《Nascent Soul Child (Xianxia + Therapist)》


 1. Im a classic man

    "Yeah Lorenzo, I''ll tell Ms. Johnson that maybe she should go see another therapist. She won''t, but I can always hope, right?" I said before exiting the common area we shared.


    I don''t know if he had heard me because the next thing I knew, I''d stepped into what I thought was the hallway before everything turned into a verdant green.


    The heavens clashed above, a clap of thunder parting the skies as the circle surrounding me disappeared. Around me, the countryside was lush green with rich vibrant colored flowers.


    I knelt trying to make sense of my situation. I vaguely remembered being something before. This was not the office I¡¯d been trying to enter. This wasn''t even a building.


    "What the fuck..."


    I muttered every expletive I had ever heard in my life.


    I shivered in the cool breeze. The land felt full and thick. This wasn''t the desert, dry and desolate-it felt alive. Humid, but I wasn''t sweating, yet. I always sweat buckets in high humidity.


    I desperately looked around for the door that I had just walked through and came up empty.


    A pungent smell overwhelmed me as I freaked out. This had to be some terrible stunt. I couldn¡¯t find a way back.


    I tried to calm myself the way I had gone over so many times with my clients.


    I might be a bit late for my nine o''clock appointment tomorrow. Heck, I might have just had an out of body experience.


    "Okay name, let''s name five things...we can... where the fuck am I? Let¡¯s not, okay?"


    I felt all of the resiliency training I had ever gone to disappear in an instant. I held my head and screamed. Above me, a swirling dragon looked like it was taking its time moving across the horizon. It wasn¡¯t looking at me, and for a second I blinked, grateful for that tender mercy. Also, it wasn¡¯t the kind of dragon you see in those tabletop role-playing games. This one didn''t have wings, just a long smooth body that defied physics.


    This was among the first clues I had that something had gone terribly wrong. Yeah, I wasn''t going to make that appointment. Ms. Johnson would have to find a new therapist. And yes I had seen a dragon, making me think that I was definitely not on Earth. And my mental state? Fragile. I would have to address this later.


    A flock of large birds, in answer to my scream, flew out of a nearby bush. It startled me.


    "Lorenzo? Where the heck am I? Lorenzo oOoOO!"


    I looked about, trying to get my bearings. Had I died? Was this some prank far beyond the capabilities of anyone I knew? I did a double take, looking down at myself. Nothing seemed that different.


    I honestly didn''t know. One minute I was talking to Herman Lorenzo, one of the other therapists at my practice, the next I was here. I had intended to pick up my next patient and walk her to my room, but now she¡¯d be waiting in vain.


    Poor Ms.Johnson.


    No, not poor Ms. Johnson, poor me!


    "This has to be some sort of prank, right?"


    As if in answer, a bird cawed.


    I could be dead and reincarnated, like all of those portal fantasies I had been reading. Equally likely, I also could be having a psychotic break. Either way, I felt naked.


    My twig and berries felt just out and about in the air. I would need to do something about that. Nothing really presented itself as an option for me. My hands darted to preserve what little dignity I had. My clothing had shredded as I watched the dragon and I had barely noticed, that was about the extent of how in touch I was with myself. Normally, being nude would have elicited some sort of sarcastic joke. Today, I just needed to accept it.


    I looked around for signs of a village. I would accept a road or even a puff of smoke. Ahead, a series of mountains rose up. I saw things that had to have been man-made. Or made, at the very least. There was no telling if dragons had made whatever it was out there or not.


    Or given the dragon that I doubted was real, they could have been made with magic. Large slabs of stone had to have been shaped stone or painted. The fact that it was partway up a steep mountain didn¡¯t deter the foot traffic.


    I needed pants and more importantly, I needed food. I pointed myself in the direction of the mountain and looked for the fastest way.


    Behind me, a dust cloud settled. I made my way toward the promising-looking valley.


    ***


    It took me the better part of two hours to walk to the village. It was a large enough walk to give me pause. Now I''m not prone to staring, but the pastoral scene of greens and browns touched some base instinct inside of me.


    That plus the feeling that I was exposed gave me a nice back-and-forth between zen and anxiety. It was a swirling mix that had no place where I was. It was nearly the opposite feeling of the chafing that was now getting to be problematic on both of my thighs. Look, I worked out, but it was for the most part weight training. I just wasn¡¯t used to long hikes.


    I often heard the statement that a therapist couldn''t take a client further than they had gone. This didn''t ring true with me, because I had counseled many people who had been far more successful. This mix of zen and anxiety felt like a first step on what could be a long and arduous journey.


    Stone and wooden buildings dotted the area, and gray red, and green flags and tapestries adorned everything. Or at least everything high up. Looking around, I found an unattended laundry line with what looked like martial arts robes. I was still a ways away from the large road that appeared to be the main thoroughfare into and out of the town which kept growing in size as I walked. I resolved to try to blend in. Chances were that I didn''t speak the language and I needed to at least look normal.


    In the stories I read, the main character always had some ability to speak the native language.


    I mused about if I should be learning a language here. Perhaps I already knew it? That would be a question for later. This would merit some looking into.


    I did not want to come into conflict with anyone, especially afraid as I was, and I''ll admit, I could''ve stood to lose a few pounds. That might have held me back.


    The robes were loose around my chest causing me to cinch it together with a white belt.


    A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.


    Best that I not draw attention, right? I looked around again. No one appeared to be watching as I snuck out of the area and back onto the path. I was so thankful, as I made a mental note to return to this spot when I was able to return what I was borrowing.


    I waited a good five minutes down the way, crouching under a Juniper tree, before I kept moving. No one noticed as far as I could tell. I didn''t want to get caught with anyone''s pants down, much less mine.


    Villagers started streaming back and forth as I got closer to the mega city ahead. Despite the few buildings on the outskirts looking empty, the city was lively. Just breathing in made me feel strong. That was something I would have to look into whenever I popped out of survival mode. The itch to find a safe space had never been more worthy of a scratch.


    And today, I am a nail.


    ***


    I took a second to examine that feeling, realizing that my body wanted me to do something I wasn''t certain but with the clues I''d gotten so far this might be some sort of eastern Asian country. It might just as well be Xianxia land. I sighed. Did I want to dare to fight against some young master''s honor? Defy the heavens? That sounded a bit anxiety-producing.


    To be completely honest, all I really wanted was to nap. So I found a good spot in a park overlooking the mountains, checked around, and nervously did just that. If I ever got money I would come back with the robes and compensate the poor family that I had stolen from.


    My nap wasn''t long for me as I expected that being in an unfamiliar place would not let me turn off a lot of the little subroutines that I normally do. I was antsy and I wanted my own bed, damnit.


    I stopped on the road as people started appearing. It looked to be about midday with bison, horses, and oxen dragging wagons to and from the town. The first man that saw me returned my look odd but I paid it no mind as they passed. It wasn¡¯t until the third man nearly broke his leg getting out of his way that I started to take notice.


    "Don''t mind me," I said, "just an ordinary everyday nobody..."


    "This one humbly greets the cultivator. Please let this one stay out of your way. If there is anything you need please let this one know."


    The man bowed so low that his head scraped the dirt. His words were in a language that I somehow understood.


    I blanched. It was one of those kinds of places, then was it? I was going to have to mind my words.


    Thankfully I fully understood the man, something I''d always seen as a glaringly obvious flaw in most portal fiction. Just because someone is smart doesn¡¯t mean that they can speak any language.


    "The... uh what?" I stammered, trying to feign indifference. He was far away by the time I realized I was talking to myself.


    It would be best, to not draw attention, but if so my robes looked like they were working overtime. I hadn¡¯t noticed the faint glimmer that had sprouted around it. True, I was trying to keep a low profile, but I was suddenly glittering. I was a damn vampire, just like my teenage girls had teased me that one time.


    I felt that shot for a second.


    In response I began to lightly hit my arms. This made me breathe faster, leading to a feedback loop of me hitting my arm, catching my breath and then repeating.


    Some of the villagers took note and started watching, exactly the opposite of what I wanted. I was at it for a couple minutes before I realized that the glow wasn''t hurting.


    I sat down in a lotus pose and closed my eyes.


    If this was some sort of game, I wondered what the end goal was. Mess with Joe?


    I much preferred board games for the whole social component, and I was proud to be the only storyteller of the game "Blood on the Clocktower" in my gaming group. Of course that was because everyone else always got the rules wrong and I had to fix things, and I really liked the role.


    It had nothing to do with me wanting to have control, no not at all.


    But if this was what I had to live with, I could get used to it. If I could just stop glittering for one minute that is.


    I moved to the side of the road and sat back down. I would like to get a handle on it.


    The aura around felt strong. I fell into meditation. As I closed my eyes, the air around me felt like a part of my respiratory system. As I breathed in, I in turn breathed out.... something.


    As I breathed in... it felt like the aura of the world.


    That couldn''t be right. Was this one of those types of places? I didn''t know yet but as I meditated I felt more and more grounded.


    I recalled many times being told growing up to just meditate on something, and always finding it to be unhelpful. It wasn¡¯t until I had seen one of my patients use it successfully that I''d tried it again. True, it was one of those things, those new age quasi- does this even work type things that I chalked up mostly to the placebo effect. Today? It went from being no better than placebo to something that actually could work.


    That rush came now, like the calm at the end of a sweaty yoga class where you were all loose and grateful.


    I chuckled, thinking about feeling loose and grateful at the current moment. Inner laughing along, I embraced meditation with a renewed vigor. It felt like home.


    Instead of trying to push down my feelings, I instead regarded them casually.


    I remembered my girls and Lauren and it still hurt, but it was a far off pain.


    Fear of the unknown was ever present. I remembered the three "Fs", fight, flight and fucking. I wasn''t feeling like I could flee and the third option was completely off the table. Could I fight my way out of this situation?


    I cracked open an eye.


    Would I even need to? I didn''t know. Just breathing in and out, I felt empowered. I stood up and stretched.


    Time to figure out what the hell was going on was my first problem. I needed to eat. There wasn''t anything I could do about basic biological necessity. Survival was also my first problem and a big part of that. So more of an added benefit. Survival started with the basics. I needed money. Or charity. One of those would be easier to get. For as much as I hoped that this world was a post capitalist place, I expected that there would be a heavy hand of the market.


    "Er pardon me," I said to one of the merchants as they passed by,"but is there somewhere a guy like me could get a job? I''m finding myself a bit low on cash and I''m new to the area."


    The gawking merchant snapped his chin up.


    "The... sir... perhaps the Green Velvet Sect needs someone to perform some sort of duty? But the White Fang tavern in the center of town will feed you without question. "


    "The White Fang?"


    "Cultivators gather there."


    I nodded to the man. It was all a part of building rapport.


    "Thanks. I''m Pidge by the way."


    I plodded over and put out a hand to shake, not thinking that this was any more or less than his normal interactions.


    "Li Tang, and if this one could be so bold, has a textiles shop that could serve your needs, young master. Just look for the Li Discount Store and we''ll give you the friends and family discount. "


    I considered the offbeat offer for a long second. The friends and family discount at a discount store? That sounded like they were trying to fleece me. But I wanted them to be on my side. I would play the game a bit.


    "I do need new clothes. Mister Li, perhaps we could work out a deal where I get store credit?"


    "That would be my pleasure young master. Right this way. It''s a pleasure to serve one such as yourself. The store is around this corner ahead," he said gesturing to the front.


    A short ten minutes later, I was one hundred Li in debt to Li Tang''s Discount store, with a line of credit. They measured me and assured me that I would have a custom set of two robes the next day.


    I also acquired a set of directions to the White Fang Inn, which of course I didn''t need. The aura in the air felt heavier here. It was like moving closer to a storm, except the wind wasn''t as subtle.


    The last thing I needed was someone to storm out and yell something stupid.


    <hr>


    "You dare!" A man''s voice echoed through the hall as I walked into the antechamber.


    Though the voice wasn''t directed at me, I paused. My thoughts before arriving felt prophetic, but I still wanted to get a lay of the land.


    To not arrive in some situation, I crept to the open door to the tavern''s large reception area.


    Two young looking men were squaring off in the middle of the area. One wore a white robe with a green trim, the other wore a blue robe with a white trim. Both were in a fighting stance, doing their best Goku power up.


    The aura around the two was electric. My eyebrows pulsed as they stood on edge. I didn¡¯t even know how much power had to be coursing through the air for my eyebrows to stand up.


    Of course, I then bravely turned tail and noped my ass out of the tavern.


    "Fuck this shit," I said.


    I walked across the street. Finding an unoccupied plot of wall, I saw my ass down.

 2. Living on Borrowed Time

    A neat circle of dirt lifted up as the shock waves from their fight pushed me back. The inn had blinked out in the span of a second.


    "I would really appreciate not dying on my first day here," I said, getting into a jog heading away from ground zero, "Sweet, merciful, and all that is holy if I could just explain to these guys that fighting isn''t always the answer..."


    Next to me a running, smiling bald man caught up. His robes looked immaculately in place. I felt like I was huffing and puffing and he didn¡¯t even seem to be making an effort.


    "Things seem really bad right now. But they can always be worse."


    "Bwuh?" I said as the man evenly kept pace with me despite me sprinting with all my might. On the fight or flight spectrum no one would put on a fight right now. The grinning bald man didn''t even look like he was bothered. I had to hope that his intentions weren¡¯t terrible.


    I ran around a food cart, narrowly missing it.


    "Pardon me sir, but do you have a moment to speak about the sect of Green Velvet?" The bald man said to me, keeping his sales person smile while pitching his sect to me.


    I stopped full out. I had been part of many casual interactions with people trying to convert me to their church, but the sight of the smiling bald man in monk''s robes? It felt prophetic. This went a bit further than just rapport building.


    "You know what? Sure," I said in between breaths.


    The bald man''s eyebrows, the only pieces of hair in his head rose ever so slightly.


    "That''s wonderful. I don''t usually get people taking me up on my offer. You must be new in town, Cultivator?"


    It took me a whole five seconds to realize I was being addressed as a cultivator. It''s okay, the wheels were rusty. It was my first day after all.


    "The name is Pidge."


    "Pleased to me you Pidge, this one is initiate Wu of the Green Velvet sect. If it isn''t too much of a bother, you do seem to have reached the qi gathering stage. Perhaps you already have some training? We would be very interested in your budding ability."


    It was my turn to raise an eyebrow. I knew that in the fantasy books that Sects were civic institutions or some sort. Or was it a social club? I paused, slowing down to catch my breath. He walked beside me.


    "I do not. I was traveling when I suddenly..."


    "Ah! Wondrous! You came here and the high aura in the atmosphere caused you to tap into your latent powers! Truly the Dao is always the way.¡±


    Wu looked like he was ready to weep. A happy one, I was willing to guess. He was probably a bit too invested, but he seemed nice.


    "Look Wu, don''t get the wrong idea here. I am very new to all of this."


    I gestured vaguely at the universe.


    Wu nodded along.


    "Oh, you mean the whole thing? It''s not like you got dropped into town without any regard for..."


    Wu looked like he was thinking about what to say as he appeared to backtrack.


    "but nevermind that. You''re here now. Tell me what you know about the Dao?"


    I stiffened. I had read a few stories about eastern Asian fantasy, and if this was a fever dream in his imagination it might have aligned itself to the dream. The Dao was something important to cultivators. Or at least to the demonic ones? Heavenly ones? Did it matter? I wasn¡¯t certain. I knew that it was about the Dao and Cultivating something but there had been a lot of hand waving magic going on to make sure that the stories kept going at a breakneck pace and, well I wasn¡¯t a breakneck type of pace kind of guy. That didn''t work for me long term. I needed breaks, damnit.


    As a kid I had organized a labor union to come in and do a ballot count at my supermarket because I thought it would mean an easier job. I did work less hard but then had to help the shop steward because I had taken a pivotal role in getting the shop up and running. In trying to do less, I had done more. My love for the social aspect of the union led me to become a social worker, specifically the therapist kind so that I would be able to help people one on one. That and working on civic social justice.


    Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    It was just a manly thing for a manly man like me to do.


    Sure sometimes I had a frustrating client, but overall I liked the work. It was always varied and every day was a different challenge.


    And now I found myself sitting in a lotus position across from a try hard bald guy that looked like he ate his feelings for breakfast.


    "First off, let''s make sure that we''re far enough from the blast, second off what the heck do you eat because I need to know," I said, trying to derail him and get more information.


    "That is an amusing line of inquiry, and so you should know that I keep myself on a steady diet of pills."


    I frowned. Time to build rapport.


    I had heard of a bunch of crash diets, like a particularly whack one involving grapefruit, but pills?


    "And how does that make you feel?"


    The smile slipped. Got him.


    "I''m sorry, what?" He asked.


    "You''re only eating pills. How does that make you feel?" I replied.


    The bald man twitched. I sat back.


    "I... you know what... no one has ever asked me that."


    Seeing myself on the outskirts of the neighborhood, I slowed. Following my lead, Wu did as well.


    "No one has ever asked you about how you''re feeling?"I said.


    "That just seems like... why would you do that?"


    The look was one that I was familiar with. The look of someone who has been asked to think through something, having never processed it.


    "I ask people that all the time. It''s just a nice thing to do. Let''s have a seat."


    Wu sat across from me, next to a convenient Inn. One that I was hopeful didn¡¯t have a cultivator infestation.


    "Now I know what you''re about to say, You''re not alone. I see a lot of men in my practice who are trying to get through something," I said.


    Without even thinking too hard about it, I jumped into my ¡®what therapy is and isn''t spiel¡¯. And then right there in the middle of a new city, in a new world, I had unintentionally found a new client.


    "What I do, now that I have your undivided attention, is to be an active listener and..."


    ___


    Thirty minutes later, Wu was a lot better acquainted with terms like boundaries and taking space.


    "So if what you are saying is true, then I should be able to call it... establish a boundary? With my sect?" Wu said. His face was a messy contortion of emotion.


    "Yep! Because you have to set an expectation that you will only try to convert new members sometimes. This is where taking space for yourself comes in. You don¡¯t have to do this all the time. When are you taking time for yourself?" I said.


    ¡°That is¡­ hard to say. Now that we¡¯ve been talking for a while, is there a reason that you¡¯re wearing women''s robes?¡±


    ¡°I haven¡¯t the faintest idea where you got that notion. These definitely belong to a man,¡± I replied. ¡°But this isn¡¯t about me. It¡¯s about you and setting reasonable boundaries at work.¡±


    Though I was unable to see the cultivator''s power level, if he had one, I knew that Wu was strong. Wu had a nomadic life, as a messenger slash evangelist for his Sect.


    To be completely honest, I had to turn down his offers to join the Sect several times. It was like being asked out by a female client. Flattering, but in a most unprofessional way.


    It was only then that Wu glommed onto the feeling that he needed to think about the narrative that he was making in his life versus the narrative the Sect was putting on him.


    I knew that often a client would say one thing about their wife before their divorce; painting half a picture, then a totally different half would emerge after. It was about then that the truth would get muddy.


    The Sect was like a wife for him, almost worse because it was all downside. I had to point out more than once that the Sect had been one sided in every interaction. I had seen a few bad breakups, indeed a lot of presenting problems in his office derived from that.


    It was as if the man behind the Sects outreach had never paused to think of what he wanted out of life except for training.


    I knew the type of hard working nose to the grindstone type of person who realized in his fifties that he''d been sacrificing his nights and weekends for a company that didn''t give a rat''s ass about him. The same man that could no longer relate to his wife and kids if they had even stuck around.


    I hadn¡¯t wanted children. To be more accurate, despite not having wanted any, my ex wife had insisted. I had lost that battle. Then she had skipped town a few years ago and I made the best of his situation with the girls. I had done my best and when they were close to getting out of high school ...well I had gotten a little too into my head and that might have been where the problems started.


    "I''m sorry what? You''re really required to do all of this, without question?" I said.


    The cultivator only nodded. I had set the man off on a tangent and besides wishing I had some way to take notes, I had just sat there interjecting every so often.


    "Wu, I feel like we need to wrap things up here, but you''re welcome to return. Not that I''m on a schedule, but I need to take care of some things before it gets dark. Namely finding a room at an inn that won''t instantly explode."


    "Ah, of course. Can I drop by again soon? I haven''t felt this refreshed since I filled my core for the first time."


    I nodded.


    The man grabbed at his pockets looking for something. He pulled out a piece of paper and five odd stones. I gladly accepted his offer.


    "Here, this ought to cover a room at the Green Air Inn, and here''s some pocket change until you get on your feet."


    I didn''t know how to thank the man fully, as he disappeared in the blink of an eye. I was left staring at the paper and the stones. One looked like proper currency, the other like board game money.


    You could guess which one I thought was real.

 3. Calling on me like a Young OG

    I found a good inn on the west side of the city. It wasn¡¯t too bad looking, but when I gave them the paper money, the person behind the counter began to look very nervous.


    "Sir, that is a lot of money you''re holding. Also are you wearing a woman¡¯s robes?"


    I pursed my lips. It was just like Wu to not think about the ramifications of his decision.


    The bellhop of the discount Green Air Inn perked up. I had apparently been holding the equivalent of a $1,000 bill and the place only cost $50 a night.


    I was going to ignore his comment about my stolen robes.


    The bill itself marked one thousand Waan.


    "Pardon me but how much does the average man or woman earn in a day? I''m a bit new here, and I would like to figure out what everything is worth. Oh and how much is a peasants breakfast? Sorry for all the questions."


    "Average workers earn ten Waan in a day. Lunch or breakfast would cost someone ten Lengs or at most a Waan. Usually it''s a package deal and you pay for both at once."


    "It''s twenty Lengs to the Waan?"


    "That is the standard conversion rate, yes sir."


    I smiled, finally getting a sense of the worth of things.


    "And if I wanted to rent an apartment for a month?"


    The bellhop''s eyes narrowed. He crossed his arms.


    "Just curious. I''ll be here for some time.¡±


    "As an outsider? Probably four hundred Waan per month, maybe five hundred for a nice place. Not that there are that many such places here."


    ¡°Thank you.¡±


    I changed my thousand mark Waan bill into a lot of smaller ones. The bellhop took me up to the second floor and accepted a generous tip to forget I showed up.


    I strategically placed my notes around my robe and collapsed into a state of dissociation, my mind racing. I didn''t want to think about anything much less math at this time.


    The room had nothing but a basin for washing,a few windows, and several mats and blankets, so I did what every adult male would do in this situation. I made a large soft pile of clothes.


    Then, I jumped onto it.


    It.


    Was.


    Nice.


    Thankfully, sleep got me, and I fell into the most restful sleep that I''d ever had.


    I woke up like a kitten and stretched. This wasn''t home. The blankets had surrounded me.


    I looked to the door and saw a little note laying an entire inch away from the door. It, of course, was something like a bid for me to rush a house.


    The Red Fang sect had left me a note. I wasn¡¯t ready to start up some new dating excursions so I tucked it into a pouch that bore the mark of the inn. I expected them to want to try to recruit me, if they deemed it appropriate, but first I needed to get myself situated.


    I wasn¡¯t home, that was certain. My patients¡­ my girls, I couldn''t worry about those right now. My survival wasn''t guaranteed in any way and I had no read of the current situation.


    And Lauren? We hadn¡¯t ended things on the right foot. There had been some words said that I wouldn¡¯t be able to take back. Something about how I¡¯d wanted to live a kid free life and her son¡­ he was nice but he was a lot younger.


    Now I was here, entirely kid free. Someone might have seen this as poetic justice for the short sighted comments that ended my relationship, but really I was just worried about them being taken care of.


    A knock on the door got me out of my spiraling. I opened the door to accept the dumplings and rice meal. It smelled heavenly and I wondered how much work had gone into it.


    The bellhop held the plate out.


    ¡°Will there be anything else, sir?¡±


    I was gobsmacked by the amount, smell and genuine aesthetic of the food. It was like being handed the most attractive meal I¡¯d ever seen.


    In that moment, caught between breakfast and the simple question, I blanched. It takes a certain kind of person to throw me. That might be wrong, maybe it¡¯s just a certain situation. It might be more apt to put it that way in the long run. Overall, I¡¯m not having a psychotic break, but damn I¡¯m not on earth and oh there¡¯s a damn system governing this world, yeah it threw me a bit.


    ¡°Actually yes, if you have got a few minutes.¡±


    Doubtlessly, he knew an easy mark when he saw one. I always tipped well when I went out. It made me feel a bit better to know that I was helping someone else out. Plus in this instance, I was looking for information. I could afford some quid pro quo, especially if he was a mensch.


    ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡±


    ¡°This one is pleased to be called Moon Fei, of the Moon Clan.¡±


    Last name first, huh? Alright, that is an easy fix. I made a mental note to myself.


    The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.


    His odd speech pattern, the third person talking made me do a double take. He sounded like a servant, but it might have been a mask. Or it could have just been his version of the customer service voice.


    ¡°Moon Fei, if I wanted to read about this town, would there be some sort of¡­ library? Someplace with books or scrolls I could read?¡±


    He paused, placing both arms inside his stark white robes. It looked practiced, with the ease he slipped into it. That more than anything spoke to being the real him behind the mask.


    "There is one library that the Moon clan allows non-initiates and families to use, but... Perhaps there is a way to get what you want without that?"


    ¡°I will need to visit one but if you have another idea, I am open to it. As you can see I am not a local here, so if you help me, I can only try my best to reward your efforts."


    I took pains to emphasize the word reward for his benefit.


    "What this one suggests is to speak to... Well this is perhaps a bit unorthodox, but the mundane people who know the most here are the tea sellers."


    "Oh?" I said, intrigued.


    "The good ones? They sell their tea by the kilogram. The best ones? They sell it by the gram."


    "Is that right? Do you know anyone?"


    "I know a guy..." He looked to me for approval.


    I nodded.


    "I can take you to him, if you want."


    "Lead on, Fei," I said.


    We left the Green Air Inn.


    Moon Fei took me to a bustling part of the city that I had overlooked before. Not that I had a lot of time to review everything since my time before was ninety percent tourism, and ten percent sheer terror.


    It was a mash up between lowbrow and well dressed, as every man, woman and child looked like they were on their way to a very important business meeting. The fact that most of them were wearing what looked like a soft jiu jitsu gi had no bearing on anything. Nope, I definitely didn''t imagine them all selling real estate in those outfits, yelling ''ABC- Always Be Cultivating!'' to each other and other improvised slogans.


    The one thing that was immediately apparent though was the lack of horses and cows. I had expected to see a horse drawn carriage or buggy, but no such luck. Instead strong muscled men and women pushed and pulled carts down the street delivering things from door to door.


    I guess that was what happened when the average man or woman was stronger than Earth''s strongest man. Who needs horses when they won''t necessarily listen to you and the cart weights are negligible? Not these people. And horses are expensive.


    Fei had begun to slow around an area which smelled like bad oolong. Or it could just be some of the smoke from the fires.


    "This one wants to make certain that you give a good impression," he said.


    "I''m certain to try."


    "Then this one will open negotiations."


    The man behind the world''s most unassuming shack wore a gray beard like he had been born with it. He sat-no lay upon a mound of leaves, like a dragon guarding his hoard with one eye open. His calculated indifference made me immediately interested in what he was doing and what he had to sell. At second glance, the leaves were contained in many small, nearly clear translucent bags. He was laying over the pile but it had been set up so it looked like he was on it.


    "Moon Fei, what brings you to this part of the city?"


    "Ah, brother Moon Xiru, nothing but someone looking for information and possibly some of the finest teas this side of the Western sea."


    I strongly suspected that they weren''t brothers. Probably closer to an uncle and nephew relationship, one where the uncle was a bit too involved in the nephews business. One did have a massive gray beard after all.


    The two men paused, as if their dance number required it. Indeed I could see the calculated steps. I wondered if Moon Fei would be getting a kickback from any tea sold. With his ease around the other man, it was almost a guarantee.


    Almost.


    It wasn''t worth my time right now to figure out how he was making his fortune.


    "You have brought me a strong cultivator, someone that this one would be proud to sell tea," his voice dropped, "or information for a price."


    I returned his smile.


    "The things I want to know are very basic, but suppose that along with some of your best tea, it would suffice for me to get some of my questions answered."


    Xiru stroked his luxurious black beard. His accompanying gray top knot made me envious of whoever was his barber. That man must have been making a real fortune.


    "Sit, sit, let us get to know each other a bit. I don''t sell my *wares* to just anyone."


    Two chairs arrived as if sitting in wait to pounce. There I was in the heart of a bustling market, watching a man light a flame under the most average looking kettle I had ever seen. Seriously, it wasn''t any different, like it was calculated to be the most average one on the block. Of the handful of merchants I saw on the street, half of them had gaudy tea kettles that would make any queen proud. The other half had less flashy kettles.


    Even in this small bit, I was surprised by the variety.


    "This is the best part," Fei said, breathing in deeply.


    "Breathe in deeply. This is the best Oolong tea that the Western Cloud sect has ever produced. Legend says that it''s not even grown with dirt, and that a core elder picks the leaves himself."


    The smell of the tea took me back to Earth. There I was drinking in the sweet aroma of nostalgia, getting lost in my thoughts before I realized that it was a side effect of just smelling tea.


    "This... Just breathing in this tea, it''s exceptional."


    "This one is pleased to be the top tea seller in this district, and hopefully soon, many others. We¡¯re expanding."


    "Fei was, let''s say, a bit reluctant to take me to a library. "


    The two men looked at each other for a long second. I suspected that I was missing some hand code. Also their hands didn''t move so it was probably their familiarity that led me to believe that.


    ¡°He was wise to say so. The sects who operate in the open, and some of the gangs here that don''t, will take note of notable new people. The less reputable ones will come obliquely. This one believes that you are a man who values... Shall we say a bit of privacy?"


    His voice brought me back to all the times I had to explain therapist confidentiality to someone. No, I was duty bound to not reveal your crush on your sister or God forbid your mother to just anyone, not that I would unless it was one of a few special cases where I was a mandated reporter, what was told to me was confidential. The only time I would speak of such things were with other privileged providers in my group if I had a tough case.


    "I am someone who appreciates a bit of privacy. I expect that would be a small part of whatever fee I pay you."


    "To be certain, that is the way. This one requires a certain level of discretion in his actions, and thus understanding so, he picks his clientele with an eye to that."


    I nodded. Trust was something that he would have to earn from me, but I felt safe here so far. At the very least, he wasn''t physically intimidating to me.


    "That first piece of information, that was the free one. The rest will cost you."


    I smiled. Ever since I had two girls, I appreciated more and more when people were straightforward with me. You wouldn''t believe the convoluted stories that they tried to make me believe just to get me to go along with their plots. It was like raising two Slytherins, honestly.


    "Are there many gangs and Sects here? More importantly where is here and¡­¡± I trailed off.


    "Would the young master care to buy some tea?"


    "Of course, but..." I said.


    "The tea is not for sale."

 4. The Clock Ticks Faster

    I sputtered.


    "Fei, I was led to believe that this was a reputable dealer," I said with a flat face. Fei mimed being fake shocked.


    He really was a bad actor.


    Xiru straightened, finally pouring two cups for each of us.


    "The tea is free. The information costs something."


    Xiru palmed a sleek black implement and began to comb his hair.


    "How much, then?" I said, expecting him to ask for a favor or something. Maybe he had a fetch quest in mind for me?


    "May the Dao forgive these hasty overzealous foreigners."


    Perhaps I was a bit too eager, but with a game overlay and what seemed like a city of a million martial artists, I wanted to be as safe as possible. You would understand, given how every third or fourth person looked like they were given private lessons by Bruce Lee. I was a bit paranoid.


    "Listen, Sir, I have been more than reasonable. And maybe I am from a more aggressively forward culture but if someone takes me to see a tea guy, I expect to at least get the offer to buy some tea. So, my apologies if I came off too harshly at the beginning."


    I drew out one waan.


    "I believe that this should suffice as a down payment for what I am asking you for. I am not asking for much, I just don''t want to present myself as a dumbass."


    Xiru sighed the fatherly sigh of someone who had come to accept what was about to occur no matter what he had said.


    "Very well. This one accepts your kind offer."


    He took the small coin, palmed it and then to my utter surprise, handed me a wooden chit the size of a coin.


    "You have impressed me with your patience. Not many cultivators would wait half as long as you did, yet so many...ah it is of no matter."


    I sensed something in his tone that I may have missed.


    I sipped, finally getting a mouthfeel for the flavor.


    "Is...damn this is good tea."


    "You are welcome. This one is pleased to have only the highest quality. It takes a suite of keen senses to find it."


    I drank the entire package in. The smell, the taste all brought me back to an idyllic time in my life. Before kids, after my internship...I was free and the world was my oyster. It was a brief period and I relished the freedom I had.


    "This one is going to go on a limb and say that the cultivator is from a far distance away," Xiru said.


    This was more or less the truth and I made a mental note to stick as much to the truth as possible.


    "Yes. You could say that."


    "Welcome to our fair city, then. With Moon Fei as your handler, this one feels like you have made a good choice."


    I gave Fei a glance. He had been mostly quiet during this exchange. Had I been adopted? Conscripted? Nah. He was working for me now. Probably. At the very least he was on the payroll.


    "I take it that... You work full time in this business, then?"


    "That would be correct. I grew up in the culture and decided to not,"*leaf*"leave."


    The earworm bothered me.


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    I didn''t have the foggiest as to where it came from. My brain tended to send me things when I was on autopilot. I needed a second to gather my thoughts. What the heck was I doing here? I was looking for information, trying to get my bearings in the situation. What was the situation again? Oh yeah I had been dumped unceremoniously into a situation outside of my wheelhouse.


    "Fei, I think can give me the basic information that will help me not stand out."


    I have no idea what skills I will need to use to survive here and the more I kept talking to these two, the more that I realized that I was leaking information to both of them.


    I clamped down. Trust is a two way street and I was on a skateboard.


    "What we can do for you is keep you informed. It would help, if you were able to return the favor as well."


    I nodded, trying to follow along. I was definitely not trying to think about every leaf related joke I had ever made.


    "You want a favor, do you?"


    This was the first time that I had been asked to do something that wasn''t joining a demonic sect.


    "Not that the cultivator would be able to do something about it, but an operation like this... It requires a constant churn of informants. Especially good are those with nascent souls, or those unknown to anyone. The Tea brokers union is willing to pay fairly for services rendered."


    There was so much in those dense words that I was tempted to refuse outright, but I had a feeling that the task wouldn''t be too much.


    "What do you want?"


    "If the cultivator is willing to accept, there is a new store that has opened up. The store sells tea directly to consumers. This one needs to understand their operation."


    His flat affect made me think that he was soberly asking me to stakeout a tea shop.


    "You''re kidding, right?"


    "This one does not joke around, honored customer. This is an abomination, selling brewed tea directly to customers? Instead of doing it the traditional way, through a buyer like myself? Someone who cultivates the best leads and leaves!"


    He smashed a fist into a wooden wall next to him.


    ¡°It could drive small shops like Moon Xirus into the ground," Fei said, his face a twisted mask.


    "I am honored you have asked me, but I... Can everyone tell when someone is a cultivator?"


    That should be a basic enough question for Xiru.


    "For most people who failed to achieve the Qi Gatherer stage, they could tell unless you are able to suppress your dantian or..."


    Xiru gestured to Fei. Some kind of question with his hands.


    "There is a trainer that the Moon clan retains, one that could teach you to suppress your qi so as to appear like all other men. It is a technical expression of the illusion path, one appropriate for rank beginners to use. Without being a cultivator myself, this one couldn''t say more, but it could be arranged. We can call upon him, if you intend to accept more work."


    I was reticent to sign up for something, but to get some training? I would do a few gigs for this clan. I mean what''s the worst that could happen?


    Xiru gave me a little overview of the city of Western Jewel. He explained that there were a larger than normal amount of cultivators, roughly one third of the population had attained the first or second of the realms, the first of which I was at. I was at the foundation stage, where cultivators learned to draw in aura from the ambient energy of the world, and turn it into qi energy. In order to advance I would need to put in a fair amount of work.


    I sighed. It was time to put something into studying the environment and the people that lived here.


    I resolved to take a note of what I knew, but still wished that I had paper to write this all down on.


    It was a simple thing, really. I had hoped to gather more information about this place and keep a low profile. I had ideas about what would be going on, but nothing really concrete. There were warring sects here.


    I didn''t really want a part of that. To be sure I didn''t really want to be here at all, so far from my family, but if I was going to be here I might as well try and survive long enough to find my way home. I owed my daughters that much at least.


    So when the messages started piling up, I looked at them a bit askance. I could be doing any number of terrible faux pas by even opening the wrong invitation. I had to tread lightly and in this I needed a man on the inside.


    "This clan, the turtle shell shockwave clan, they want me to learn how to¡­ make shockwaves with qi?"


    "It''s simple, as this one is certain that you know, to learn a technique and absorb it as one of your very best. These turtle shell guys are the best they are at what they do. They however only do one thing."


    I was reminded of the parable of the fox and the hedgehog. The fox knows many small things, and the hedgehog knows one big thing. It was a bit this way in my personal practice where people came in thinking that they were the fox, jack of all trades as it were, never realizing that they had specialized a ton into one niche area a long time ago. Or vice versa, the person who was trying to process the trauma of realizing that their parents were out and out narcissists and that was a core memory from their childhood.


    Core memory is probably the wrong word. It wasn''t that the human experience crystallized around one or two things. We weren''t replicants whose memories were tied up in our bid to appear human. The human neural network, the brain pilot of the human mecha was clear about that. Nodes formed into pathways around related activities, and memories were malleable, sometimes changing the more you told one story.

 5. Just a Friend

    In my practice I had a lot of people who were there for one admitted reason that we had to kinda work around. Normal people who for whatever reason waited until the end of our time to drop a bomb and then scurry.


    I was staring at a red flower, with thin petals like spider legs. It''s curious look and the fact that it had appeared with the second invitation from the Red Fang sect led me to believe that we were still in the carrot phase. The reality that this Sect was treating me like a cross between a pledge and a hunk of meat reminded me of Joe, who dropped the bomb that he''d had a daughter who died in a car crash in one of those little truth bombs.


    I had no doubt that I would be receiving the equivalent of a recruiter dropping by soon.


    The flower on its own was beautiful, a stark earthy tone. Around it I felt an aura that I breathed in deeply. Earth tones mixed with a longing that couldn''t be met.


    Aura by itself wasn''t much different than air. The fact that it suffused everything around me in various combinations of earth, fire, water, metal, and wind-to name a few types- meant that I was able to smell when the preponderance of aura changed.


    It was almost certainly the reason that my gatherer skill has advanced so quickly. The place was thick with aura once you knew what it was.


    Fei has said that cultivators usually focused on one path of aura, generating a single type of qi from it, something that made me think this was very common knowledge. Or total bullshit. Look, I had heard enough Tai Chi masters tell me straight up bullshit that my meter was calibrated.


    The red spider lily changed the aura directly around it. It had its own strong qi, one that degraded over time. Or was it an aura? I wasn''t sure.


    I didn''t know if qi degraded into aura, or if the two were just related. Either way, the thumbprint of the aura was a distinct thing that I felt like I could read after a while.


    Plus my reading kept telling me little things when I got to it.


    When I tried to read up on the Spider Lily, I got a little explanation of what it was from a note in the corner of it. I was grateful that I was able to get at least something.


    <table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 99.9906%" border="1">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 98.9268%">**Spider Lily-Signifies the passage to the afterlife and rebirth in the Dao.**</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    I''m not going to lie. I paused for a long time there looking at my scrolls.


    When I saw the words Red Fang together it hadn''t made me take notice. But then this Red Spider Lily on top of it made me think that something nefarious was going on. I didn''t want to say the V words but I was going to see if I could get some garlic from my dealer.


    The fact that it only took one day for me to get two invitations to meet with the Sect meant that they were serious.


    Fei had off that day. Accordingly, we met for breakfast which is where I showed him the paper. The place we met at was of course, across from the tea house I was to stake out. A bustling front end of the house delivered little jade plates with stuffed pork buns and rice balls. Safe to say, I was happy with the setup.


    "Young master, this... They want you to join their Sect. You''re going to accept, right?"


    "That''s exactly the problem. I don''t know everything about them. Like who are they and what do they represent? Is this an illicit organization?"


    Moon Fei stroked his long straight hair nervously.


    I''d noticed that almost everyone has some sort of long hair, either in a top knot or some incredible up do. I hadn''t been looking for anyone, but this was the longest that I had spent just people watching and talking .


    "When saying illicit, the cultivator refers to the laws of heaven, correct?"


    I squinted.


    "The... Laws of heaven? Isn''t there a local government here?"


    "Well, of course. Mandarin administers all of our bureaucratic needs. They represent the heavenly emperor and enforce his will."


    "Now I am more confused. So there are laws, just ...?"


    "What use are laws when cultivators are so strong that they can only be stopped by stronger cultivators?"


    "How do you settle disputes then?"


    Moon Fei cocked his head before swallowing a whole pork bun.


    "How did the young master settle them before? It is the same way.¡±.


    That was fair.


    I thought back to how I talked to Lauren about things. We never really argued, in fact I had a problem with her not expressing herself. She kinda got along to get along a lot. Even with my girls, she tried to go with the flow.


    It didn''t bother me until I saw her with her son, gentle parenting him. They didn''t settle arguments, they were the exact example that I wanted to be with my girls. Back when they were young, I was constantly struggling and it got to them sometimes. They were happy and healthy teens now but that feeling I¡¯d had for years- that no one was coming to save me- still lingered.


    I tried hard to make a firewall between my work life and my girls but it wasn''t until I started my internship and began to practice what I preached. Even then...sometimes I wished I could go back and not be who I was. It was definitely Hubris. I shouldn''t have set that thought out to the world. That was stupid.


    I caught myself out of my hyper focus on how I used to settle things. I resolved last night to try and pretend that I had been a local all along.


    "That is fair. I thought that it would be different here. I must have been mistaken. Also, Fei, I''ve known you for what, two days? Do you always talk in the third person?"


    "This one...Young Master, this one just wishes to show the proper deference."


    I frowned.


    It was disorienting the first day, but on the third day it was beginning to get to me. True, I felt calmer and stronger than I ever had before, but the silver lining was just that: a lining. It didn''t matter if the rest of the painting was shit.


    "If I ask you to speak to me not in the third person, would you be able to do that?"


    "This one does not want to cause offense."


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    My lips tightened.


    "It is not just for the young master to decide. Other cultivators might get the wrong idea."


    I realized that I wasn''t thinking about his perspective. He would have to navigate this world in a far different way than I did. I needed to put myself into his situation.


    "I''m sorry. That wasn''t very kind of me. I wasn''t thinking about how you felt at that moment, I was just annoyed."


    Fei nodded. Across the way, a queue of sheepish looking men and women lined up for tea. The shopkeeper, a pale woman, opened up the front door of the Red Lily Tea house.


    "Tea houses aren''t common here?"


    "For certain, no."


    "Hmmm."


    "How uncommon are they?"


    "This is the first one that has opened."


    "The first one that you have heard of, or the first one, period?"


    His look betrayed him.


    "The first one period? How..."


    "Tea was such a personal thing. Selling it to any passers, it''s just uncouth. Kids these days have no respect for tea traditions."


    My jaw dropped in mock sarcasm.


    "You don''t say."


    "This one does say! In fact these...oh the cultivator is joking around."


    He immediately caught on, to my chagrin. When I wasn''t being a helpful therapist, I tended towards hyperbolic sarcasm. It helped me cope in the past, often to the detriment of previous relationships. Also cunning being tied to joking around and getting him on my side was definitely noted.


    The line swelled. I was sure that it would wrap around the block if there was someone doing traffic control, but it was probably the work of a handful of people to make the volume of tea required to appease the masses.


    I imagined how different it would have been if instead they were selling coffee or espresso. Cultivators would go crazy for that stuff. That or Blue Ox, the energy drink that I chugged down frequently.


    Hey, it''s only a problem if you let it be a problem. I could quit at any time. I hadn''t had one in roughly two days. So what if that¡¯s how long I had been in this world?


    "The point is that this line of people rushing through tea, it''s a blight upon our community."


    "How much money do you think they''re making?"


    I hadn''t had a look at the prices. Neither had Fei. Our stake out was amateurish at best.


    "Fei, we should get on the line."


    It was his turn to mine being shocked. The way that he tilted his head and looked up would have been scary if the man wasn''t so goofy.


    "We should patronize this abomination? May the heavens strike this one down if-"


    "Fei, it''s just a store. Stop faking indignation so we can get to the bottom of this."


    He pouted. The man actually pouted as we walked to the line, which thankfully had started to pick up pace. I clinked some of my coins together, subconsciously.


    Fei looked like he wanted to protest. I gave him my dad-liest glare. He relented.


    Then there were only two people in front of us, and it was clear that we would have to do something when we got to the front. That was when I realized that the menu was in a language I couldn''t read.


    "Fei," I intoned,"Read me the menu, if you would, that''ll be a great help."


    His stoic face once again turned onwards as he nestled his arms into his robes. It was like a power pose except for someone who was the opposite powerful. He was vaguely looking towards a woman in flowing blue and pink robes. She was thankfully turned away from us, and oblivious.


    "If this one were to do that it would betray this one''s values."


    I sighed.


    It was snap decision time. When push came to shove I just decided to get the same thing the guy in front of us got.


    "Two berry Oolong please," a man with a killer beard said. His beard said daddy, but his tattoos said prison. Or at least if he was American it might have. Here they said that he was a lilting spring flower caught in a cascade of reverie looking into your eyes on oh, here¡¯s wonder wall.


    "Name?"


    "Huxu Wenshen."


    Behind the last patron, I practiced my request. In my younger days, the anxiety about having a perfect social poise and not ticking my parents off had gotten me into therapy. They were narcissists, which had driven me up the wall. Not only were they super successful, but they expected me to be successful as well. It was like walking around in wet socks: preferable to not be in the situation, but if you''re in a swamp, unavoidable.


    "Two berry Oolong," I said, attempting to mimic the man''s voice exactly.


    "Name?"


    "Pidge."


    Behind the counter, a frazzled man looked wired and tired at the same time. His cortisol was probably whacking him upside the head, and it looked like he needed to hire help badly. Not me, but some poor sap.


    He held out a hand for money, noticed something, then his eyes went wide.


    Oh. That was right. I am a cultivator, or at least my new friends said so.


    I sighed. I supposed it was a bit distracting.


    Shit.


    I didn''t want to make a scene, but it appeared that virtually everyone in front of me was not. I swear that the candles flickered on and off. All in all, his expectations of the tea shop made me feel like I was seeing him try to leave a review of a brothel.


    As he accepted the tea into his hands, his quivering palms gave the game away. I knew he was a tea fiend, even if he didn''t want to admit it to himself. Even if getting tea from a shop wasn''t the most Orthodox way to enjoy tea. The traditionalist inside of him was fighting against the terrible incongruity of fast food.


    Fei grumbled his ass off as we took our mugs, sipping the tea. The packed store had dozens of booths and seats that were taken. We took our mugs and found two seats at a particularly long table. I wanted to say that we were people watching, but instead too many people just clamored for seats. It was time for us to try and get to the bottom of this.


    The man behind the counter could have been made from pure unadulterated dopamine, with how fast he moved. I am willing to admit that I was kinda impressed with how fast he moved. He was a cultivator, or at least if not at the first realm like me, then something comparable.


    I had a sudden urge to try and examine the man, thinking that maybe the my arriving here would give me some investigation or identification skill. Sadly nothing popped up. In fact it was pretty bad at telling me anything except for where I was as a cultivator. I could feel that on my own, given some training. But in this economy? Who had time to train?


    No me, for sure. I might devote the evening to going through some qi gathering practice though. It couldn''t be so difficult. Drinking the oolong tea made me think that I had this in the bag.


    "It''s not terrible."


    His admission felt unearned, but I agreed.


    "It tastes like quality. Whoever brewed this knows how to get the most out of every kettle. They could take an inferior tea leaf and produce a passing tea with it."


    "If they knew the secrets of the tea masters."


    "That''s a big if, right?"


    Fei nodded.


    "I have a feeling that a lot of information here is tightly controlled."


    "Tea masters control their craft even closer than the Sects hold their path manuals. It is unheard of for someone to steal a brewing technique, as they are never written down, but many people steal from others'' path manuals wholesale."


    It was while the two of us sat there sipping on our tea that a group of monks walked in. Their clean orange robes stood out against the backdrop of the mass of people bustling around the large tea shop.


    They briefly spoke to the man at the counter before pulling out several large posters and a thick paintbrush. They covered it with a sticky clear substance from a large can. They then slathered the posters against the wall, about five in a row horizontally. When they were done, all eyes were on the three monks as they put the glue brush away.


    I looked at Fei, trying to gauge a reaction.


    "Taoists," he mumbled when they were out of listening range,"another group reaching for power."


    "They''re a religious group?"


    "On the surface, but the rumors indicate otherwise."


    Fei winced.


    Yeah he shouldn''t have said that. At least not out loud in the middle of a crowd.


    I gave him the dad look. He shrank.


    "I think we need to leave."


    He obliged.


    We put our mugs down leaving only our tea and the indentation in the floor cushions as the last remnant of our presence.


    Fei led the way, taking us on a random walk through the streets. I wasn''t entirely certain if we were being followed, at least until five blocks away when it was readily apparent that someone was keeping pace.

 6. Rap these days is like a pain up in the neck

    "Moon Fei," I said, gripping his arm, "How fast can you run?"


    That was when he noticed. Taoists apparently didn''t like their secrets getting out. The woman that was following us was moving with a grace that underlined her ability. I didn''t know if she was going to try to kill us, or just send a message-by killing us.


    Moon Fei, finally getting the impetus to move made me smile. Then he started sprinting. Not to be outdone by my contemporaries, I joined him.


    "This one humbly begs the cultivator for assistance," he said,"if you can deal with this problem, then I will forfeit part of my pay for this job."


    "Say less, Fam."


    His confused state nearly made him run straight into a mango cart. I turned on a dime, feeling fully in control.


    The woman who had been tailing us all of a sudden became a lot clearer. Blue and pink robes made me think that she was an off duty stage performer. When I squared off against her, she took notice. I had picked an alleyway as far away from the madding crowds as I could.


    I softened my lower back, sinking my right leg behind me. My arms assumed the cloud hands ready position. That was when she dropped into her own fighting stance.


    "Who are you? What Sect do you represent? Red Fang?" Her voice was clear across the alleyway.


    "I am Unaligned. You don''t need to fight me. I have nothing you want. Disregard my friend, he didn''t know what he said."


    "He slandered the Taoist Sect.¡±


    I pushed my hands forward, readying a single whip. I was grateful for the first time in my life that my mother dragged me to all of her Tai Chi lessons while I was in high school. I had cursed her out in my head because my ass didn''t want to get whooped, but I went for her sake. Really having to use any of it ever was one of the more surprising things that kept me safe. It looked hokey as fuck, but damn if the footwork didn''t make me feel like a kung fu master.


    Her punch darted forwards, and I snapped it to the right with my single whip punch. She immediately was off center, and I let her fall in a heap.


    "You don''t think that following innocent people who make unfounded claims might work out worse for you?"


    I shifted into empty stance. She got up.


    "This has to be a misunderstanding. I''m not here because someone said something. I''m here to recruit you. Why didn''t you answer our letter?"


    "What letter?" The dark haired woman in the pink and blue robes looked exasperated at me.


    "Also I''m not ready to join a Sect. I need to get a better lay of the land."


    She stood up, throwing a heavy roundhouse kick.


    Empty stance intact, I stepped out of range. This time I didn''t block or attempt a counter. She caught herself before glaring at me.


    ¡°You have had enough time."


    "If you all fight like this, oh good kick by the way, then I don''t think I need to join anyone."


    She tried to sweep my legs.


    I jumped, just enough to clear her legs. Then she went with a high kick which I had to block. I went into hand strums the lute and recovered, stepping back. She made an error, placing herself between me and the wall.


    "I would respectfully assert that you would be an asset to the Taoist Sect. Your acting abilities alone would make you an excellent candidate to be our newest clown."


    I slammed her into the wall. It would be a shame to not fix her problem. She then moved, circling away from the wall. She was limping a tiny bit.


    "And I would respectfully say that what I do is none of your business. The only clown here is continuing to miss me time after time."


    We exchanged another flurry of blows. Whoever this was, she had optimized her training for flair not effect. If I ever saw my mother again, I was going to thank her for the lessons. Actually, scratch that, because she would have that smug look that I hate.


    "You realize that trying to recruit this way makes your Sect look aggressive."


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    I blocked two punches returning to the even footing of an empty stance.


    "Just join us! You need training, and the Sect will take care of you."


    "Regrettably, I must decline. I will not rush you Sect. And this whole recruitment had me worried for you. Do you want to sit down and talk about how the Taoists make you feel? It seems like they don''t give you the space to take care of your own needs."


    There I stood, arms out ready to whip forward, when she laughed.


    "What do you care about how I feel?"


    "I don''t, but you...what? "


    She sat down.


    "You''re hyper vigilant," I said holding up a hand, putting fingers up one by one, "It seems like if you fail, you''ll be punished. You''re aggressive for no reason, and you''re twitchy. That doesn''t seem like a good relationship. It seems like you''re in a bad romance."


    <hr>


    "It''s like this. There''s this video I keep seeing. It''s a satire of porn, right? There''s a milf who is trying to pay a plumber for his work, but her husband doesn''t let her have access to the money. Now I know what you''re thinking, where the heck is this going? Then the plumber is like, that''s awful. That''s financial abuse. And it got me thinking about this other mom in my group and how her husband is about their money and I don''t want things to be like that in my life," Ms. Johnson, a mid thirties mother of two was in my office to take a breather. Her youngest was going to daycare and her oldest just hit preschool and as a stay at home mother she sought me out because I was a dad.


    "Do you feel threatened in your own life?"


    She paused to consider.


    "I don''t feel threatened. Matt, he is good with the kids and always willing to help out, but with her...with Jessica... I don''t know what to say. Sometimes she just drops these bombs on me and then I''m there like .... Can I fix this? Do I engage? She doesn''t seem to think that this is a problem!"


    "And you do?"


    "I do!"


    "It''s not incumbent upon you to fix everyone''s problems."


    She was in a stressful situation and I didn''t blame her. Finding a circle of mom friends was one of my wife''s biggest successes. Keeping it to other people we met in Los Angeles was tough, but since a lot of our friends weren''t having kids, it was to be expected.


    "I want my friends to be okay."


    "You can''t expect to fix the problems of people around you. Was it your responsibility to manage your parents emotions growing up?"


    She nodded, grabbing a tissue.


    "I just want to be a good girl." (And I wanted to make sure that she didn''t cast her aspersions on me in some strange kink way. I had my hands full with the girls after all.)


    "And you are one! If we just go by what you''re telling me, you''re great!"


    I wasn''t supposed to pass value judgements on people in session, but sometimes I bent the rules.


    "You''re not everyone''s fixer. You can be her friend without trying to fix her. It might be hard but if she was really in trouble, would you be there for her?"


    "Yes... Yes I would. I already told her to start withdrawing cash every time she gets groceries just in case."


    I really loved the stories that my clients told me. They became a part of me, something that I held tightly onto at work. Hyper-vigilance, like what I expect Ms. Johnson was a willing participant in, was a way that fixers were able to try to smooth everything over. They really wanted to control their situation.


    She also was hyper vigilant because she grew up with a narcissistic mother who unloaded on her. When she came through, I identified it immediately, and it was one of those things that because she was responsible for others emotional regulation growing up, she latched onto as an adult.


    <hr>


    "So what you''re saying is that... I have a choice?"


    "You always have a choice," I said.


    The woman, who I found out was named Jin Xinyue, was really rushing through a midlife crisis of her own making. We had stopped fighting, instead sitting down to stare daggers at each other. Well, she was staring me down, even as I unpeeled her like an onion.


    "I just have been people pleasing my whole life and not thinking things through with my own intuition-"


    "It''s common for people pleasers to not know who they are. Who are you without the Taoists? Take away the group and who are you?" I said. The rapport was going good and all I needed was for her to not have a case of incurable impostor syndrome and...


    She blubbered.


    "I don''t know! They''ve been my life for as long as I can recall!"


    "You''re looking for their reaction. You have been getting something out of it. But really you need to be able to look inwards. Otherwise... you''ll just end up doing things for others."


    "I...I..."


    I wish that we were in my office. I would have offered her a tissue. I kept a box on the side table next to the couch. Lots of people tended to use them, but a slim minority just didn''t. An even worse group brought their own crumpled tissues to therapy, avoiding the ones I had. It was almost like they didn''t know they were there.


    She just sat there in abject existential horror for a long moment. I almost felt sorry for her. Almost.


    "There''s a better way."


    She looked up. I sighed deeply.


    "If you want to edit your Sect, go out on your own, you''re going to need to establish some good boundaries. I can help walk through getting out of this clearly abusive relationship. Think about it this way, when was the last time that you can recall doing something just for you?"


    Tears welled up in her eyes. She looked like a lost puppy. From trying to beat my head in, to now looking lost and afraid, I may have overplayed my hand. I swear that I never intended to gentle parent anyone, but there I was in my second go at life, ready to adopt a first person into a potential found family.


    "You can come talk to me," I said, holding out a hand,"Provided that you don''t try to fight me or my dude over there."


    I gestured to where I guessed Fei was cowering.


    Moon Fei recovered, his head popping out above a set of stairs down the road. He exhaled a breath loud enough for me to hear clearly without my aura enhanced senses. It was more of a huff and I was going to have to talk to him about that. No sense in showing his actual feelings in front of a guest. I liked him so far. Fei had that street smart urchin who somehow made it in the world thing going for him.


    "I don''t know what to say."


    "You don''t have to say anything. Just leave us be. Tell your people that we outran you or something, or the trail led nowhere. Then, come meet me next time and we can talk."


    "I would ... I would like to talk to someone..."


    I brightened.


    "Well, that is all you had to say," I said.

 7. Never get high on your own supply

    Moon Fei and I beat feet after that, leaving the Taoist cultivator reeling. I promised to leave a message with a runner for her with a time and a place to meet in two days, then let her go.


    Several turns later we relaxed into a slow walk back to the Inn. We passed several bridges over canals full of gondoliers before a now familiar Raven statue in the center of the square appeared.


    "Fei, have you ever heard the words: operational security?"


    "This one has not."


    "It means to keep the need to know to those that need to know."


    I didn¡¯t want to harangue the man but he was leaking like a coffee press.


    "..."


    We walked in unfriendly silence for a few blocks before we were a bit away from the Inn.


    "My shift doesn''t start until nightfall," he said.


    "I''m going to turn in then. I¡¯ll be working on cycling through some of the aura around here."


    He nodded.


    I could tell that the divide between cultivators and the mundane humans was a long standing rift. It wasn''t like the disparity between a CEO and a worker. It was more like Superman and Joe everyman. Even if I was barely better than I had been, three days of being in the thick aura, gathering qi and all had made me feel like I was on top of the world day after day.


    I needed some pen and paper. Some way to take notes on the Sects trying to recruit me through these aggressive negotiations that I kept encountering. A sect had to be something like a prison gang; extra judicial, not at all a family but a close knit brotherhood of some sort. That or a crazy cult. At best it was a martial arts school gone crazy. At worst? One of those Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu places where they''re just a little bit too into the acai bowls and snake oil treatments. Not that Tai Chi was immune, what with its deep connection to Qigong.


    You''re probably wondering what I''m on about. I''ve had far too many people show up to therapy touting how some miracle cure would save them and thus they wouldn''t need therapy anymore. I always nodded and let them go gracefully, not even picking up that thread then they sheepishly called up the office to come back. I kept people''s cases on file for six months after they left and invariably most of them would find their miracle cure, try it and then be back in the office before I had moved the file to cold storage. And I understand that there was a bit of government interference there making these things a bit more mainstream than they otherwise would be, but the truth is in the pudding.


    It was Denver after all. There was a lot of alternative medicine going around. Not that you shouldn''t keep doing the thing that you think works, but I wouldn''t count on anything given to you by someone who sells essential oils.


    I spent some time doing random shit in a hotel room. Mostly Tai chi practice and throwing my pillows.


    Just a few times through a Tai Chi flow I had practiced for years got me to a good spot.


    I was feeling some sort of way about the number of invitations that had piled up in my absence. I didn¡¯t want to break any of the gorgeous furniture in the room.


    ¡ª


    Another man would have moved on to a different tavern, perhaps renting a room. I wasn''t convinced that the powers that be were tracking me by some unknown method. I couldn''t be that strong and they couldn''t be hurting so badly that they needed me like this. Or perhaps this was just something that they did whenever an unaligned cultivator dropped into town.


    Either way, it had the feeling of desperation. Like someone being tactically ignored, but desperate to connect. Something all too common for my clients with narcissistic parents.


    "They only acknowledge me when I get straight A''s" often turned into a bid for anyone to connect with them. This didn''t play so well long term.


    I didn''t have the classic Asian parents playing tiger mom, but a lot of my old friends had that. I''m not going to say that the two were correlated, but yeah I was heavily not implying causation. I took the fact that just about everyone here looked similar to be shorthand for the fact that they were all from the same culture. Besides the mundane people, the Sects were a group apart. At least, based on the multiple invitations I kept receiving. Like seriously, how many Sects could possibly co-exist in this small area?


    It made no sense, but then again I was thinking about it from a real world perspective. If this was the middle ages, words could not be passed around this fast. There had to be Sect runners, lackeys, mail clerks, a whole operation which made me think that it was going to be a bit like politics. Or was this some county fair and I was their sacred cow?


    I did not want to wade into the politics of a world I had just joined. To be fair, I was only as politically active as I was on Earth because I had two daughters and the whole social worker turned therapist thing. At least that''s what I told myself initially. Also my ex wife and now ex girlfriend had dragged me to enough events that I had started to make friends. It was the way I met my girlfriend, as my daughters had kept me going even after the divorce.


    The thing about wives and ex girlfriends though was they could only take you to things while they had access to you.


    Here? On this Dao forsaken planet? I was truly alone. No one was going to take me to a rally, whether I wanted it or not. I hated the prep work that surrounded the rally. I hated driving to them, sitting in traffic to hear speeches that might or might not actually end up doing anything but most of all I hated not being with my girls.


    God, I missed them.


    I sat down and had a good cry.


    I didn''t know if I could ever go back. Rachel andCourtney, they wouldn''t know what happened to me and that was somehow worse than anything else. They wouldn''t have a body to bury.


    They wouldn''t have closure.


    Fuck! They might think that I ran away or got kidnapped or something. They might be twitchy for the rest of their lives and... Oh God it felt good to let it out.


    I just sat there for a while. The comfort of being wanted by the Sects wasn''t...well worth anything.


    I began to tear up the letters one at a time, before I just flung the pile up in the air.


    "Damn the heavens for taking me here. I''m going home if it''s the last thing I do!"


    I didn''t believe a word of it.


    I didn''t believe a word of it, but I said it anyway.


    I slept that night, uncertain of the future. Tossing and turning, it was hours before sleep caught me. I embraced it with my whole heart.


    ___


    The morning saw me once again with a sheaf of invitations. I was beginning to think that there was a stationary cartel. Not the kind of cartel which stayed on one spot, mind you-the kind that was involved in the paper business. I was seriously considering opening a few, but I didn''t have the heart to begin some grand adventure.


    When I reached the ground floor, Moon Fei wasn''t there. A quick look around the building and the only person on site was the day manager of the hotel.


    It was time for me to get more permanent accommodations.


    This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    I was going to go camping outside. It was time for some people watching.


    But no, Wu had it out for me.


    I stopped on a bench outside, admiring the ravens roost square with its small shops and bustling atmosphere. It made me forget that I wasn¡¯t hungry. Normal Joe would have gone for some breakfast about now.


    Wu approached me after a bit. I¡¯ll admit I was a bit lost in thought when I saw the man sitting next to me, but I recovered quickly enough and greeted him.


    How did he do it? His whole demeanor had changed. Rather than looking concerned about his Sects latest recruitment numbers, he looked like he was completely unbothered.


    "Please don''t float about this, but that talk about boundaries? It changed my life."


    I nodded. His soft voice took me by surprise.


    "Healing takes time. Progress takes time."


    "This entire mess? Between the letters and the days of agonizing?"


    It was such a pleasure to see a man who looked at peace, even if I couldn''t find that same thing myself. All I had to do was nod and make sounds from time to time.


    "I didn''t realize just how much time the Sect had taken from me until you pointed it out, and now I feel like...like I can be myself."


    "That''s amazing, Wu. I''m so happy for you."


    "This... Having boundaries, taking time for myself-everything we talked about-it just a fresh start now. No more Mister Sect recruiter. I''m going to work up my courage and tell them that I''m not staying."


    I raised an eyebrow.


    That might not have translated well. He immediately backpedaled.


    "I mean I don''t have to quit. I can stay as long as you think I should and..."


    "You''re looking for my approval. This is taking the ownership of your decision away from you. If you do that, and it goes badly, then you''ll blame me for the outcome. You need to decide on things yourself. That''s what therapy is for."


    "Therapy? The word is unfamiliar."


    "It''s the active process that you''re going through. It''s what I did where I came from."


    "You did therapy?"


    "Did? More like give? It was my job."


    "You''re very good at it."


    "I wouldn''t say that, Wu... More like you were in the right position to hear what I had to say at the time and yeah. This is right for you, now."


    "Well I like listening to you. It makes me feel like the Dao is in alignment now."


    I chuckled a bit at him. He was driven, just needing a little nudge to get where he wanted. I was just a bit of a catalyst. Or maybe he was the catalyst and I was the solution? I don''t remember chemistry that well.


    "That''s helpful."


    If I couldn''t find peace right here and now, giving someone inner peace would be a good start.


    "What are you planning on doing now?"


    "Well for starters...I have a heck of a lot of invitations to burn."


    "Have you chosen a path yet?"


    The man''s eyes flickered like a flame as a small fire ignited itself on his extended index finger.


    So cool.


    I held back a grin. I really shouldn''t let the strange cultivator with boundary issues know that I''m all about his special fire powers.


    On the other hand, how many paths were there? I had to know. Paths and the knowledge of them? Was that public?


    I really needed a library. Or maybe just like a wiki I could tap into.


    "I have not. Care to enlighten me?"


    Wu finally cracked a smile


    "How much time do you have?"


    Wu took a break when he realized that he was missing some critical information. He went for a jog down the street and returned with three scrolls.


    I was endlessly grateful for whatever skill had granted me the ability to translate the path manuals he put in front of me.


    "Usually these cost money, but since these three are introductory manuals, they''re often used for recruiting."


    I spread out the first of the manuals on the bench we were occupying. The jade inscriptions on the bench gave the location we were in.


    ___


    Center Ravens Roost District.


    __


    The spread out scroll looked like a cross between a martial arts diagram with a long textual how to section. Both of these were above a rather wide footnote section, giving hints that this was but the first technique in a path. Not only was it the first technique, but it could be a branching path.


    "This technique...can open up the door to several follow on techniques on the path?"


    "It''s often assumed that paths are static single thread lines, and there are very strong single thread paths that are recommended, but they are not so rigid. If one was trying to achieve a particularly well tested path, then one shouldn''t stray too far."


    It took me a minute.


    "The elders have modified and moved around testing the best paths for centuries, haven''t they? There isn''t one rigid path, there are several, aren''t they?"


    I looked up from the path manual to see him nervously combing his hair. Seriously, the man buns and top knots in Spirit Hall had nothing on Wu. I took a look around to make sure that no one else was looking for either of us.


    The only other people around us were several clumps of men and women walking arm and arm to and from a giant raven''s nest. It had to be an art installation, or a large scale art project.


    Or a secret villain''s lair.


    "The elders are very particular about which manuals they lend out to the general public but you''re close to the truth. We keep that generational knowledge base with our scholars. They tend to humanity''s advancement."


    "Very curious. Well I would love to get more into all of this. I''m trying to pick a path and-of course- I would love to see all of my options."


    "Of course," he said.


    I didn''t want to mention Moon Fei to Wu. I didn''t know how the hopefully soon to be former Red Fang Sect cultivator would handle my usage of the mundane fixer. Come to think of it, if Fei had all of these connections, even if they were through his tea guy, he would be a steady source of the information that I couldn''t get elsewhere.


    I really missed google. Heck I might have taken bing. Imagine being thrust into another world and wishing you could get a mediocre search result. Yeah that kinda stung.


    Wu promised that he would return later that day with some path manuals and like that I was alone again.


    I reverted back to my old mainstay. People watching.


    So many people walked by this area of the town, which to be fair was pretty central. Between several large open roads leading in all directions and the heavy buildings, I got the distinct feeling that Spirithall was a go between. Not too much traffic traveled north, so I decided to take a stroll and see what was up with that. It wasn''t long until I reached a large river where hundreds of fish swam in schools. Above the river and ahead of me, a three lane wide bridge led from where I was -clearly slumming it- to a far richer area.


    That small amount of northwestern travel trickled to a very contained drip across the river. Imposing guards held up walkers looking for some sort of paperwork. A bribe, probably?


    It had to be a bribe with the amount of Waan changing hands


    ___


    "Professional Services come with a professional price tag." That was the quote my father had on his desk when I came by to let him know it was time to celebrate.


    I had done all of the required hours for my California LCSW, and it was time for a celebration. Of course my one every four months having a beer with the old man ceremony never went anywhere near problematic, but the past two years we had been enjoying a nice local root beer instead.


    It had been strange to me that his time as a professional engineer and my time opening up my own shop would be the first time we could connect on something business related.


    "Took you long enough," he said.


    "Yeah. I just needed that nudge."


    "Do you understand the business model?"


    "Dad, like I told you, I can''t really advertise the way that other businesses do."


    He nodded.


    "You can hang a shingle up though, and I might know a guy with a great 3d printer. Be warned, he tends to over engineer things."


    "That would be much appreciated."


    We sat in companionable silence for a bit. The girls were with my ex wife for the day and I had taken a drive up to see my father in Vegas. Of course he was the one structural engineer who had decided to specialize in the entertainment industry. They paid well, or not at all. It didn''t hurt that he was banned from playing blackjack at nearly every place we went to. So long as his business involved professional engineering, the powers that be let him hang about.


    "You got a name for the place?"


    "Honestly, no. For now? I''m going to join a co-op. It''s expensive to rent a place on your own and a lot of therapy is delivered over the internet now..."


    We paused as a coterie of drag queens marched past us. They looked fabulous. At least they could have been drag queens with their sparking dresses.


    "Everyone has their own thing about real estate and renting. Yours might be particular because of your relationship with your patients. You''ll work it out I am certain. Have you already got some clients lined up?"


    "You know it."


    I didn''t want to get into it with him about how I had been picking up clients who had more money. It helped me with the handful of pro bono cases that I wanted to take on. It wasn''t like everyone had insurance even if they should, even those with insurance didn''t get everything paid for... There was usually a co-pay. All because some asshole doctor way back when didn''t want to ask for payment directly. That spawned insurance, the middlemen of healthcare. The bane of my existence.


    ___


    Or at least it was. I saw a very thoroughly designed sign atop the final shop before the bridge. That was a professional job. The sleek black lines and silver plating stood in contrast to the stone bridge.


    I wondered how many shops I had passed during my reverie. How many shops like that where it was clear that two or more generations had poured out their lives into the place. The building looked to be multiple use, with three floors above it dedicated to one or more families.


    I missed my girls and it was so rough seeing the kids running around the stoop there just trying to kick a ball between themselves. Maybe someday the ache would go away. One of the boys kicked the ball too hard and it stopped in front of me.


    I sheepishly picked it up and returned it to them.


    "Thanks mister!"


    "Thanks!"


    The two boys with long black hair began to play again. I pushed back that ache and turned to the bridge. The wide open bridge would have been perfect for them to play ball on. The water underneath was only two meters below. The canal, though lovely, gave up so much public space.


    Dozens of gondolas passed underneath it in the midday sun. Opulent red and gold gondolas took official looking men and the occasional woman between meetings.


    This would be an excellent spot for the Taoist cultivator to meet me. The mass of city runners who were able to deliver notes for a price made me feel like not only was Spirit Hall a big neighborhood, but also a large mail room.


    I saw two of the city runners pass by the bridge guard without him even batting an eye. He nodded to me before resuming his endless watch. The poor guy must have assumed the pose for hours at a time.


    The kids were back at it with kicking the ball around and I just sat there for a while before turning around.


    I sighed before heading back to central Spirit Hall and the Raven''s roost.

 8. I know many women want to be my wife

    Seeing my first afternoon to myself where I didn''t feel the need to run myself ragged I turned to that old staple.


    Reading.


    I found a warm spot and brought out the three introductory scrolls that Wu had brought me. Having the time to do something didn''t always translate to following through, but today I was moving. The three scrolls showed a breath technique, a striking technique and something that I was having trouble sounding out. It was either soul or dream at its base, and my terrible translation was doing me no favors. I had expected to get better at my language skill but that was not happening.


    The breath technique encouraged a special type of breath through the dantian. That was another word that I was going to have to ask about. I had an idea, but Wu would know better. The explanation was quite lacking in description.


    Most interestingly the third scroll felt familiar to me. It felt like a healing scroll with mentions of a brain and heart meridian. I had no idea what it was talking about but once again, I ran into the problem of no notebook to write stuff down.


    That one I could probably solve. I probably should have made a list of things to ask Moon Fei. I tried to make some mental notes, but it felt like fighting against the tide.


    I remembered a shop with an ink and paper sign above it close to the Green Air Inn. I itched to run down the two floors to find it. I felt like taking the stairs two or three at a time. Was it the Cultivators Ink something?


    The pile of papers had grown. There was a neat stack of about eighteen invitations when I opened the door. The staff had taken to leaving them outside my door after I spoke to them this morning. They had even added a lovely basket that I could easily flip into a nearby trash can. Moon Fei notwithstanding, they tended to leave me alone, so they all took that note with grace.


    The shop had an open air artwork display out front. Twin wooden doors pushed to either side were full of ornate designs and painting in front of a three story multi use building. If Fei wouldn''t take me to a library, this would have to do.


    I had writing to do.


    ___


    A tiny bell rang in the wind as I passed the threshold into a large open working area. Neat piles of scrolls accented the central figure working tirelessly to capture something via watercolor. Her intricate patterns seemed to meld between written words and expansive scenes that covered large tapestries.


    As I got closer, the painter glanced up. A woman who had to be in her mid twenties at the latest regarded me with the blank indifference of a retail clerk. Her black hair framed a face that would make any kpop star spontaneously combust with jealousy. Her smooth accented face screamed ''I spent thirty minutes on this makeup but if you dare say a word about it, you will face my wrath.''


    I tried to bow respectfully. There was no telling who was powerful here, I did not need to offend anyone. I needed to lead with a smile.


    "Miss, please I have a request."


    She paused her painting. She gestured for me to continue, using only her brows. I knew the motion well.


    "I am in need of scrolls and writing implements. Oh and if you have a notebook or something similar I would take that as well."


    "Scribe for a Sect?" Her question hung in the air, as did her brush.


    I considered the implications. A sect would have an account but then I would need to know someone or a pass code or something.


    "I am independent. No Sect."


    She looked back down, resuming her painting. She had already seen me, made an assessment and l had not met the threshold for her to care. It was a good spot to be in if I wanted to remain anonymous.


    "Very well. Payment must be in advance then. Scrolls are on the far wall, ink is behind me arranged by color. Paint is next to that, but you shouldn¡¯t have much need of that. Brushes of various sizes and quills are between the two. When you have what you want, bring it to me."


    "Thank you."


    It was the first time that someone hadn''t said anything about me being a Cultivator. If this was the test to see if I was worthy for some initiation, I was failing badly or passing with full marks. To tell the truth it felt good to not be immediately into a hard sell.


    I found three blank scrolls that were about a half meter wide and about a meter long. That would do for a start. I would need to weigh them down.


    I brought them up.


    "Pardon me, but I don''t see any pots of ink or quills here, aside from those that you''re using. I know you mentioned them but they seem to be missing."


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    Her look was murderous.


    I am not going to say she was cold, but she wasn''t far from it. Her gaze snapped to a different set of shelves.


    "Shelves on that wall," she said, pointing to nearly unnoticeable shelves on a perfect wall, "those have what you seek."


    She grumbled a bit about someone''s mother moving things around under her breath.


    I resumed my search over there, grabbing two full ink pots and three brushes. I didn''t know how much I would use and the first scroll was probably going to be a wash, but I would be able to take notes.


    "You don''t happen to have any graphene sticks by chance? Or charcoal?"


    I had seen writing in both, but if she had them they were well hidden.


    "How many of each do you want?"


    "Two of each?" I guessed.


    "Your total is 25 Waan, including all of this."


    I pulled out my purse grabbing what she wanted and then counted out the coins.


    For the first time she locked eyes with me.


    "Oh! This one is sorry if she has caused offense, young master," she said.


    It was probably the eyes. Something had given me away.


    "Oh that''s unnecessary," I said, before finding spots in my pockets for everything.


    The ink pots had mahogany stoppers so those would be fine to roll around, but before I could do anything, she grabbed everything but the scrolls and put it into a large textile bag. I nodded appreciatively. Of course it has


    "Thanks for the bag, this er... Does this cost extra?"


    "It is not, it would be appreciated if the young master mentioned my business to others who need scribe services or implements."


    I could probably do that.


    "Pardon my inquiry, but if you''re not part of a Sect...? Why are you doing your own writing?"


    She wasn''t wrong, but I didn''t want to answer questions.


    "The uh... Dao of it all?"


    "Perhaps this one is asking the wrong question. Allow me to rephrase it. Hmmm."


    I paused feeling one foot out the door.


    "I''m taking notes. That''s about it. Do you have something better for that?"


    She paused, placing the end of a large brush against her lips.


    "You''re a Cultivator?"


    "Yes?"


    "But you''re so ...nice. What''s the trick?"


    "I''m sorry?"


    <hr>


    I was probably underestimating how many cultivators were assholes. For all the talk of balance and such, power made people do terrible things. If you could do whatever you wanted and get away with it? Yeah I would be scared of cultivators too. The only difference was that I effectively died once already. Did it count if it was just me moving from one world to another? Perhaps I had a heart attack? No, that was idle speculation and I needed to stay in the now.


    "Look, uh..."


    "Kang Egiya."


    "Kang Egiya, I''m Pidge Joseph. I''m very new to Cultivating and very new to Western Jewel. I''m trying to lay low and figure things out. It''s very different from my home country."


    I had decided on the uneducated traveler as a face. Tourists were assholes that showed up for an experience, travelers took everything in and gave something back. At least that was my definition.


    ___


    "So your mission trip was painting a church in El Salvador?"


    "Yes."


    The group of friends that I met with was pausing between sessions. As I was the storyteller and we had played two games straight, someone had asked for a smoke break. Of course then two other people had to take a leak and I was speaking with the most recent demon, my buddy Karl.


    "Look, I''m not proud of it."


    "That''s not the point," I said, "you guys didn''t think about the local painters who needed jobs? Did the El Salvadoreans even ask for you to show up?"


    Karl grimaced. He was known to be one of those guys. How he had joined the Navy and become a dental technician, yeah it made sense when you thought about how fastidious he was about his hygiene but ... When he talked about his time before the military? Yeah.


    "I guess I never thought about it like that," he said,"but hey do you think you could make me the demon again on the sly?"


    I smiled. As the storyteller, I knew everyone''s roles and I kept track of them in my grimoire. It was an open secret that I wanted the villagers to win, but I was on the side of drama in this battle. If one person was the demon twice in a row it would look weird and was statistically unlikely. Three times? I could hear the grumbling but it could happen.


