Yin stepped through shrubs near the Qi vein, feeling the gentle breeze rustle her hair. A jute basket hung by her waist, tied with two little strings that kept the thing firmly in place. Searching through the grass, she picked up stalks of spirit grass, before placing it into the basket. Just another day as usual for her, if not for the person accompanying her.

“I still don’t know how you can pick these without any Qi sense,” Yan Yun said, walking behind Yin. She had been accompanying Yin in her task the past few days, learning how to help out in chores. Yin had been worried at first, but Yan Yun had become a great help, finding more spirit herbs than Yin did.

She tried not to sigh at the thought. It felt unfair at times, all the more so with cultivators living amongst her, so the difference between them was more than obvious to see. Yet the envy was unsightly, and she tried to push it down. Yun Yun had been nothing but kind to her, and she was even teaching her all about the various sects and the empire as a whole.

“Is something wrong Yin Yin? Your basket is barely filled,” Yan Yun said, pulling Yin out of her thoughts.

“Huh? N-no, nothing. Just got distracted,” Yin replied, realising she’d been dazing out. “Sorry, I’m just a bit tired,” Yin replied with a quiet smile.

“If I’m going too quickly then do let me know. I’m not too used to doing these tasks. So I apologise if I’ve been rushing you,” Yan Yun said.

“N-No.. it’s alright,” Yin said. A moment passed in silence, before Yin glanced back to Yan Yun. “Well… actually, it’s about someone I’ve been curious about… but I can’t seem to ask,” Yin said, fidgeting awkwardly.

Yan Yun’s frown increased before a red flush rose on her cheeks. The girl looked around as if to scan for people before walking closer and whispering in Yin’s ears.

“Is it Lu Jie?”

Yin looked at the girl with wide eyes, before nodding. “Did he say something?” Yin asked.

“No!” Yan Yun exclaimed abruptly, louder than she’d anticipated by the look on her face. She coughed, calming herself, before continuing. “No! He didn’t. Knowing him, I feel like he may not even notice. I just thought it might’ve been him. You tend to stare at him a lot.”

“I-I do? Is it that noticeable?” she asked, concerned if Lu Jie himself had noticed her, and thought she was kind of a strange girl.

Yin saw a sparkle flash through Yan Yun’s eyes. The girl seemed positively excited about the topic, though Yin couldn’t tell why.

“Lu Jie huh? I can’t blame you. He’s pretty adorable once you get to know him, and he’s tall. You should just ask him, Yin Yin,” Yan Yun said, patting her shoulder.

Yin stared at the girl, unsure of what she was talking about.

“I-I tried to. But he was busy. I just… don’t know. Perhaps this is all a misunderstanding. But the celebration for Zhang, and all of it. It just felt right to me. When I looked at him there, I felt like I knew that I was right,” Yin paused when she heard something that sounded an awful lot like a squeal from Yan Yun. She spotted the girl looking at her with glowing eyes, eager to listen more. Yin, still confused, continued.

“But I don’t even know him too well. What if I’m wrong? And no matter what, he is still a cultivator. I just… don’t know,” Yin said, feeling her anxieties starting to swell, as they began to pour out of her.

Yan Yun closed in, grasping her shoulders. “It’ll be fine. Lu Jie is a bit quirky, yes. But he’s a good guy. And he cares for people close to him. You don’t have to worry about him being a cultivator or anything either, I’ve never seen him treat mortals or cultivators differently. It’s part of why he tends to get in so much trouble,” Yan Yun said.

Yin laughed. When the children had been too scared to join with cultivators, she’d seen the boy be pushed into the mud by a boy. The entire village had held their breath, when instead of getting angry, the boy had called for his spirit turtle and shouted something silly before drenching them all.

“That is true. I feel better… thank you Yun Yun,” Yin said, smiling at the girl. Yan Yun looked at her in surprise, before returning a bright smile of her own.

“Anytime, Yin Yin. Though I can’t claim to understand… I never had the chance to develop something like that. But I have always wanted to have some female friends of my own age to whom I could talk about such things, and laugh and share stories with. It’s something of a dream for me,” Yan Yun trailed off.

