, Thurain forgot all about his previous dismissive attitude. While he didn't have much respect for the rich and powerful, he could emphasize with a man whose family possessions had been taken. He as well had been robbed of something important, and he as well had come to the city after his family had died there. Although he hadn't planned to get involved at first, now things were different. Maybe he could even speed up the investigation and get in some much-needed meditation in the remaining time before their arrival. With a sigh, Thurain leaned back, before he replied to the rich man.

“Your offer is tempting, but it still won't work, I'm afraid. Even if the thief were to believe you, sir, he, or she, would never come forward, even less so in public. What if you changed your mind and had them arrested as soon as they admitted to their crimes? No one would be dumb enough to expose themselves in such a public setting, even less so with the train's personnel around. Even more, now that you have emphasized the importance of the ring, you have made yourself the perfect target of blackmail.”

“So if this is pointless, why do you speak up then, boy?” a shrill voice rang out. The tired woman man across from Thurain seemed to have come to her own conclusions. “What if it was you who stole the ring? Are you trying to find out if this great master Aubert speaks the truth, so you can improve on your earlier score? Everyone here is of wealth and property, so no one here needs the money. Except for you. You look like rabble anyways, no one will be surprised if it was you.”

Rather than acknowledge the nuisance, Thurain stood up and faced the rich man.

“Mister Aubert, there is no reason to fret. I will find your lost item for you.”

“Hmmm... not to be rude, young man, but what qualifies you to help me?” Although the rich man also seemed unconvinced by Thurain's offer, at least he managed to sound polite in his rejection. It was no surprise that he was a successful businessman, while the loudmouth family to his opposite was struggling for clean clothes. With the answer already on Thurain's lips, someone else preempted him.

“That's because he's a cultivator!”