    "I can neither confirm nor deny your role in the next session, but I''m feeling some brimstone."


    "Thanks. That''s all I wanted to hear."


    "Excellent. Now you''re getting deployed?"


    "Ah, yeah. The Navy needs someone in Bahrain, and my name got thrown into the hat. Gotta go fix teeth in the name of democracy and all that."


    "Sounds like a good time. That is if you like that kind of thing."


    He pursed his lips. Karl had just turned twenty one and had realized that he now had limits. That was probably a good thing. I shuffled the token for the demon around in my hands for the next round, ensuring that he would get at least an option. It was on him if he didn''t pick the one I waved in his face.


    ___


    "So you''re very interested in Cultivation but you''re coming up against a wall about actually finding anything about it? Sounds like my experience."


    "And those Sects? They guard their secrets with a tight fist! They have archives that they only give access to their top performers! Like they take in a hundred a year to their outer Sect-this is the Verdant Sect-but only three a year get a pass to the archives unrestricted. Everyone else gets a rare one time pass, but like..."


    She trailed off.


    "Oh I''m so sorry this one may have said too much."


    "No no, do go on. This is very informative. In fact, could I buy you some tea in exchange for this information? There''s this new tea shop that just opened up and it''s perfect for this. I could also buy you dinner."

 9. Sometimes I hide

    I could lie and say that I wasn''t attracted to Egiya. I''m not going to say that. And without going into how her sleek black hair was perfectly in place, her work clothes looked more like ceremonial garb, she was lovely. But it was the look in her eyes, the one that told me -combined with her words- that I was probably her latest hyper fixation. It sadly reminded me of Lauren, and Lauren reminded me that I wasn''t with my daughters. Safe to say that dropped my mood a few points.


    Also, using her as both a reason to visit the tea house as well as getting her as a potential source, well that would be helpful to me.


    "Very well. This one must accept your generous offer, Cultivator Pidge. Please permit me the brief time needed to close up the shop."


    I was about to do my old thing of asking if she needed help, but stopped. It had taken years of the world beating me down, but I wasn''t going to try to help everyone with a sympathetic need. Plus, it would probably have been offensive had I offered. Instead, I took a walk outside and waited, breathing in the aura of the city.


    I couldn''t pinpoint the particular blend, but I felt like I smelled dreams and hopes in the aura around me. I leaned into that feeling, trying to snatch it from the air.


    Whether it was from one person or many peoples dreams merging together, I felt that my body was nudging me to open a way to use the aura. It took me several minutes to absorb the aura that I wanted as I waited for Egiya, and by the time she was in front of me, I had breathed in what felt like small water bottles worth of the aura. There was no physical difference. My soul was holding it, though I knew this was some cultivator thing.


    "The tea shop I went to yesterday isn''t far from here," I said when she joined me.


    "Do you mind if there are questions this one has on the way?" She was all business now.


    "Ask away," I replied, "just know...you know what go ahead."


    She pulled something out of her left sleeve.


    "Have you opened any of your meridians yet?"


    "Meridians? What''s that?" I asked innocently. Someone long ago told me that the best way to get someone to answer a technical problem was to use one account to ask the question and another to parrot back the wrong answer. People like correcting others, probably too much.


    "Your qi pathways, it''s something that foundation level cultivators need to do to advance," she said.


    I felt the aura I had absorbed sitting there wanting to do something. If it wanted to make a pathway that made sense. But a pathway from where to where? I was stumped.


    "Ah. That''s interesting. Let''s just say that so far I''ve been self taught.Perhaps a different line of inquiry then?" I said.


    She sighed and we turned down a street getting away from the Raven''s nest.


    "What does it feel like?"


    That was not what I expected her to ask. I was consciously slowing my walk so she would stick with me. She probably knew a few cultivators.


    "It feels like I''m fake strong. Like it feels unreal. I''m actively trying to slow down to keep pace with you so you''re not left behind."


    She furrowed her brow. I imagined that she might have been taking notes if we had gotten to the shop. I hoped that I didn''t offend her.


    "You are at the foundation realm, correct?"


    I nodded. That was as far as I knew.


    "Then you must be able to do so many things with your Qi..."


    "Honestly, right now it just makes me feel stronger and faster. Seriously, I know you think I am sassing you but-"


    "Sassing?"


    "It means making light of. Generally in a humorous way."


    Her narrowed eyes stopped a potential info dump I was brewing. She would still get it, just a bit later.


    "Go on."


    "I don''t know, it feels like I''m tingling all over when I take in too much of the aura around us, and...you don''t believe me, do you?"


    "Apologies, but my father is a healer, and he achieved the second realm or so... But every time he spoke about Cultivation, he would make such oblique remarks that absolutely made no sense."


    "Like what? I don''t understand why this has to be so difficult. Draw in aura, use it or expel it ... Or like I recently did, try and store it for later."


    She began taking notes furiously on her paper. She interviewed me for five more minutes before we got to Mogui chaguan. Thankfully it was still open and the line was non-existent.


    "Oh! You can just buy tea here? What a novel concept!"


    "My feelings exactly, kids nowadays have no respect for traditions like never turning a good experience into a commodity," I said, making my best impression of a male Karen.


    "What a strange way to put it," she said, "but it makes sense."


    Out of the corner of my eye I saw a familiar female cultivator leaning against a wall. Angular lines on a face full of stage makeup complemented an outfit that wouldn''t have been out of place at a ballet. She was making a statement.


    The Taoist woman had her eye on me. It was unsettling, but she wouldn''t harm me with this many people around. Of course, she would stake this place out. Or maybe she was waiting for someone else to slander her Sect.


    We found an unoccupied booth far from the front door and sat down.


    Egiya put some more conventionally sized papers in front of her and began writing.


    "You want to know more about the Sects in town. This one wants to know more about your Cultivation. Are we agreed?"


    "Agreed. We can go one for one or more freeform."


    If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    Our tea arrived at that moment. The woman bringing it was the Taoist cultivator, Xin Yuexie. So she was either working for the Mogui chaguan or she had asked the proprietor to let her do this? I would have to investigate later.


    "Your tea, young master."


    "Gratitude," I said, accepting the tray.


    Egiya watched her place the tray down but didn''t say anything. I couldn''t tell if she knew that the tall woman with the dancer''s physique was a Cultivator or not. Once Yuexie wasn''t looking over the table, Egiya turned to me.


    "Cultivators in their first realm have certain strengths, usually. But more than that, they are overconfident. That''s not something this one sees in you. We are so far below-the average human versus the average cultivator- that only the fastest and the strongest humans can relate."


    I had thoughts that I might be an Olympic caliber sprinter or high jumper with how I felt.


    "But you don''t know when someone has passed through to the first realm?"


    "If there''s one thing you will learn, if you don''t know someone is a cultivator-they will tell you. You were very candid about your situation. Try to imagine someone less, shall we say magnanimous about their situation?"


    I blinked in surprise. The tea was very good with her.


    "I try to be honest. If I lie a lot it tends to bite me in the ass."


    Sure, I wasn''t lying when I told Lauren I was ready to not have kids in the house. I just... The words that spilled out of my mouth afterwards, that wasn''t the best version of me. And it sucked that I wouldn''t be able to go back and have a do over.


    "We don''t know generally when someone is in the first realm, unless they say something. It is said that there are a few ways to hide your Qi level and pretend to be normal."


    I nodded. It really was good tea. If Egiya had launched into some drama between herself and her dad at the time it would have been double tea, but I didn''t know her well enough.


    "That''s another thing. I need some of these path manuals."


    Her eyes widened and her pupils constricted.


    "How...? How have you been advancing so far?I l leaned over conspiratorially before placing a rod of graphene onto some paper and writing out a response.


    **I haven''t.**


    She looked relieved before grabbing her own much better looking graphene rod.


    **Where are you from? Really?**


    **I can''t tell you yet. I don''t know you well enough.**


    She gasped and I realized that the silence between us was getting attention I would rather not have. I grabbed the paper she had written our notes on before she stopped me.


    "This one thinks we should go over some calligraphy. The writing style you use... Lacks something?"


    While she talked she scribbled furiously onto her side of the scroll before passing it around.


    **Let me learn how you awakened your Cultivation and I''ll give you a master lesson in calligraphy.**


    I tilted my head to her.


    **Not here. There''s so much mysticism and bullshit around Cultivation that I''m not understanding. My father is a cultivator so I should have the spark to awaken but I keep coming up short.**


    The fact that she had begun writing ''I'' instead of writing out this one probably meant that I was in. If anyone has the social capital to ask stupid questions to people in power, it would probably be her.


    Egiya stocked the small to medium sized sects with their stationery needs. Her other customers were the noble families that ran the city on behalf of the emperor, I found out later.


    "I think that we have a deal," I said, taking a cursory glance around our booth towards the front of the shop.


    She was gone, but I had been expecting that. Next thing I knew, she would probably be offering me tickets to one of the performances her Sect put on.


    "That lady? She is wearing Taoist robes. She probably is a cultivator," Egiya said,"You need help, she probably has access to her clan''s records and-The Taoists are an ancient Sect.


    They have so many historical records that predate our current emperor.


    "The emperor? Is he a cultivator?"


    She looked at me askance.


    "Of course," she said as if it was the most natural thing in the world.


    "Have they not achieved immortal status? Do they step down after some time?"


    "Ah, yes that would be a question. How do I put this ... After a point in time, they will ascend to a further realm and pass on the responsibility to another. Often the court rejects their choice, and the once emperor unleashes his fury upon the court. Somewhere around the eighth realm, they ascend."


    I couldn''t imagine the power that someone would have to have to give up a position as emperor. Maybe they got their own new planet to cultivate?


    "There have been two emperors since the formation of the empire. The Taoist Sect...gives a good explanation of how things ran here before that. They explain it in depth while the performance goes on."


    "Sounds like I should watch one of those."


    It sounded entertaining. I didn''t actually know if it would be worthwhile, but I couldn''t see a lot of other things to do that didn''t directly involve a Sect or family. In fact the secular non private spaces in this city seemed to be few and far between. I had to pay for my room where I lived but there didn''t seem to be a public library, hospital or other building. Sure there was the government and the military was apparently a thing here as well, but outside of meeting people through commerce there didn''t seem to be a way to meet others.


    Egiya brought something out of her robes.


    "This is a talisman of Nascent sight. It will let me see how someone cultivates. It''s similar to how those who have achieved the Nascent soul can see the world."


    "Nascent, meaning what exactly?"


    I racked my brain thinking back to my SAT prep course that my mother had insisted on. An altogether inexcusable amount of time was spent on vocabulary and I already read a ton.


    "Nascent as in... The budding spirit of an advanced Cultivator."


    "Ah," I said,"Understood. Have you used this on your father? Or has this never come up?"


    "It has never come up. He...wants me to... He has an idea of what a woman''s role is in the world."


    "Let me guess. His views don''t exactly line up with yours?"


    "That''s accurate," she said, picking up an empty kettle,"Ah it has been good to talk to you."


    "People keep saying that like-"


    "You''re a good listener."


    "-I''m a good listener."


    I smirked.


    "I''m a good listener, but..."


    "No buts, this has been an insightful conversation. This one is warmed by this whole... " She gestured vaguely at the space between us.


    "I liked this, but don''t get me wrong. It sounds like everyone here is concerned with...like they are all so self absorbed. Where I''m from... We talk to each other and we don''t... We don''t have this rampant tribalism."


    "Tribalism?"


    "The society here is so fractured into little interest groups-if I understand this right- that there isn''t one thing that everyone... Is there a national identity?"


    "I''m not familiar with that word... National?"


    "Like a country?"


    Her blank stare made me think that this was a moot point.


    "Okay we''ll need to revisit this later but how does the talisman work then?"


    "It uses a small part of the targets Qi to illuminate the dantian. Then the flow of aura to the Cultivator is seen and..."


    "You want to watch me cultivate."


    "Well yes."


    I had to think about this one for a long second. I was just rooting around trying things out. I had been attacked or chased a few times since I had arrived here. I didn''t want to just go catatonic, because it was like a focused meditation crossed with a nap. I wasn''t fully conscious of the outside world.


    "Let''s say that I agreed. Where would we do this?"


    "Oh! Uh I haven''t thought that far ahead but we should be able to use the meditation room in my home."


    I was tempted to just give her what she wanted. Also perhaps the Green Air inn had one of these rooms if they were so common. I would have to ask Moon Fei next time I saw him .


    "I have another thing that I want to ask you to do if we''re going to work together," I said, sketching something out quickly on my page.


    I turned it over to her and she got it immediately.


    "This is something that we can do."


    She smiled widely.

 10. I can be a bull when Im being polite

    We made plans to meet up later the next day. I didn''t give her my address. She also gave me some more ideas to work with. Egiya left to work.


    I stayed back, knowing what would happen next.


    The blue and pink robes let me know that I was about to attend to my next appointment.


    "Jin Xueyie."


    "Cultivator Pidge Joseph."


    "May I sit with you?"


    I nodded. If I had moved she probably would have ambushed me in the non lethal manner.


    Xueyie sat down after checking the seat. The wooden benches were sufficient for what they needed to be.


    "You keep strange company. First a mortal fixer, and this one?"


    "I needed scrolls. Then we started talking."


    "Does this happen to you a lot?"


    "Do strange women try to jump into my day without concern for what I have planned? No, never."


    Her eyes narrowed.


    "Good then. I ... Wanted to talk to you about last time."


    "Go on."


    "How do you... How do you do what you do?"


    I had to scratch my head at that.


    "Are you talking about what we did when we met last time?"


    "Yes ... Though not the fighting bit. Though I would like a spar that is separate. You... Laid bare my emotions and... This is a first."


    "Oh no."


    ---


    "What are your goals for this client?"


    "Meaningful goals? Well she has to learn to let people do their own thing. She''s been bad about staying out of other people''s business."


    "But she has stayed out of their business, right?"


    As always, he was right.


    It was always the kind older man at the practice. I say kind old man but Mr. Lopez was like thirty eight at most. He had brought a really daddy vibe to the place that set us all at ease. Like, you may not be okay but Dad will talk to you and you''ll be better.


    "Yes. And she''s struggling with that, since she thinks it reflects back on her-which of course it doesn''t- but Ms. Johnson would probably be absolutely terrible at a caring profession."


    It might be true or it might not. Some people had trouble separating their personal life from their work. After coming home for years and getting two daughters thrown at me on the regular as soon as I stepped in the door, I had no difficulty with that. My ex wife? She worked from home when they were older and Lauren was an industrial engineer who owned a sports bra company. She also worked from home with her son and when we merged families on vacation, we had shared duties.


    But I''m getting off track. There has to be a place where the person can relax and unwind separately from their other life. It might not be a long time, but then again.


    "Ms. Johnson wants to be the fixer."


    "Ahhh. She''s stuck on that huh?"


    I raised my paper coffee cup to him. The lights from both of our next clients beeped on at the same time.


    "I think if anyone, you can unstick her, Joe."


    ---


    "You''re stuck."


    I was trying to get her to tell me what she really wanted. I hadn''t thought I could make a


    living here giving therapy, but I might as well ask.


    "I..."


    "You''re stuck and you want to get out of the situation you find yourself in, but you don''t know how because... because you haven''t ever seen someone break out of the mold. What do they do to Cultivators who leave your Sect? Clan?"


    "Clan. They are dishonored unless they are off to perform military duty. You don''t go against the Tao."


    "Look. I provide a service. I don''t know what you can pay in, but we can give it a shot. This area," I said, gesturing,"Isn''t very private but we can sit back a bit and talk."


    Looking now I could see that the tea house was cleared out. It was probably some mid-afternoon shift change at the Qi factory or something. Always got to be cultivating, of course.


    "What do you want to get out of this?"


    "What do you mean?"


    "What I mean is that usually people come to me with a problem or a few problems and we spend a bit of time each week unpacking their problems and planning on how to get through them. Say you wanted to deal with some traumatic event, we could address that trauma or..."


    Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.


    I let the words hang in the air, hoping that she would take the bait.


    "Trauma?"


    Shit.


    "Maybe I need to go back and define some more terms. I assume that you''re willing to pay for this somehow? If we continue? It doesn''t have to be money."


    She nodded. Professionals got paid. Also she probably didn''t have an idea of what it meant to pay for therapy.


    "Trauma is... It''s something that can be a single event, or a recurring ongoing thing. It could be an injury, a sexual assault or chronic abuse and even neglect. Did you have a family growing up?"


    "I did but I don''t see how ...?"


    "Were they supportive of you when you expressed an interest in something- "


    "Yes they supported me becoming a cultivator"


    ¡°-something besides Cultivation as a career path?" I said.


    "A career? I can''t say that I know that word..."


    I sighed. Some people had lives that were far too intertwined in their work.


    "Things outside of work. Did they support you when you took an interest in something outside of their core interests? Did you have interests outside of what they did?"


    The blank look on her face made me pause and think. Sometimes as a therapist I drew upon my own life to try to jog a client- it was rare and always with an eye to being therapeutic. I wasn''t going to tell them my life story, that would raise a light of potential issues.


    "They gave me shelter and food and..."


    "They did enough to keep you alive didn''t they? The bare minimum."


    I needed to stop interrupting. I briefly wondered if I would have accepted that status quo.


    I was thinking that classic me would have done that. Before the kids, the master''s degree in social work, the divorce and the healing that came with that, yeah. I would have accepted narcissistic parents saying that the bare minimum was acceptable. Now? No longer. I wouldn''t tolerate that in my life.


    "The bare minimum?"


    "They could have done a lot more. It''s not that they were bad parents but..."


    "They could have supported my desire to be a healer and..."


    Note to self: there are no handkerchiefs in Western Jewel. No tissues either.


    "There were so many things that I could have done if I had just...if I had just seen another way. There was never another way, only their way and..."


    Xueyie ended up crying inconsolably into her shirtsleeves.


    It wasn''t loud. It wasn''t something I was unaccustomed to either. It was just the oddity of this magically enhanced human juxtaposed against every other weird thing that had happened to me.


    "...and this idea of a different path? This is so strange?"


    "It''s not your fault. You''re not to blame for your parents actions. You don''t..."


    Her head was in her hands. They were buried deep.


    "...you don''t need to think about forgiving them or moving forward until we take some time to process what you lost. What could have been supportive parents, what you wanted them to be... That won''t ever happen. You have to live with them as they are now."


    Yuexie sniffled.


    "They''re still in the Sect. They... Why is this so hard to say? ...They bring me around from time to time to show to potential suitors that might strengths our clan and of course the Taoists."


    My best trick was to let people talk. I don''t know if I had been born with it, but people saw me and often decided that today was the day that they let go of a horrible family secret they had been holding in for years. This was mostly people on the street, but sometimes I would be introduced to a friend of a friend and the drama -the tea- would be laid bare. She had a lot of trauma about her parents and probably the Sect she was in. The fact that her parents were probably higher level elders of her Sect meant that they probably had way too many avenues to affect her life.


    "They think that I am some toy to be used to make their ... To make the Sect better," she said, her voice no louder than a whisper,"Even with potential suitors."


    She was getting it.


    "You learned growing up to be a people pleaser, to put others ahead of you. You feel safe if people say that you''re the good one. If you don''t know how someone feels about you, do you feel anxious?"


    "There was no money in healing. They always said that there was only money in musical theater and dance... And I believed them..."


    I wanted to hug her, but something told me that she wasn''t done raging against her parents.


    It wasn''t like some people who wanted me to diagnose someone from after as being an asshole. Heck I could safely say that by Western standards, her parents were assholes. I would have called them that to her face. If I was friends with her, I would probably have said so, but she came to me in confidence. Even if it was misplaced confidence.


    "Let''s step back and talk about the difference between your relationship now with them and then. What are the major themes you see now? Because we can work on intrusive questions easily."


    She looked up.


    "It''s everything. The questions, the prodding and poking... I just feel like they have this vision for my future that I''ve been on the path for so long and..."


    "What would you do if you could do anything? Whatever you wanted?"


    "I...I...don''t know."


    "That''s something that we can work on together. We can set a goal of figuring out where you want to go physically or mentally and then get there... "


    "I have never met anyone like you. This..." She sobbed before composing herself,"I...hope that you don''t need an answer right now."


    "That would be unnecessary. Starting is enough. And if no one has told you already, YOU are enough."


    She paused.


    "How do I find you again?"


    "You could leave a note at the Ink Pot. I''ll be there regularly, as I have a lot to learn."


    I blushed, thinking that she might get the wrong idea. But it anything that was Xueyies problem not mine.


    "I shall endeavor to meet with you again."


    "That would be excellent. Do you have anything else before I go on my next walk?"


    I really needed to find Moon Fei. I should probably hire him more full time. I don''t know how much the hotel is paying him though.


    "No... Good tidings to you Pidge Joseph."


    Xueyie got up and staggered out of the shop. I watched her go, waiting for her to be out of sight before I got up myself.


    A life of misplacing things made me pause before leaving to make sure that I hadn''t left anything. In the back of my mind I could remember Lauren yelling-well if it was more like sighing as she spoke- about me leaving my wallet at home again and me sheepishly sending her money when we got home. It never amounted to a real problem but I did change how I did things to accommodate her.


    Jin Xueyie coming on as a client would be a boon, if she could pay. There was more than one way that I could get her to pay me, and thinking back to Moon Xiru the tea and information broker, I could probably find a way somehow.


    I still wanted to stick to my code of not revealing patient secrets. I might talk about their problems in the abstract from time to time, but trust was important to me. Jin Xueyie could bring me information. It didn''t have to be about her Sect. Heck...


    I paused as the small amount of the aura I had caught a whiff of drifted into my body. It smelt like a soft cloud on a clear day.


    It had the feel of desire and resolve and I wanted to call it something... A name eluded me. It didn''t feel like stone or metal aura that was present in the area in a good amount. I realized that I had paused in the spot where Xueyie had stood for most of the day.


    I drew in all of that aura, packing it into myself. One of the reference texts I had referred to where it went as the dantian, so I went with that. My dantian surged with the concentrated aura as if processed into Qi. I felt like a million bucks as I walked deliberately away from the Tea house.


    The walk itself felt meditative and I focused on what I wanted to do here. If there was a way to go home, I would find it. It didn''t make sense that I was in my office one minute, and here the next. If there was some nefarious plot afoot, I would get to the bottom of it.


    I realized that I finally had paper. I could take notes.


    It was time to prioritize.


    I made a list.


    ___


    (1) Get established


    (2) Find a safe house


    (3) Find a way home?


    (4) Make enough money to support 1 and 2


    ___


    That would be enough for today. Tomorrow I would break these down and see if I felt the same.

 11. I got Charm like Leprechaun, Mumma

    That next morning I woke up extra early. I was giddy with energy.


    First off I was going to look at my list, make some notes and then see about next steps.


    <table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%" border="1">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 95.0413%">(1) Get established


    (2) Find a safe house


    (3) Find a way home?


    (4) Make enough money to support 1 and 2</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Looking at it with fresh eyes, I could see that getting established would require a safe house and that would require money. It was either that or join a Sect with their own lodging. Moon Xiru probably knew a guy.


    I set out to the front desk of the hotel, once again looking for Moon Fei. I hadn''t seen him in a day and I was getting nervous. I was happy to see him sleeping behind the desk.


    I was less happy to see the amount of bruises and cuts he had on his face and arm.


    He looked like he had been mugged for Taylor Swift concert tickets.


    "Moon Fei. Who did this to you?"


    He startled awake.


    "Oh! Elder Brother... This one is-"


    "Cut the crap, Fei-I was looking for you yesterday."


    "-apologies..."


    He bowed so deeply I could swear I heard a vertebrae scream.


    I gave him my best dad look. The one where you get really silent and you just stare at them. They know what they have to do, and you just will them to do it.


    I have been told that mine makes me look a bit constipated, but would you trust the word of my ex wife? Either way he relaxed. His head left the floor barely a hair as he addressed me.


    "This one is unworthy of your consideration, Elder brother. This one will endeavor to keep his wits about him from now on."


    "You got jumped, didn''t you," I said flatly.


    His face told me all I needed to know.


    The large white marble desk that noted the name of the Green Air Inn was between us or I would have gently patted him on the shoulder.


    "What did they want? Was this about me?"


    "Really, Elder Brother this-"


    I bit my lip back. His head jerked up.


    "-this one apologizes for any inconvenience his being away from work yesterday may have caused. This one had to attend to personal matters."


    "Moon Fei. What. Happened."


    Another bellhop rounded a corner and saw the two of us locked in discussion. He took a brief glance and noped out of it.


    "They want me to pressure you to join. They... Were trying to find a way to make me recruit you for their cause."


    "Moon Fei, listen carefully...who?"


    ___


    "I''m fed up with her. Do you know what she told me this week? Her rat bastard husband got her pregnant! Pregnant!"


    Ms. Johnson was pacing around again.


    "This is your mom friend correct?"


    Today she had called me for an emergency session. I hadn''t understood what she wanted, but I was prepared for anything.


    "Her being pregnant," I said, "How does that make you feel?"


    She stopped pacing right by my box of tissues.


    "I''m mad at her husband for being so shitty. I...if I was her-"


    "-which you''re not."


    "If I was her I would have left him a long time ago. She does every thing at home. You know he has never changed a diaper? My husband said that he took pride in it. Ugh."


    I tended to look down on men who decided to have children and then let their partners do all of the emotional and physical labor that it took to raise them. A divorce lawyer I was friends with later that day told me about this epidemic of divorces that had been started by women realizing that they had been working moms who did everything at home and realizing they were married to grown up man children, left.


    "That''s ridiculous," I said, "and also how exactly? Babies generate a mountain of diapers."


    She shrugged.


    "I wish I knew what she sees in him, but apparently it''s his dick game. Explains how she got pregnant. I just think about how she... She you know she hasn''t seen her primary care doctor since the last one was born."


    I gasped. She was going on about this woman and I was thinking I finally got it.


    "This reminds you of your father, doesn''t it."


    She stopped pacing and sat down next to me. Our seats were at a diagonal so our knees were nearly touching.


    Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.


    "You know you grow up thinking that adults are brave and king and smart and they think things through, and then you''re an adult and you realize that it''s not so simple. Then you think, surely some people are nice? Surely it can''t be like this for everyone. And you''re -I''m- hoping that it''s... That it gets better. I need it to get better. And it got better, for me. But."


    She paused contemplative, sitting back in the chair.


    "But...I want my friends to not be attached to misogynists and I feel like that shouldn''t be such a huge imposition."


    "That''s a reasonable boundary."


    I really hoped she could do something to help herself. Her friend was probably a little beyond us. But we got her pregnancy out of the way, and once we got that done we returned to our normal topics.


    She had finally realized that she could safely bitch about her life here, but I was going to ask her to work on herself as well.


    "So you want to help. That''s admirable. But she hasn''t asked and you can''t just impose yourself into someone else''s relationship or life. Even if she did ask what help you could give would by necessity be limited since you have your own things to worry about."


    The first couple of sessions she had had difficulty accepting that other people could watch her kids while she was here. We had to work through that. Once her childcare has said no last minute and she was forced to bring her toddler and that was fine because she was mostly pre verbal, but she already had a lot on her plate.


    "I suppose that''s right."


    "If she comes to you with a problem, you have to ask her if she wants to bitch about it or if she wants a solution. You can be supportive in that way."


    She brightened.


    ___


    "Moon Xiru," I said, addressing the man with the most gorgeous hair around,"a moment of your time if you would."


    Moon Fei and I had walked down to the tea broker''s holdings.


    He didn''t have any customers and his sacks of tea looked to be in the midst of an inventory.


    Fei still was shaken up. They had tried to pull information about me from him. This was personal now and we were going to have to do a little meeting.


    "I have been to the tea shop multiple times. I find it to be a rather mundane affair. I can go over what I have seen of their operation, and it looks like they depend on volume of throughput. They need a lot of customers to be viable. That or it''s just a front for something else."


    Really it was boring exactly how normal the shop was, if you took into account that it was a first of its kind shop.


    Moon Fri nodded his ascent.


    "Elder Brother is correct, cousin. I believe that the tea house may have the backing of the Taoist Sect or their protection. This is due to how often they have a presence there. Whether a deterrent or just someone posted there to be a security measure, they thought it was important enough to keep someone there."


    He explained how we had been chased by a Taoist evangelist two days prior. I may have omitted the part where she was my new client.


    That could come later.


    "That is troublesome. They may cut into our profits if they''re allowed to grow."


    "Is that likely, elder brother?" Moon Fei asked.


    I doubted that it was likely. A big box gym opening was a threat to the other big box gyms, but a Pilates gym opening up?


    The clientele was different.


    "Are you sure that the same people that buy your product are the ones going to the tea house? This seems like a bit of a leap."


    "How so?"


    Moon Xirus raised eyebrows told a story of the endless war between the elder generation and the younger. It said something about older men and women thinking they knew better and then getting dug in, fighting the good fight against progress and change.


    "That may be so. We cannot treat them as not a threat though. The Tea brokers union is very invested in this endeavor, and they made me their point man on this. We''re willing to spend a lot to keep ourselves where we are."


    The tea brokers union sounded like a cartel, but I wasn''t going to bite the hand that fed me. Moon Xiru sighed deeply and handed me a pouch.


    "For services rendered. We hope that this will continue to be a fruitful relationship."


    I shook the bag, pleased with the sound.


    "Does this mean that you''ll let me speak to one of the Moon clan cultivators? I have several questions that I want answered."


    "Naturally. The clan can have them sent to you or you can go there."


    "Do... Do you have any other jobs?" I said, scratching my head a bit.


    "We may. Let this one send a runner to the clan headquarters. The Tea brokers union will pay for you to continue to monitor that abomination."


    Moon Xiru walked to find a young man in a sleeveless worker''s garb across the way and gave him instructions in a whisper. He ran off with a start.


    They knew I needed work. I knew that they needed a cultivator for some of it. They had training, I had what? Some therapy to deliver them? A healthy sense of boundaries?


    Some people look down on sex workers because they ''sell their bodies''. But you know who also sells their bodies? Construction workers. Day laborers of all kinds. It''s just in a different way.


    I was thankful that my mom dragged me to Tai Chi so many times to give me the martial foundation, but yeah it I was going to survive in this dog eat dog world? I would need power. Both the physical kind as well as the political kind.


    In the back of my mind, I was still trying to find a way home to my girls, but I had already been gone for four days. Someone would have called in a missing persons report, probably almost immediately after my missed appointment. There had to be a way back. Even if it took a while, I needed to get back to Rachel and Courtney.


    "Elder brother Pidge, is everything okay?"


    I realized that my face was giving away the funk.


    "Moon Fei, I will be okay."


    "Is elder brother thinking about evaluating that Taoist woman as a source? The Taoists have access to a lot of important people and their connections are one secondary to the mandarin and the purple robes."


    Purple robes meant that the person wearing them represented the government in some capacity. The official state was in deriving power from the emperor on high. The higher ranked, the darker purple. Those in the royal family or local line of succession had fringed gold on arcing up the sleeves of their arms.


    "Their theater acts frequently have gold fringed nobility in attendance. It would be worthwhile to get to know her better."


    You had got to be kidding me.


    I was already thinking about using Jin Xueyie as a client. Perhaps she could find a way to pay for information. The tea brokers union seemed powerful, if mundane.


    On the other hand, it seemed like Moon Fei was a soft target. He was still reeling from yesterday. People in power using their power to extract what they need? Check.


    I wasn''t going to white knight him and take them out on his behalf, but if we were aligned, then this meant a battle, if not a war.


    "I think I need to find new digs. The hotel room? It''s well known that I frequent there. I need to move somewhere new. I need a safe house or something."


    Moon Fei and his cousin exchanged looks.


    "We can arrange something," Moon Fei said, "if elder brother Xiru is amenable?"


    Xiru grunted acceptance.


    "''If Brother Pidge is that concerned, then perhaps we should figure out a long term situation on his behalf. There might be something in"


    I needed to make a move, if they were going so far as to abduct the people I had in my employ. I would need to talk to Egiya and Xueyie. If I was going to have to stay off the Sect recruiters radars, then I would need to make certain that it wasn''t public knowledge where I was.


    On cue the young man with bare arms that Xiru had sent returned bearing a sealed envelope.


    "Can we see that trainer today, then?" I said.


    Things might be looking up.


    Xiru opened the message and nodded.


    "It shall be so."


    ___

 12. Now youre messing with the wrong Mumma

    "You''re continually hearing that they did the best they could. You''re hearing that food, water, shelter and all that was enough. They nourished your body but not your soul. You wanted more. Does that about sum it up?"


    The woman in my office cried. Sometimes all Lisa did was cry the whole session. Certainly the first time, she couldn''t help it but now?


    We had made a breakthrough. Her parents were complete narcissists and she had just realized that the idea of her parents ever considering her or putting her first was something that wasn''t going to happen. The image of their perfection was shattered.


    "You have to mourn the idea of the parents you wanted. You have these two and you get to decide if they''re in your life or not. You can set up a boundary, go low contact, grey rock or even go no contact if they continue to trample on your boundaries."


    "I don''t know how to tell them."


    "You''re an adult. They''re adults in one sense of the word. The only thing you control is your presence. You don''t have to be present where they are. You don''t have to engage with what they''re doing- and though this might be hard- you can opt out."


    "I just want them to be more considerate. Maybe I actually care about something in my life. They only seem to care about their lawn, and their extensive Greek art collection. If I didn''t have the potential to have kids someday, they probably would have kicked me out at fourteen."


    She had shown me their villa, which was decked out to look like the coliseum. They really had marble pillars out front of their very normal looking yard. It looked like they had spent the money making it look authentic, because they sure as heck didn''t spend it on Lisa.___


    I was reminded of Lisa''s family house as I entered the Moon clan pavilion. Many men and women sparred back and forth in the middle of a large compound. The pale white walls and pillars could have been a fixture at an earth museum. Here?


    They were decorations.


    Moon Xiru walked me back to a small building in the center of the compound.


    The open air building had a good view of the entire area and one man sat in contemplative meditation in the center. As we approached, he opened his eyes.


    The white irises struck me as I''d never seen eyes fully white like that. The white eggshell color on porcelain eyes made him distinct. He also had a palpable aura around him. I could feel power emanating from him.


    He stood up, one fluid motion that notably did not involve either hand.


    No joke. For the first time since I had arrived here, I thought that I was in real danger. The man radiated danger. If someone had decided to bottle up the potential energy of several battalions of Marines, he would be the result.


    His white steel gaze penetrated my defenses like I was a swifty whose boyfriend had scored her the tickets.I bowed to him. It seemed fitting.Xiru bowed as well.


    "Cousin!" The strong man said, rising to return the bow. Xiru waited for him to move return to standing


    "Elder Brother Wei. This is the man that was discussed."


    "Ah. Perhaps with time he will help you fight the scourge of small business owners with novel ideas about tea."


    Xiru clearly held back from saying something.


    "One can but hope, Elder Brother. This is Cultivator Pidge Joseph. May he grow to defy the heavens like the Moon clan."


    The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.


    "Indeed. I believe that he could build a strong foundation."


    He paused to look me over.


    "When did you awaken?"


    "Three days ago, er pardon, what do I call you?"


    "You can call me trainer Wei. Or trainer is fine as that is my title in the Moon Clan."


    He relaxed, I relaxed and then Xiru made himself scarce.


    ---


    "Don''t forget about our game later this week, cousin!" Wei yelled at the tea broker.


    Wei paused as the air around him seemed to float heavily. It was like he shimmered. I was really hoping that I wasn''t about to walk into a damn vampire situation. Ever since my ex wife got really into twilight- ugh yeah I''m not even going to think about that.


    "Tell me about your previous training."


    "I''ll be honest. I just awoke whatever this is four days ago and it has been a blur. I trained extensively in martial arts with my mother as a youth and I kept with it."


    No need to mention that I was speaking about Tai Chi. It seemed to work against Jin Xueyie, and the combat implications of the art itself with the proper application of force and speed was immense.


    "Most cultivators in your realm are full of impurities. It is curious that I don''t feel any of those within you. Could it be that you have cultivated and pushed that out? But no that would mean that...hmmm.""


    I had no idea what he meant by that statement. I wondered if honesty was the best policy here. They probably wouldn''t kill me, right?


    "I''m going to be honest, Trainer Wei, I don''t know. Not only that, I don''t know what I don''t know."


    "That is an interesting statement. *I don''t know what I don''t know.* I will probably need to meditate on it."


    I nodded.


    "Well in that case. Let''s start with the basics. Every day or frequently you need to consolidate the things that you have learned through cultivation. This involves cycling the energy in the air-the raw aura- and gathering qi. It''s processing the aura into Qi that separates the mortals from the immortals. That and the impurities which you seem to have none of. This is curious. There are several realms above which will advance your soul and body..."


    I noticed that he said soul not mind as I began to make my list of things to seek clarification on. I would save things for a pause in his lecture.


    "... But at the first realm where you sit, all you need to do is begin to develop your dantian, through the use of spiritual arts and creation of your meridians. What I don''t know for certain though, is since much of the work to open meridians is focused on removing impurities, I couldn''t tell you if you would be able to open yours easier."


    "Could you perhaps explain how to do so?"


    "Imagine a new partition- an energy pathway from your core- extending outwards. Most cultivators open meridians to their legs or arms first to aid in their physical cultivation. Some open them to the brain."


    I tried to remember anatomy and physiology and the lines of nerves, veins and arteries connecting all over my body. Then I imagined a core.


    "Sit in a lotus post and try to push one out now."


    I sat, thinking about pathways.


    There had to be a way.


    I felt around my body with closed eyes. I was looking for a core, which according to him would be around where my belly was.


    Then with a start it was clear. I could feel the knot of qi that I had drawn before there, next to all of the aura that ai had drawn in and it was a fair bit. Nothing to do but try to fine a way to use it, and that was how I pushed my first meridians on either side of my spine up to my brain area.


    It wasn''t like he had described it. He had said that other cultivators had to clean off impurities as they went. This felt like I was just- I don''t have another word to describe it- but just threading a needle. The meridian itself existed already, I was just opening it.


    The world was awash in vivid colors as I opened my eyes again.


    "Was the compound always this... colorful?" I asked the awestruck man.


    His eyes had grown two yellow circles that separated the two types of whites. No- they had always been there, hadn''t they? It could just be a part of the moon clan''s legacy.


    "You just... You just opened two meridian lines to your brain withoutany difficulty."


    He sat down looking sheepish.


    "Well don''t stop there! Keep going!"


    Under his tutelage I pushed a second set of meridians to my arms.


    They went from what I could only call "good enough" to "damn!".Moon Wei stroked his non-existent beard. Then he raised his left hand making a gesture I didn''t know.A Moon clan disciple arrived far faster than they had cause to do so. I judged him to be about where I was. His aura was a clear distinct and separate entity, a large scale halo that wrapped around his entire body. It shone like a reflection.


    "How about a friendly spar? We should slow down your meridian opening to consolidate your gains here."


    The cultivator across from me bowed and I dropped into snake creeps into the grass. It felt like the most Kung Fu type shit ever.


    It was mood as fuck.


    My opponent cocked his head and stepped into an open neutral stance.


    He came on fast and I popped up to block several punches in a shuffle back and forth. I deftly pushed each to the side, one after another.


    I then tried to feint with a needle under the sea, a downward block rather than one to the side. He bought it and I came up with whip hands.


    My hands stung to all hell as my punch stopped dead on his chest. His surprise was readily apparent as he stopped cold.

 12.5 Even if she go away

    I''m not going to lie to you.


    Cultivation felt amazing.


    After finishing a proper session it was like I had spent a day at the gym with a proper trainer, followed by a massage and a sauna.


    I felt the delayed onset of muscle soreness all over my body. Except it also felt far better than it ever had. Cycling qi the way that Wei showed me had me progressing. I could feel that I was getting close to something.


    I opened my eyes again and now, it was midday. I had been cycling for at least two hours. I was ravenous.


    Trainer Wei was setting up a spread of food in front of me. I looked at him expectantly.


    "This is for you from Xiru. He said something about a down payment for future services?"


    I nodded, standing to stretch. I had felt myself working through the basic twenty four stances while I cultivated. There''s no better way to put it than when I arrived into my dream scape and then... Well, I was having a lucid dream about martial training.


    "Mister Pidge, it comes to my attention that you have a large amount of dream Qi stored up in your dantian. It''s nearly equal to the amount of neutral qi that you have been producing."


    I blinked.


    ¡°Dream qi? How can you tell?"


    I pointed to the food and he waved me to eat. Then he stood up straight, placing his arms into either sleeve, folding them over each other.


    "Once you reach the third realm, it''s a bit easier to feel what someone else''s source is, and there seems to be a lot of it. Are you interested in a dream technique? Or is this just happenstance? Higher realm cultivators of the dream aura are able to create unparalleled training grounds where there is a greatly reduced chance of death. They have other tricks that they tend to pull, many of which I would call underhanded. I can pull a path manual for you, especially if you''re going to be working with cousin Xiru."


    I chewed on a response. This back and forth favors was good for my purse. I didn''t know if it was going to get me anywhere in the long run, but the more I knew, the better I got.


    "You''re going to want to master three to four techniques at your level before advancing to the second realm, and forming your foundation. The foundation of your body... " He stared off into the distance, contemplative,"Regardless, while you are working for Moon Xiru, you are welcome to join some of our clan training. We promise that we won''t try to aggressively recruit you to join the clan. There aren''t any current non partnered women of marrying age either so you don''t have to worry about..."


    He visibly shuddered.


    "Wei!"


    "Wei who is this strapping young lad!"


    "When were you going to introduce us?"


    "...the aunties."


    He groaned.


    Three older women with impeccable qipaos power walked past several rows of sparring Moon clan enforcers. Their hair was invariably done up in something so complicated that I had to reconsider who was the real power behind the clan. Their form fitting dresses were all white, the only difference was that each had a different colored sash. One was purple, one was blue and one was pink.


    I noted with glee that they seemed to stop and bend around attacks that the paired fighters would throw at each other. This would be an excellent challenge.


    "Wei! Introductions please! This young master seems on the cusp of the first realm already," the woman with the purple sash said.


    Mentally I tagged her as the queen. The queen purple dragon. Her buddies were the pink panther and... Bluey


    "*Purple dragon* you know I hate it when you try to recruit my clan disciples. Consider this one off limits," Wei said dryly.


    "Oh but cousin, you know that we still have needs," the pink panther crooned.


    "Like we need to know who this one is," bluey added.


    "Exactly," Pink panther said.


    I crossed my arms as they stopped a few meters away from me. I waited, trying to see what outlandish thing they would request from me. Or from Wei. He looked like he was ready to duck out of the entire enterprise and become a hermit.


    "You are the one helping the tea brokers union, yes?"


    I nodded. The purple dragon took her place in front of the three, like they were going to challenge me to a dance off.


    "Tell him, Moon Hou," Pink panther said.


    "This is Moon clan territory. We expect you to be on your best behavior at all times. You are to keep your hands off the *merchandise*, "


    I cocked my head. Was she talking about the clan members or perhaps the clan members'' members? Or..


    "You''re aware that the Moon clan is well known for making commemorative tea sets. It''s our primary business."


    I really had to hold back from laughing. I was starting to see why Moon Xiru would be having such trouble. If the Moon clan at large was responsible for manufacturing large tea sets, and Moon Xiru was a leader Tea Broker, then yeah they probably needed to diversify.


    "That''s not our only business," the pink panther said, "but it is the most fragile."


    "This isn''t about keeping away from some honored daughter or son?"


    "Heavens no," Bluey said.


    "That wouldn''t be right," Pink panther said.


    Moon Hou, the purple dragon herself harrumphed.


    It was like watching the power rangers if they were three women in their fifties, dressed to kill. I expected them to have some signature dance that would magical girl change them into a higher form of life.


    "Just to be sure-and I know this is a weird question-you three aren''t about to dance and change into your battle mode dress?"


    The three women exchanged looks.


    Trainer Wei, used to my non sequiturs by now, just shrugged.


    "We''re going to ignore that comment, just know that we will be watching you," Hou said.


    I bowed to the three women before they decided that their time would be better spent elsewhere.


    "They''re always like that. It''s not just you," Wei said as I watched them go.


    ___


    "It''s brutal. It''s the hardest decision you may ever have to make. It''s not easy, but going no contact may be the best for your situation."


    Usually when someone is dealing with a clinically ''would be diagnosed if they ever stepped into a therapist''s office textbook narcissist'' parent, I advise the gray rock method. They get a rise out of pushing your buttons, so when there''s no buttons, they don''t get that whole feedback loop. Just a bland answer and perhaps a statement about boundaries. The biggest thing that you have over your parents as an adult is your physical presence. You decide where to be at all times.


    "That ... Makes sense," she said.


    My current client, Audra, was a referral from another client I had done extensive work with. They both had post traumatic stress disorder, but in this case, Audra kept getting re triggered by her parents. Her mom in particular was nitpicking her decisions, and trying to back seat drive her life.


    Safe to say that the mom hadn''t taken the boundary of ''you will not talk about my body to me in any way'' well. Audra had enforced the boundary and I don''t want to say that it backfired, but it had exactly the resolution that we wanted it to have.


    Her mother had stopped talking to her for a while. She felt relieved. Then she felt guilty for feeling relieved. Then she arrived in my office for the day and she felt her feelings.


    "I want to process this and move forward. I still want a relationship with her."


    "Do you think that she is capable of holding the boundaries you want?"


    "I don''t know."


    "Do you really think despite everything she has put you through that she is capable of the introspection that she needs to do?"


    "I wanted to go to therapy with her initially and she totally agreed with me. Then the actual time came, and she flaked."


    "It''s not a reflection on you. You by all accounts have been a model daughter. This isn''t and has never been about you. It''s about her."


    The tissue box had remained unmolested in the corner up until that moment. It was no longer.


    "You need to think about what you want out of this relationship, and if she is capable of that," I said when we started up again.


    It just wasn''t worth it to keep going through someone processing their trauma.


    "It''s not just you," I said,"She is always like that. She doesn''t have the introspection to examine herself and change. She was supposed to protect you. She was not supposed to betray your trust and do terrible things to you."


    Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    "I still miss her. Despite everything."


    "And that is still completely normal."


    It didn''t help her as much as I wanted it to, but processing trauma would take some time. The uncomfortable part? The sitting there and dealing with it part? Yeah that was where we needed to go next.


    ___


    Wei gave me some breathing exercises and told me to come back the next day. I took his notes and thanked him for his time. He had decided that something about me was worth his time. Before I left he passed me a small purple tablet.


    "This is a basic technique. You will benefit from learning what is possible from it," he said,"of course you will need dream qi to use it, so continue to cultivate that as you find it. This uses a heart meridian if you haven''t opened one yet."


    "Thank you, Trainer Wei."


    "Now I believe my cousin is here to take you back."


    I gave Wei a bow which he returned. There were probably some etiquette rules that I needed to learn. This wasn''t the time but perhaps Egiya could tell me more of how to carry myself if everything would be so formal.


    By this time I was well and truly toasty and I needed the upcoming down time.


    Moon Xiru probably had another idea. As we walked back to the Raven''s nest, he mused at length about the meaning of the new encroaching tea shop.


    "Truly this is ill tidings if such an abomination is allowed to continue. One could only hope that the right amount of pressure from an inclined party would cause it to be closed," he mused.


    The whole tea shop as an unnatural force was silly to me. I liked the idea that new forms of commerce were really getting to the older generation in some logical cyclical route. Also seeing the Moon clan making its money off tea sets, I was beginning to understand the dug-in stakes in the ground.


    As we walked, I noticed a large totem that seemed far out of place. The sculpture was dead center in the middle of a large road, and in the stylized shape of a dragon on a cloud.


    "Moon Xiru, did we pass through this way before?"


    He awoke from his reverie. The man was probably thinking up new curses with which to fling upon the poor proprietor of the Mogui Chaguan tea shop.


    "We did. Ah no we did not," he said, regarding the totem.


    "Care to explain what this is?"


    "This one believes that this is some cultivator totem to keep bad spirits away."


    I examined the wingless dragon icon. It looked so vivid, the artist must have known what he was doing rather well. The white stone it was made of had three large rings along the bottom and it oozed with energy. I felt processed qi in its formation. Trying to look closer as we walked it looked like layers of writing had been stacked one on top of the other.


    The whole thing was a big distraction and I almost noticed when I walked into a smooth made up face.


    "My word! Please watch where you are going, miss, the Cultivator is quite clumsy," Moon Xiru snapped.


    "It''s quite alright Miss," I said, extending a hand,"You!"


    She grabbed it, hard. If I wasn''t as strong as I was now, she would have pulled me to her instead of the opposite.


    "Ah, Cultivator Pidge Joseph, what a pleasure. Why I was just thinking about you..."


    Moon Xirus gray beard and top knot bobbed in the wind. He looked to her, then to me, then back. Her familiarity combined with his formality probably threw a syntax error in his robotic brain. He couldn''t parse me knowing her or vice versa, and so he stood there in stark indecision, as if waiting for one of us to pull him in. I was more than happy to let the situation sit, but she was also doing something similar.


    "Pardon, but this one will be off," he said before scrunching his face up, "shall send a runner?"


    "That''s not going to be necessary. I''ll... Head to the Moon clan and leave a note tomorrow for you Moon Xiru."


    He nodded before disappearing into the madding crowd. Seriously, I hadn''t been paying attention to the amount of passers by. When Egiya showed up, they had kept moving and I had not.


    "Hello. It''s good to see you again."


    "It''s good, ah you always have a way with words."


    I didn''t think that I was that suave. She probably wanted something from me. To be fair I was pulling her for info dumps. I gave her the dad look. The ''is that what you really want to do'' look.


    "What are you doing out here? Shouldn''t you be minding your shop?"


    "Thi-I closed up early today. I was looking to see if perhaps you had dinner plans?"


    I blanched. I''m a nondescript American male, that someone had once called ''the basic skin'' when they tried to describe me. As if I had been the choice for someone who was trying to customize their gotcha game protagonist. I wasn''t too offended at the time, since it wasn''t a heavy jab. When a woman showed interest? Even if it was just being catcalled? Yeah I was happy.


    Just to make sure, this is consensual cat calling I''m talking about here where you both know each other at least enough to know that the other would be receptive to that. Lauren and I had a back and forth. She was a jersey girl-a transplant- with a fight inside her. I liked a bit of back and forth, as it felt like a healthy way to get things moving.


    Egiya? She wore her heart on her sleeve. Either she had a lady boner for me, or she had never had a friend, like ever.


    "Kang Egiya, do you have friends that you can rely on? People that aren''t customers or a part of the Sect?"


    "I...I used to when my father and I lived outside of the demonic sect''s territory."


    At that, my attention was all on her.


    "Demonic? Care to elaborate?"


    "You really aren''t from around here, are you?" She sighed.


    "Guilty. But we''re still sitting here. Did you want to talk before or just go to the nearest...?"


    "The Mogul chaguan is too much?"


    "I''m certain that there is another option. Also did you wear this to work, because going forward uh?"


    I eyed her robe.


    "What? Is there something wrong with this?"


    "I''m trying to be a bit more incognito," I said,"I need to tell you something."


    I looked about for anyone listening in.


    "Before you get involved in anything I am doing, you should know that there are several Sects trying to recruit me."


    "That''s normal."


    "That''s normal, yes but how often do they *kidnap someone to shake them down for more information*?"


    Her expression blanched and she stood stock still.


    "Happened to one of my associates. I am going to do my best to travel incognito from now on. If you''re in this for the long haul, I would like to make sure you''re aware. Also I need a new place to stay."


    "That is a lot. You''ll pardon me if I need a second. They kidnapped someone?"


    "One of my friends from the Moon clan. Well he is more like a handler or retainer."


    "Friend, huh? That''s interesting."


    "Interesting how?"


    I crossed my arms across my chest, putting both hands inside of my ridiculous robe and doing my best ''intrigued'' face. Despite the power difference I think she had caught on that I was a cream puff on the inside. What? Things happen when you have two girls. Yes, I am capable of terrible violence and all that but honestly I would rather not.


    "I thought you were new in town."


    "I am, I-"


    "Are we friends?"


    The question brought up a whole range of questions. Without an actual backing of a professional organization or a read guiding regulatory body, I was in a murky grey zone with her and my relationship. I should probably just stick to the way things should be absent some big sign from her.


    Maybe I should explain it the way my professors explained it. You see, healthcare professionals have a duty to their patients. If a nurse who sets someone''s bones feels a slight uptick in their heart and it isn''t malignant tachycardia, then they can after the person is healed, pursue a relationship.


    A psychiatrist or psychologist, or in a broad sense any therapist, can never see someone who they have treated. Full stop. It''s like insider trading with someone''s genitals. You can see how by knowing someone''s mental state, one could manipulate them into doing a lot of things. We get to see a side of them that maybe a handful of people do during their lives


    So it was with trepidation that I thought about the answer behind the question. Were we friends? I guessed we could do that.


    "Yes," I said after far too long, "but maybe we should talk about what that means?"


    "I... I have never had a friend before and..."


    I''m not going to lie. I cried a little. I sighed, heavily exhaling


    "Then we''re friends."


    "Oh... that''s," she looked shocked, and took a second to compose herself,"I just I haven''t ever spoken like that with anyone. It was so direct and fresh."


    I smiled. I nodded to her to see if we could begin walking.


    "Wonderful, say let''s walk about. You''re not in the middle of anything, are you?"


    "I am not. I was going to sketch one of the totems ... It''s something I do to center myself," she said.


    "Totems, eh? Mind if I tag along?"


    "That would be appropriate, I guess. Do friends do these things together?"


    "I can''t say that I have done whatever you''re about to do, but I have tagged along for weird things before."


    I was not worried that whatever I was about to see would be important. We cleared Spirit Hall and continued moving in the direction I assumed to be south, opposite the direction of (white chapel?).


    The first landmark we passed was the construction site that had to have been that cultivator meeting place I had found on my first day here. The smell of actinic concentrated qi and aura was the tip off. As we walked, she explained the most of what she did was sell paper. In essence if you forgot that someone was writing on the paper, it meant that you had to deal with shipping paper. She copied manuscripts and scrolls using a complicated formation array but that was her family''s business. By virtue of being the only mundane person of this small generation, it fell to her to run it.


    It took us one hour to reach the outer edges of the city to see our totem. The twenty foot tall marble and stone carving looked animated. It wasn''t actually moving, but since it had the appearance of a human, the eye filled in some details. This was my view as we approached it.


    When we did arrive, I was surprised at how different things felt out here. It was sparsely populated, just like where I had arrived. All roads led into the city.


    None led out beyond the totem. The cultivator totem looked towards the city of Western Jewel, as if keeping the peace inside. His robes looks real. I wouldn''t have been surprised for them to flutter in the wind.


    "Uh, pardon me as I''m missing a big piece of something here. What are these for? They''re nice and everything, but?"


    "They keep evil spirits out."


    "For real life?"


    Her blank stare made me giggle.


    "I mean, are you serious? Is that a real thing?"


    "Evil spirits, good spirits, uhh miasma, the toxic untamed wilderness..."


    I didn''t want to say that it sounded like some woo woo bullshit, but with everything I had seen so far, I was inclined to believe at least she thought that was the truth. I would play along. If the cultivators were pulling the wool over everyone in such a manner it would be a big scandal.


    "Would you care to explain that? You see I''m super new here and..."


    I gave her the look of a confused tourist in need of guidance.


    "Cultivators must clear the impurities from the land before mortals can live upon it. These include the malignant spirits that would easily kill or transform mortals into their servants. Additionally the land is toxic for cultivators below a certain threshold. To purify the land, and drive out the spirits, cultivators create ever larger circles of totems. It''s how commerce can exist. Travel between cities is dangerous because of how many higher level threats exist outside of the bounds of their shields."


    We paused on our walk to cross a bridge over calm waters. Here, even more gondolas floated back and forth, their movements a testament to the multilayered logistical approach.


    "Wait. Why are you doing this again?"


    "My father maintains the totems, so he gave me a rudimentary knowledge of what to look for, and he gave me a map to follow so.... Didn''t your parents try to get you to do their work?"


    "Well my father was an industrial engineer and I became a therapist so no on that count. My mother was... Also an engineer."


    "I''m not familiar with this word."


    "More like an architect? Or a builder perhaps? Either way we didn''t overlap much. He really wished that we had, but it wasn''t in the cards."


    "My father is a formations expert. He constantly gets called up to fix broken wards and inspect totems."


    "Oh? What happens if a totem breaks?"


    Egiya already pale face went nearly translucent. We stepped down from the cobblestone bridge into another large neighborhood full of three and four story tenements.


    "It would be bad. Spirits would have to notice it but then those that did would wreak havoc in the borders. It''s why so many of the formations are overlapping. More layers of protection means that people inside are safer," she said, her face slowly returning to a normal hue.


    Before long we were standing in front of an outer totem. When I had arrived I had apparently been in the far reaches of the exterior formations. Otherwise I might have succumbed to evil spirits or the miasma or something. Let''s be honest, I would easily get side tracked by a brunch spread. The totem looked away from the city of Western Jewel. It was another stylized cultivator statue, this one raising an arm to strike. Outside of the spot where all of the city stopped, there was a glorious field of green and brown.


    "It''s outside of the formation, and our cultivators frequently go there to purify the area. So it''s slowly being reclaimed for one of the Sects to expand their holdings. They require a lot of land. New third realm cultivators are also granted plots to turn over if they decide that they want to go their own way, usually this is after a certain amount of time in the Sects. At least that''s what my father told me."


    "I want to inspect it. Can you tell me what I''m looking at?"


    This totem felt a lot like the last one. I wondered if there was any difference.


    "The totem has writing along the edges that denote what it is supposed to do. Children make a game of copying the inscriptions because they''re often low to the ground. Cultivators who make the scripts make certain that they won''t react on paper. Usually they require a small amount of qi to startup and then for the most part maintain themselves with the local aura."


    "That''s... unexpected. I have to say when you said spirits and oh wow..."


    The aura in the air all flowed towards the totem. I could see actinic lines moving around the totem in a pattern. The formation was thick. Like a well known Brazilian plastic surgeon, it looked like someone just kept adding more. Also like a plastic surgeon someone had spent major time on the formation.


    "How long did you say that this took?" I gulped.


    Egiya pulled out a small notebook. I noticed that hers was the deluxe version.


    I was totally green with envy.

 13. And we dont live by the law mumma

    "This? This took a long time."


    "You''re holding a book that''s about as thick as I have seen out here. That''s... that''s a lot."


    "I have to have all of the references down pat. My father might be able to memorize all of these runes, but I''m not able to do so."


    Did I want to turn the conversation to something else? As we stood in front of a large totem, Kang Egiya and I both basked in the warm air.


    Up above me, I double checked. One sun. There was probably a world map somewhere, and I had no idea what the relative relationship between the two stellar bodies were. Based on if this was Earth, with us moving the direction I had assumed was south, we were either south of the equator, or something else was going on. The sun was relatively north of us.


    "Egiyas, do you have a map of the world? Or this continent?"


    "It''s mostly blank on the interior of the continent, but yes. I can draft one for you personally as a thanks for our last...er."


    "We call them sessions. We can talk now if you would like?"


    "Sessions. Okay."


    "Now that we have talked a little bit, we should have a conversation about your goals. Where you are and where you''re going. Or at least how you want to go there."


    "I don''t even know-I don''t understand the realm of possibilities."


    "Well then let''s just think about this. You are only really able to affect your own mental state. You can''t go changing other people. If your father was normal and mundane, say he would be pleased with everything you are doing, but since he is a formations expert, he probably is disappointed in you. And it''s not your fault. But you can be better about how you approach your interactions with him."


    The formation array expanded outwards as Egiyas pulled on something. The three dimensional image flashed up in the air, and if I didn''t know any better, I would say she was trying to zoom in.


    "That was amazing, by the way."


    "I want... Oh thank you. I want to make my own way in the world," she said, before cycling the large formation runes several times. The projections of the brown and golden runes circles the tree as she methodically went through them.


    "How do you want to do that?"


    "Ideally as a cultivator. I know that I should have the spark, but I have... I have struggled to live up to father''s standards."


    "That is difficult. My father made a lot of money so he expected me to fall into a similar career path, so..."


    "It''s just... I have been stuck trying to draw in aura, like I have this block somehow and... And nothing will jog it loose," she said.


    "You have a lot of pressure to live up to your father. I understand. But maybe the pressure of being perfect weighed heavy on you. You tell people that you''re fine, but inside you''re dying."


    She reached out a hand placing it on my shoulder.


    "Everyday I''m pushing as hard as I can on the accomplishments I have made trying to stay positive..."


    A lifetime of holding back emotions wasn''t worth it. She was silently crying. I placed my hand over hers.


    "Are you taking care of other people also?"


    "My mother''s she..." Egiya looked at the ground,"she depends on me now. She had an accident which left her meridians destroyed. She can''t cultivate anymore, she is a cripple and she relies on me. I have been..."


    Her voice got very quiet and small.


    "...I have been wishing sometimes that she had just died when the accident happened. It''s just so much and father has given up on her. She still needs help a lot but she is a proud woman. Still she also doesn''t know how to fix my cultivation or if I can even be fixed. Both of my parents had the spark! How could I not?"


    I didn''t know if cultivation was genetic or not. That made sense to me, but I would have to look into it. There seemed to be a large martial and spiritual component as well. That was a long term question and I still needed a new place. Either way, the girl was hurting.


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    "I don''t need to tell you to take some space for yourself but maybe we don''t need to talk for a while and you can think about what YOU want from the world, cultivation, or whatever you fancy."


    I wished that I had a little tea set and some cookies to give her to complete the whole picture of the two of us having a nice therapeutic picnic.


    There was a convenient bench on the interior of the space that the totem protected. I breathed in aura as Egiyas breath slowed from the frantic pace it had been. The natural aura around us was strong, and I was getting a whiff of dream aura coming off of her.


    I didn''t want to rush her, as I had seen too many friends rush into things. Rather I wanted her to really sit with her emotions, process them and come to a conclusion. Telling her to just become a healer or something would just short circuit her process. She wanted something more out of her life, and I wanted her to have it. At least a small part of that was driven by me wanting her input on various questions I had about the seedy underbelly of the city. It was getting more and more poppy filled the longer I stuck around, not that I had apparently a way to leave.


    Thinking about it in another way, the whole ''you''re stuck in here because of totems'' probably meant that I couldn''t just run away if a shady deal had gone wrong. I was kinda here. That meant that they were all in here with me, at least until I grew the ability to leave the areas that the totems protected under my own power.


    My questions for her grew. It was clear that humanity was existing in other places around, not just here. How then did trade exist? Was there trade over the water? That was probably a question for another day.


    As she sat in her contemplative silence, I saw her face flutter. She was making decisions. Decisions upon decisions, if one could believe that. That would be another one for my list, making a decision to actually plan things out instead of lurching between things. I realized that I had been very reactive when I''d arrived and I definitely wanted to put a stop to that. But in order to get ahead of that, I would need to actually sit down and talk to Fei and Xiru.


    Xiru wanted to do something with the Moon clan and further the interests of his cartel. Fei, while great was a liability. He would be a good go between, but the chances of him getting intercepted as a way to get to me had already happened once. I wasn''t directly interacting with these Sects in any real way, but they still had agents everywhere.


    I glanced back to the city, now a more vibrant looking place than when I had first arrived. It was probably the clarity of time, or more likely, the changes due to my cultivation making the scene so much more of what it was.


    It felt like both of us were on a precipice of sorts. Working with the Moon clan had shown me how close I was to a breakthrough. I hadn''t the faintest idea of what getting to the next realm meant more than power and an expanded soul, but while I spent my time trying to pointedly not think about my daughters or Lauren, yeah I needed to concentrate on something else. I didn''t generally recommend distraction as a course of action but then again what therapist took their own advice?


    This guy, unfortunately did not.


    "If is helps, I feel like I''m close to some kind of breakthrough. That might be helpful for you in this time," I told her.


    Seconds later her talisman was out and once again she was looking at me.


    "Do it. I need more time to think about this but this has been helpful. Show me what you do and..."


    I nodded and got into the lotus pose. Old me wouldn''t have been able to do this for so long and it was like I was all new here.


    I breathed in and out, pulling the ambient aura into myself, trying to turn it into Qi. Gather qi, pack it in, repeat.


    In a manner of speaking, my cup was full and I kept adding to it. But I could feel a change, and I went for it. The cup-and I know I am butchering this metaphor but stay with me- grew to accommodate where I was and then?


    I felt it.


    A wave of nausea, bliss and hubris washed over me as breakfast washed out of me. It wasn''t pleasant and it reminded me of that time I had pounded three liters of Guinness and swore it off that one time.


    Now, I hacked as everything came into focus.


    In between retching I gave a weak thumbs up to Egiya. She probably didn''t need to see that. Instead, she looked horrified.


    "Where the hell are you from?"


    If looks could kill she would be well on her way to a manslaughter charge.


    "I''m uh-"


    I was thinking that honestly may have not been the best policy at the moment but I was going to do my damned best to not destroy what we had built together.


    "I''m from Earth. It''s a different planet. Look I was just... I stepped through a door and now I''m here and I''m far away from my daughters and I can''t get back and..."


    She moved circling around me.


    "Why did you ..." She narrowed her eyes.


    "Look, if there is something going on that I''m not tracking, please tell me. I''m... I''m telling the truth."


    The ground beneath me felt solid and I felt like I''d had about ten blue oxes. Lauren really was on me to quit, her thinking that my heart wouldn''t take it. Well, she was wrong at least in this account. Didn''t mean that I didn''t regret what I''d said to her.


    ---


    "You don''t see yourself as being tied down any longer? Joe, you have two daughters! what are Courtney and Rachel going to say?"


    "I...I don''t know what I''m going to tell them!"


    It was true. In my idiocy, I hadn''t thought that far ahead. I just had been hit with the itch to get out, and in my haste I had run roughshod over Lauren.


    She cried. She had waited until her mid thirties to get a sperm donor after she just couldn''t find the right guy and she had a son. Did she think I was her savior or something? No. She did probably think that I was the one for her, and I''d been feeling that way for quite a while. I wished that I had met her earlier. Except for my two daughters. I might have changed how long I stuck around with my ex, but I wouldn''t change them. If we''d met earlier? We probably would have been married by now. Little chance of that with me in a different world though.


    She stormed off. This weekend was supposed to be special. Her son was with her mom, and my daughters were with their mother. Courtney was actually at a sleep over with her best friend, now that I recall it. One of her dance friends had invited her. Rachel was with her mother. I was glad that my ex lived close and that we had an amicable shared agreement but god damn did I put my foot in my mouth on the start of what was supposed to be a great weekend.


    ---

 14. Now youre messing with the wrong mumma

    "Normally when people reach the second realm, they expel a ton of impurities and...you just. I''ve seen it before. This is not what it looks like," she still was looking at me like I had three heads.


    "It''s not?"


    I was beginning to think I''d done it wrong, but everything felt like the moon clan said it would.


    "Look I swear. Maybe this is some partial change. I know a lot less than you do."


    She kept her arms crossed.


    "Maybe I just have less impurities! Look I don''t know what''s going on."


    "Where are you from, exactly? I haven''t heard of a nation called Earth. And planet?"


    I sighed. It was damage control time.


    "I took a wrong turn and somehow I am here. I am not some demonic sect guy, I haven''t the faintest idea of how that works at all and you have to believe me."


    "The only thing that is saving you so far is your speech pattern. You speak so plainly that I wouldn''t think that you had the requisite knowledge to be a member of a demonic sect."


    She slumped down, taking a seat.


    "Additionally, it would have been really convenient if there was an easy explanation, but everything about your presentation thus far makes me think that...that you''re telling the truth."


    I slowed my breath. The whole secrecy about my origin didn''t mean much when there were no stakes. The possible stakes were binary. Either it mattered or it didn''t. It it mattered for some reason, then I would keep it on a small, need to know basis. If it didn''t matter, I probably would do the same thing.


    "Can we keep this between the two of us, at least for now?"


    She chewed on her lip, finally relaxing.


    "Fine. You''re going to owe me so much."


    "I expected that at the minimum," I said,"Now would you like to explain the formations, or perhaps use your talisman to see watch me cultivate how I am now?"


    It felt like if would be easier to do now. She nodded, getting out her talisman. I took a swig of water from her water skin, thanked her for it and then jumped back in. The ambient aura around me was stronger now. It felt like a current of water trying to move me down, like I was standing on the beach and slowly moving with the tides. The aura wanted me to turn it into qi. Perhaps that was humanizing something that is a force of nature but it felt right.


    I turned it on, wading through my cultivation. I had always loved the beach as a kid, and taking my daughters there was one of my great joys. I had taught them how to swim, and later to surf. I felt like it had helped to get them a little more well rounded in the end. As I cultivated, I imagined Rachel cresting a wave and then just as fast the image was gone.


    It was gentle really. Gentle and insistent. If I had laid down in the water and floated over time the ocean would pick a direction and carry me. Not just out to sea, but along the coast. The water here was up to my knees. Step after step I moved towards...what? There was something there along the way. I tried to visualize myself running but it wasn''t happening.


    I came out of it a short while later. Egiyas sat in awe. I''m not going to wax poetic about it here, but you can imagine that I was happy that a beautiful woman was standing over me trying to get a reading.


    "Did you get anywhere with it?"


    She jumped.


    "There''s something going on with you. I always-I always listened to what father said and it was always unclear."


    "You didn''t understand how he explained cultivation? That''s... That would be discouraging at the least."


    "That''s about where I am with it. You just seem to go straight to the problem, instead of beating around the bush."


    "There''s a time with my patients where I want to go directly to a problem-"


    (Things like suicidal tendencies or self harm would have to be addressed post haste. Someone working through their feelings of betrayal because their mother couldn''t live up to the ideals of basic human decency? That would take some time.)


    "There''s two ways we can do this, Egiya. We can do some coaching where we work on problems and this is usually appropriate for what we do. The other big thing is venting this is something you could do with me and I''ll listen non judgmentally and we can just sit with that. I often recommend that people vent to get out the most pressing things before we talk about what we''re doing about it. And by we I mean the client because they have to do the hard work. I just sit and coach them through it."


    "So like an instructor?"


    "An instructor, for one person at a time just for them to get better. That''s about right. And getting better with their mind."


    "That''s...hmmm. Well perhaps I''ll need to vent a bit. Then with your help I think I''ll be able to make it to the first realm, perhaps even the second or third."


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    "Bold claim. Let''s see where you get with that," I said, "Maybe a real focus, contemplating your own way will help. Speaking of which, did you want to have a chat since we''re out here?"


    She looked at the totem one more time before nodding.


    "I want... I want..."


    I gave my best impression as she stumbled through various faces as she thought out what she had wanted. I had challenged her to think about herself as a separate entity from her parents. From her father in particular, she would need to separate herself. Without his money and connections, she wouldn''t be running the shop. That he''d been an invisible partner for a long time was weighing on her. Her mother as needing at least part time care was a huge mental burden.


    It''s something we in the business call the mental load. Generally men expect that their generally female partners will take care of everything for them. The mental load that she experienced was the invisible burden that kept her house running. She didn''t have children but she had to keep track of her mothers appointments, meals and since she never really left the house, social life among other things. Housework itself was a lot of her time, and doing things like checking totems for her father had to take away from her main work of running the shop.


    Me just taking her to the tea shop was an imposition. I would have to meet her somewhere it was easier for her. I didn''t like the idea of holding a therapeutic session on her ground, but I was going to have to give a little.


    "I want help. Doing this alone has left me feeling so isolated."


    "Good. Now let''s get specific. You want someone to come in and take care of the mental load of housework? Caring for your mother? The shop?"


    She waved a hand vaguely at the universe.


    "All of that. Some of that. Sure," she said, wavering in her conviction,"It''s not a betrayal if someone else helps my mother out, is it? If this were children I wouldn''t want someone else to raise them but this is my mother and..."


    "I have always had a problem with that whole line of thinking. Getting childcare help or elder care help it-it isn''t a betrayal against your mother. You do not exist just to support your parents. I didn''t exist just to support my children. Sure there was a lot of hands on work when they were younger but ..."


    She nodded. There was a bit of an age gap between us. I had my daughters when I was 22 and 24 respectively. My parents had helped out a ton with childcare as I was getting my clinical work done. Then at a certain point, I had needed them less and less and my ex wife had stepped up in a major way. Later on I realized that I had just been going from thing to thing living in my own personal hell until the girls were school age and then I wanted completely different things from my ex. That was the beginning of our big break, unfortunately.


    "So no, it''s not a betrayal. You''re still taking care of her in your own way. Obviously, you have to make sure that whoever is working with her does it with compassion."


    Egiyas wiped her eyes. This world needed tissues.


    "Is there... I don''t even know how to find someone to help you, but I think we have a start here," I said, brushing off my legs.


    I had a habit of patting my legs when I was getting a little antsy, preparing to stand up for the door. Just a quick pat and then usually they would check the clock and realize that whatever was going on would have to start wrapping up. People picked up on it because usually it was right before the end, and it became a pavlovian reflex over time. I didn''t even need to say it for some of the long term ones.


    There were no clocks here, but we had definitely made a breakthrough of sorts. What remained was for her to implement for herself. We would need to reconvene later, but for now we could get back to business.


    While she thought it over I took some notes. I had intended to make notes on the formation arrays but my talk with Egiyas left me with some thoughts about what I was doing right here.


    I wasn''t getting paid for this session, because we had decided to be friends. Egiya was giving me excellent information on several of the clans and what seemed like the gangs of Western Jewel. I wouldn''t call the Tea Brokers union a gang, as I was loosely aligned with them and had been doing jobs for them.


    I might need to make my own crew here.


    A poet once said that the smallest gang possible was two people. I tended to agree. I wondered if Egiyas wanted to be roped into some shenanigans. I knew she would have a fair bit of time in the future if she got her help. I trusted her to hold up her end of a bargain when there was an incentive involved so far.


    She had been fair and even handed with me, not holding anything back. When I asked her about some of the details of the Moon clan, she reluctantly explained what she knew. Her own clan was small but related somehow to a previous King or emperor. She hadn''t known exactly but of the two Kang clans both had a distinct character in the imperial dialect. Of course it was plastered all over her robe now that I looked.


    She had was able to speak the imperial dialect but it wasn''t often brought up except in her dealings with the state. That was another piece of information. There were a handful of languages spoken here, but for the most part on this continent everyone spoke imperial. There were a few languages that she knew of and a few that she didn''t. I was still dealing with trying to figure out the scope of the world. It seemed large but I didn''t really know.


    "There''s an awful lot of farming going on around here," I said on the road back.


    It looked like every single thing that the city needed was a part of this little southern plot of land. Thousands had to be fed through this, and I was very certain that other food had to be brought in regularly. There was probably a whole cultivator line just dedicated to growing crops for consumption.


    "These fields support the entire region. The Za clan runs it."


    "I don''t recall the Za clan as one of the major players you were talking about, are they?"


    "They are more well known outside of this continent. They are a force in the airship industry as well, shipping goods across the world."


    "I don''t think that I have gotten a letter from them, but clans and Sects are a bit different?"


    "Clans are large families, some run Sects, but Sect leaders are supposed to put the Sect first rather than the family. It would be too easy for a strong Sect leader to funnel resources from their work to enrich their own family... Sects are supposed to be apolitical in this regard."


    "That makes sense. It explains it a bit."


    "If you look Northeast, you can see the Za family airship port."


    A nondescript building stood tall on the divide between the farmlands, totemic wards and the city.


    "They made it in the right spot, I guess."


    "It''s the main way for mundane people to travel, though it it quite expensive. I have only traveled by airship twice in my life."


    I watched as a blimp closed in from the horizon. Well above the fogged up land outside the totems, it was above all of whatever spirits had sought to do man harm. It was something that I would have to go all tourist about to look at, with how far out of the way it was. Then again, I had the energy to go that far.


    "It is expensive. Many cultivators learn how to fly with a spirit weapon or through their pathway. My father has a spirit sword that he stands on to fly."


    Like every red blooded north American male, growing up I wanted to have super powers and be a hero. Superman was a big thing for me. I liked the idea of tactile telekinesis to explain a lot of his powers. Similarly, like every dad I wanted my kids to listen to me. I could not imagine having little cultivator kids flying all over. It would be chaos.


    "At what realm can a cultivator fly?"


    "They can begin at the second realm, the stage you just achieved."


    For the first time in a long time, I smiled.

 15. Even if she go away

    They had been watching me.


    After Egiya and I parted ways, she returned to her shop and I made a beeline to the Green Air inn. I took my time approaching it, and after a curt nod to the bellhop I went up the back stairs.


    My room was a mess. Papers were strewn everywhere. It looked like a murder scene. The bed was flipped, and it was just a jumped up bedroll.


    That was the part that bothered me the most as I took stock of my situation. Sure, they could always make a mess, pour my ink out all over my notes, and smash anything valuable, but I drew a hard line against anything that disturbed my bed. Or in this case my bed roll.


    I was pissed. Not just because of how expensive getting all the paper together and the notes I had meticulously made in English had been in man hours, but you don''t invade a man''s castle. The Green Air inn had been a castle. Now I needed a fortress.


    Of course the pile of invites to the Sects had not been touched, because we wouldn''t want them to think that we would dishonor any of them.


    I stared at the pile. If there was a fire I would have summarily tossed them all into it in a dramatic huff. But no, I hadn''t been in the room for long enough to light one.


    I did take note that the Red Fang invites seemed to be on top.


    And now I had a likely perpetrator.


    Thankfully I had been carrying a small pouch with the most important notes and the three path manuals I had acquired. I grabbed the few papers that had important mundane information on them and then a handful of others to throw them off the scent. They would be looking to see what I did, perhaps even laying in wait outside.


    I cursed, thinking about how I would get out if they were watching. They couldn''t have eyes everywhere. I freaked open the door looking down the hallway.


    It was time to make a move. I crept down the hallway, my heart in my throat. Two turns would get me back to the servant stairs. I stopped at the first before talking several calming breaths. Then I peeked around the corner. Two disciples in red robes sat waiting by the stairs. I hadn''t seen them on the way up. I quickly ducked back.


    The main stairs were the opposite way, naturally so I turned that way. My brown hair would make me stand out, if they had more men posted. They probably were first realm if the Sect was going through such an onerous expense. One disciple on a red robe stood next to the main stairs. I was on the third floor. Did I have time to jump?


    No. He spotted me and made a beeline right at me.


    "Brother, it is with great pleasure that I extend-"


    I wanted to punch him in the face. Red robes? Fang emblem? Yeah. Approaching me with open arms after touching my stuff? You''re dead to me, guy.


    "Excuse me," I said, dropping into an even balanced stance as I attempted to walk around him while facing him.


    "Brother, the Sect welcomes you with open arms!"


    "Not interested, thanks!"


    "Brother, you..."


    His demeanor changed.


    "Pardon this one, but we are looking for a first realm cultivator, you are...?"


    Then I understood him. He expected me to be weaker, someone that he could dominate. Someone that would just go along to get along. Yeah, no that''s not me, if it ever was.


    "Leaving!" I said as I got between him and the stairs.


    His eyes seized up and he blinked several times in rapid succession. I kept creeping back, facing him.


    "But, you..."


    I ran.


    Fresh from the high of breaking through, I jumped down first one, then four flights of stairs and then ran out of the front door.


    They hadn''t left anyone to mind it. I didn''t mind that.


