Not long after, Sparrow sat warming his hands above the flames of a fire while Brother Han stirred a small curry.

Brother Han took some rice from the pot that had been boiling away, spread the delicious brown curry over top of it, and passed it to Sparrow.

‘Let me know what you think.’

When Sparrow tried it, his eyes nearly popped out of his head. It was the best thing he’d had in a long time, almost as good as his grandma’s cooking, but with something different about it.

‘I don’t eat meat,’ Brother Han explained, ‘I don’t see why we should kill another living creature when we have so many abundant leaves and trees and roots and mushrooms growing in the wild. Growing freely.’

Sparrow laughed out loud, nearly spilling a mouthful of the curry on the cave floor, ‘Says the guy who’s about to go and kill a demon king.’

A smile widened on Brother Han’s face. ‘You’re a smart one. I’ll give you that. But I don’t want to kill the Demon King. I just want to rescue Sherry from his side. She’s being held captive there, along with many other beautiful women, to attract stupid cultivators like myself who fall in love easily.’

Brother Han held a hand over the flame and the fire twisted to form the shape of crowned demon – small glowing eyes pierced into Sparrow’s soul as Brother Han continued talking.

‘He defeats us, takes our Qi, our spiritual essence, and uses it to make himself stronger.’

Sparrow scratched his head. ‘So… why are you falling for it if it’s an obvious trap?’

The image of the demon vanished from the fire.

‘Love.’

Brother Han gave a small, sad smile, then burst into laughter as Sparrow started to make throwing up noises.

‘Come on,’ Brother Han laughed, throwing a radish at Sparrow, ‘Love is not so bad.’

Sparrow caught the radish, ‘An adventurer like me has no time for love. I’m trying to learn as much about the world as I can so that I can go home and make my grandma proud.’

Brother Han nodded sagely. ‘That sounds like a type of love to me.’

He stirred the embers of the fire, ‘You have any plans for where to go next?’

Sparrow shook his head, ‘No, wherever the road takes me.’

Brother Han nodded, ‘Well, I respect you for that. Before this evening I never believed one so young could possess so much wisdom.’

Brother Han scratched the side of his head, ‘Hey Sparrow. Perhaps you’d like to stay here for just a little bit.’ When Sparrow began to speak Brother Han cut him off, ‘I’m not saying forever. I would never want to hold you back from your journey. But I really think you could learn a thing or two from me, we can cultivate together and grow your Qi. I think it would be good for the both of us to have a friend at this time.’

Sparrow rubbed the side of his face, despite how crazy Brother Han was he kind of liked him. He wasn’t too sure about sitting in the rain and doing nothing, or ‘cultivation’ as Brother Han had called it. But, with meals as good as this, at least his stomach would be happy.

Sparrow nodded, gave a smile to Brother Han, ‘I won’t stay long. But I’ll at least stay for tomorrow.’

Brother Han nodded, a big smile on his face, ‘It’s been a long while since I saw another human face or made conversation. Nothing is permanent young Sparrow. But still, I cherish moments like these for all they’re worth.’