‘’Do you feel that, Miss Li?’’

Shu Ligui, now opting to run alongside him instead of flying, slowed her pace to match his. They stopped beside a hefty lime tree blocking the last bouts of sunlight, a branch separating them. It might have been the last time they saw one of its kind, for none could live far from the sea. It was actually Shu Ligui who told him, and she also mentioned how they grew farther than they could normally, for the lands of the Blue Lotus Sect were quite fertile and sturdy.

He gathered that she had more than a faint interest in greenery...or botanic was it?

‘’It is like a constant wave, and it reeks of verdant Qi. Most likely, it is a forest ward for the villages.’’

‘’Then we are pretty close,’’ he remarked. ‘’Though I feel it would be pretty uncomfortable to live with constant pulses like this.’’

The ward, if Shu Ligui was right, sent out a bout of Qi in waves all across. When he reached out with his Qi sense, the waves became almost unbearable. It made his already hurt meridians twitch, and his eyes got burned when he focused on the rhythm. Other than that, though, it was weird that it seemed to keep track of him.

‘’Wards can only point in a certain direction so there is no trouble for those out of sight. They also have a rather small range.’’ She replied. ‘’I can explain more if you wish, Sir Zhang, as we move along.’’

‘’I too would like to move.’’ He said, so they went sprinting again.

‘’What is it about their range?’’ He asked right after. Their forms were almost like blurs, but sound did go between them fine, and if he tried Zhang Cai could still see her figure clearly. He tried not to stare hard, though, for two days was enough for him to be conscious of her.

And she too had become conscious, or already was from the beginning. He didn’t know what to feel about that, for her attention wasn’t one that he felt safe.

‘’Around two kilometres at most, for the villages. Operating costs are too high, even for sects like Blue Lotus Sect that provide them from their own coffers. Cities, however, have those that detect up to twenty or thirty kilometres, which is still a considerable range for Doom-level threats. I hope you know of threat levels?’’

‘’Threshold,’’ he said in confirmation, ’’I learned a little about it.’’ Most mortals, as he did once, did not know realms pertaining to cultivation, nor the power any stage might wield. Instead, as with natural disasters born of thwarted Qi currents, they had made a very simple system for understanding dangers.

Incident-level covered small landslides, casualty-free floods, and beast raids up to third-step Glassmade. Disaster-level contained natural disasters that interfered with infrastructure and caused minor loss of lives, or Rocksmote-led beast raids. Doom-level were for Xian raids regardless of cultivation and Qi storms that left the land unusable for decades. Anything further had no name, for there would be no need for it if anything supernatural happened of that sort.

‘’Brother-in-law made sure you have the bare minimum, at least.’’ Zhang Cai detected some kind of disdain, but he didn’t know its aim. She had been this way since he told of Li Bo. ‘’...but that is all there is to it. In a few minutes, we should be near the ward so you can inspect closer to satisfy any curiosity.’’

‘’Thank you for explaining, Miss Li.’’

‘’Your welcome.’’

As the last lights went out and darkness cloaked the earth, all that lit up their path were faint streams of moonlight. One glance up the waning moon, he conjured that the new moon would come in two and last three or four days. They should be around spring or summer, depending on how long he had spent recuperating in the Li Noble Clan. So it could be even longer.

‘’There it is.’’

Shu Ligui’s alert made him look down to a faint verdant light seeping out the edge of his vision. Like a half-solid mist, the shimmering light seemed to radiate out of a stone hung to a long tree branch. A solid, metallic box with transparent glass surrounded it, and Zhang Cai could see currents of Qi rising from the earth to feed it. But the Qi felt artificial, to some extent, as it carried personality.

There wasn’t a clear way to describe what he felt, but like how one could distinguish the smell of a lavender and a lavender-scented perfume, he too, or all cultivators, could notice the differences between such sources of Qi. But this feeling was closer than a neural response, as it resonated in his heart.

They stopped under that great tree, a little off, and looked over its splendid gleam. They looked familiar to the showers of light that visited Curlan every few months.

Zhang Cai let out a small sigh, overcome by nostalgia. He remembered how he and his siblings would climb to the rooftops to observe the natural phenomenon. Almost all residents of the city watched the dances of light from their balconies or roofs, even in freezing temperatures. It was one of the few things enjoyed by all, regardless of status, and on those days none would scold them for their behaviour.

‘’Do you reckon them villagers have a little warm tea to offer?’’ He asked.

‘’...Tea is a commodity everyone savours, so I do reckon they have, Sir Zhang.’’

‘’Ah,’’ He exclaimed, aware of his speech, but did not remark anything regarding it. For once, he didn’t want to apologize for talking like who he was. He wanted to stop swearing, of course, but getting stuck with using honorifics, and separating every do and not, or dragging his speech to think more refined words long after he left Li Bo and Li Huan struck a chord in him that raised his annoyance.