    Then I put everything into a sprint. My high school PE teacher would have been proud.


    When I was a block away, I heard yelling.


    I didn''t turn back. I was all too familiar with how fast other first realm cultivators could run. Sure I had just advanced, and the system agreed with that, but testing it out had just become a game.


    I wasn''t going to wait around for these guys.


    I sighed a few blocks south, then west. They either hadn''t kept up or they had send slow cultivators. I had no doubt that they would have easily beaten me in a straight jog before I had advanced.


    As I ran I went through my options. The Inn was burned. I would have to send someone else to pick up whatever I had left there.


    There were only a few places where I was sure I could be safe right now.


    The Moon clan would probably be a safe spot, or behind Moon Xirus tea stand. But I wouldn''t be able to just go straight there.


    I made for the next district to the west.


    I quickly ran out of the Spirit Hall neighborhood.


    A large sign welcomed me to Crows murder. Two to five story tenements cropped up all around me. The roadway split into upper and lower levers, allowing foot traffic to move around like they were in an open air mall.


    It was at least a welcome change. Xiru kept his tea shop there, though he told me not to leave the well trod main pathways. I circled around the main market area. Crows murder had been the city center before, and now it was a different sort of center. It was a hub for all kinds of independent non cultivator owned business. The mundane, living only one life type human. My people.


    Xiru was working despite it being the later afternoon.


    "Moon Xiru."


    He gave a curt bow. I bowed back ever so slightly less.


    "Cultivator Pidge Joseph. Good evening, this one is pleased to see you again."


    "I hope that you did well today with your business."


    "You as well. This one wanted to ask about your relationship with the Kang woman?"


    His face was unreadable. He knew here but didn''t want to indicate how. I thought back to how he had seen her earlier.


    "She''s... A friend. An associate you could call it."


    "Ah. Does she assist you with your business?"


    "I guess you could say that. She''s been almost as helpful as Moon Fei. Come to think of it, how is your cousin?"


    Xiru sighed.


    "The aunties have made him take time off work. They worry about his..." Xiru waved his hands ineffectively in a wheel motion, "Soul? Spirit? They''re just over protective."


    I hadn''t looked into how healing would work. I could have kicked myself for not asking that of the aunties, but I hadn''t known at the time. There would be some costume changes in my future.


    "I feel like I barely know him, but his... I wouldn''t call him a friend. The fact that they were trying to get to me through him..."


    Xiru coughed.


    "We think that there''s something else going on here," Xiru said.


    The royal we could have meant him, the Moon clan, the tea brokers union, or even just him and the aunties. I took it to be all of the above. Not knowing what I could know, it kinda chafed. It wasn''t going to get blisters on my memory but it felt like a damn near close thing.


    "What do you think is going on?"


    "An unaligned cultivator? Who suddenly shows up? They may think that you''re a demonic Cultivator, or worse."


    I bit my lip and didn''t ask what or how it could be worse.


    "This is getting outrageous. Xiru, I need a new place to stay and a way to contact my people," I started a tally with my fingers, "I''ll need people for that matter, and some way to mask my presence."


    "It sounds like you want to form a crew," he said in a low fatherly tone, "I know just the guy."


    <hr>


    I took the next several hours to take stock of the situation. There was a loft above his tea shop that was regularly used by tea brokers union members. I wasn''t a member, having not cultivated enough connections to earn the monthly average. Like the rule was about selling more tea month over month.Members could be ejected for not keeping up their work, except for emeritus members. They kept up the pension and lobbying work that I was surprised to find was a part and parcel of every bureaucracy here. The mundane normal humans wanted to at some point not work and the union took care of that, through contributions from their current members. People who wanted to broker tea sales outside of the union would get a stern talking to as a first warning.Or at least that was what all the signs on the second floor lead me to believe. It wasn''t long before the first person arrived.


    "This is going to be good," I said as the woman I had spent the afternoon with appeared at the door.


    "Well, you called and I''m here now. Ink stains on your life if I don''t write down every interesting thing you do in your time here. Just watching your cultivation alone has made me feel closer. So yeah, whatever it is you''re doing, I''m in."


    I had expected as much and when the dark haired woman took a seat I nodded. She would be a great help.


    "Good to see you."


    Before we could get into a discussion over what had happened today, another person arrived. An older woman in blue robes walked in. She had a mask over her face but I recognized the eyes. They were the same eyes that had watched me as if measuring me for a potential match. Their yellow tint gave it away.


    <hr>


    "So you''re reading all this anime harem type novels and it''s affecting your dreams?"


    "Yes. I keep feeling like I had this life before and it''s just... I don''t tell anyone about this but they feel real."


    It was my third season with Wei Zhao. He had come in with a complaint of sleeping issues and had run through the gamut with different doctors before they released him to me. He was also homeless, or he had been until the state intervened. The only job he could hold was as a bouncer or in a martial arts gym.


    The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    "Well that''s good to know. Not that it''s good to be kept up by your dreams, but I appreciate your honesty. You didn''t tell your other clinicians this?"


    His worn asian face held a good short beard, but otherwise he dressed like he worked for a mob boss.


    "Like I''m dreaming of this other world where men and women have incredible Kung Fu magic powers."


    I wrote down *Kung Fu magic powers*. That would be good for his chart notes.


    "Tell me about it. Were you a Kung Fu magician?"


    "I was a cultivator. I was an enforcer for a Sect.. one that..."


    I wrote down *Sect problems?*.


    "One that worked with demonic Cultivators. They killed people to grow stronger."


    "Very interesting."


    I wrote down *Sexual issues because of puritan upbringing?* But then crossed it off. Sometime the allegories and stories really showed the inside picture of what was going on. But sometimes, they were just stories. Sometimes Sects were just Sects. He hadn''t spoken a lot about his parents. It seemed like a sore subject.


    Wei just seemed disconnected with reality which bothered me a ton at the time. He often would disassociate right in our sessions for several minutes at a time before he would mutter apologies and then ask where we were.


    He was quick to blame others for his problems as well. He didn''t want to play with others and if he wasn''t acting out due to his chronic homelessness and challenging other people to fights all the time, he would be an okay guy.


    "And in your dream, were you one of the men who killed people? Or?"


    "I remember taking someone and then a senior member would... They would do something to their body, taking away their life... Their qi. You always knew who the senior ones were because they had two or more fangs embedded as tattoos above their lips."


    His only tattoo was a single fang above his lip, just between his nose and it. It was a special kind of ink that lit up in ultraviolet light and he had shown it to me once much later. You wouldn''t see it normally.


    "Tattoos like yours, huh? And how did they treat you then?"


    "They treated me like ... I was a piece of meat to be ordered around. Like a Renfield."


    Wei had recently gotten into vampire novels, and sadly he had really deep into Twilight. I wasn''t going to drop him as a patient because he liked to read about sparkly vampires, but the thought had crossed my mind more than once. And this was his third session.


    "You didn''t have any agency in your own dream, huh?"


    The whole thing about lucid dreams had me back to the drawing board for him. For his dreams to be so vivid, we needed to talk these out and they kept coming to him disturbing his sleep and my peace.


    "I... It''s like I''m stuck in my body. I don''t... I haven''t tried to do anything except sit back and dream the dream."


    I hadn''t had a problem with dreams. I was basically living my dream as a divorced dad of two awesome daughters. I had my Lauren and my group practice and things had been settled for long enough that I was feeling antsy.


    "Okay, here''s what I want you to try. In your dream tonight, I want you to try to take an active role and change the way that it goes. It could be a specific thing you do, or you could just add hundreds of kittens through your imagination."


    <hr>


    A dozen kittens poured into my mind as I put several pieces together. Ultraviolet light on the spectrum lit up a half moon on the cheek of the woman in front of me. It fizzled briefly but it was clear for a long minute.


    Everything that Wei Zhao said rushed back to me.


    "Mother fucker," I whispered inaudibly.


    His yellow irises blinked at me.


    "Cultivator Pidge."


    "We said we would be watching you," Bluey said,"and it has come to this ones attention that you''re able to draw upon dream aura very well. Dream qi is very potent for wet work."


    "And I suppose you know because you''re a practitioner?"


    "I am."


    Her quipao was as blue as it had been white the day prior. I had given her the nickname Bluey as a shorthand because of her blue sash. She had been one of the three aunties who had accessories to differentiate. I guessed that they were sisters. I would probably have to make the effort to remember her as her name and not as Bluey.


    "More importantly, I have brought a path manual that you may find suits you. It was one of my paths when I started on my journey and it has served me well thus far."


    Her palm turned upwards as a small blue flame with eyes slowly formed. It pushed itself out into the form of a blue dog.


    "That''s...how... What is that?"


    "It''s a dream qi construct. It''s different for everyone."


    She held out a stone tablet for me, I accepted it with an outstretched hand.


    "It takes a lot of dream qi to create it though, so make sure you have a ready source. It''s something.. well we can talk about it later."


    "Moon Lee, pleased to meet you," she said to my companion.


    "Kang Egiya."


    The two women briefly glanced at each other before turning their eyes to me. I realized at that moment that I might have started what looked like a harem unintentionally. I pursed my lips.


    That was when Moon Xiru walked in. Behind his gorgeous coiffed locks walked Moon Fei.


    Fei looked weak, like he had been through that machine in the princess bride that sucked a few years of life out of him. I was guessing around five.


    "We''re here."


    Xiru looked to the two women in front of me and gave a weak smile.


    "How is he?"


    "He is weak, but fine, Fei?"


    Fei nodded. Speech, it appeared was beyond him. I had taken a wilderness first aid course once and besides the few things I could remember from my social worker training, my best hazard of a guess was that it would take him a while to get back on his feet.


    "Revenge," Fei gasped.


    "That would be the sweetest tea for him. Now, let''s brew up something with a lunar scent."


    ---


    I often found that in large group settings that there was this propensity for inaction. The fact that three men had been sent to persuade me to join them meant that I was out for blood. Or at the very least we would make them feel what we felt.


    The four people that I had taken into my confidence thus far had no pretense of inaction. They too had suffered.


    To be more accurate, Xiru was here because he saw a profit and Moon Lee (who I kept referring to as Bluey in my mind) was really looking to have some fun. That was probably what I was looking at. I couldn''t imagine Xiru asking her, but three of the crew were moon clan.


    "To start off with, I assume that Fei won''t be partaking in any of the plotting? Or you''ll be minding the shop while you''re getting better?"


    He nodded, his arms crossing his body as if he was trying to adorn a K-pop album cover.


    "As much as he can do. He is taking leave of the Green air inn while he convalesces. It was a great way for the Moon clan to hear the little rumors, but oh well," Xiru said.


    "The Moon aunties can find someone to take his place for the time being," Lee replied, "It serves the clan and we hope that information gathered here will be shared?"


    "The tea brokers union may also have a stake in this," Xiru said.


    Everyone turned their heads to Egiya.


    "What? I can''t just want to do this for the hell of it? Also I need to pay for someone to care for my mother, so yes I can moonlight and do whatever it is that Joseph needs. And if a Sect is trying to abduct people, I need to know why for my own business."


    "Who could it be?" I said, "If not the red fang sect? More importantly why... but I guess the why doesn''t matter. For now, I need to figure out a way to mask my qi."


    "I can handle that part. I can lay out a foundation script that will mask your qi signature at night and it will draw dream aura as well," Lee said.


    With that problem solved I needed to think about actively veiling my dantian. Lee and her family were working on that. I didn''t think I would be able to veil while I was sleeping, but at least I could hide my presence while I slept. It wouldn''t be sleeping easy, but it would be sleeping unmolested.


    "That said, we need to get back at them. I take it that they''re looking for more members. We could do a sting operation?"


    The faces next to me all looked perplexed.


    "Okay probably not that."


    "The red fang respect strength. If we show them strength, then we''ll be able to push them off. Your advancement to the second realm in such a short time it incredible and you should continue to push yourself. We need more information," Lee said, trying to direct the conversation.


    I was happy to bop along to her ideas. If they were going to keep sending agents to the Green Air Inn, we had a bunch of options.


    We could rob them blind, leaving them humiliated. This would be done well because both Lee and I were second realm Cultivators. She was at the peak of second realm with several techniques mastered along her path. She would set them up and I would knock them down. Egiya, Xiru or Fei would be the lookout. Technically more powerful cultivators generally dictated terms, but she saw the opportunity in my being around to develop her won path by teaching me. I relished the opportunity.


    "If they want strength, then we can bring them strength," I said.


    We could also let them think that I had left Western Jewel, and I would learn the veiling technique that made me blind to Lee. It was a strong pathway that adapted to any type of qi but she had learned to make hers so it felt like she not only wasn''t there, but if you didn''t look for her you wouldn''t sense her. Like she was a shade of herself.


    I''ll be honest I wanted to rush to learn that, but she said that it would take several hours of instruction to complete and she hadn''t brought the path manual with her. She would pass it to me during my training session the next day. I was grateful for her help in particular. Egiya had given me the paper I needed to take the notes to begin cycling through Lees brief session, but there was a lot in those path manuals that she couldn''t express easily. The more advanced ones like hers drew you into a dreamworld to briefly show you how the technique worked. When I heard that, I almost salivated.


    Her first technique proved to be invaluable, though.


    "Alright, so for our plan to work we all need to be on the same page. Lee, you''re in with us?" I asked.


    "Of course."


    "Egiya, you''re going to take notes from the others as well as observe the comings and goings of those red fang cultivators that show up at the Green Air inn. Just work outside the shop tomorrow. Fei, if you can track down Jin Xueyie our old friend I think she might want in on this."

 16. Dogs Plan Pt. 1

    We made plans to meet again the following day. I really wanted to delve deep into Bluey-Lee''s tablet. If her tiny blue dog familiar was anything like what I was looking for, then I was in. Other things that I could have taken melted away as I examined the slab. She''d told me how to activate it, to release a trickle of energy into it and then it would begin.


    When I did so, the tablet overtook me and I felt like I was in a dream. For a moment, I was back in my office. Here and there were things that looked familiar, but were slightly off. My seat was as I''d remembered it, but blue not red and next to the lounge the tissue box was irritatingly rotated ninety degrees.


    I concentrated on the box, as my dream body adjusted it to where it damn well knew it should have been. Then I looked up to see something in the long couch I reserved for clients. There on the couch was something I could only call the ideal image of a robot. Then the image flickered and it changed. First, a woman, then a girl no older than my daughters.


    "Who are you," I asked, my voice sounding as if from far away.


    The image flickered, keeping its eyes on me. One minute it was Lorenzo, the next it was one of the women from the Moon clan. There was no rhyme or reason to it.


    "I am," it said, "I am... who am I. Calculating...."


    It went through several transformations as I got the sense that it was looking for a form to emulate.


    "Oh finally a soul that is worthy of my attention!"


    The image turned then into a purple and pink cloud. Then it formed a face and looked at me. It hung in the air in front of me. It shifted to yellow and then with a horror it flicked between both of my daughters faces, then settled on a gestalt image between the two.


    "You aren''t any of your best friends best friends."


    "Pardon, but who or what are you?"


    Around her head were a large pair of headphones and she looked like she was jamming out to something. Probably a slow jam if I knew my daughters.


    "Perhaps a better question is... what the heck is Earth?"


    I want to say that there was a freeze frame moment where I looked at the camera and it panned out and the beginning credits rolled, but alas my life though dramatic wasn''t about that.


    "Earth? It''s where I''m from."


    "Not Daorus?"


    I raised an eyebrow at the little spirit as it turned into a yellow and black composite image of my daughters.


    "Pardon, but could you find a different image for yourself? Turning into my daughters is a little weird."


    It flipped its face to Lauren''s and I involuntarily gasped.


    "I like that reaction. I''m keeping this one," it said, sneering at me.


    I knew from her notes that I would be getting a dream spirit. That or making one, the wording wasn''t one hundred percent clear. I was going to have a long chat with Bluey after this. I was expecting a puppy.


    "What. You were the one that read the tablet. Now I''m free, and ... when was the last time you had a bath?"


    "Well, I''ve been running around a lot recently and- hey! Get back on topic. We were doing introductions. What do I call you?"


    "Oh wow, you''re asking for what you''re looking for. Congratulations! I bet your parents had trouble teaching you to express your preferences. Next time we''ll go over shapes and colors. I''m yellow, by the way."


    "Hi, Yellow, I''m Dad," I said. I couldn''t help it.


    "Good job, you know who you are. Hey, why don''t you give yourself a pat on the back for that. A round of applause anyone?"


    She looked around. As it was just the two of us, I glared and respectfully did not clap.


    "That''s a little rude. Do you think we could have at least a less-shall we say- antagonistic working relationship?"


    "If you''re looking for some dignity, please don''t. I already scoured your brain and there was none, and this all goes back to that time you asked Lauren to wear the minion-"


    "Shut up! Let''s not reference that. Also please don''t read my mind without my consent."


    "But it wasn''t your mind I was reading, it was your brain. Also, kinky."


    I groaned.


    "Oh wow, you found what you''re looking for. Congratulations! I bet your parents had trouble teaching you to get that one right. Next time we''ll go over shapes and colors."


    Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.


    I attempted to will the spirit to stop being snarky.


    The dim room above the tea shops was just the two of us. I wasn''t going to dwell on formalities, I''d had several clients come through whose brains had to be just a constant thread of profanities. I had been known to swear, and then I had daughters and I had to be a little more guarded. They could smell a bad word, I tell you.


    "This is going to take some time. Do you come with a user''s manual?"


    <hr>


    **Dream requested: The moon clan dream spirit path.


    **Beginning dream...****


    Four times a year, the families of the Moon clan test their newest cultivators. Men and women in their late teenage years all meditate around the full moon''s path. They all wear the sigils and house garb of the moon clan, the fine silk glowing under the reflection of the sun''s rays. Elders wait to see if any of them have the spark.


    Reverently, they step forward before the clan''s highest elder. He isn''t a sect leader, but as the acting clan head, he bears the responsibility to pass on the knowledge.


    He holds the dream tablet. Each man or woman must delve into its depths in turn.


    The first woman walks to the elder. She bows to him then she dives into the circle in the center of the formation under his eyes. There she attempts to traverse the moon dream.


    As she walks she looks into the dream. She attempts to empty her mind but before long she is beset on all sides by nightmares.


    **Suggested dream: The Moon clans lore. Continue?


    **Denied. Dream Snoozed.**


    <hr>


    "What the hell was that?"


    "This isn''t supposed to happen! Why aren''t you in a nightmare?" The voice of my spirit said.


    "I''m already in a nightmare," I said.


    For the first time, it shut up. After seeing the dream sequence I wasn''t too keen on the out of body experience it gave me.


    I silently stood there for the longest moment. It was something that I hadn''t even wanted to admit to myself. This might have been someone else''s dream- another world- but for me? I was still constantly worried about my daughters.


    I realized that I''d been through it with my personal canary in the coal mine. ``


    The issue at hand was that I kept trying to do more and more projects. That was the sign that I was stressed out. Training with the Moon clan, learning formations and everything with Egiyas and the Tea broker investigation? Yeah that was all a part of it. I didn''t want to think about the horrific thing that should have been what I processed first.


    "What is this processing?" The voice was more meek and passive than before.


    "Can I be real with you? Ever since I came to this world it''s been revelation after revelation and this whole thing and it''s just been..."


    I could see it waiting in front of me.


    "How do I do that dream thing?" I asked.


    "You just form the image in your mind and-"


    We were in my office. I was in the sofa and the spirit- I''ll call her her because I was going to paint a gender on her. She was wearing Laurens face.


    "It''s just that I feel like I never took the time to process this. And you''re really going to need to pick a different form."


    "How is this happening? This isn''t supposed to be happening?"


    "But over the years I have seen other therapists from time to time. I haven''t had to deal with an avatar of dreams or a spirit or whatever you are but if I''m going to be drawn into some weird dream realm, yeah for sure I''m going to dream whatever the hell I want to dream."


    She was sweating. Or crying, I guessed from her eyes. I didn''t even know if spirits had tear ducts and the mechanism of how that would even work crossed my mind.


    "How are you doing this?"


    "And another thing," I said, getting up to pace around, "why wouldn''t I be in charge of my dreams? You''re not in charge of this! I should be able to set my own lucid dreams up regardless of how you feel about it. Your wishes and desires don''t enter into this."


    "Your will is so strong that-"


    "And another thing!"


    She fell over, off my comfy chair and began panting on the floor. We shared a look and I let up. Instantly we were back in the room.


    "Whoa."


    "You sir are going to be difficult to work with," she said.


    "Well we can start with a round of introductions. Hello, I''m Joe and you are?"


    She sighed. The foot tall approximation of a teenager rolled her eyes at me. That had to be some universal sign somewhere. That or she was picking up things from me.


    "Call me Min-Jee."


    "Hello Min-Jee. You know who I am."


    "Dad? You''re not my real father!"


    I rolled my eyes. As odd as it was to be speaking to a tiny spirit in another world, it was great to know that bad jokes were alive and well.


    "And we are bonded now?"


    "I''m supposed to put you through a trial but-" her voice dropped low, "-you kinda just blew through the trials. It''s the ability to shape the dream, that''s what I''m looking for."


    "And the whole snarky business? What''s that about?"


    "You''re really going to ask this?"


    I stared her down.


    "I''m a reflection of the person who activated me. When I was pulled from the void, the Moon imbued me with some of your spirit to make us compatible. It didn''t help with the smell."


    "So the moon... Made you more compatible?"


    "That''s the way it works. When I return to the Moon spirit, then I''ll be back in blissful not-consciousness, but I''ll have a heavy dose of you with me. That is of course unless I decide to dump it on my way there, which I probably will."


    I want to say that she melted under my gaze, but in reality it wasn''t so clear cut. I was chipping away at her, but for how long? I didn''t know.


    "I can tell you that what you''re doing may or may not work but I would be willing to bet against you."


    "Who the heck would you bet and with what? You''re a spirit!"


    Again she rolled her eyes. I was getting slightly more comfortable calling the spirit female as it settled into a role.


    "I see some promising aspects of you. Mostly how pure you are at your stage of cultivation. It''s pretty unusual. It''s almost like you''re getting slightly more impure the more you wait around."


    "I-wait you can see that?"


    She shimmered. I quickly picked up her changes. One small part of her had changed to be more permanent. Unfortunately it was her face. Rather than changing over from one to the other.


    Would I have minded if she had picked any other visage? No. It irked me. It was worth investigating why that little detail at some later time. It wasn''t going to be some big deal, I hoped.


    "Please keep in mind that you might be a therapist or something but I am not. I can stitch together some memories but I''m going to need some of your qi to see what you see. You might be interesting, but I''m not one hundred percent certain that I''m in this for the long run. But your problem with the Red Fang? Call me half interested."


    "Alright. Are we good?"


    "Good?"


    "We''re pretty far from good. But it''s a start."


    I nodded.


    "So what do we do from here?"


    "I hide in your dantian and watch. Well I would hide in there but you haven''t passed into the second realm. You have some dantian but ... I can work with it."


    She shimmered into invisibility. I still felt her on an instinctual level, but I couldn''t see her.


    "You''re not going to haunt me or something when I go to sleep now, are you?"


    "I would never. Now go sleep on the pallet in the corner like a good divorced dad."


    I pursed my lips. This was going to be one of those relationships. I would have to get ahead of her.


    That night, I didn''t dream.

 17. Dogs Plan Pt.2

    "In order to mask yourself you must understand the breadth of your qi and how far it extends. You must make it work for you. It is a part of you,"


    The Moon trainer of the day yelled at me as he flung pebbles at me. First I was to train to understand when they were coming. Then I would have to do so with my eyes closed. There was another issue.


    My control was absolute dog shit. I wasn''t able to dodge even the slowest of the thrown pebbles. Complete softballs just about bowled me over, all due to the strength of the thrower. Behind him, Moon Lee laughed. She knew my predicament well. In her best training whites she would every so often lob a larger pebble at me. Those I would be able to avoid.


    In other words, in the world''s worst game of dodgeball, I was the best game in town. It took all morning for me to get to a place where I felt confident in my ability to even sense the pebble. By then I was tired for the first time since coming here. My little Moon Spirit Min, had been cheering on my trainer trying to goad him to speed up.


    "He can take it, he is a real man!" She said popping out to laugh at me for what had to be the thirtieth time.


    "He does look that," Moon Lee said, her voice a caramelized version of its previous form,"It''s quite unfortunate, given the circumstances. I mean he only just got through puberty and all of that."


    My sparring partner from across the way chuckled at that.


    "Truly?"


    "No, I did not just go through a second puberty. This is not something that I regularly do, either," I said, trying to cut off her next joke.


    She pouted. An immortal moon dream spirit with a penchant for snarky jokes pouted.


    I could accept that.


    The moment was over and I was once again in the middle of it. My form was okay if I''m to be honest, but my opponent was a speedy guy. I spent more time moving to keep him in view than I did defending myself. One could call facing the opponent a big part of the defense, but I was drowning in his jabs.


    "Keep up," she said.


    "Roger," I replied.


    "Who is roger?"


    I would have given her a look, or some sass but I was fighting for my life. Or well, it was non lethal blows, but they still stung.


    "There are few men so slow and stubborn as you are, are you sure that you''re not my ex husband?"


    "Do moon spirits even have husbands?" I said,"Or just one night stands?"


    "Oh, you wound me good sir! At least, I last all night!"


    "Seriously," my partner said, "Do you two need a minute?"


    "No," I said.


    "Yes," She replied.


    "Do you want to take a short break?" I asked the moon clan cultivator.


    "Sure," he replied, "Allow me to go center myself. The two of you fight more than the players at the plays the Taoists put on."


    I drew in a deep breath, attempting to center myself.


    "Alright, you''ve got my full attention now."


    "If you''ll look closely here," she said, her form flickering to a view from outside the courtyard, "You''ll see that there have been interlopers coming by every so often to check. They''re probably looking for you."


    "You say probably, but what makes you think that they are..." I trailed off.


    She zoomed in on the upper lip of a female cultivator. There, briefly and in a flash of inspiration, a red fang popped up. It shone like a spotlight was place upon the brightest student of the class.


    I weighed my response here. Going after this person would probably end up with more people being sent after me. Given what I already knew about the cultivators who worked for the Red Fang sect, I was highly ambivalent.


    On one hand, the few people that I had met so far had been a terrible mix of competent and completely incompetent. It would only take one of them to harass me in the wrong way and then I''d be eaten by a demonic cultivator or something. I wasn''t entirely certain how it worked, being new but I''d met a fair share of MLM-loving moms during my time as a competitive co-parent with my ex wife.


    "You know already," I said, "and I''m not going to discount how or why you know. I don''t know if we need to go after them personally, or..."


    The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.


    I was trying to think up a way out of the situation. I was boxed in with the totems keeping higher realm spiritual beasts out and humanity in the walls. I would need to pay a lot of coin to pick up and go. I had my crew now, or at least we would see how it worked out but it would be something that we could or had to fix.


    "Oh wait, the moon clan has asked them to leave. Just like a teenager, you''re letting daddy moon solve your problems."


    I spread my hands out in the universal gesture of displeasure. Well, universal back on Earth. Here, it just made people confused.


    Min finally kept quiet for long enough that I was able to catch my breath. I then immediately went into hurriedly repelling the monk, pushing him back. I was completely ready for the next attack, circling to brush it aside. So long as he kept an even pace, I would be able to stick with him.


    Then he sped up.


    I cursed under my breath.


    I found myself once again with the speed at just slightly faster than I could move. I might have reached the second realm, but he sat upon it. He was one of the few men that I really envied since I''d arrived here. With the ability to run away from any potential enemy, he could avoid conflict like a middle child.


    I just couldn''t avoid him.


    It was good training though and by the time we were done, I was ready for a long bath, shower or soak in the tub.


    "Thank you for the instruction," I said.


    "You are most welcome," he replied.


    We bowed at the same time. Bluey was still watching. I was hoping that she would have something better to do, but she just showed up and then stayed. I would have been okay with her not staying.


    The eastern inspired architecture of the Moon clan courtyard drew my attention. All the little holes at about head height had gone from dark to bright.


    I strode over to the wall, seeing that another moon cultivator was watching me through the gap. He probably hadn''t been the only one, in any rate. Dozens of shuffling feet made it apparent that the other side of the foot thick wall was busy. It could have been several people or just two guys with extra feet, but they cleared out fast. By the way that prints lay ... I couldn''t tell much. I looked at my budding moon spirit.


    "They cleared out fast. Faster than you clear out after tea."


    <hr>


    Bluey got me a nice hooded robe to wear. The comfortable kind that was a cross between sooth sayer and snuggie. In order to get back without drawing too much attention, I feel into step behind her as we walked back to the safehouse.


    The second floor of the tea brokers union local number forty five had been paid for by Moon Xiru. As his cousin, Moon Lee had made certain that the formation arrays inside were up to what we needed.


    Or it was what she could have been doing while I was training, but instead she just waited until I was done to go with me.


    "The tea brokers union either has a fourth realm cultivator in their debt, or they have paid a lot of Waan for this formation. It''s one of the more thorough ones I''ve seen," she said as her moon shaped forging sickle examined the area.


    "That''s wonderful, I think?"


    To my chagrin, while Min spoke volumes about me, her Spirit had either decided to take a vow of silence, or never speak. It didn''t matter to me. I would pet it either way.


    The squirmy moon spirit was slightly more three dimensional as I pet it. I was concerned about if it would be tangible or intangible, but my hand rested easily enough on it. Min was generally intangible and incontinent. It wasn''t such a problem as I had no designs on petting her.


    The blue heeler dog spirit sat contentedly on my laps, becoming just the right size. She was a good dog.


    "It''s good," she said before her eyes drew to her spirit," you know that I can feel everything that she feels, right?"


    "I did not," I said, continuing to aggressively scritch behind her ears.


    We locked eyes. She extended her aura, causing the dog to whimper. Min backed away.


    "Who''s a good girl?" I said in baby talk as I rubbed her belly.


    Moon Lee couldn''t help laughing as her aura immediately dropped back to a minimum. I laughed, she laughed, our spirits both looked at each other perplexed and shrugged.


    "You don''t get a lot of time to cut loose, do you?" I said, extending a hand to her so she could get up, "I have known a lot of strong women that have trouble taking time for themselves. You might not ... are you doing okay?"


    She wrapped her arm in mine, steadying herself as she got up.


    "I''m... doing well."


    <hr>


    "These people at the hospital they are the worst."


    "Tell me about it."


    "They''re all, ''You got to believe'' and the worst ones are like ''Everything happens for a reason''."


    "Those are the worst!"


    Ms. Kay has come to me as a referral. She was going through metastatic breast cancer and she had asked for therapy from someone outside of the normal referrals. Two calls later, and she had ended up in my office. There had been a lot of tears that first day, but we wanted to focus on the positive. She was relatively young, married but childless and her husband was supportive.


    When her cancer took a turn, they recommended a few therapists that specialized in cancer. They were all either too ''woo-woo'' or they just cried the whole time. Truth be told, I wanted to cry. She was only slightly younger than me and she had done all of this work thinking that she would be able to have a comfortable life and retire early. Now, she was writing her will and last testament and on her last series of chemo. If this didn''t take, we would be hard pressed to go through her issues.


    "Well," I said between sobs, "If anyone tells you that everything happens for a reason, you have every right to deck them. Tell them your therapist said that it''s part of your care plan."


    I doubted that she would. The woman was a kind soul. She was the sort that adults would have called an old soul when she was young, mostly because she had to basically raise her siblings. She''d spent the entirety of her twenties childless by choice because she hadn''t wanted the commitment. In a way I was envious of her.


    "I think that I might just do that," she said, showing her first genuine smile of the session. This has been incredibly difficult for me because people assume the worst always and.."


    I let her sit with the silence there for a long minute. For the first few sessions we just yelled at the people that came up to her with well meaning, but displaced thought processes. But for today, we just connected on the musings of a woman punching out the people that dared to tell her that her cancer was all part of Gods plan.

 18. Tribe P1

    "You''re doing well, are you? I must note that neither of the women that you were with when I met you have decided to join us. Was that a choice on their part? How do you feel about that?"


    "They are not always the nicest to me," she said, her voice barely above a whisper.


    Her soft white robes shifted in the wind, as she closed the second story window. By some miracle, the tea brokers had left me enough furnishings that I had exactly what I needed. One comfy chair and one lounge couch. I motioned for her to sit or lay down.


    I wasn''t thinking that there was some mean girls thing going on there, just some miscommunication. But perhaps if I dug deep, I would be able to strike moon gold.


    "And how does that make you feel?"


    I didn''t want to prime her. Anchoring her here by saying something like ''do you feel inferior?'' would probably lead her in a direction. I would feel a lot better if she would take the lead in her own process.


    "I feel isolated. We came up together. We''re sisters, for Daorus'' sake. I just... ever since I went to that damn tea shop, they''ve treated me differently."


    I nodded, playing the best stoic dad. I might be slightly younger than her, but I could talk with the best of them.


    "You don''t always need to be the bigger person. Boundaries are more important first. You need to hold those," I said to her, "You want to be a people pleaser. That has meaning to you. It''s not a good or bad thing, or just a trauma response, but it looks to me like that is how you feel. Is that correct?"


    "That is accurate."


    I let her sit in the silence, much as she had the day before. Call it a professional courtesy, call it whatever it is, but sometimes clients just had to take a long second to get up to speed.


    "And one little indiscretion,"-I had problems with calling someone going to a tea shop an indiscretion, but it wasn''t my culture-"shouldn''t cause them to be so cold. It''s ... well I know that they''re both married to Tea brokers, but I just wanted to try the new thing on my own for once and not be criticized for it."


    "You knew how important the bulk sale of tea was to your sisters. But did they know how important this was to you?"


    She gasped, then tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.


    "I... I never told them that I wanted to do this. Thank you. I should have asked permission before."


    I sighed loudly.


    "It''s not about you asking for permission. This doesn''t concern them. You''re not betraying the Moon clan by going to a random shop in Western Jewel," I said.


    She looked like she was buffering for a second.


    "Do you have any children?"


    "This one isn''t married," she said quietly. I noted that she has skirted around the answer.


    I don''t know what happened to the calm confident woman who had been heckling me all day. The woman that was so sure of herself in the martial training session.


    "I have two daughters," I said.


    She sobbed. She was getting somewhere. I didn''t know where but, she was finding that confidence.


    "I have never told anyone this. I don''t really want to have children."


    Moon Lee sat forward on the couch. It''s what we in the business call a ''pro-gamer move''.


    I would have told her to lean back and try to relax, but we all know how that goes. I wanted to, but the fact that she was probably a realm ahead of me and pouring her heart out meant that my little tic about her not leaning back would be okay in the long run. If power was the absolute highest thing here, then well I accepted that. But I wasn''t going to change anything in my approach to the people that had shown me kindness. My daughters would not have let me forget it.


    "It''s okay to not want children. The family life isn''t for everyone. Some people just want to be free of that large expectation. It''s true that some people make it out to not be a burden, and they only show the good parts to others, but really they are in the pocket of big baby."


    "Big baby?" She said, he eyes puffed up.


    "The baby industrial complex? Every woman that says that having a child is a life changing event that they would never take back? It''s a stark difference between that and the reality that when you have a kid, they''re with you for a long time. You can''t just send them back," I said.


    "This big baby, is like some sort of criminal enterprise?"


    "It''s a bit more nefarious than that, but yes. Similar to the tea brokers union, but you don''t have to pay dues," I said.


    The number of parents who had been encouraging me to be a better dad, or just to be a dad had been strange until I realized that they all were going through some kind of hell. They just wanted company there. I''m not saying that raising a child is hellish, but you tend to feel like you''ve been through it.


    "You''re funny," she said, smiling widely, "There can''t be such a large organization just trying to make couples have children."


    I gave her a slightest bit of side eye at that.


    "I literally formed a group to fight against being harassed to join a cultist Sect. I mean, I asked Moon Xiru to, but you all decided to stick around."


    The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.


    "This is true,"she said, smoothing her skirts, "And it''s also true that I have work to do."


    "Before you..."


    "Yes?" She looked at me expectantly, as if I was the Cabana boy bringing her more than just drinks.


    I''d noticed her power and I wanted to ask her a bit more about it.


    "No, never mind. We''ll have a little discussion in a bit. You''re sticking around for this?"


    "I wouldn''t miss it for the world."


    ---


    The brewing tea settled as the last of my co conspirators arrived.


    One had brought a friend.


    Around the circle of the formation sealed safe room sat Egiya, Bluey, Xiru and I. Moon Fei arrived with Jin Xueyie in her finest silks. I stood to greet her. She bowed, and I returned the bow.


    "This one was insistent, Cultivator Pidge," he said, looking between the two of us.


    "I was. Whatever this is, if it''s against the Red Fang, I am in. I may not speak for my clan, but if I need to swear an oath, I will do it," Xueyie said, her voice as solid as I''ve ever heard it.


    "Very well. Are we all okay with this? Moon Lee? Egiya?"


    Both nodded their acceptance. Moon Xiru stroked his grey hair as if he wanted to say something but was holding back.


    "Alright, well in that case, let''s talk about what we did today. Who wants to go first?"


    "This one will, if it pleases the group," Moon Xiru said, keeping his eyes on the newest addition, "This morning I reached out to my network to determine who we could bring into the fold on their operations. Two names stood out to me as potential candidates. Both unfortunately are not in the Moon clan, but one I know from his route to the Velvet Peaks sect. Given some time, this one can collect more information about these two from a Mahjong buddy."


    "We can call that our first lead. Jin, I see that you''ve been read into this by Moon Fei. You understand that this is completely voluntary, and that we''re going to get the Red Fang?"


    She flourished a fan and nodded. It was of course, in her blue and pink colors. It would not have been out of place in a room full of props for how large it was in comparison to her small frame. Her fan looked official, as if made for a special event though she moved it too fast for me to make sense of it.


    "The Taoists have an interest in striking at their first rival. Though I cannot carry the official stamp and seal of the Sect itself, know that we will be supportive in smaller ways, such as my joining this group."


    "Unofficially, of course?" I said, trying not to be too forward.


    "Officially unofficial. And may I congratulate you on reaching the second realm," she bowed once again.


    It was getting a little old. I bowed back. If the cultural norm was to bow and scrape a lot, then it would take a long time to change the culture. If I wanted to culture of this group to be different, then I would have to cultivate that.


    "Are the Taoists asking anything in particular from this enterprise?" Moon Lee said, standing to address Xueyie, "We''re not going to become backup dancers and perform in the Ming Theater."


    I heard a contemplative but positive sounding ''Hmm'' from Moon Xiru, but as the lowest on the power threshold, he probably would not interject anytime soon.


    Moon Fei took up his classic pose, leaning against the wall and sticking crossed arms inside of his robe. He looked pained and tender as he leaned back. His day of recovery appeared helpful, at the very least.


    "The Ming dynasty stands heads and shoulders above the rest," Lee said, in what had to be her stage voice,"but what will they ask of the Moon clan, the Tea brokers union and their unholy merger here?"


    Moon Lee looked around, her blue qipao holding court with her curves. She held her arms up, looking for support. We all nodded. I didn''t have any goals of doing improv, much less dance theater.


    As anyone who grows up near Los Angeles knows, there''s only so many improv shows that a person can watch in their lifetime before it becomes a clinical problem. This problem does not tend to affect people bitten by the acting bug, just their friends and family. To add the layer of dance? Yeah I wasn''t sure, but my LD50 of improv was not that high.


    "So to summarize, silent partners at best for now?" I said, scanning the group.


    "Perhaps there will be more," Xueyie said, her face an impassive mask.


    "Very good. It might be strange to ask this, but have you ever seen them take this sort of deal before? I would like to know what to expect," I gave her the dad look.


    I know that pitting someone against their family-even if they hated their family- was a terrible idea, but we all had to start somewhere.


    "I explained your radical desire to take your own path unfettered by a Sect. They are apprehensive, but you can do something to reassure them, I presume?" She said, her lips slight upturn the only hint of an emotion.


    "I can. Xueyie, you can stay back after the meeting then?"


    Moon Lee and Egiya both looked at me oddly after that statement. Oh well, better to get it out into the open eventually. They were all my patients in a way. It just so happened that in my small criminal adjacent enterprise that we had great mental health coverage. I tended to not let people know that other people were on therapy.


    I even went so far as to not give any identifying details to Rachel or Courtney so when we would run into people that were on treatment, the girls would just know. They knew not to ask about why they were in treatment, but you couldn''t stop them from speculating. And oh they were good at that.


    "I shall."


    "Moon Xiru, you''ll be playing Mah jong. Jin, you mentioned something about wanting to be a healer. Do you have any techniques on that path? Because we could use your help to get Moon Fei up to speed. His network overlaps with Moon Xirus, but it would be most effective to have both of them going at once."


    "I...I can try," she said meekly.


    "This one has several medical path texts in her library, a few are even on me at the moment," Egiya said, pulling two tomes out from somewhere.


    The girl had a knack for storage. She probably had a tiny library''s worth of books under her billowing sleeves. That or prodigious pockets. Rachel loved pockets so much that she would ''borrow'' anything of Courtney''s that had good pockets often without asking. I never had to yell at her, but my ''I''m not mad I''m disappointed face'' probably got locked in there.


    "Moon Fei, you can mind the shop and if Cultivator Xueyie wants to study there, she will be beyond the reach of her parents. Moon Lee, you can give her pointers?" I asked.


    She nodded in agreement.


    "This one is pleased to watch the shop, but wishes to take a more active role," Fei said.


    "The Cultivator learning healing next to you might hasten that," Lee interjected.


    "Honored cultivator, this one is not worthy. Please instruct this one, that I may advance," Fei said, kowtowing to Xueyie.


    "And as for me..."


    "I hope that you don''t think that we will be able to teach you how to hide your qi in two days. You''re going to have to put in work," the eldest woman in the group said.


    "And when I''m not training with you, I''m training with Jin Xueyie and Kang Egiya. So an afternoon session, then?"


    They smiled. And for the first time I got worried that they would start plotting against me.


    ---

 19. Tribe P2

    "I never really thought about how life would be if I didn''t go through with the whole," she said gesturing to her moon robes, "Clan life thing. I would probably be lost without that."


    "I can assure you that you can be kind on your own. You can be happy by yourself. In fact you don''t need a family to be happy, if the thought of being tied down or held hostage by your children is your first thought? Perhaps it''s not for you."


    People can say things, but peer pressure is a real bitch. It hurts people. People like my friend Moon Lee. Traditions like this one, where she felt pressured not only to marry, but to have children, like a breeding mare? Yeah I was not a fan.


    My dad had a saying, ''Tradition is peer pressure from dead people.''


    "I''ve never thought about it that way. When there is so little of an option... you just do what the clan tells you to do."


    The fact that so many older members of the clan had reached a level where they could live to be near two hundred years old meant that there was loads of pressure, both physical and mental. The mental load of having your great grandmother around and she wanted littles was a lot to bear. I got enough grief from my dad for not showing up enough and the man lived in Las Vegas.


    "I needed to find my own way to immortality anyway, this just helps me narrow my focus. You know that since I have been talking to you, I have nearly advanced to the peak of the third realm? I was stagnant for so long."


    Individuation, the changing oneself to reflect ones inner desires, meant that one would separate oneself from their clan and develop on their own. She was talking about going off script for the first time in her life. She was still being paraded around as a potential match for other clans as an unmarried woman. The only reason that she hadn''t been all but forced into a wedding was her passion and talent for training the clans juniors.


    "Stagnant, meaning?"


    "Do you know the story of the spirit of the earth? It''s why we are so impure."


    "I don''t, actually."


    She smiled.


    "A long time ago Daorus was just a ball of mud. Only spirits like ours existed. There were many powerful spirits and for a time, they lived in harmony and peace. The spirit of the earth and the spirit of the beasts were unsettled though, for although there were many spirits, they were all pure of thought and action. The spirit of the earth, it''s plants, animals and seas saw the spirit of the beasts and was jealous. So the spirits spoke and drew up a contract. The spirit of the earth would be able to mold it''s own species to talk with, a fully formed human as it''s base, in return the earth would be covered in impurities that the spirits could absorb and live within. As they grew, humans would be able to cultivate and become purer, more like the spirits and spirit beasts. And the spirits and spirit beasts would be able to turn their impurities into their own power."


    She paused as I considered her words.


    "I had no impurities. This is why my cultivation is so advanced."


    "It is true. The less you work, the more the impurities of our world sink into you."


    "You say our world, as if...?"


    "Any elder can tell."


    They knew. The elders knew. Did the red fang know?


    "Does this mean that?"


    "Red fang probably knows. It might explain why they have been looking for you so much. Every so often, higher realm cultivators will summon someone like you, though I know now as much as you do. It''s not spoken of much and as the highest Moon clan elder is of the fifth realm, he would consider it a folly to go after."


    "That''s... Something."


    I hadn''t really stopped to question why I had been brought here but some higher realm cultivators bringing in people from outside fit the bill right. That didn''t explain why I had appeared so far on the outskirts of the town. It was another thing that I was going to add to the list.


    "I had assumed that it was a Sect that had called you in. Random"


    ___


    I spent a week like that. Training and going through it with the ladies. We trained together in the afternoons. Egiya was stuck trying to access the first realm, and Xueyie had bottle necked at the peak of the first realm, close to the second. She had been that way for months.


    This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    Moon Fei kept up his end of the bargain as a good training dummy for Xueyie. At the end of the week, he was rejuvenated and ready to go. She was slowly getting a grasp on healing, under the tutelage of Moon Lee.


    Moon Lee on the other hand, took to my training with a fervor that can only be called lukewarm. I know under the surface she was boiling with determination because she told me, but outwardly she was as calm and passive as the moon. Especially when I got thrown across the room by one of her many cousins. Especially when the cousin in question was of a lower realm than me. By the end of the week I felt like I had consolidated my training efforts and would be able to hide my qi more effectively. I even fooled Moon Lee, up until I was close enough for her to smell me.


    We held little meetings every third day, passing notes by way of Egiya when something would happen that we needed the group to know. With her central location, she was well poised to receive dead drops from everyone. They would just drop off some paperwork, ostensibly to have it transferred or transcribed, and then separately note the location of the real note in case they were compromised. It was always somewhere within a block of her shop.


    It wasn''t until the end of the week that I started to think that my little Moon Spirit would be anything more than an educated nuisance. Min had been a constant attachment. Though she stayed with me, she often had little to add except for snarky remarks. Honestly I thought a Moon Spirit would be a bit more worldly, but who knows. Egiya was working through her plan of care when Min interjected.


    "She says that she wants independence and to follow her own path, but it sounds like she doesn''t even know what that looks like."


    "Min! Be quiet. She''s in a vulnerable state right now," I replied.


    Egiya was stretches out in from of me. She had finally agreed to using the couch the way I had described it.


    "I''m just saying that you can show her."


    "Show her? What do you mean?" Egiya said.


    "It''s part of his path. He can give you his vision, or bring you into yours."


    The incredulous look on her face was one I hadn''t seen since I had told Courtney that ''No, mom and dad both agree that you can''t have the whole two point bag of gummy bears that you ordered off the internet, and yes digestive explosions are a real thing.''. Safe to say that she either had no context or she thought I was going to bring her into some strange fantasy world.


    "I didn''t know that I could do that. Min maybe you could help us, if Egiya is willing?"


    "What does the honored moon spirit mean, vision?"


    "Just what you think-"


    "-a group hallucination?" I prodded.


    "-well, that is putting words on it that I wouldn''t have but yes. Pbbt."


    I didn''t want to put the horse before the cart or anything but I was beginning to think that Min might have.


    "How would that work, even?"


    "Well, the two of you assume the meditation position, give me a lot of your trust and then, wham bam, I''ll present you with it."


    I locked eyes with my newest friend. The girl that had trusted me. I shrugged. This may of may not be good for us.


    "Only one way to find out," she said, dropping into a lotus pose on the ground.


    I grumbled, finding myself in front of her. Before long we were meditating and I was doing the thing of examining my thoughts as a prompt came to me.


    ___


    ''Enter Dream world'' Y/N?


    ___


    I of course, clicked yes. It was probably an affectation of Min, more than anything else, but I accepted it.


    In a flash we were back in Los Angeles. The world was a ton more brutalist, with every building concrete instead of the expected bricks or what have you. Grass grew around the buildings as if nature was re-claiming the world.


    People still milled about, but they all looked unfocused. Next to me, I saw what could only be the ideal image of Egiya, as envisioned by herself. It was as if she had gotten the plastic surgery equivalent of permanent makeup.


    "You''re looking very young," she remarked.


    "It''s... I feel like this is how I look at myself. Otherwise how would we know that we are in a dream?"


    "The standard ways, I guess?"


    An elephant floated above us, ears flapping as it flew past I 5, the bane of my existence.


    "That might do it. Don''t see that often."


    "I literally saw a dragon when I was summoned to your world, so..."


    "Point made. So what do we do here?"


    "I cultivate moon aura, you work through your issues where no one can hear you scream. I thought that we could start by dreaming up how it would look for you to reach the peak of the first realm and then advance."


    "With pleasure," she said.


    Min conjured up a large beast for her to fight and then they were off, exchanging blows as if they were in the middle of a super saiyan fight. The troll bore down on her with large club like arms.


    "Min?" I called into the air.


    "Yes?" she said, deliberately appearing in the form of Rachel, my younger daughter. The same size too.


    "Could you have done this the whole time?"


    "Yes, but you never asked."


    "Are there other interesting things that you can do, similar to this dream world?"


    Min hemmed and hawed.


    "Min?"


    In front of us, Egiya punched a beast through the overpass that I''d always hated. Their movements cause ripples to crack the base of the highway underneath. The troll smiled back at her.

 20. Sou Sou P1

    You know that feeling, the one where you''re fully focused and engaged? That was what cultivation felt like. At least that''s what it felt like when I was doing it correctly.


    It felt smooth. Slow and even, cultivation was a calm pool and I was a duck swimming furiously under the water.


    Then I thought about Lauren, and how I had left things, Rachel and Courtney and how they would be without me and...it was no longer smooth. I was brought out of it bodily. I couldn''t hold it back and after a while of avoiding the inevitable, I just took an afternoon and had a good cry.


    The good part about having my dream spirit was that I could go back and see old memories, so long as they were strong enough.


    The bad part was that I could go back and see old memories.


    "We believe in this family, we always have. It''s just that Lauren and I have had some talks recently and... I''m worried that we''re holding onto you guys too tightly."


    "Dad, you''re literally crushing us," Rachel told me.


    "Yeah dad, what Rachel said," Courtney told me.


    I noticed that neither one wanted to let go. I accepted this. You only get so much time with them before they''re all about other things. True, they were both teenagers, but still. A dad has to take his moments.


    "Next thing he is going to do is tell us that he can''t wait to have grand babies," Rachel said.


    "Yeah dad, that''s so 1900s. We''re not having babies, unless you count fur babies," Courtney said, giggling.


    "Now, I never said anything of the sort...hey stop tickling me! I''m going to get you both!"


    Some people get overwhelmed with choices and though I don''t ascribe to the decision fatigue theory personally, I get where that is coming from. If the option was to hang out with my girls in a manufactured dream, I would probably do it way more than would be healthy though. I told Min to make sure to bring me out if someone needed my attention.


    I took a lot of time experiencing old Tai Chi lessons as well. My mother hadn''t died, but I wouldn''t be seeing her any time soon. True, they were a but like watching and doing the lessons at two point five speed, but the point was that I was training even in my dreams.


    <hr>


    "There was this strong line in the Ming coda, the emperor as a youth tells his friend, ''You can teach someone to follow your path, but you can''t walk it for them.'' This whole dream into reality though, it had me wondering if perhaps the immortal Emperor does not know everything," Xueyie said.


    I had been thinking something along those lines. I had only taken Xueyie and Egiya into the soul dream. They had both benefited from it a lot more than I thought was possible. Both were fighting against comically oversized troll monsters, wyverns and the occasional pudgy dragon. As the person whose bonded spirit was making this possible, I also received a small amount of dream qi every time they dropped in. It felt like I was filling up a candy jar between the two of them.


    Of course I was filling it up with the sour Skittles that came from Xueyie and the chocolate m and M''s that came from Egiya. It was a disconcerting mess through and through. Disconcerting and delicious, don''t be a hater, just because I know what I like. And what I like just happens to be a handful of surprise crunches. Will it be chocolate? Will it be sour? Only time will tell.


    "Is the Ming Coda a book, or a series of plays or?"


    "The Ming Coda is the standard upon which civilization rests, but yes it is a series of plays. The entire governing principles that the emperor set our- consent of the governed, using power to protect the weak, egalitarian life, all of these and more were codified by his hand."


    We were skipping the afternoon session, instead going on a walk. It was the first time I had been out in the open since developing my ability to mask my qi. The aura suppression techniques that I had been taught felt in practice a lot like bottling up emotions. I didn''t like that with people- bottles were meant to be used.


    "Your control has gotten better. I can only sense you when I am within a very close proximity," she said, edging closer.


    "I had a good teacher. So your family, your theater troupe, reveres Ming?"


    "Emperor Ming, yes."


    "And he was the emperor nearly four hundred or so years ago? Before he ascended?"


    "That is correct."


    She paused at an open air stall that sold some form of meat on a stick. Without even breaking my stride I grabbed a few Lengs from my pocket. The smooth stones clinked into the vendor''s hands.


    "But you''re not..." I dropped my voice conspiratorially,"As big of a fan of the current one?"


    I was trying to not spell things out at the moment. I didn''t want someone to misunderstand.


    "This could be considered as close to correct," she replied, accepting the rat shaped savory treat.


    We continued walking, casually munching on the mystery meat that I did not want to look too closely into.


    "But you are-shall we say- at odd ends with your family?"


    "That is also correct."


    "Would it be presumptuous to assume that you share their views?"


    "That would be presumptuous."


    We turned a corner. I motioned for Min to hop off and take a corner. She would watch to see if we were followed. The same motion indicated that we would be making the next turn four times in a row in order to return to the same place.


    If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.


    It just so happened to be a right turn. We made four rights and returned to where the moon spirit had done its best impression of the stone work.


    "A lot of the buildings closer to the central and Northern district are made of stone or marble, where most of the further out are made of wood."


    "No one wants to live far from the northern district. Or at least no clan with money. Sects need lands-clans need estates. The Taoist clan in particular is odd because we stay at the behest of the government. We used to travel a lot more when I was younger, before the surge in spirit beasts kept us caged up here."


    I nodded, finishing my stick. Min rejoined me, her presence a familiar itchy sweater over me.


    "No one needs such luxury," she said in an imitation of my voice, low enough for the two of us alone to hear. That and rejoining me was her telling us that we were enjoying our corporeality far too much. She could become partially tangible, and reach out and touch someone but not fully until the third realm.


    "Very well," I said as we continued onward,"say -I haven''t yet taken a gondola ride yet. Would you care to take one?"


    She smiled and before long we were in the series of interconnected canals that separated the different neighborhoods and made it so the rabble couldn''t just walk into the governor''s estate. It was simple enough to hail someone from the canal guild to bring us to the Northern District-Jade Home.


    The crowded inner city feel of Crows murder fell apart as the three meter tall walls of the canals absorbed the sounds. We could still hear the occasional clatter, but the near silence felt meditative. I put my hood down to get a good look.


    "Miss, I''m only letting you know as a professional courtesy that your friend here is ugly and that his likeness has been passed around the guild," the gondola man said, eyeing me cautiously.


    No stranger to the grift scene, Xueyies took the man''s acting in stride.


    "Perhaps he is, but you''re not even a first realm cultivator and this man is near the second realm-"


    "Hey-" I interjected, trying to bring us back into focus.


    "And he may or may not have a short fuse. He did just lose his beloved after all."


    "Alas my one true love," I said, clutching my heart, "Lauren I was so wrong!"


    I was in that moment grateful that I had been acting so long with my ex wife that lying like this came naturally. I hadn''t ever wanted to lie to Lauren and to the kids? I only lied about what presents they would be getting.


    "Regardless, it would benefit us both if he hid his dome piece. And if you made it worth my while."


    I made a mental note to not let her do all the transactions. That probably led to this. I pulled my hood back over tight.


    "Give the man a Leng," I said as calmly as I could.


    "Or give him more and make him a source," the little voice whispered in my ear.


    I narrowed my eyes.


    "We''re not going to threaten anyone today, my good sir," I said, extending my aura as his eyes widened,"But neither will we be taking threats lying down. So you can accept our money and give us information courtesy of your guild or there might be a problem, mister?"


    "Deng, sir. This one is called Deng."


    The sheen of sweat over his body betrayed him.


    "Deng. Whatever this woman tells you next-and I do believe that you should listen to every *single* word she says in great detail-will make your life easier."


    Xueyie was all too happy to give him very particular directions as to how to help himself to a small finders fee and how to deliver notes to a certain inkwell shop.


    The rest of the gondola ride wasn''t unpleasant but a casual observer would be able to tell that Deng was highly motivated to get us to our location. If you have never ridden a gondola being moved by a first realm cultivator at top speed, well you may be missing out on one of life''s little gems. We got to Jade home and there being no guard in front of the dock, we hustled up to the rich neighborhood.


    <hr>


    If you have ever driven by a private school with a large budget, you''ll have an idea of the idyllic area that Jade home has been turned into. If an Ivy league school had babies with a high school you wouldn''t be too far off. Besides the governor mansion, most of the buildings were academic in nature. Either boarding houses or classrooms for the well connected.


    This was the place the elites sent their children either before they went to do a few years of training at a Sect or before they took some functionary job for their clan or in some cases the government itself. Cultivators tended to separate themselves from the regular population after the first realm, and since the majority of people never passed that, it was something distinct for a person to make it to the second or third realm. Higher than that? I hadn''t met anyone yet but based on what Bluey had told me they were superhuman in every way.


    A man at the peak of the first realm was equivalent to an Olympic athlete in just about every sport. When someone advanced further it was then that they left the realm of possibility. So the self selection itself was a way for young masters to not begin a campaign of genocide. Sure, the mundane humans were good for work that cultivators couldn''t be bothered to take care of, and in turn cultivators were expected to fight off hordes of spirit beasts if needed.


    "This area is quite... It''s not what I expected," Xueyie said,"I haven''t seen anyone without clan robes. No servants at all. I''m glad that I wore my clans robes today or I might have stuck out. You just look like my bodyguard at this point."


    The imposing cloak made me feel a bit like Batman, to be certain, and as I scanned around for potential threats, I felt like a dark knight.


    "No servants?"


    "There''s always servants. It just means that there are some underground access tunnels or something."


    "Underground but above the water level?"


    "It makes sense. As troupe performers we need to know a lot about where we set a stage so often we use servants'' entrances."


    I gave her the knowing look. A raised eyebrow, trying to get her to expand. I hadn''t been raised in an acting family. True I had done that one improv workshop, but name one person in Los Angeles who hadn''t done that.


    "There''s servant tunnels? I guess it makes sense."


    "They''ll all connect to an external door usually. They''re wide enough to accommodate a lot of back and forth, if you would believe it."


    "If you see one, point it out to me, would you?" I said.


    The men and women we passed had a look. Now I''m not a fashion expert, except for as it pertains to brassieres, but you could say that the colors here were flamboyant. Loud whites made me think that these were year round colors and that we were in a tropical area. The accompanying clan or sect colors pointed out the division between the madding crowds. With few exceptions, groups were homogeneous as they walked next to the canals.


    I knew that north of Jade Home there was no far side. The city stopped as it met the sea. I could smell the salt in the air.


    We did a slow loop around the buildings that comprised the government''s goal for its blue robes, the faction responsible for policing matters. Every other one of them had to be at the peak of the first realm and several were higher. I was seeing a lot of people bottle necked there. Whether it was terrible coaching or just inability, it seemed that it was at least a base level of difficulty to get past that hurdle.


    I was immediately grateful for the coaching that I had gotten. To be fair I didn''t have far to go, but I wanted to keep the win in my column.


    We finally passed a large open park where people of all colors mingled. She nodded that we could stop. I had indicated that I wanted a place where we could be noticed but not harassed. First she didn''t know what harassment was then she was all apologetic after I gave her the definition. We sat under a red spider Lily tree as the red blossoms flower around us.


    "Xueyie, when you think about your path, and the way that it can change..."


    "I see a path to independence. As the head of my own troupe. I see a break from the martial path. I see... I see peace as I progress undaunted on my own without the clan, going farther than they could dream."


    "I like where your head''s at, Xueyie. Let''s find a way to get there."


    Cultivating out in the open wasn''t frowned upon. It probably could have been, what with one being so open to attack. So when we made the group decision to cultivate for a little while together, we scanned the area. Min would alert me if someone came to disrupt us and I would be up in a flash.


    I needed that because we were going into her dream this time.

 21. Sou Sou P2

    <hr>


    Xueyie knelt in front of her family.


    "Say those words again," her father, a pale handsome man with luxurious locks of hair said.


    "I''m going off on my own now," she said.


    "Out of the question," the man replied.


    Now, I know that this was her dream and she had a ton of impostor syndrome all blended up with being the daughter of two high functioning narcissistic parents but this was a low blow even for me. Still I watched, impassively trying to get her to confront the ideal image of her family.


    Or at the very least to not crumple into a yes woman immediately. Like, hey girl we just talked about this.


    "Take it back," I said as the scene replayed itself.


    "Father, I''m doing my own thing and there is nothing that you can do to stop me. I''m going to form my own group and if you want a part of my life, you''re going to need to adhere to my desires."


    We had determined that boundaries were far too therapy speech for her parents. Her parents had never met a red flag that they didn''t wave like it was pride month in Los Angeles.


    "Unacceptable. Xueyie, you are part of this clan and you will do what your mother and I tell you."


    "Father, this isn''t a discussion. I''m not coming to terms with you. You can take my presence in your life under my conditions or not have it at all."


    I nearly cried. The tissue I grabbed was for my allergies, really. I sniffed them out.


    Her father looked shocked, as if he had never considered her as not a part of him.


    Narcissists want control over you. They want you to do what they want to do. They don''t want you going rogue and standing up for yourself. They need you to give them the attention they deserve, the obedience that they think that they are due.


    You don''t owe them anything. And in this case, Xueyie had done more than her fair share of work for the clan, above and beyond what anyone could reasonably be expected to do.


    The dream stuttered.


    Xueyie brightened.


    "You know what? I think I get it now."


    "Get what?"


    "I want to be the kind of person who stands up for others, who builds them up, like you do. What I don''t want," she said, eyeing the paused sequence, "Is to waste my time away doing what the clan wants. This? This is my time. I can make it to a higher realm on my own."


    "When?"


    "Today. I feel it. I know who I was, and now... I know who I am going to become."


    She smiled and that was it. No profound wisdom, just a light that showed her path to the second realm and farther.


    "It only took how many tries to get here?" I whispered to Min''s avatar.


    "Twenty nine, but who''s counting?"


    "I''m glad I''m in whatever hellish committee runs her clan because damn, girl."


    "I''m looking through your memories to see what a committee and damn you were part of a commune? This is hella interesting."


    I couldn''t roll my eyes harder. With access to all of my memories, Min had the totally important job of finding more ways to nag at me to stay on task. Not that I wasn''t on task. If this went well, I would potentially have another ally in the second realm.


    This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.


    "Joseph, let us depart," Xueyie said as she came to talk to me, "I know what I was. And where I need to go next."


    The fire in her eyes warmed me to the core.


    It took her two solid hours to push through her limits to the second realm.


    Min was pleased.


    I was happy.


    Xueyie was ecstatic.


    The entire Jin family would be celebrating tonight. She left before dinnertime with a skip in her step. I expected Egiya to hear everything and want something similar for her own stalled cultivation. More and more I was finding a lot of imposter syndrome where there honestly shouldn''t have been any. But you worked with the patients you had, getting them on the path. It was nice to finally see someone able to physically show the difference as well.


    Not everyone I worked with was super jacked when they left. This one? Yeah I wanted credit for this. Even when she went away, the feeling that she had achieved something made me feel warm inside.


    <hr>


    That happy feeling blinded me on my way back. I was too sure of myself and I didn''t notice my tail.


    That''s fine. I stopped when three of them had to run ahead of me.


    They looked as if they had been sprinting and hadn''t yet caught their breath.


    Three men in unmarked white robes stood tall in front of me.


    "They have the fang mark," Min said.


    Each man had a clear fang tattoo that was only visible through the infrared spectrum. They also sported long straight hair. It gave me an idea.


    "Min," I whispered, "any others?"


    "Scanning. Beep boop."


    Her new thing was pretending that she was a robot. She tried new things frequently enough to give me heartburn. I had the sinking feeling that she would settle on something truly terrible as her schtick, making me stone face every time she changed.


    "No others are present, but surely someone at the peak of the second realm can handle two low second realm and one first realm fighter."


    "Great," I muttered.


    This time, instead of just turning and running, I jumped, grabbing the corner of a first story brick building with my outstretched arm. If they wanted to get some of this, they would have to work for it.


    They weren''t expecting parkour. I don''t know how many times I needed to run away from these people to get it to stick. I certainly wasn''t going to wait for them to pick up the dumbfounded look off their faces as I raced over the stone rooftops of the two and three story buildings that infringed upon people''s right to walk all over the place.


    Most of the building may have been stone but it had been polished to a marble finish.


    I easily jumped from roof to roof, gaining more than a block of distance when I saw two heads pop up from where I had come and one runner desperately trying to follow me from the ground level.


    "This path," Min said as she lit up a route in front of me,"Is the most optimal way to get away from them faster, you''ll note it''s in blue and this other path is for if you''re what''s called a podcaster, the lowest of the low."


    The red path led straight to the two second realm cultivators, nearly the exact opposite way the blue path went.


    And with that, I was off, blue all the way. It took the better part of fifteen to lose my tail and I cursed that I wore the brightest thing I owned for this little jaunt. True it was just something in clear pure white, but I was going to definitely reconsider my choices again until I got a lot stronger.


    "Thanks Min," I said, catching my breath on a stairwell that led to the outer docks on the western side of my neighborhood,"That was pretty great."


    "I still think that you should have fought them."


    "Oh, *you*," I said, pointing at her nose,"You''re just so full of mischief, aren''t you?"


    "You know it. Plus you never know what they could want. They might just want to throw you a pizza party. You recall pizza parties, right?"


    "You know I remember them."


    Back when I was in college, I was running around between jobs all day and night and those campus pizza parties lifted my spirits. That and I had kids part way through college, like an idiot, and yeah most people think that a pizza party is just your job trying to make you stay but without paying you what you''re worth-and it is- but free pizza y''all. Don''t knock it.


    "I''m almost certain," I said, turning my robes inside out to expose the blue to the outside,"that that is the most miniscule of my favorite things, but go on then, girl boss closer to my actual feelings, why don''t you?"


    "I''ll drop the pizza party thing if you drop the girl boss one," she said, her face a mask.


    I steeled my face.


    "Deal."


    Across the water, I saw them running along the tops of buildings. I slid into the long shadows of the forthcoming twilight. If they wanted to, they would have seen a man with far different robes in quite a lot of shade.


    One ran past me, then another as I held back on even the barest of breaths.


    It was both the best and worst game of hide and seek ever. Only my newfound ability to suppress my aura saved me.


    The third man looked nearby me for a short second, then turned as he heard something else.


    They were drawing the wrong type of attention. A new group I had only heard of appeared with dark blue robes and after a long tense standoff where no words were said, the red fang enforcers ran off.


    I farted a sigh of relief. The stress of the run had made me clench my bowels, not that I really had to go, but it was like all of a sudden the relaxation caused a series of more and more pungent gas to hover around me.


    I slipped past the blue robed men, taking care to give every impression of being not a party to whatever had just transpired. I had a real emperor palpatine thing going on with the robe.

 22. I got mad love for my crew Mumma P1

    "The men in the blue robes? They''re the government."


    Moon Xiru did not look pleased that I had nearly had a run in with the Red Fang Sect and then the Mandarin. I wasn''t either but you take what you can get. I was beginning to think that he had a bit of a libertarian streak. Not that there was such a thing here.


    "Well, good if they''re the government, then we can go to them, right? They''re here to help the people? Care for the sick and wounded, husband the land and people and all that?" I replied, irritated.


    "What?" He stood there dumbfounded.


    He was definitely a small government type or at least friendly to the idea.


    "The government is here to take care of the people...? The basis of the reason government is there to begin with?"


    His eyes should have given me a hint of something beyond the calm full-bodied taste of his latest acquisition.


    The outdoor scent of bags of tea leaves were getting to me, to be honest. They were very strong. Picture if you will large cloth bags full of tiny leaves arranged in a rough semi circle and you''ll understand what his setup was like. In the middle was Cory, his table and chair and his little abacus.


    "That makes the government sound like a charity."


    I sighed deeply, once again breathing in some of the finest oolong on the northwestern part of the continent. He had gone on about the pedigree of the leaves at length unprompted, and I had learned that though trial and error that not saying anything did not stop him in the slightest.


    "If the government doesn''t do that uh...."


    "Cultivator Pidge, we both know that the government is for keeping our borders safe from spirit beasts and gathering men and women to fight against demonic Sects. They just happen to be narrowly focused here on the border, because the area outside of Western Jewel is a fertile training ground. To think other wise, well this one could not imagine such a thing."


    "I think that it''s not a lack of imagination that is your problem here. You''ve never heard of alternative types of governments, like democracies with parliaments, or direct democracy or sociocracy?"


    I was a bit flustered between the oolong and his insistence that the government had no values in common with anything I had known. Sure there was a ton of pro American fervor throughout the United States after 9/11, but we didn''t have actual spirit beasts trying to break down totems that surrounded our nation. That would have been far too convenient in justifying a draft or something.


    The stark marble whites with golden cracks of the building reflected the sun''s twilight as it threatened to go down.


    "Those terms? This one is unfamiliar with most of them. Could you explain them in tea terms."


    I paused.


    "A democracy is like when you a group of people vote on their favorite tea. A sociocracy is like everyone has to agree on the tea before you sell it...a parliament is like voting on who can select the tea you sell?"


    "Oh. And voting is?"


    I shrugged, really working the muscles around my shoulders. Between rolling my eyes at nearly everything that Min said and shrugging when I was trying to bridge the cultural gap without defining a word by using the same word. The words were on the tip of my tongue.


    "It''s picking a thing but not for money?"


    "Hmmmm."


    "He is probably a lost cause here. All he knows is money and gossip," Min said.


    "No, no I really think I''m getting somewhere with this. Moon City, it''s like picking your crew. You helped me pick everyone and I''m grateful for that, but I want to make it clear that joining me on this endeavor is a voluntary thing."


    "The red fang must pay."


    "I understand that-"


    "No," he said sternly, cutting me off for the first time ever. His eyes smoldered, "They will pay for what they''ve done. For their crimes against the Moon clan. The clans elders have not been as proactive as this one wants."


    And there it was, the most difficult thing I could get him to say. Obliquely telling me that he didn''t like a direction that his family had taken with another group. It was tantamount to open rebellion in these parts. I didn''t want to press upon his countenance too much, but a part of me really wanted to know how the real Xiru felt. The real man behind the luscious wavy hair that had to take half an hour to brush.


    You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.


    "That''s a lot to unpack, Xiru. I''ll take that under advisement."


    He paused to sip his product. With the amount of bulk tea available, the poor guy was just covered in it. It made his operation both look like a pile of leaves at a suburban home in the Northwestern United states mid November. If he had an aesthetic, I would have called it ''Christian Girl Autumn'' and the only thing mission would be boots and an iconic black jacket on top of his white shirt and brown capris.


    "The tea brokers union traditionally supports the Mandarin with gifts of tea when their tax season rolls around. To be more specific, we usually send a junior seller with joint contributions to ensure that our taxes are not weighted too heavily. Of course that is what all unions like ours must do. I''ve heard it told that Mandarin have begun to expect it, as the process has become almost a mandate in recent years."


    He looked away, his face a stone wall.


    "They''re expecting special treatment, thereby enforcing that they''re above the populace or something like that? Yeah, I don''t generally trust people who want power for powers sake. They''re not to be trusted. I mean political power, Min, ow don''t pinch me!"


    She had made a corporeal body the size of a hamster and nearly drawn blood with her pinch. I wasn''t pleased, as that might leave a mark, but in terms of sticks and stones, my bones would be fine.


    "Is this really the time to get into better policing? Or can we find a way to use the blue robes?"


    I scratched the back of my head.


    "Yes. We can use them. No I don''t need to do my usual schpiel about consent of the governed and-"


    "Yadda yadda yadda, tell me about what you''re going to offer them in exchange for information on the Red Fang. It reads to me like they''ll have an excellent information gathering network, with eyes in places that we won''t."


    Moon Xiru coughed, setting his tea cup down.


    "It appears that your moon spirit has a point-" Xiru started.


    "THANK YOU."


    "-in that we can extend our network. I wish I could say more than I know where their tea gets delivered."


    I nearly did a spit take.


    "You know where... you know what, just show me."


    Xiru sighed opening up a drawer with a giant map. He looked around for any prying eyes before spreading the table sized map out on his display case. On the map I could see a lot of different neighborhoods and fertile lands that made the city look almost as lively as the terrain itself.


    "This one had this made special," he said, "as a curious spirit requested it in particular."


    A feeling of satisfaction came from Mins direction.


    "Finally someone who understands a girl, and knows how to treat her."


    "Uh, okay," I said, examining the map.


    I wasn''t concerned with her sass. His map was making me feel feelings. Big mood.


    The brush work was superb. It could have come out of a billionaires ex wives luxury yachts bathroom for how intense the detail was. I wondered if they would let me put it in the privy. Probably not at this rate.


    "This is a thorough map of the entirety of Western Jewel, the delivery to the Sect of Red Fang here in the southeast quadrant," he said, pointing to a part of the city that aligned to the mainland.


    On the west, the area pushed against the sea. Multiple bridges lead between that borough or neighborhood and the main collection of Islands that made up Western Jewel.


    "What are these giant Xs on the map here?"


    A near perfect oval of Xs surrounded the city. The oval reached to the south, stretching towards where I had appeared, probably at one of the most southern totems.


    "Each mark is a totem."


    I hadn''t seen it before, but it made total sense that the entire area would need to be covered. I wondered if they connected like a large totem fence, or if they just covered a radius. I made a note to ask my good friend about that later.


    "That makes sense."


    Xiru made a hmm sound.


    "Their Sect lands are close to the edge because, well this one imagines that they want to train against the roving spirit beasts."


    "So they get stronger by fighting against beasts that are next to their lands, great. Can I get a chance to do the same?"


    "This one is uncertain. Perhaps this ones auntie will know better."


    "I''ll ask her. Thanks Xiru."


    It was reassuring to think that they were that far away. It was at least several dozen kilometers if my idea of distance was correct.


    What wasn''t reassuring was that we were effectively trapped inside a of a bubble with them. It hadn''t truly hit me until now how isolated we were, but between the airships and the farmland, I hadn''t felt trapped.


    Now a wave of unease passed through me as I realized that I could hide, but I couldn''t run. Running would only get me so far, unless I got into an airship and then what?


    I would have to deal with these people.


    "Xiru, have you ever seen a spirit beast?"


    "Regrettably, yes but only once. It is something that the moon clan does for those of us lacking the ability. This one was a young man when it happened. The screams and the sight of it, it still haunts me at night."


    "That''s terrible."


    "It was important."


    "Still, it''s terrible. They shouldn''t have to do that."


    "They do it for a reason. Seeing it once lets you know that you can run or piss ones robes. This one... didn''t fare well. It''s why this shop is in the inner city."


    It sounded like the school of hard knocks was giving out a class called ''Generational Trauma.'' I didn''t understand why the Moon clan would expose its young men and women to spirit beasts, but I was certain that they had a reason. I hoped that they had a reason especially if they were doing this to everyone.


    "I don''t know if you want to talk about that incident or if you''re over it now, but..."


    "This is fine, Cultivator Pidge, really. It was a formative thing that still.. lingers," he sighed, putting his tea cup down for good.


    <hr>


    Back in my office, I was sadly alone with my thoughts and Min. The notes I has taken pains to go through had been left at the inn, and my buddy Fei hadn''t had the courage to go and retrieve them. Sure he felt better, but I was certain that a second realm enforcer was watching the door and I could always redo my chart notes.


    One must understand that charting or making notes is just a part of everything that is going on. The real effect that a therapist can have is between the two people. It''s been said a lot, but people have to want to change before they''ll even start the process. I''m not just talking about women dragging their husbands to marital therapy either.


    The red fang, in my mind, didn''t want to change. I wasn''t going to wait around for them to go through their process. I wanted to not be harassed anymore, and yeah being left alone to process my own grief would be the end result, but I was almost at that place now.


    Almost.


    I still wished I had those notes though. There wasn''t anything to it but to get some more paper and start again. My city was ruined and it was time to rebuild from the ashes. I would get everything that they were trying to take from me.

 22. I got mad love for my crew mumma P2

    The next morning, after my training, I popped into a certain ink and quill shop, looking for the proprietor. I was hoping to get back to it and by the smile on her face when she recognized my robes, she was probably very happy to see me.


    Her makeup was flawless, as always. I dutifully did not mention it whatsoever, taking a seat on the side as she worked to finish whatever it was she was writing. The walls were covered in intricate painted scrolls.


    "Paper isn''t free, you know," she said once she was done.


    "I''m aware. I don''t even know where your paper comes from," I replied.


    "There is a mill that my fathers business partner, you know what that is irrelevant," she said, pulling a hair back into place, "I need to talk to you about my mother."


    "Oh?"


    I hadn''t expected this.


    "She wants to know who my mysterious benefactor is. She says ''Our benefactor,'' but I didn''t want to tell her too much. That''s okay, right?"


    I gave her my best disapproval look. I didn''t want to meet yet another clan member, but if it helped her? That would be interesting. Her mother had her cultivation destroyed at some point in time. Egiya said that it had been traumatic. She had some unresolved issues with her father still a cultivator out doing who knows what, apparently leaving her mother to tend the home.


    "How is she?" I asked, trying not to seem eager.


    "She told me that I needed to redo my makeup twice this morning, so the fire is still there, but some days good, some bad. It has been pretty good recently, all things being equal."


    Is...is your mother here with us? In this room?" I looked around like I was in a s¨¦ance.


    "She''s upstairs. Her... attendant checks on me periodically, I can have him tell her that you''re here."


    I nodded.


    "So long as I get some paper and ink, you can tell him," I said.


    She smiled, pointing to a stack I hadn''t noticed before. A travelers bag near the door had an unfamiliar character on it. The angular lines were accented by several circles. It was leather or something close to it.


    "It''s approximately what you got the first time I met you, with a little custom item."


    It looked like I would struggle to pack the thing back together-a father with two daughters can tell this instinctually-so I decided to open it when I got to the safe house. It would be the right thing to do according to the Fei, at least. Gifts were something that you opened later in confidence, at least in Western Jewel.


    "I would be happy to meet with your mother," I said, smiling widely.


    She returned the smile and got back to her work. I quietly walked over to examine it.


    She was copying something with a large ink brush. On her left, a large paper contained a novels worth of ink. It was gorgeous. On her right, she dutifully copied the page.


    I couldn''t read it because I was in the wrong direction. It was one thing to be able to speak and understand spoken language. It was a more difficult thing to be able to read it upside down. I wasn''t there yet, making out only one out of every five or so characters.


    Still, it was a work of art and she had made accents for the corners. My ex wife would have out it up in her bathroom without hesitation. Lauren probably would have also. It looked like she would be able to roll it up like a scroll when she was done. I doubted that whatever she had written was a secret so I ambled around the page, trying to read it for real.