Yin looked at the girl, seeing that same expression of sorrow. Moving in, she grasped Yan Yun’s hand, feeling the tender skin that was perfect beyond measure rest in her palm, as she looked up into her pear green eyes. “I’m your sister. I-I can talk,” Yin said, before she paused. “I-if you’d like me to.”

Yan Yun looked back into Yin’s eyes, surprised by her words. A moment later, she nodded smiling brightly as little tears filled her eyes.

“Okay, enough about me,” Yan Yun said, before leaning closer once more. “Will your father approve of things with you and Lu Jie?”

“My father? He doesn’t know of it,” Yin replied, confused by the question.

Yan Yun nodded. “That’s fine for now, but you’ll eventually have to take it up with him. Lu Jie is not very normal, and now with the Lord protecting him, it may not be strange if he’s made to marry for politics, and that’ll put your position in jeopardy. It’s best to clear these things out in due time. I’ve seen far too many mistresses and how they get treated, and I don’t want to see that happen to you,” Yan Yun said.

Yin stared blankly at the girl. “I… don’t understand? I don’t intend to marry Lu Jie?”

“Oh. Are you sure…? That seems… awfully scandalous…” Yan Yun said, her voice getting quieter with each word by the confused expression on Yin’s face.

“I… think you misunderstood. I’d been talking about my grandfather. I think they both shared the same home, and I’ve been meaning to ask him,” Yin said.

She watched Yan Yun’s face slowly but surely turn a bright red as her eyes darted around in embarrassment. “Oh, I thought— people had been gossiping since they saw Lu Jie leave your place late at night and you’d been with him.”

Catching the implication, Yin found her own face lit up. “No! Heavens no! I-I could never. If anything I thought Yun Yun was… I’d never even entertained the thought because of that.”

“Oh heavens no. I like Lu Jie, but not like that at all. Not to mention… I have been stripped of my family’s ties and have lost my cultivation. If anything, Lu Jie who’s favoured by the Lord currently would never look at someone like me twice.”

“That isn’t true, Yun Yun! You’re so pretty, any man would be glad to have you. I on the other hand am merely the daughter of a small village’s head. Someone like Lu Jie, a cultivator of such strength… I could never.”

The two girls drifted into an awkward silence, resuming their herb gathering tasks for a while. A few minutes of silent work later, Yan Yun spoke up once more.

“So… before I’d misunderstood, you’d been mentioning your grandfather and that they shared a home?” Yan Yun asked.

Yin nodded, plucking another herb and putting it in her basket. “Yes. It’s a very distant land, and… Lu Jie reminds me of him” Yin said, glancing at Yan Yun.

“Now that you mention it, Lu Jie has always known strange things. He’d taught a class about lighting and such, and I’d been meaning to ask him where he’d learned such things, but we’d gotten interrupted, and then the thought slipped my mind,” Yan Yun said, looking at Yin. “Where is his home?”

Yin grew silent for a moment, picking up the little herbs, before glancing back at Yan Yun. “Truthfully, I don’t know either. It’s a very far off land, and my grandfather said that he could likely never return to it.”

Yan Yun frowned at Yin’s words, “Perhaps he arrived here from one of the continents beyond the Azure sea. But… he looks to be from the empire. I hear the people beyond the Azure sea have much more colour hair and eyes. We get some traders on the coast every so often.”

“I don’t want to pry too much. But… if he does share a home… I have something to share with him. And I would like to know more about my grandfather’s home. Before he passed away, he told me stories about his home. I was hoping to know how things were.” Yin said, quietly looking in the distance.

“You should talk to him. I’m sure he’ll be glad to tell you,” Yan Yun said.

“Do you truly think so?” Yin asked, receiving a nod from Yan Yun. She thought over the topic, feeling a strange joy at the idea of hearing more of her grandfather’s home.

Surely it wouldn’t hurt to ask? Yin decided to ask Lu Jie, the next chance she saw him.

The two girls continued to talk about the topic as the hours passed by. With the sun starting to cross the sky, they made their way back to the village. Arriving into the village Yin paused at seeing a crowd gathered around her home. Walking faster, she made her way in, asking one of the villagers what had happened.

The old woman looked at Yin, a deeply concerned look on her face. “Oh Yin, you’re here. The sect… sent a messenger. They’ll be cutting us off right before winter, the village will starve without them!”