Even back then, he complained, but given the kindness Li Bo showed he did not voice opposition. Even further—he was aware the lessons on etiquette did him more good than he could hope, for almost everyone in this cultivation world seemed stuck on these formalities.

But he felt that creating so many barriers between people wasn’t too good. Talking roundabout was fine, but excessive control, perhaps, proved detrimental to relationships people would otherwise spend trouble-free.

Shu Ligui tapped his shoulder with a finger. ‘’Sir Zhang, we should move on.’’

He cast a surprised look at her, then muttered a quick apology. He had become immersed in his thoughts, just because of a familiar light. He found no fault in himself, however. His master taught him to explore thoughts as far as he could, and nowadays with so much action Zhang Cai didn’t seem to find the time to do so.

He wasted, perhaps, the first hours of his day with meditation for that very reason. Practicing his arts took concentration, but meditation was not that kind. It made him empty, like a vessel, and even if he did not pull Qi he spent it thinking.

Once again immersed, he did not realize the two women standing before him until they heralded them.

‘’Dear sir and lady, may we ask who you are?’’

Zhang Cai halted, so did Shu Ligui, and he saw the two girls wearing lotus-patterned white and blue robes. Their aquamarine skirts were loose, though coming to the knee for mobility purposes, and from the feel of their Qi he saw that both were third-step Glassmade.

Zhang Cai and Shu Ligui had stopped cloaking their Qi some time ago, so the duo were aware of their cultivation. Taking the chance, Zhang Cai observed that Shu Ligui had a staggering one thousand and five hundred pulls of Qi. She could equal Li Bo in no time, if given the chance.

‘’I am Zhang Cai, disciple-in-training,’’ He didn’t exactly say that he was a disciple-to-be, nor of whom, for no reason. He waited a beat, but heard Shu Ligui do not introduce herself. One glance at her was enough to understand that she wished him to deal with formalities.

‘’My traveling companion is Miss Shu Ligui.’’ He didn’t tell of her status, though the Blue Lotus sect disciples seemed to glean the truth from her outfit. He gave a respectful, waist-low bow. ‘’We are traveling together North-side, and if you would be so gracious we hoped to stay a few nights in the village until New Moon passes.’’

‘’The village? Sir Zhang, we are not qualified to host you both by decorum and by circumstance.’’ They bowed, flustered. ‘’If you wish, we can arrange a house for the night, and then lead you to the heart of the sect by the Warp.’’

‘’That would be most desirable.’’ He replied. They would pass by the centre of the Sect, or the so-called heart of the Sect either way as their path laid over it. Just, he didn’t know whether Blue Lotus Sect was the kind of school that provided hospitality, as most nobles like Marsh Lord Yuan of Slingerwhale were required to be. From the looks of it, his worries turned out unfounded.

The duo led them through the last bits of the ward’s effect and brought them to the village. There were some forty houses all around, and a large mansion-like structure with a seven petal Blue Lotus on its gates. Inside they were shown into rooms, his and Shu Ligui’s across from each other, and then taken to the main hall to be treated with tea and meat dumplings for snacks. They talked a little about the weather, Shu Ligui conversed about the condition of their fields and such, and Zhang Cai asked about the food.

‘’The meat comes from our Sect’s precious livestock farms further in,’’ the disciple said an hour into their conversation. She, seemingly the most senior, kept them provided alongside a few village children bringing the dishes. Shu Ligui had made them dolls and swords of earth when they left for the night, which made the children joyous beyond description.

‘’I would love to show you the barns and farms, even introduce some workers, since most...forgive my rudeness but most sirs and ladies do not take interest in them. Even though we uphold half of the continent’s survival through our fields. Alas...’’

‘’Is it related to the circumstances you mentioned before?’’ Shu Ligui asked.

‘’Yes. My sir and lady might have heard of it, but there have been sightings of Xian Disciples to our southeast, and two massacres where we lost young disciples-to-be. Also, a demonic isle has risen across the strait, around two or three hundred kilometres to the south. Sect shaman has told us of a possible beast horde stirred by their magic, so we have to keep watch at all times.’’

‘’Island?’’ Zhang Cai repeated, his expression sullen. ‘’...you have no need to worry of that at least, miss.’’

The disciple seemed off-put at his expression. ‘’Have I offended you in someway, sir?’’

‘’No, no no no. Just...the island is already gone.’’ He explained in a hurry.

The disciple looked at Shu Ligui, for a noble’s word seemed more reliable than a disciple in training.