    This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    See life before the emperor! Cultivators defy the Earth so that those today can defy the heavens!


    Every sixth day at the blue house theatre!


    I recognized the purple trim after that. I had seen it before but still was unable to place it.


    The dark off black robes and cloak that I wore fluttered as a gust picked up and the door opened. I could see a slim man with long grey hair in a straight line. His white beard complemented his hair. He wore a simple tunic and white pants.


    "Jae," she said rising,"is mother well?"


    "As well as can be expected, Mistress. Is this the cultivator? Shall this one bring him to Madame Kang?"


    I sighed. It was loud enough for them both to hear. Neither of them were expecting it, if their faces were to be believed.


    "Take me to her."


    The stone and wooden first floor of the three story building had a wide staircase on one side. The solid boards went between her building and the next, leading to a second story landing that went to either building. The landing stretched for the entire block. I could see dozens of clothes lines sitting the wooden frames. People walked down the path with a purpose.


    I hadn''t seen such a nook anywhere else. It was delightful. The whole pathway activated my inner child in a way that I hadn''t experienced since arriving.


    "This way," the gaunt man said, turning to a door that opened on the second floor pathway. Egiya arrived, having taken enough time to close the door and still her feelings.


    We had spoken about this specific thing earlier. She had to take some time with her feelings and process them, instead of rushing from place to place. She was running herself ragged, treating everything like an emergency.


    She was in effect, playing gasso-brako, a game that my ex wife like to play.


    This was not really a game, but something she did with any rental car that she would get anytime she would be out of town. When she hit an open highway, she would lock her right foot down on the gas, then then modulate her speed with the brake. It was an apt metaphor for her life, rushing around like everything was on fire.


    The door opened to a half lit room. Inside, the thin woman who greeted me looked up, both eyes glazed over. It took nearly a minute for her to focus, but when she did, you could tell.


    "Daughter, this is the one?" She said in a crones voice.


    It took everything inside of me to not crack up upon hearing this.


    "This is Cultivator Pidge Joseph and yes, without going into too many of the details, he is the one who is assisting the Moon clan with their... business," Egiya said, with a deference to her mother that made it feel like she was talking to someone she feared.


    "Hmmm...Kang Egiya. A pleasure." she said absentmindedly.


    She gave me the look I gave my daughters before they decided to dress themselves entirely in pink or black. It wasn''t disapproval, but it was an open question as to what they were doing.


    "Second realm. Impressive. And she just met you while you were at the peak of first. Oh. Oh! You''re almost at the peak of second," she gasped, "Daughter, did you know this?"


    Both women stared, seemingly into my soul.


    "This is new," Egiya said, scrunching her face up, "You''re going to need to see if you''re ready."


    "How can you both see that? I thought you were at the foundation level," I asked them.


    Jae had disappeared as we talked and now returned with a tray of steaming tea.


    "Cultivators are always looking for that little bit of extra, trying to accomplish it all, but perhaps you might benefit from some more personal instruction."


    "Madame Kang, what do you mean?" I said, my voice even.


    "I was third realm when..." She said.


    Her eyes were downcast.


    "You were third realm. When it happened? I''m so sorry."


    She nodded. I hadn''t expected the sobbing. I really hadn''t expected her daughter to be the one sobbing at first either.


    Her coffee table that we sat around had a vintage plate which I recognized.


    ''See life before the emperor! Cultivators defy the Earth so that those today can defy the heavens!Every sixth day at the blue house theater!''''


    "If this is too personal or too painful, we don''t have to-" I started. This tin etching was nearly the exact thing I had just witnessed.


    "No. You are a guest in my home and you have given my daughter hope for a bright future. I shall not turn away help in our hour of need. I only wish that I hadn''t been so blind to help before. Pain numbs so much," she said, grabbing her tea, "but a cultivators mind must be sharp, for they protect the people."


    It hadn''t gone beyond my notice that she had said, our hour and not her hour. There had been a lot of give and take and I was uneasy about adding more to my plate. I would do whatever the old woman asked-for certain- but I didn''t need to fold immediately.


    "You''re admiring the plate I see. It''s ancient and was a gift from the Taoist clan, which I aided once pushing back a spirit beast attack. I saved four families," she said.


    I''m an honest man. I see an opening like this? I take it.


    "You fought spirit beasts? I would love to hear about it."


    "Well in that case," she said, brightening for the first time, "Did you have dinner plans?"

 23. I keep my gloves dirty, but my hands clean P1

    I was maneuvering through the air when I felt it. It was time. Min could feel it as well, by the tugging on my sleeve, a gentle pull designed to make me move in a direction of her choosing. I didn''t have to think twice.


    "Congratulations you are more than ready to advance," Min said, as I dodged a javelin, "now why aren''t you doing it?"


    She was only speaking to me. Another tug and a javelin passed right by my ankles. I had been on the cusp for a week, during which I had trained in earnest. She had been relatively quiet around the Moon clan trainers who all showed her a quiet reverence. She spoke up more when we were alone or outside of the compound. I tended to think of it as a ''never meet your heroes moment'' but she had kept herself tight lipped the entire time about it.


    "If you would," I said.


    I held up a hand for the trainer. I was asking him to stop but I wasn''t being a bitch about it. One way or the other, it was time. I was ready to advance. Physically at least.


    I had mastered the Qi cloaking technique, and the only thing in the way of my advancement now was time and energy spent getting to the next level.


    I needed to plan for so many contingencies. There was the Taoist theater troupe and their interests and though they hadn''t asked for anything new, I was slightly uncomfortable with their help. I wanted to dwell on that eventually and really look at their motivations, but I had a pretty tight schedule of training and navel gazing. It was a big unknown in my calculations and I knew that it had the potential to sting me if I didn''t treat it with the right amount of respect.


    The moon clans position illuminated my way. They were helping me hurt their rivals, and I was helping a few of them with therapy. The money that giving a few young masters therapy in between running and fighting was more than enough to pay my bills.


    "I don''t know why Min," I said, avoiding the last javelin that the moon trainer emptied the stand to throw. There has been about thirty when we started. He had thrown the last one as if he were unsatisfied that we were ending things so quickly.


    "You know why. You just don''t want to.... I know about the appointment."


    I froze. She knew everything about my past and just hadn''t decided to dig into that part. I wasn''t ready to face it. For as much as I wanted to be free, the reason I broke up with Lauren was... Let''s just say it''s complicated. As much as I wanted freedom...


    Now? Removed from the situation? It felt juvenile. I didn''t have the threat of-no I was safe here. Despite the Red Fang doing their best to pressure the Moon clan and others to cough me up, there had been little movement on that front. The fact that Min was taking this opportunity to delve into something that I didn''t really want to get into, well it more than irked me.


    "You''re asking yourself if you''re still sick. Your body knows what''s going on. Have you had a seizure since you got here? How often have you had double vision?"


    "I haven''t had a seizure in-well since I got here- and double vision, rarely."


    "Going to the third realm will fix that. Any chance of it coming back, there won''t be anything left to grow."


    I paused to consider her words. I didn''t want to mention the c word. I would need to ask Bluey a few more questions but if they would let me cultivate in what they called ''closed door cultivation'' I would make it.


    "Where is Bluey?" I asked me Moon spirit as I toweled off the sweat from the mornings training. If there was one thing that the Moon clan did well, it was textiles.


    "She gave up watching a while ago. I can go and get her?"


    I nodded. We walked to the stone corner that I had used frequently to meditate or watch between rounds. The place now looked like if not home, someplace very familiar and the amount of white marble didn''t hurt the impression. Also there was a near constant sweat stain in the form of a person sitting.


    I wasn''t pained by her not watching, this was what I had expected her to do. It did kinda sting though. If you have ever searched for validation from a motherly figure or an auntie, you probably have a good idea of how I felt about her. If you''ve never looked to a woman like that with a warm feeling in your heart then perhaps you need a hug. One of those ones that linger long on you.


    Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.


    Min was growing stronger as I grew as well. Soon she would be able to disappear inside of me, becoming wholely incorporeal. Right now she was a small knot of mist attached at my hip, so the feeling of muted wetness, the one where you''re picking up something like a wet daughter with a towel was there. These things were pleasant for a time, but I let her float freely away to get that little bit of discomfort off of me. I hadn''t had to towel off one of my daughters in ages, to be honest.


    I could feel her though, in the back of my mind I felt her curiosity about Bluey in particular. The woman made Min a bit jealous and anxious, mostly due to her power. As I advanced, Min would follow, growing on her own. Bluey had told me that moon spirits were slippery, which is why I had to stay a realm ahead of her.


    Her imperious gaze found me as she entered the courtyard. Where the blue sash cut into her white robes, the faint glimmer shone.


    I didn''t break my lotus pose, just continuing to cycle moon qi in and out. She walked close enough to me that I had to crane my neck up to see her then made the follow motion as she kept moving past. Min followed at a safe distance, her eyes misty with merriment.


    "I can feel it. Even your moon spirit says it as well. You are ready to advance," she said without preamble, "Your path is your own, but...?"


    The unspoken question stuck in the air as we arrived on a walkway looking over the moon compound. Beyond I could see the western expanse reaching far off into the distance, the verdant hills of the Moon Clan grounds butting against the grey of the place outside of our reach. The place outside, where spirit beasts roaming unimpeded.


    "I am," I said, trying to slowly taking in the aura around me.


    "You''ll be ready today. You''ll be ready tomorrow. You''ll be ready next week. What you do next matters."


    "And if I fail?"


    The elder Kang had broken her cultivation on her path to the fourth realm. Now she needed help, needing a home health aide or a retirement home for cultivators. I didn''t want that for myself. Sure I might be taken care of here but this was a far cry from attending to the needs of my daughters and girlfriend.


    "Win, lose, one must advance. The path before you against the Red Fang is blocked without your advancement."


    I looked back to Min. Moon Lee stood there waiting for a response.


    "May I use the meditation room?"


    "Pidge, you do not need to ask me for that. Advance and join me. I''ll have snacks prepared for you, when you do finish. You''ll be hungry."


    "I''m going to hold you to that."


    She smiled the little smile that I had never seen her give to anyone else.


    ---


    "It''s been several months since I went no contact with my mother and..."


    "You feel better?" I ventured to Mrs. Johnson.


    The constant snipping from her mother had ceased and she was flowering. I was happy for her. Still, there was a dark cloud over her. What she wanted from her mother and what her mother was and would be were two very different things.


    "But you feel bad. You feel bad about letting her down."


    "Other people don''t understand, Joe. They''re like why don''t you involve your mother more in your life, but their parents are angels. It''s kind of grating."


    "She''s... you need to have your peace first."


    "That''s right. I... I feel bad about feeling good though. It shouldn''t be this way, right? It should be easier. I shouldn''t need to ... go to these lengths. But then I see how my kids are and I don''t want them to ever feel like this and..."


    I held out the box of tissues. The familiar gesture immediately got her attention.


    "I just want her to be the mom I needed. It''s not fair that others get the moms that they need and...I got her."


    She took several tissues and sniffed.


    "You''re not the fixer. And that''s okay."


    "I''m not the fixer and I will be okay."


    We sat in silence for a bit. The air from my office was set to a comfortable sixty five degrees, like any office in Southern California.


    "She told me that she is getting tested for cancer," she said without prompting.


    I leaned in.


    "Do you think she''s telling you a lie?"


    "I...my husband feels like she''s trying to get her hooks back in."


    I gave her the dad look.


    "I have my doubts. She can''t...she wouldn''t..."


    "You have to think about how you would do things, how she would do things and how the idea image you have built up of the mom you deserve becomes reality. This isn''t the mom from the movies or books that s going to come save yo or even acknowledge your feelings. This is the woman who lives and dies by sapping your attention and putting you down."


    She took the box of tissues and held it. I didn''t hold out any hope of anything more than low contact or structured contact with her mother. No contact would be great. She kept pulling Mrs. Johnson''s strings and we were trying to fix inter generational violence here.


    "What would you feel if she died?"


    Another bout of tears came forth.


    "If you''re feeling was that you would feel relieved, then that is the human reaction. It is normal, and healthy to feel that. You can''t let her drag you down. If she has done half of what you have told me then she really has done this to herself-the low contact not the cancer."


    I always balked when people were so cavalier about telling cancer patients ''Everything happens for a reason.'' It''s just another punch in the gut. People don''t get cancer because they are assholes. They''re assholes who just happen to get cancer. I also always could never find the right thing to say to someone deep in grief, but that was often secondary to my presence. When someone comes with a deep emotional wound it feels cheap to try and fix it, to tape over the missing parts. It''s a broken egg shell. It won''t get put back the same way.""


    "Thanks Joe," she said finally putting the box down, "I feel a bit better. So we think it''s not cancer, just attention seeking behavior?"


    I nodded.


    "Then I don''t have to call any funeral homes to price out cremations. God, that''s a relief."


    "She asked you to do that?" I leaned in.


    "I was going to schedule her for Thursday, but they said she has to be deceased first."


    "Honestly? In this economy, they should have taken the appointment."

 24. I keep my gloves dirty but my hands clean P2

    "Pidge! Pidge!"


    Xueyies voice shot through the silence.


    "He is in closed door cultivation, Mistress you can''t..."


    "Open the door!"


    I could feel her anger pulsing through her. Even through the thick metal doors. I got up, tensing my muscles all around myself as Min lounged. I felt like a panther uncoiling.


    I wanted to say something but it was taking some time to feel out mouth sounds. Min went to the door, slipping through a tiny crack. I took a second to adjust my now luxurious robes as I went to follow her and join them.


    "Moon Lee, I..."


    I stepped out to the bright light of day.


    "What''s going on, Xueyie?"


    "Not here," she hissed.


    Next to her, Xiru stood, looking like he had ran two marathons. I nodded to them, then to Moon Lee and we all followed my Blue companion and moon spirit to another room.


    Inside of another gorgeous marble room that looked like it was part of the playboy mansion we all sat down. The wood paneling with the marble would have been cheap anywhere else.


    Without preamble Lee dispatched someone to get us tea.


    "There has been a most peculiar murder," Xiru stated in a cold clinical tone.


    Xueyie was holding back tears.


    "My cousin..."


    I wasn''t able to hide my surprise as she fell into me and you''d be right if I said that I gave her the best damn bear hug I''d ever given.


    I felt her hair as I began to whisper something mostly to myself.


    "Real cultivators should take care of their own mess. But there aren''t any, so I''ll have to do this myself."


    <hr>


    What came out over the course of the next ten minutes was the one of the Jin cousins, had been found, her desiccated corpse found floating by a gondolier. He alerted the blue robes and they notified the family. Xueyie was asked to identify the body as they had nothing to go on except for the girls robes. The crest of the first emperor had been their clue of the clan to contact, though apparently it had been half ripped off, leaving half of the icon.


    "They suspect some foul play, don''t they," I said, trying to keep on topic. "Why else would they have ripped the crest?"


    I''ll be the first one to say that I was a bit out of my element. I was there to console her and help her process her grief, but I was the last person to be ready to investigate a murder. If it was a murder, that is.


    "A corpse like that, nearly beyond recognition," Lee said, rubbing the back of the silent Xueyie, "There has to be a reason. They did something to her. She was at the first realm and, now..."


    "And now Lilah is dead! And it''s probably...." Xueyie said, her outburst stunning us all to silence. Min had assumed the form of a Shiba Inu and sat patiently in Xueyies arms, doing her best emotional support beast act.


    Xiru meditated to the right of me, Lee and Xueyie to the left. We gave her a long time to let the sobs end, both Xiru and I deciding that this was the best course of action.


    "It has to be demonic cultivators, though the blue robes won''t just make this public knowledge," Lee said, sighing, "Few cultivators here know about them, but in my youth there was a rash of these types of murders across the continent, and I...I hate to say that I took an airship in search of these types of people."


    The ageless beauty that she maintained didn''t really give away an age, but she had to be at least in her fifties. She told me that she had taken a long time to break through to the third realm, which is where she had stabilized, and she would have a long life no matter what happened.


    "Tell me about them," I said, wishing I had something to take notes with, but alas I had gone into closed door meditation with only the bare minimum.


    "They feed on other cultivators, drawing out their strength to bolster their own. Often they need to kill one to grow stronger, then they..."


    Xueyie straightened, her jet black straight hair a mess for the first time I''d seen it.


    "Continue, Auntie," she said in a low voice.


    "They sometimes do sick rituals with the bodies, torturing them to the point of death, or they just suck the qi out, turning them into husks, like..."


    Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    Xueyie sobbed again.


    "Like what your cousin, Leng went through. they probably thought that she would sink to the bottom of the canals, but instead, she grew bloated after they tossed her. So she floated up, at least we know and she didn''t disappear. It''s almost like," Lee said, pausing to look around the room.


    "Yes?" I ventured.


    "It''s almost like they wanted her to be found," Lee said, "Like they are sending a message. I don''t know to whom though. As difficult as it is to kill a cultivator, it''s even more difficult to cover it up so that it looks like an accidental death."


    We all sat in silence for a good long time.


    "You don''t think," I said, my face trying it''s best to become a mask.


    Min inclined her head up to look at me.


    "They''re trying to send a message. Perhaps...to you?"


    "That makes not sense. They have enough messengers that can find an intermediary as they have seen me with enough people. Probably," I replied.


    "You''re applying logic to this problem but I think that you shouldn''t attribute to malice when can easily be explained by idiocy."


    "It could be one of their foot soldiers getting out of line. That is a remote possibility. Or a rogue faction. Either way they''re playing their hand. I know a skilled healer that we can offer to the Jin clan," Lee said.


    Xueyies sunken eyes tracked the woman in the white robe.


    "And a skilled mental healer," I said, trying to diffuse the situation.


    I might be wrong, but none of the cultivators had ever mentioned anything close to therapy. They probably didn''t have the concept, given what I''d heard so far. Sure, they have concussion protocols, but they were far backwards in terms of anything besides the physical.


    "I understand that this is all fresh and you''re seeking my help as well as the moon clans help," I addressed the mourning woman, "if you need me to step in and help, I can. If you want to let your family handle this, either way if you want to talk or just process I can be here. Min as well."


    Min purred.


    "No one deserves such a death and the perpetrators will face justice," the moon spirit said, it''s low voice a contrast to the cute little kitty it was pretending to be.


    Xueyies rage dampened a little bit as she petted Min. We let the comfortable silence dominate the room. I tried to process what it would mean, and if being reactive was really serving me. This far, I had been highly reactive, focusing on stopping the mounting threat. Now I had the strength to fight against a large portion of the city, and though I was untested on this new realm, it felt like a weight had been lifted from my shoulders, just in time to pick up Xueyie.


    In my mind there had to be two or more possibilities. One was that this was entirely unrelated to myself and my crew. This had been some freak accident and she had ended up there through not fault of her own. However the attempt to cover it up placed the death into the other possibility. She had died because someone had wanted something to happen as a result of her death. Whether it was wanting the family to do something, or her individually, I didn''t know.


    Terrorism is often defined as the achievement of political gains through force or coercion. I had no idea what kind of political maneuvering this was adjacent to.


    And then again, sometimes a dead woman is just a dead woman, not a dead fridge girlfriend that would be a catalyst for a heroic boyfriend. This far I hadn''t expressed any sentiment close to romantic intent to anyone here, I had barely gotten a handle on losing my girls and leaving Lauren. I didn''t want to tell Xueyie that though. If her cousin had been her confidant, and they knew that it would elicit this type of reaction, then they probably knew that she would be able to find me.


    "Moon Lee, are there any more cultivators outside than normal?"


    She visibly strained at my question. They could have been stacked up at the doors waiting for us to come out. Whoever this was would have had to send thugs through the Moon clans family holdings to reach us and that would have been catastrophic if they were able to breach the gap. Dozens of Moon enforcers would have died if this was true.


    "Their number is unchanged," she said, "but heard and understood. This one will take her leave and return shortly."


    In the brief minute she was gone the quiet came back in force. I didn''t want to fill it and Xiru seemed to have been much deflated from his posturing when he arrived.


    I took him to the side, away from Xueyie close to the exit. She could still see us but I wanted to get things rolling. We could process while Xiru ran down some things for me.


    "Do you have any contacts in the gondoliers? This would be the time to call in a favor."


    He nodded, pausing to peek back at Xueyie before he began.


    "This one has the ear of one of their more social members, we will call upon him if possible. The blue robes are utterly opaque, even to one like myself. They are humorless when off duty and you can''t plant anyone into their ranks either, I have heard the stories."


    "Have you tried to plant someone into the blue robes?"


    Xiru scratched his beard before locking eyes with me. It was the first time he had ever been so bold and I was liking this new trend.


    "Several Moon clan members joined with the intent to feed us back information. They were assigned to menial foot patrols for years and then kicked out one by one when one let something inconsequential slip. They don''t just want slaves, they want zealots."


    "That''s something," I whispered, "loose lips sink ships or something like that."


    "What a curious mantra. This one is certain that the gondoliers will embrace the expression, as well as the sentiment drawn from it. Their partisanship is a pale imitation of the blue robes zeal, and they are all the better for it."


    Min darted in right before Moon Lee did and we both stepped away to clear a path for her.


    "If you''re expecting a trap, then I don''t see one. All the same, you need to develop the backbone of your Nascent soul soon, and that will expand upon your innate senses in ways that are surprising. Your spirit should be able to help you with this soon, but it is a long road."


    Min rested upon my shoulders, her form that of a small white dragon with blue eyes. When Moon Lee mentioned her, her eyes sparkled.


    "This one lives to serve," Min whispered.


    As one we all turned to look back at the grief stricken actress.


    "I want to hurt someone," she said standing up and composing herself.


    "Well, that''s a start."

 25. Shonen Style

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    <td style="width: 95.0413%">Edit: The end of the last chapter got cut off I''m putting it here in case you read the last one and missed it over the last two days</td>


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    "Several Moon clan members joined with the intent to feed us back information. They were assigned to menial foot patrols for years and then kicked out one by one when one let something inconsequential slip. They don''t just want slaves, they want zealots."


    "That''s something," I whispered, "loose lips sink ships or something like that."


    "What a curious mantra. This one is certain that the gondoliers will embrace the expression, as well as the sentiment drawn from it. Their partisanship is a pale imitation of the blue robes zeal, and they are all the better for it."


    Min darted in right before Moon Lee did and we both stepped away to clear a path for her.


    "If you''re expecting a trap, then I don''t see one. All the same, you need to develop the backbone of your Nascent soul soon, and that will expand upon your innate senses in ways that are surprising. Your spirit should be able to help you with this soon, but it is a long road."


    Min rested upon my shoulders, her form that of a small white dragon with blue eyes. When Moon Lee mentioned her, her eyes sparkled.


    "This one lives to serve," Min whispered.


    As one we all turned to look back at the grief stricken actress.


    "I want to hurt someone," she said standing up and composing herself.


    "Well, that''s a start."


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    <td style="width: 95.0413%">Begin Chapter 25</td>


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    <hr>


    It took hours for Moon Xiru to get an audience with his friend. Before long we were at the scene of the crime itself. It wasn''t much to look at and the blue robes at the scene looked to have largely left. One man stood out as a remarkably conspicuous uniformed officer who just happened to be reading a large scroll near the sheer cutoff to the canal. It was blatantly obvious that he was casing the scene to anyone with five seconds to spare.


    The moon clans compound was on the main land, so we had to go a fair bit inland around the canals to find the last resting place. Moon Lee kept a tight lip but she pressed us to at the very least imagine the last moments of the dead cultivators life. The walk along the side of the canals which lined the neighborhoods of this city gave us the three to fire meter look over the brown brackish water.


    "Do you think that they''re so egotistical that they left a calling card, or sign of some sort?" I asked her in hushed tones from the top of the canal.


    The water sloshed evenly as the far western canal was just shy of the sea. As we got closer the color had gotten clearer and the amount of plants sticking up next to docks increased.


    In stark contrast to the Moon clan, the Daoist clan had their compound close enough to Jade Home to throw a stone and hit it. Instead of building out, since there was no land to do so, they rented out courtyards and had their clan compound built up to five stories. It was a mere walkway away from the canal and could be clearly seen from the waterside. I briefly wondered if they could just build and park a yacht nearby or something but thought better of asking.


    "Malice? Ego? It matters not in the end," Moon Lee said, "Either way they will burn for this."


    I paused to take her words in. She had been good to me so far. Far more than the needed to me. I briefly thought about the rage of a calm man quote and how many of my contemporaries posted a lot about being loyal but dangerous and how she would have fit right in with that crowd.


    "Yes, but-" I wanted to go into crime theory and how evidence wasn''t always straightforward and about ten other things, but she gave me a look. I turned to see Xueyie bowing.


    Xueyie, by way of a tortured comparison, had walked at a neat clip but slouched. When we reached the closest spot we could, she began to pray silently. Her bowed head and clasped hands stayed that way for a long time.


    I hadn''t learned any specific prayers or after life rites that seemed appropriate here, so Moon Lee and I just waited back. She had her head on a swivel about like a tourist. I had never seen her so outwardly interested in anything except me.


    Min slunk around for a bit in dog form, looking for trouble the entire time.


    "I''ve seen it many times. Blue robes taking their time, hemming and hawing, never coming to an answer. It''s a blessing and a curse. It means that things like this can happen and they sometimes turn a blind eye to lesser crimes. I don''t know how that can face themselves at the end of the day, knowing that they''re impeding justice. They have a bad hand and they play it terribly. Nothing good will come of this for anyone involved," Moon Lee said, her voice a whisper in my left ear as she stood close.


    "Back on my world, we have a similar institution. They are the armed extension of the state and... they sound about as useful. I could go on about abuses of power and statistics of violence and other things at length."


    "It''s strange. The more you tell me about your world and it''s strange parallels to ours. The elders whisper about this technique to bring in people from other worlds, but they are so rare. Do you know how you were brought here?"


    I sighed. It had been a serious bone of contention. I hadn''t been summoned here to fulfill some grand purpose, or if I was, the system wasn''t giving me answers about it. And if it did, they were opaque.


    "I don''t know. To tell the truth I really miss my daughters and this... if there was a clear way home, I would be taking it."


    I suddenly had her full attention. I hadn''t so much as uttered those words out loud but


    "Daughters? As in more than one?"


    "Yeah they uh...." I blanked tying to think wha I could tel her that would make sense,"They''re both very smart and show a lot of promise. When I left, they were younger than Egiya."


    "You miss them."


    "Terribly. It''s an ache that I- I have counseled people on grief and this feeling- it''s not going away. I don''t think I ever want it to. What would it mean if I didn''t still want to see them? Would it mean that I have turned into something else? They didn''t die. I went somewhere else. I would give anything to be back with them."


    "I don''t know this kind of pain, but I can sympathize. It must be difficult."


    "If it''s all the same to you, I would appreciate it if we didn''t mention it to her right now. I don''t know what her cousin meant to her, but Xueyie has enough going on right now. I''m sure that Min would tell her if I gave her the chance. I don''t want her thinking that I''m hogging the spotlight or something. She''s been very good to me. I''m sure you understand."


    Xueyie, still out of earshot, rose to stand. Her immaculate straight black hair did not so much as move as she got up. I had to give the barbers here credit, they did amazing work.


    "You being who you are will not stop her from being all she is. We can be joyful or grieve together."


    Min slunk behind Xueyie.


    "Did you two find anything?" Xueyie asked.


    "We did not. There''s-Min what is that you''re holding?" Moon Lee said.


    "A problem," Min said, "Let''s talk about this elsewhere."


    Her alien features betrayed her. She knew something and I was itching to see what it was.


    "Do you want us to meet your family? You can feel free to say no. I completely understand," I asked Xueyie, "If we need to come back later."


    "We''re right here. Just... just come meet them. I think I need you to come with."


    The feeling every dad gets when his kid asks for help- a warm feeling of home and purpose, a duty to protect and nurture- rattled through me.


    Stolen novel; please report.


    "Of course. Lead the way."


    <hr>


    "We''ll have to fill her role. This is inexcusable, with the performance tomorrow, you''re her understudy. You''ll need to take her place. This is the only way," the stern man said, "You''re going to need to report to rehearsals tomorrow afternoon and perform the following evening in her stead."


    Xueyies face was her mask of disassociation. It was that not focusing on anything but wishing for a fast forward. I see a lot with my neuro divergent community. Like if she could press a button and be done with whatever her parents are about to put her through, she would. It''s the skipping part that she wanted and I could see it in all of it''s barely controlled self. If her parents had about one ounce of emotional intelligence, they probably would have seen it too.


    I had known that she was in a theatre troupe, part of an acting family and sure she had gone on about the plays that they put on, but I was surprised at this particular change. I was still buzzing with anticipation about what the page that Min was holding meant.


    "She''ll be busy evenings from the early afternoon," Min whispered into my ear, "she told me that she feared this outcome while you were talking to Auntie Moon. She thinks that they''re going to ask her to give up medicine. For the family of course."


    Min could feel my mood, a swirling mix of unease and uncertainty. She didn''t need me to say anything to catch my meaning.


    We were standing a fair distance behind her in the open courtyard on the ground floor of their compound. The marble slab was immaculate grey and Moon Lee and I were waiting to speak. I had my cowl up as I did instinctively now every time I was outside.


    I wanted to say something, but nothing I could say would stop the inter generational violence from claiming another victim. This was the last thing she would need and they clearly could find another cousin to take Xueyies new spot, but in the absence of another understudy, I could only vaguely understand their position. It was their clans family business after all.


    A woman with a severe taste in decor and decorum stood straight as a mannequin on fifth avenue as she addressed Xueyie. If she has spent anything less than two hours on her appearance this morning, she would have had to employ a dedicated team. She probably did, all things considered.


    "The governor himself will be attending the play this week and he is rumored to be bringing several visitors from the emperor''s court," the woman who I assumed was Xueyies mother said, "So you will need to be on point. This family has a lot riding on this. You have a lot riding on this."


    The common refrain that she drew back to made me think that this was a common thing that she said a lot. I attempted to glower under my Jedi robes, doing my best dark Anakin impression. I had a lot of short hand phrases that I used a lot. I really hoped that my girls would be comforted in my absence by memories of me and- I really needed to take some time to process them.


    "Now, we understand that you have brought us the man who we hope will deliver us a blow against the Red Fang," the middle aged man said, finally turning to address us.


    I could now tell that he was stronger than me from our distance, nearly as strong as Moon Lee was. His wife was about as strong as I was. This was a new trick, from a passing glance with my budding Nascent soul. If I focused on them, I could get a better read but then they probably would feel the attention.


    If you put a bunch of asian men into a pool and then began to play the dadliest catch game- one in which there are no winners- he would have been the first picked. He looked as is he had been ripped straight from a sitcom about a fat but doting father who marries a model housewife.


    "Moon Lee," she said, "Well met."


    "Well met, Jin Jeena, Jin Wong. This as you may be pleased to know, is Pidge Joseph."


    "A pleasure," I said, bowing to the two elegant performers.


    "When our daughter came to us with the idea of working with an outsider, especially one without hair, we had a debate on the merit," he said, "If she sees something then who are we to argue. Thank you for accompanying our daughter. You''ll understand if she cannot be as available after this."


    I wanted to present a case but I probably needed more firepower. ''Please let my prot¨¦g¨¦e work for my semi legal crew more regularly'' probably wouldn''t fly too well. I took the hair comment in stride as I had long ago accepted that I would be picked out without my own k drama perfect weave. Somehow Jin Wong had the body of Peter Griffin and the hair of some dragon ball supervillain, at least one of the human kind.


    "Sir," I said, beckoning for Min to approach, "To cement our relationship, we believe that there is something that the blue robes missed in their inquiry."


    Powdered eyebrows rose between the power couple as Min produced a ripped sheet of paper with brown writing on it.


    It took them a long moment to take in what they were seeing. An almost imperceptible rage built up in the father as he turned the page over, passing it to his wife in disgust.


    "I...thank you again Cultivator Pidge. The heavens have shone down upon you. We had our suspicions and this all but confirms it. This was found at the scene?"


    "It was close enough that Min has argued that it fell out of the perpetrators pockets. There can be no other way as this material, this..."


    "This is banned under imperial edict," Jin Jeena said, "just us holding this would nearly be enough to have us executed."


    Min accepted the paper back, then returned to me for scritches. I obliged. She had been a good nonbinary moon spirit.


    "Then you will understand the implications. That we are part of a bigger machine that cares little for us, despite our realm," I said, "a machine that will see us chewed up and spit out without recourse, for we are the product."


    "The script is in the demonic tongue and it had part of a ritual circle. This paper has," she gasped, "this paper has qi!"


    A silence that I could only call reverent dropped over us.


    "Cultivator Pidge," Jin Wong said, "we must analyze this to see if we can find a path to the maker. This boon is something that we cannot ever repay you for."


    "Pardon me?" I said, "What do you intend to do?"


    "If they think that they can threaten our family without recourse, and kill my niece, whoever did this has another thing coming. We will be in contact."


    His speech had an aura of finality.


    "If there is something, we will find it, rest assured," his wife said, "Now, please allow my husband to do his part. Xueyie?"


    "Yes, honored mother?"


    "Please do see them out and then attend to us. We have much to discuss inside of the family."


    Moon Lee used her tone to whisk me away, our arms linked as we departed. We thanked them as we left.


    ---


    We went back to the safe house to debrief Xiru. His hair was about as disheveled as I had seen it, with a near frizz on about half of it. He quickly straightened himself up as we came in and he poured us two cups of tea. Lee and I knelt down around the little table both a bit out of sorts.


    "That went about as well as it could have, I take it?" He asked, handing me a cup.


    My stomach growled.


    "Better than that," I replied, "Lee? What are you thinking?"


    She held her cup.


    "I was thinking about what you said about your daughters. How you would do anything to get back and, I''m sorry. I wish I knew a way."


    Xirus brow furrowed considerably.


    "Daughters? As in more than one? Are congratulations to be in order?"


    "No, Xiru. They''re teenagers now. Or they were when I was pulled from my world."


    "They''re teenagers, but you are..." He paused to sip his tea.


    I would like to think that he dropped the thread out of a regard for his own life. Later I found that Min had been glaring at him from my shoulders and he reluctantly stopped it.


    "I don''t think that this is productive right now. I''m still processing their loss and this whole thing had me wanting to make something or get this energy out. When I was married, my ex wife used to hand me some of her unfinished projects to complete. My ex wife, Maxine, used to be an agent for a well to do artist, so I''m familiar with the life. after we broke up, I got with Lauren. We were together until I-" I gulped, "Lauren used to make women''s undergarments, well she used to design them at least and she- she knew that I knew how to see things so often she would ask me to put a few pieces together."


    "This wife... She died?" Moon Lee said.


    "She...Maxine- We drifted apart. She wanted someone with a bit more ambition, at least I think. She was a famous agent to a musician. I don''t know that there is something similar here. Lauren was my rock until the end."


    "Ah yes, the woman that designed underclothes. How did that work out for her?"


    "She was a respected woman in the community and her brassieres- her work employed a team of ten. Lauren was an inspiration to a generation of young women."


    "And you... left her? You mentioned that you had an argument."


    "Lauren and I... I was being an asshole when I left and I didn''t realize that my actions would be so... permanent. Maxine though, something got into her head and it poisoned her over time I think. It''s the same way that everyone here is so deferential to those stronger than them or their families elders. She thought that I wasn''t ambitious enough for her and..."


    "I see a lot of heart here. You''re doing a lot of good things for your community, but she couldn''t see that?"


    "It''s what drove me away. This relentless pursuit of money above all else. She stopped being home and the girls and I stopped missing her. It was always another thing she needed to take care of that required travel and... as a therapist my work was pretty sedentary."


    Xiru coughed, probably trying to get a word in.


    "Money is quite nice," He said.


    I grabbed a sheet of paper and began to doodle one of those full coverage bras that Lauren used to draw. I drew the supports, straps, connectors how she would and pushed it out to look like a blueprint.


    "Lauren drew these in her spare time or when she was trying to solve a problem. This one? This was her masterpiece. It had the perfect amount of coverage, no underwire and it still looked and felt amazing."


    Moon Lee looked at my drawing for a long minute.


    "The women in your world wear these? On their-"


    "It''s quite clear where there wear them, auntie," Xiru said, his face as red as a beet.


    I chuckled.


    "If you want me to make some for you, Xiru, I can. There are some men on my world that prefer to wear women''s undergarments. We are open minded here, after all," I said.


    Moon Xiru looked like he was about to pop a blood vessel. I cam clearly recall years where making fun of cross dressers was the joke du jour and I realized too late that it wasn''t hitting the tone I wanted to hit.


    "I''m sorry. This whole mess has me a little flustered. I shouldn''t have said anything like that to you. If you take offense, then that is on me."


    "This one is fine. Worse things have been said about me. It''s just... the assets required are," he vaguely gestured at the drawing.


    "Could you... draw these in a few different perspectives? May I? I know several prominent seamstresses," she said before trailing off.


    Faster than I used to, several drawings flew off my table as I drew some figures in various poses trying to show what she was looking for. With each drawing her face became more manic pixie dream girl. I shuddered after handing her the fourth one.


    "That''s enough, I think," she said,"And judging by you face that''s about all I''m going to get."


    I unclenched my jaw.


    "No, no it''s fine. By all means ask the therapist to keep drawing women''s underwear. It''s not like there''s more important things going on right now."


    "Ah, yes," she said.


    I could tell that she was a bit absorbed with the drawings because she barely looked up at me when I began to wave my hands.


    "I think that we all need some time to process the days events."


    "What oh, sure," she said.


    Xiru grunted.


    "She''ll get back to us," I muttered.


    The investigation of the incident combined with me breaking through to the third realm made me feel a lot more than usual. It was like getting your feet wet then putting them in sand. Pleasant for a short while so long as you can dip them back into the water.


    "Tea?" Xiru said.


    "Yes. Please," I said.


    The territory that we could potentially cover tonight was rapidly getting away from me. I resolved to try let it go. Moon Lee was utterly absorbed in my drawings, which to be honest were good but not really professional grade. Some therapist take notes while they''re talking to their patients. I tended to draw as it calmed my nerves and kept my focus on the present moment, one of the few things that helped when my inner mood reflected the erratic day.


    "I think I''ll do a few more drawings," I said, "Now, this one is shounen style."

 26. Theatre Makeup P1

    Art therapy did wonders to calm my nerves and we parted not soon thereafter. I was restless that night in the wired but tired way that you get when you don''t know what''s going to happen.


    I finally overslept my time waking up when the sun glared it''s soft deathly rays into my poor face.


    Xueyie had let herself in, shortly after I woke up. Thankfully I had tea ready to go but my stomach was telling me that it was time to eat soon. It wasn''t the normal hunger, getting stronger had changed it. It was a hunger from a distance away, with some of the essential parts removed.


    Like, I could eat.


    I gave her a grin.


    "Do you have time?"


    "Of course, just let me get my shirt on," I said, stretching.


    "Good. I have to rehearse in the afternoon, but for now, I wanted to talk."


    "Do you want to vent, or are you problem oriented right now?"


    "Let''s start with venting. That might take us down a productive path."


    There have been times that someone went into a crisis and I had to push an appointment back for them to accommodate. It didn''t come up that often, but it happened, especially around holidays. I was super happy to be able to video chat with my patients, but now? With nothing holding me back except keeping out of trouble and the Red Fangs eyesight, it was good to have a focus. It would serve to keep me out of a crisis at least.


    I gestured for her to get on with it, the local equivalent a small one handed gesture that she mirrored.


    "I''m getting tired of hearing that I have to be this person that my parents want me to be. This is a ridiculous waste of my time," she said,"Not this as in therapy, but the whole ''replace your cousin who just do happened to be murdered on short notice'' just hurts."


    I pulled a gi hoodie over, aware that she was looking at my abs. Those hadn''t been so pronounced a few weeks ago and I was happy that something was looking up. Or poking out or whatever.


    "You''re still going to do it, though. You''ll be surrounded by powerful cultivators. You''ll be safer than we can make you," I said.


    "I... what is safety without me being able to make a meaningful choice in my own destiny?" she said, her perfect hair shimmering under the direct sun,"If they say jump, I have to jump for the good of the clan. Or as mother says,''For the love of the stage''. Ugh."


    I had to hold a hand up to block the shimmer briefly. One day I was going to have an in depth conversation about the amount of time this culture dedicated to it''s perfect hair.


    "Xueyie, you let them talk you into this. You agreed to be an understudy and they had an altogether understandable expectation that you would hold up your end of the bargain. You getting what you want from them is predicated on your continuing to do what they want. Additionally, this might be to our advantage."


    "How could this possibly be to our advantage?"


    "They''re not going to be able to make a move on you, even if they wanted to. You''re going to be under a lot of scrutiny yes, but you''ll be protected by third realm cultivators. Surely that can''t be a problem for you."


    I had taken some time to develop a devil''s advocate position for her and this felt like the strongest argument I could muster. Unless she absconded to the Moon clan compound under a heavily armed escort, she wouldn''t get the same level of guard.


    "I don''t - look it feels like I''m a prisoner. Recruiting new people largely left me to my own devices, yes but I wasn''t utterly beholden to the families schedule. I did my understudy work, politely sat around and then it was done. It''s only because my cousin and I are so nealy identical that I even got her understudy role."


    I wanted to pause there to have her think about that but another thought occured to me.


    "Nearly identical?"


    I had never seen her cousin and I didn''t want to say that all cultivators looked the same but if you have seen one you might have seen how a bunch of them look(with a pallet swap of course).


    "Yes... we are-were so close in age and looks that we were often confused for sisters. I never had a sister, but we were close."


    "This-today is a little soon and I think a lot of what you''re saying is valid, but I think that we need to talk about *how* nearly identical you were."


    If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    "Why would we need to do that?"


    "They were willing to kill a girl that looked just like you for whatever reason. What if they killed the wrong girl?"


    Now I''m going to tell you that I''e seen damn near everything in my office, but Xueyie nearly throwing up everything that she had eaten in the past two days was a bit much.


    That fact that they could have been looking for her started my wave of nausea. The tone of the recent ''recruitment drive'' went from Tea party to Donner party real quick.


    The Germans have a term that translates roughly to grief bacon and it''s one of those things that you never understand until you''re there present in your grief and you just want a tray of food. No, a cart of food. Some people withdraw into themselves after such a traumatic event but most are hungry and don''t even know it.


    Sadly it looked like all of her grief bacon had run its course. If I had more, I would have started cooking or something. I missed my fridge with all of the accompanying photos. Or more accurately, the ease with which I could turn something cold into something edible. That was something that I could import to here if they hadn''t already figured out a better way to do the same thing with qi.


    "Well, what if they did?" I whispered, not knowing where my mouth was taking me this time, "if they were looking for you, they will realize that you were the wrong one and come after their target and...were you followed?"


    A loud creaking sound from below the safehouse and we were both on edge. I held up a finger for quiet and pointed for Min to head off the outer stairwell.


    Xueyie, her eye makeup smeared all to heck, took up a window and looked out. Her face was now unreadable. Screw anyone who says that theater makeup doesn''t run. Her brand did.


    I could potentially outrun most of the red fangs enforcers. Xueyie probably couldn''t say the same, despite our first meeting being the same sort of running from the recruiters thing that Min had chided me about multiple times. Of course, her I fought to a stand still and then recruited for my own nefarious purposes.


    Ever so slowly, I creaked open the door for Min to slip out and then looked at the second level stone floor. Whoever it was would have to go up the stone steps and then turn on the outdoor area. I had suspected that they would be on to our location at some point in time, as they had harassed Fei.


    I thought I had prepared well, working on hiding my cultivation. It had the distinct sense that nothing I could have done would be enough as two enforcers turned the corner.


    My pulse slowed as I intentionally moved into a sprinters crouch. I was going to bowl and these two were my pins.


    With a calm even hand, I motioned for Xueyie to follow as I ran straight as the two short haired men, attempting to clothesline both of them.


    The wrestling move appeared to be completely unexpected as though both were strong, neither had expected it.


    Both of them fell on their asses and in a moment, Xueyie was on the left one, jabbing him in the stomach in a flurry of blows.


    I could see the breath and life fly out of the man as she pummeled him.


    My short haired enforcer tried standing up but I stopped him, holding his throat with my palm.


    "Who sent you?" I barked.


    The only sound was Xueyie beating the piss out of the poor guy she had gotten to first.


    His reply was a wan smile.


    "The Sect of the-" I slapped him hard enough to hurt his mother and his now unconscious body flew down the stairwell before rolling into several unnatural contortions.


    "We have company-Oh you went and had fun without me," Min said from behind us.


    "How-fucking-dare-you-interrept-my-therapy," Xueyie yelled, her punches punctuating the mans chest and her speech.


    "He''s unconscious."


    She kept hitting him, harder now.


    "Xueyie! HE IS UNCONSCIOUS!" I yelled, "And we have to move. Min can you handle this?"


    "What do you mean, handle this? I''m not in the habit of killing men in cold blood."


    "No...not that can you get them in the dream state and glean something from them? Oh fuck. Where''s Xiru?"


    I bolted down the steps, taking them four at a time and then turned to see Fei crumpled against the walls.


    "I did it sir," he said, smiling, "I held them off..."


    "No! No-no-no-no," I said, frantic.


    Xueyie was immediately beside me.


    "Xiru! Oh heavens, Moon Fei!" she said, sitting down to console the man.


    To the world, it looked like he had almost been shoved into a wall but the marble stone had held leaving a man shaped dent behind him. He almost certainly had internal organ damage.


    "If they sent two, they may have sent more," Xiru said from the door, handing me a large empty sack.


    I looked at him in puzzlement. This was just a bit too much to take in such short order. We had developed contingencies but we hadn''t had to act on them. This was the first time that Fei had been back in a week and they had probably just tracked him here.


    I fumed.


    "It''s for their bodies," he said, "Cart is out back. If I were you, I would take them outside of the border and dump them once you got enough information out of them. Or dump them into the canals and feed the great beasts of the sea. Either way I think that my visit to my cousin is long overdue and the Tea Brokers union might want their safe house back."


    "I... thank you for this. We''ll send word once we''re safe."


    What I didn''t say was that if they could find us here, they were probably already tracking Moon Fei and Moon Xiru wherever they went so it might be that we needed to accelerate our plans.


    "Here''s the bug out bag you asked for, and it will do well with the bulk tea moving cart that just happened to become available," he grabbed another sack, handing it to Xueyie, then pulled a rickshaw type cart out from the side of the building.


    I grabbed the man that I had knocked out, quickly checking his pulse, before stuffing him into my sack. Xueyie followed as well. By that time, Xiru had gotten Fei up and the two had begun hobbling away.


    "I''ll send word to my auntie as well. She''ll be interested and she has a summer home that you may find amenable."


    His familiar usage of pronouns was something that took my by surprise, but no more than the two men who were now lying in a rickshaw that I picked up.


    "Are you coming with?"


    "It appears I have no other choice. Thank you Moon Xiru, and Moon Fei stay out of trouble," she said as we began to run in a direction that I hoped would be safest, towards where I had come into this world, one hand on each arm of the cart.


    ___

 27. Theatre Makeup P2

    On earth, if you had asked me how long I could run at a near dead on sprint with a rickshaw, I would say go into depth about the air speed of a coconut laden swallow until one of my daughters cut me off. They didn''t appreciate what they called ''late 1900s works'' and I called ''the classics''.


    Here? On this new world? Faced with the stark reality of having knocked out two men who had to be convicted felons just based on the length of their hair- men who had every intention to kill or capture me or my friend- I would tell you about ten blocks, give or take a minute. That was when I slowed down, trying to align my breath and steps.


    Xueyie for her part had stuck with me, which was probably the most fatherly thing I had ever felt after changing endless diapers.


    You know how you sometimes remember things that you did a while ago and cringe? Sidenote: I could never get into the office and it''s cringe humor and it''s one of the things that drove me and Maxine apart. Anyway I have a strong memory of being a rebellious teenager and commenting obliquely at someone being a father and how that wasn''t manly.


    He took it in stride and commented that the manliest thing was taking care of his kids. I turned that moment over and over again when Maxine had the girls and though I never apologized since it was clear that he had forgotten, it are me up years later at the strangest times.


    So yeah did I think that protecting the weak was manly? Teenage Joe did. Did adult Joe get off on protecting women? No, but my inner child was happy to see her safe.


    I say all this to explain that I really didn''t want to have to deal with these two idiots. I especially didn''t want to murder them, but I especially didn''t want them to report back to their boss. That would send a message but I was generally against killing people. Call it a moral code if you will, but this whole experience had changed me. Maybe the game later would give me a skill point and I would get better at something, but more than likely it would take me down a dark path and I like to stay on the lighter fun side.


    All of this was rushing through my head as Xueyie deftly turned me around a blue robe check point.


    The slight differences between the different neighborhoods were now becoming a bit more familiar to me. We passed through the route that Egiya had taken me on, crossing over it several times to avoid blue robes. I didn''t have anything resembling papers for this delivery but if watching years of improv and playing the storyteller did anything for me, it was to instill the value of acting like I belonged.


    "Do you think they''ll answer questions?" I asked Min.


    Min had curled up on my shoulders, her touch just a bit more than a feathers weight.


    "No. If the Red Fang are going to send hardened criminals to you then they are operating beyond anything normal. We should assume that these men were meant to confirm your location before a second team perhaps would be sent in for an ambush."


    My whole body tensed. I hadn''t been thinking like a criminal or a mob boss.


    I wasn''t a gang leader, I just played one in social deduction games when the situation called for it.


    "That makes a lot of sense but these guys were sloppy."


    "They might have been working off information only they knew but that is highly doubtful. Better to think of the safe house as compromised and move."


    "Are you getting anything from their dreams?"


    "At service level... Do you know about the leviathan mines?"


    My ears peeled up at something that sounded incongruous.


    This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it


    "I haven''t. That''s on the map somewhere?"


    "North of the governors holdings. It''s ...not a nice place."


    I shuddered. In this world of kung fu wizards if a spiritual beast considers someplace not nice that was probably code for ''actively harmful''. I filed that away for later.


    Something twinged in the back of my brain as we crossed over into the mainland and so was certain that Min had come out of a trance state.


    "It''s bad," the moon spirit in the shape of a cat said.


    "How bad?"


    We kept going past several larger buildings, made more because they had space on the mainland than for anything else. The buildings began to give way to larger clan compounds as we got closer.


    "It''s about as bad as it can get," Min replied as we passed what seemed like the last street vendor before the crowds were beginning to die down.


    We had been moving down the central street at a clip.


    "Bad as it can get? Alright, have your secrets. Tell me later."


    I stopped us at the last street merchant selling foods because any port in a storm, getting us a pair of fried tentacles on a stick. Xueyie accepted hers with a curr nod while she held onto the cart to keep it from tipping over.


    I kept a sedate pace as I walked next to her alternating between looking around and chewing on the rather salty skewer. When I was done, I changed out with her so she could eat. I like to think of myself as equal opportunity feminist and despite being nearly two realms stronger than her, she could hold her own. Real feminists haul their own trash and the way she laid into that one guy, yeah she could help.


    "I don''t really have a concrete plan to do anything with these men and you seem to know their dreams already, Min, so now that the crowds have died down substantially, would you care to fill us in?"


    Min purred.


    "These men are monsters and I wouldn''t feel bad killing them myself. They-they are demonic cultivators. They need to kill people to get stronger."


    "Doesn''t everyone?" Xueyie asked.


    "No. They need-there is a ritual they do with the dead bodies and they-they have killed so many."


    "Oh. OH. Well, fuck," I said.


    We kept going back to the pastoral landscape that had drawn me in before. It''s hard to have a breakdown while you''re in such a calming environment, but one was dawning on me.


    I had never killed anyone before. I had gone to Tai Chi and learned some self defense because my mother had dragged me to one, but this was far different. It would be easier if they were faceless goblins but these men had done terrible things.


    It''s not that I''m a fan of the prison system, though I am a proponent of rehabilitation, but if there ever was someone that deserved death, then these men were probably high on the list. Probably almost as high as whoever had sent them.


    "We have to assume that the safe house is compromised. We further have to assume that they''re watching Moon Fei, so he is compromised. Xueyie, I don''t want to kill these men, but," I said, taking the handles, "I guess I don''t want to kill anyone."


    "I can take care of that," she said, walking beside me.


    The frantic pace had dissolved with our exit from Western Jewel proper. We were now far from the canals and tenements, getting closer to the barriers that kept worse things out.


    "Min?"


    "Your sense of justice is strong, but these men would just as quickly have killed you. This world is a harsher one than yours and you may need to adapt your thinking."


    I soldiered on perhaps because that thought was not on a path that I wanted to be on. I didn''t think that criminals were beyond redemption because sometimes the system set up people for failure but this was beyond my normal set of parameters.


    Could these men turn into productive members of society? It was doubtful. The mere mention of the script that other demonic cultivators had left at the scene or perhaps placed as a red herring had been enough for Xueyies family to recoil in horror. I could turn them over to the authorities but that would raise a lot of questions about where I had come from. Questions that I didn''t have a ready answer for. Sure, I was strong now but I could see them pulling in someone to use me as a science experiment or something. Or, if Min was correct as some sort of living meal for them to advance their cultivation. So not exactly vampires but close to it.


    "You know that you can go to the blue robes with these men, right?" Xueyie said.


    "That would raise a lot of questions. The first of which is who I am, and why we were able to overpower these first realm cultivators."


    "What else would we do with them? They''re still breathing. I should end them."


    "That''s rather forward of you. Min are you absolutely certain that there''s nothing good that you can glean from them? Their dreams or nightmares have told you what you needed to know?"


    Min held up a paw from the cart. She didn''t weigh anything and had done nothing but sit on top of them as we exited town.


    "The blue robes would have a lot of questions, but they''re equipped to deal with this kind of problem. I don''t know how we''re going to-what are you doing?" Xueyie said.


    I picked up speed. I could see a cultivator approaching our vector at a rapid pace.


    "Company is coming."

 28. Acrimonial P1

    The cultivator slowed down, leaving a gouge in the earth ahead of us. I put the cart back, leaving the handles in the air.


    Around us the tall grass cut off the view of most everything, save for a half circle of small hills.


    "Min, come to me," I said as the Moon Spirit left to my shoulder, "protect her if she needs it."


    That fatherly urge to protect your kids from harm kicked in hard as I realized that Xueyie had only recently broken through to the second realm. Whoever was facing us was at least in the third realm.


    The dust cleared and as expected of a society that took far too much stock in drama, a person with a mask and long flowing locks stepped to greet us. They had the first set of long curly hair that I had seen so far here, over a green gi that left room for fighting.


    "It seems like we are at an impasse," I said, "we would like to continue onwards, but you seem to be in our path."


    The avatar walked forward, the mask an androgynous placeholder for either gender, this worlds dubious hair culture getting in the way of telling me anything of note.


    "The only one in your path is yourself," a female voice with a middle eastern accent said.


    I blanched.


    Everyone so far had a flat or neutral tone, this woman sounded like she was selling baba ganoush. It was the voice of every woman I had met at the Kibbutz I spent my summer at junior year of High school.


    "Who are you?" I said, holding an arm up for Xueyie.


    The masked figure paused in front of us, giving ample breathing room. Another villain hopefully ready to monologue.


    "Why, Joe, it hasn''t been that long, has it?"


    The ceramic mask dropped from her face with a flourish to reveal the last woman I expected.


    "What in the ever loving fuck are you doing here, Maxine?" I said.


    She held onto the mask with the tips of her fingers.


    "I should ask you the same question, Joe. Who is with our daughters?"


    "What the hell are you talking about and -oh...If you''re here?"


    If I had been magically transported here and Maxine had done the same well, the laws of custody were pretty straightforward as to who the kids would go to next.


    "You just decided that you would skip town and live out some adventure here while your girls were worried sick at home? Just to shlep two enforcers out of town?"


    "I...er..."


    "Or better yet you didn''t think. See this is why-and I''m sorry you got caught in the crossfire Miss, but he''s all yours if you want him, I divorced him for a reason- this is why we aren''t together anymore. You weren''t thinking about your choices when they asked you to come here."


    I was content to let her leak information all afternoon, as sometimes she had a penchant for oversharing and now I was unsure of how both of us had made it here intact. Someone had asked her to come here. I had nothing like that in my memory, just the quick transition through a doorway


    "What did you tell the girls? Before you left, I mean?" I hadn''t gotten a chance to tell them.


    It sounded like she had some foreknowledge that she would be coming here and my mind went to the patient who had been talking about kung fu wizards and I began to hyperventilate.


    "I told them that Mommy was going on a work trip for some time and that they were to stay with their dad. Obviously, this didn''t work out."


    "And you didn''t think to tell me any of this?"


    "I only had them on weekends, Joe. And then only some weekends. But I see you''re already starting a harem here so perhaps I was wrong about your commitment to them."


    Xueyie was watching this exchange with rapt attention. She had leaned over the cart handle and gotten comfy. At her mention she straightened up.


    Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.


    "So, This is why we broke up. She made decisions like this without asking me. I had no clue but this explains a bit. Still doesn''t explain how you got here, and I''m not starting a Harem."


    It explained nothing to me, but I was trying to play along with her.


    "If I had known that the powerful potential recruit we had been searching for was you, I would have stopped them a long time ago. Anyway, I would like my two associates, if you please," she said, and for the first time, I felt her power.


    The was a peak second realm cultivator or an early third realm, we were too close in our advancement to tell.


    "Your... Associates?" I said.


    "Technically they''re mine, but seeing as how you look exhausted and they''re right there with you, qi thought I would save you the trouble and just take them off your hands right now."


    "No, I get that it''s just," I said moving my head from side to side, "I don''t see a red fang tattoo on your face whereas these two-"


    "Think of me as more of an independent contractor. And seeing as how you''re part of this contract, I will be exercising my right to get out of it," she said, moving to the cart.


    Min jumped to my shoulder as Xueyie and I walked away from the cart. I hadn''t left any personal effects on it, learning to leave it with Egiya, but it still stung that not only had this world sent me my ex wife when I was still grieving the breakup with Lauren, but that she had been sent to get me by this over eager Sect.


    "Oh and Joe, a word of caution. The girls may not be able to reach you here, but I can."


    My mind was swirling with questions that I wanted to ask her. She had apparently a much better network than I did and at the very least knew about Egiya and Moon Lee, if she was going to drop the Harem comment.


    "Maxine-I-... It''s good to see you."


    "It''s good to see you too. Goodbye Joe."


    Maxine held out her left hand and I could see Qi circulating around her arm ad she placed it on one of the men. He disappeared, slowly fading into shadow before my eyes. She repeated whatever technique she used with the second men before turning to us and giving a wink.


    "Whatever you think of him, think twice before you marry him," she said to Xueyie, before taking off Iron Man style.


    That was completely unfair. I wanted Iron Man style flight.


    "What the hell was that, *Joe*? Care to explain?" Xueyie said once she was a speck on the horizon.


    "That was something. How much do you know about people being summoned to your world, exactly, because I have questions."


    ---


    It was not in fact a minor thing, people getting pulled here. Nor did Xueyie particularly know the answers as to how people got here and if it was possible to go back, because if it was possible, I would break this world in half to get back to my girls.


    We sat together looking back at the city that we had ran out of as fast a possible.


    "Don''t you have rehearsals?"


    "Cancelled. They thought to give the family some time after the passing of the leading actor."


    "This whole thing, being harassed by the Red Fang to the point that they got someone on the outside, it just doesn''t sit well with me."


    "It doesn''t help that they hired your ex wife?" Min asked.


    She had curled up around me, half cat, half liquid. She got a scritch for that. I remembered a time when it had felt weird, but that was thankfully behind me now.


    "I just-look I can see that it might be strange, but we both came from the same world and she''s somehow slightly stronger than me here? I''m a bit jealous to be honest."


    "Because she is so strong?" Xueyie said.


    "No, because-I don''t know I can''t really place it," I replied.


    "The parts of the dream world that I could see from them- they didn''t feature her as far as I can tell so she may not be involved in their particular brand of cruelty," Min said, "but that doesn''t mean she isn''t a party to it."


    I didn''t want to think about Maxine as a demonic cultivator, as my path kept crossing theirs. Another clash seemed inevitable with the Red Fang, but I wanted it to be on my terms. I definitely didn''t want to trade blows with someone who I had such an acrimonious history with.


    "Is there a way to tell, definitively that she is with them?"


    Min jumped down to the cart and moved it slightly. There was a sightly incline and she got it to move about two inches back. Xueyie gave it a gentle push to playfully move it a bit further.


    "It is unclear. She does not bear their mark. there could be other ways."


    "Xueyie, do you know any good lunch spots this far out? I think it''s time for me to tell you about my ex wife."


    "She comes out of nowhere and solved a problem that we hadn''t even finished working on? What exactly did you think you were going to do with them?" Min pointedly asked.


    "To be honest, if they didn''t say anything I was going to kick them outside the totems."


    Xueyie stopped playing with the cart.


    "You were going to sentence them to ... That?" She said.


    I looked between the two.


    "Yeah I''m going to need some more context. Lunch?"


    "I know a place," Xueyie said,"are we leaving the cart?"


    Her eyes told a story of a girl who just wanted to go on a magic carpet ride, but had been told that she was confined to her room


    "I have an idea."

 29. Acrimonial P2

    ___


    Ten minutes later and Xueyies inner child couldn''t have been happier, riding in the cart all the while. My inner dad was happier for the experience and the manual labor of pushing and pulling the cart back and forth felt meditative.


    Getting back to civilization was something else. If you''ve ever trained for a race and put in the effort, well let''s just say that Mom had me run a few 5ks with her when Tai Chi was a big part of my life, then we did a 10k or two and she got me to do a half marathon and I was pretty well spent afterwards. I wasn''t that level of tired, but I was getting close.


    We found the first place with outdoor seating and flagged down a server. It was one of the cultural universals that I enjoyed. The stone benches and worked stone seats that jutted out next to the road looked as inviting as some of the soups I saw being served. I made a mental note as to whose orders I would be stealing.


    When the server came to take our order I pointed to two soups that looked promising and asked her to pick her favorite of the two. She, being a woman of impeccable taste and hair, flipped her hair and then returned to the kitchen.


    I''m not going to say that I didn''t watch her go, because I did. Her quipaos left little to the imagination and I was in the best shape of my life now so you can imagine how I felt when Xueyie had to snap several times to bring me back to the present.


    "Ah. Apologies. I didn''t know so was staring."


    "That''s fine. She might think that you want to marry her though, so probably best that you tell her that you don''t have a dowry when you return."


    I sat up straight from my reclined position to give her my full attention.


    "Is that a thing here? Because if it is-"


    "No, it isn''t but Min whispered that you might like to hear that. What''s a dowry, by the way?"


    "It''s something you pay to the family of the woman or vice versa. It has never been clear to me when this was a thing but, I digress. I need to tell you about her don''t ?"


    Xueyie mirrored my position, clearly waiting to hear more. I was a classic man, not one to make a woman wait.


    "So... about Maxine. I never thought that she would return to my life in any fashion, much less as a quasi adversary, but we have crossed.this rubicon. She was wonderful when she had to be, everyone always is. But she couldn''t get this idea out of her head and it kinda killed us. Honestly I don''t know how she got her but this place would be perfect for us. I just wish I knew what was going on with Rachel and Courtney."


    "Those are your daughters? Their names are beautiful. I''ve never heard them before, but beautiful."


    The server arrived with a pitcher of water for both of us and Xueyie filled and drained her cup faster than a frat boy during initiation week.


    "It''s from my culture. Also they were relatively popular names when was your age? I''m still not exactly sure how old you are and a bit afraid to ask."


    Left unsaid was that I didn''t know how long years or months were here and their day system of four on and three off had thrown me.


    "I''m... I keep forgetting that you''re not from here. I''ll be eighteen next month."


    The soup arrived then, both line and hers and so was happy to see a generous portion of noodles and meat ready for me.


    "Where I''m from, we have compulsory education for everyone your age and younger. Then they''re on their own usually or they take up a trade like you. A lot of people, like me try to set our children up for success."


    "So you took up a trade as a therapist and worked under a master before you were able to strike it out on your own."


    "More or less, though there was a lot of-" *parties*"-"School to get to where I was. I had to learn a lot about social dynamics and systems. I learned a lot about how social institutions can do good. This bread is excellent though, good choice. And with the soup?"


    "My mother took us here when I was a child in the in between. Generally we do the same set of plays but there is a period after the solar new year where everyone is off and we came out this far to not be recognized. We were often traveling via airship to take our show on the road so those times in between, well I thought of this bread and how close we were."


    "It''s just the right amount of spice to add to the goat. We might have to go again," I said, stuffing my face.


    "You wanted to know about the totems and the boundary? Everyone learns about it when they are children. You can leave whenever you want if you''re third realm or above but those with broken cultivation and weaker cultivators can only pass with assistance. They would be trapped out there."


    I shuddered. The whole thing had been a mix up. I didn''t want to kill anyone but I needed information and going to the blue coats would expose us. That indecision was probably going to be a problem. The fact that they were terrible demonic cultivators didn''t register. If I just killed indiscriminately I was no worse than men who had just been following orders at Nuremberg.


    "What could happen out there?"


    "Spirits have free reign," Min said, "Not spirits like me, but ones that actively work to harm humans. Though If I had to I could hurt one and not with words alone. It is a great place to train and get stronger, but it is also dangerous. You should take a team with you if you''re heading there and perhaps Auntie Lee."


    The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    If Moon Lee had been with us, she could have solved our demonic problem easily. I wondered how she would take the news of my ex wife being here. If it had been Lauren then we might have reconciled, but Maxine and I had split far too long ago.


    "With my ability to hide my powers, we should be able to find a new safe house where we can lay low. I expect some heat from this if it comes back around."


    The fact that the entire city was circled by a near impassable boundary meant that we couldn''t just run away from our problems in the long term.


    We would have to solve them. Probably after lunch though.


    "I''m wondering where you think this easy steady supply of safe houses are going to come from," Min said, stretching like a real liquid cat.


    "We uh... I believe that Egiya can help us in that regard. I don''t know how else. We would have to set up a dead drop system-''''


    "I''m sorry. Dead drop? What does that mean?" Xueyie said.


    "We leave a note somewhere at an agreed upon location to indicate something to the rest of the crew. Then they leave a response or... It''s a way for us to communicate asynchronously. The location can be anywhere, really, and we will probably have to pick a cypher. Min could you be a dear and make us a dream cypher?"


    Min rolled her eyes.


    "I suppose."


    "Cypher? What is this?"


    "Min has access to my memories but in short it''s a way for our messages to be opaque to anyone who does not have a key to decode it."


    "This is beginning to sound very complex. We probably need to have a meeting."


    "Yes. We need to speak to our Moon clan benefactor soon after this because of these developments. We''ll probably need to have to meeting there."


    Xueyie finished her plate and pushed it to the side. It was probably time to get off the more serious matters. She looked as exhausted as I felt.


    "Did you want to talk about your cousin? While we''re here? I think that in our rush today, I forgot to check in with you."


    "Can we do that right now? What if someone hears us?"


    The stone furniture that surrounded us was empty, the other eaters having left while we talked. The slow flow of commerce on the nearby street was the only noise with some conversations between people walking with friends.


    "We can do that now. You can talk without saying her name? Or we can do this later. I''m only asking because today has been a bit on the heavier side and we both need to decompress. If you want, I can tell you about my daughters instead?"


    She brightened.


    "I would like that. You sound like ... Like the kind of father that..." She got all choked up.


    "You... I don''t have my daughters with me but when I''m with you and Egiya, you both remind me that there is good in this strange world."


    "Hey... So you really tore into that one guy. You were excellent. You''re strong and you don''t need me to tell you that. What your family is doing to you is rough, but you''re going to make it. My dad used to tell me that some houses had good bones. You know the underlying building material was good. Sometimes he said the same thing about people. I''m telling you that you''ve got good bones. We just need to renovate up here."


    I pointed to my head. She hid her smile with her mug.


    "I did have one more question. What''s a harem?"


    ___


    We took the long way back to her clans compound. It was good to be walking with a full belly and no pressure to sprint all out. We were not making a special delivery, but all the same I was on edge the closer we got and our talks got quiet when we were two neighborhoods away.


    The faint sound of commerce blended in as the damned good smell of tea increased. A few men with pamphlets wanted to sell us tickets to the old emperor''s story. I looked to Xueyie as she gave them an indignant sigh but accepted one graciously.


    "It''s the street team. They are here to spread our values. Some of them take this a bit more seriously."


    "Uh huh," I said, unwilling to take my hands off the handles of our cart.


    It was only after we passed them that we traded positions. I got to look at the bright colors of the pamphlet and she got flustered as I watched flipped back and forth between the drawings of the fully made up actors.


    "This is supposed to be you? It''s very evocative. I didn''t know that you could bend your elbows like that. And the shade, oooh gurl."


    "One has to suffer for ones art. Even from the worst critics."


    "Min have you seen this?"


    The familiar popped over my shoulder to look. I waited for the quip that never came as we got closer to Egiyas shop. We had decided that we could enlist her aid by a unanimous vote of two to one.


    "Are you poking fun at her right now? Do you really think that this is the time?"


    I gave her a glance.


    "Egiya whatever you think I''m saying, I''m just saying that this makes you look good. That''s all. If I said it in a way that came across as mean, I am so sorry and I''m going to try not to do anything like that again."


    "Thanks. We''re almost at the shop. Did you want to get in the cart?"


    We had paused to apply a heavy coat of makeup on her and get workers clothes for me. The thing that made me stand out-my hair-was underneath a bandana. Keeping a low profile in the cart was a close to last resort but we had planned for me to do it when we got close enough. I was just glad that I had enough time and money to set this up on the way.


    She pushed me the last three blocks, me looking like the world like a working class drunk. It hurt my internal classic man image. To be fair, she was strong and I had always wanted to be paraded around like I meant something.


    As the minutes grew longer and we hadn''t arrived it was clear to me that she was circling the area. For better or worse she was my eyes and ears for now. When we turned the next corner, she began a hushed talk with Min that I could not make heads or tails of.


    Eventually we went down a side alley to an access point to the second floor and she stopped. She waved for me to go up the stairs that I recognize as similar to Egiyas.


    I took step after anxious step up to the second floor walkway and paused to wait. Min followed once I had reached the top. Xueyie stowed the cart and joined us.


    "The shop was closed," Min intoned.


    I followed a house behind Xueyie as we got closer to the second floor entrance to her family apartment. The familiar painting on the wall of a scribe hard at work came into view. Xueyie motioned for Min to lead the next part and she bounded down in cat form. She approached the door and liquefied into a two dimensional flat cat to go underneath. That was a trick I was going to go out of my way to learn.


    Ten heartbeats later and the familiar cat shape popped out from the door. Then it swung open, causing Min to flurry up like a sheet of paper. A familiar grey mane faced us as the face only a mother could have popped out.


    "Anyone for tea, then?"

 30. 86

    "They used your mundane accomplices to triangulate your position. That or they followed her. I''m not sure which is more likely at this point. Either way that what did you call it? Safe house? It''s compromised."


    If you ever had an older woman tell you that everything is going to be okay, then you probably understand how I felt. It''s the same feeling when an older black woman calls you Sweetheart, Or your nan makes your your favorite food. All of a sudden, things were looking up.


    "You''re probably too young to remember this, but several decades ago prior the blue coats did a thorough look the the under ground scene here. They uncovered a small but significant conclave of demonic cultivators feeding off the downtrodden. It was a scandal that rolled heads under the governors watch. There''s a reason that his house symbol is the glaive. It wasn''t that one before."


    Xueyie and I were listening with rapt attention, the elder Kang and her faded (Korean traditional dress) in blue and silver letting it be known that this wasn''t a demand but we damn well would be listening for our own good. Of all of the parents I had seen this far, she was the most inspiring. It was her husbands Nascent misogyny about having a daughter that had driven Egiya.


    "It is said that one hundred demonic cultivator died that day. It is also said that only one demon is needed to start another conclave. So one wonders after the recent death of your cousin if they are to be blamed as few living have any memory of how they play their trade. It''s true that they need to kill to advance, that the corpses have something to do with it but beyond that, I am at a loss. Would that I could fight this scourge alongside you...that would be a fitting end."


    She stared off into the distance and withdrew for a while. Neither I nor my companions had any cause to redirect her attention with how good the food was to our hungry bellies.


    I coughed after a while to draw her back in.


    "Where was I? Oh yes, the current events. Have I said that I''m dreadfully sorry about your cousin, dear? I don''t recall if I had or not."


    "You did. Thank you. We will burn incense in her honor. She was a woman of quiet grace."


    The gleam in her eye was briefly shrouded by another sip of tea.


    "Would that we could all be known for our grace and not our strength or lack thereof. It''s not a woman''s face that she should be judged by, but her actions. Perhaps that is how I would want to be remembered. No one wants to be known as this-"


    She gestured to herself and I knew she meant her shattered core. I couldn''t imagine losing everything I had build up in the last how long had I been here? Had I already lost track of time? It felt like it had been a month since I started training with the Moon clan. How long had I been away from the girls? Too long.


    "No one will know you as that after you help us bring them down. The fact that that have been flaunting their sign in plain view of everyone out here is just bad business."


    Xueyie and Madame Kang looked at me like I had asked casually about their favorite cannibals.


    "Their sign?" The elder woman asked.


    "The ultraviolet tattoo on their faces?" I said.


    "What''s ultraviolet? And where on their faces?" Xueyie said.


    "Min? Can you help here? It''s why I didn''t attack Maxine. She didn''t have it. She''s either not one of them like she said or she''s hiding it super well."


    "Light has various high and low shades and this particular part of it is usually beyond human sight. Higher level cultivators might be able to spot it, but it would be faint. The fact that Joe can see it opens up a lot of avenues for us."


    ---


    I was going to need to assemble the crew. Moon Fei was effectively comatose and being


    seen to by a Moon clan healer. His prognosis was worse than the last time he had gotten jumped. He was probably going to need to find a new line of work after this.


    Moon Xiru was fired up.


    "We need to take it to them. Before they cool off. Strike while the tea is still steeping. This one has a plan," he began.


    "There''s a shipment of pills coming in by airship that is due to be moved tonight. They move it under the cover of darkness and they shroud it in tea leaves. My contact is one hundred percent certain that they will be moving on this tonight. If we disrupt their supply chain then we can make them feel our pain."


    "How do they move it? Pills are highly regulated. I know you said that they try to obscure it with tea, and this is a devious use of the tea brokers union to be certain," Moon Lee said.


    The trade of pills was highly regulated and the import from some of the more settled lands kept the local Sects competitive. There was something about the area that we were in that made it more difficult to produce pills, but neither Moon Lee nor Moon Xiru knew all of the details. It was frustrating that they had a lot of the pieces but I really wish that there was something like Wikipedia here for me to reference.


    Egiya had told me that knowledge was power, but also power was power. I was beginning to see why everything was behind a signed lifelong contract with a Sect or master. It all came back to intellectual property and the ''c word''. No, the other one. Fucking capitalism siloing information behind pay walls, this being one of the more egregious acts. Sects didn''t share information and when they did it was the blandest milquetoast type of exchange. So to say that a cultivator who was close to the fourth realm not knowing what her peers with different concentrations did to advance was par for the course.


    "Pills are highly regulated. Does that mean that they are taxed? Would the blue coats want a cut of their action?" I said.


    "That or they would just take it if they were made aware of it," Moon Xiru said,"it''s how they operate and make money for their benevolent association."


    "Are you serious about the benevolent association? Because that''s just ridiculous government overreach."


    "Only the powerful can stop them. This one thinks that you are powerful and can deal with the kind of blue coats that would be on patrol. With auntie you will go far."


    "Thank you cousin," Moon Lee said,"but we need a few more particulars about how they move their product if we are to meet them at a place of our choosing. Otherwise we would be trying to find a particular leaf in an orchard."


    I liked the leaf in an orchard metaphor. It was better than the needle in a haystack that I would have used. I was also imagining having to raise up a police force to combat a town full of Dragon ball Z strength civilians and yeah "overwhelming use of force" barely described it. There were dozens of craters-clear evidence of a powerful brawl- that dotted just the alleyways. Several half statues in this neighborhood alone had been meticulously reconstructed several times by what had to have been generations of artisans. It was so off putting sometimes that it had to have been the case that as one point in time someone with Victorian sensibilities had to have been a lead on many projects.


    "The point of the matter is that we have been reacting to what they''re doing. I need to hit them where it hurts," I said putting a hand on Xueyie, "or more accurately, we need to fuck with them, let them know who is in charge."


    I unconsciously flexed my knuckles. The pops came out far louder than I had ever intended. I heard a groan that had to have been from Min.


    "No that''s not me. He just had freaky joints," she said.


    "Creaky joints at this stage? Perhaps we need to up your flexibility training," Moon Lee mused.


    I gulped.


    "Perhaps we can go back on track. Alright Xiru, we hit them hard and fast. What do we know about the courier?"


    "The courier is an independent agent as such things are highly regulated and per union contact with the air shipping guild, but they will usually have an enforcer there to meet them. This skirts the rule against shipping things yourself but those rules are something that it would take a mandarin years to understand. We in the tea brokers union have a deal with the couriers local number five, so this one hopes that we can keep said collateral damage to an absolute minimum."


    The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.


    "So, don''t hurt the innocent guy, got it," I said, "what happens if he gets hurt?"


    "Don''t hurt the innocent guy," Moon Lee said, her voice not so much a command but an understanding that it would be in our best interest to do what she said.


    "Understood."


    "But he is the one carrying the thing we are after?" Egiya said,"What are we going to do, slap his security detail senseless and ask for his bag?"


    "That''s the part that we will leave to you as this one cannot be a party against a union member. But this one expects a sufficient bribe will probably work to help him onto our side."


    "And I suppose that there is a table in the union contract of how much a courier is allowed to accept for a package of a known value?"


    Moon Xiru smiled.


    "This one has the relevant page right here as well listing the common cost of packages and it''s known that the Red Fang prefer a specific tea. This tea, if in the quantity specified here, as their normal amount requested, has a known value. Bribing a courier, once his security has been dispatched, as you can see in table 1-F here is, and reading from the text: ''No less than thirty percent of the expected and stamped value of a package shall be given in the case of extortion to any courier forced to turn over a package.'''' ''"


    I scanned the page and it went on as to how to claim extortion on ones taxes, pay taxes on bribes, and let''s just say I stopped reading after that.


    "This society has rules about stealing packages. Of course."


    "Is it not the same where you come from?" Egiya asked,"As this is pretty common practice. There are several plays that reference this including what is that one called where the Sheriff goes rogue, Xueyie."


    "The Emperor''s diaries, and yes it includes several such segment."


    With Moon Fei out of commission, Xiru and I were the only men in the room, and with the addition of Madame Kang, we were outnumbered four to two. Not that we formed a voting bloc, if anything Moon Lee and I formed one as we were both the strongest. I however wanted to do things as least a little bit democratically.


    "It sounds like we are all on board with this. Do we want to take a vote and be all in. Madame Kang can break a tie. Min you can''t because you''re going where I am going."


    "Perhaps we should give her a vote. She does a lot for you and she is her own person."


    Moon Lee as the only one who had experience with a familiar spirit beast had all of the institutional knowledge in this regard. I treated Min like an extension of me. An inappropriate, snarky extension that I had to reel in, not unlike having a teenager on board.


    And, like having a teenager on board, I wanted to include them in things- unless of course Min didn''t want to vote.


    "Min, you''re a part of this team. Did you want to weight in, or suggest something different?"


    "Can we not just get into an airship and leave Western Jewel? Once you have reached the level of a third realm cultivators interest, I doubt you will be able to avoid some sort of accommodation. Or conflict," she said the last part quietly.


    "You don''t think that Joe is ready for a fight against a third realm cultivator?" Moon Lee said, her face unreadable.


    "This one does not know," Min said.


    Then she began to look me up and down as if assessing me for my fitness for office. I worked for this, damn it. Couldn''t she at least see that? I had things to do and people to tell that they needed therapy and no I had a full book right now so they could go and fuck off. I wasn''t going to be helping these assholes.


    "I guess I could just up and leave, but that would be betraying what I''ve built up here and plus they would probably follow me, wouldn''t they," I said waiting for the knowing nods, "I see you''re all nodding, good yeah and that leaves you all in the lurch. I didn''t have some grand plan when I came here, but I''ll be damned if they aren''t going to get the full on Joe experience, while I have breath to draw."


    Moon Xiru whistled in an approving manner.


    "Egiya?" I said.


    She had been spared most of the problems. Her cousin hadn''t been murdered. She had been on stakeout duty.


    "I can heal the courier if needed. It would be highly suspicious of us all to show up and I don''t believe that they have tagged me as a part of the group yet."


    "We''re going to want to keep our faces covered then. Can you provide some sort of distraction?"


    "If the honored spirit helps, then this is quite possible," She turned to the moon spirit.


    "This is acceptable," Min replied.


    "At last we are in agreement," Moon Lee said, bringing our attention back to the present.


    ---


    There''s some unwritten rule that goes a bit like this: if the bad guys reveal something in a monologue then it''s destined to hurt the good guys, but if the good guys reveal their plans then it''s as good as throwing out the plan. It could just be Murphy''s law.


    I want you to picture in your mind a strong looking man laying prostrate on a roof, but super cool like. There is nothing inherently good looking about this whole setup, but after an hour of waiting, I wasn''t going to keep up the batman pose. I wasn''t a hero wearing spandex, heck my robes were pretty drab grey and black.


    Moon Lee had us out here like ninjas for hours before the courier would even arrive. You see I had planned this extensively with the crew. What I hadn''t prepared for was the time that my super flexible oiled up dad bod decided to seize up. Yeah that was how I found myself in this situation to begin with. I was getting so bored that I was ready to meditate and that is not a place that I wanted to be.


    Moon Lee was a bit better at keeping herself hidden. I could only see her when I looked directly at the spot I knew she had taken across the street from me. She had a sense for when I was looking and gave me a cheeky grin when I did.


    Below us, the luscious locks of Jin Xueyie were wrapped up into a common shawl as she, a modern woman''s Cinderella swept. She had dressed like a housecleaning staff who was trying to eavesdrop on some work drama that sprang up between her favorite manager and work wife. No, she didn''t need to be there to hear this, but she was going to take her damn time thank you very much.


    She was the most visible, but also conversely the most invisible because she was doing something completely ordinary. If you have to ask, she did pick the costume which she then got dirty herself in some authentic manner. If you had asked me about the difference between authentic dirt and not earlier, I would probably have looked at you like you had two heads.


    My Moon spirit was playing an animated game of fetch that would look normal to most eyes. Cultivators of third realm and above were uncommon, and they would see through the ruse. We were banking on that.


    After 5 minutes I was counting the shingles on the roof. I was on. After 10 minutes I began to stretch my quadriceps. After 2 hours of waiting in the dark, I started to stretch my lats. After 4 hours I was beginning to lose faith that the courier union had ever produced a reliable courier. Or for that matter, delivered a package.


    It was about that time; that dark hour right past dusk when we got activated for our one false positive. Someone in a courier uniform walked past a very animated dog and nearly stepped on it. Thankfully the dog in question knew exactly how to deal with the problem and gave that person a reason to be afraid. Sadly, the dog did not have actual teeth and it being the first time that I ever wanted a dog to bite, somebody left me less than satisfied. The growl was deep and to be experienced. I briefly thought cujo was on our side.


    Min wanted to shake him down but figured out quickly that it wasn''t out man. Then that courier, due to the fact that he did not have anywhere near the right size package in his bag, kept going. We all kind of exchanged sideways glances after that as if perhaps we had let the butterfly through the net.


    Moon Lee was the first to move. She in one quick movement jumped across from her roof to mine and sat next to me. Only the rustle of her skirts let me know that she was actually there. He would have been too easy for her to dress up like the rest of us. Sure, she wore gray but her underskirts were blue. I was all too aware of this fact when I turned.


    "Doesn''t anyone knock nowadays?" I asked her.


    ''You''re always funny. Or rather, you always think you''re funny.""


    Her scathing comments took me aback.


    "I suppose you''re not in my side anymore then are you?""


    "Oh I am. Just know that I''m learning some of you humor from your moon spirit. So watch out," she said.


    "I don''t think they''re going to show up."


    "I''ve come to a similar conclusion. Rather than waste this, I wanted to use this as training. Training for you and for the girls. Do you think that they will be okay with that? We can move on to the Moon compound. Either our tip was wrong and if so perhaps our lead is compromised or something else has happened and I don''t like being a sitting bird out here."


    "If you''re willing to host, I am sure that they will follow on. I''m eager to test Jin Xueyies new limits. I am quite certain that you feel the same as well. And I haven''t caught up enough with Kang Egiya. It''s a shame really. Without the safe house as a schelling point, it''s going to be more difficult to get us all together."


    "You are all welcome at the moon clan. Nothing about what the towers have done changes anything about how we feel about you. By extension we include those that associate with us. The girls as you say need some special training in focus. I know just the person to do it."


    "Is the person you Moon Lee? Is it? I would never presume to dream as to who that person could possibly be," I said giving my best, flirtatious grin.


    She seemed to catch on easily, showing me a wide smile uncharacteristic of her normal stoic demeanor. If she had a Hinge profile it would say that she liked dogs and was looking for a not serious long-term relationship. I don''t think she would have a Tinder profile.


    "Of course it''s me. Now. Let''s get them so I can work my magic."


    I saluted and then pulled on my bond with Min. It was our pre-agreed signal to fall back. It only took them a minute to wrap up fetch. Then our street sweeper eavesdropper finally concluded her work. The girls moved with the moon spirit between them as we watched from above.


    When I call those two young ladies, girls it¡¯s not meant in some demeaning manner. It is simply that I see them and think that they would want to be called girls. Moon Lee, on the other hand definitively wants to be called auntie or something else more akin to a title. She''s not here as one of the girls even if deep down it''s what she wants to be. A classic man can tell these things.

 31. Capital T

    Egiya hit a tree. The tree as they are often wont to do hit back with an equal force. That was pretty painful for me and I was just observing and waiting my time. We had called today after the stake out, getting the actor home to her clan.


    Egiya had insisted on accompanying us to training at the moon clan compound. The fact that there was food involved? Or should I say dangled to her did not hurt her enthusiasm. After we ate our fill, we all cycles for long enough to feel rejuvenated. Which is how we begin the argument that she wouldn''t be able to punch through a tree. Now I wasn''t on the side of the tree at the start. Moon Lee believed that the girl could punch straight through with just her determination. I, seeing a sucker, had to take that bet. So it was with a heavy heart that one of the older soul wood trees was picked to test her.


    "Are you entirely certain that anyone can punch through this?" She asked after the tenth ineffective punch," it just seems far sturdier than it has any right to be."


    "Why my dear anything and everything is always possible if you set your mind to it. In this particular case it had damn well better be possible because I am going to win this bet."


    "You''re just saying that because whoever wins the bet gets to pick where we go to dinner next time."


    "There is no honor in fighting with thieves. However, gambling with them is the most honorable vocation one can aspire to. Would that we could be so strong as a couriers union? A group of men so ineffective that even their assignments show up late."


    "Do you often consort with thieves?"


    " And how often have you asked me for help? Cultivator, Joseph? Shall I begin to take account of your actions? Or should I just sweep them under the rug? You can tell you me your preference when you are buying me dinner after I win this bet."


    " You are both wonderful people and I''m certain quite strong Cultivators but do you both need to stand quite so close?"


    I hadn''t noticed that we were hovering by her. We both stepped back and if that wasn''t a blush on Moon Lees face then I was a virgin.


    " Moon Lee we need to do something about the red fang. I thought that this stakeout would have panned out, but that is clearly not the case."


    " You may be sitting with your pan out tomorrow begging for change after I pick the ritziest place I can think of. Punch all the way through girl."


    The methodical even punching of a woman dared to greatness punctuated our speech.


    "I know you like to build women up. It''s something I like to do as well. I raised my daughters to think for themselves, and have the ability to go out in the world on their own and follow their own path. She clearly has the capacity to punch but I do not think that she has the will to carry out what needs to be done."


    She stopped punching for a minute and just stared at me as if I''d run over her cat. Then she resumed and if I couldn''t tell you how hard she was punching before, I could definitely tell you that it was harder now. Or at least it was definitively louder.


    "Rude."


    "Do you think of her as one of your daughters?"


    I paused to really look at her.


    "Hadn''t really thought of it that way. This might just be a friendship that turned into a gang. Oh don''t hit me I''m not tree," I squealed dodging a play punch.


    "This might be a friendship to turn to a gang? Who even says that. Who really?"


    "I don''t know. But it''s evocative isn''t it."


    "You keep saying that word. I don''t think it means what you think it means."


    "What do you think I think it means?"


    " I think it means that you''re very silly man in a very serious profession. A profession where silly men don''t make it very far."


    "I''m going to take that as a compliment. I''ll have you know that it only took me ten minutes before my attention flew away from me at the stakeout."


    "Aw your attention flew away like a little bird. Do you want me to feel sorry for you? I can do that if you want. It''s a service we provide. Min told me all about your special needs in this regard. Something about you looking for a woman who wears pants? I really don''t know what pants have to do with it. If there was some other mention of a mother made of sugar? I''m not a mother for certain, and I''m definitely not made of sugar but if you want a candy Aunt let me know."


    "I''m going to need to have a very special conversation with Min after this is all done. Just me and her. I''ll be honest and just let you know that for as much as we are on the same side, I don''t believe that my moon spirit has the same grasp of sarcasm that you do. Also having a person or spirit that follows me around and tattletales on me is quite new to me. If anyone else is telling tall tales about me I would prefer to have them be told to my face. Especially if they''re true but even more, especially if they''re untrue."


    Min moved out of the upper branches of the tree that Egiya was doing her best one inch punch on.


    "If she breaks the tree then we have some well crafted soul wood that our artisans can work with. Also I get a dinner, paid for by mysterious syrup father."


    I could adopt mysterious syrup father persona. It sounded a bit too high carb for me. But whatever the ladies really enjoyed about this exchange stopped when we were with heard a crack.


    "I won!" Moon Lee said.


    "Did you expect anything else? She is exceptionally strong. Stop dancing. No really. All right, laugh as much as you want. I would have paid anyway."


    "Yes, but it will taste so much sweeter this way, syrup father."


    "The phrase is ''sugar Daddy'' but your know what I think I have had enough surprises for one day."


    "You want to call it as well?"


    I didn''t really need sleep the way I used to, being at the stage I had reached. I still wanted to do it and it felt great, but I was going off of six hours of sleep and feeling strong. A sugar daddy needs his rest, after all.


    "I think that we can attack our problem tomorrow a bit more effectively. You can stay in the Moon clans guest quarters, Joe, and you as well."


    "Thank you auntie, but as much as I am tired, I still need to watch the shop and make sure that my mother is safe. Min can escort me home and then fly back.I think that would be fine. She''s looking down the road to her second realm advancement, after all," Egiya said.


    "I had no idea that you were so close. That is excellent news, Min. I would high five you but you don''t have any hands."


    "I will settle for medium petting, at a time of my choosing," Min said.


    "You always put your mother first, Egiya, but soon it will be time for that to change."


    "I doubt that she will put me first anytime soon," she said.


    I laid a hand on her shoulder. The thin sheen of sweat had gone through her fighting robes. She crumpled into my embrace.


    "Now, I know that you know that I didn''t mean that."


    "I know," she said, holding me tighter,"but it''s great to hear you say it like that."


    "Min got to you, didn''t she. You don''t have to lie to me. I get it."


    "I would never admit to such an allegation," she sighed.


    I released her. When my girls were little, sometimes they just needed deep pressure hugs and lots of exercise. In that moment I wasn''t seeing a beautiful cultivator at the height of her workout, but a little girl who had just played with her friends all afternoon on the playground.


    "What''s going on with your face?"


    "Oh, sorry, just some dust got in my eyes is all."


    "Uh huh. You don''t have to tell me the truth, just don''t lie to yourself."


    "Min take care of our companion here, I''ll be here when you return."


    We went out separate ways and Moon Lee led me to the guest quarters. Something in her eyes told me that we had some unsettled business. That or she suddenly got a lazy eye. I paused by the way too well made marble door frame with intricate battle art.


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    "Did you want to talk about something?"


    "I did but..."


    It was the first time that I had seen her uncertain. Or perhaps it was the first time that we had been alone and I wasn''t focusing on a group of people.


    "What''s going on?"


    She stood by me, and for a minute I was brought back to those awkward teenage dances where I had to ask girls to dance with me. It always felt like somewhat of an imposition but having been the one oblivious to every woman''s advances, I took it in stride.


    "Joe, you''ve advanced so far in such a short time and I''m beginning to think that you''re going to overtake me."


    "Are you afraid that I''m going to overtake you? Because," I grabbed her hand."I don''t want to leave you behind. You''ve been good to me."


    "I''m not worried about... well maybe I am a little but after third realm, you tend to stand out unless you''re really shrouding yourself very well. Which yes you''re doing well, but oh I don''t even know what I''m saying here."


    The hint of a blush touched her cheeks.


    "This is a safe space. You can tell me whatever you want. Except that you''re going to have Egiya throw our bet, because I''m going to win."


    "And I need to learn to put a time limit on these things. You''re being a real mandarin about this."


    "Listen if you need me to be your mandarin, I''ll be the biggest attack dog you''ve ever met. We''re on the same side."


    "Thanks. I think I needed that."


    "Look. I asked some of the core elders and what I''m about to say next-we can keep it between us, right?"


    I nodded.


    "There have been reports of demonic cultivators summoning people from other worlds, advancing them quickly to a higher realm and then..."


    "What?"


    "...then apparently feeding on them. Your bodies are so good at passing through the lower stages and when I heard this, I didn''t want to believe it."


    I instantly had a pit in my stomach.


    "Do you think that Maxine- that they called her up just to eat her soul and advance in their own cultivation?"


    "In a word, yes."


    I had every intention of loudly pretending that no, she wasn''t my ex wife and no I had never seen that woman in my life the next time we crossed paths. I didn''t have some Savior complex, but if my demonic enemies were going to suck the soul out of a woman who had made my life a living hell? The woman that drew out our acrimonious divorce? Yeah no if anyone was going to eat her soul it would be me, served iced. The enemy of my enemy could be my friend, but in this case she was just my ex wife, so also my enemy.


    Yeah this was a bit confusing.


    "I don''t think she will take it well if I show up ostensibly to save her life. Not like I know where she is staying in any case. You know something about her don''t you. Do you know where she''s staying?"


    "I have an idea. We can send a neutral third party to confirm. The moon clan could use a strong woman like that."


    "Please tell me that you''re not trying to recruit my ex wife for the clan," I deadpanned.


    She gave me a very bland expression by way of a reply.


    "Good night to you cultivator," she said, smirking.


    I went off to bed and before I could even get mad at her, I was asleep.


    ___


    "Well, our connection is severed. My guy in the courier guild got burned for last night somehow and they didn''t even send the package. The word was bad so we acted on bad information. This one humbly apologizes and stands ready to accept any punishment that the cultivator wishes to deal out."


    "Moon Xiru, get your ass up and come over here. You don''t need to bow and scrape here. We''re running a counter criminal enterprise here, not a military unit. I have tea for you as well."


    With formalities kicked right in the place where the sun never goes, my favorite tea broker joined for brunch. Or at least it was a meal that I designed to call brunch with the mid morning timeframe. We were in the second Moon clan cafeteria, the first overrun with a family reunion that I had no business being nearby.


    "This one would greatly appreciate some tea," he said, grabbing a mug and joining me,"perhaps this entire enterprise could wait on the sampling of this Za family brew. Curious, this one didn''t know that we had any of this in stock. After the divine beast Rahelish carved a path across the northern continent, the source dried up."


    "The, uh what now?"


    "It''s some cultivator legend, they fight this beast from legends when they suddenly appear from the water and wreak havoc upon whatever they find. They''re mindless, or they seem to be. It was believes to be a myth until one of the five struck."


    He took the tea to his lips, pausing to adjust his man bun. He would probably do okay with bangs and I could see him doing that in some sort of midlife crisis situation. Not that I had seen bangs anywhere here.


    "Well that''s another fear unlocked. Anything else I should know about this world?"


    "Our continued existence here is due to the strength of the cultivators. They don''t tell us everything, but some things can''t stay secret for long."


    "Alright. But tell me about the courier and what do we even do? Find another connection? I guess I could do that if I had to."


    "We can deal directly with one of their bosses, but it would be more costly perhaps than you are prepared to do. They deal more in favors or information as well, with more being better. Auntie Lee would be excellent at this. She studied the art of the deal when she was younger. This one just doesn''t know exactly what to look for, so she might help in that manner. Before my buddy wanted to work against the red fang. They are too paranoid about their job s which sometimes -often- leads to irreconcilable differences. Then there''s the union contract which spells out how much they can work and all of that. When you take out a job with their union, you''re paying a premium for delivery."


    "I have no problem paying people what they''re worth. More should go to the guys on the ground doing the thing and getting dirty."


    "Agreed."


    Our tea finished, I went to town on the little folded buns that accompanied them. I would have to ask for those specially next time. The soft outer dough gave way to a tender savory inside and I was instantly brought back to days when I have more money than sense.


    "These buns are particularly great. They''re a moon clan staple. The expected thing for any guest to do is to sneakily grab any that they can''t immediately eat, leaving the platter empty."


    "I didn''t think of you as the leftovers type, but well met."


    "You can trust this one to take care of the minor details with the couriers guild."


    "Moon Xiru, how is Moon Fei?"


    "He-he is stable but this one wouldn''t ask him anything now. The healers have asked that he be left without any duties for the time being. Too much spiritual strain can cause problems, especially in those of us who can''t reach the first realm easily."


    "I feel responsible for what has happened to him. If there is anything that you can do, please let the clan know. He has done so much for me, which is probably the reason he keeps getting attacked like this. I gotta make it up for him somehow."


    "All in due time. He would go back out and hit the streets for us right now if he could. He really shouldn''t and the healers would nearly kill him just to prove a point."


    "That point being that he needs to follow their damn orders, of course. Look, I get it. But back in my world, you visited with sick people to raise their spirits because hospitals tend to get boring."


    It wasn''t my fault that a weaker man kept getting caught in the way of a more advanced foe. It did sting a bit. The red fang was able to hit me wherever I was. I didn''t like it. I spent way too much time thinking about how to fix it. And short of a an open war-I was at a loss.


    He was going to run to interference for us. Moon Lee was still helping me train and for that I was forever grateful. The girls were a bit caught up in their own family drama. So like the man I was I took stuck on situation. Maxine had taken up residence somewhere in western jewel. She had taken some contract for the sect. They must have a way of communicating with her, otherwise it would be pretty useless.


    So in other words, if I found my ex-wife I could find the way they were passing messages to her. If I found that then I could exploit it. Although that might be a rabbit hole that went too deep. I wondered idly if I could go to their hairdressers just to get the tea. Like if I booked an appointment and then just listened in trying to peel layers like an onion until they gave me everything. I wanted. Some rich barber was making a killing off of their sect. Either that or the had a whole crew just dedicated to hair and makeup.


    This is almost worse than that summer, the one where I bounced between improv classes. Everyone has a time when they think they could do show business. Thankfully, thankfully for me that lasted about 2 weeks before my junior year of high school. Otherwise it would have been problematic. When you grow up close to it, it seems like a foregone conclusion. Not that you''re be in show business, but you would take some ancillary role.


    "Anything else to report? I think I''m going to hit training for today if not."


    "By all means. This one will report in with any news promptly," he said, getting up.


    It''s not that his pouch was comically stuffed with just the right amount of buns but it was getting close. I thought about helping him to button it closed-I really missed zippers- but then decided not to. This problem, he could fix on his own.


    ---


    The next week I dove into training. Moon Lee began to take him more hands-on approach. I could see myself getting faster. She was still faster than me but the gap was closing.


    My crew gave me daily reports where it was applicable. It sounded like the red fang sect was biding their time. That, or they finally took the note. I was for the most part hold up in the moon clan compound. With a very brief exception of our long runs in the morning, we tended to stay behind thick walls. It got easier and then it got more difficult as the moon clan trainers decided that I was getting off too easy. I went from sparring one to one with someone of an appropriate level to two to three people at a time.


    I got a little further in my reading. A lot of it was going on just wasn''t written down. It felt like frozen power had little interest outside of their own petty squabbles and this reflected in what they wrote down. For the most part it sounded like they used ghost writers a lot to embellish their stories. This led to problems with a historical record where different parties had different stories about events that both had lived through. Long lived cultivators could even pass through an age of history and comment upon such things happening cyclically. There was no journalistic best practices and there was no such thing as a neutral historian. Each clan had their own historian but you can imagine they are other duties to fulfill.


    So it was with surprise that I found myself far stronger at the end of another week of training. I knew that I was advancing faster than a base cultivator could. What I didn''t know was that I was leaving my companions in the dust. On the eighth day, I nearly fought Moon Lee to a draw which surprised the heck out of me. Here she was, a peak third realm cultivator having to tap deep into her dantian to get an edge. It''s enough to make a grown man cry. I didn''t, really because I was sweating too bad, but I could have.


    She was as surprised as I was. After a close inspection, she told me that I was halfway to needing another day of closed door cultivation. This blew my mind. I was going to want to push to the next stage, the beginning of which I was starting to see. A fourth realm cultivator develops a Nascent soul, something that lets them physically reach out with their spiritual senses like a sense of touch. I was able to feel Moon Lees presence from a foot away while I was blindfolded.

 32. Mmm Food

    "We just want a nice sweet bun," said a man who had eaten about five,"is there a possibility that you have any more in the back?"


    The man in question had arrived after me. I patted my buns affectionately. Inside of my custom Moon clan swag bag they were safe from the masses of hungry men.


    "No one is taking you from daddy," I whispered,"My precious."


    "You''re a little possessive of your buns. No one is coming for them," Moon Lee said.


    "Alas, if only someone was coming for my buns. But no I can only wish for that kind of attention, where my contemporaries all seem to have the opposite problem. Also you showered attention on your delicious savory treats."


    "You''re getting enough attention as is. Between Sect Recruiters and passerbys your curly hair has really been getting attention. It''s become quite noticeable."


    I paused to palm a meat bun into my mouth before eating it whole. Yes it was a better taste with their salty seaside sauce.


    Yes I had grown a thick luscious mane in the time I had been here and yes, it made me stand out as much as my veil kept me from drawing attention from other cultivators. Any other time, I would have been overjoyed to be able to both grow a beard and have a man bun, but now it was like wearing a Taylor Swift shirt at a Run the Jewels concert.


    "You should really take my offer of a trip out to the outside. You would be able to see how well you can fight against a real spirit beast, present company excepted. We could get something worth selling, or more likely something that we could use to help in your cultivation. A little trout told me that there was a herd of Bhederas passing through. Their fur alone would be worth the trip. It''s their migration month according to the airship reports as well."


    She had been dropping hints about a nature tour or walk. If she thought it would be fine for me, then I would almost certainly be fine, but I didn''t know what I didn''t know.


    "Bhederas? I''m unfamiliar, but Min could probably fill me in."


    "They''re large pack animals. Quadrupeds, covered in silky fur. They are cousin to the Yaks from the northern continent."


    I nodded. My pockets, unlike my heart were full. The gingham moon clan pouches in my swag bag were overflowing. Mama might have raised a neurotic obsessive child, but she didn''t raise someone who turned down meat folded into dough. At least I thought that was one of my strengths.


    "Can we take the girls?"


    "Of course we can take the girls we will need their support anyway. Both of them are near to needing closed door cultivation in the near future. Xueyie in particular, has been scouting for a replacement heavily. Did you know that it took them three days to find an understudy? That seems a bit long when every member of the Jin clan has several sons and daughters."


    I had heard the complaints about how long it was taking. I had my ear talked off about how they were slow walking the decision. Let''s just say that they had more than enough talent and less than the requisite amount of decisiveness.


    "One way or the other it will be settled. I''m excited to see them fight!"


    "Yes, both are growing in ways they can compliment our fighting styles. Their speed is exceptional at the level that they have achieved. I have a feeling that the three of you have done enough drills and you need to embrace the real thing."


    "I''m ready. I feel ready."


    Moon Lee blinked.


    "Bhederas at least are a good start. All we have to do is what we have been doing with a little bit of carrying the creature back to where it can be cut up into useable parts. There''s even a helper service that I have gotten a quote for that will only take a five percent cut of the proceeds."


    It was probably of the smaller unions in western jewels, but the butchers Union was one of the more specialized places we would be visiting. If we were going to bring so much back from the outside, we would probably need to bring it someplace specialized in that. The helper service was an outgrowth of the butchers Union and I was excited to see what they would be doing once we bagged and tagged our Bhederii.


    There were a few shops on the outskirts of the city and Moon Xiru had gone through and vetted some of them. It was on us to do our final decision after we were done. Most of the offer is where within a narrow range of what I would call acceptable. There was a lot of inherent violence in this job and I was just here to make sure the girls didn''t get the brunt of it.


    ___


    It was a crisp clear morning when we left the confines of western jewel. Egiya gave us an easy pass through the barrier and like that we were outside. She deftly opened a passage through the wards, letting us through one at a time. I made her explain how to do it in case shit went sideways, as it had too often recently. Turns out I needed a fair bit of practice to nail it, but I was confident before we moved on.


    There was a subtle shift in the pressure outside of the wards. That little difference was all unrestricted aura bouncing around. Egiya and Xueyie both took a minute to acclimate under our careful watch.


    We ran East, away from the city proper to an area known for its flooding and woodlands. We of course didn''t know about the flooding until we felt the squish. Whatever had roamed in had receded just as fast. It took some time to pass to the expected grazing grounds before we had to start tracking them from a distance.


    And then we were there on the edge of a forest, checking the savannah out. The rolling hills were dotted with ginormous shaggy silver herd beasts. Each one was at least twice the size of a buffalo and had horns and a face to match. I had never gone hunting before but the thought of dragging one of those back gave me pause.


    "Moon Lee, how are we going to take one of these back, assuming we are able to catch one? This seems like something that we should have talked about a bit more."


    "Ah Joe, ever the pragmatist. I have a guy for that," she said.


    "You have a guy for this? I understand having a meat bun connection and a tea guy but you have a guy for moving meat outside of the wards?"


    "He has his own airship custom built for problems like this."


    "I don''t mean to complain but I envisioned something a little smaller. At least the girls are keeping up."


    "I. Heard. That," Egiya said finally reaching our tree,"How. Dare. You?"


    "Great now she can initiate the world''s sleepieat duel. Egiya take five you''re going to need your strength for this next part."


    Xueyie for her part had kept pace with us but only just that. Egiya had been in my peripheral vision but I''m not one to mention that someone is holding us back. She was a valued member of the team, her cardio just sucked.


    "You''re going to have to run with us in the mornings," I said, "You, me and whoever else from the Moon clan is leading the mornings run."


    "I guess," she said, leaning against a large maple tree. The distinct red brown leaves cut a contrast against the yellow grain nearer to the Bhederii.


    "You know I said something about needing time to process what we think the Red Fang is doing, Lee but did you want to talk with both of them about this?"


    Xueyie perked up, taking an active position against the oversized roots she sat on.


    " I think they understand my suspicions about what they''re trying to do. Do I know if we can stop it? Or more importantly, are we the ones that should be stopping it?"


    "Joe, you had problems with the two men that we probably should have killed and dumped the bodies of," Xueyie said, " taking on a Sect like this it would mean war."


    I want to come back at her with a quip about how everything''s fair in love and war, but it felt a bit hollow so I kept that one to myself.


    "We are already at war. If we are right, they went after your cousin. If we''re the only ones doing the right thing then I can accept that. Cultivators should be heroes, right? I don''t see any real cultivators so I''m going to have to step up."


    She nodded. I had an inkling that she was ready to follow me to hell and back and that warmed my heart.


    Egiya on the other hand was still leaning heavily on her tree.


    "You just come here. You start shit. You want to take on none other than the most widely known criminal Enterprise in our city. Well fuck it, I''m in if you let me advance first," Egiya said, "being out of breath like this is the pits."


    " It''s part of the reason why we tool you out here. Our generous and gorgeous benefactor," I nodded to the blushing auntie in the clearing, "believes in you both. As do I. I think you have both made a breakthrough in therapy and you''re both moving past whatever mental block has kept you from moving forward."


    "So, what you are saying is that we won therapy?" Xueyie said.


    "Yes. You won therapy. Now for your final exam, let''s catch one of these so we can get some materials to sell. I heard that their liver can make a potent pill or two."


    The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    Both women bowed and we briefly went over a plan to use a pincer attack on one that had wandered a fair bit from them.


    When my girls were little I taught them to ride their bikes. Courtney as the oldest daughter, of course loved it and took to it immediately. Rachel had a tougher time. Perhaps it was seeing it but there was a time where she was still working with her training wheels and it felt like we had been going back and forth for a while. Then, Rachel barreled forwards and yelled, "Daddy, I don''t need you anymore!" Just like that, the my heart broke a little bit.


    I had a whiff of that feeling as Xueyie and Egiya ran in and picked a target. Pride wasn''t the right word for it. Satisfaction might be a bit closer.


    Xueyie unleashed her weapon, a large sword fly whisk that looked a bit like a large paintbrush. Not the wide kind, the long bristle kind. I had to admit that the Taoists house weapon had a flair of its own.


    Not to be outdone, Egiya brought out a thick longbow. She began to fire arrows around the Bhederii aiming to hit one in the leg.


    Xueyie yelled causing the large beasts to scatter. Several moved away from our group but three of four moved towards Egiya.


    She took that moment to fire a volley of arrows meant to cripple one or two of the four.


    That was when Moon Lee and I sprang into action. She was faster than me, quickly got to the other side of it. In this way we had those four surrounded. Each beast was the equivalent of a first realm cultivator or greater, and we only needed one. It just wasn''t going to be a good day for these guys.


    It took them a second to realize what was going on. One of them stomped it''s fore hooves before lowering its head towards Egiya. Two of the others followed their hearts running away from us, but the last was clearly hurting.


    We had talked at length about what we were going to do, even going so far as to run a mock raid in my dreamscape. Of course we won every time there and of course it was good training but in that moment I was uncertain.


    Thankfully it didn''t fall solely onto me. Moon Lee made a bee line for the one most likely to be an easy target.


    She landed on it with a savage blow. Her weapon of choice, of course was a glaive. It had to be one of the more dramatic reveals like the woman was a Final Fantasy character. I half expected her to get her sleek black hair done up special for this fight, but she kept a utilitarian top knot in place through all of her flawless movements. If you have ever seen a master kung fu practitioner do a flawless execution of their form, then you might be confused as to how they could ever hope to mimic her grace.


    Moon Lee twisted the glaive slowly as Xueyie tried to drive the remainder of the Beherii down. The creature bucked and kicked until it Moon Lee was holding onto just the tip of her glaive.


    "Go hunting, they said," I said, coming between the beast and my companions, "You can fight like a real cultivator, they said."


    The first Beast propped itself back up and surveyed the scene.


    Min jumped forward, her small body about the size and shape of a bobcat. She had intended to draw the beast out but instead got a taste of how being smashed into now muddy ground and long grass felt.


    I winced as I kept my focus on the Bederas in front of me. That would hurt it''s ego thoroughly, but it would be fine.


    It had wanted Egiya, who was still firing arrows in its direction, but it could feel my unveiled power. The beast, looking to the world like it wouldn''t be able to choose between two things it was highly ambivalent about instead chose to try to run me over.


    "Oh no you don''t, keep your eyes on me."


    It juked trying to hit us both, but I went straight for the open palm pushing it both off course and center. The proud beast keeled over. On one side, violently rocking to a rest is based it''s teeth, grunting loudly.


    It fought to get back on it''s feet. The powers that be-me and my posse-were having none of that. The other one was down and out.


    Xueyie and Moon Lee converged on me. I left them to it and after giving it a few more choice punches. They were doing pretty well for themselves. I moved on keeping myself between the beasts and the girls. In the back of my mind I was thinking about what it would be like if we could take two or three down more than the two we already had. Those two hadn''t ran that far. Had they? They''re about a football field away, give or take a yard.


    In this situation I thought for a split second about if I was going off script or not. Or alternatively if I was improvising on an already solid plan. Our overwhelming force was sufficient for those two we had already hunted, but feeling that elation made me want more.


    "Lee?"


    "I can see you itching. We will be fine. See if you can take down a third one on your own."


    That was all I needed to hear. I went all out clearing the distance in ten heartbeats. The main pack was further still.


    The girls could handle what I left behind. I zeroed in on the two still running Bhederii. One would be a feat. Two would make me satisfied.


    There wasn''t any rhyme or reason to their stride. I was going to use that to their advantage.


    I could juke left or right around the two, but being the dumbass I tended to be around attractive women, I went right for it. Come to think of it, I had been unreasonably level headed since coming here- could that have been a side effect of my brain cancer? I should-


    *Whump!*


    One of the Bhederas attempted to gore through me, instead hitting me with the force of a mother scorned. I flew twenty feet, then left a nasty rut on the ground where I had been unceremoniously pushed.


    "It wasn''t like I kept your daughter out past midnight-"


    I dodged the predictable follow up attack. Pack animals didn''t have time for monologues. When they wanted you dead and they had the will, they went straight for it. It kept moving past me, the silver fur cascading forward.


    I dropped into empty stance putting most of my weight on my back leg and pulling my fists back to my sides. My front foot lightly touched the ground as I breathed in, gathering aura.


    The beast stopped short, its turn showing the difference between agility and speed.


    A quick glance showed it''s partner long gone. That was fine. This time I would see it coming.


    With one foot firmly planted, for the first time I could feel the little ripples that it made while running. It felt like a mini earthquake.


    It breathed out earth Qi, a thick ground coffee shop smell, as it charges right into my area.


    I wasn''t going to go force on force, seeing how the beast had basically had it''s way when I wasn''t paying attention. What I was going to do was to redirect that motion.


    I jumped up to land a heel kick right in the beasts forehead, directing it to the path I wanted it to take.


    That just so happened to be towards the center of the earth. A night unstoppable force met and immovable object and the Bhederas got it''s while head and shoulders underground before I was able to subdue it.


    I stoop up, three my arms up and whooped.


    I should have known that it had a very friendly buddy. Before so was able to call the girls over, it''s partner in crime rose up from the Earth and point blank body checked me thirty meters into a rolling hill.


    "Hey! I do not appreciate having to buy new clothes! Not come over here and fight so I can use your fur for a pullover sweater that no one will ever want to wear."


    It was a blow as low as they went. The beast didn''t seem phased as it tried to pry it''s buddy free. I was tempted to say that they were a mated pair, but they both had horns so maybe they were roommates?


    Regardless, I was not going to stand up and take this kind of abuse.


    "Hey, Joe let the girls handle this. Ladies?"


    Egiya and Xueyie charged the beast, causing it to panic. It was no match for them.


    "I think I''m satisfied here. This was unusual but it was a good start. Oh Xueyie is great with that weapon. I couldn''t imagine using something like that."


    "Min didn''t make it long. Perhaps she was a bit too eager. That didn''t work in her favor. Usually it takes me a bit to reform mine after something like that. Be thankful that she has an incorporeal form she can revert to."


    I pulled out a bun, raising the sweet savory treat to my mouth. It smelled like victory. I held out another one, offering it to Moon Lee reluctantly.


    "I used to take a little bite of some things and call it the ''Dad tax''. It was a way to have a little fun with them."


    "That seems a bit mean."


    "Does it? They didn''t always eat what I gave them, and if they were hungry I would always make them something else to eat. There were a bunch of times where I had them up late at night after a volleyball practice and I was just making some comfort food, so it wasn''t like I left them hungry. Did you want one by the way?"


    "I will take one. Gratitude.You told me about parents who just fed and clothed their kids and little else, how dealing with that absentee parenting left them feeling like the missed something. This isn''t that?"


    "It wasn''t like that. It was-it was something that we would both laugh about. I always tried to be present with them and attentive to their needs. It''s what I would have wanted Maxine to do in my absence."


    "But you hate each other?"


    "As much as we now hate each other, we both committed to doing our best for the girls. It was one of my non negotiable things when we divorced. We might have fought each other tooth and nail especially when she wanted to keep all of her business and claw some of mine out, but on the girls we were in lock step together."


    "That is admirable. Part of the reason that I never let the clan dictate who I chose to marry was wanting to do my own thing. The other part was being strong enough to push back on their courtship plans for me. It''s hard to say no to someone getting close to forming their core."


    "That''s what''s happening next? You''re forming a core?"


    The two girls had finally paused then tagged the beast. Both were sitting back to back leaned towards us. It was as if coming closer to us was a bit more than they had energy for at the moment.


    "That''s what''s next. You should be working on yours. You want to keep up with the girls, I assume?"


    Fighting the Bhederii felt a bit like wrestling a teenage girl-it wasn''t difficult unless she knew what she was doing. The gap between our power was wife enough that I could confidently not go all out. The girls were both coming up on an **advancement** to second realm though.


    I had a little twinge of remembrance of wanting to be the guy who absolutely dominated my kids in any physical contest. Even well into my twenties. It''s why I kept up the Tai chi and did all of those damn fitness classes. I definitely wanted them to keep up with me, but a little part of me wanted to utterly dominate them in anything, especially a sprint.


    "Yeah. A little bit."


    She gave me the look and I grinned like a madman.


    "Alright. What do we need to do to tag these things?"


    A hand went up from the silver haired beasts side.


    "I need to activate a script so that the concierge service knows to send the movers," Egiya said,"They knew to expect this, so I think a five minute wait would be good. I''ll tag this one, then get the other two."


    "This is a good haul," Moon Lee said,"But don''t let this go to your head. Stronger cultivators than I have fallen for the trap of thinking that they''re the strongest girl on the block."


    "I''m just training to be stronger than my ex wife," I said,"Honestly."


    "Can you really-Joe sometimes I see why she divorced you," Moon Lee said.


    "What?"


    "What?"


    "Also Joe told me that he bet he could reach the other two Bhederii faster than either of you and that whoever beats him gets free dinner for a week at *The Farum Collective*!"


    "Hey! Wait a second!"


    They were off, hooting as if Moon Lee has offered her front row seats to a Taylor Swift concert.


    God I missed my girls.


    Just not enough to let either of them win.

 33. Safe

    Egiya tagged the beasts with a script that send up a plume of smoke in the infrared spectrum. Before long a large air barge showed up. If someone had taken a river garbage ship and made it fly, it wouldn''t look too different than this, except just that it used a lot of balloons, and less steel. I could clearly see two cultivators performing wind movements to course correct.


    They arrived, took note of the beasts and with some system of pulleys that made my head spin, they were able to weigh the Bhederii one by one, then pull them on board.


    We got a fair bit more than I expected, with two extra carcasses. Moon Lee promised to keep our money safe. She wasn''t a bank but she was strong as heck and I wasn''t going to mess with her.


    The men thanked us for the business and flew on after another signal I was able to make out when I squinted my eyes.


    We packed it in and went back to gather lunch before Xueyie had to get to hair and makeup. Moon Lee had us change to a different set of outer robes in case we were being watched.


    We slipped back into the city. For the first time it felt like home.


    ___


    In order to safely move our people around we went as a pack. The girls would be safe when they were with their families. Having third realm relatives was excellent for morale. Except when they were bullies to their own family. It just so happened that one of those two was feeling ready for a breakthrough. Otherwise I would have dropped both of them off one by one.


    Having work even in a fantasy world, felt a bit much.


    If someone needed to mind the shop that took little business in then surely the shop could close tonight from time to time.


    So we dropped off Xueyie before our return to the Moon clan compound. I was sponsoring Egiyas closed door cultivation. Her mother had known that this was an option. We confirmed it on our way back, and I offered for her mother to stay with us. At least until this all blew over. The Jin clan could take care of themselves. To no one''s surprise she had a packed bag ready to go.


    "I''ll hold that for you ma''am," I said grabbing the embroidered canvas bag.


    "What an honorable man. How was the hunt?"


    She gripped my other arm as we walked.


    "I had an idea of what to expect, but I didn''t appreciate the difference between how powerful I am now versus how powerful Egiya is. If those beasts were the equivalent of first realm then our training has gone better than I could hope."


    "Even the half step up to the fourth realm feels like a vast change in comparison. You''ll feel it. You should be ready to form your core soon and that in itself is a feat."


    "Everyone is telling me that, but I don''t feel it. I have been pulling in more aura and it feels like I am able to pack it down."


    She squeezed my arm.


    "That is good. You''re well in your way, then. Thank you for this. I know that my daughter will be grateful."


    "That is-this is the least that I could do. She has been a steadfast companion to me this whole time and I''m so glad that I stumbled into her shop. I have every hope that this will be a long and prosperous friendship between our two families."


    There was a look that a woman had when she was surveying someone as a potential suitor for her daughter. I''m not saying that she had it, and I know I have seen it dozens of times, but there was something lurking under the surface about deeper intentions. I decided that snacks were the better part of valor and brought out something sweet and savory.


    "I believe that you might enjoy this particular delicacy, Madame Kang. I hope that you don''t find it too forward that I''m bring it out of my gingham pouch that contains no less than twelve more should a certain hungry person desire more than one."


    "It would be rude of me to decline such a wonderful host."


    We walked a bit while she ate the bun with her other arm.


    "Truly splendid. The bake itself is a wonder. I think that another visit to this shop might be in order after my daughter finishes her advancement. After all we must celebrate with the best that Western Jewel has to offer."


    I couldn''t agree more. We chatted idly until we were in the safety of the Moon Clan compound, then sent Egiya off to complete the next part herself. Promises that we wouldn''t let her mother out of out sight we given and then she walked into the room on her own. Her mother and I sighed as she crossed the threshold. She gave a wave and then it was just the three of us.


    "Tea?"


    ---


    Eighteen hours later, a sweat drenched woman walked out of closed door cultivation. Her bare feet slapped the ground with wet thuds as she walked.


    "I see that you left me something to change into. I appreciate that. I''m going to go thoroughly wash myself before doing anything and I''m hungry as hell."


    Without opening my eyes, I tossed her a meat bun. I heard only the sounds of her eating.


    "Thanks. I assume you want to train with me?"


    "You assume correct. Min is excited as well."


    "She''s going to have to get in line like the rest of you."


    Her footsteps echoed down the hallway to the Moon clans cultivator bathhouse. She had made certain to have us do a quick walkthrough of the three turns and a straight away it took right before her session. I was making sure she would knew what I dearly wanted to know myself.


    I hadn''t let the time pass idly either. Sometimes with or without, I had focused on pushing qi into my dantian and trying to piece together a core. It was rough, but it was all coming together. I could feel something the size of a pebble right in the middle of my body and it greedily accepted qi as I drew aura in.


    "Let''s have at it then," Egiya said upon her return.


    We walked to the closest open space reserved just for this type of practice. Dozens of junior Moon Clan hopefuls all lined the walls taking turns fighting. Most of them were lifetime first or second realm but there were a smattering of third around. The moon clan has several fourth realm cultivators and only one matriarch in the fifth realm. I had in my spare time, been taking some of the members on and working with them had given me a special insight into advancement as an institution.


    Simply put, the powers that be were terrible at their job informing their people of what they should be doing. They needed the kind of introspection that felt alien to all but a select few. Moon Lee had told me that being with me had shown her a true purpose, one that she wanted to embrace. Someone''s purpose could be anything, but how they use that to focus on aspects of their cultivation showed up in their sparring and their techniques.


    "Did you find a purpose in there?"


    I batted away a fist blocking it off to the opposite side.


    "Besides beating your face? Yes."


    Her movements were much more fluid now and I was actually having to try to get out of the way. A nudge here and there and it was more of a fight than I had expected. In looking to anticipate her movements, my reaction time wasn''t sufficient.


    I put myself into an assault, stepping into her guard. Her eye twitched and instead of kicking or punching, she grabbed me, trying to wrestle me to the ground.


    I wasn''t going to give her the dignity of that, but it appeared that she was ready to take it from me anyway.


    "Ooof."


    And then I was on the ground with her in the full mount, trying to pin both of my arms underneath her thighs. I tried to buck to move her to a side and instead of fighting it, she gave in, looping her arms around my left arm. Then she pulled it behind me and up.


    I tapped, because there was nothing like being dominated by a more sound technique from a smaller opponent. She had so thoroughly kept me off of what she was doing next but making me focus on the now.


    "Sorry about that arm."


    "Don''t be sorry If you have to go to the ground, then you want to make it quick. If you''re on bottom, you want to get out of the situation as fast as possible," I said, parroting my trainer, "The ground is unforgiving and you could have your face pushed into it at any time."


    I hated imagining someone in the mount just punching my face. I woud hate it worse if they were doing the same thing to Egiya.


    "That was excellent. Again."


    She smiled and resumed the empty stance, awaiting my charge.


    Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.


    ---


    We sparred for about and hour as she got used to her new strength. She was now able to push a little bit of her qi into her movements. One throw caught me going to far out of the ring that I expected to crash through a wall, but Moon Lee helpfully caught me. She swapped in after that and I watched with Min.


    "Companion Egiya is graceful."


    "Do you think she could beat you?"


    "In a fair fight, yes. But I never fight fair. You''ve been working on your budding Nascent soul. With it you may be able to pull someone weaker into their dreams against their will. Or someone of the same strength, if she is willing."


    Min flicked her tail back and forth.


    "If I reach out with my senses, I can feel you if I am close but that sense doesn''t extend very far. What are you saying?"


    "It''s going to extend further as you grow. Cousin Moon Lee might not say it, but she is developing a moon technique that will allow her to store things in a spiritual vault. As she grows in strength both her vault and her extended senses will follow."


    Having some sort of storage inside of my soul sounded a bit odd, but if that was an option I might go for it. The moon clan had a plethora of cultivator techniques that I could draw upon.


    "If you can sense me here, you may be closer than you think to the next realm. This- you''ve spent the hours while companion Egiya was in closed door cultivation working on your own dantian. You feel ready. I should take a page out of your book and cultivate while I wait for my ally to advance."


    "I mean really, I don''t want to rush into things."


    "The red fang have been watching. The moon clan haven''t mentioned it, but whenever you leave, there is a lookout that behaves oddly. It''s not always the same person, but since I know to look for it, it has become quite apparent. I don''t know why they didn''t move on us when we went to hunt, but perhaps they couldn''t get the message through. Wait, what are you doing?"


    I got up and walked from the room.


    "I''m going to advance."


    ___


    The ambient pure aura of the closed door room enveloped me. It was now simple to turn the aura into pure Qi, gathering it and packing it into my dantian. Then from there I visualized it flowing into the budding core, repeatedly filling it to the brim as I forced it to expand. Each time it expanded to accept more, I gathered more aura, packing it in again.


    I performed this endless cycle for hours. I lost count and let myself go. The tired meets wired feeling kept me going. I felt like I was ready to make the girls pancakes after their friends slept over and that thought of being in dad mode made me smile. If nothing else, the only way back would be through some crazy elder cultivator techniques.


    As I cycled, I thought about how Moon Lee spoke of aspects. More advanced cultivators began to assume a persona that was a product of their cultivation. I didn''t feel like I needed to change much, but I accepted that change was the only constant in life. So I welcomed the chance to look into who I was as an expression of my journey. Perhaps the culture that surrounded this region was a bit misaligned in that part.


    If meditating on what one was, and what won would be was a part of advancing, I was ready for it. Introspection was something that I did regularly. Here''s a pro tip- therapists often see other therapists to work on their own issues. Nothing is less attractive than not working through your trauma,


    It''s nothing earth shattering, sometimes everyone needs something. And sometimes you just need to vent. Or be left alone. Or distracted. Which was in essence what a friend should do for you, but without having to ask.


    Cultivation had the feeling of all of those. When I felt like I needed to vent, it let me vent my frustrations about not being able to apologize and make up with Lauren. When I wanted to be distracted, it kept me on the task at hand. When I wanted to be left alone, it let me sit and meditate on what I was doing.


    I lost myself in the work, diving deep into it with no plan to come up for air.


    ---


    It didn''t take me eighteen hours, but it sure felt like it.


    I stretched both arms, reaching for my inner panther. Standing up, everything felt lighter and I had to grab my drenched pants to keep them up. Thankfully my moon clan training Gi was long. I didn''t want to show off the dragon, but I did want to drain it.


    An elder clan attendant nodded when my totally normal request for new dry pants. She looked like she had seen enough mostly out of it cultivators to know what I was looking for.


    One awkward hobble to the baths and I was refreshed. Training pants that were dry got cinched close around my waist and I put on a blue white Gi top that Moon Lee had left for me. I was curious as to why they were all missing, but they couldn''t wait around for me perpetually. I could sense Min on the periphery of my senses so I decided to reach out.


    It was like being the first person at a bit event or a surprise party. I was expecting something, but with the exception of the attendant, I was alone.


    I pulsed to feel where Lin was and she pulsed agitation back. If I was judging my directions correctly, then she was on top of the guest quarters I had been assigned to.


    The clans holdings looked better with my new senses than the closed room I had been in. The drab exterior with the single set of candles, mats and copious aura made it feel like a meditation retreat. The sun barely rose above the ground. My crew was probably just sleeping, I supposed. Lauren had never been that much of a morning person, but she got the job done. Maxine- Maxine had been a morning lover, someone whose entire life was about that morning hustle as she called it.


    "Morning, Jackass."


    The familiar woman resting outside of my door sent lightning up my spine. I was certain that I would never have seen her again, but for the second time since arriving here, I was being addressed by my ex wife.


    "I''m not here right now," I said, covering my eyes and reaching out with my Nascent soul, "Leave a message after the beep."


    I felt a rock coming my way and instinctively adjusted my path to avoid it. It was an underhand lob, nothing I wouldn''t have been able to dodge otherwise. I could clearly feel the rock though it was three feet away. It moved through my new field of perception like a softball.


    "Whoa."


    "Joe! I''m here to talk to you. You''re stirring up shit that you probably shouldn''t. The red fang has been burning some of their agents trying to sneak someone into the Moon clans inner sanctum to get you and drag you back. They''re about to quit playing nice."


    I snapped my eyes open and yes unfortunately, she was there.


    "I don''t have anything to say to you. If they want to fight because I wouldn''t join their Sect, then they can bring it on. And I''m still mad about you leaving the girls. I didn''t have a choice in the matter-"


    "Neither did I."


    I finally looked directly at her. The dark circles around her eyes reminded me of the fights we had about her need to head out and do all of these trips away from home where I was more than content to tag along for a time.


    "Joe, I know that you''re not going to believe this, but we''re on the same side here. I only provisionally agreed to help them when I first came over and they''re so persistent that it''s- they''re not letting me leave, Joe."


    "So you came to me. Do you want my help or do you just want to vent about this?"


    "Typical Joe. But yes. I was about to board an airship and get off this godforsaken continent but I wanted you to understand. The Sect leader knows who you are. They''re not out to recruit you anymore. They-they''re out for blood."


    I rolled my shoulders back and adjusted my Gi. Beyond Maxine, I could see Min lounging on a wall, taking all of this in.


    "I can take him."


    "Joe don''t be stupid. Not only is he a core elder, but he has two personal bodyguards in the fourth realm and you''re only...Joe how did you?"


    I brushed imaginary dirt off my shoulder. "You''re looking at the beneficiary of several weeks of top tier training. It''s something that you should be able to achieve yourself. I had an idea that they would stop the gentle sales pitches and move to something more like a time share presentation, but even this feels like a lot."


    "They''re coming."


    "Or, I can take the fight to them."


    "Don''t be stupid Joe, they''re not- you can''t...."


    "I can and will."


    "And you''re going to get your harem to help or something?"


    "They''re not a harem."


    "Are they orphans then? Trying to be a better dad in a new world?"


    "They''re not orphans. They''re friends and members of my team."


    "And I suppose you came into this world all ready to make a team to take the place of your daughters, didn''t you? It''s so easy to drop your responsibilities and carry on like nothing it happening?"


    "I didn''t fucking choose this shit either."


    "Who is watching the kids?"


    "Well if you''re not and I''m not, I don''t have a fucking clue now."


    She sat down, wrapping her arms around her legs.


    "Well. Fuck."


    I stepped forward and knelt down.


    "Maxine- if there is a way home then I''m going to find it. I''ll destroy this whole world if it''s keeping me from my girls. But more pragmatically, we planned for this kind of thing," I almost brushed a tear off her face,"Our parents are in good health and the girls are old enough to get through high school on their own."


    I wonder if I left a body or if there was no trace. Surely someone from the office would review the footage and send a note to Rachel and Courtney, or better yet, someone trained to handle disappearances.


    "It''s just a bit of a punch in the gut after all the fights we had and... God we can''t start over but Joe we want mostly the same things."


    "You want me to kill your new boyfriend, I take it."


    "Sect Leader Shai is not my new boyfriend, but yes. He is going to pressure the Moon clan to turn you over. Word on the street is that he already has the Taoists ear. It won''t be long before your Harem is torn asunder."


    "I don''t have a Harem."


    "And I don''t have a boyfriend."


    "Alright, what are you proposing?"


    "Joe you have to understand something. These guys are like missionaries taken to a whole new level. First they want to recruit you but if you aren''t devout enough or go back on anything you say ever, then they''ll use the flimsiest excuse to use your corpse to train themselves up. I saw it once by accident and I still retch every time I-"


    She gagged slightly.


    "The point being that the Sect Leader is stronger than you."


    "Does he have some weakness? Like garlic or salt? Do you have anything that can prove that they''re doing what they are doing? Because the blue coats I am certain will not tolerate their kind of problems if they understand the scope."


    Maxine laughed, a full belly laugh, the first I had seen her drop her facade here.


    "Oh you think that the cops here aren''t corrupt? These guys make our corrupt pigs look tame. They''re just held back when someone is spoken for by a powerful cultivator. But civil asset forfeiture and bribery is just common business practices and that''s not even looking into whatever internal affairs mess they have. In short, you can''t trust them."


    Oh, biscuits.


    "I figured as much. Oh well. I was looking for a real cultivator, a person of character, but seeing none that fit the bill, I''m going to have to step up."


    We made plans to meet up again. I was happy that I wouldn''t have to track her down. That would have been a problem, especially since she had earned some title just by making it to the third realm and the girl was running that check to the bank.


    There was just something about a woman who understood the oblique bureaucracy of a world she had found herself in, just one month prior to me.

 34. The once and future frenemy

    When Maxine left, Min finally dropped down and ran over to me. Her tiny comforting body purred as she tried and failed to lick my face.


    "Sandpaper tongue, no!"


    "I''ll get you one of these days, Partner Joe. How was the visit with Frenemy Maxine?"


    "Did you just call her a Frenemy?"


    "That is the designation that you have closest to the surface. It''s difficult for me to parse your thoughts, what with you being a fourth realm cultivator now."


    This was true.


    "Did she tell you anything else?"


    "She left this card on your desk. The squiggles don''t mean much to me but I didn''t want to ask Cousin Lee to translate."


    I rushed over to see a business card. It was written rather then printed, and the calligraphy was exquisite.


    ---


    Resting Bitch Lace


    Boutique


    Proper Undergarments for the Discerning Lady


    Location East of Spirit Hall Level 2


    ---


    "She left my world where she was a bra designer and ... Immediately came here and opened up a lingerie boutique?"


    "To be fair, you immediately began to look for ways to get paid as a therapist."


    I couldn''t argue with that.


    "Madame Kang and Ally Egiya have both dropped by since you began your closed door cultivation. Should I fetch them? They would be just waking up now."


    I didn''t technically need any sleep. Had I addressed my own needs? I needed to get washed and changed, avoid Maxine and have brunch.


    Would I have helped her before this week? I didn''t exactly know. She was offering some sort of alliance. It made me feel icky to think of us being on the same side for anything. I mean, I wasn''t just another cog in the Moon clans hierarchy, we had an understanding, but perhaps I needed to broaden my horizons.


    But if she offered? Who was I to say no? She was clearly capable and had been here longer than me. She seemed to know a bit more than she was letting onto. But I was aware of not only what my best was, but also what my team could do. That is assuming we were all in the same page.


    She was a woman who had fought against sexism, discrimination, being married to me, and had won handily. Well, winning in this particular part meaning that she got the outcome she wanted-me having custody most of the time so she could travel more often.


    For all that I wanted to use her to help me crush the Red Fang, she for some reason hadn''t on her own. I hadn''t forgotten that I was dealing with monsters now. I had spurned them at every opportunity, putting myself in the unenviable position. The dry taste in my mouth got me moving.


    "I''m going to ask them to brunch. You''re welcome to tag along."


    "Apologies, Partner Joe. This one needs to do it''s own version of closed door cultivation," Min said, trying to sound like Moon Xiru.


    "Very well."


    "But please, one of those jam pastries would do the trick."


    It went without saying that both women were up and had been up since the crack of dawn.


    Egiya was furiously scribing down things her mother stated. Her Quill pen was moving. She didn''t look up when I approached their guest quarters.


    Her mother did.


    Madame Kang continued speaking a mile a minute, like a podcast at twice the speed. It seemed like it wouldn''t go across but neither did anything to get out of what I can only call extreme body doubling flow state.


    After a minute they both stopped. Egiya set her pen aside and cleaned her blackened hands. Neither of her inappropriately long sleeves had a drop of ink. Her hair, usually immaculate, was for the first time I had ever seen it, down and untamed.


    "Cultivator Joseph Pidge. We are honored to see you again. Perhaps next time, send word that you''re on your way," Madame Kang said, her own hands rubbing her glasses with a cleaning cloth.


    "Madame Kang. It''s good to see you both. I''m glad to see that Egiya is progressing."


    "I take this to mean that you have formed a core and ascended to the fourth realm?"


    "I have."


    Egiya bristled. "Congratulations are in order."


    "Yes. Let''s see to it that we celebrate. Your own advancement should not be overshadowed by his."


    "I''m proud of her. Hey! Did I tell you I''m proud of you? Because I am. I would love to have another spar but first, brunch."


    "Yes. Brunch first," Madame Kang said.


    "I think that we are going to have to eat in the Moon clan commons though."


    I didn''t know how to bring up my ex wife just showing up. It would be a bit odd for the Moon clan to just not know but since she was able to fly iron man style, it probably couldn''t be helped. There wasn''t any aviation administration here to oversee that kind of movement, cool as it was. I would have to ask her for that trick if we followed up on the team up she mentioned.


    "Lead the way," the elder woman said, grabbing onto my arm firmly.


    We walked and I went over the intricacies of the commons. Having several sub clan units each with it''s own kitchen didn''t make sense in a society that was a mix of a martial dynasty and a boot camp. Thus, a central location was staffed most of the day by junior members to create food for the family.


    It was also a way to screen for leadership early. Fully a third of the people there at any time were school age. I had taken several shifts on each a week helping out and found it to be meditative.


    We arrived just as several dishes from the morning were being replaced with more lunch fare. I grabbed plates for myself and Madame Kang and quickly went down the line getting food for both her and myself. We took an open table, sitting down at the knee height marble slab.


    Egiya met us at the table, her plate loaded half with eggs, half with a rice that was part of the lunch offerings. The salt and pepper of both made me wish that this world had some ketchup or hot sauce.


    We ate in companionable silence as I thought about how to address the ex wife in the room. Part of the reason we hadn''t gone out of the Moon clan holdings was that we were definitely being watched. The other part was sheer convenience. The easier I made a task, the more I found myself doing it.


    "I suspect that we are being watched," I said softly to the two women,"Don''t look around. I don''t know who it is. They might be here or they might have an agent inside the Moon clan. I had a visitor."


    Only a sharp intake of breath greeted me as both women took a moment.


    "You''re certain?" The elder woman said.


    "Near as certain as I can be. Maxine visited me," I replied, looking to Egiya for confirmation. She might not have gotten the whole story since only Xueyie had met her.


    "She is a threat?" Egiya said.


    "She wants a truce. She''s not happy with her affiliation, or former affiliation. She told me that I have the attention of their Sect Leader."


    Egiya pushed her plate away. I quickly explained what we had gone over before Egiya asked to take our plates and then returned with mugs of water.


    "If the Sect Leader has you in their sights, there will be nearly nowhere you can hide. A Nascent soul, even one with such exponential advancement as yourself would not be able to take down one so easily. This man will probably stop at nothing to save face for his clan."


    "I can''t just stay here though."


    The elder woman clutched her grey mug.


    "A core elder like the Sect Leader should be- that person will be expecting someone without a core and you now have one. That might be your only way to defeat him. Make him gloat. Then-"


    Make him monologue? Then hit him where it hurts? I might be able to do that.


    "-you have to make him vulnerable somehow. Each martial style has some weakness you can exploit. Even your own, what did you call it?"


    "Taiquan. Also goes by Tai Chi but yes it''s a bit odd. I never expected to use it for anything except exercise, but here I am."


    "Taiquan? That does have a strange ring to it. Joe I want you to know what we have been up to."


    "*Mother*!"


    "He saw us when he came in, I just wanted him to understand-"


    "Understood what?" I asked.


    "I was privileged to take the notes from my husband''s advancement to the fourth realm, and I was dictating what I thought would be a good path for you to follow. It''s not that there''s some specific paths but I think if you are going to do your own thing fully, you should own it and develop your own techniques."


    This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.


    "Oh-kay, and how do I do that?"


    "I had one in mind. You have a sharp tongue and one in particular that I liked for you involved using that as a weapon."


    "What like mocking someone and them getting a headache?"


    "I see that we are on the same page here," the elder woman said, leaning in,"now I believe that you once told my daughter about some mind goblins?"


    I snickered.


    "Go right ahead."


    ___


    Back in the dreamscape everything was more granular. Enemies that had been half smoke were now more well defined. All thanks to my skill advancing, most probably.


    I had conjured up some goblins to throw against myself. They were adept at pack tactics which was what I expected to fight against when I went after Sect Leader Zhao. If the man tried to take me in a fair fight, I wouldn''t last five minutes. Unless I got him with my new mockery technique, but if he didn''t get it then I was at a loss.


    I had chosen this fight to be an uphill horde battle. I had to move up the hill through a legion of goblins, they had to get me trapped.


    I grabbed one goblin, using it''s body as a bat.


    First one, then several rushing goblins were smashed sideways along the hill. As they had the high ground I spent as much time stopping them from falling on me as I did fighting them.


    The goblin I held was all bruised and battered, and I casually tossed it over my shoulder. I had the impulse to turn and watch, but if course another one was in reach just then, and why not grab a second mother fucker to hit a mother fucker with.


    All those feelings about Maxine leaving the girls got poured into the attack. I didn''t have a choice and I was here and things were probably going to shit back home.


    The goblins tender body broke under my repeated blows and I grabbed another.


    "Typical."


    Had I been holding back this whole time? Save for some of the initial sparring I had gone through the motions but I hadn''t really cut loose. Lacking a ranged attack was a glaring hole in my weakness, one that I intended to shore up. If I could solve this conflict by speaking with the Sect Leader then perhaps-but this wasn''t a reasonable world.


    I raged, because in a perfect world we wouldn''t even be butting up against each other. The goblins stopped piling up and just stared as I radiated Qi. In a perfect world we could sort this shit out man to man. Or was it man to demon? I didn''t know.


    The whole point of society was to make things easier. If this jackass was going to be offended by me turning down an offer then that should be something he could discuss with her therapist.


    But he didn''t have a therapist because they didn''t have the concept, which was how I had been racking up the advancements post intake of the Moon clan initiates.


    I was leaking Qi, which was probably good news. Dream Qi has settled as one of the dominant types that I was able to use effectively. It just required dreamers to think about breaking through their own glass barrier, and the aura that generated let me run my dream scape. That, with Mins help had me running danger room type scenarios.


    "Anyone else?"


    The goblins resumed their futile charge. I was going to have to speak to Min about making them a bit more realistic and willing to run away.


    "I think it''s time to change this up, Min do you have the supposed floor plan for the Red Fang sect?"


    "Yes boss. Loading it up now."


    Xiru had gotten a contact either in the Gondoliers or Couriers to requisition an official map of their compound. For whatever good it might be, this was just what the Mandarin had accepted as their building plan. If I was a quasi illegal organization I don''t think that I would stick to the floor plan.


    Approximate paths opened up in a cartoon cutout of two dimensions meets three where it was clear the distances in play, but not the size of or color of the walls.


    Min and Egiya has pored over the map, trying to make sense of it. We of course were trying to find the best way to drop in unannounced, but the place was guarded like the Moon clans holdings by powerful cultivators.


    Everything about their plans looked like it was designed by the lowest bidder. I didn''t doubt that there was some architecture or construction union that would be the lead for these types of projects. It was probably one of those good old boy clubs, where you had to know somebody to get in, but getting a job there set up someone for life.


    Indeed, with a plethora of cultivators to carry heavy stone work around I might have to look into opening my own remodeling business. This is-if I was going to keep smashing Sects that didn''t learn to mind their business.


    As I strolled through the compound, the first thing I noted was that although they were on a Western island they did not come up against the water in any way. In fact, they were two blocks away from the water. It was also conveniently right next to a bridge. Underneath the bridge, I was told there was a gondolier work/rest site.


    This was curious to me as most of the larger sects kept a place next to the canals. The access the waterways was enough to justify the cost. However, perhaps every notable place where one could have a dock was already taken when this was made. If so, they would have to do with using a public dock for shipments from the ocean. This explained their use of airships as somethings came in via regular ship, most notably heavy foods and drinks. Or course the airships required usage of the courier guild instead of the gondolier conglomerate, but it couldn''t be helped.


    Min had not been able to extend the model to include the surrounding area. Because that wasn''t possible or hadn''t been done yet. All I had to go out by was a vague sense that the buildings around were three stories tall. That end the general feeling that I got. When I walked around the city myself.


    There was only so high that even crazy cultivators were willing to build on a tiny ass island. And they couldn''t dig too far into the bedrock either, as that was not only tightly controlled but something that a neighbor with a vested interest in not being waterlogged would take note of. And then probably promptly alert the authorities.


    There were two ways in from the ground, a main entrance and a service entrance. I could see that the service entrance looked to be mostly for moving food into the compound as it was wide enough for a cart but that was it. It also didn''t make sense for me to sneak in a side passage.


    If I was going to fight them it would make sense for me only if they decided to throw their men against me one at a time. That didn''t seem like a smart move that a rational enemy would do. It was plausible that the demonic aspect of their path lead to a change in perspective, one alien to the norm, which already like a bridge a fait distance away. Maxine as a co-conspirator helped.


    The center of their compound was a single training yard surrounded by a three story barracks on three sides. Besides that the buildings were the mess hall, two other buildings that could be higher ranking quarters and a storehouse. I was beginning to see how packed in they had made themselves. There was a lot of land simply devoted to fighting.


    There wasn''t a lot of places where one could move in unseen. This was going to take some work.


    ---


    I did an intake that afternoon.


    One of the young masters of the moon clan was having trouble relating to his peers. At least that''s what the complaint was initially. We sat and chatted on the edge of the mess hall inside of a bubble I created just for the purpose.


    In addition to being able to cloak myself or remain unseen, I was able to extend that to one additional person. If someone was looking directly at us then they would see a blurry vision of the two of us unless they were able to pierce the veil. The stronger I got the more people I was able to do that with.


    "So when do you notice this was a problem?" I asked him.


    Moon Liu wore a loose cultivators robe that he kept drawing in closer and closer. It he could fully pull himself inside of his robes and hide, he probably would. Most cultivators of his age group wore more fitted garments, his showing that he had slimmed down recently and hadn''t replaced anything yet.


    "Ever since you started training here, and talking to us, it''s just like to possibilities seem endless now. I had no idea how much trivial things that didn''t matter were taking up my day."


    "You''re talking about things that disturb your peace? Tell me about them."


    "The Sect elders have this notion that we all have to go through these robotic paths that they went through-we are not them. If I want to chart my own path with the foundation they give me, then I should be able to do so."


    I nodded, trying to keep my expression as neutral as possible.


    "If I want to create a technique that doesn''t depend on the eight phases of the moon, or use one that isn''t a regular approved path, then I''m the one that is in the wrong. I don''t think that it should be that way."


    "They want to give you a strong foundation. They also don''t want you to fall flat on their face, and that is okay. If things have changed substantially for them or you since they began cultivation, then no wonder you want to advance in your own way."


    "But it''s the constant little things. Even my brothers in the clan are all about doing what the elders say. I''m tired of it. I have done this loop of training and working the clans holding since I was a young man and now I''m almost old enough to be out on my own and-"


    Moon Liu left his words hang there as he straightened his back.


    "You know that you can opt to do closed door cultivation and just not do anything, right? No one will fault you for taking time to find yourself. They will probably encourage it. You can cultivate until you find peace or until peace finds you."


    "That-that actually helps, thanks."


    We sat in companionable silence for a long minute.


    "If protecting my peace makes me the villain, then I''ll destroy this whole city starting with you," I said, "Say it with me."


    "If protecting my peace makes me the villain, then I''ll destroy this whole city starting with you."


    We recited the mantra together. For the first time in our session, he stopped pulling his robes and fidgeting. I could see him mouth the words a few more times.


    "Everyone deserves to be in a place where they can feel safe and heard. You''ve got to fight for it, so you can make the same space for your brothers. You don''t have to do the work for them, but you can set them up for success."


    "I can set them up for success. It''s just that we are so busy that I-talking about myself feels so novel."


    "I encourage you to think about yourself in a new way. Before, you were the old Moon Liu, now you can be whatever new Liu you want to be."


    "This has given me much to think about. This humble cultivator is extremely grateful for this time."


    "Moon Liu, we can meet again and discuss this more next week if you wish. It doesn''t have to end here. Your journey, whichever path you choose is shaped by your will."


    Words I had rehearsed as a monologue flew out of me as I tried to make him understand.


    "Along your path, you may have to set up boundaries. They are both for you and for those around you. For instance, you might ask someone to not discuss some embarassing incident, and if they decide to bring it up again you can strongly and firmly tell them that you will be taking your leave of them. This is something that they will need to take a price of entry."


    "That''s a turn of phrase I can get used to. Price of entry, huh?"


    We went on a little bit going into detail about boundaries. When he left I could see a little spring in his step.


    I spent some time going through my notes. I had several regulars that I wanted to touch base with now that I had advanced, but intakes could go in a lot of different directions. I was seeing a lot of people unsure where their identity was, kinda being absorbed into the whole.


    As a community, it was good for them to put the group ahead of their individual desires.


    It wasn''t good for them to get lost in the groups needs.


    There had to be a balance.


    I dropped my veil down from the group to just me, pulling from my core to strengthen it. It already felt solid, like a tangible thing I could touch. I was trying to find a path with telekinesis or gravity that I could take notes from. Something that would let me control things. There were no clear analoges that Min or Moon Lee knew.


    Once again, in the absence of real cultivators, I began to chart my own technique. Of course I was going to make it as overpowered as possible.


    If Maxine was going to be Iron Woman then I sure as heck was going to try to be Superman.


    ---


    "This new technique of yours has you putting your own Qi into making things float?"


    The Moon spirit saw me holding a training boulder aloft.


    One handed.


    "It''s not floating. I''m holding it with my Qi."


    To tell the truth I had just convinced myself that I was Superman and had left it there. The real trick was turning the boulder into an extension of me. I had always admired the golden ages Superman and his many variations. The metropolitan man was able to leap over tall buildings and take bullets. True I could leap over tall buildings but I was after a janvier technique.


    I wanted tactile telekinesis. The ability to catch a plane or a boulder with an outstretched hand. Floating a boulder with Qi was one thing and it would take a ton of gravity or force Qi to make such a thing work. It was something I had worked on.


    If, instead I used the power of imagination fused with my dream energy to imagine myself able to grab onto things and control them when it really shouldn''t have been possible then yeah, I call that winning. Touching the object to infuse it with my dream of it moving the way I wanted it to-that was how I got to the position I was in now.


    "Hey Min! Catch!"


    "Oh-not again." The moon spirits Eeyore voice deadpan was on point as it sidestepped my boulder, "Whatever will I do."

 35. Infilitration

    "We can win this."


    I stood over my group. My crew. My family on this side. Whatever I was going to call them.


    "This one advises caution. Just because the Cultivator is able to advance others to the point where they can reach the second realm through talking doesn''t mean that-"


    "No, no. Let''s hear him out Cousin," Moon Lee said.


    Moon Fei leaned next to Moon Lee, both arms fully inside his shirt. The man wasn''t doing well, as evidenced by the yellow pallor of his skin. He was whispering into her ear from time to time, the auntie supporting his efforts with her body.


    "This one apologizes," Moon Xiru stepped back from the center of the room, "Far be it for one of my stature to try to tell his betters what to do."


    "I take all criticism seriously. Growing as a person is one of the things I encourage."


    "Well in that case, this hare-brained scheme is going to end up with the lot of us dead and open warfare in the streets."


    "That would be something to see," Madame Kang, our latest recruit said.


    "Mother!" Egiya stared her mother down, looking up from her notes.


    I wanted to ask her to run back the tape but I didn''t think that it would make sense as a joke. She did look a fair bit like a court reporter, though.


    "It''s simple. We need to infiltrate their compound," I said, "Yes the one that is guarded by second realm cultivators, but I can assure you that my path has the right tools to deal with those impediments to our progress. They have been probing the moons clans defenses since I came here for closed door cultivation."


    "Why not draw out the Sect leader?" Xueyie said, "They''re willing to track you down. Have them send wave after wave of their foot Soldiers, and we can destroy them with a flourish."


    She was wearing her stage makeup. For her, we had held this meeting late and agreed not to comment on the white face she still wore.


    "Thanks. That''s a bit dramatic, but I don''t think that would work out well for us. If he sees us coming then that is a problem It''s why I have been working so hard on my veiling technique with Moon Lee. If there is a weakness that we can exploit, it exists where they feel safest."


    Moon Lee nodded. Moon Fei was still on her shoulder, though he had stopped whispering.


    "Ah you youngsters. I wish I could partake in these festivities," Madame Kang said, "Alas, to only see the fruition of such planning with so many intelligent minds, it is such a blessing."


    "Alright. Much appreciated for that. But I figured that we could all talk about this before we dive into it and iron out the kinks."


    Min shook her shoulders from my lap, looking for more pats.


    "Which is why I prepared a fifteen point execution matrix for this exact moment," Egiya said, holding up a crude map with a dizzying assortment of steps on the outsides.


    The collective groan nearly overwhelmed me. Only Moon Lee and I cracked a smile.


    "I wanted to join a semi legal enterprise, not do more of this, but you take what you can get," Moon Lee said, "Let''s begin with the first phase-"


    ---


    The first part of this involved the various ways that material got into the compound. Moon Lee and I were obviously the heavy hitters in the group, thus we found ourselves cuddling in a nondescript shipping crate.


    With the help of the Taoists makeup department, we were able to heavily disguise the box and ourselves to look like Red Fang operatives. I hadn''t seen and female workers, but Maxine assured me that they existed.


    Maxine hadn''t wanted to join the crew, though Moon Lee had asked nicely on our behalf. Instead, we were doing a time limited team up. She was going to hopefully be the backup and do some iron man shit. I hadn''t yet worked out how to fly and my tactile telekinesis was only working so well. I was considering calling it dad mode or something else similar, but I hadn''t yet found the right thing to call the technique.


    My veil technique was on point. Especially for myself only, with all of the training Moon Lee had been doing with me trying to sneak through it. Hers was of course rock solid, as she had practiced it for two years.


    Our first test was slipping into their larder. According to the Gondoliers, their support staff was a skeleton crew of outsiders that kept to a defined part of the compound. Or at least that was the most that they could glean from a few greased palms.


    "What''s this then?" A gruff voice said.


    "Delivery for the Red Fang," our courier said,"says that this one is a bit early. If you would be so kind as to sign here that you have received it."


    The flapping of paper against the top of the crate we were in resolved into scribbling.


    "That''s all good then. Do you need directions?"


    "No, I have delivered here before, unless the Sect wants them to a different place?"


    "Same larder as always. Check in on your way out. Stay on the path, everyone is on high alert today."


    I was nose to nose with Moon Lee. Any other time this would have been romantic, with a little trauma bonding to seal it with a kiss. We had been studiously avoiding eye contact but on hearing the last sentence we shared a long look.


    She might have wanted to pull out right then, but we had only gotten the just a little bit inside before that choice was taken from us.


    "Heard and understood," our blissfully unaware courier said before pushing us creaking into a place which now more than ever gave me the creeps.


    Tense second later and we again stopped. The courier loudly moved around and I realized that I his steps sounds like shouting if I focused on them.


    I reached out with my Nascent soul, feeling as to the directions we had gone. I had a vague sense of our distance but seeing with a sixth sense painted a stark picture. The larder was inside and to the back of the communal dining hall.


    Once we were inside and put to the side the courier had been instructed to tap on the box twice.


    We stopped moving about a minute into it, the cart creaking the whole way.


    He dropped the cart efficiently and we waited for a tap.


    Instead we heard a slurping sound which set me on edge. Then the sound of a muffled thump came over and we were in it.


    Moon Lee pushed her fake door out, rushing into the dark larder. I followed immediately.


    The dank cool place was stocked wall to wall with crates. My Nascent soul flared on something standing over a body. Behind us, one man stood up over a body. He was quickly changing into a uniform and I recognized him as the courier that had brought us in.


    He saw the opened crate, then the two of us outside of the real fake door.


    "That''s not our guy," Moon Lee whispered,"take him down."


    The man bared a set of sharp fangs and I closed the gap. Lee went right as I popped him in the jaw.


    I pulled a trickle of Qi out, just enough to activate my dadliest skill: tactile telekinesis. As he tried to return the punch it began to dawn on me that his hands and chest were bloodied.


    I just needed a grip on his shoulder to pick him up. Using that hold I lifted him over my head and then smashed his ass into the packed stone of the larder floor.


    Moon Lee checked on the man on the ground.


    She gasped as I smashed him again hulk style. I was really getting to love this.


    After the third time he was unconscious and I was certain to have raised some sort of alarm. His face, already smashed to bits reformed to a neutral face something that I hadn''t expected.


    "He copied the couriers face. Those assholes," Moon Lee said,"He was probably going to leave as the courier while they used the body for..."


    This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.


    *CLINK*


    Both halves of the man split apart.


    The courier lay dead as the red fang thug had tried to stand up. Lee casually bisected him with her glaive that she had withdrawn from her soul space. I was eternally envious of that well kept secret, but she had taught me the veiling technique. She was probably- if Min was to be believed- going to ask me to take one of her nieces on a date in an exchange I had already mentally dubbed, Quid pro dad bod.


    "Let''s move," she said, as I jogged to the only apparent exit.


    It was about then that my extended senses pinged on something I wouldn''t have otherwise noticed. The door was secured, but I felt an opening into a large space underneath us. I didn''t have the pinpoint control to determine what was down there yet but I had a good guess as my body shuddered.