‘’I watched it sink with my own eyes.’’ Here she cast a probing look at him, then added. ‘’You can thank Sir Zhang for it.’’

‘’Is that your doing, sir?’’

For a moment, under the gloomy yellow light of the chandelier, Zhang Cai considered the remark. He grasped at the attempt of Shu Ligui to paint him in a more credible way, for he knew fame would do him good in their stays at all schools and sects in their way. He was a commoner, as a beginner, and also a Wahlidian. His people weren’t exactly what Northerners would call civilized. He didn’t know his own people much, but knew enough that they weren’t seen in a positive light. Known martial prowess, though, was a certain, universal guarantee to welcome reception.

And he also knew that fame would attract the fighting sort Shu Ligui wished to encounter—in a way, it would give them enough interest value to ask for a duel, not a spar. He doubted she would have difficulty requesting it though.

He sighed after a moment.

Them, indeed. Already, he started to think of themselves as a group, for it was inevitable. Their reputation and actions now linked together, was there a choice any other? Aware his brooding took some time, he made the decision between fame and conscience.

‘’It was a Xian that destroyed it.’’ he said, and made it clear from his stern tone that he didn’t want to talk about it further.

The disciple’s eyes widened at the last remark. She put both hands on her cheeks, considering something, then apologized to them and took her leave to report. Shu Ligui took an elegant sip from her cup, while Zhang Cai ate a dumpling.

‘’Miss Li,’’ He said after a bout. ‘’Please don’t do that, again.’’

She put down her tea cup and cast him a straight look, as if wanting to peer inside his soul through those dark vortex pupils. ‘’Sir Zhang needs to know when to be humble and when to be proud, your achievement is not one so easy at your station, or at any other.’’

‘’That was not my achievement, Miss Li. It was with my friends that I took that worm down.’’

‘’Friends? You cannot be serious about considering them friends!’’ She seemed livid, for some reason.’’ —and it might be presumptuous of me to speak in your stead, when we have no acquaintance prior, but your naive attachments to those puppets will not help you when we encounter them again.’’

‘’Puppets? Are they puppets to you, miss Li?’’

‘’They are, and not to me, but for all who knows.’’ She spoke as if stating facts. ‘’They have neither will nor sentience, they are lower than animals who act on instinct, and viler than demons who prey upon the weak minded. All bound by strings of some entity whom no one has ever met, yet knows so well...what does that sound like to you?’’

‘’Have you met them, ever, Miss Li? Have you seen them eat and drink, or spar, or cultivate, or even pray? They pray too, you know. Is praying not a sign of...something? Anything?’’

‘’I can make my earthen dolls dance, if I willed.’’

‘’What about Spiritual Links? Are they not still demonics? Yet they do more, and they converse, and hold opinions of their own. What about it?’’

‘’That misconception comes from your lack of knowledge, Sir Zhang, as I have said before. Knowing the bare minimum is the root of your discomfort. If you knew, that would not be the case.’’

Zhang Cai shot to his feet, eyes moist. ‘’Then tell me! For the love of good heavens, just teach me what I don’t KNOW!’’

Shu Ligui narrowed her eyes, even as he continued.

‘’You tell me you know, you tell me they are this way or that way, yet all you do is try to shame me with my ignorance instead of telling me why things are like that! You have not lived with them, and I doubt you ever met one. Have you? No, instead you only tell me that they are puppets and they don’t think, or that they are worth nothing! Nothing!’’

‘’They helped me survive Long Kongzi—they trained harder than slovenly dumb nobles like your kind, and killed a fucking Xian. That is more humanity than all those cunt nobles that I know! And they even gave their life—and did not bat an eye when they could live, yet still chose to save my life. They are more human than all those fucking nobles, if I know. All these things, I know! I know them! I lived them!’’

‘’But what do you know!? Just repeating...’’ his words came to a halt as he sensed the presence of the Blue Lotus disciple outside the door. This anger, this intense sorrow that found its way up his lungs, which smouldered in a way he never felt before with indignance, died the moment his Qi picked up the trace. He heaved, out of breath, and at the realization of his irrational outburst felt intense grief and guilt weighing on his heart.

Shu Ligui’s trembling gaze remained on him until the disciple knocked on the door. She averted her gaze, picked up the teacup, and took a loud sip with her trembling hands.

‘’I will take my leave for the night,’’ he whispered when the disciple entered, then left in a hurry. Arriving at the assigned room, he laid upon the soft mattress, glancing out the starry sky, yet found himself no more in comfort than dry earth and wet grass. Neither hoots of the owls, nor the distant barks of the village hounds shook him out of his stupor. A knot on his heart seemed to grow tighter, shadow of his dantian larger.

Unsettled, he spent the entire night in his thoughts.