    "There''s something underneath us," I whispered from the door.


    I opened it up a crack to look around. I could see the small path that had been his last walk. I wasn''t going to dwell on the two men, one dismembered, that were right inside the door. This was supposed to be a smash and grab assassination, no frills. The more things went sideways, the more I wanted to dip out.


    "There''s not supposed to be something underneath us," Moon Lee said, "Do you sense anything?"


    I cursed leaving Min with the recovery team. She would have been able to tell something beyond ''dusky cold room smell where wooden crates are stored''. It would have been nice like so many other things that in retrospect would have worked better. Either way we were behind enemy lines with two dead people in a compromising situation.


    "It''s something. Or someone. They''re moving in place."


    Lee and I looked at each other before deciding to follow up on this new lead. We had both expressed a need to figure out how the demonic cult had done what it had done. Even if the blue robes would take nothing but demonic activity being shoved driving to their faces, we would have to bring that to them. It was either that or shove it under their noses. And we all know how well the police work.


    " Can you sense a doorway, or trapdoor somewhere to get underneath us?"


    If I could sense it that meant that there was a way to get there. My senses didn''t go through walls. Or at least not yet unfortunately. And that meant one of two things, that there was either a vent or a door wide enough for me to snake my nascent soul through. Either way I had a feeling that it was some sort of door.


    I turned back to look into the larder with fresh eyes. If somebody was coming through and was going to take a another path from the inside to go to a secret enclave underneath it then there was probably a sign. That or signs of use. They would probably have made it as easy as possible to enter. This was how I narrowed it down to just a few places and in short order, I was opening a trap door.


    The large trapdoor was a solid cellar door type that folder outwards. It was instantly recognizable but surrounded on the three sides by wooden crates. I pushed my senses through it and found a large open space on the other side. We stepped through after seeing that it had both natural light and a of flicker of flame.


    The underground passage led to a room approximately the size of the larder but underneath it. As we are close so I could hear moans, causing me to pick up my pace. I began jogging as we got closer and it opened up to show me a room full of people in shackles.


    Moon Lee retched as she threw up behind me.


    The stench was probably the worst thing I''ve ever smelt in my life. Every fiber of my being wanted to leave. Something made me stay. Probably it was a misguided of sense of duty. A younger me would have seen the mass of shackled people and wanted to save them all. I realized that in order to do that I would need to save myself.


    Starving men and women covered in cuts and bruises looked at us with dead eyes.


    Beyond emaciated, this had to have been intentional. No would cause this amount of suffering unintentionally. I couldn''t hold back my tears. The only thing that kept me sane was knowing that I had the ability to do something about this.


    Behind me I could still hear brunch being tossed up from poor Moon Lees tender stomach. Neither of us had asked for this kind of thing. When they had said that demonic cultivators were the bane of society, I had understood that in the abstract. The stark reality was far worse than I had ever expected.


    "We have got to do something about this. This is a crime against humanity. How do we-"


    "Lee. We take the red fang down."


    You were on their turf after all. It was going to come down to a battle. Probably a long one if we had to move people at the same time and they were all looking like they even kept alive. I was going to find that Sect leader and destroy him.


    "We can''t do anything right now. Can we. Half of them look like the walking Dead, the other half doesn''t look much better. Their shackles look breakable. If we can get them out of here then they stay in a chance to tell the blue robes what''s really going on."


    "We''ve got to secure the compound before we-"


    She was interrupted by a groan. What sounded like a raspy cough followed as blank faces turned to us. The damned things-no they were human after all- looked to us pleading for something.


    I took slow breath and drew in the pure aura of the room. Unexpectedly, dream aura filled me as I converted it to qi. What kind of dreams could these people be having except for-


    They had to have been having nightmares.


    Wisps of black qi danced around me as I took on their dreams. I pushed them all into their own dreamscapes as they collapsed. My core stretched to an aching degree as it pushed to expand.


    "Joe-What-How?"


    "They''re going to take a nap now and wake up in a better place."


    "I-okay!"


    She followed me up the stairs. A man at the top took a look at me and ran right for me.


    An opened palm met has face as I moved his entire body into the wall and through it. His body rested there, partially liquified.


    Above, his friends stopped, eying the scene in bewilderment. With no regard for their lives, they too ran straight at me.


    I tore them asunder.


    First realm demonic cultivators meant nothing to me any longer. Only the thought of destroying their leader filled me with anything akin to hope. It was like they were trying to earn a girl scout badge for destroying the concept of themselves, and had elected me their den mother.


    "It''s time to educate these idiots."


    The door was halfway open. I kicked it off it''s hinges walking towards the center of the compound. A dozen men and women stood in my way.


    I cracked my knuckles.


    "Going left," Lee said as she ran around my side.


    Two women launches themselves at my with spear tips pointed directly at me. I took an empty step in, softening my lower back and then grabbed both spears bypassing the tips. The spears stopped, and the women holding them violently held on.


    "Listen- I don''t know what you kids are up to-"


    I slammed both spears into the ground, pinning the women underneath them.


    "But do know one thing. Laws are real and so are consequences."


    Lee kicked one man into another, then swiftly beheaded a third one with her glaive. The two men smashed into an outer wall, cracking the marble.


    "And you all are now subject to my consequences."


    These women were both first realm cultivators. I could see the fear in their eyes as Lee parried the last man''s spear technique, then she kicked him straight up into the air.


    I shifted my grip impaling the two women with the butts of the shafts. I was an equal opportunity offender. They had the mark. They were just as guilty as anyone else in this forsaken place.


    Ahead of us the inner training grounds of the Sect opened up. Two cultivators stood there. A quick gauge of their strength put them at roughly third realm.


    Good.


    I could stop holding back.


    A two meter tall bald gangly man child covered in bandages held a scythe. It was a bit on the nose if he was going for a gothic reaper look. He barely wore any clothes except for a black fighting gi. He displayed no outward emotions, to all the world playing a rebel without a chance to make it until tomorrow.


    To his left, a woman in an intricate black and blue robe held a falchion. The blade seemed at odds with everything about her but she made the look work.


    The man with the scythe threw it in our direction. I narrowly avoided it, but he wasn''t after me. The long bladed shaft extended with a chain to hit one of the women I had impaled. Before I realized it, she went from a gasping near dead cultivator to a husk and I could see the Qi flowing from her body back. The man on question looked like he was in the throws of passion.


    "All you had to do was sign up and we would have given you everything, Joe," he said.


    "That''s not happening," I said casually grabbing the chain and exerting my will on it to the fullest,"get over here!"


    I pulled on the chain, yanking him forward to mee my fist. He stopped short but was unable to pull his scythe back. There we stood as Moon Lee clashed blade against blade with the silent female cultivator. Our tug of war lasted for the longest ten seconds when I felt Min tug on our bond briefly.


    The reinforcements were coming. The cultivator that Moon Lee had kicked straight up had probably been taken as a sign. That or the cracks in the outside wall.


    Three third realm cultivators touched down iron man style next to us. Maxine was joined by both Jin Wong and Jin Jeena. Jin Wong assumed a battle pose with his quarterstaff, while Jin Jeenas fists surrounded themselves with air currents.


    Maxine, for her part launched a beam of arc light straight out of both hands directly at the cultivator who was engaging Moon Lee. She was really turning herself into iron man. I let that twinge of jealousy slide. She might have seen me as her Pepper Potts, but she had been my Lois Lane.


    The two cultivators to their credit didn''t skip a beat, attempting to engage all five of us at once.


    In the corner of my eye I could see Min, Xueyie and Egiya at the gate, fighting what had to be first realm cultivators and beating them handily.


    I took a moment to assess my situation as our attackers dodged fricking laser beams from my ex wife.


    Jin Jeena caught a falchion with her bare hands before kicking the wielder square in the jaw.


    If the Sect Leader has a flair for the dramatic, he would probably reveal himself now, but I didn''t see hide nor hair of any reinforcements coming from inside the compound. He might have just decided to fuck off at this point and cut his losses. I know I probably would have. Finding allegiance through fear couldn''t work for the long term.


    The falchion wielding demonic cultivator barely parried a blow before being pushed bodily into a small crater. The man with the scythe was on one knee, bleeding out or kept alive by sheer force of will alone.


    I could feel Min behind me, she was doing whatever her mental equivalent of a happy dance was. Either she had beaten someone soundly, or she had won an argument. I turned to see what the girls were doing but kept my nascent soul pushed out to maximum distance.


    Egiya was weaving in and out between various Sect members taking shots when it was to her advantage. Next to her, Xueyie was pressing the attack with Min. There was no rest for the few dozen men that she kept busy with her ministrations of an icy revenge. Min backed her up alternating between fixing demonic cultivators in place so one then the other could rush an attack.


    I nearly cracked a smile, until all the weight of a fifth realm cultivator dropped on my small group. Jin Jeena and Wong took a knee as what could only be called intense pressure pushed us all down. I struggled against it, trying in vain to effect any sort of change.


    Then, he touched down.

 36. The system, revisited

    The bald head of the Sect leader shone as he landed gracefully. The blinding light from the sun decided that now was the right time to reflect every damn thing on the man''s head to a rapt, attentive audience.


    "This doesn''t have to end like this. Admit you were wrong in attacking the Red Fang, and we can find an accommodation."


    I struggled to place the face of the man. There hadn''t been that many bald men. It just wasn''t something you saw, except in criminals. Then Iremembered the explosion at the inn and the stranger that had run alongside me. He had made himself out to be an emissary and we had chatted amiably.


    I told him about boundaries.


    He had listened.


    "Wu?"


    "By now, you''ve realized," he said, increasing the pressure, "That just active listening is not enough to-"


    My bones shook as I stood up, fighting with every ounce of strength in my body.


    "-win against me. Curious."


    "You know what, FRIEND? I''m going to establish a clear boundary here. You see this city? This-"


    I stepped forward.


    "-This is MY city. And I''m the setting the boundary that you-"


    I stepped again, garnering a raised eyebrow.


    "-are not welcome here. You see all of these people, they''re strong physically, but they can''t hold a handle to what I''ve been through. I feel like I live in a world of paper where I have had to take constant vigilance to not break anyone. I haven''t lost control the entire time I''ve been here. Not even for a second. But I don''t have to do that anymore."


    My whole body tingled as I began to run. He in turn started to take this entire enterprise seriously, bringing up both fists. I just needed to get a hand on him and let my Superman trick take over. That was one of the ways-


    He dodged bodily before punching me straight in the face.


    *Got him.*


    He attempted to let go, his hand unexpectedly getting stuck to my face. He looked on with utter revulsion as I grabbed his forearm with mine.


    The gravity of his pressure immediately dropped as he refocused himself on trying to get away from me.


    "You wanted me? Here I am! Oh now you want to leave? Too freaking bad!"


    I tossed him through the ground, leaving a two meter deep crater. I floated above it. Two familiar hands were on my hips, holding me up.


    "I know you want to be a hero but can I take a shot at him? This is a bit personal, Joe."


    I exhaled the weight of his presence.


    "I got your back," I said,"or we can do this like we used to."


    "What are you idiots blabbering about," Wu said, climbing unscratched from the rubble.


    "You might have raised a Sect, Wu Zhao, but we raised teenage girls," I replied,"Light him up."


    "With pleasure."


    Arc lazer beams poured down to where he had been as I saw Moon Lee and the two Jin cultivators take up spots around the crater.


    I pulled dream qi in, enveloping all three of us as I dragged him kicking and screaming into my dreamscape. He might have been able to see through it, but in his heightened state, he spent his energy batting off the thin beams. Then he was there in the post apocalyptic Los Angeles of my dreams.


    "Oh, now this is new," he said,"finally a challenge-"


    Maxine slammed him into I-5. Thankfully she had taken this all in stride. The normal back to back traffic had been replaced by rows of cars aiming to hit him.


    He pushed his will out into the world, trying to negate the dreamscape. It was only the Qi that I gathered from the nightmares of his prisoners that kept me from immediately emptying out my new core.


    Instead I focused on pulling something from his memory. If I couldn''t break through to him with violence, I would have to find another way.


    "Mother?"


    A tall long haired Asian woman looked down upon him. Her spectral form gave the impression of a weightless spirit. See she reached out a hand to his face.


    "What happened to my little boy?" The lilting voice said, "he is shorn, his sins can never be forgiven."


    "Mother! How are you here! What..is this place?"


    Maxine held off her assault wisely waiting for him to make move. She probably hadn''t expected this trick. I hadn''t explained this side of my powers, but if she was able to fly like Iron Man I was sure as heck not going to tell her everything I could do. It was going to be on her if we ever even did a team up again. I just didn''t want to work with her. This was a special one time deal because everything lined up.


    Wu began to blink as the image of his mother faded in and out.


    "Where the hell are you," he said.


    With the bald head and the sharp teeth, I couldn''t help but think of him as a gremlin. I hadn''t noticed the teeth before. They sure as heck seemed important now. He must have been hiding that when I saw him the first time. Unfortunately, though I made the specter of his mother, it wasn''t listening to me the way I expected it to.


    This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    "Been here the whole time," I said from behind him,"Why are you such a terrible son? What did you do to deserve your mothers hatred? You don''t go against family!"


    The incredulous look stoked something in me that I was certain I had pushed way down.


    "But-but," he wavered between glaring and sneering,"You''re not real. None of this can be real! These giant steel boxes can''t be real."


    "See," I said,"That''s where you''re wrong, because you might think that you''re in charge of your own mind, but right here and now? You''ve already lost it."


    The waves of pressure he pushed out stopped me flat, utterly annihilating the dreamscape as the last of my dream qi maintained the face and voice of his mother.


    "YIELD!" He screamed, his muscles bulging against his form fitting clothes.


    My ribs creaked. I had to have been bleeding internally and the loss of blood had me wavering between conscious and unconscious. An elephant had sat on me and it was attempting to crush me into paste.


    "I SHOULD THINK NOT."


    An angelic voice cut through the haze of my vision as a purple robed angel descended upon us. Either the Taoists were great at putting on a show or someone had pulled an even more powerful cultivators into the party. As Wu relented, blood forced its way out of my throat. I called to Min trying to nudge her to get to me and do something in one last faint hope before I passed out.


    ---


    I woke up, my entire chest and right arm covered in bandages. The room around me was dark and my only consolation was that I had Min resting nearby. A hundred stray thoughts fought to the surface as I reached for the moon spirit.


    "Partner Joseph, you''re okay!" She padded over to me. Instead of her normal sit on my chest and wait for pets, she curled up on my left side.


    "I take it you have news? Did we win or is this a fever dream?"


    "In this dream, I am the human and you are my familiar. We are still partners though."


    "Do you feel like I order you around a lot? Because I feel like I get a lot of snark back from you."


    "This seems like a thing that you need from the women in your life. Partner Joe, if you would please keep me out of your kinks, I would be much obliged."


    I propped myself up and gave her a good pat. I didn''t care if she was a snarky piece. She was mine.


    But if she started making harem jokes, it was going to be over.


    "What happened to the rest of them? How''s the crew?"


    "Ally Jin Xueyie has found a replacement, though her show ended it''s run. Her parents were instrumental in calling up the Mandarin. He was the one who saved you in the end."


    "I might have had that coming."


    I stopped petting her long enough that she used her prehensile tail to make me start up again. I was not going to get used to that.


    "Just a smidgen. Bestie Maxine-"


    "I''m sorry, did you just call my ex-wife your bestie?"


    "She said that it was a common term for best friends where you come from."


    "Uh-huh. What did your ''bestie'' say? Also how long was I out? It seems like a lot has happened."


    "Partner Joseph, you were out for five days."


    I envisioned myself sitting straight up and looking indignant but that thought made me ache and itch.


    "Anyway, Bestie Maxine helped but then took a side line to the thorough blue coat investigation. They''re going to want to speak with you as well, once you have recovered enough to walk. She has been giving an oral account of what they tried to get her to do."


    "She didn''t know about the larder."


    The moon spirit was silent for the first time since I had woken up. No purring noises and I swear I had seen those bloodshot eyes before.


    "They''re alive, though brought to the brink of death. Apparently the demonic cultivation requires corpses but they have gradations of... freshness."


    I was thinking about my mother''s garden back home. She barely tended it, leaving it for the help to deal with nowadays. Back before Dad had signed a hit artist to his label, when I was really little, that garden had been the different between eating vegetables and not. They had kept the people alive like vegetables.


    "What''s to be done with them?"


    "The Moon clan has agreed to help heal them. The Mandarin believes that they may teach us something about the Red Fang that they can use to flush out others."


    "So I got the blue robes to do their damn job after all."


    "It''s difficult to tell if the Mandarin is more angry at finding a demonic sect in the middle of his city, or because he has to do work."


    "Could be both."


    "Both is good."


    "How about Egiya and her mother?"


    "Ally Kang Egiya is helping her mother with those we helped saved. She is taking down their stories as they are healed. She told me that she wants to be notified when you awaken. Matriarch Kang that is, of course."


    Everything in my bones wanted to leap up and tell them that I was good but a fit of coughing stopped me.


    "Matriarch Kang also spoke to the Mandarin on your behalf."


    The coughing started up again.


    "Well I''m not trying to rescue spoiled milk. I sure hope she knows what she is doing, talking to what is he, a sixth or seventh realm cultivator?"


    "The gaps get wider. The only reason you are alive is because you made it so the Mandarin himself had to show up."


    I whistled a bit and once again attempted to stand. It felt good to not be on my back, even though my head spun as I got up. It was a relief to be breathing. I threw my legs over the side of the bed and just kinda existed for a while, my head in my hands.


    It was one thing to think about how close I had been to death, but thinking about how everyone I has just met had been in far greater danger-Someone should have stopped me.


    But I hadn''t seen any adults around, so it had to be me.


    "Now what?" I asked.


    "The people that this happened to, they''re going to need a lot of work to rejoin society. Some of them don''t even know that they''re in Western Jewel."


    "Some of them don''t even-ow!"


    I tented my arms on my knees. A different type of pain hit me.


    "Take me to them."


    ---


    My neck throbbed as I came back to the converted compound. Each step was a slow deliberate process, but assisted by Min we had made it there in under an hour. The sheer size of the city still struck me almost as much as the stone and marble buildings in three or more stories. They now felt familiar.


    There wasn''t a line of people to indicate that we were there, most of the rubble having been cleared while I slept. Inside, the dark and reds had been changed to a more vibrant set of colors. The courtyard was full of people who look like they had just been released for recess.


    Here and there they played around and I saw a ball being kicked between two women, as they ran around the now grassy interior.


    Madame Kang sat with one of the men, facing away from me on a bench. His short black hair had curls, something that I had rarely if ever seen here.


    I placed a hand on her back.


    "Oh, hello cultivator Joseph. Why I was just talking to this man here and he has the strangest story I''ve heard in a while. Have you ever heard of a place called Los Angeles?"


    <h2>The End</h2>


    <h2>Volume 1 of Nascent Soul Child</h2>

 2-01

    "I think that you need to talk to someone."


    The man across from me wore a loose fitting robe over a worn workmans uniform. I had the same workmans day laborer outfit on, as I tried to mirror him. He''d recently come through a portal from another world unexpectedly and had a bout of amnesia.


    But the thing is, I knew him. Let me back up a bit.


    We''d worked together. In fact he was one of the guys who had convinced me to go into private practice, before I''d been summarily transported here. We had a successful therapy practice in Los Angeles. It was a co-op where several therapist shared a building and sometimes swapped tactics and patients when one didn''t mesh. He wasn''t the only other therapist there but he was one of the ones that I traded notes with the most often.


    He''d just had a bit of amnesia since between leaving Earth and how he ended up here. It was coming back to him, but I knew the symptoms of post traumatic stress and he was a textbook case.


    "Joe," he said, his dry cracked voice one that made him sound like a lifelong smoker, "I get it. I love you. You are a good guy... but I don''t need therapy right now. And I''m the last guy to avoid processing my feelings but things are completely overwhelming at the moment."


    "We can do a venting session now, if you''re not solutions oriented. I can understand that it''s a lot, being sucked away from earth and being effectively put into a fridge to await being eaten."


    Lorenzo shuddered.


    "It''s not that. It''s just that all these other people-how many did you say?"


    "There were sixty three in all. We are still determining who else is from Los Angeles."


    So far only a few had been from Earth. They had it the worst. Demonic cultivators needed fresh corpses to feed upon, the fresher and stronger the dead was, the more they would in turn advance.


    Lorenzo and the people he were with had been hypnotized and kept barely alive. I say hypnotized but it was some cultivator bullshit power that kept them entranced and not fighting for their lives.


    "It''s monstrous what they did."


    "You went through something that no one should ever have to go through. We''re not going to push you to process this too fast or to just get over it-that would be too much. But I could use a friend."


    "A friend?"


    "I know you. Heck, our kids know each other. We built something great, but now? These monsters tore all of that away from me when I got pulled here. They took even more from you. I know you. You''re a strong man who would give the shirt off his back to help a stranger. But this world is very might makes right."


    I let the companionable silence fall over us.


    "You know what? You used to be known for these walk and talk sessions. We can walk around Western Jewel, and see some of the sights if you wish. I''m done for the day at the very least so my schedule is free. We''ll have to take a sedate pace, but you''re safe with me."


    "Ellen said that you''re the reason we''re alive," he whispered, "Why didn''t you say anything?"


    "You-uh-wow. I really need to talk to her."


    I stood up, extending a hand. I didn''t want to develop some a savior complex so I hadn''t let on that so had been the instigator that got them out. So I did what any normal person would do: ignore the question and try to redirect the inquiry. This all took about two seconds for me to sort out. I was going to have to deal with the fallout later.


    "I know a great bun place," I said.


    "Lead on, O great hero."


    The path in front of us was clear to the lare stone arch entryway. Outside the town was full of activity as men and women in all shades of martial robes line the streets. Western jewel was a city in the true sense of the word as they had built up structures over the years to get to this point. Large mostly square islands connected by bridges were divided by canals where gondoliers pushed through the water ferrying passengers and cargo to and from the city. Each island was a neighborhood unto itself and it had the feeling of a very planned community, as the stone that made up the base layer had to be regularly treated.Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.


    Lorenzo and I stopped over one of the many bridges between the neighborhood to watch the gondolas pass by. Ten meters below, a blue canal ran the complete length of both adjacent islands.


    "The water is so clean here," He said.


    "They have a ton of clams down there. It''s a delicacy and they filter the water as well. They sell them by the street vendors, but they''re so salty. I tried one and it was a bit too much for me. I can get you one?"


    "I think that I''m good. Seafood didn''t agree with me before and I doubt it will now. So, Maxine is here?"


    "Yeah. She''s opened a boutique shop where she uses local help to make her lingerie line. She was thinking about getting some of the victims to help if they needed work. I know two of the women already took her up on it."


    "But Lauren isn''t?"


    "Yeah. I know that I was an idiot when we broke up and I would give a lot to get Lauren back. I''m glad that she didn''t get summoned here and that Rachel and Courtney didn''t also come over. It''s like they targeted one city block in particular."


    "Yeah wasn''t her shop back in Los Angeles, it was like two doors down from the office?"


    "Yeah. She uh...kept the name."


    "Get the fuck out of here. Resting Bitch Lace has a storefront?"


    Lorenzo stopped to really size me up. Of course I was serious. I wasn''t happy that she had done so and I wanted to walk the thin line between displeasure and outright attempting to foil her schemes, but it was probably best if we just didn''t fight.


    "Honestly yes, and it''s a little too close to where I have been staying. Like had I known, but that doesn''t matter now."


    We got off the bridge, moving to avoid a man carrying what had to be a marble stone the size of his body. It looked like it was going to be a pillar or statue once it got to where it was going. He deserved a wide berth.


    "I do appreciate the amount of care that the citizens here take in the small things. It''s a beautiful beautiful city. Shame that my introduction to it had to be..."


    Lorenzo finally talking about his feelings was good. I hadn''t really had a time to talk about getting pulled away from my girls with anyone but I didn''t think that it was something that I could put on him now. He had a lot of trauma to work through and like the man with the marble, he was carrying it wherever he went. His face couldn''t mask his pain.


    "There''s several niche trade unions that take care of highly specific things. I would credit both the Gondoliers as well as the Couriers Union with your life as they helped us infiltrate the former Red Fang Sect. Though, the tea brokers union gave the most behind the scenes help."


    "There''s all these trade unions here and the government is still broken. The more things change, eh?"


    "Yeah about that. Apparently I have been summoned to answer to the Mandarin and he is a man that you don''t say no to. I wanted to talk to a third party about this before I beat my face into the nearest marble wall. I have to see him tomorrow."


    "He''s just a man, right?"


    I stopped at a restaurant stand well known for its meat buns. The smiling vendor has a short line that we waited on, the smells thoroughly assaulting my advanced palette. The meat itself was probably Yak given the fatty taste but the sign just said that it was the ''Special''.


    "It''s like meeting the Mayor, except he is some super powered neutral third party."


    "So not like the mayor. Got it. The beef ones? That''s beef, right? Those look good. The smell amazing too."


    I ordered a ''therapists dozen'' buns. It was cathartic to see him eating again as his faint frame was not the way I had seen him last on the other side. If I wasn''t working my father figure, I wouldn''t have done an even split with Lorenzo. He needed it, though dad bod or not.


    "These are incredible. We need to have one of these on every corner. Sad that there''s no taco trucks, but if this is how their local street food tastes, I can''t imagine the fine dining."


    "I know. The only thing that could make this place better would be taco trucks. I really need to teach someone how to make a decent taco."


    "You just need *masa harina*, water and salt. That shouldn''t be too hard to find, right? They do have corn?"


    We both paused our running commentary on mans place in society and the social injustice of there being zero taco trucks here. It couldn''t be heaven without them, so this was either the other place or a third option. I leaned towards the latter. I still hadn''t decided if this was some afterlife or a cruel joke.


    "I don''t know. I know that they''re very shall we say particular in their tea and tea rituals. Oh hey, we are by the tea wholesalers territory if you want a real tour of the place."


    Lorenzo was staring at the giant crow statue that dominated crows murder, my old stomping grounds. The Green Air Inn as well as the Cultivators Inkpot were both places I frequented. The massive square had was one of the few large open public spaces in the district.


    There were several carved training courts where first realm cultivators traded blows. It you looked close you might pick up a thing or two.


    "One of my associates works here if you want to stop by," I said,"She runs the inkpot. I had a friend who worked at the Inn but he''s out on workers comp."


    "They have workers comp here? Far out."


    "I mean, he did get beaten to near death several times because of me so my enterprise set that up for him."


    "Go to a new world and set up workers compensation for your semi criminal enterprise. Yeah that''s the Joseph Pidge I knew from back in the day."


    "You gotta be the change you want to see in the world, right?"


    Lorenzo smiled at me.

 2-02

    The Cultivators Inkpot was the first story of a three story building. Its open inviting interior was laid out like an art gallery. In the back, rolls of paper and ink in so many containers all surrounded a beautiful young lady in an immaculate formal robe.


    It was exactly what any man who wanted to get some note taking equipment would need. If there had been a sect recruiter here I might have signed up, once upon a time. In a world that had no concept of a pencil, the quill held a special place.


    "Kang Egiya-" I said, holding my arms out.


    The proprietor nearly knocked me over in her haste to give me a bear hug.


    "Mind.The.Bandages."


    "Hey miss, I understand that he''s a hot commodity, but please save some of him for the rest of us," Lorenzo said flatly,"also he is barely able to walk so I would appreciate you not crushing him."


    "Oh dear! I''m so sorry! It''s just that while you were gone I have been training and-Yes let me get you a seat. I have one right here for you."


    Egiya washed her already clean hands as she spoke. They lowered me into a chair. I felt like telling some kids to get off my lawn for the briefest of moments.


    "Thank you. Egiya, this is my buddy Lorenzo. He worked with me back on earth."


    "You knew him from before?"


    "Well, yes, but-"


    "He changed my life! He is the reason that I advanced to the second realm."


    "Oh is that right?"


    "Yes!"


    Egiya related some of the events that led up to our taking on a Sect of demonic cultivators. They were nearly too much for me to handle with what had to be dozens of individuals. She had been an integral part of me understanding the culture that we were now surrounded by. She was like a daughter to me and I was grateful that I had stumbled upon her almost by accident.


    The new thing for her was her growing into her power. She had reached a decision point where she was seeing if she should follow in her absent father''s footsteps or chart her own path.


    He was on a long assignment out of the city, shoring up defensive formations that kept roaming beasts outside of the packed cities that dotted the coast around this continent. His wife lived upstairs and had been his constant companion in the same work until she broke her cultivation trying to ascend to the fourth realm-the place I had just arrived at recently. Her and Egiya had just begun family therapy and it had proven to be an intense time for all three of us.


    "Is your mother home today? I think that Lorenzo wouldn''t mind a spot of tea," I said, hoping for some myself.


    "Of course. Let me close up shop for a bit and we can go pick her brain."


    I had never seen another patron in her store. Between visits I could see product being pushed as piles that were once full were empty the next time I dropped in. I was going to make walking past here a regular part of my morning routine until I could run around and resume training.


    The itch to do something throbbed. The bandages did not help.


    We walked around the back of the shop and up the stairs to the second floor landing which connected the whole row of houses. Then we ducked into a modest apartment that was furnished to the fullest extent.


    "Dear daughter, ah you have brought guests! Wonderful!"


    "Ellen!" Lorenzo said, limping to give her a bear hug.


    We skipped the short round of introductions as Ellen had been volunteering with me and the victims. We settled in with the fierce crippled woman whose makeup and hair wouldn''t have been out of place at a beauty pageant. Lorenzo of course, had the riz. Aunties were his special interest after all.


    "So, Mr. Lorenzo. Our Joseph Pidge here is the talk of the aunties. Pray tell do you have any idea when he will take a wife?"


    I nearly spat out my tea as Lorenzo laughed his ass off.


    "Miss Kang, I swear to you that he already had one divorce. Why do you think he wants a second one?"


    "Ah. Divorce?"


    "It''s when two people who are legally married end it. His was particularly acrimonious," Lorenzo said, giving me the look.


    I shrugged, regaining my composure.


    "My ex wife, she actually, well you met Maxine."


    At this both mother and daughter had their laser eyes on me. I pulled my robe near the neck and smiled.


    "That''s what an ex wife is? I thought it was something completely different!" Egiya said.


    "And what, pray tell did you think I meant?"


    "I uh...."


    Lorenzo couldn''t contain his giggles as I slow walked her around to the point, dragging out the snark. She was joking with us of course.


    "While we''re on the topic, what do people do when their marriage doesn''t work out?"


    "Well for one they stay in it. Probably suffer in silence I guess," Egiya said, turning to offer her mother a box of tiles.


    "That''s about correct. At least the local one oh three mothers of unruly daughters union gripes about constantly."


    Lorenzo looked at the box of tiles, studying the markings. His lips pursed, I guessed that he hadn''t learned to local script. Despite learning the language, that is. It seemed like everyone who crossed over got something, but I wasn''t sure what it was.


    "There''s a union specially for mothers of unruly children?" Lorenzo said, pulling out a tile to inspect it.


    "My mother is joking. She always jokes about-"


    "We meet every week. I never joke about the one oh three."


    I could tell by her deadpan that she was either serious or just didn''t have comedic timing. I was suddenly so glad that improv comedy had never become a thing here.Stolen novel; please report.


    "Sonofa- mother, you said that you were joking!"


    "Only for your sake. Please."


    Lorenzo and I were all of a sudden very interested in the back of the mahjong tiles we were holding. Like you couldn''t break our stares if you brought in a corgi with a tutu.


    "So...this mothers union, do they have any openings?" Lorenzo asked, innocently over the southern wind.


    "Don''t make me pull out the imperial Mahjong tiles, young man. I promise scorched earth."


    "Thanks but I think we need to keep going," Lorenzo said,"but I will bring dominoes to play with you next time we drop by."


    "Don''t be a stranger."


    She waved tiles at him. He in turn, tried to peek at them and see if he could clean any actionable intelligence. I think that she might have done that on purpose.


    "Miss Kang, I will be stopping in. Nothing would bring me greater pleasure than to try to feel normal and perhaps next time, I can cook?" Lorenzo said.


    He lingered there at the threshold of indecision far longer than he needed but it was none of my business. I knew in my heart that he needed a lot more support than I could give and I just felt relieved that this had gone over a lot better than I expected.


    "You can consider it a deal."


    I was overall pleased with the turn of events as all three of them could use a friend. As well, I probably could use some time with a friend.


    It had been non stop training and survival for the longest time. I don''t know if the real treasure was the friends I made along the way, but now I was two people short of a enough people to play my favorite social deduction game.


    We said our goodbyes and then went on our way. Lorenzo and I meandered back to the compound that he was staying at while the powers that be sorted out their investigation. It just so happened that the Moon clan had been instrumental in the demise of the demonic sect, so when offered the honor to heal the victims, their patriarch jumped at the chance. It was a political play that they hadn''t expected to have to make.


    Now the demonic cultivator checklist included looking to see if far too much food for the people on ground had been delivered. Not that they had been fed adequately. Lorenzo didn''t remember a time that he was here without shackles. He nearly blacked out when I asked about food. Walking two neighborhoods east, the density dropped slightly until nearly every fourth parcel of land was a clan compound.


    Above us the three meter tall walls all had one theme: opulence. If the Mandarin hadn''t set out a common theme, I could see the families carving epic scenery into their outer walls. I know that the inner walls were a marble museum to those that had gone before.


    Above us a familiar cat prowled the top of the wall. Spotting us it pounced, or more accurately it landed and then took a spot on my shoulders.


    Min purred. The bonded moon spirit was the my closest companion and I replied upon her for a lot. She too had recently ranked up, moving up to the third realm.


    "Hey Min," I said, giving her a good pat.


    "Companion Joseph. Frenemy Lorenzo. Good to see you both."


    "That had to take forever to get used to. Also, Frenemy?" He said.


    He looked at me, and I shrugged. She knew earth terms. So sue me.


    "We have a bond so I can feel her presence. So it took only one scare. She has her little titles for everyone. When she told me that Maxine was her bestie I nearly threw her out."


    "You humans are so about it. What with your getting married and splitting up and forming partnerships. It''s a lot to keep track of,"Min said.


    "Speaking of keeping track, Lorenzo, who else... heard that it was me?"


    Lorenzo held onto my shoulder.


    "All of them, brother."


    What an asshole.


    "Min can you change his title from Frenemy to enemy of the state?" I said.


    "That is possible, companion Joseph."


    Lorenzo couldn''t stop giggling.


    "Anyway, now that we''re here, did you want to join my gang? We offer workman''s comp if you get assaulted in the line of duty. As well as a shift differential among other things."


    "You guys are too much. I think I''m going to need a minute," he said wheezing audibly.


    "Cousin Moon Lee had called for a meeting of the crew tomorrow night. Perhaps then we can speak of his application to join the enterprise."


    "You have to got to have a better name for your gang than ''the enterprise''. Unless you have a Star Trek theme going on," Lorenzo choked out.


    "Well let''s see. We have Moon Lee, our subterfuge expert, she''s good in a pinch and she has a ton of experience. Then we have Kang Egiya who you have met. Incidentally she''s only quiet when her mother is around. Then there''s Moon Fei, our fixer, the guy who is on convalescent leave. He isn''t a cultivator but we don''t hold that against him. There''s Moon Xiru, who is the face of the crew, I guess. He also isn''t a cultivator, but that''s never held him back. Finally we have Jin Xueyie, the actor whose parents got the Mandarin to show up. She''s a firecracker though."


    "Maxine isn''t a part of this... Little enterprise?" He held up an arm to accept Min. The tiny cat made her way over like she owned the place.


    "I guess you might say that we did a team up once that didn''t go terribly. We went through a lot on the other side so I fully expect that she''s not interested in any of what we have to offer. If she hadn''t helped I would have washed my hands of her a while back."


    "Ah. The old alimony and child support payments don''t follow you to another world gambit. Well, we can see how that works out for you then," Lorenzo said.


    "So do you want to see what it''s all about?"


    Lorenzo nodded.


    "If you''re involved, then you know I''m in. I trust you. After what you did back there, I think it''s the least that I could do."


    "Thanks."


    "While you two humans are talking here, did you want to see if he has the spark?" Min said.


    The white cat dropped down in between us from his arms.


    "It can''t hurt. It''s a simple test. Do you-"


    "Hell yes brother. Take me to the test."


    "Excellent."


    ---


    An hour later we were sitting eating dinner at the Moon clan dining hall. There was a lot of walking about and a fair bit of gawking until we arrived back to my current guest house.


    "So you got evicted from the safe house you had before, and now you need a new one?" He said.


    "Yeah we haven''t had a meeting since I woke up. We were all on the same page about getting the Red Fang back but now I don''t know where we go from here. I mean we can start taking other jobs but-" I began to say.


    "Don''t tell me. You want to run things like a democracy," he said.


    "Not exactly. Maybe a sociocracy? The one where everyone has to be on board for a thing but if one person has a strong objection to like a rule then we debate or drop it. Everyone needs to be on board."


    They had all bought into it. It was a hell of a lot better than what most Sects did. Min assumed her normal position on my shoulders. The bowl was on it''s way to where we were. I have her a head pat.


    "Is this a way to delegate out the hard decisions? Just trying to avoid them?"


    "Noo-why would you say that?" I said. "I mean it isn''t just a mutual aid organization, we do have a social purpose."


    "The finding and eradication of demonic cultivators?" He said.


    I nodded.


    Moon Lee arrived with a special bowl. I had to help Lorenzo up, but he stood strong once he got there. I swear that I was feeling better, but those damn bandages were more and more feeling like they were just hiding my washboard abs so I could reveal them in some epic final battle.


    "Ma''am. I stand ready for whatever test you have for me," he said.


    Moon Lee had blue and white formal cultivators robes. Her blue sash had a golden trim. Her hair was immaculate, in the half down jedi way that was growing on me. My own curly locks were getting to the length that I was going to need to get serious about it soon.


    "Cultivator Joseph Pidge," she said, "a pleasure to see you out and about."


    I stopped short of a bear hug on the woman that I owed everything to. Instead, she got a hearty squeeze of her hand. We had gone through a lot together and she was one of the people that I would credit with my success the most. She also got the most out of me with all of her bets that she had made either for or against me. Oh she hadn''t mentioned those until I woke up because she felt guilty about it and was giving me a ten percent cut of the proceeds.


    It was a lot.


    "Put both hands in the bowl and empty your mind. Let the water do what it will," she said.

 2-03

    "His Eminence will see you now," the administrator in purple tinges robe said.


    I had been waiting an altogether unforgivable amount of time to see this man. I had grown as a person in the roughly two hours I had spent waiting. And as someone prone to introspection and navel hazel I was over it.


    First I was excited, then that turned swiftly into fear. I was in a cold sweat despite the warm climate. I had palpitations for what had to have been half an hour. Those didn''t help much, but to let me feel alone and alive.


    The fear then morphed into anger at having to wait so long without doing anything productive, which was probably part of the point. There were no cell phones to casually scroll the Internet here. There was no wikipedia for me to read up on. In other words, a needed distraction never appeared.


    It was something that you could get used to after a while, but it still itched.


    That anger eventually turned into indifference as I accepted that bureaucracy was part and parcel of my new existence. If I died waiting to talk to the Mandarin, I was ready to accept that. I felt like I had died already just in coming to this world. The tedium of the mundane of just sitting there was beginning to get to me, but I brushed it aside. That got me back at the beginning of the cycle of excitement, which was about the time that the attendant called me.


    I stood up, straightening my already poker straight outer ceremonial robes. An attendant led me into a large open court where petitioners had been admitted one at a time. In the center, a single man with luxurious flowing locks looked over a large scroll. He knelt in front of a low lacquered wooden table, the gleam of which had to have been pointed directly at new arrivals. The room was easily the size of a house.


    I had been schooled by the Moon clans protocol office as to how to conduct myself so I approached the man in a slow determined manner. I stood, awaiting his attention. He put the paper down like a father who had been asked just enough times to take out the trash that it was making him reflect on his life choices.


    "Cultivator Joseph Pidge, your Eminence," I said, before giving him a curt bow. As a fourth realm cultivator I was close enough to his strength that I need not prostrate myself. Some deference was due to the man, but respect was earned in my book.


    "Ah. Cultivator Pidge. Please join me at the table. Apologies for keeping you waiting but I have been reviewing the interviews conducted with those you- ahem-recruited for your unsanctioned actions."


    I nodded. One of the things that the protocol guide had stressed was to not speak out of turn.


    "So of course you''ll understand that I am looking for specific answers as to how you found the root of the cause," The Mandarin nodded, asking me to speak.


    "They all bear a mark. It''s unmistakable if you know what you are looking for. I trained my bonded spirit beast to look for those with the mark."


    "This mark-could you show me?" He put his scroll down completely giving me his undivided attention.


    "I regret to say that I cannot. It''s something that I cannot reproduce, except in the dreamscape. Suffice it to say that they have a visible mark that they use to signal their status."


    "Fascinating. And this dreamscape, it is part of your path, I presume?"


    There was a lot of disinformation out there about different paths. Every sect had siloed information about their particular brand of cultivation so much that it was like trying to get a trade secret out of a corporate AI bot to get anything meaningful. I had been told one particular that I should speak of my path in metaphors and allegory whenever possible so as to discourage understanding. After hearing that, I wondered if the whole of this civilization was built on such tenets.


    "It is, your Eminence."


    "Quite interesting. So you can project some sort of dream into the world or?"


    But a direct question from the closest thing to a governor that this place had? I might pare down the metaphor. He was going to want hard indisputable facts.


    "In a manner of speaking. It would be more accurate to say that I and whoever I choose inhabit a dream in someone''s head. I pulled Sect Leader Wu Zhao into it briefly as a feint."


    He leaned in, doing a pro gamer move if I had ever seen one.


    "That was the strange disturbance that I saw."


    His lips drew back as his eyebrows watered against what had to be nuclear grade intrusive thoughts. Now I had his attention.


    "Can you pull me into this dream and show me this mark?"


    My cold sweat returned rather quickly at that comment. I looked around for someone else to confirm that this was appropriate, and of course it was just the two of us.


    The attendant had to have disappeared through some trickery. We were alone.


    "I was barely able to pull Zhao in, and he was fifth realm. It would be taxing, but if you were willing, it would be a simple matter."


    "Show me."


    It wasn''t a favor. This felt like a demand that I could not ignore.


    I cycled my core pushing qi around as I prepared the dreamscape. I breathed in and out as I expanded my dreamscape to envelope both of us. I had advanced from needing to touch anyone I brought in, to now just needing to be close by them.This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    We were both instantly on the courtyard where I had challenged the Red Fang Sect to fight me and my allies. However, this was my dream so they all listened to me. Every member of the Red Fang that I had ever encountered was standing at attention, awaiting my every word. The Mandarin arrived, his very presence warping space around him. He felt slippery and I knew that this might be my domain, but he was in charge.


    I walked over to light up the ultraviolet marks on each demonic dream cultivators cheek. I touched a few one by one, demonstrating the position of each tattoo. The common foot soldiers had the largest fang, followed by what had to be second or third realm enforcers.


    "This...what is this?" He said.


    He inspected them down the line.


    "This is an ultraviolet tattoo. It''s on the far spectrum of light where our eyes are not designed to observe. Something about my cultivation made them stand out."


    "This mark. Did they know that you knew?"


    "It''s hard to say. They were very punch first, ask questions later types."


    He continued looking down the line for a while. Then he sized up the sect leader. My stand in for him felt like a fever dream. I only fought him briefly. Before that as his evangelist persona I had spoken to him once.


    The fact that it had been something of an intended meet up when I had zero information about this world really got to me. There wasn''t a day that passed where I didn''t think about how it would have been had I been recruited then.


    Safe to say it wouldn''t have been pleasant.


    "And you use this place to train yourself?" He said, looking down at his visage where he spotted the exact same thing he had been wearing in the real world. Usually people have a ideal image of themselves and that is the image that they conform to in the dreamscape. This man was so powerful that either this was his visage or he just disregarded that entirely.


    "I train myself and others here. You can understand, fighting without the danger of losing your life could be helpful."


    "I can see the merit. As well, I know several similar training methods. I will withdraw now. I have seen what I wanted to see."


    I made a conscious effort to return from the dreamscape. It took two seconds longer than expected to take but I was in an unfamiliar location with so much stronger. That had to factor into it majorly as it was near instantaneous everywhere else. I had to look hard to find someone on my level who even had the time to entertain such trivial pursuits.


    On the other side, he began taking notes with a fervor that I recall from my undergraduate days.


    "They all have this mark. For some reason no one has been able to distinguish this," he said. He looked up to me ready to ask a question, holding his quill aloft.


    I could volunteer something but I didn''t want to step out of turn. This was his place to ask the questions. He didn''t seem like he would drop the line of inquiry until he was quite satisfied with knowing everything he needed to know. I had to remind myself that both of us were the same side. Despite the fact that it took several friends of friends to alert them of the demonic cultivator problem before they acted, they did act with overwhelming force when it was needed. A few minutes later and I would not be here to complain about the ins and outs of cultivator bureaucracy.


    "I have been told that you''re working with some of the people recovered from the sect."


    I nodded.


    "If any of them happen to have better information about how we can track down these disparate units of my cultivators, please send a note to bring it to my attention. I took great pleasure in handling this myself above and beyond what the blue robes had expected. They will be hearing about this for the rest of their natural lives. I would like to speak to some of them once they are recovered, if that''s possible."


    His last statement felt more like an order that I couldn''t refuse. And today was probably the day of my daughter''s wedding according to him.


    "If I hear something, I understand that I''ll pass it up. If I may though-"


    He gestured with his quill for me to continue, but kept writing nevertheless.


    "The theme that I''m hearing or the thing that I''m hearing mostly is that they were summoned here. Then the sect tricked them into being recruited without clearly spelling out what that meant. I, myself, was almost recruited by the sect leader when I first arrived here but I didn''t understand. I wanted to make my own path."


    "There''s something about the summoning process, or perhaps the one summoned that causes them to grow stronger at advanced rates. I am certain that you have seen this firsthand."


    The Mandarin continued to write, his effortless script flowing at a super speed that I couldn''t keep up with. I swear that he at one point took his hand off of the quill and it continued to write, before he grabbed it again. I blinked and I was then completely certain that this was a part of his path and that I wanted whatever skill that was.


    Min snapped me out of it by tugging on me. I realized that I had been staring. This wasn''t a circus but I was making myself into a sideshow.


    He wasn''t waiting on me to say anything, thankfully. So I just continued to wait on him. It felt like I was going to dip into my cycle of anger at being made to wait until he stopped.


    "Do you have anything else to add?"


    "No."


    "Very well. I am here at the request of the emperor. He has seen fit to let me lead this city and I intend to root out any demonic cultivators."


    I really wanted to ask him to do more for the people. A dictator, especially a benevolent one, could do a lot by virtue of their policies. I wasn''t too read up on this man''s vision for a better Western Jewel, but I was glad that he at least was interested in rooting out the bad apples. In practice, this might be a good thing? I didn''t think that too many people could go toe to toe with him.


    From everything I read, there were fewer cultivators at each level. That meant that there were perhaps a handful of fifth or sixth realm cultivators in the city, though I knew that there were big bottlenecks at the third and fourth realm. I was staring down one myself with the mountain of Qi that I would need to gather and refine in order to expand my core.


    I waited for the Mandarin, but he seemed to be done speaking so I let it all go. I had learned to enter these types of meetings with a metaphorical empty bowl that I would fill up, rather than arriving with a full one.


    I gave him a deep bow, and just like that I was dismissed. All of my worries had been for about nothing.


    I returned to the administrator.


    "I trust that your business has been concluded to the satisfaction of his Eminence?" The man said.


    "It was yes."


    "The Mandarin recognizes potential in you and as you have reached such a level, the government wishes to recognize you officially as a Nascent soul. The formal paperwork can be delivered to your residence, but curiously you have none listed."


    "That would be because the red fang raided my home and I had to flee. I presume that it will be ready for my return shortly."


    "We can send a courier."


    "I''m doing a lot of work at the moment. You can send whatever you want to the Moon clan compound."

 2-04

    "We are gathered here today to discuss our next steps and perhaps if we are willing to induct a new member."


    We were all sitting around the original safe house. The two story building housed the tea-brokers union on the first floor. The second floor was used for various nefarious planning and plots and the spouses auxiliary to the union. We had commandeered it recently and we only had to clean out when the auxiliary came in for their weekly potluck.


    Surrounding me were all the people that had contributed to my success, and had foolishly decided to stick around.


    "It is good that you are well. This one is in good spirits, especially now that the threat of the demonic cultivators has been dealt with. Perhaps we can refocus on smaller jobs like the tea house conundrum."


    Moon Xiru was every bit the middle aged zaddy that kept the women at bay with a switch. He had an immaculate beard that any man would love and a man bun that just won''t quit. He was a member of the tea brokers union and also one of the moon clan cousins that just happened to work outside of the clan proper. His union had given us a task to try and deal with new local tea houses serving to go cups.


    They believed it was going to cut into their business. I didn''t have the heart to tell them that those customers were probably not their base and they might have been better off just selling directly to the tea houses.


    At least this way more people would be sampling their product more regularly.


    "Do they really need us to follow up on that? Didn''t we give them enough information from Xueyies extended stakeout there?" Kang Egiya said.


    As the group''s scribe Egiya was in charge of the minutes as well as keeping us on track. If we were making money as well she would be our accountant. To be frank I could have taken her job, but I saw my role as more of a mastermind one. The actual leader was probably Moon Lee.


    "We can take on their case. As I recall, there was a more pressing matter that kept us from closing that open ended matter. Perhaps a better question is, what does the Tea Brokers union want us to do about this situation?" Moon Lee said.


    Moon Lee was always dressed in a blue cultivators robe with a white sash or vice versa. I had taken to calling her bluey after the current reigning cartoon dog that had dominated my house when the girls were younger. Or course I never said it to her face, so this was more of a myself and Min discussion. Moon Lee was closer to my age, unmarried with no kids and by the looks of it happier with both.


    "Alright so we have the option to pick that up in full or in part. Does it matter if we put you on this job, Moon Xiru?" I asked.


    "It would be strange. This one was the reason we have this contract, so," he shrugged, sipping on some tea that hadn''t been there before,"eh?"


    "Alright. Well everyone knows Lorenzo, except Xueyie, so Jin Xueyie, Lorenzo," I said, gesturing to both of them.


    "A pleasure to meet you," he said.


    "Likewise. I don''t even have to pretend. I''m glad that Joe has a friend here for once," the woman in stage makeup said.


    "Hey! I''m Joe''s friend," Egiya.


    "Agreed," Moon Xiru said.


    I turned to look at Moon Lee, who at that moment was particularly interested in her fingernails. Like she was planning on a major renovation in the near term and her favorite place had those acrylics that she was been waiting patiently like such a good girl for.


    "What. What?" She said,"Oh you wanted solidarity. I agree with whatever it is."


    "Uh huh. Well perhaps we can let Lorenzo get a word in before this devolves into jokes. Did you want to say something?"


    The man stood up, gave a little bow and walked to the center of the room.


    "I have brought something that you all will like."


    I knew that the man had brought food as the smell hadn''t escaped me, but the sheer amount gave us all pause.


    "I always like to eat and drink when I''m with family and Joe is my family now, so..."


    "Thank you for this," Moon Lee said.


    A chorus of thank yous followed as we descended on a spread that had to have been painstakingly pieces together from several vendors. It was abundantly clear that he had spread my pocket change out. He had gotten several options that all spoke to me. Fried tomatoes over meat buns made peace with several noodle dishes.


    "You know you had me at these thick noodles," I said, slurping the tender savory iron udon noodles.


    "I wasn''t going to wait but then you guys were talking about tea brokers unions and a stakeout and things for interesting so I kinda forgot I had this all," he said.Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.


    "What he means to say is that he would take on the role of the supplier," Moon Xiru said,"as this combination of-is that chopped braised yak? It is?-anyway this combination of food is so colorful and-what is that vegetable and how is it so delectable..."


    "I''ll vote to accept this man," Moon Lee said,"If he promises to do this on a regular basis."


    "I''m using Joe''s money for this but I presume that this worker cooperative criminal syndicate has some petty cash lying around?"


    "We can probably find that. That''s what we can fund. Especially if Moon Fei is still out on convalescent leave way after we expect him to be," I said.


    "After we make sure that the workman''s comp is fully funded by the proceeds-"


    "This one is sorry, but workman''s comp?" Moon Xiru said.


    "Workers compensation for on the job injuries. Moon Fei took several hits on our behalf so we need to make him right," I said.


    "This is an unfamiliar concept, but this one takes your meaning. Such as it is, it would make sense for us to compensate him for being unable to work after what happened."


    I waited a bit to see if anybody else wanted to talk about this.


    "Moon Xiru, I''m curious if anything came from your outreach with the couriers guild since the incident. They were instrumental in helping us but-"


    "His name was Hou Bai. We must honor his memory and sacrifice. We did not know to what depths of depravity the demonic sect would stoop. That they would disguise someone as him with the intent to hide his death, well this one cannot think of a more fitting end for those that stayed and fought."


    I put a heavily laden hand on his back, then turned that into a side hug. Death here was a common occurrence, but to have someone die that you''ve asked for a routine favor, it shook me to the core. I have to admit that I hadn''t thought much about the man but we probably needed to do something.


    "Do we know if he had a family? I''m not familiar with the Hou clan."


    "He had a wife, but blessedly no children," Xueyie said, "in the absence of her husband''s wages, the Jin clan has seen fit to take her in until she is able to-to carry on. It''s not much, but it''s something that we can do."


    "I would very much like to meet with her," I said,"That is, if your family will permit it."


    I never knew what to say when someone died. Even less so when it''s someone that was a father figure to another. Saying that you''re sorry always felt wrong. Unless you killed the person yourself, but then you probably wouldn''t be comforting their next of kin. The Jin family with their flair for the dramatic were a good place for a widow to go. Or at least I hope it would be.


    "They are happy to do this. It is our part. The moon clan has done much. The Jin clan would like to do our part."


    "Your family successfully got the Mandarin to appear just when we needed him. That in itself was a large part of our success. You got the system to work for us."


    Xueyie blanched. She has been working on her hair quietly on the back. I got the impression that she engaged with her hair regularly in this same manner, removing beads carefully one by one.


    "His name was Hou Bai," I said.


    There had to be some way to honor his memory. The man had done a service to all of us. I just didn''t know how to do it.


    "Xueyie, could the Jin family-" I trailed off.


    I didn''t want to ask them to take this on, but I didn''t see a better way.


    There had to be a better way. It just wasn''t on me to find it . That was something that I was going to have to learn to accept. I was the outsider here. This was not my culture. True, the group had its own culture already brewing, but Western jewel was its own beast.


    Xueyie, if anything, was the resident muscle. She might have looked like a jock. She might act like a jock. But she was just a theater kid with dreams of getting out of that theater circuit. It was too bad that although everyone else could quit their day jobs and support this whole effort, she was the one who was still getting top billing as the empress in a play about the first emperor. It was really rather unfortunate that in this world actors were more prized than doctors. It was how the money went because many people were able to heal with their cultivation. But not everybody could convincingly pretend to be the empress. Oh and there was no TV.


    As the muscle, she was often the strong silent type. She''d proved herself time and time again and had even fought tooth and nail against the do you want cultivators behind me as I was taking great pains to draw their leader out. If it hadn''t been for her help, well I didn''t want to think about that. She was instrumental. They all were.


    "What can the Jin family do?" She asked.


    "I''m not sure what to say. We need to honor him in some way but I don''t know how we would do that. I also don''t want to do the wrong thing. Can you handle this?"


    "Of course. It would be a fitting duty for the Jin family."


    Moon Lee stood up, straightening her skirts.


    "I believe what Joe is dancing around is that he needs to figure out a way for us to make money. He''s not entirely sure what we should be doing if I''m correct- yes thanks Joe. I take you nodding to mean you agree."


    "What I would like to do is set up a therapy group for everyone that has been affected by the red fang. Just a group therapy that could lead to processing this awful situation that they were in. Lorenzo would help?"


    He nodded.


    "It would be a big group. There were-no; there are a lot of us."


    "I understand therapy as a one on one tool. Perhaps the context of group therapy, does that just mean everyone together?" Moon Lee said.


    Xueyie leaned in.


    "Is this a thing that can be taught?" The actress said.


    Lorenzo and I both gave each other the knowing look.


    "It''s not-"


    "Weeeeeelll-"


    We both stopped.


    "You go ahead. You got here first after all."


    "I mean we could take on an intern. There''s no one from the American psychological association who''s going to come here and check up on us. So if you wanted to come with and see what we do that might be okay? Lorenzo?"


    "That''s a sound idea. We are taught to look at the system and how it affects the individual, among other things. We can talk after this meeting though."


    Xueyie smiled, swooping her hair around.


    "I guess we have an intern, then.¡±

 2-05

    After that, the meeting didn''t go very far. Instead of dwelling on how we were going to begin funding things, we decided to take the time to each bring a couple options to the table. We would reconvene in three days. The next one would probably be a bit shorter. But then again I never knew about these things. I was hoping that at least we would have a good spread. That wasn''t going to be much of a problem as I had been tagged for it.


    ---


    The next day, we had our first session with the intern. She promised to do her best. What we wanted her to really do was to sit and observe. What she heard was to watch them like a hawk. That didn''t work out too well for people that had been up until recently treated like food.


    But still she persevered. We also asked her to not take notes. It turned out that she did not need to take notes. She had an near eidetic memory. It was probably part of her theater training. I didn''t question it but we did a fifteen minute debrief after the session. We had split the survivors into two groups of roughly equal size just to keep things simpler. So we would flow from one session to the next with a bit of a break for food and water and of course tea.


    The second group, we didn''t have to tell her to stop staring. We did have to tell her to stop moving around like she was a prison guard.


    She finally got it and doing the second debriefing really helped her understand what we were doing. Lorenzo in particular was happy to teach. I love teaching. I love coaching people to get to higher heights than they could ever dream of. But this particular situation was really getting to me as they looked upon me with both some sort of savior meets hero. Once Lorenzo was 100% ready to go, I was going to dip out of this more regularly. I would still be there for support, but it was his game.


    It was just part of my process to get away from the site. I was hoping that we will be able to use the old Red Fang compound as our new safe house. That hope was dashed when I realize that I would have to work nearby the larder.


    After we were done for the day it was near noon time. I found myself walking back to the larder. On the inside. It was just as it was before. A cold dry storage area with a secret trapdoor that led to where dozens of humans had been kept.


    I wanted to do something to consecrate the place. Or perhaps turn it into a memorial. I remember one summer as a teen we had gone back to the old country to remember those that had gone before. It was one of those places where time had stopped since the war. It was a somber reminder of how terrible things could happen once humanity went down a dark path.


    And so I found myself irritated that I hadn''t brought a handkerchief. I was mad that I had to even think about the final disposition of a place that had caused so much suffering.


    I didn''t really have to think about it.


    It was not my job. I wasn''t even from here. But it weighed on me, nevertheless.


    I wasn''t that long before I could hear the slow steps of two soft feet approaching. Since I had advanced to the fourth realm, I was much more conscious about little tells like this. I reached out with my nascent soul, probing to see if it was who I hoped it was.


    I met a fair bit of resistance. I smiled at that.


    "You can come out now."


    "I heard you come down here."


    "I needed some time alone to decompress after-after today."


    Moon Lee put a hand on my shoulders.


    "This place has so much hurt. I wanted to feel that. I wanted to feel something," she said.


    We are taught in school about post-traumatic stress. We''re also taught about burnout. If I could write a prescription for everyone here to go on a beach vacation I would do so.


    "You know I never asked specifically but how? How are you feeling about all this? You did a lot."


    She sat there next to me. I wanted to put my arm around her. So I did.


    "Thanks, I feel like I spent so much time teaching you how to veil yourself and your power that it kinda- I think I was hiding."


    "Hiding from who? Or what?"


    " I don''t know. Joe, it could have been anything. Take your pick. My sisters, the moon clan, our little group which don''t get me wrong, I adore. Maybe I was just hiding from myself this whole time."


    She leaned over, putting her head on my shoulder.


    "What do you really want? Do you want to make them happy? Do you? Do you want to be happy? Because there''s only so much you can do for the clan. And no one''s going to accuse you of doing less than everyone else. You''ve done so much for me and the girls and..."


    "I get it. I really do. I just feel more comfortable alone. Or with you. You don''t have any expectations on me or at least not the way that my sisters do. I''m growing to appreciate that more and more. And yes, if you want to say I told you so or that boundaries are a thing that I should have set in place a long time ago then yes, you''re right. But I didn''t know any better. And I needed someone to help me get to that place."


    "You''re where I was a while back. You''re ready aren''t you. To take things to the next level I mean. What''s holding you back?"


    "Well a bit of it''s me. That fear that it won''t work out. And then if it doesn''t work out then what? Then where are we?"Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.


    I cocked my head. She was warm and I briefly wanted more but I pulled back.


    "If it works out, then you continue on your path. If it doesn''t work out, then you continue on your path. Either way you learn more about yourself and what you''re capable of. Now there haven''t been too many women that I could convincingly say that all ready to advance to the fourth realm. Honestly, you''re the first one I know. But I know you''re capable of greatness. I also know that you reserved closed door cultivation for some time this evening."


    She pushed me not too hard. Then things felt a little awkward and I didn''t want to lead her on. We separated. I still wasn''t fully convinced that she even liked men. I knew that she was fond of me.


    I was still heartbroken. This wasn''t the time and it definitely wasn''t the place.


    "How did you find that out? Wait don''t tell me."


    "Lee, they are your family. They are feeding me information. Sometimes they won''t shut up about what''s going on. Sometimes I want to not listen. But like a good boy, if they want to spill the tea, who am I to not listen."


    "Are you telling me that my family has tea about me? And not only that, they tell you the tea?"


    "You can''t spell treason without tea."


    "Oh you!"


    "Come on. I''ll walk you back," I said grabbing her hand and pulling her up to me. I noticed that she didn''t immediately pull her hand back now. And was she blushing? She turned away too quickly for me to get a good read.


    If she was single by choice I could understand that. She was definitely getting a lot of heat for not settling down. It helped that she was strong as fuck. Might did make right here. No one was going to tell me what to do. Except maybe the Mandarin. And even then, from what he said to me, we aligned on a lot of things.


    " Not just yet. If you please. I want you to tell me how you did it. Can you?"


    " I-I guess I can. Madame Kang she explained to me what she did and how she taught. She went wrong when she well you know what happened. And so I don''t know."


    "You don''t know what you did?"


    "I just felt ready. And like I knew who I was. So. If you are in touch with who you are like that base identity, then you can use that image of yourself. Who is that person?"


    "Who am I?"


    "I think it''s more accurate to say what is the identity of the person that you have been? What is the identity of the person that you are now? And then? What is the identity of the person that you want to become?"


    "Can you give me an example?"


    "You know who I am. I am first and foremost a dad. I''m a family Guy or at least I was. Here. It''s a little different but that''s what it was before. Now? I''m still that person but it''s-it''s changed a little bit."


    She curled up on herself. Both of her arms enveloped her knees.


    "There''s this concept that we have back on earth. Some people have difficulty taking up space. And by that I mean they don''t feel welcome or they don''t feel like they can be bigger than they are. Like they need to be a smaller person for whatever reason, probably because society dictates right?"


    She gaze went from far away to right back to me. I got up and started pacing.


    "Because back where I''m from, women are conditioned to take up these roles. It wasn''t long ago that women were expected to take care of everything in the house. And now it''s kind of flipped where everything is everyone''s responsibility. Things still need to happen but the men don''t well. They haven''t been conditioned to take up the slack yet. So they might see themselves as a provider, but they''re only really providing a source of income for the house. Your value and your identity are more than just your ability to be a good wife and or a good mother."


    I stopped to raise my hand to make a point and she was locked on to me.


    "So I ask you, who are you? Are you the kind of person that goes through steps methodically on her path? Do you walk on someone else''s path? Or do you take the best pieces of what you see and put them together so they work for you?"


    "I had never thought of it that way."


    I let the silence fall.


    "I guess I''ll have to see won''t I."


    "But in a more practical sense, you''re going to be hungry and sweaty so plan to go right to bathe and shower."


    "See that''s helpful also. You got any more like that?"


    "What''s your favorite food?"


    ---


    It didn''t take her as long as I expected to advance. My prior experience led me to believe that 16 to 20 hours was to be expected and the norm. She did it in eight. She was clearly over prepared for the test with all the answers memorized. I wasn''t there to see her walk out but I was alerted almost immediately.


    I joined her as she was soaking in the tub. It was a process of rinse twice then soak. The moon clan had a large public bath where the genders mixed.


    Now I know what you''re thinking but it really wasn''t like that. For one we weren''t the only ones there. Second yeah it wasn''t anything and I didn''t want to make it anything, except for wanting people to look at me when I got out of the water and then having an anime style nosebleed or something when they saw me get out. A man has needs, and being a total daddy is one of mine. I had worked on my dad bod.


    "I saw the future laid out in front of me. I imagined what it would be if I didn''t have to think about what my sisters said. It felt good. I wanted to think about what life would be like, without all of that."


    We bobbed in the warm water, our heads the only thing above.


    "What did you figure out?"


    "It would be lonely I guess. But I would feel more secure. The whole thing about boundaries-I don''t think they would understand it and just insist on smashing through them."


    "But if they didn''t then you know that they would be better sisters for it. Either way you are better off. You don''t need people in your life that will trample over sensible boundaries."


    "I saw that. You make it sound so simple."


    I had to hold myself from saying how simple it actually was to her. I was a bit distracted by let''s say the situation as two women and two men walked in naked as the day they were born. Damn those puritans for really drilling into the old American psyche. Then one of them snatched a child from what had to be near death as it barreled into the deep end, and the mother tearfully accepted her son back.


    "I also saw that I could think about my pathway in the same way. I could see myself as the matriarch of the Moon clan with all of the clans norms and values in the exact same place and I shuddered. I had a vision of my children''s children growing up the same way and it really struck me how much has changed since I met you, so thank you. Then I saw the-I don''t know if it showed like this to you-but the tendrils of my nascent soul started pushing out and I let myself cultivate and embrace the next realm."


    She was quiet for a while. One of the attendants put some more coal on a fire and I was glad that we had shown up at the time where the water was heated. We weren''t close enough to a hot spring, and the heat was really doing wonders for my back.


    Suffice to say that we had a really good talk. And my back thanked me for the time.

 2-06

    Of course when we got out the attendant that I had tipped heavily had returned with not only her favorite food but something for me as well. So we towelled off, put on robes and retired to a nice dinner.


    "Everything feels so vivid now," she said, in between bites of her yak steak.


    "The best part is when you reach out. It''s like seeing without your eyes. You don''t get colors, but you do see literally everything."


    She gulped mid bite then had to hit herself in the chest several times to start again.


    "So if say someone were to stuff things in places to appear like they had more assets then they actually had, a nascent soul cultivator would be able to see that?"


    "Why I have no idea whatever you mean, my dear Lee. Do you know of anyone who would do something like that? And would readily admit to it?"


    Her face turned red.


    "No, it''s just that. Um. How do I put this? If say someone was trying to do something that would be easily be found out, it would be very apparent, correct?"


    "Correct."


    "So if say a friend of mine decided to do such a thing and say their friend had a Nascent soul... Then the second friend could save the first friends face by not telling them that the whole time they known. And that it would just be easier for the second friend to kind of forget about some of the details?"


    "If your friend''s friend was going to say something about the thing that he or she had seen or felt, they probably would leave these details out. It doesn''t do them any good."


    "And if say both friends could come to an agreement where certain details of a personal nature don''t get leaked out, that would be those kind of details? It would be something that a nice dinner might make up for?"


    I paused to finish chewing my yak steak. The sheer variety of food on this world always made me giggle a little bit. This steak had been seared and felt nearly overcooked for how chewy it had ended up.


    "I feel like that would be appropriate."


    She held out a pair of chopsticks with a chunk of steak.


    "Sold. Now how are the girls doing?"


    "Egiya dropped by while you were in closed door cultivation. Nothing much is going on with her. Xueyie was too busy with work."


    "Do you think Lorenzo might become a cultivator?"


    "It''s possible. Everything is possible. The foundation is there even if nothing else is. He is from my world so he could progress to the first realm relatively easily. But he-all of them are going through something now."


    Lee waved her chopsticks at me conspiratorially.


    "So let them be. Let them find their way to cultivation on their own, but open the door for them?"


    "Exactly. Something just like that."


    The silence grew comfortable for a minute as we both chewed on our yak steaks.


    There had to be some reason why people from my world were more susceptible to becoming cultivators when they came over. It was probably something that the Red Fang sect new when they were taking people. If I recalled correctly, it felt like I had made significant jumps quickly, far quicker with anyone that I had met here. It had been a fiery welcome to this new world. I had been a bit of a loose cannon earlier but now was trying to get on my ducks in a row and finding that they have been replaced by squirrels.


    "While we''re here though. Would you mind doing me a favor?"The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    I explained how it taken the mandarin into my dreamscape and he had just felt like a force of nature. I hadn''t so far taking anyone else of the fourth roman and I was curious as to how that would affect their experience in the dreamscape.


    We had trained together thoroughly prior to this so she understood what it was like in there. And she was partial to giving and the honest truth. And not just the brutal, honest truth where someone just concerned with being brutal and not just honest.


    "I wouldn''t mind going into the dreamscape for a little bit. I feel like it''s been a week since we did so anyway. However, we haven''t talking a lot and I would appreciate the chance to finish this damn fine yak steak."


    "I wouldn''t dream of it."


    Sometimes we sparred each other. Sometimes it inspired something out of one of our dreams. And sometimes it worked as a team. On a particularly tough nightmare. Today we just decided to scale a small mountain and see how that one would go. At the top of the mountain of course I would put a nightmare for us to face together.


    So it was that we were sprinting up the side of the mountain when a griffin began to toss boulders at us, making us both have to perform a full body Dodge or get crushed in the process.


    "It feels more fluid," she yelled, jumping past a boulder three times her size.


    "Like you''re a liquid?"


    "Like I''m a cat."


    I narrowly missed a boulder as it grazed my right shoulder. The pain was notional, but my reaction wasn''t.


    She shot forward ahead of me. She had always been a bit faster until I had advanced ahead of her but this felt like she had surpassed me once again.


    I started to wonder how many boulders that could be but it was a dream so the answer was probably as many as needed. When the next Boulder was approaching me head on, I decided that I might want to test out my own path. I reached out with my nascent soul and then it got closer, grabbed it with my tactile telekinesis. It still had a lot of velocity coming down the hill, but now it was me working against gravity.


    It was a fight with the boulder and instead of using it to move myself, I instead made it float. Then without letting go I took one step then another making sure that I kept contact at all times as a walked around the boulder. Once I circumnavigated it and was on the top side, I released my energy, pushing off of it and jumping to the mountain. As I looked up, there were no more boulders coming. Whoever had been throwing them was now fully occupied in whatever they were doing.


    Which was, as I found out, was fighting against moon Lee.


    The pair traded blows. The griffin was an unfortunate nightmare mashup of a fox and a seagull. Fur and feathers flew as they flew at each other trying, each trying to punch or slam harder than the other one. One of its sides was a bit more wounded than the other, or it just wanted to favor it''s other.


    She on the other hand, was a woman in her element. She ran faster than an olympic sprinter, head first into the griffin, trying to dislodge it from her path as it did the same. They both rocketed back after clash.


    The griffin saw me, warily checking his side as he probably ran some calculations about how much he valued his life.


    The answer, as he charged at me, happened to be, ''Not much.''


    Instead of running at him, I stepped back, in midair, then grabbed on his beak, turning him into a ball.


    "Catch!" I said, tossing the griffin over to Moon Lee.


    She had never played soccer before-I know, I asked later-but her kick to the griffin ball would have made a fan cry. I choked up a bit as she spiked it into the ground, turning up a cloud of dust and debris.


    There she stood, fury incarnate, her hair finally out of it''s perennial updo as it moved freely around her.


    This was the kind of woman who was a bit out there and to see her lay it all out right there on the battlefield gave me chills. Her choice to bury the griffin under a load of rock and then continue to press her luck warmed my heart. I wondered briefly what fo tasted like. So nasty that it would be a travesty. I should have let that one go, but then the griffin decided to go for a slice of Moon pie.


    I descended upon the griffin, a royal axe kick snapping its head around. It was a damn shame too, because I wanted a slice suddenly.


    ''You feeling hungry?''


    We left the griffin, and shortly thereafter the dreamscape.


    "It''s not your fault. I just wanted to save your face."


    "We were in the dreamscape. I had it well within hand," She said in between bites of sweet buns.


    Cultivation and fighting made one well skilled and hungry in equal measure. I wanted to make sure I had enough of both.


    "I''m so proud that you got stronger, but I raised two girls. Of course if I get a clean shot at something that is attacking you, I''m going to take it."


    "Noted."


    "Noted?"


    "Noted. You''re still a dick."

 2-07

    The next day, Lorenzo begged off of our walk to do some professional development with our newest intern. She didn''t know it yet, but she would get the full Lorenzo. It was quite an experience and as he was the senior guy, I had experienced his passionate lectures. I wanted her to experience everything that lead me on my path. Or at least, the highlights. I once had dreams of adding Rachel or Courtney to my practice, but for too many reasons, my daughters wouldn''t be able to do so.


    When they split, I made a beeline for Egiya. A messenger had told me she had something that I had requested, and I was eager to find out what.


    The ''cultivators ink pot'' had the same perfect setup that I had grown to accept as the outward expression of Kang Egiyas inner turmoil.


    The place was immaculate. But also there was no way that I would ever say that aloud. And so it was the same way that she presented herself. Every single hair was in the correct place. Her makeup was on point. Her work uniform was the most formal thing I had ever seen outside of a wedding that still looked like it could be worn daily. And still when I walked indoors, she raged.


    "About time you arrived," she said, " I have several important deliveries for you and oh you''re not from the courier''s guild. Hello and welcome to the cultivator''s ink pot. How can we help you today?"


    "I heard a tale of a special delivery and I made on my way over post- haste. The messenger didn''t tell or specify what the special delivery was and exactly why it did rate being sent with them. So I hope this is something good."


    "Oh, it is. You know how my father is abroad doing work for the emperor?"


    "You may have mentioned it once or twice, but I''m not too keen on particulars."


    She grabbed a plain wrapped brown package. The size of a comprehensive book, it couldn''t have been anything else except there were no books here. I had searched. Everything was in scrolls. It was quite inconvenient.


    "Is this what I think it is?"


    "I don''t really know, but open it. His letter seems to indicate that this was something that was kept unwraps extensively. He said the format alone gave him pause, and it was only because I had deployed and look for something like a book that he actually understood and got this."


    I opened the package. Inside, the first book I had seen since I arrived was, I shit you not exactly the thing I was looking for. The volume was roughly titled ''A practical guide to summoning heroes from the beyond.'' I was ready to laugh at the title on it''s merits alone, but I was intrigued by what she had thought this could do for me. I held it up, trying to affect the dadliest of wisdom to my adopted daughter. From her father to me, I wondered if I could thank the elder Kang in time for such a gift.


    "You see, this is a book. This is how people from my world read, at least when they''re not doing it on a device. It''s slightly faster than using scrolls to read, but you need to use a printing press-or oh, this was written long hand. This is a bother. The writing is a bit-"


    "The prose is flowery and the person writing it seems to know a lot about other worlds, so yeah, I understand the significance. What I learned from the binding has had me ordering several items made from string. I wouldn''t put it past my father to have sent this item just so that I would turn popular scrolls into books."


    I turned it over, trying to decipher the script. If someone had a loose idea of what writing was had married someone who only ever wrote in cursive, their child would have written like this. That or they were mad. I might become mad if I read it myself.


    "Are you able to make this into a more readable form-no I mean stop giggling- just because the content of a book is gibberish doesn''t make the format any less useful? I think I can make out every third or fourth word with confidence."If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.


    I returned the book to her open arms. She pressed the book against her chest like it was a prize cat.


    "Please allow me," she said,"In order to summon a hero, you must be at bare minimum a cultivator of the fifth realm able to tap into an elder core as well as delve into your own soul space. This next page is a warning about how it can backfire, but then there is this part here-it says that people summoned this way are generally granted abilities that let them survive quicker? The next few pages are what you would call fluff and then it explains some of the observed abilities that those summoned have appeared with. Did you come with some sort of ability?"


    I pressed my palms against my mouth as I sat across from her.


    "I didn''t want to say this," I said, grabbing her hands, "But being summoned here took me from ''Dad'' to ''Daddy''."


    "The way you can say that with a straight face just lets me know that I''m going to never take you seriously ever again."


    In the background, I swear I could head Min giggling.


    "What? It''s a legitimate change, and I did not have these abs when I came here let me show you-"


    "I DON''T NEED A DEMONSTRATION, THANK YOU VERY MUCH!" she said from behind her hands, though she wasn''t actually blocking her eyes, just pretending to.


    I didn''t actually strip to my waist then since it would mostly just show my bandages instead of the manly cut that I had gone through. But I did embarrass her enough to see her blush clearly through two layers of ivory ivy makeup. If I couldn''t make a joke with my friends here, then I didn''t know what else I could do. Dad jokes gave me a little pep in my step every time one landed well.


    We paused for a second when someone passed through with a slate for her to sign. She did so unceremoniously, glaring at me all the while. Just as fast as they arrived, they left and I only got a hint of their green robes on the back end.


    "Anyway."


    "ANYWAY? You just drop that ''Daddy'' business on me like this without preamble after I find out that your ex wife is here in this world and oh yeah, you also told me you had an ex wife? Do you understand how weird that is? People don''t just leave a spouse here. Or if they do, it''s not like the way you and she split up."


    "Well maybe they should? I doubt you would want you parents to stay together if they were fighting all the time."


    "That is somehow true and infuriating. There''s just no way to do it."


    "Two people can''t just agree to separate? Or would having to talk out their issues cause too many problems because they are tied to an ideal, and what would the clan think!"


    I folded my hands. She really was gorgeous when she got mad. Not that this was intentional, but I liked a good debate.


    "I mean, I guess they could. Or one could die, but aside from edge cases like that, I have never heard of anyone not being married to someone that I had been married to. It''s so unheard of that when you said ex wife, I thought you said ''X wife'' like she had some mysterious ''X'' power over you."


    "And you were worried about me?"


    "Of course!"


    I hadn''t thought about how that would have felt to her. She was probably disturbed by me having an ex wife, and I did not wat to examine that at all, nope. I wanted to make sure that we didn''t have any miscommunication though, as she had helped me out a lot and her knowledge of formations had helped me out several times. Her extensive knowledge base did not cover people voluntarily leaving a relationship, and the concept was hurting her brain.


    "Egiya, a week before I was summoned here, I broke up with my then girlfriend Lauren. We had been dating for two years. It was a fun thing and I saw us going far, then I got a diagnosis of brainstem cancer and I-I didn''t want her to see me. The disease was terminal. I only had six months to live. Coming here, this world cured me. I don''t have any of the symptoms anymore and now that I can feel my energy, I know that it''s gone. I did a lot of stupid stuff, but when Maxine and I broke up, it was for a very good reason."


    "That reason being?"


    "She wanted different things. She wanted to travel and go on adventures. The things that she can do here easily and I''ll bet that she was super pleased until she was that I was here too. Our children are still back there and without either of us... they will be fine, but I never wanted to leave them with only one parent. Even if hate Maxine''s guts, that we agreed to do the best we could for the kids, really..."


    "No one is back there to watch over them and make terrible jokes," she said, putting a hand on my shoulder. "No parent should have to go through that."


    "They are pretty terrible," I said in between tears.


    We sat there for a minute.

 2-08

    My throat was parched and I wondered if I should not have trauma dumped on her, but she seemed fine.


    "Do you want to talk about it, or just vent?" She said.


    "I think I''m good. I wish I could do some training but-"


    "It''s the curse of the dad bod, isn''t it? Too hot to train or something?"


    "Did Min tell you about that? I told her of my curse in confidence."


    "She''s pretty forthcoming with information about you. That might work in your favor, but with her classic snark, I doubt that it will ever help you."


    Egiya set out to clean up an already tidy pile of scrolls and ink pots. She looked like she might be preparing for something but I had no idea what.


    "Anyway," I said,"How are things? Did you father pass a note with the book he sent or did he just send it?"


    She had explained that when her parents had diverged-one ascending to the fourth realm and the other breaking their cultivation- that her father had to take on bigger and bigger jobs to keep them afloat. He sent back formation scrolls for her to sell from time to time, but her main business was selling blank scrolls as well as the whole correspondence and copying part. She did enough business that the courier guild regularly sent someone to pick up or deliver things on her behalf.


    "I-what he said-it is a bit personal. And no, I didn''t explain the concept of divorce to him."


    I wondered what he might have said to her briefly, but really it wasn''t any of my concern. If she wanted to tell me later, she would.


    "But you wanted to? For some reason you thought that one or both of your parents would benefit from this?"


    The shop was quiet. I let her sit in it for a little bit.


    "You know it''s a cultural thing. I didn''t understand how it could possibly work for anyone else. When you explained it to me, I immediately thought about them. They- they are not happy together anymore. The times that he''s home, they''re not happy times for Mom. I mean she''s happy for like 5 minutes but then I can see on her face that she wants him to go again. She doesn''t want to be a burden . He doesn''t want to look like a savior."


    "That sounds like they need marital counseling, not a divorce but I expect that it is not a thing here."


    "Did you mean to say martial counseling?"


    "No. Marital as in for couples that are married. I don''t know if this is a good sign that I''m going to have a lot of clients and that Lorenzo and I are going to be raking it in or if we have to convince everyone that this is a good idea. Did you know that Xueyie has been doing great with us as our new apprentice? She has a way about her. I think that she''s taking this like an acting role and it is to a certain extent."


    "Well that''s promising. Are you guys going to set up shop somewhere?"


    "We have been doing house calls."


    "How is your mother? Lorenzo wants to see her and talk shop. I wasn''t exactly sure what he meant by that but they seemed to get it off last time. He had an old lady back on earth. We haven''t actually talked about what happened with his family. I don''t actually know what happened with my family. I can only guess and hope that someone will read my will."


    Egita looked at me as if I was inventing portmanteaus on the regular. I couldn''t help it. If they were specific words that I used regularly that didn''t have a context for her, then I would have to go out of my way to explain them.


    "She is fine. A bit brighter with the regular visits. You came here for a reason though. You don''t just idly drop by, generally."


    "I''ll have you know that I do sometimes show up without an agenda."


    If looks could kill, well I would not be doing so well after the glare she gave me.


    "Really! I just wanted to drop by and see how you''re doing. It had nothing to do with this package. Or the messenger that conveniently you sent. This is all just a misunderstanding, I swear to you. Can we start over?"


    She sighed, smiled and drew out a piece of paper the size of my torso. Then, without preamble she launched into drawing a series of lines, circles and what had to be runes as she drew aura into her. I could tell that she was spending her qi as fast as she drew it, because the world around me got a little bit quieter and less vibrant from the amount that she was taking in. Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.


    This meant that she was able to draw in a staggering amount, or something else was going on here. The aura above her writing was particularly fast moving and with my nascent soul, I could see the turmoil brewing.


    The amount of energy she spent on that paper left me feeling like I had if not ran for a mile, at least warmed up. I was getting contact high off what was starting to become a formation.


    "This right here is a basic formation to refine and collect aura. This is one of the first that you learn and it requires hours of study to learn each little piece. Thankfully there is a lot of related carry over for other formations, but in my early perusal of this book, it would take a significant investment to do summoning formation. It might be possible for a fifth realm cultivator, but even so that would be someone who specialized in formations from their foundation level."


    "And how long did-"


    "Two years. This took me two years of study to make this effortless."


    I looked around for some water and was irritated that I hadn''t brought any.


    That idea was immediately out of the window. I was not going to be learning formations anytime soon. Perhaps my best bet was to train her up so that she could learn information and I might be able to find a way out of this place. I don''t know if she was going to buy into that idea. I really wanted to go back.


    Every day it was a little bit less painful. Still a dad has his duty and mine wants to see if I could reunite with my daughters.


    "When I was summoned here, there was nobody around me. This makes a sound like an intentional thing. I should have woken up in a room surrounded by people instead of stepping into a door and then into the wilderness."


    I briefly explained how I had arrived to her.


    "Have you been back to the place you came from? Not your world but the spot where you arrived?"


    "I haven''t actually. I guess I just never saw a reason to go back."


    I wondered if she would be willing to go back with me. Almost certainly she would. It would be a bit of a hike for me. I would gladly accept the challenge, though it would probably take a better part of two days to walk it. It would be a lot faster if I spent the time healing up.


    The time I had gone out in a rush trying to hide two unconscious Red Fang thugs was still fresh in my mind. That had been a harrowing experience and I had thought that they were worthy of my grace. As it turned out, they weren''t even worthy of my mercy in the end.


    "Do you think we''d find a formation there that summons people from my world?"


    "Either that or I don''t know what else it could be? You are here and the place you got summoned is in the farthest corner of what we have shielded so anything is possible. The list of candidates for who could do this is short though. It has some overlap with my father actually, though he isn''t here. And he wouldn''t have been here when you arrived if I understand your timeline."


    "That''s frustrating. But at least you can help me? I might hold off on this trip for another week as that would be a lot easier."


    "How long are you on light duty?"


    "Another week or so. We can make a trip of it then."


    "Don''t you have the ability to fly though?"


    "I can make things that I hold fly which is similar. I think I''ll be able to fly on my own with a bit more energy."


    "You can make things you hold fly?"


    "Yeah so long as I hold onto something, I can manipulate it how I want. This doesn''t cover stronger cultivators though. I can get them for a split second and make them weightless or something, but if they are strong enough to shut me down, eh?"


    I could tell that she wanted a demonstration. I looked around for something sturdy that would actually support my weight. Finding nothing, I made a mental note to show her later.


    One of Egiyas assistants walked through with some forms for her to sign.


    "They-lots of signatures today, huh?"


    "The boarder on the third floor is moving out. That rent payment being the larger part of what keeps us in business until my father sends something back for us. He might be getting paid on honor, but the city taxes are only paid in Waan."


    "Are you in a bad spot?"


    "We won''t be if we get a tenant but we have to charge a lot since we are in the square. This limits the amount of people that would be willing to stay. Usually it''s people with no family connections in the city here on a temporary assignment. We just don''t have a backfill right now."


    I wondered if I could take the spot but then it would put us in an awkward position. I also wondered how much their taxes were and what that even went to the government to fund. Surely it went to buying spiritual treasures to fortify the defenders that kept the monsters at bay or something like that. They were probably buying the fantasy equivalent of used tanks for their local police department.


    "I can tell by your face that you want to know how much it is. Well it''s too expensive for your blood. You couldn''t dream of coughing up the one hundred Waan to pay for it."


    "Alright. That''s fine. But I know a guy who might need a place and fits your criteria."


    "Is his name some ridiculous anagram of yours?"


    Somehow this world had anagram puzzles but nary a book for me to read up until today. It made me a bit curious as to where we were and who made books and how.


    "I would never talk bad about Schmoseph Ridge. He is a fine upstanding citizen."


    "Right."


    "Where is the woman I met with the imposter syndrome, the huge bow and the boundary issues?"


    "Kinda hard to have imposter syndrome when one has fifteen confirmed demonic cultivator kills. Did you know that the blue robes give you a cash prize for each one?"


    "They do what?"


    "You have to file the paperwork correctly with the right office but-"


    "Tell me everything."

 2-09

    Nine forms were sent in duplicate to the office of the undersecretary of the Treasury. Six forms were created for the blue coats office of the Exchequer. Three forms were stamped by a government official and sent to the Cultivators local administrative union. But they were all useless for one form needed to be stamped by a justice of the courts and that one would hold up the entire mess.


    If nothing else, I was going to get the government to do its job on my behalf. If there was a program where I got a bounty for each demonic cultivator I took out of circulation, then I was definitely going to claim those on my taxes. If I had to file taxes, that was. I was still completely unclear on the particulars in a deja vu way that was unsettlingly close to home. If the government knew how much I made then they should just send me a bill or what I owe or don''t and not make it a series of forms that would give Hobbits pause.


    Come to think of it, Egiya had mentioned that she was paying some sort of value added tax on the building her family owned. If I needed to pay someone taxes, I probably should figure that out. I didn''t want to ask her about her finances though, as that seemed a bit personal. I hoped that hadn''t been summoned to this world to raise taxes for some blue coats pet project, but with how ineffective they seemed at rooting out the demonic influence in their midst, it probably was going to be something like that. And I had a semi legal criminal enterprise to fund.


    Well if I was going to pax taxes I damn well was going to get the government to work for it like a dolly parton song. The faces of the officials who were handed the eighteen forms was probably going to be one of alarm as not a single letter was out of place.


    I just had to figure out what the government here was supposed to do but that was a job for future Joe. I could enmesh myself in the local politics scene once I had the cash to rise above petty bribery.


    It was time for me to talk to the guy with all of the connections. I said my goodbyes to Egiya and said that I would talk to Ellen later, and departed for the seedier, more commercial part of town. It was already late afternoon so Moon Xiru would be wrapping up with any luck and I could pick his brain. If that luck held, the prices would be reasonable.


    If my luck didn''t hold then I would be paying put the nose.


    "How do taxes work here?" I asked the elder information broker.


    "This one expresses his gratitude that you came with such a request, but if you want that kind of information you probably want to speak to a member of the bankers guild. One can give you the broad strokes if you will help unload this shipment," he said, his eyes watching my every move. His posture was one of a man who worked a lot, but enjoyed a little break as well as a long lunch and an early dismissal.


    "What shipment? I don''t-did you ask them to save it until I arrived?"


    Two strong men pulling a rickshaw stopped in front of us. The cart was packed with tea in large canvas bags. What looked like fumes came up from a mesh vent on the top of each bag and I could smell each earthy aroma as I was used to move bags one by one. They had clearly been circling around either to infuriate me since I had been seen, or to find the right spot to park it.


    The rhythm of the chain of bags being placed one at a time was meditative as Moon Xiru directed my efforts wordlessly. He held my walking stick and used it to point to where each bag would go by some heuristic that had to have been proprietary.


    "This is a good shipment. The Za family really outdid themselves this time," he said as I placed the second to last bag.


    "What would you do if I hadn''t shown up to help unload?" I asked.


    "Oh this one would have tipped them to do this," he waved to the two men sheepishly. "A long time ago, a great hero did a fantastic thing taking down the demonic patriarch. He was even recognized by the Mandarin. But today he needs to help an old man sort his stock if he wants the information he seeks."


    Moon Xiru took out a brush and began to give his luxurious beard the attention that it so needed. As a man, I can appreciate these things. Just trust me when I say that if I had such a manly beard, I too would keep it in a pristine fashionable state. I was certain that there was a barbers union or a beard oil peddlers union. Based off of the amount of men that spent upwards of an hour daily prepping their skin care routine there had to be a robust economy to support such an action.


    I complied with his request. He was an old man. It didn''t hurt me to be helpful to those that helped me. Once everything was in the right place, he gave me the honor of preparing the tea.


    "What one has to understand is that the government requires cultivators to do their part. At a certain level, we would not exist without powerful cultivators carving out large sections of the world for us to exist in. There are tales of larger continents having vast open plains that generations of cultivators have cleared. Our own city is now attempting to increase its size. The government could either ask more advanced cultivators to do their part, tell them to do their part or pay them to do it. Which option do you think most cultivators will choose?"


    "They are asking sect leaders to decide if it''s worth their time to send their juniors to do a project that could benefit all of us," I said.


    "Precisely. So what they do in practice is take a quota. From each clan, they will ask for an appropriate amount of work. If the clan is unable to supply an appropriate amount of work, instead they are able to pay for the work in kind. This would pay for outside cultivators to come in and do the job that they cannot."The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.


    "So the clans are the tax base. But also the customer. And the beneficiary of what the government does? They also have to pay blue robe salaries I presume and all those other important functions of government like health care, public works, and everything that keeps the city of the size running. That can''t be a small feat. Especially if there are services that are ancillary to those things that clearly are in a growth status. Do you do more business every year?"


    Moon Xiru paused.


    "It''s pretty steady. This one had never thought of it in terms of years but it makes sense."


    "If you weren''t thinking in terms of years how do you know if you''re thinking of profit or anything like that?"


    "If this one has more money."


    "Then you have more problems?"


    "No. That''s not. How money works. That''s not how any of this works. Does the cultivator understand anything spoken to him today or does this one need to refresh his memory ?"


    "I''m just fine. Thank you very much. It would be great if somebody wrote down ¡®have this all worked so I can just read it¡¯ but I don''t think that''s something that has been done."


    "You are correct in this assertion. There is no one who''s written such a scroll and that gleam in your eye is very telling. There is no market for such a thing."


    "Just like there was no market for the tea shop? Yet we had to investigate them anyway to see how their business worked?"


    "There is a market for their services. It''s just an untapped potential. We are in the beginning of negotiations to bring them under our banner. A merger of sorts. A business that doesn''t change with the times doesn''t make it long."


    "Now you sound like my father."


    "Your father understood business?"


    "He was an agent to several prominent rap- not a word for it here but the closest approximation is a spoken word poet. Like a singer, but slightly different. A performer to be certain."


    "We have moved everything that needed to be moved. Did you want to help close up? There is precious little to do except for one client that must be steeped and cared for."


    I wafted a bit of the tea, savoring the aroma briefly before I considered my next move.


    "Taxes."


    "Ah yes. There are two broad types that are levied. Land use or value tax which is what the Clan or family that owns the house pays and then there is the fee paid when one parts up a spiritual beast. All you need to know is that when one has a butcher take apart one''s claims, the government gets a cut."


    "People where I come from often say that to tax something, it means that the government wants it to be done less. Is this the case here?"


    Moon Xiru strokes his beard like he was about to unlock the secrets of the universe to me.


    "Yes and no. They want it to be done less by lower tier cultivators, but they want more from the higher tier. Bigger cuts from better jobs."


    "At least the tax code is progressive. I couldn''t imagine having to deal with all of this bullshit and the guys at the top are getting the same deal as the Sect oligarch."


    "Hm. Oligarch is a word unknown to me, but the meaning is clear. The tax collector will make his appearance at which point one can argue about the value of ones holdings, but once it is set, you pay the price."


    The special beard brush made an appearance and he gave himself a touch up. He didn''t need it and I wondered if he was subtly telling me that I needed a beard. I definitely wanted one now, but for how scraggly and curly it would be. If everyone had a man bun and a beard then who was I to argue?


    Come to think of it if there was no tax on sales then? I probably should just drop the whole idea. The fact is that I expect the government to do something for whatever taxes I am paying into it. If the main thing they did was just to defend the people from a threat that was very visceral and close by that might be enough. Speaking of which, I should probably ask him about how the defense of Western jewel actually worked. It seemed like this would be a very public problem with a very socialized solution. Something like a town militia or a aristocratic army that someone funds out of the goodness of their heart because otherwise society wouldn''t function. It probably wasn''t that bad, though. That would put whoever owned the army in a position of strength.


    But the real problem is that the power curve was so drastic. A first realm cultivator could not hope to match a second or third realm without a heavy serving of tricks. In the same way that I got absolutely smashed by a fifth realm when I was at fourth. There just wasn''t a contest. Sure the entire point of what I was doing was supposed to be a diversion but even my brain didn''t comprehend the the vast gap between us. My diversion lasted all of these minutes for the sheer fact that I pulled him into dreamscape Los Angeles traffic jam hell.


    The fact was that whoever was the government''s figurehead was also able to destroy whoever they wanted. That was something. It was like a benevolent dictator who was also an army. There might be other fifth or higher realm cultivators in the city. Surely some of the elders were. And I was certain that none of them were called Shirley.


    Moon Xiru looked at me blankly in his ''I know you have been mulling over something crucial so I''m going to give you the time to do so, but you are going to hear about it'' face.


    "Apologies. My mind went elsewhere. Did you have dinner plans?"


    "Yes. And if it pleases the cultivator, tell this one what a spoken word poet would do with music. This idea is intriguing."


    We closed up shop and found an extra good dimsum. The spice made me wish that my water glass was three times as large. I had to explain what blues, soul and rock and roll were without the ability to just put a record on. That would have been clutch. As I was explaining the beef between east coast and west coast rappers, a glint of something caught my eye.


    A shiny tooth tattoo was clearly visible as a man walked by the shop and I jumped up with a start.


    Moon Xiru looked shaken as I quickly jumped over the table. I ran to the door, stopped myself, and memorized the woman''s description. Then I immediately turned back and tossed ten Waan onto the table, dodging around a customer that had attempted to get between me and my quarry.

 2-10

    Like that I was stalking behind a woman in a red set of robes. I wasn''t able to go fast, but she wasn''t either. Her long dark hair blended in with everyone she passed. She kept to the middle of the road, causing me to have to dodge around. I looked, searching for a responsible adult, or at least a man in blue robes. Finding none, I continued to hobble. She walked for three blocks before she reached a bridge. The traffic on the bridge wasn''t that heavy so I would be seen if I followed her.


    I looked for another way out. The streets were so packed because everyone was getting off work and going all over. Of course this is when one of the red fang agents would show up. Moon Xiru was probably worried sick. Maybe she worked a day job as well? We had left Xirus shop to do absolutely nothing of importance a bit early.


    I saw several children playing with brooms. They were trying to either sword fight or pretend staff fight.


    "Mind if I borrow this for a bit?" I asked the obviously confused teenager.


    "What huh? Ten Lengs?"


    I left three confused youths with one less broom as I cycled my stagnant Qi through the beginning of my tactile telekinesis technique. For a brief moment I thought about riding the broom but that would definitely draw attention. Sitting on it wouldn''t work too well and standing on it like a surfboard might-well that might work. I could pretend that I was a higher realm cultivator and fly above everyone as well.


    So I did. I skateboarded that broom up to the third story and hung around there, moving about as fast as I had been walking. She was still moving and I kept on her. She crossed the bridge before looking back, but she didn''t look up and by that time I was above her, nearly moving past.


    Other cultivators on swords or spears flee past me in various directions. I briefly considered how there could be three layers of traffic in one town, if you counted the ground, canals and the air. You couldn''t escape it.


    I had enough qi to move at a normal walking pace for a fair bit of time. We moved through the infamous square of Ravens roost, taking a southern turn before we got into a more commercial district. We crossed two more canals before I began to have an idea where she was heading.


    She was going south every chance she got, and turning East away from the sea frequently. She would more than likely be heading towards the airship depot. I kept on her, mad that Min was otherwise occupied and that I couldn''t phone a friend. It would have been so convenient right then. I tried to nudge her through our bond but she was steadfastly cultivating on her own time and gave me the equivalent of an answering machine.


    No, I did not want to leave a message after the beep. I cursed, nearly losing the demonic cultivator that I was following. If these guys were anything like I expected then there was probably an underground network that they reported to. There had to be some ass backwards task organization that some bean counter up high was referencing.


    That was about the time that she first noticed me. I tried to play it all cool and nonchalant but when someone realizes that a helicopter dad is following them, things tend to go sideways. The second time she looked up her eyes were now full of fear. I hope that she actually felt that or was just a terrible actor. Nothing like a guy standing on a flying broomstick, three stories up to intimidate a lady from afar.


    And just as soon as she realized it, she began to make it a lot more difficult to follow her. She ran like a sprinter.


    *Fuck*.


    If you have ever seen a pulse pounding high speed chase, imagine the exact opposite of that as I attempted to conserve energy and move at what had to be a sedate walking pace. Of course I could go over the buildings that she had to go around. I could feel my qi reserves blinking that I would be on empty.


    It wasn''t long before I was making the decision to follow and risk running out of Qi early or drop out and cut my losses. Fortunately I saw a third option with a sign far below me.


    ''Now in stock


    Plunder wear.


    For the pirate within you.''


    That was about when I decided to ask the woman who had worked for them a few choice questions. I slowed into a descent as I found my way to the front of a women''s specialty shop.


    Resting Bitch Lace wasn''t busy with one woman shopping while what had to be a teenager held down the store. Upon my entrance she turned, blanched and bowed.


    "Welcome to our humble store, Cultivator. We have many wares for your lady friends and we do custom designs for the discerning Lady or Lord. We can even make a composite print of some of the examples we have here for display. Please let me know if we can help in any way."


    Her customer service voice sounded practiced and the pitch was almost identical to what I expected. If you just change the word cultivator to some other Los Angeles slang word then you wouldn''t be too far off base. She was clearly wearing custom shop robes. I expected everyone in the city would be using custom robes as industrialization had not occurred yet. Everything had to be made by hand. I suppose that cultivation might make that easier, but I doubt that anyone would specialize in such a artisanal path.The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    "Yes I would love some help. In fact. I am looking for someone specific. I believe you know her as Maxine," I said.


    "You''ve heard of Madame Maxine? Do tell."


    "I have a suspicion that she will deny anything I say about her. This is probably for the best. Just having her acknowledge my presence would be more enough for me. I have some questions about her previous employer."


    At that the woman turned about as white as the marble counter she rested on.


    "Is this a business call or pleasure?"


    "With Maxine, it''s neither."


    "And who should I say is here to see her?"


    "You can tell her that her ex- husband is here."


    "Right away, sir."


    The other customer in the store gave us a look, but just as quickly turned back to comparison shopping. Next to her, a single changing booth with a mirror sat as she modeled a strong blue number.


    "Sir, you are requested to attend Madame Maxine on our veranda. She will be there shortly," the clerk said. She robotically turned to face the shopper and scooted in her direction.


    I walked outside. Finding two rocking chairs next to my broom, I took advantage of the situation. If Maxine was upstairs she was probably already fuming about me coming to visit her at work. It wasn''t my fault that she had come here. Heck, it wasn''t her fault that she was here either. She had made the best of that situation. I was trying to do the same.


    Fact that somebody would summon me to another world, and also summon my ex-wife to the same world at the same time gave me no end of grief. Much like Maxine herself. We had had it out about child care, but with both kids stuck back on Earth there was no custody arrangement that we could form to allow it. People passed me on the street and I realized that I probably look like a security guard posted up outside her shop. So instead of sitting straight up right, I leaned back and waited for the woman I wanted to speak to the least.


    "To what do I owe the pleasure," she said flatly, sitting down on the edge of her rocking chair. She did not let it move an inch from where it had started.


    I received a look that told me that I was on borrowed time. I jumped right into it.


    "Guess who just saw an old Red Fang associate?"


    "By your appearance at the end of the workday, I expect that it was you, Joe. How do you know-"


    "Tattoo."


    "-well that''s entirely predictable then. The other branches would want to know what had happened when the Sect here stopped reporting and sending in their payments."


    "Their payments?"


    "Ten percent off the top. They had some amazing book keeping setup too. You would think that they were a fortune 500 company, not a cult," she said, her eyes glazing over.


    "They uh- what?" I shook my head and punched myself, but no I wasn''t dreaming.


    "They primarily hired people from the taxation office who had gotten tired of the grind to run the backend of their business. Sure they couched things in terms that their auditors didn''t really understand, but the stuff I did see got sent up to some central node. This was just a branch of a larger Sect. And now I presume that they''ve gone underground. It''s the smart move, to be quite honest."


    "I think that I''m going to need a map or something. This-I don''t understand the scale. How many branches are there? How big is the sect? And how are they going to hide?"


    "Those are all good questions, Joe and unfortunately I have very little to give you to go off of. I was just a contractor there to do a job that they offered me a lot of money to do. It became clear after some time that they were training me up so that they could use me. When some of the people I worked with started disappearing, then you came to talk to me about what they were actually doing, well you know what happened."


    I had thought long and hard if I was developing some kind of hero complex trying to stop Maxine from being turned into demonic cultivator fodder. On one hand, she could take care of herself. On the other hand I wasn''t going to give my enemy any advantages. They had gone from annoying missives and recruiters that dogged my every move, to thugs that just tried to kill or incapacitate me. Then there was the I had no peace anywhere except for when I was behind the locked doors of the moon clan. I appreciated the moon clan''s help, but I didn''t want to rely on it. Mutual aid is great especially when you need it but better to be the guy giving the help.


    There had to be some record somewhere of how large the entire organization was, but my best guess was that that was a close-held secret. I would have kept such secrets really close to my chest. No need for those to get out. Though the payment had to go somewhere so if we were able to trace that or if the government actually did their job and did that, then we would be able to find them.


    "Were people part of the payments? Ten percent of the corpses?"


    Her face dropped.


    "Joe, I''m not proud of what I did. I''m not associated with them anymore and any records of me died the day that you were able to take them down. I am going to speak to the blue coats inspector in detail about this but I don''t know that I have much."


    "I understand, I really do. I want to put this entire thing behind us, but if they still have operatives in Western Jewel then we need to consider how this affects us in the long term."


    "There is no us anymore, Joe. The judge saw that."


    "When I said us, what I meant was all the people that came here from Earth."


    I could see the record stop spinning in her head momentarily.


    "The other people from Earth?"

 2-11

    She didn''t want to leave a statement like that uncontested. I briefly explained how several people from Earth had been caught up in the red fangs plots. I suddenly had her interest and just as suddenly, felt a presence at least as strong as my own.


    It wasn''t Maxine.


    The strength of a core approached.


    "Are you expecting anyone in particular?"


    Maxine stiffened doing her best to not look around, while doing exactly that. It was tradition. This subtle interference by the a newcomer reminded me that she was still the same woman I knew.


    "No one of consequence. You are the biggest visitor so far today."


    That was about the time that my senses gradually centered on one strong bearded man in a blue uniform. His salt and pepper hair made him look like he wasn''t a cultivator, but a compacted core gave him away. I could feel his nascent soul brushing up against me and it was well defined where my own was a bit more on the superfluous side. There was a lot of it to be certain, but mine was diffuse and powerful where his was just a chonky boy.


    He gave both of us a look. He was probably thinking that I was her muscle or that perhaps my hair was showing him that well, I don''t know what. Curly hair was not common here. Neither were scraggly beards like the one I sported. I can''t help it if not, everyone is destined to have a swoon worthy beard. At least I knew several vendors with tonics that promised to fix that specific problem if I ever decided the date again.


    On his coat there was a sigil I didn''t know surrounded by a yellow hexagon. That had to be some sort of rank or position or a name.


    He stopped in front of us, pulled out a tiny scroll and double checked something. Then he looked at both of us and nodded. I wanted to go right into protective mode. She was my ex-wife and if anyone was going to question her it was going to be me.


    "Can I help you?" Maxine said, cutting me off.


    "Well I certainly hope so. I am inspector Bao of the emperor''s constabulary. I''m seeking an audience with the proprietor of this shop," he said in the neutral tone that I had gotten used to whenever I had to deal with a police officer on duty. He was just here to do a job and I probably shouldn''t expect much.


    "Inspector Bao. What can the proprietor of Resting Bitch Lace do for you today?"


    I felt like a fly on the wall. Surely she didn''t want me to hear this. I gave her a nod and stood up, preparing to step away. She didn''t even flinch. Then I slowly withdrew inside the shop to see if I could get more out of her. There''s no one that wants to talk about their boss more than an employee who isn''t happy with them. I was hoping to exploit such an opportunity if it presented itself to me. So back inside the store front I went as I made a beeline for the woman who had no idea what divorce meant. I quickly found out that she liked working for Maxine and hadn''t been working there for too long.


    She appreciated the care with which Maxine took in her interactions as well as how she made her lingerie. It was a new product and there had to be a lot of consumer education on what it was but the auntie network was in full swing in western jewel. I wondered if perhaps she might have considered selling Tupperware or something else as well. She could start her own multi-level marketing campaign and probably sell out for all I cared.


    Her assistant, Grace, let me out through the back. She promised to keep me updated on any relevant issues so long as I kept the pork buns coming. I told her to watch herself around other associates of Maxine''s. I didn''t know how much she knew about the red Fang but it would be awful if Grace fell to their wiles. She was such a nice girl and I could see why Maxine hired her.


    Stepping out back, I walked back to realize that I had left my broom in front of the shop. Oh well .


    ___


    A long walk later and I was there having dinner at the moon compound. Moon Xiru Came by and I tried to explain the situation. He didn''t seem perturbed by it but he didn''t look happy. I tried to remind myself that this was a society where everyone put the collective above the individual. And in doing so I let slip that I saw a tattoo, tracked a red fang agent and may have visited my ex-wife. He wasn''t pleased with any of that more so with the tattoo than the ex-wife, but hey some men don''t have taste.


    It was then that I realized that I could feel my bond strengthening itself with Min. She had spent the first week preparing herself to ascend to the third realm after my escapades. This week she was doing closed door cultivation to advance alongside me.


    According to some unwritten rules, one spirit beast needed to remain at least a realm below their companion for the bond to not be stressed. I can see the benefit of this, as we might come to blows over unimportant things. One of us was clearly stronger. I did not hold to her tightly. She was free to go if she wanted to, but I was more than entertaining enough to stay on board. And now we would be reunited.


    So why didn''t it feel amazing ? I expected to feel her like a warm hug but she felt very withdrawn. I expected her to be done and moving towards me but it appeared that she was just going to be resting. I made the decision to go to her. Of course on the way I passed through the kitchen getting some of her favorite fruits. Star food was one of her favorites before so it stood a good chance of being exactly what she wanted.


    I approached her cautiously. The special closed door cultivation room for spirit beasts was on the far side of the cramped Moon clan campus. This meant that it was directly next to a wall that adjoined the canal. Of course the top of the wall to the canal was about twenty meters.


    Min perched herself on the wall. She purred on my approach. She had grown to be a bit more chonky than I had seen her before, but who doesn''t love a fluffy queen?


    Then she jumped down and smelled me. Presumably liking what she smelled, she ran herself across my legs. I should mention here that the moon spirit most often kept the form of a cat or dog. So fluffy was an apt moniker for my girl.


    "You ride a thin line between anger and hunger," Min said, slinking forward.


    "Sometimes I ride a unicycle down the middle and put a foot on both sides."


    It was true that the world here felt fast, but without phones and a twenty four hour news cycle, I had to deal with stale intelligence gathered second hand. It was both maddening and a cause of constant fear of missing out that I was more than happy to avoid.


    "The advancement, this budding core pleases me. Companion Joe, this world is not fast paced as the one you left. But it is a great deal more dangerous."


    I sat down to pet the cat shaped beast. As she went on about her journey to the spirit realm where she had to solidify who she was. Some part of her would be more feline from now on. When she advanced again, it would be more pronounced. She was a shape shifter but her base form would always reset to something similar to her blue and white cat base. This meant that she had a lot of footpad work where she was looking for specific small creatures to advance.Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.


    Small creatures that one might expect an animal of her type to be attached to.


    "And that is why you always catch the mice you can when you have the chance," Min said, capping off her exploits.


    "That is quite the story. And this all happened as part of your moon field dreamscape?"


    She shared one of my paths- the ability to dip into and create whole dreams. Together we were able to bring multiple people into the place and still maintain the facade that they were in a secondary reality. It meant that we could do a lot of rehearsals for big fights provided that we knew enough about what we were fighting, and in some cases, where. On my own, I was only able to pull one person up until recently.


    "By the way, I visited your bestie and the law man wanted to speak to her," I said, explaining my afternoon to her.


    "Oh wow! Is that all true? You wouldn''t lie about bestie Maxine, right?"


    "Scouts honor."


    "You were never a boy scout," Min said,"This is a well established fact, in fact since you were-"


    "That''s about enough of that. No need to open old wounds."


    I didn''t heckle her for long before Moon Lee dropped in on us. Min nearly headbutted her off her feet, but she held her ground.


    "Relative Lee! I did it! I made it to the third realm!"


    "I''m so proud of you, little one," she replied, giving her a aggressively strong pets,"Did you have to choose a face of the moon?"


    "This one is close. The phase of the moon and I will bond at the next step. It is unfortunate that I have to pick one. They are all so gorgeous."


    "I know. You''ll have to think long and hard about what you want and not just chose one on impulse. I have to make a similar choice soon but I have already gone back and forth so many times."


    I scratched behind Mins ears. She was going to have to make grown up choices and I was proud of her. Sure, she was an immortal moon spirit that was only bonded to me for the rest of my mortal life, but a dad could be proud.


    Now that she was out we could do some training, but when I heard a gurgle, it was clear that we would be making a trip to the kitchen.


    "Did you care to eat something?" I asked.


    Moon Lee and Min tagged along. We had some tea courtesy of the moon clan and Min gorged herself.


    "I never thought a cat could open her mouth so wide. It''s like her entire face opened up like a door."


    "Yeah, I would probably look the same. Her snack choice is a bit odd. Who eats so much Yak jerky in one sitting. She''s going to need some fiber or she''ll be paying for that later. Then you might feel it when she-"


    "Fiber. Got it. Is there any roughage in the kitchen? I don''t want her to have a problem with what comes out of her-"


    "Oh God. She did unhinged her jaw, Joe. It''s like she''s a snake and a cat together."


    "Yeah that''s-did she just swallow that entire yak leg whole?"


    *Burp.*


    "Yes she did. I''m so proud of her. I think she''s just about the bestest girl ever."


    "But she-oh Heavens is that elder Lui with a chair!"


    ---


    Min and I slept good that night. Full bellies and a good food fight always helped one to work out their interpersonal issues. That was good because I was going to set her to work just as soon as she got her bearings.


    "I told you about my visit to Maxine, yesterday. You know about the agent I saw. We have to see if she''s still around, though I expect not. I don''t know how many hundreds of thousands of people live here but we have to find one woman."


    "You can show me how she looks in the dreamscape and how you followed her."


    "It''s a bit amateurish and I need to heal up according to the Moon clan healers for a few more days. It would have been a lot easier to follow her on foot at this point."


    We went over my initial sight of the woman. In the dreamscape I realized that I kinda left Moon Xiru in the lurch.


    "If you see him, please apologize on my behalf for my abrupt departure. He will understand."


    Min watched as I followed her around our inner model of the thriving port city. If felt a lot more fleshed out than the last time we had been here together. We then traced her to where I had lost her.


    "Given her initial placement it''s clear that she was walking to the airship depot or near there. Enemy nameless woman could have been trying to pass along a message or signal her little group. I forget what Maxine called them. This sense of urgency is not misplaced, companion Joe."


    This woman herself was totally distinct in her garb and still she had given me the slip. The standard thing I saw around the city were brown, white and black robes. I saw a pattern of these red robed cultivators blending in with their mindset of everyone around them as fodder for their own cultivation. What lesson could I take from this? Her garb was a gift. The red fangs reliance on their ability to blend in wouldn''t last long against someone who knew exactly how to look for them. Besides the ultraviolet tattoo, if they dressed they way that they felt, then it would be a dead giveaway.


    Min would take a note of anyone wearing red that looked suspicious.


    We zoomed out trying to project a map of possible places that she could have come from. I had been on the western side, one of the districts that was half shipping and commerce via the sea and the other half nautical themed dining and tenements for sailors families.


    "Would it be reasonable to think that she arrived by boat?"


    "It could be so. She might have been on mission and came back here, confused. This enemy is trying to figure out what is happening."


    "Do you thing that demonic cultivators take some casual work on board a boat to what-hell pay their bills?"


    Sailors at the port spent their time searching for leviathans, large sea monsters that were chock full of spiritual materials that made even the most stoic Cultivators salivate. Their massive ships spent weeks at sea trying to tame a savage ocean one beast at a time. It could make sense for the sect to try to infiltrate those sea dogs like they had been trying to do with the couriers guild. In my current opinion, that was the most likely but Min would be out there trying to prove or disprove my theory while I worked with group therapy.


    "Can you think of anything else I should consider?"


    "You can ask Moon Fei if he''s up for some Intel gathering but I doubt he''s ready for it. I''m still on the mend so I can''t imagine how bad he has it."


    ---


    Group therapy went well and I found myself again idle and chomping at the bit to do something active. There had been a time in my life when the only thing I look forward to was handing my daughters off to go work out in the middle of the day. It was one of the things that my college offered and that I took full advantage of. I had the same jitters but I knew that I had to take it easy. Sure they were great but those endorphins, well they helped.


    I could feel Min working her way around. She was in need of a target if her feelings were correct. That she just had eaten something spicy. She had started where I had started. Then she worked her way around. Men had the same special ability that I had to see ultraviolet light. It just took a little concentration but for some reason everyone else here had a problem with it. That is everyone else here except for those already on the know.


    I hadn''t expected much so I tempered my resolve as I felt her inexorably turning towards me. At the end of group, we had decided that it was probably going to be a good idea to move on to a new location. Part of what we had decided on was to come back the next day with some new options for everyone. The fact was that not everyone knew their way around Western jewel and I wanted to help those who were completely lost to find their way. I also expected the much celebrated plans and sects to help out. So far I gotten a slight amount of buy-in. The moon clan was there with material help, bringing food and water. The Taoists had been helping trying to find work for some of them. I wasn''t sure how successful that was going to be.

 2-12

    The couriers guild was the organization most affected by what happened and while I was convalescing, five of their members had been found missing. They were presumed to have been already dead, and replaced by agents of the Red Fang. It wasn''t that they could just walk on to the job but they needed a long term solution.


    I had to admit that I felt a bit responsible for their victims.


    None of them deserved what had happened to them. Therapy was helping most of them but I was getting back to the old social workers way of thinking.


    A little bit of money would fix a lot of their problems. Some intractable problems might remain, but not having to worry about the roof over ones head or where ones next meal would come from. I had hoped that the systemic problems that I had dealt with on earth wouldn''t have followed me here, but at least with the power I had, I could do something about it.


    This brought me to me new private client. The Taoists had heard on the grapevine about the cohort of Moon clan cultivators that had surpassed all expectations and they were ready to get a bite of this sloppy Joe. This and my spirit beast had brought me to the prop section of the Taoist compound. It was, if there were to be believed, the best place to setup stage makeup and hair, and due to the mid day timing, empty.


    Old set pieces that looked anywhere from drab to fancy in a rainbow of colors, mostly purple, surrounded us. Yellowing advertisements for past performances dotted the walls, making this place seem like the second trophy room of family already overflowing with accolades. A clan wasn''t just a family though as this would just be the Jin clan''s holdings. The Sect itself was a mashup of several related theatre families that all loved the scene and had over time all signed on to the same ideal.


    Jin Martin was the first man they had sent me. A tall, thin wiry man, he wore his robes like a blanket. He did the same thing that Moon Fei did a lot, crossing his arms inside of his robes when he was trying to relax.


    "Joe, I''m struggling because my father is impossible to communicate with. A lot of times, I think that I''m the father and he is the child. It''s like he joined the theater as a kid and never stopped being that kid. I keep telling him that I need him to take me seriously and not speak in a character voice and he just doubles down."


    "What you have here," I told the man, "Is someone that with low emotional intelligence. He is committed to misunderstanding you. Let me ask you a question. If you were taking people on a hunting party, would you take your father?"


    "No. He wouldn''t listen. He might wander off in the middle and we would lose him."


    "That could be intentional. There''s a time to indulge oneself but while you''re on an important mission, that is not the time."


    "But I really-" Everything he was holding up with his shoulders dropped.


    "You have to think about the father that you want and the father you actually have. These are two different men. The man that you want, he isn''t really there. He doesn''t exist. What does this mean for you?"Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.


    He took a long pause as he reset himself, his thick robes looking comfortable in the way that itchy clothes had to be. He definitely didn''t have sensitive skin.


    "It means that he''s not going to be the father I need."


    "He can''t be the father you *WANT* him to be. He still can be something in your life."


    "I don''t need a jester. I need a father."


    "Can you you of any men that have these qualities that you wish your father had?"


    "I don''t even know how this is helping me but sure, I uh always admired the emperor as a character. I think that he is fair and strong, or at least that is how he is always portrayed. My father played him a lot on our last season. The stage hands-there is a family that just works on the set and with the props, the father there, Jun he is, well he is the one that put me up to this. Him and his two sons, they''re- they have the close bond that I want with my father."


    "It''s really tough when people don''t live up to what we know they could. Especially when they have a job as a parent to provide and protect you. I used to think that I had to do everything for my girls but do you know what the end game of raising children?"


    "What is the end game?"


    "You make adults. I was raising *thoughtful, kind, considerate* adults. That was what was most important to me and my ex wife."


    "That really is weird, you know that."


    I laughed.


    "You''re not the first person to want to lecture me about how could I leave someone and you won''t be the last. It speaks well of you that you care so much. Not that I advocate for it either way, but have you ever thought about how you would treat a child if you had one?"


    His look of horror quickly turned back to his comfy neutral.


    "Never, I-I, I couldn''t have children. I would mess them up! Just like my-"


    "Just like your father messed you up? Jun, you turned out just fine. You don''t have to have children, but if you do, you don''t have to pass on what he did or didn''t do. You don''t have to be perfect."


    "I don''t have to be perfect?"


    "Just by showing up and being the right person you can be the father or a father figure to someone else. I know you''ll never get him to be what you want him to be but, maybe you can work towards accepting him as he is now; and then accepting yourself."


    "I-I never thought of it that way. This is something else altogether. I really appreciate this. I''m going to talk to Jun after this."


    I smiled. He''d had a rough go of it and I walked him through what it meant to let go of the past and accept what was. Helping the group was great and it got me back to my roots, doing the things that the community needed.These small changes felt like progress; his introspection was directed, identifying a father figure that could fill in for his all but absent dad and his enabler mother. It didn''t even take that much, and he was thinkin about how life could look if he wasn''t trying to live in a fantasy world.


    I wasn''t trying to live in a fantasy world, but here I was anyway. We wrapped up just as Min finally arrived with a tentative plan to meet the following week. Min and Moon Lee shared joint custody of my calendar and had made sure that I made it to this appointment on time.


    Once he was well on his way out and I was ready to depart the Taoist compound, Min was ready to speak


    "We have a problem."

 2-13

    Did I mention that my lower back still seized up a bit whenever I exert myself? Well it does and now it has been itching ever since I got the news that Min had found not just one but three agents that we hadn''t even known about. It was enough to call for an emergency session. We all had to wait until the late showing of the Taoist play exhorting the life of the emperor. Then we assembled on top of the Cultivators Ink Pot after the sun had set.


    Or rather, all of us waited for the star of the show to appear, still in full stage makeup, but minus her hair extensions. She really was a peacock when she needed to be.


    Min had explained the situation to everyone thoroughly prior to her showing up. So I used that opportunity to have Min explain it to Xueyie. Ellen had heard it several times and was the backup for Mins antics, providing context.


    "Three of them?" Xueyie said, her eyes darting around at us.


    "Three of them. We expected one or none, Ally Xueyie, but unfortunately they didn''t get the note that this is our territory now. Or perhaps they are trying to move in themselves. We can take this to the blue coats or-" Min let the statement hang in the air.


    "Or we can deal with this in house," Moon Fei said with his familiar lean against the Kangs heirloom couch.


    "They did it in house, so it falls upon us to take care of this our way," Ellen said.


    He sat next to Ellen. I was glad to see him up and about, even in a limited way. Or all of us, he had taken the most recovery time.


    I had Min return to her stakeout position. We didn''t want to leave them unwatched for any long amount of time. We waved goodbye as she bounded off over the third story buildings as far as we could see.


    "We can send them a note. I don''t expect anything, though. It took them a week to send an Inspector to interview Maxine and I asked them to expedite their inquiries. Well I sent a letter for all the good that has done."


    "You got the Mandarin to show up and do his damn job, don''t put yourself down," Moon Xiru said, "that in itself was a great accomplishment."


    "I had help. Mostly from the Jin family. And from all of you backing me up. The good news is that they are probably second realm if that, so an easier deal for us. Min suspects that they are a vanguard for a larger element."


    "That makes the most sense. They could be trying to re establish a foot hold here. There are a lot of people living here and a few going missing won''t get a lot of attention if they don''t make an easy trail to follow. I suspect that they''re remnants, though", Egiya said,"as they haven''t made their way to the old Sect area, perhaps that is a clue."


    I hadn''t seen anyone with a fang tattoo there. Just the one woman that I had followed and then lost. I was still cursing myself for not pressing my luck after her, but chances are I would have run out far too quickly of my energy reserves. I was itching to go running but it wasn''t quite time yet.


    "So, Egiya and I will send out two letters tomorrow. Moon Xiru or Fei, do we have a contact at the Blue robes that is trustworthy? Someone that will actually do their job? Do we know a guy?"


    Both of the moon clan men paused to think. Lee grinned behind them. She had said the least of anyone this time including Fei. She probably already knew the answer to that question. I had asked them before about how the blue robes worked and the constabulary in general and drawn a blank. It sounded to me like they picked people young and kept them on. I had heard the words high trust organization more than once about it.


    "We know someone willing to help us move a query up but that''s assuming he is the one we get to talk to when we go to a station."


    In other words, they knew a guy.


    "Moon Xiru met someone at his set the other night. It was quite an experience. He just doesn''t want to admit anything because she''s a lady."


    All eyes shifted to the salt and pepper beard of Western Jewels silver bachelor.


    "Xiru, are you trying to look good for the ladies? I thought you only did that for me!"


    I hadn''t expected him to turn red but he was finally on the other foot. I was going to make him crack a smile soon.


    "What''s the set you''ve been playing? Have you become some sort of entertainer?"


    "Oh Joe, it''s way better than that. Picture this: poetry and music," Lee said pausing hard when she said ''and''.


    Had he taken several off hand comments and turned that into something tangible?


    "Good for you mate. This world needs more joy. The point of the matter is that he is putting himself out there and I can appreciate the gusto that takes. And speaking of putting ourselves out there, do we have a plan that we want to put into motion?"


    "What''s stopping us from heading straight to where they are right now and dispatching them?" Moon Lee said,"If they are truly second realm then this isn''t a matter that we necessarily need to involve ourselves with. I want to smash them up as much as the rest of you lot but we should think about the optics of an independent group taking our three unknown cultivators."


    "We have the backing of two clans and one tea sellers union," Egiya said, "They would not be willing to take the fall for us though."


    She left out her own family in that calculation, I noted. That her mother was a junior member of our club and was present had put a damper on how much she contributed. I hated that I noted the difference between when she was around her mother and not. There was still something there.


    "So we have to lead a cultivator to them that can take care of it. Someone on official business. This makes it sound like we need to develop a contact at the blue robes. As much as I don''t want to do that, this is their job. The Mandarin assured me that they were going to be taking steps against any further demonic cultivators."


    "It was quite a sight, seeing the Mandarin desend upon you mid battle," Xueyie said.If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    "He did tell me to bring this up to him. I wonder if he was actually serious about this. Or just blowing smoke."


    Ellen looked up to me.


    "If he said he would, he will. If anything, the Mandarin is a man of his word," she said, " we must endeavor to take advantage of that."


    For some reason the image of her counting coins greedily before diving into a pile of gold coins flashed to my addled mind. What''s she counting her husband''s money? This? I wasn''t exactly sure. All I knew was that her husband, a third drum cultivator, sent money home for very frequently. I had never met the man but for his interactions with his daughter that had given me a clear picture of his personality. Ellen herself well we were probably going to talk about parenting after this. She needed to let her daughter go. Not physically of course! But in every other sense of the word.


    "So we find a contact. Then we can bring that speed real fast and see if we can hand off to them," Fei said.


    "Does anyone want to volunteer for that?"


    Instead of emphatic hands in the air or open volunteered, I got crickets. I was expecting crickets to be honest. I probably should not have asked for volunteers and just out of myself, but I feel like it was worth a while. Fei and Xiru were not cultivators so this probably wasn''t a job for them. Everyone else though was fair game. Someone was going to have to write all the letters to the government requesting aid.


    "All right. Xueyie Do you want to take point on this one? We can follow your lead."


    For a moment the mass of makeup and pulled back hair decided to take a long look in a hand mirror. I could tell that she was formulating an opinion by how much she was avoiding like look. Previously her family had done a lot of leg work to sum the mandarin and I really appreciated their direct approach to addressing their government. Even if unelected, the governed needed some way to address their issues. It might be me thinking in terms of a gay communist utopia, but I expected them to do the bare minimum. Even fascist countries had some basic services, if only to keep the populace from revolting every weekend.


    "I expect that the would be more than pleased to drop a tip that leads to a demonic sect cell. I will inform them directly after this meeting," Xueyie said.


    There was a chorus of nods and affirmations as this seemed a prudent path.


    "The fact that they are operating out of an upscale nautical clothing boutique, though."


    The words that I wanted to say were about Maxine''s new plunder wear line. I had a couple quips ready to go, but judged them to be inappropriate for this time and place. It would have been nice to mention it, and I was definitely going to tell Lee after this but that wasn''t my problem right now. Puns could wait. Demonic cultivators could not.


    "You hadn''t mentioned that one," Xiru said. "We are going to need to speak to the long shorers union. They will want to hear about this."


    "Didn''t your union lose your poetry slam to them yesterday?" Fei said.


    "Er, yes but the thing is-"


    The fact there was yet another union inside of western jewel that I hadn''t heard of was not a surprise to me. The fact that the unions were so organized as to have intramural poetry slams gave me pause though.


    "Is this part of the new approach you guys have been taking?" Lee said, "Overlaying music with your poetry? Cousin! You''re so ahead of the times now. You have cultivated a new sound, and hopefully a following will come with it."


    "I had no idea that your unions were so close that you have social events," I said.


    "This one has a life outside of the clan and this crew. And the poetry slam crown will return to its rightful place at the tea sellers local union 400."


    I just hope that there wasn''t an improv Union. If so I would be having words. I didn''t know with whom, but someone.


    "Can we get back on track, then?" Lee said, cutting off the line of inquiry that I do wanted to dwell on,"Your spirit beast is watching them. Joe, Min and I will work in tandem to keep them watched. There is a moon clan contingent that needs to work on their veiling technique, and I will suggest to the clan that we have them be watched. We could use non cultivators as lookouts. As Moon Fei is still now recovering from the last time we did that, though I don''t see it as a valid option."


    Having to play stakeout while the rest of the crew did their part was important and necessary. It didn''t mean I was going to like it anymore than I did. But I was going to find a good street pastry vendor. Even if I had to pay the guy to stalk the street that I was on, it would probably be worth it. The idea of another day without pastries stuffed to the brim with meat did not appeal to me.


    The hunger and desire for food actually gave me pause. Ever since I had woken up, I had been pretty ravenous but this whole week had been another thing. I had eaten half of the snacks for our meeting before I knew it and that wasn''t the only time I had been unconsciously snacking more than I had intended to. I probably needed to ask a more experienced cultivator as to what exactly changed, because my food bill was going up.


    "We can ask Ellen?" I said, trying to gauge if the woman in question wanted to be a part of the action.


    "Asking is free," the elder woman said, "but perhaps I can present another option."


    That was when we all crept forward to hear her devious plan. By the time she was done, we knew our next steps.


    ---


    After group the next day, I began my trek to the Docks district. The cool breeze mingled with the salt water in the furthest western district of Western Jewel. Min had been holding court there since the night prior and it was my time to rotate through. I was supposed to use my nascent soul to make a blueprint of their clearly pirate themed lair. I was able to reach out my aura to about two full houses away. In this way I could peek around doors and through open windows. I couldn''t see colors and everything felt, for lack of a better word ''blue'' uniformly if I was to assign a taste to it.


    Ellen''s devious plan started with canvassing for aunties who had more time than they knew what to do with. It was those same women who could then become our eyes and ears in the ground. She already had a small network of friends, but precious few of them in the docks district. This is why Egiya has taken off from work and spent her time trying to corral some likely candidates. Xueyie had helped her in the morning, but she had a hard out for her hair and makeup. We met up in an inocuous shop in the same block, one that sold food outdoors.


    Unsurprisingly, it was mostly seafood, though not one was complaining. The various land meats that didn''t come in a bun had all felt a little tough to chew.


    "I find it hard to believe that they haven''t found a replacement for her yet. No wait, I understand. It has been three weeks since her cousin died, right? Since she has become a lead actor?"


    "She actually told me that her understudy has been getting really close and that they would be trying to get both of them to do a hot swap soon. They have a Martinee soon and that''s usually when the understudies come in. Xueyie was literally vibrating with excitement when she told me."


    "That''s great news. We need all her around more. I kinda miss her now that she''s the-"


    Movement around our shop gave me pause. Someone in my position might get overconfident and not even consider failure a possibility. Arrogant young masters were my bread and butter.


    I was already planning for failure.


    I paused thinking about my veiling technique. I was able to cover Egiya in it due to my new found strength. If they looked right at us they would see us, but other cultivators wouldn''t be able to see us with their senses. Or at least our energy would be hidden to everyone but someone stronger than us.


    Someone was checking the windows. It was mid-afternoon, and I wondered if we could start the second phase of our plan. From our vantage point, two doors down I began to assess if I could get someone to talk about the boutique. Or go into the boutique as a window shopper. The crowd at the Hungry Peddler was full of older men and women with a handful of working age men there for a late lunch.

 2-14

    A group of women played a complicated card game around a table that was just adjacent to the road. The table was made of stone and looked like a communal area, though the Peddlers staff stopped by them to deliver food once. I gestured to Egiya then the table, questioning if she wanted to talk to them. She shook her head no, so I took the lead on that one.


    I briefly wondered if flattery would work. I hated to interrupt people playing a game while they clearly were in it. These women, with their well coiffed salt and pepper hair were probably used to decades of internalized misogyny and deference either to the men in their lives or cultivators. I didn''t want to be another person asking them to do something for no good reason.


    "Is there a reason that you''re staring, dearie?"


    "Oh! The young master is probably thinking about his star crossed lover, isn''t he. Tell us her name young master!"


    "Oh what lovely curly hair you have!"


    I had a flashback to meeting all of the local women that attended Tai Chi with my mother. Of course they didn''t go out for after class drinks, but when they had tea, they had a heaping helping of both the herbal and verbal kind. Listening in on those women as a teenager, let''s just say I learned how much I didn''t know.


    "Ahem. Pardon me ladies. I don''t mean to interrupt, but I don''t know this game that you are playing and it looks curious to my eyes."


    "Have you never played Crew before?" A woman in accented yellow and grey said. Her face was smooth but her hands told me that wasn''t the entire story.


    "I honestly haven''t. But it looks very interesting-" I began to say.


    "Auntie Low, deal him in. We''re starting a new game now anyway."


    The women who I found out were all specialists of various maritime disciplines all briefly explained the rules of their deck building game before tossing me unceremoniously into a game against three of them.


    I held up my cards trying not to appear too green. The thing is, I was liking the idea, I just wish that this was a different type of game.


    Ten minutes later, the three women were crushing me like grapes under their feet. Metaphorically, of course.


    "Auntie Low, didn''t you think that our new player would benefit from a few more games?"


    "Auntie Chin, of course he would. But then maybe we can figure out why he deigned to visit the Peddler around mid afternoon. It''s quite suspicious."


    Aunties Low and Chin both wore nearly the same grey and green robes. The main difference was Auntie Lows green glasses, giving her a practiced casino look.


    Auntie Wei had barely said two words the entire time as she mopped the floor with us. Auntie Chin had to explain that she worked in textiles but for specific types of things that needed to be offloaded and then laundered while a ship was in port. Real custom jobs.


    "I''m here in business actually. I was checking out the boutiques around here."


    "That''s a lie," Wei said.A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    And did I mention that despite never saying anything she knew instinctively when to call my bluff? She clearly wasn''t a cultivator and just as clearly had some sort of truth telling prowess. That or she just really read body language well.


    She had worked for the longshoremen''s union as a rule enforcer so she knew all the minutiae of naval laws. I wanted to ask her about shipping things but she was so reserved that this was the first hook I got into her.


    "Okay but the truth-"


    "The truth will set you free, young master. Tell us what ails you," Auntie Chin said.


    I really wanted to spill the beans. Egiya had been watching us this whole time. Her insistance on staying back and not engaging, made me seem a bit weird every time I looked back at her.


    "Well you see, have you girls ever been to that shop?" I putting my best neutral face on.


    I continued on to explain that so long as I got a peek inside I would be able to select a beautiful pirate shirt. You know the kind with the frilly sleeves and the collar that just won''t quit. If they had a boutique shop selling wares to sailors and didn''t have that shirt, I would be quite cross.


    Of course when we talked about amazing deal that I had spotted earlier that day, they were all ears. Min had told me about a second blouse half off policy that was clearly aimed at driving up sales of the frilly numbers. They had to be hurting to make the blouses as I had seen exactly one person wearing them since I had arrived.


    "You know what, young master, I believe that they know that they have a dud on hand. This might be why the blouses are on sale."


    "My thoughts exactly," Auntie Low said, "And as much as we all love to support small businesses, what they''re doing doesn''t make much business sense. It can''t be helped though. When you''re out on sea, trying to catch a leviathan, you need to wear clothing that the common sailor wears. You definitely don''t wear the same thing but with a more expensive blend of cloth."


    "Hear hear! And for no good reason!" Auntie Chin said, before laying down a combination that wrecked both my hand and Auntie Weis.


    "That discard combination was as bad as those blouses are," I said, "And that''s saying something for someone who until recently had zero fashion opinions."


    The aunties chuckled a bit. I realized that I was suddenly hungry again and I hadn''t even gotten one of them to test the waters for me. It was hard enough to try to socially engineer people to do the things I asked them to do, but these women had turned me on my head and I had kinda been enjoying myself.


    I had kinda forgotten why I was there.


    "Do you ladies do this kind of thing often?"


    "Oh every time we get together we like to talk and play something. Sometimes it is mah jahng, sometimes it is Auntie Lows game."


    I looked for Egiya, and not seeing her, tensed for a second. She would have said something despite her snickering looks every time she looked over. She had brought a lot of formation homework. She she had known what to expect and plan for it was enlightening. That she was working on something that could help the crew, also made me smile.


    "Auntie Chin, I get the copper, silver and gold but the themes of these cards is a little bit off. I take it we are all playing as rival gangs?"


    She smiled back at me.


    "Yes. The theme might be problematic, but I think it''s quite nice."


    It was then that I saw Egiya standing around talking to Xueyie.


    "I have a similar game that I like though it doesn''t require cards. It''s called demonic Mafia, and I have two," *Patsy''s* "friends who are joining. Would you care to play a slightly different type of game?"


    The three older women followed my gaze as I raised exactly one eyebrow.


    "Tell us more about this game," Auntie Wei said, "And invite your ..? Daughters?"


    "They''re my friends," I said, waving for them to join us.


    They obliged, sauntering over to my location. I did a round of introductions but by then the bait had been set and they were in my trap.


    "And now, let me introduce you all to a game of social deduction that I think you will all do quite well at.¡±

 2-15

    There were a few rules I went over in detail before we started. The first game went about as well as I could imagine it. Five people was about the lowest amount of people that I could play the game with, and I had to use a special small town mode I had played a bunch.


    "I know that she''s the empath because she says that I''m a good character, but since she might be the drunk then I can''t count on anything?" Xueyie said, "Just thinking this through and I can understand why you like this so much."


    "The complexity is just right, though who would have thought that you would be able to just up and pretend to be a demon. I thought I knew Auntie Low, but it appears that this old woman is not exactly who I thought she was. It''s a shame really, as we''re going to have to play another game," Auntie Chin said.


    Auntie Low cracked a smile. She had a smile that hadn''t left her face since she understood the concept.


    "I couldn''t be the demon three times in a row, could I?"


    "We can certainly see," I said, collecting up their slips.


    Doubt began to surface among the ladies and I could see that they really enjoyed the social deduction of finding out who the demon and their minion were. I was just sad that I had no tokens or grimoire to put them in. I''d taken several slips of paper and had to hand them out to the ladies and then explain some things. There was always a night period where everyone closed their eyes and I went around giving a bit of information to some of the players. I would hold up one, two or zero fingers to the empath to indicate whether the people to her left or right were both evil, half evil, or neither. It was nice to know these things in a game, since knowing that three people the next block over killed people to advance their cultivation was enough for me to want to go in guns blazing.


    It was still a stunning gorgeous mid afternoon and the sun was beginning to dip towards the west, giving us golden light to work with. I decided to give it one more game for the heck of it. I was definitely swapping information with them after this and probably inviting myself back to the docks for the community aspect.


    "Jin Xueyie, you have been rather quiet," Auntie Chin said, "What is it that you do?"


    "I''m an apprentice therapist under this guy over here," she said, taking a slip and looking at it briefly.


    "She''s also an actor," I said, "A working one at that."


    There was a chorus of oohs and ahhs, as the women all decided that this was interesting enough to fawn over her. Egiya smirked at the attention that her comrade was getting.


    "So sad that there''s no money in medicine," Auntie Low said.


    "Yes, what a shame," Auntie Chin said, "Nevertheless, please persist my dear and we will be watching you closely in this next game. Very closely."


    "Alright, it is nighttime, everyone go to sleep," I said as the women all went quiet and closed their eyes as I went around collecting slips and d giving information.


    I smiled as I saw that Auntie Low was once again the demon, beating the odds no matter what I tried. It was like she was made for the role, or the name, perhaps?


    We played one more game before the Aunties all stood up and had a stretch. Evil won again, of course. I would have to commission a better set of pieces for this game if I now had a regular group again. I felt like I hadn''t felt in ages, totally focused on something fun that had absolutely nothing to do with getting better at work or improving myself. Sure as the storyteller role, I could be better, but there wasn''t that much room for improvement.


    Xueyie had positioned herself to watch the shop while, so when she tugged on my sleeve, I gave her a reassuring hand on the shoulder.


    From her hiding spot, I could feel Min stirring as she got up from her nap. It was time for her to go to work and I mentally signaled for her to come on down for the party.


    Some of the guests had decided that they wanted to make an irish goodbye, and we were having none of it.


    ---


    We played another game as Min tracked one of the demonic cultivators across town. They hadn''t gotten too far when the aunties decided that it was time to pack it in for the day. We thanked them for playing, and promised to drop by on a different occasion.


    "You''re going to do this again, right young master Joe?" Auntie Chin said, her wrinkles seeming to dissipate.


    "I''ll be certain to invite you. Though I might live in a different district, this is too much for us to pass up on."


    "Good, I have several girlfriends with single daughters that I''ll call upon next time."


    I jerked back involuntarily.


    "That uh, won''t be necessary," I said.


    "Nonsense," she said, patting my hand.


    She left before I could get another word in edge wise.


    "If those three have their way, you''ll be remarried in a week," Egiya said.


    "Two tops," Xueyie said,"Though I''m surprised that neither of our mothers have come to you with offers of our hands."


    "Girls, I''m old enough to be your uncle-"


    "That isn''t saying much, though is it? Right sister Xueyie? It seems like Joseph would be a great husband."


    "And an even better father. Better watch out, Daddy."


    I thought about how hard I was going to make our training sessions when I got back to tip top shape and grinned.


    "Min is on the move. Who wants to stay?"


    Both of them tripped over the other one as they raised their hands. Xueyie had a bit of time before she was due to makeup, and Egiya had to be tired of waiting around.


    "Alright, both of you can go and I''ll just take a little stroll down the way to see if I can find anything," I said.


    I was going to try to get a layout of the building for our next move: a raid.


    ===


    There was no end to my disappointment when Min returned. The demonic cultivator, one of the men had only been going to pick up food, enough to feed at least three people. He had brought it back which gave us out first tip.


    They had also rented the apartment above the shop.


    It made sense. The Kang family did the same thing. But the cost must have been immense and I didn''t see the empty storefront making any money then something else clicked.


    "Min. If this is a cash business, they can just cook the books to make themselves look profitable, right? They can have a benefactor somewhere that is paying for their costs?"


    "But then why would they set up a shop at all if they had money? Perhaps they are not just buying and selling tacky vests and blouses? What else could they be doing?"


    There were too many questions that I didn''t know the answer to as a non local. Things that I would have to run by Lee the next time she showed up. I figured that someone had to make some sort of patronage somehow otherwise how would the keep afloat? Maybe they had paid for the rent all up front, or the Red Fang Sect had done so.


    Min sent back her calm vibes through the bond.


    "I really don''t know, Companion Joseph."


    Now if I could just get the damn blue coats to do something.


    ---


    At the end of group therapy the next day a familiar middle aged inspector was waiting at the front of the old Red Fang compound. I didn''t want to speak with him, as I attempted to radiate for him to leave until I remembered that he had a job to do and I could make him do it. Xueyie watched as he approached, but kept her distance, the unspoken ease with which she would slip into violence on my behalf comforting.


    "Inspector Bao of the constabulary, I presume?" I said, nodding to the man.


    "Why yes. Ah the man with the curly hair. I never caught your name," he said.


    "And I never offered it."


    "I suspect that you''re the new fourth realm cultivator though, just by your calm demeanor around me."


    "Why sir, you might be right about that. Tell you what. I have a tip for you to investigate. The fact is that I''ve had several people formerly and informally requests someone investigate what appears to be a small cell of demonic cultivators. It doesn''t have to be you and I understand this is lot to ask but they seem to be second or third realm. I just think that you would want the credit for finding and getting them behind bars or whatever it is that you do."


    He blanched. He took a second to straighten his immaculate blue robes. A single strand of hair fell down from the left side of his face. He then took a moment to tuck it back in.


    "There are more demonic cultivators? Why didn''t anyone tell me? This requires our immediate attention. Tell me everything you know please."This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.


    "Gladly."


    I briefly summarized the situation, answering several unrelated questions as he kept thinking of things. When I explained I had been rotating several people as lookouts his demeanor shifted.


    "You sent your spirit beast to watch them? What would happen if something happened to it?"


    "Probably the same thing that would happen if they went after my daughters. I would burn this city to the ground to destroy them."


    "Noted."


    I felt like you should have been scribbling notes in some tiny squirrel sized scroll but apparently his mind was like a steel trap.


    "And how do you know that they are demonic cultivators?"


    "I know one of their trade secrets. It''s something that is kept on a need to know basis. Only the Mandarin and a select few people in my inner circle know the details. A scan of their cultivation practices will easily ascertain the truth."


    "And I suppose that there is some technical reason that you need say someone from the moon clan to be present when you do such a scan? Also what is keeping you from killing themselves yourself and claiming the bounty?"


    I looked to Xueyie.


    "The bounty for all the cultivators that I killed here has been allocated to this little group and my efforts at their rehabilitation. Also the bureaucracy is taking forever to deliver my first bounty and I would like to lodge a formal complaint at the time it has been taking."


    "You didn''t answer my question. You could take them out yourself-"


    "Is that an official government sanction promoting vigilante justice? So I can just murder people indiscriminately now with no regard to the rule of law? Is there no due process?"


    "We tend to hold up due process in the case of demonic cultivators. You''ve seen what they do."


    "That''s beside the point. There''s a bounty for finding them, correct?"


    "Correct."


    "What is the bounty for turning in live demonic cultivators?"


    "There uh-I don''t know that has never happened in my ten years in the constabulary. They are quite rare-"


    "So rare that a nest of dozens of them were operating here under a false pretense, enough that seventy people were kept in their larder as human chattel?"


    I clenched my fists.


    "I''m not a murderer, inspector Bao. I''m just a guy trying to process some trauma here."


    "But you-"


    "Not.A.Murderer."


    He finally backed off. I shuddered.


    "Is everything alright, Joe?" Xueyies silky voice cut through the tension between us, "Or is this mean man threatening us?"


    "I most certainly am not-"


    "He is."


    "Now hold on a second can I get a word in-"


    "NO!"


    We both yelled at the same time.


    The man actually stood down, visibly deflating.


    "Let me explain," I said releasing my veil, " Exactly what you''re going to do next Inspector Bao."


    ---


    Two hours later and we milled about the Docks District. Two dozen blue robes in uniform stacked themselves up behind various walls in the two blocks surrounding my least favorite shop in the city. Xueyie and Egiya both watched from the hungry Peddler as our backup. They would enter the shop shortly after us unless we made the signal.


    Inspector Bao took point as the two of us strode in. He was sweating profusely and as I found out he had been struggling with a lot of issues that were keeping his cultivation low.


    We walked in, ringing the anchor shaped bell as the door closed behind us. Two of the cultivators were there looking bored, but they brightened considerably when we arrived.


    "Ah, welcome welcome, are you two men of the town looking for something to celebrate your love of the sea faring life? Perhaps something to spice up you love life? We serve all kinds here, don''t be shy," the mans sing song voice sounded like a theatre kid trying out for a cat food commerical.


    "Ah, well you see what we really wanted," Inspector Bao started, the sweat dripping from his moustache condensing into near steam.


    "Was something for the hot months," the woman behind the counter said.


    She held up a hideous pirate shirt. Her mark was clearly visible at least to me


    "Come on friend, go ahead and tell them what you want," I said.


    The anchor bell rang.


    "One second!" The sing song voice of the man said, grinding my calm into the dust.


    "Oh hello! We''re here to buy something for our daddy," a familiar voice said.


    "If I could just stop being interrupted today."


    I held up a palm.


    "I said nothing sir. But this is your show. And that shirt would make your eyes pop," I said.


    "It would indeed. Especially if paired with a wonderful handkerchief or scarf. That would do right by you, oh your eyes are black- we could do a yellow sash instead."


    As she spoke, she held out various items to him and I chuckled internally. They were doing the hard sell on him, after I had nearly dragged him to the station under threat of expulsion from the constabulary Thankfully his boss took the threat seriously and sent him with all the people he would need to subdue and move the three.


    "You''re both under arrest for-"


    "Oh no! Is this the fashion police again, Hui! I told you to stop advertising out of the district."


    "Ah no! We can''t handle this."


    "Would you both stop it!" He barked out.


    "-for suspicion of being demonic cultivators."


    That was when both of them stopped to turn their heads just a bit off. It was more goofy than creepy as their stares tried to penetrate Baos admittedly poor defenses. They didn''t even have eyes for me, their prey enraptured into their trap.


    "Looks like dinner time is early, sister."


    "You''re right, brother and now we can feed."


    The room turned dark and I instinctively pushed out some qi to make the place a bit brighter. I left Bao hypnotized by the twins as they pushed forwards. Then they both stopped, as if smelling some delicious pork buns on their way to a diner.


    "Curiouser, this is a path we have never seen before- sister...sister?"


    The sing song voice cut out. I heard two things crumple to the ground, and I was hoping it was my quarry as the only thing I saw was a blue robed inspector babbling to himself.


    "Did we do it?" Egiya said, standing over one of the unconscious demonic Cultivators.


    "You girls did great, now let me get the one that was sleeping."


    As if on cue, Min walked in with a stupid grin on her face Of course she had taken my moment where I had to counter their technique to pounce upon the third of their rank. The poor guy looked more bruised than not, but was somehow alive.


    "This is going to be a mess to clean up," I said, looking down to see a sobbing police inspector curled up into a ball, "Hey, its your guys part now, Bao."


    "I-uh-what? We''re not dead?"


    "They activated one technique that turned this room dark and you''re down there clutching yourself, yeah we''re not dead."


    He patted himself down as if they had taken a part of him off, and he was expecting to not find his favorite organ. Typical cop.


    "I''m not dead!" He sighed,"Where am I again?"


    "Inspector Bao, you are in a demonic cultivators boutique shop in the docks district. These have some mind control adjacent powers that shut you down temporarily and made you forget why you''re here. You have a squad of constables outside waiting for your signal."


    "I do?" The confused man barely was able to get that out before the first of his men rushed in, ushering a second round of yelling and explanations.


    Shackles appeared around the arms and legs of the the proprietors as they cleaned up house, taking my two before Mins tribute.


    One of the women with some rank on her shoulder appeared in front of me. She was some deputy inspector that I had conveniently forgotten the name of, and it''s not like they wore name tags here.


    "Sir, I think that you have led us right into the vipers nest and you will be handsomely rewarded but did you have to uh... Bludgeon this one to unconsciousness? I don''t know if we should heal him or just throw him to be leviathan bait at this rate."


    "I assure you that this was the work of my spirit beast and she made an accurate assessment of how this man? Woman? Needed to be treated. Non-lethally, I may add so you have someone to interrogate."


    "Indeed. We will be doing an after action review of this once they are fully in Iron hook, but until then, thank you for your continued service to our city. You will be contacted."


    I half expected her to tip me for my generosity, but she moved on to give a series of very specific orders about the placement of three rube adorned sets of neck collars. Once closed, the leather worked collars that closed with a satisfying click each time.


    The girls ushered me out just in time for us to watch the show. There was a crowd watching as the blue robes took two of their number to escort one of the demonic cultivators each. Or more accurately they carried them. The streets were packed. A small hole opening up for the government officials was the only movement that stirred. I have expected the deputy inspector to give a little speech about what was happening. That''s the kind of thing I would expect on earth. Of course here they didn''t have broadcast television and a 24-hour news cycle, but I imagine that word would come out somehow.


    Thinking back to how others I knew got their information. It was all word of mouth. Somebody would have had to tell their friend who told another friend and so on down the line. It put a new light on everything I had been told so far. Witnesses could be unreliable. Or coerced to say something else. Their memories could be affected by people interviewing them about their experiences. These are all known factors.


    What I didn''t know is how something like this got out or didn''t. The inspector didn''t actually believe me. He only respected my power. It was ridiculous and it kind of felt like the nepo version of being strong. It was as if I had one a bodybuilding competition and that gave me power over the local police force because they respected that. Like yeah come look at my muscles but can you actually do your job guys. I did not come here to clean up these streets. But if I really had to I would do it.


    "Joe, are you all right? You seem a bit out of it,"


    Egiya said, once we got far enough away.


    "I''m not mad that I didn''t get to punch anybody."


    "But you feel like you should be, right? Don''t you have to? What is it? Process your trauma by beating the shit out of men like this?" Xueyie said.


    "I want to process my trauma productively. Like making some art or helping others heal from their trauma. I get the warm and fuzzies from helping others. To be clear, I don''t recommend that everyone does this or that I have some sort of one size fits all solution here."


    "You also get the tea."


    "Perks of the job, my apprentice. Perks of the job. It''s part of the reason why we have an understanding of confidentiality. This way they can vent without fear of it going to the wrong person."


    "I could see how that might be a problem," Xueyie said, cutting around the end of the crowd.


    "What are you both on about?" Egiya said, finally getting out from the masses.


    I turned to offer her my arm. She accepted one, then Xueyie accepted the other.


    "If someone''s going to spill their life secrets to you, you have an obligation to keep their secrets. So you hear lots of things that you wouldn''t otherwise, including all the drama in people''s lives."


    "I take back everything I said about you before. Now that I know you are into the drama aspect it makes sense that Xueyie is your friend."


    "For your sake, I won''t consider that an insult. I do art for the love of it."


    "And you love it has nothing to do with the amount of money that your clan makes from the proceeds?" Egiya said.


    "Ladies, if you''re going to fight, let''s do it in a training environment. There are enough things that we can agree on that we all despise."


    "Like those sailor blouses."


    "Exactly."

 2-16

    So I should probably explain the structure of the weeks here. They had a four day work week with three days off. It was a great setup, almost as good as the four days off, three days working that I aspired to.


    I, a dedicated hard charger, did not want to partake in more five day work weeks with a nine to five. That was something for my past life.


    Then there were a lot of seasonal festivals that made whole weeks nothing but a series of tournaments and celebrations. This was a slow time of year in a thankfully temperate climate. I hadn''t actually seen a calendar everyone just seemed to know what day it was, mostly likely out of repetition.


    This setup, combined with my inability to stop working even in a fantasy world, is why I ended up doing group therapy every day. My back, also gave me a reason to double down on my work. Generally, therapy is done sitting down, as there isn''t a physical portion of it.


    I didn''t have much else to do for the rest of the week except debate on what I was going to train on next. It was work in the morning and then afternoons free. And to be quite honest, I had put myself on this position. The victims that still stayed on -most of them- couldn''t pay me. I wouldn''t have accepted money from them if they could have either. I had ideas of a work study job position for them but we would see what happened once they were all done. I put all of those ideas to the side and settled in the thing I finally had enough information to start.


    I had asked Moon Lee about a potential path to let me split myself into multiple clones like Doom bots, and she was researching it. It was something that a fourth round cultivator like myself could pull off but I didn''t know where to start. I had an idea of what I wanted to make, now I had to flesh it out.


    This led to a few nights perusing All of the path techniques that the moon clan had. Once I had exhausted those and found three potential candidates. I asked the Jin clan for help. That was about the time that I felt good enough to begin training again. This meant that I was going to have to dedicate some time to training, sometime to reading up on a path and sometime to group therapy. Lorenzo and I decided that we would have off days from group therapy that lined up with the 3-day weekends. As it was an intensive outpatient process, we didn''t want them to think that we abandoned them, but the point of therapy is to get to a goal. It''s not to make more money for the therapist. If I could do this for free, I would. It wasn''t until that first day where I had nothing scheduled that I realized I was trying to over schedule myself.


    Of course, I dove back into one of the four potential paths I found. My dreamscape path gave me the ability to create illusions on a small scale around me. It was within a defined area where I could make someone see something. Or I could pull them into a dreamscape and the entire thing would be a fabricated secondary reality.


    My other main ability the tactile telekinesis let me grab onto things and float them however, I wanted to. I''d used this a great effect when I needed to borrow a broom and fly after that cell of demonic cultivators. That worked well with my Tai Chi training, although really was just being fast and strong that had saved me this whole time. If I was going to get to the next realm I would need to figure out a way to define who I was and what my path was. Others be damned if I wasn''t able to grab someone and hulk slam them into the ground against their will several times repeatedly.


    It was the least I could do for a determined enemy. I wanted to provide the ultimate in customer service and if that took the form of a ridiculously overpowered path, then that was alright. I could accept that.


    So there I sat early on my first day off, relaxing in the guest accommodations of the Moon clan with four path manuals in front of me. It wasn''t the first time that analysis paralysis had full on stopped me from doing what I needed to do, but it was comforting that for all the things I had done, the life I had led before and now, that I was still willing to procrastinate.


    The first path entitled ''Illusions and Shadows: Shade'' was something pointedly about making intangible shades of myself. I leafed through the explanation of how I would use Qi to affix a signature of myself onto first one then two shades. After a brief overview I put it to the side. It was definitely interesting, but didn''t seem too applicable to what I wanted to do, if the clones couldn''t interact with things.


    That ability to work independently and make actions upon the environment was important to me if this was going to be a compelling technique. I don''t dream of labor, that whole thing about a dream job is not for me. I dream of things being effortless and days where I can do what I want without having to deal with invasive sales people.


    The second path I opened up looked promising. ''Double Trouble'' created a tangible clone for a brief time that had to stay close to you to be viable. The problem with that was that I wanted my clones to be able to work semi independently and more than a meter away from me. Some of the principles might be transferable so I put that on the keep pile.


    For some reason, as I read this I felt like there would be an oblique mention of needing to do a dance move to activate the technique. Complete transparency on my part, I couldn''t dance my way out of a paper bag. Thankfully it''s a rare thing for people to actually watch and care when I''m dancing. Probably during prom when the mojito incident came up, but the less said about that, the better.


    The third path I approached with trepidation. ''Clockwork Golem'' created an enduring clone that would meet a lot of my requirements, but require a heavy upkeep in terms of Qi. I really liked the idea of an enduring clone but I wanted the Qi to return back to me as the clone dissolved. I wondered if I could combine a little bit of one and a little bit of the other to make as better path on my own. It would have to meet my requirements-all of the specific problems that I had with the first three paths. Perhaps the fourth one would offer me something.


    I idly thought about how good a meat bun would taste and realized that I had once again reached midday without one. It might have been my hunger the broke me out of my focus but I realized far too late that I should have stopped a while back. It was like waking up briefly from a dream. A pleasant dream where I was lucid dreaming my way through one bite at a time.


    The debate between lunch and not was quickly won by the gurgle in my stomach. I accepted that it was my time and made my way to the commissary. The smells roused me into a faster walk.


    After going through the remnants of breakfast cast-offs, I felt much better and more at ease. Feeding the beast worked out well for me. I found a large jug of fresh water and drank my fill.


    Full and hydrated I strode back to guest quarters with a renewed focus. It was time to get to the bottom of this decision and then push the envelope a bit further.


    The final path manual, "Light Clone" was very close to what I actually wanted. It let me create a clone made out of an illusion. That clone did not have to stay within the meter of me that another technique required . And it did not have an owner is ongoing Qi requirement.


    So naturally, I''m looking at skeptically. Nothing good ever just happens, right?


    I was going to take what I needed out of this turn into my own technique. Clock work shadows or something? Could that be a thing? I resolved to make notes.


    ---


    Now I''m not going to be the first person to complain about the police, but I will be the loudest. Mostly because they weren''t as strong as I was now.


    Today was going to be the day when I gave Inspector Bao some instruction. He and I were set to meet up right after group therapy.


    "Now remember, you are the writer of your own destiny. What happened to you, you may hold to the end of your days, but if you stay on the path, you will see the light at the end of the tunnel," Lorenzo said, wrapping for the day.


    A lot of hugs and claps on the back later and a familiar blue robed figure met us by the gate. Lorenzo gave me a look. He had been brought up on the latest developments. He, more than anyone else understood my ambivalence about working with the constabulary. We moved towards him, walking together.


    "Maybe they will be better this time?" Lorenzo said.


    "Maybe. I''m going to see if I can give him an incentive," I said.


    "An incentive?"


    His knowing smile gave me life.


    "Ah the good Inspector Bao."


    "Cultivator Joseph. The constabulary has some questions for you."


    "Walk with me, Bao," I said, turning on a dime to walk towards my most hated place.


    "I-uh-"


    His awkwardness was palpable even as I faced the other direction and beat feet the other way. Then I made my way to that fateful place.


    "I''m not doing this for your health so hurry up. I''m definitely doing it for mine. I want you to understand. Come with me."


    I opened the large wooden door, pushing it back. It was wide enough for three people to walk side by side. Inside the musty smell gave you pause for only a second. We were in.


    "When I first came to this place. I thought it was nothing special."If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    I pulled on the hatch. The rope handle was worn and gritty, a reminder of how long this place has been in use.


    "There is a special smell in a place where someone has died. It''s something that you never forget."


    Behind me I heard gagging.


    "In this room, dozens of men and women died. They were incapacitated and then fed to demonic cultivators. Some of their blood is still here now. It will never be cleaned. The stain of what happened here may never lift from the souls of the ones we saved. So the next time that I come to you with a hot tip, I expect that you will take it with the amount of seriousness that it requires."


    He gulped. I still hadn''t turned around. I knew he was there because he was intimidated of me. He knew that I was stronger than he was. He had felt me unveil. However, I didn''t want him to just do things because I was stronger. I wasn''t a despot. I was not prepared to be a tyrant. I was prepared to hold the man by his ear while I helped him administer justice. If we needed to have a police force in western jewel then then they were going to have to go after demonic cultivators.


    "This-How did this happen?"


    "They mostly hypnotized them. The back part over there that was where they killed them. Some of these people in group therapy still have nightmares about it. Made them blind and shit."


    I let the silence permeate. He was going to be very uncomfortable and I needed him to understand. I didn''t need him afraid of me. I was also wary of overdoing it. When I was a kid I came on too strong, especially on things that I was interested in.


    Right now?


    I was interested in this man understanding why. I needed him to put himself in the shoes of the ones we lost and the ones we saved. I needed him angry at the cultivators. He needed to be motivated to hunt them down. I couldn''t think of a better place to do it than here.


    "...They really did all of that? I mean I heard the rumors, but the official report lacks some of the emotion that you put into it."


    "I have had dreams that turned quickly into nightmares. It is not a pretty sight. I would not wish this upon my worst enemy. But I had the best possible outcome. I got to see the end of it, and see these victims to safety."


    "I see."


    "Now what did you have to say?"


    "Well as it turns out all three were demonic cultivators and we wanted to understand how you knew that to be true. There are no outward signs that tipped us off and not to alarm you but well we don''t understand it. We needed a core elder to examine their cultivation in order to make an assessment. But then, you''re a Nascent soul according to the dossier we complied on you."


    What would a file on me look like? I wondered if they would get my beard right.


    "Of course. There''s a mark that only they can see. For some reason I''m able to view their mark, some interaction between myself and my bonded spirit beast was the initial reason we discovered it."


    Min appeared by my side as if to back up my cause. She had grown quite fast since her advancement and now she had taken the chance to follow him unnoticed to work on her stealth and veiling. She had been unnoticed so far, so her sudden appearance caused a gasp. Min have him a low bow.


    Then she began to pull on her qi to make an illusion. She was illustrating my point, visually.


    "It''s ultraviolet, part of the light spectrum. It isn''t normally visible."


    She showed him the markings that had tipped us off. The sharp Fang over the lip of the model she had used was crisp. It clearly showed a purple fang where there shouldn''t be anything. True they called themselves red fang or their cover, green velvet. I got to thinking if people who grew up here had a tough time seeing some of the colors in either end of the spectrum.


    "And you can both see this?"


    We nodded. Her illusory copy highlighted what was actually there.


    "Do you think there any more of them? In western jewel?"


    "I know she isn''t convinced that she found them all, but it''s such a large undertaking- if they find out what''s tipping us off then we could lose our edge."


    "How can the constabulary fix this problem?"


    "I''m so glad you asked."


    I can see his face contort itself into the most amusing half smirk. Now I had him exactly where I wanted him.


    "You''re setting me up here, trying to make me emotional. My entire job is to be emotionless and detached."


    "Up until you see an atrocity like this. Some of the victims are going to need help for the rest of their lives," I said, rubbing my fingers together, "We live in a society where the strong must protect the weak."


    "This is true, but I don''t need to-"


    "You don''t have to have emotions to be a good constable. The entire system doesn''t require it," I said flaring my qi, "But you need to understand that things like this can''t happen anymore. Not while I live and breathe."


    He took a step back and slouched. The fire had gone out from his eyes. He had come to question me. Even after his experience working with me last time, he still wasn''t getting it. I began to walk back to the hatch. I briefly considered leaving him here to stew, but then he might break out and I want to preserve this the way it had been.


    We were quiet on the way back up towards the gate. Lorenzo was there, talking with Xueyie about the day. They were deep in discussion about something that they were not aware of. He was probably explaining why you had to not give out protective information. She hadn''t grown up in an individualistic culture. The Taoists were a group of theater kids and you can imagine what that would be like. I didn''t want to as I had gone up around dozens of kids that thought they were the next best, Hollywood star.


    I was just glad that none of them had heard the words improv before. Otherwise we might have a problem.


    " Cultivator Joseph," she said, with a slight head Bob, "Inspector Bao. So good to see you. Inspector. Was our performance the other day sufficient?"


    "It was, thank you. Your service to the emperor has not gone unnoticed. The strongest cultivators can triumph over any opponent, but to do so while leaving one unscathed enough to question, that is something special."


    She leaned in. I swear that she was about to do a hair flip or something.


    "And did you learn anything from these demonic cultivators?"


    "We learned that they are demonic cultivators. That part is no longer in dispute. They are some of the first ever captured alive and as such once we are done with them they are going to be sent via airship to the capital. There are some strong mind cultivators that are going to take a look into how they got away with what they did. An estimate that they were at the second realm, which meant the day had killed at least five to ten people on their way there. Those deaths, though indiscriminate, still hurt the larger cause. So thank you."


    His face looked truly apologetic for the first time. I may have been a bit too hard on the man.


    "Now I believe you had some questions for us? Anything you have to ask me if you can say in front of my associate, don''t worry."


    "You won''t cut me off every other word like last time?"


    "No of course not, unless that''s what you want, Inspector Bao. However I will warn you that all three of us are ready for lunch so please do hurry up."


    He had several questions about how we tracked them down (trade secret), why we didn''t didn''t kill them if we knew (on principle) and if we had any other information that might lead to finding more demonic cultivators.


    "That last one," I said, "I only have the smallest idea of where we might find more. There could be ten more cells here. There could also be no more. My spirit beast as part of her training will be searching for more of them. I suppose we could dive into one of their minds and do some forensic psychology to see if they knew anything but... Bao, why are you looking at me like that?"


    "You can look into their minds? Then you can interrogate them for us?"


    "The dreamscape is not like an interrogation chamber; they would be fully conscious there. They might not want to give any information out. Plus shouldn''t you guys have someone who can look into dreams or do something similar on staff right now?"


    His brow furrowed. Maybe he didn''t. Maybe all the money that the constabulary took in wasn''t going anywhere good. Maybe they didn''t have enough money. I gave him a look that I wanted him to explain.


    He for his part pulled at his collar.


    "That''s not something we generally have. We have to refer those specific cases out to specialists like yourself-"


    "Let me stop you right there, guy. I believe in rehabilitation. And it''s not that I don''t think that they should be lying over the rest of their lives, but if it was any other crime besides murder and cannibalism, I might think that they should do their time and get out of prison. I come from a place where prison itself is a big business. And it really shouldn''t be. So if you figured to ask me about this and try to gauge my intent. Let me be clear. Let me be crystal clear. I will find and root out any demonic cultivators in western jewel given time. But I am not going to turn my skills into something like that."


    "That wouldn''t be right, would it Joe? A therapist must be free to choose their own clients, right?"


    I had the urge to pat her on the head. She would have thought it was hilarious but I didn''t think it was the time of the place. We both turned to face him as one. It felt good to be on the same side even if we had a difference of opinion.


    "Cultivator Joseph, please, if we can get back on track. There are a number of people that we suspect are demonic cultivators of the red fang sect that were killed during the incident. We have now made a network of the people who we know were red fang agents and are trying to extend the web out to their larger family structure."


    He left out that they would probably be brought in for questioning and tested for demonic pathways. There was something there about beast cores as well that Min had mentioned earlier.


    "Demonic cultivators, they don''t have to use human sacrifices do they? They can use beast cores?"


    I wanted to test a theory. Beast cores were said to be something that cultivators could use to build themselves up. Instead of fighting and cultivation, they could consume beast cores. Consuming too many would make one susceptible to heart demons, which then could lead to a bottleneck in cultivation. The beast cores that I had grabbed on my last hunt had been sold, so I hadn''t even thought about it.


    "I don''t know everything about demonic cultivators but it seems possible?"


    "So there''s another way for them to advance, but they for whatever reason are not using it? Possibly?"


    Inspector Bao wiped his forehead. His sweat was beginning to affect the integrity of his hairline, as more and more strands decided that today was the day to make themselves known.


    "Er-yes-possibly," he squeaked out, "We don''t know what we don''t know.


    To me it seemed like he didn''t know anything. His every move seemed calculated to not do his job. In his line of work actually doing the work was a hazard. I gave him enough rope to hang himself, metaphorically. I motioned for him to continue questioning, but he was almost certainly scraping the bottom of the tea pot at this point.


    "If you have anything else, please do visit us. The next time we get a report from you, we will take it seriously, I assure you."


    "That''s all I ask.¡±

 2-17

    Lorenzo and I were giddy.


    We had our first off the street real honest client. A paying one, even!


    It was a kid of course. Or rather a kid? A cultivator who had to ascend to a higher realm while still young had been trapped in that age. According to his accounts he was somewhere on the order of 50 or 60 years old. And he was tired of being treated like a child. Cultivation slows down growth and for those at a younger age, it makes that growth to adulthood so much longer. But of course we had a prodigy in our hands.


    As the elder cultivator of the two of us, Lorenzo let me do his intake. I was going to see about doing a warm handoff to Lorenzo first because there were a lot of intricacies of Western Jewel that I needed to make sure that he understood. Lorenzo brought him up for his first session and then departed to do something that sounded like window shopping with Ellen. It was Lorenzo''s new apartment after all. He had worked out some deal with Ellen that I wasn''t privy to.


    After some pleasantries and introduction, my new client and I got into it in the small apartment on the third floor above the cultivators'' ink pot. We had a good view of the Raven statue in the square as we talked.


    "So you are the sect leader of the turtle shell shockwave clan?"


    Unlike most of his contemporaries, Patriarch Tori had a long down style with zero hair bands or clips putting his shoulder length hair on full display. I envied the length but I knew what it took to maintain it. Underneath that hair was a face that would not have been out of place on a child actor. It wasn''t a young face on an old body either.


    "This is true. Have been for over 20 years. As the patriarch, I''m responsible for all aspects of the clan to include recruiting which feels like it has been a failure. It feels like we lose a disciple for every one that I bring in."


    "Recruiting, huh? Have you thought about your retention plan as well?"


    "Retention? What do you mean?"


    I sighed. The space that I had dedicated for this needed an interior decorator. Ellen was great but stairs were trouble at her age, and Lorenzo wasn''t going to ask her. I wanted some room to pace around. I also wanted a metaphor that would work for him.


    "You''re spending all your time worrying about who you''re bringing in, but have you thought about what you are doing to retain the ones that are already in? Like? Like look at this room here? For instance, I need to upgrade it. I want people to stick around for the long term with me. Whether your problem is a short-term solution that has a long-term, therapeutic intervention or just turns into an ongoing vent session? I want you to come here and feel welcome. That I haven''t set it up yet. That way is on me, but since this is so new you probably are going to be willing to overlook that. And I''ll think about how that may play out for some of your older disciples when they see the new guys getting everything they want just to get pulled in. But they''re dealing with the old stuff for lack of a better term."


    "What could I do for this retention?"


    "Let me turn this back on you: what would make you stay in a Sect?"


    "Hmmmm. More cultivation time, better opportunities. I guess more spirit stones?"


    "Are spirit stones used like currency in your sect? Yes? Then I agree."


    "But then I need to pay those ungrateful disciples more than I do? Do they really deserve it though?"


    "Think of it as a good selling point. If your disciples have more free time and are generally more wealthy than the other sects, then word will spread," I said, folding my hands together.


    "That is an interesting observation. I feel that it merits further study."


    "I keep seeing people doing things and not thinking about the second order effects."


    "When you say second order effects, what are you talking about?"


    "Going from the fast and easy thinking to deliberately thinking about the future. Thinking about how decisions you make now can affect the long term. Like my choice to get a sofa here. That corner would be nice with a sofa."


    "It would be quite nice to see the square from this height without much difficulty. So you''re saying that your decision on how to arrange your office can have long term effects?"


    "What if you walked in here and I was aggressive, cold, rude or standoffish? How would you take it? What if I made the environment a very welcoming one and instead treated you like someone that I want to build a rapport with? Let''s talk it out."


    He paused and it would have been the perfect time to stroke a beard. I saw him instead brush his hair down one side with his fingers. The poor guy couldn''t even grow facial hair. Maybe in another 100 years the whippersnapper might have a chance in that regard.


    "This second order thinking. Alright let''s see. If they are compensated better then they will be more willing to do more of the things that will advance out Sect. Things like entering tournaments and finishing Sect missions. This could in turn raise our reputation, garnering more missions and increasing payments to the clan..."


    "Which you can then funnel right back into your people," I said. I leaned back into the wicker chair, it wasn''t nearly as comfortable as you might think.


    "That... Is a good thing."


    He didn''t sound as convinced as I thought he would be. Despite looking about twelve, he pulled out a pipe. I was relieved when the old young man started smoking bubbles out of his pipe. I didn''t even know that this was an option. They were probably dao bubbles or some bullshit that allowed him to concentrate his Qi.


    I want him to sit with it for a while. He was now hopefully thinking through the first order effect of things and comparing it to the second order effect. I could see that this was something that he had never had to do before. It was like this world didn''t have logic, puzzles or anything else. A world without logic puzzles and social deduction games was very sad. And I was here to mitigate that.


    Several times he sat up, straightening and physically letting go of clenched fists. His unease with the situation of demonstrating his humanity towards his disciples had to have been rushing through his mind.


    I thought about how I treated the people on the crew. Putting Moon Fei on workmans comp was a no brainer. At least it was for me. It was the right thing to do. You take care of your people.


    Setting it up as a program would be counter intuitive for the Patriarch, but maybe that was a bug in the system. Something that patriarchs and matriarchs needed to set up. Just because somebody wasn''t able to kill a ten meter tall spirit beast with one hand tied behind their back didn''t mean that they had no value to a Sect. Everyone needed some mundane tasks to be completed. I''m not talking about bullshit jobs here. I''m talking about the important things that keep a group running together. Someone has to plant the crops and prepare the food.


    Master Tori had to have been going through something when I explained how I developed my workman''s comp as a perk of working for me. He saw the value shortly thereafter.


    "If I make it easier for them to ascend, that feels like it would be cheating."


    "Is it? You came to me in part because you have a bottleneck in your own cultivation. There''s something in your way, keeping you where you are and you think that I can just make you advance,"I patted Min''s head, "I can''t make you do anything. I can shine a light on a part of you that I think you need to address and we can go over your goals and how you''re making progress towards them. I''m here to support you in your advancement."


    "Thanks. I am just now realizing how much of my identity is tied up in the Sect and how it''s run day to day."


    "You''re a senior elder. You should have your junior disciples running the show, not only to make things easier for you but also to give them leadership experience. You shouldn''t be doing everything yourself."


    I could imagine him getting back to his Sect compound and putting up a series of motivational posters after all of this.


    "Let me ask you something else though. All of this-these little changes- what if they don''t work?"


    "Oh, but what if they do?" I said.


    ---


    The question about what to do first once my back was up par had arrived at a stalemate. There was an official tie between going out there to gather more spiritual materials or training with Min. If we went outside then there was quite a possibility that we could get something. However, on the other hand we could find nothing.


    That would be a waste of our time when we could train in the moon clans courtyards. We had been using their facilities a lot since Moon Lee was greasing the wheels. As one of the more senior women in the clan, she opened doors for us.


    So when I got the clean bill of health and I felt like I was ready for it, I decided that I would take myself out for a little jog on my day off. This would be the first time I ran all out since the fight. I wasn''t anticipating that it would be difficult, but a week away from it could lead to me being a bit rusty.


    Of course Min ran alongside me. We made a good pace as we ran out south of western jewel. Our goal was to hit the barrier wall around the city that kept out the beasts. I knew it was fast when I started to have to dodge around people who didn''t even know I was there. Up ahead I could see the barrier going up. It extended up to about one hundred meters into the air. I had fully expected the thick force field projection to make a dome over the entirety of western jewel. That it didn''t mean that every so often I would see a flying cultivator cross over.This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.


    Behind us, Egiya ran at her pace trying to keep up. She knew the route and would catch up with us when she could. Our formations expert wanted to train and we would not deny her the opportunity.


    At the base of the barrier every so often you could see a totem. These marked the barrier formation that every so often had to get looked at. Egiyas father worked on exact kind of formations that made life possible out here. I started to think about how impossible it had to have been, living where a spiritual beast could very easily kill you. Indiscriminately. The fact that humanity was able to ride the bubble of that here was a testament to the power of cultivation. The cultivators took care of the weak, receiving accolades and kudos for a job well done.


    Min paused in front of the formation barrier. It looked like she was going to scratch it. I gave her a gentle head pat for being such a good girl. She deserved it for all the hard work she put in. But also she was full of snark and I liked that kind of thing. It was part of the appeal of Maxine way back when we were initially dating.


    "What do you think about it?" I asked the blue and white cat.


    "Someone spent a lot of time on this. An inordinate amount of time. An all together ridiculous amount of time to make sure that this is that just right. I guess."


    "Formation Cultivators doing their best for the good of society, right?"


    "It''s the most we can ask from them. You know I have no idea when Mister Kang will return from his trip? He has been gone for months on a mission."


    "Yeah I never wanted to pry. I don''t think it''s any of my business."


    "Until he returns and realizes that his daughter has ascended to the second realm and only has a few bottlenecks to the third," Min said, "It''s unusual for someone that has been held back for so long to make a breakthrough, but it seems to be your forte. Before long you are going to get the wrong kind of attention. As in the kind you can''t just appease to make you disappear."


    "I know. I thought that stopping the recruitment from these local Sects would end the attention but now it looks like I am going to be back in the limelight. Unless our constabulary friend keeps our situation to himself. I feel like he could do it with the right application of pressure."


    Egiya pushed her pace from about half a mile behind us as Min and I exchanged barbs. The pleasant sight of rocks and a cloudy patch of dust and debris were in her wake. She was getting better. I wouldn''t tag her as a Frontline fighter for all of her gifts, but she would be a speedster if she put her mind to it.


    "She''s doing well. Despite her mother trying to edge into her affairs, she has- I''m looking for the word- separated herself. She''s her own woman."


    "The worry was that she would just be her mother''s doormat for the rest of her life? I still don''t understand why you would put a perfectly good mat in front of a door. You off workers are a piece of work. How would you train grappling in front of someone''s door?"


    "Well, first off, it''s not that type of grappling, second off-"


    The barrier hummed.


    Or at least I think it did. It felt like something had happened along the edge of it.


    I knew a technique to open the barrier. It was meant for third realm and higher cultivators to be able to leave and return on their own. Once you were out in the wild, if you took down a spirit beast, you could either bring it back in an expensive storage ring, or use a contracting company to fly a specialized air barge in to extract the parts of the beast and fly them back. This generous work was done for an easy six to ten percent of the total proceeds as they turned the materials over to another specialized company to sell it.


    The web of interconnectedness here had really surprised me. Every time I thought I had a very good understanding of things here, I would learn something like the air barge was only a small piece of a strange economy.


    I could see one now skimming towards what had to be another satisfied customer. All told I had seen three barges moving in and out of the city today, though I didn''t know if that was high or low. For a city of millions, I expected a few more, but there were only so many Cultivators.


    "Min, three barges today plus this one. Do you think that''s a lot or a little?"


    "Hard to say, Companion Joseph. I could investigate how many companies do the spirit beast pickups and how large each fleet is. They have to park them somewhere, of course."


    "That should be easy enough. Then there''s the frequency as a metric separate from the fleet count. That should be pretty good for comparison."


    A wheezing woman ahead stopped to adjust her hair. I waved emphatically. I swear she gave me the finger or some rude gesture. She had started walking, as if conserving energy.


    Besides the lush farming land and hundreds of trees we were alone. There was a bug enough area for a mock spar right where we were. The trees tended to not grow too close to the barrier.


    I fell into a familiar empty stance, moving through steps that I had done countless times on earth. An open palm here, a block there, as I moved through a basic form to limber up. I was already warm from running, just checking the internals. By the time she arrived, I was ready to go.


    "Sparring again?" She asked, taking a knee on the ground.


    "Light sparring. If you can''t spar while you''re out of breath, then who even are you?"


    "Who even am I?" She said, standing up. I could feel her qi cycling.


    Her sleek black hair was slicked back into a ponytail, her own admission that she might see action. She hadn''t brought her longbow with her, instead drawing back on a pretend drawstring as she charged a shot.


    She shot a bolt of formed qi at me as I took a glancing blow to my ribs. She was getting good at the technique. Had she been using a real bow I might have been bruised or worse. Of course this was training for both of us so I darted left, trying to keep her off of me.


    I had selected an area that was relatively flat and without any sort of cover much toy dismay.


    "I''m a winner."


    She hit my crossed arms as I surged Qi to stop her assault. The power behind her shot pushed me back two feet, leaving skid marks in the grass.


    Instead of waiting for another attack, I pushed nearly half of my stored Qi into my legs and lower body to increase my speed. I used that to dodge another shot and close the distance.


    "Hi winner, I''m dad!"


    Egiya jumped as I said that, and I could see another Qi arrow forming in her arms. I saw the possible directions that she could shoot it and ran to be on her other side. Since I was roughly four times as fast as she was, it felt like she was in slow motion. By the time she was ready to land I had taken up a spot right behind her.


    I lightly tapped her on the back. That was about the time that I decided to stop pushing all of my Qi into speed. Now that I was within striking distance, she continued her attack with hand to hand strikes. She kept a clean even footing as she jabbed several times with her front fists trying to connect.


    Each time she sent a feint out, I treated it like the real thing. She was trying to goad me into moving with her as she circled me. I was content to stay in place as she had to expend more and more energy to walk around me, trying to find a weak point.


    I slapped one of her jabs with an Open Palm. I attempted to pull her into grappling range, but she removed her hand too fast for me before scoring a hit in my temple. I stepped back avoiding a combination strike from her other arm.


    I don''t follow the school of thought that you should pull your punches. If you''re training to do something, you should at least understand how it feels. In this case she could hurt me only if I let her. I also didn''t go full all out against her. If I used either of my trump cards, this would have been over really fast. But that wasn''t the point. I was giving her some of what the moon clan trainers had given me. It was more than just peace of mind.


    As an advancing cultivator her ability to defend herself could only help.


    She got me with a savage roundhouse kick in the stomach.


    The breakfast that had sat unbothered in my stomach for the nine mile run, suddenly had something to say. I was influent in stomach but it sounded like I was about to meet my breakfast again.


    I push that feeling down, breathing through my mouth. The aura was dense here, and it trickled into my core. It wasn''t enough to replace everything I''d used but with time I would recover.


    Just not my breakfast. I projectile vomited everything that I carefully packed in earlier. She dodged because of course she did. I wasn''t going to give her the pleasure of acknowledging that this wasn''t an attack.


    "Are you unwell?"


    I held up a hand to stall any further talk. I dry heaved a little bit coming up with nothing. It was comforting to know that she was able to get that kick in despite our difference in ability.


    "I think that''s enough for now. I don''t want to pay for my hubris with any more eggs and toast. You did good, kid."


    "Good because that kick took all I had. I''m going to need to cycle for a little bit to regain anything."


    I laid down.


    "Take as long as you need," I said, closing my eyes to think about all the times I hadn''t felt icky. Those were some good times.


    "Did I mention that I played netball with Maxine?"


    I lifted my chin and grunted.


    "You played netball with the enemy? First off, this is a betrayal of the highest magnitude. Second off, did you beat her? Also what did you use for a ball?"


    "Allow me to answer those out of orders, yes I beat her after losing several rounds, we used a yak skin ball and of course I played with her. She has helped me to understand your unique position greatly."


    Min sat on my chest and purred.


    "Were you a part of this you little..." I gave the spirit a head scratch,"Frenemy lover you."


    "This spirit beast can neither confirm nor deny any allegations or misdoings that her companion did not specify in their soul contract," Min said, accepting the head pats graciously.


    "Oh! The dreaded double betrayal. How will I ever return from this," I said in the dad robot voice,"Oh no!"


    Min purred. Egiya giggled in between heaving breaths.


    After a short rest, she was ready to go and she began to inspect the formations on the nearest stone. She took notes and then wrote down a pattern. She then showed me the pattern so I could try to analyze it. I couldn''t make heads or tails of it. She was showing me a two dimensional representation of a slice of a three dimensional grid so I was only getting part of the picture.


    "This looks lovely. Strange and ephemeral, and all sorts of artistic, but I can''t make heads or tails of it," I said, turning the latest sheet over.


    "Understood, but you have this understanding of the human condition that I seem to lack, so we can fill in each other''s gaps in knowledge easily. What even is therapy, right?"


    "Did you want a textbook answer or-"


    "No, I do not want a textbook answer. Textbook answers got me repairing these formations," said said holding up one like it had cursed her family and her honor.


    "Right. Well at least the formations can''t yell at you to bring home grandchildren."


    "Is that what parents on earth do? Demand you reproduce so that they can what, ignore the next generation as well?"


    I might have hit a nerve.


    "I-uh-what. Hey I''m sorry if this got a little too personal. Let me be the first one to say that you have worth whether you have children or not. Especially if you make an informed choice about what works for you as a person. But to answer your question, yes. There are a lot of narcissistic parents that have kids as a kind of a trophy or something to show off to their friends. I don''t endorse that. My daughters achievements are their own and though I''m there to back them up I''m not there to show them off."


    "Are you here to back me up in the same way?"


    "Yes."


    "Then why don''t you show off your talent with reading and formations and catch up on what you''re supposed to be doing," she said waving a stack of formations notes.


    "I think I might just do that."

 2-18

    She spent about another twenty minutes working on formations there. Then we headed to the next spot on her list. There were, according to her, sixty more formations on totems that she could check. I asked because I''m a nosy guy but it seemed like a lot.


    They didn''t have to be checked often, which is why they went by a system of checking the one that had gone without inspection for the longest. Several of the totems were in the water and those would take the most lift.


    In her regular work, she went around the entire perimeter of the Western jewel barrier in a clockwise manner which I found pleasing. Fully two thirds of the totems were on solid ground, meaning that if she did a few a week she would only need assistance to attend to the totems in water for about a month or two.


    Unless someone asked the Mandarin to address a specific totem, they were rarely touched though.


    It was uncommon for someone to call in a complaint. This also meant that it took her months to revisit a totem unless it was specifically called out for.


    And if somebody was intent on doing some sort of mischief that is about how long it would take before the powers that be would notice it. The barriers were there to keep the spirit beasts out and it was unclear what would happen if they went down. For my understanding, if one to two of them went down next to each other then it would just be an open door for higher level beasts to swarm in looking for easy targets.


    Egiya put her papers into a large pack that she was carrying to indicate that she was done with the totem. Then she brought out a diagram of the region and made a note.


    "So did you make any progress with the constabulary?"


    "I can''t say that what we did is going to stick but I have at least one person who was willing to listen to us and regular basis. That is a lot more than I had last time and I''m really grateful for it. I don''t know what would happen If I just came into the office of the constabulary with a demonic cultivator in tow and just slapped them down on the desk of any inspector. Do you think that they would even raise an eyebrow?"


    "If they''re committing demonic acts right in the public eye and the constabulary isn''t taking them into custody, then you should probably just petition the Mandarin to get them to do their job," she said, putting the map away.


    "Hey question for you. Why don''t people live out here next to the barrier? I know it''s a bit of a walk back to Center City and all the things that are in there, but like if you had somebody who knew formations and they lived nearby here then you wouldn''t have to do all this work, right?"


    "It''s not so simple. Not everybody wants to learn formations. There is some things which are important for society, like formations practice, that you can''t make somebody learn. You can''t put someone through a training gauntlet and turn out a formation''s expert. Not only that, all the families have a specific thing that they want their children to do if they are born cultivators with the spark. If they don''t have an affinity for formations practice, then it''s hard to make a case for them to train it in. And if they did, well you know how my family, or rather my father and mother, are practitioners; they trained me but other formations experts would have to be trained in the imperial capital. It''s highly regulated, so unless you came into a family that teaches it, you wouldn''t just break in."


    "This sounds a bit like gatekeeping. Is it really so difficult? Oh uh, gatekeeping is when there''s a group of people that keep some knowledge or some specific skill or thing away from the general populace. Like we have these laws back home about who can be a hairdresser."


    "We have laws like that too here. It''s a very prestigious occupation."


    "No but like. Let me give an example. There''s a specific type of hair that let''s call it dreadlocks, and if you wanted to do say dreadlock braiding in a specific style, then you were not allowed to unless you had a hairdresser license. However, getting the license and all the schooling that''s required to have the license does not cover that type of activity. You don''t go to hairdresser school and learn how to braid dreadlocks it''s just not taught. So it''s a stupid kind of gatekeeping for no reason except to do it."


    "Braiding?"


    "It''s for a different type of hair. Everyone here for the most part has very fine thin hair that is straight."


    I cracked my brain, trying to think of anyone that had hair comparable. I didn''t know anybody here.


    "Maybe that''s a bad example, but let''s just say that back in my world, there''s more than just curly and straight hair. There''s a lot of gradations in between. It was just me trying to illustrate a point. It''s like if you had people who wanted to learn formations from you but also they had to get your approval to work in the field."


    I kind of wished that we had more time in the day for her to explain formations. It also would have been nice if we could just shoot the shit. Though now that I thought about it, this was kind of what I was looking for. This interaction where we had a good banter going back and forth. The grass is always greener when you''re not thinking about what you have in front of you. I had a great friend with me who was willing to explain in depth lots of details about her culture that I would never have guessed otherwise. It was like having a personal guide to explain everything; a hitchhiker''s guide to Western Jewel.


    "Friend Egiya, I should let you know that he is thinking sappy thoughts, right now. He''s probably thinking about how he misses his daughters or something. Approach with caution."


    "I should just wear a sign that says beware of dad. Then people will keep away from me and my little moon Spirit too."


    "You''re both two tea bags short of a full brew. And I think we''re done with this one. Let''s move on to the next if you''re ready."Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    "You want to race?"


    "Do I get a head start?" she asked.


    "Nope!" I said, running ahead.


    ---


    "Three in a day is a lot. If you really think about it, they should probably hire somebody else. What would happen if something happened to you?"


    "Oh I imagine that they would find someone from the Empire to come in and fill in. There are far more people there interested in formations and this specific type of formation who want to become settlers. If you have a powerful Ally then you can make your own town or city. But it would have to be a formations expert working with someone truly powerful. Like yourself."


    "Oh you''re just saying that because you want to settle down and own your own land."


    "As a Nascent soul cultivator, you are allowed to request for a parcel of land from the Mandarin and so long as you''re able to hold on to it, you can keep it. However, you can imagine how difficult that is without a support team. And then think about how many people just like yourself who have thought about that and decided that they would make a formations expert into an indentured servant because they''re off the grid somewhere."


    "Off the grid?"


    "Min said that you say it sometime. I assume it to mean the grid of control."


    "The grid of control? Min what are you feeding this poor girl?"


    The moon spirit purred. I patted her on the head.


    We got to the final totem and we began our work. It wasn''t too long before we were done. I had plans for that evening after all.


    ---


    "I didn''t know that I needed this, but I did."


    Moon Lee had taken me to see the Taoist play that Xueyie was starring in. If there was an opposite of improv, this was it.


    "The play was nearly three hours long, Lee. I love supporting the arts but next time I''m going to have you play a game with me instead. It''s not that I don''t appreciate the long history of the rise of the emperor after he decides to stop being a sheriff and ascend to the heavens, but maybe I could have gotten the short version of it?"


    "That was the short version," Moon Lee said, her shimmering formal gown, a testament to my commitment to not look down her cleavage. I was not mentally ready to even think about dating again.


    "I think that is wonderful. But you expect someone to sit through an even longer version for some reason? I''m so glad that the intermission was as long as it was. I needed that. I''m about as limber and flexible as I have ever been in my life, but even I needed a stretch."


    The milling crowd in the Opera house. The place had a raw charm that flowed like a river through the many paintings of the various historical figures. Moon Lee was vibrant as she show me the three paintings that depicted the Moon clan in their heyday.


    "All of these would not be possible without the moon spirits. They were the ones that gave us the visions that create such art."


    "They don''t die, do they."


    "Unless something truly terrible happens, no."


    "So then there''s a possibility that this would actually be very close to what it actually looked like. If the moon spirits were back then, and live through all this. I actually find it hard to believe that people can live so long here. The average lifespan on Earth where I live was about eighty. Here? Cultivators can live to be several hundred years old before they bottleneck out."


    "It''s true."


    We sat and admired the artwork for a little bit. I briefly checked to see if our actor had showed up yet. She hadn''t. And that distracting dress made me smile. It was a really lovely dress. I just wasn''t ready. And I was pretty sure that Lee was either asexual or aromantic. I just had an idea with her big auntie vibes. She was lovely and fun to be around but I was pretty sure that was because I treated her the way she wanted to be treated. Back inside the moon clan compound, even though she was a nascent soul, she still had to answer to the clans elders.


    And they of course wanted her to secure an alliance with me. They didn''t care if we got married. They just cared if she got her hooks into me. She had told me all this frankly and I thanked her for it. When I asked her if she did want to get married she was confused. I had to explain the whole divorce thing, once again. It really was so foreign to them.


    "Lee, that is a lovely dress. I think it''s exquisite. The only thing that''s missing is a pocketful of meat buns."


    "I know you have some. Joe. Joe. Joe! Look at me. Give me one."


    I palmed one of them into her hand. If you have never seen a lady eating a steamed bun in a ball gown, you haven''t missed much. However, if the lady in question is so hungry that she would eat day old fries, you might be in for a treat.


    That was precisely when our friend finally arrived.


    "Xueyie! You did wonderfully out there. I loved every moment that you were in the lead. Don''t mind her, she just wanted to munch on my buns."


    Both women''s eyes went wide.


    The actress herself still had her sage makeup on, but she was dressed in the final set of robes that she had worn for the show. It was a Regal white robe with the trimming that just looked expensive. Not gaudy. Just expensive.


    "Don''t poke fun at your auntie. She is a valued member of the team. I would be lost without her. We would be lost," Xueyie said, "Though really Auntie? You couldn''t wait until the two of you were out of here. And there''s usually a few vendors that set up right outside."


    "A woman has needs. And one of those needs is not to be questioned about her eating choices after a 3-hour Opera. You should thank us for sticking around because I''m ready to gnaw off one of Joe''s arms. In fact, do you have sauce here anywhere? Those arms are starting to look delectable."


    "Leave it to my date to resort to cannibalism after a mere three hours. You wound me, Lee. Is all I am to you just a pocket of buns?"


    "I heard that you had nice nuts as well," Lee said, "Though that might be apocryphal."


    "I told you that," Xueyie says,"something about Deez?"


    "Deez what?" I ventured. I didn''t know how much she had gotten out of Min in this regard but I expected the bad jokes. I just didn''t expect ones that were so topical and particular.


    "Ahem," Xueyie said, "Deez nuts."


    I was going to take that statement in the Good humor it was given in. I was proud that she was stepping up her game in the humored apartment. It meant that I was not going to have to make her laugh as much. The fact that Min have been apparently teaching her really bad jokes did not bother me.


    Her comedic timing was excellent. I''ll say this for the woman when she has something in mind, she took care of it. Perhaps it was part of her training as our apprentice, but seeing her in this new light, in her element really showed me who she was.

 2-19

    She embodied the empress.


    She knew her lines and out. It took a lot of practice. And she had it, while moving from the understudy position to the lead recently. It was only natural having grown up in a theater centered Clan.


    I just didn''t understand it because it hadn''t been mine. My father had been a manager of artists, most notably just about every West Coast and Midwest rapper that was designed with the major label. I hadn''t thought about my father in a while. He had always made it to dinner but he was often distracted in his own world. I had come to terms with his limited involvement in my life, despite him showed up to just about every protest that Maxine and I had ever gone to.


    He was supportive. He kept the lights on. I wanted for nothing as a child. Except perhaps for my parents to be home more often. Because he promoted them, he often had to attend their events. And there''s nothing that entertainers like more than a road show. Except actually being paid.


    "Lee, he''s doing that thing again where he zones out."


    "Let''s force his hand. We can all go out and eat now."


    "You don''t want to stay a little longer to get some signatures done? A lot of these people came to see you."


    "And they can wait their turns. My friends are here and I want to talk about the tea. Does that sound good to you?"


    "Lovely. It''s a date."


    The two women shared a look of common understanding. I was having none of their nonsense tonight-I was showing off my own nonsense.


    "Xueyie, these little playbills of the show with your face on them, Can I take one? Or two?" I said.


    "This isn''t for some nefarious purpose, is it?" Xueyie said, "They are free. Cost us money to produce but once we paid for the stamp and ink it was a lot less to make each one. Now we have more than we could ever need."


    The small hand-sized pictograph looked like her face except it was in two tones. Black and yellow. Someone had to have used a stamp on white or yellow paper to get the effect. Grabbing one, It looked a bit more like someone had used old tea bags to soak the paper because of how old it looked.


    Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a glint and my heart dropped. I zeroed in on the exact spot that I thought it was coming from as I pulled for my spirit beast to attend me. This was not going to be a pleasant night from here on out.


    "Lee. We''re back on the clock."


    "Already?"


    "Yes. Did you bring any weapons?"


    I eyed her form-fitting gown. It left a little to the imagination. As in, If she had pockets there would be little little or imaginary. She was proficient with many bladed weapons. Before I could even say another word, I saw two knives being relocated to her hands. She kept the hilts so that the blades would be hidden by the rest of her arm.


    Across the room, talking to someone in a robe that I did not recognize was a woman with a red fang tattoo on her face.


    I leaned into Moon Lee, as if to whisper sweet nothings into her ear. That''s exactly what I did for about five seconds before I began to describe her in detail. It was an intimate moment that had been completely unexpected.


    "Orange robes. At least the second realm. Let me see if I can find anything else out. Min is a little bit far away."


    "There aren''t that many women here that are wearing orange robes. She will definitely stand out. Especially if she ran away," she whispered back.


    I could feel my spirit beast coming in closer. As soon as I was able to I would break contact and move in her direction. I was not going to let another one slip my grasp.


    I held onto Moon Lee''s hand, as we made our way through the crowd. She trailed behind me as we honed in on the woman of interest.


    If you''ve ever looked for someone from across a crowded cafeteria, you''ll kind of get where I''m going with this to. There are many entrances inside that led into the opera house interior. There were two that led in from the lobby to the outside.Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    I wanted to ask Xueyie to call for a family enforcer to back us up, but she was a bit behind us. I gave her the wave that she needed to put on her game fave. I wasn''t surprised when not one but two Taoists in costume joined us.


    I was surprised when their stage makeup, which looked like they were stone. Stone gargoyles, really made a statement about who they were. They didn''t have wings but they really should have. One went to each entrance.


    I needed a line of sight on our target. There were even more members of Taoist sect that crowded on the star of the show, even as we tried to get her out of the limelight.


    "Min is almost ready to pounce. Do we want to Make the first move?"


    "I think we need to examine what she''s doing for a little bit. See if we can learn something. She could take us back to another cell. I also can''t judge her strength from here which is a problem. I can''t fully unveil here without drawing attention, neither can you," Lee said.


    I couldn''t pinpoint her strength, but it was more a problem of too much interference. Unfortunately, people with means and strength liked the theatre here. I started preparing myself to tail her. I hated the idea of following a woman out of a theater without her consent, but then again I could just go up and ask her some questions.


    "I have a better idea. Let me go talk to her, flirt a bit and see if she leaks any information."


    "You? Flirt with a woman? Shocking. You know what, this might be the best performance of the night-apologies, Xueyie."


    I wasn''t going to take that one on the chin, so I made my way through the crowd keeping the exit doors behind me. She wasn''t going to be leaving anytime soon.


    Orange robes in my view, I reached the point of no return. She glanced at me and I locked eyes with her. If this was a seventh grade dance, then I wasn''t leaving until we awkwardly exchanged a slow standoffish exchange of words.


    The crowd of cultivators and mortal men and women left me room and soon enough I was approaching the woman. Upon closer inspection, she could have been the lead in a Korean drama about a corporate woman fighting her way to the top.


    "Hello miss. It appears that I am in the presence of a radiant beauty who I would very much like to make the acquaintance of. I''m Joseph, but you can call me Joe," I said, "and you are?"


    I could see the glint of her tattoo and a corresponding one just above her robes. I bowed, trying on the etiquette class that Moon Lee had hand waved me through.


    "You may call me, Xiran. A pleasure to meet you sir. How did you find the Opera?"


    "It was quite lovely. In particular, I loved how the empress did a dance number to try and explain to her husband that he needed to not only go with the men that had escaped his capture, but also start a new system with them."


    "Yes. It really illustrated the problems before the celestial empire established itself."


    I shrugged.


    "It really illustrates that no matter what someone does, perhaps there is a way for them to go on the right path," I leaned in, giving her the old dad face. It was a classic. The ''I expect more from you, I''m not mad just disappointed.''


    Her face turned beet red. She looked around for something. She probably saw the empress in full dress and Moon Lee. Unless she was crushing on me? No that couldn''t be, we were enemies.


    "Don''t worry about them. Right now you''re thinking, how does he know what I''m thinking, and let me in on a secret," I leaned in to whisper, "I''m thinking it too."


    "I have to say that I''ve never in my life been propositioned by proxy by such a gorgeous actress, but here we are Joe."


    She winked at me and for a moment I was back at that seventh grade dance where Becky Woodman turned me down. I quickly composed myself. If she wanted to get down with Xueyie, well then I was about to sell her a deal that she couldn''t resist.


    "Well in that case, how about coming with my associates to a nice little dinner and we can talk logistics."


    I would also be able to smash two impulses with one meal. I just needed to make sure that Min was keeping an eye on our movements.


    "Did you need to speak to anyone else before you left?"


    "They''ll understand, when they see that I left with the empress," she replied, moving over to Xueyie.


    I spared a glance around to see if anyone else with the mark was with us. I hadn''t seen anyone, Min was going to have to stalk behind us.


    "So where would you like to eat, your highness? Or should I call you by your stage name?"


    I mouthed the words, ''Play along'' to the woman in full court makeup before motioning for Moon Lee to follow. Then when Moon Lee came close enough, I pulled her in close.


    "She thinks that Xueyie is interested in some sort of tryst. This is all a big misunderstanding -"


    Xueyie looked back at us, her eyes pleading for something.


    "-I didn''t expect this, but we can use it. We''re her entourage tonight so play wingman er-"


    "What the hell is a wingman, Joe. Honestly."


    It was at that moment that I realized that I should have taught the girls about improv class. I mentally kicked myself for not doing so.


    "I''ll brief Xueyie. Make up some reason that the two of us need to split up for a second. She''s going to have to act interested in Xiran."

 2-20

    It wasn''t that I had a death wish. And I definitely didn''t want to kill this woman. But to so brazenly show up to a social event with not one but two markings indicating that one was from a demonic sect, that was unforgivable. I was able to quickly take Xueyie aside and explain what was going on while Lee and Xiran headed to the powder room.


    "This just reeks of a power play by someone who doesn''t know who they''re dealing with. They''re about to find out," I said.


    "And I thought that the show was going to be the most interesting part of tonight. Lead the way," she replied.


    The entire setup had me reeling. Xueyie had just wanted a nice quiet dinner after her show with us. I wanted that too. Once again, those demonic cultivators had decided that they wanted to interrupt my peace. I was not going to stand for that.


    Xiran and Moon Lee returned from The powder room. They were gabbing about the show. I was only half listening because Min had finally arrived and was scanning the crowd better than I could. If she had an accomplice, they would find her.


    I was a bit worried that Min would be found, but she knew what she was doing. I had to trust her.


    If you had gone to a show and been approached by one of the celebrities that had been an actor, you might understand how the woman felt under Xueyies gaze. She wasn''t raptured by how it felt to have a full on attention of someone that she admired. Not only someone that she admired but someone that everyone else at the Opera House would have killed to talk to.


    Of course to hear her parents say it was just another day at the office. So Xiran clung on to her arm as well as every word she said.


    "I think you''re going to love this place. It''s a favorite of our family," Xueyie said.


    "Oh this is so wonderful. Thank you so much for taking me around," Xiran said. I could see her squeeze the arm of the once empress.


    The dining establishment definitively was a favorite of the Taoists if the amount of paraphernalia was correct. It was also getting to be late by the time we arrived and the crowd had a very theatre vibe. A few people clapped when they saw the empress in her reduced regalia, and a proud server took us to a special place in the back.


    "As always we thank you for honoring us with your presence," he said.


    It was the first time I had seen anything approximating bench seating here and it felt pretty great. It was probably leather and probably cost a lot to maintain, but for a brief moment, it was like I was back on earth, back in college and studying for the next test. I wasn''t sitting on a small cushion next to a table again.


    I''ve always hated those dreams where I had a flashback to being in class and oh no the test is next week and I don''t remember any of the material! And I haven''t been going to class! And also why am I here, I distinctly remember graduating?


    Those were always the worst. The bench seating reminded me of the good and the bad times.


    Xueyie and Xiran went inside. Moon Lee and I blocked her in from the other side. I felt a little giddy when she brushed against me, but wrote it off as nerves. We had a real life agent in front of us. Who would know how much she could give us before she cracked?


    "So how long have you been the empress?"


    It was an easy opening. I want it Xueyie to take the softball and knock it out of the park. But on the other hand, I had no idea whether she had even dated anyone before. It was none of my business. I should have probably asked her since we were doing it live.


    "I was promoted from understudy a month ago. It has been quite the experience. I can''t resist a good love story," Xueyie said. "There''s just something about the first emperor''s story that feels so relevant to today."


    "Excellent. I just got here. My family sent me here on business. I couldn''t help but see if I could catch an evening at the theater before I got down to business."


    Of course. She was one step away from licking the makeup off of my associate. Xueyies mask was up, but I was pretty sure that Xiran couldn''t tell. Perhaps it was the brush with a minor celebrity?


    "Oh? Business? What kind of business?" Xueyie said, picking up the bait and admiring it, "As you know my family runs the theater here. Or you should if you read the playbill. Tell me about your family."


    Xueyie gave her a look that would have melted me. How did she manage to look to put together and dangerous at the same time? Maybe it was just because I knew she was dangerous. Nobody else would know how much of a fighter she was. That is an unless they trained with her. Also her makeup game really was on point.


    "Oh we do- we work in the shipping business. Part of it has to do with receiving and exporting. Part of it has to do with red tape."


    That story was about as thin as Moon Lees robe. About as tall as her robe was as well. I was getting the feeling that either she liked to display her legs in general or specifically for one person.


    "Shipping?" Xueyie said, leaning forward far enough to cleave her partners eyes with her low cut costume. That thing had to be holding onto her skin with every ounce of its tape.


    "Oh, yes we ship important goods and we want to turn this city into a hub for us."


    She went on for a bit about the hub and spoke model that her supposed company followed. It sounded like a pyramid scheme with extra steps. I could feel myself drifting off, but for the company. Moon Lee gently nudged me under the table, bringing me back into it.Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.


    I, being the gentleman that I was, definitely did not linger long staring at her outfit.


    If what she was saying was true, then the demonic sect was trying to expand operations here. Operations that we had just shut down with prejudice.


    I wondered if she had become aware of the very recent events or if her supposed family was keeping her fully in the dark. I imagined Rachel or Courtney in her place and I fumed. Even if I was an evil therapist ise-kaied into xianxialand, I wouldn''t have send my daughter to go set up a branch of my Sect. I would prefer to not do evil things to begin with, but I wanted to be smart and alive not just and dead.


    It also made me think about how Maxine would have treated this situation. I don''t know. Maybe having a villainess as an ex-wife was a good thing, but I wasn''t entirely sure yet. It might turn out to be. Would Maxine do her usual thing or would she fight this girl?


    I was beginning to think that neither woman knew how to seal the deal. Xueyie was clearly flirting. Xiran was just as clearly flirting back. Had I arranged a meeting between two bottoms? Quite probably.


    The second round of drinks arrived and Moon Lee gave me the look to go talk in the far corner. I followed her lead.


    "I''ll be right back," I told Xueyie, meaning every word. Min was somewhere watching both of them.


    The music which was played by a single woman on an Irhu, picked up tempo as we went to the wall far behind the demonic cultivators view. Moon Lee and I took up a spot by the bar.


    "She''s incredibly naive," Moon Lee said. "And I think that she is a terrible actor."


    "Agreed. She is far over her head. What do you think?"


    "Turn her."


    The idea struck me like a slap from a fish. It was strange, fresh and unexpected.


    "Turn her?" I said. "She... We would be at war with the demonic cultivators if they found out."


    "We are already at war. Turn her and we can get more information."


    Her aura felt like sheer iron resolve.


    "I know she''s a little girl but-"


    "We decrease their numbers however we can. If we can turn one of theirs into one ours then we will learn so much about their operation."


    A man with a tray full of tea passed between us.


    "I''m not saying that I disagree. Do you think that the moon clan will fully back this?"


    "I think that the Moon clan will do whatever I say. Especially if it ends this war. We have to destroy them as an institution so they can''t rise up again."


    There was this idea back home about how people conducted left-wing violence. It contrast to right-wing violence, which went after individuals like say a politician. Left wing violence went after the network or the institution destroying it from the bottom up. In this case we wanted to destroy them all utterly.


    We would start by destroying demonic cultivators as an institution in her plan.


    I was thinking about them as individuals but if we got the institutional support out of the way, then we could do so much. We could take them out one by one. We could get people to convert back. We could figure out a way to reintegrate them into society and use them for the betterment of the world. Or you know maybe just the neighborhood.


    The point was that there were so many things that we could do when we weren''t being hounded by these demonic cultivators.


    "I agree with your intent in principle," I said. "But how do we do it then? Do we just tell her that we know that she''s one of them and then see what she does? She could react here and she could what kill some people or if she could react badly and we just don''t know how she would..."


    She put up a hand.


    "We have to get her where she doesn''t feel....We need to get her where she understands that she''s facing the combined might of both of us that she''s not going to make it. She might have a technique that can overpower Xueyie. I don''t think she does. I don''t think they sent her prepared and that it''s to our advantage."


    She got really close to my ear, beginning to whisper.


    "If they are really thinking about her at all, then they need to think of her as a lost cause. We need to make sure that she doesn''t think that. We''re not some saviors. We''re not going to give her a savior complex. We''re going to invite her to do the right thing. We show her the carrot. Because if he doesn''t do the right thing..."


    She trailed off and I could tell that she was just reveling in this. We are both now in charge of a young girl''s life and whether she knew it or not. This was her last day of freedom as the person that she once was. She was about to join the cause.


    Moon Lee and I both nodded.


    The die was cast.


    We returned with a few more drinks. I placed one in front of myself and Xueyie. She placed one in front of herself and Xiran, taking care to bus the table, handing me plates while they talked. The food that we had ordered have it adequate, but it was just something that I hadn''t paid attention to. Not want to show like the one that I was watching wasn''t folding in front of me. It was like eating a TV dinner when you were watching the newest Korean drama.


    They kept talking and talking around each other and neither one wanted to seal the deal as it were. But we were going to eventually have to leave. I began to plot our exit plan. If one of the women finally made a move then it would be expected that one would walk the other one home or perhaps they would intend to do more than that. We were in the Taoist territory, well within walking range of Xueyies family home. I wasn''t certain what the etiquette was find one brought home a guest of this caliber or type here.


    I was assuming that since they were all trained to perform a theater, they would turn the other way when someone brought a friend home. I was being to hope that Moon Lee was also going to count on that as well.


    Finally after it seemed like forever, one of them finally asked the other about the logistics of their next steps.


    How would we get on the same page? I didn''t want to threaten or god forbid torture her.


    Now I''m not one to torture somebody or hold them against their will. We all know that torture is not effective and really it just makes you less honorable.


    Even if you''re a good guy. Especially if you''re a good guy. There''s no reason for torture whether you''re trying to extract information or just scare somebody. Time after time this has proven to be true. This is why I prefer the carrot. The carrot is time-proven method in which I can get people to do what I want by making them think that they want to do the thing I want.


    What I wanted at that moment more than anything was to be able to get a sense of how many mnemonic cultivators had come with her on her trip.


    She thought that she was about to either a meal out of one of us or perhaps a romp with Xueyie. I was not going to give her the opportunity to do either. Moon Lee, bless her heart had given us all such a good course instruction on how to veil ourselves that she didn''t even inspect us.


    When the bill was paid for by the Taoist family without us having to do anything, there was a moment at which both girls realized that they were going to have to continue the charade for at least a little while.

 2-21

    I was ready. My girls were ready. We just needed to figure out where to go.


    Min pulled at me, trying to get me to go in her direction.


    "I''ll be outside," I said, leaving things to Lee as the adult in the room. Min had an idea but her showing up was going to throw my plans away. She could give away the game if she was spotted.


    Luckily she hadn''t, as I found her outside. I bowed to the hostess. She wasn''t a cultivator and was probably wondering what the heck was going on at that exact moment.


    "What is it?" I hissed to my Spirit beast.


    "Do you want me to call a constable?"


    "I want to handle this in-house. Can we do that?" I said.


    Min immediately got my meaning.


    "We can facilitate that."


    Now call me old fashioned, but if a strong spirit beast decides that she wants to help me expand my Empire, who am I to say no? The only questions I needed to answer were how and slightly more pressing, where.


    I didn''t have the natural charisma to make them pick the right choice. What I did have was a spirit beast who would run ahead and tell the Taoists to set a stage. They were exceedingly good for that.


    I could send some men bounding ahead. She would be there far before we would. I was hoping that she would be able to figure out a way to disable the girls cultivation powers. Otherwise one of us would have to stay and watch over her. Just because we could veil our powers really well. Didn''t mean that she couldn''t also. But I could sense her measure even from this distance.


    A few seconds later, they exited the restaurant. Moon Lee and I linked arms and began to walk back towards the Taoist sects family housing. I look, like a good dance parlor letter in the direction that I wanted her to go in. She obliged me. It felt good to be touching someone and not in a beating their face in way. For a long moment, it was just nice. I forgot everything that had brought me here and on things that I had left behind on Earth. All my dreams of heading back. They was still there but I was in the now.


    Our cover stories are paper thin. We were able to make her think that we were escorting Xueyie back home. Weather was because she was starstruck or because she thought she was going to get an easy night, I didn''t know why she followed us.


    When we got to the entrance of the Taoist Sect, I could sense that a lot haven''t moved around. Min was clearly trying to direct me in one certain direction so I let myself be led that way. The girls followed my lead. I was a good dancer, but I was better at getting my girls to where they needed to be. And this evening? I was the sports Dad that was getting my girls to soccer camp.


    She had picked out one of the buildings that was a short walk inside of the compound. I looked back to the former empress turn on that direction. When we got close enough, we broke it off.


    She might have thought something was about to happen soon. Moon Lee and I posted up outside of the building. And when I say post it up I mean that we were full on in guard mode. Men was inside. And I could tell that at least two strong cultivators of the fourth realm are hire wee also sitting inside. My best guess was that it was the leaders of the Sect, probably Xueyies parents. They were heavily close but I could feel something about their cloaking that just let me in. I was guessing that our newest guest wouldn''t be able to figure it out until it was too late. And then we will be blocking her only exit.


    One couldn''t be too careful when dealing with a demonic sect.


    Moon Lee and I gave them about a minute before we realized that this was going to be a long night.


    Men popped out.


    "They said that they''re going to need a Formation is expert. To we do any of those?"


    Of course, she was going to ask for the foremost expert that just so happened to be on my payroll. She was only nominally someone that worked for me, but we trained together enough. I nodded my acceptance. The moon spirit flitted off, looking for trouble.Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.


    I hadn''t seen the elder patriarch of the sex in the wild. But when his smiling Buddha face popped out, we exchanged pleasantries. He ushered us both inside.


    There I could see a very pleased Xueyie working on tying up our most recent acquisition. This wasn''t the erotic kind of tying unfortunately, and her newest object of interest was making it well known that she did not enjoy this.


    "Now. I liked introduce myself if I might. My name is Joseph page, and I''m a demonic cultivator Hunter. You might think that you can take me down. You might be right. But you are definitely wrong if you think you can do that today and right now. The Taoist Sect and I have a very strong relationship. You might say that we have a bond. It''s that kind of bond that makes us strong."


    She struggled or pretended to struggle against her bonds. I shrugged. It was time to offer her the carrot.


    " I''m going to make you an offer that you can''t refuse. Now. I understand that you''ve done some things in your past and we might be able to overlook some of them. But you have a feature if you choose to have it. That means that right now and right here you need to disavow your participation in your previous sect and your previous life."


    She looked absolutely flabbergasted. I had expected rage but instead what I got was a mixture of fading energy and lowering resolve.


    "My family will not stand for this."


    She''s pat in the ground in between us. I raised a single eyebrow at that. If that was the worst you could do, I was going to have a great evening. To be honest I really didn''t want to be in this situation with but she came up to my turf and if I was going to flip her, this was it.


    "I understand you think that. But my family? The friends that I''ve made here? They have all decided to give you this to do the right thing. We having a good authority that a demonic cultivator can change their ways."


    The look on her face made her made me realize that she didn''t know who I was.


    "They did not tell me you that you were going after someone who can see in ultraviolet range?"


    From her eyes I could tell that she knew what I knew. She was going to try and deny it. I would shut her down. We could just cut to the chase.


    " I''m going to let you know that I understand that your situation. And this is fully your choice. We want you to join us. And I understand how that sounds. But what we''re offering you is to have the rest of your life. You''re going to have to go back and be our spy.."


    I wasn''t surprised by the amount of sobbing. I was surprised in enough for makeup had washed away. Xueyie sat next to her. She wasn''t comforting her. It was more like she now had a direct prison card standing over her watching her every move. I promise you it was far less ominous than it seemed.


    Xueyie and her mother had this under control.


    " So let me tell you what you''re going to do. You''re going to cry it out right now. You are going to mourn what could have been with the Red Fang sect. And you are going where I''m going to teach you how to undo all of these terrible things that they''ve done to you so far. We''re going to strip down your cultivation to its base layers and reform it."


    That last bit had been a suggestion that when we had told me. I wasn''t sure exactly what that meant but I was pretty sure that Moon Lee would take over that part. She was smart. She knew what to do. I was just the idea''s guy who was not going to give up on her.


    "And there''s no reason for you to kill yourself. Your family does not love you. They sent you on a suicide mission. You understand that I''m a fourth room cultivator. I''m a full two stronger than you right now. I don''t need all this. In fact, the empress is keeping you safe from me. The last time we saw I didn''t want a cultivator? Returning them over to the Mandarin. We were invited to their executions."


    The sobbing went silent. I could see her still moving there.


    I wasn''t going to stop. Do you mind try to gaslight me or try to get out of it but in the end I needed her to sign up to some sort of life oath.


    "Xiran. I want you to understand that whatever you choose that is your choice. I don''t want to kill anybody anymore. But I swear to you if you come here and disturb my peace, I will destroy your whole sect if I have to. I''m so tired of dealing with Deborah cultivators."


    I was also so tired of dealing with the bureaucracy of the western Jewel government, but that was another problem entirely that I was going to have to fix on my own later. All of my work that is spent leading up to finding the sect. I''ve got something. And now, I had someone who was an agent of the sack The information that I needed.


    "So let me tell you what''s going to happen right now. You''re going to tell me about your sect. You''re going to..." I said, gesturing to Moon Lee. " Compile a list of all the sect agents that you know that are working in the city. You''re going to pass that off to my associate here. You''re not going to leave anyone else out. You''re going to give their addresses. And if you do all of that, you may live through the rest of today."


    The Caribbean again and for a brief while I thought that I might have to be nice to the girl. I didn''t like being mean to people. But chances are that she had killed several people before.


    Chances were that she was intending to kill far more than any she''d ever killed, just by the knock-on effects of her going to my city.


    This is my city and I was going to fight tooth nail for my peace and quiet. And it was about time for me to step back and let the women take care of this.


    It wasn''t long until we were all assembled. I decided that I was going to let them all hash it out and stepped outside, holding up the corner while everyone that I cared for in the world, well, at least this world hashed out all the little things with our newest addition.

 2-22

    "This is the stick. We let you free. You never return here again. If we detect you, then we will kill you on the spot."


    "I don''t want to die," she said, almost inaudibly.


    "Then live. While you live, you will work for us. You will prove yourself."


    "But my family-"


    "They don''t care about you. They threw you away. You have no value to them. They knew that we were here. They knew that the Mandarin killed the previous leader. And yet they sent you."


    Finding myself pacing, I paused.


    I could forgive a great many things. I could not forgive a parent literally sending their child into a meat grinder knowingly. Even the fathers that bragged to me that they never changed diapers were above these turds.


    "You don''t have to die. You can live."


    The Taoist elders were there in the room, watching. I knew that they didn''t want to let her leave the room alive. If I said the word, they would kill her instantly. The rage seeped out of them, a physical manifestation of their problems. It was written all over their faces but more so it was just a part of the air around them. The longer we sat there the thicker it got.


    An attendant brought the thing that we were waiting for. Two metal shackles that would do more than we could alone.


    She accepted them, allowing me to slide them onto her arms.


    I was grateful that she seemed to have given up. It was one of the only things that I could really count on right now. Her weak aura all but disappeared with the shackles on.


    "I will do as you say," She said, quietly.


    All the fight that had been there before, all of the hope was gone. She was a new woman all of a sudden. She was sullen and downcast.


    Xiran didn''t even make a move against the shackles. I would have expected her to cry out or rage against me. But she accepted it. It was like she had been conquered.


    She had it easy. Become a new person. That''s all she needed to do, was reinvent herself.


    She was a person with a limited time on life. He had a little bit of time left unless we all decided on it. I was hesitant to bring the towels sacked into this but they had things that I needed, including the shackles. The fact that that was a thing that muted or stole away someone''s cultivation for a while had woken me up to the fact that perhaps things might be a little bit more difficult here than I thought. I certainly didn''t want to experience that myself.


    She was there for a while. Just waiting on us to decide her fate.


    When really it was on us to figure out how to get her to decide her own fate for a change. There was so many times that someone had talked to me here on this world where I realized that everything about their life had been predetermined by someone else. Every single part of their training and upbringing had been someone else''s bright idea. Someone''s good idea of fairy okay. Life had created this woman. She wasn''t just someone''s daughter, she was someone''s product.


    She didn''t even know. She thought that this was love up until about ten minutes ago, when her world was rocked. She was about to be in a world of hurt.


    "All right. What do you want to know."


    I smiled. She had chosen to live another day.


    "Tell us everything you know about your sect. Don''t hold back."


    So there for the next 2 hours, she talked. Her family had their fingers in so many things that I hadn''t even considered and the way that they were able to subtly traffic humans across the continent through airships made it even worse. They were doing it under the nose of the actual Mandarin. When he found that out, he would be furious.


    I briefly thought about ending her life right there. It turned out that she hadn''t actually killed anyone.


    That was a point in her favor. I asked her if she ever wanted to kill anyone and it was the first time that she paused.


    "So was there someone you''ve ever wanted to kill?" I said.


    "I''ve had the urge before. I would prefer not to say as this doesn''t have any any bearing on any of this. Suffice to say that it''s- it''s a family matter."


    I got the feeling that she was actually talking about her real family deciding that she was not worth anything and her finally realizing our value was a person was not intrinsically tied to their deeds and wants. It would have been nice if she had decided that and fled the sect on her own, but she had chosen this bed and she was going to lie in it.


    The poor girl barely even had any money to her name. She was expected to kill her own victims and take their money. Potter information here was that she was going to link up with the cell that we had already taken care of. I was so glad that we called her when we did because otherwise she would have figured out that that had already been taken down.


    She spoke until she was hoarse.This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    One of the elders took notes and we all conferred afterwards. She''s stayed under the watchful eye of Xuyie of all people. She had taken the time to remove her makeup and was glaring at the newcomer with an immense sense of smug satisfaction. She had acted her way into the girl''s pants, convinced her that she was about to get with a star of the stage, and had essentially captured her.


    The elders deferred to me as they knew my history with the Red Fang. They were willing to listen to my very specific rehabilitation plan. I thanked them for their candor as several of the five elders were very vocal about disposing of her as soon as possible. I was certain that they were saying that loud enough for her to hear on purpose.


    I thought I was done there for the day. We were going to find a place to put her where nobody was going to kill her. And then we''re going to have to post a watch on. I signaled my spirit beast to come close by.


    "Min, can you watch and make sure no one kills her?"


    She nodded, moving back through the ornate doorway. In a way, I was glad that the Moon Spirit didn''t really just sleep that much. But also if this new girl was going to sleep. We were going to have to push her someplace. I was racking my brain thinking about it for a while. I reached out with my nation soul. Trying to figure out if there''s any place suitable here. I didn''t want to intrude upon their hospitality for too long, but I didn''t think that it would look great if I was just smiling a grill out of their Sect grounds.


    I would at very least be looked on unfavorably by some passersby. If I could make an illusion of myself, I''m parenting to not be carrying her, that would be ideal. Better if she came willingly. Right now? If she seemed willing . But I didn''t really have a place to put it. I guess I was going to have to make my own private jail somewhere. Well. That was something that I had never considered being a possibility.


    All this was temporary and really hinged on becoming an asset for us.


    So long as she was helpful, I would be happy to keep around. I wanted her to change her cultivation style for sure, but I didn''t know how possible that was and I was going to consult with an expert to see if we could realign their meridians or something. Something. The whole thing kind of baffled me.


    just needed a user manual for this. But no one sold a user manual. It was all locked behind very specific techniques that you could only find out if you were joining someone''s sect. And that was the reason why the right thing came back to me in the first place. And that was exactly the reason why I was going to recruit her and make her do my dirty work against them.


    Moon Lee met me out there and we had a little discussion.


    "You still think we can save her, don''t you?" She said. "You really do have a bleeding heart."


    "Now you see that''s not fair because I''m just here trying to not kill people. I just asked to not be bothered by people I don''t want to be bothered by. And they decided to send her here and bother me so they made her my problem."


    She could not have rolled her eyes any harder. I appreciate that in a woman. I liked a fair bit of sass. She was very worth coming with.


    "All right, so we saved her life. And then what? Does she join our group? The group that was going to kill her because of who she is. Does she rehabilitate herself? Somehow. Her whole past study was dedicated to the study of demonic cultivation. So now what are we going to do? Turn into a different path and then hope that she can bridge the gap somehow?"


    "You talking about recruiting her? I would hope that that''s our goal. I would hope that she sees how much better we treat ourselves and each other and she was just about to be thrown away. I mean I used to be like a pawn but that''s because she is one to me."


    "I know you don''t mean that. And that''s one of the things that makes me like you. It''s a big part of why I stuck around so long," she said. "I guess I can summon my moon spirit too. It can''t hurt to have two watching her."


    She took a second to have her Moon Spirit materialize in front of us. It was nice to see another Moon spirit. Hers was still part dog, part cat and all white fluff. It was a kind of thing that a man could appreciate during mandatory head pats. Once that it''s very important, part of my day was done, so we set them free. It was important that Xiran understood what was going on here.


    I sure as heck needed to understand it. And I was just a guy keeping my corner of damn city from crumbling into the ground.


    ---


    The elders gave us leave to return in the morning, now the two Spirit beasts were watching her. Car to sleep on. It was not much. It was far more than she deserved. In the morning. I was going to have to ask for a lot of help but for now? I collapsed that evening, Really enjoying the feeling. The normal dreaming of scenarios and what-ifs just flew by me, leaving me there with the impression that I needed to go to a certain ink shop to pick someone up.


    It was n''t the strangest day but that last night was in my mind, vividly before I even got out of bed. The dream of the empress in the emperor going together and then the empress snagging at demonic cultivators in the flesh made manifest, made me smile.


    That morning I went over what she had told us. The main Crux of their human trafficking was taking people from other locations, getting them on airships and then changing the log so they were not part of the airship when he arrived. Just let them have deniability that a person had actually been on the ship while using that person as chattel. She had actually arrived looking for a place to unload things for the next wave. The fact that they were going to have a second wave shortly sending another batch of zombies to set up something in my city meant that this was far from over. In fact, it sounded like they were trying to heat up this cold war into an all out brawl. If there''s one thing I did I''d appreciate it. Was my new adapter City having a war against vampires? Or rather demonic cultivators. They were just so dark and I just didn''t need any of that.


    We had an idea about the air shifts. Getting off Mesa really helped though. I really wanted to get straight there but I stopped and thought about this again. In addition to them figuring out how to load people up onto the airship they were going to have to get them there without them notifying the people that fly the ship. They were planning on starting their own airship business with some of the funds. They''ve been inquiring about killing people to get their ownership. That''s what of course made things easier for them as they''ve done a lot of work before being tagged by us.


    There was a legitimate business part to their dealings. And of course involved bags of tea. They also had something that made me think of coffee. Since the poor girl hadn''t had much on her, we had to figure out where she had been staying. Luckily enough for us. She even. If it wasn''t that cheap, she didn''t have access to flight at that moment but also.


    There had to be a way for us to take advantage of their legitimate business dealings and figure out which of their airships that we''re arriving. Had people in it that were destined to be used and abused. There were only so many people that could be born in this town and by raiding other villages, they could now draw more people in. The problem I kept getting back to was how were they getting people to sign up to be on these ships. Some would have to volunteer to join them. Then they would have to knock that person out because who won''t do that job.


    But there had to be some reason why people were either signing up or getting hypnotized into getting onto these airships. Especially if they thought it was going to be lucrative to build their own airship and rinse it out. They had a foresight into the future of these communities that none of us really did. I guess it kind of paid to know these things when you were feeding on humans as your primary food source. I kind of wondered that at that moment what humans would taste like? Were we the other other meat? Were we just long pig? These are all questions that I needed to think about deeply and I was so glad that one of my girls decided to wake me up two hours after I''ve been awake just because I''d walked into a shop.

 2-23

    You see the thing about my friends is that they were there for me when I needed them. They were like family.


    So when I saw Egiya that morning, It felt like such a relief that I nearly burst into tears. That whole last night had been so emotionally wrought.


    She immediately ushered me into into the upstairs where, after closing the store, I explained the situation to her and her mother.


    "This was the night that I didn''t go out with out, of course," she said.


    "You couldn''t have known."


    The two women listened for what had to have been fifteen minutes, only stopping ask for clarification a few times.


    By the end it felt like the third time that I''d processed the entire thing. I hadn''t realized how heavy and it weighed on my chest.


    I found myself in a deep hug from the elder Kang woman before long. I blinked. I hadn''t even realized that she had her arms around me. It was mood


    I feel like I''ve been going through the motions and just pushing for days and days. Training had that effect on me. I felt sharper and stronger and faster than ever. But I hadn''t really examined this aspect what I was doing. There were people in this war that were going to be killed in the crossfire. These people, similar to the hardcore demonic cultivators. We''re still doing the same thing but they hadn''t had the actual choice to do this.


    Entire time they were just working with the illusion of choice. This, the real decision was being made by somebody else in their lives. If they decided they wanted to go on their own path? That wasn''t an option. Their cultivation path and their entire life had been forced upon them.


    It was like tiger parenting on steroids. But like the steroids that you would get from your math tutor in cram school. Sure you knew that they were smart but did they really have you best interests at heart? Were their math steroids just another source of incombe for the poor beleaguered math tutors?


    But now, we had a chance to change the narrative. She had a chance with us. I hadn''t realized until that moment that choosing to live in that moment might have been the biggest rebellion of her life. It would have been easier for her to say that she was going to do what the Sect told her to do. It would have been easy for her to just do what she was told to do.


    I didn''t want to be another person in her life telling her what to do. I needed her to give me information and not turn into another combatant on their side.


    Otherwise, I was just going to become the same thing that her family was to her.


    How would we release her?


    There''s no way that anybody in the Taoists would trust her a hold of her into a bargain.


    This is what I laid out for the two of them.


    "So what you''re saying is, we can''t trust her because the only reason she''s trusting us is that we''re not going to kill her?" Egiya said.


    "That sounds about right."


    "Then can we just kill her?" She said.


    "You know how I feel about killing people, especially people that haven''t been given a trial or happen turned into child soldiers."


    "Child soldiers?"


    "She had no choice in this matter. This is what she was born into. It''s all she knows. I don''t know why they sent her out here alone, but we want to take advantage of that."


    I didn''t know why they sent her here alone. She explained that she was going to link up with one of the cells but I I had her examine that a little more deeply. Knowing now what she knew, she was thinking that they were using her to probe into what had actually happened.


    They knew what had happened. It had gone up in the newspapers.


    It had caused a big stir. The Mandarin didn''t generally intervene in local power squabbles. This particular event took on the focus of the entire city for at least a few days. There was still rumblings about it and people dropped by their old hollowed out husk of a Sect grounds. This reminded me that I still wanted to make a memorial for the people that had passed on.


    That could be her first task.


    ---


    I was going to need their help to fix this or at the very least tell me.


    The familiar haunts of the moon clan were what I needed at that time. Moon Lee had gone along with me. We had seen what the government had done with the other demonic cultivators. I didn''t want that. I wanted to figure out if there was a way we could get her on the right path. There was a small chance that we could get her and save her and pull her to the light side or something.


    I was just going to have a little look around and maybe a little walk-through to kind of get a feel for how I felt. I didn''t want to kill this girl. I didn''t want to kill anybody. They made this something that I had to do.


    And if they were going to bring little girls to my doorstep as cannon fodder, you would best believe that I would go back to them with the best thing that I had.


    I stayed up a little bit later that night thinking through a possible response to this. I didn''t know what I didn''t know.This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    The thing was that I really needed a function government to step in and do their fucking job for once. The chances of that happening were about zero. As such? It was time for me to come in and do the thing that I''ve been trained to do.


    I slept fitfully for the first time in a long time.


    ---


    When I got up, Moon Lee was there at breakfast. We talk about our plans and the things that we wanted to do and kind of danced around the issue of the girl we had left tied up the Taoists.


    " What are your thoughts now?"


    "We gave her a night to think about her choices. I think that we need to follow the trail of where she was. We''re going to have to get the Mandarin involved at some point in time."


    " And do you think that she''s actually going to do the right thing?"


    "If there''s anyone that can fix circle cultivation, it''s us. We can take her into the dream space and figure out what the heck is going on. We need to talk to the elders about it if we can break her cultivation and reformat it somehow. We need to figure out how to turn her into a normal cultivator. Have you ever heard of redeeming a demonic cultivator ever?"


    She shook her head no. It was a long shot. But if this girl wanted to live for longer than the time it would take to kill her, she was going to need to be on point. There''s no way that I was going to put my faith in some sort of cultivation, caller or bracelet that sealer cultivation away just to have change her mind and begin killing people mindlessly.


    She was going to have to quit cold turkey.


    "I spoke to the elders last night about this. This is such a problem that none of them have ever had. One of them told me that he felt young just by considering what we have had to put them through."


    If you were going to propose for one group of people to take care of this person for long-term, I would have put it on the moon clan. Sure, I like the Taoists but I feel like they only had so much skin in the game.


    As in only one of their daughters is part of my little gang. Several moon clan members are part of my gang. Thus, more skin in the game.


    The mistake would be postponing what we had to do with this girl. We needed some actionable intelligence that we could work on. We needed her to tell us where her family was. Most importantly, we needed a plan on how to get there and alert the local authorities. And deep down up into my stomach, I realized that some of the authorities might be in the pocket of the demonic sect already.


    There''s a theory that one bad apple will spoil the lot. Let me be the first to tell you that If one Bad Apple is inside of a barrel it''s going to turn them all.


    So I wasn''t excited to see what kind of place could shelter demonic cultivators. There had to be some sort of top cover, especially if they were doing the heinous things they were doing here in Western Jewel. But I didn''t know the answer to that. So I just added it to the list.


    They were probably hiding in plain sight. I had to imagine that someone dedicating their life to a cultivation might not be to most observant of the people around them.


    If I was a demonic cultivator? That''s what I would do. Then probably they would stalk arrogant young masters on their training quests and then make their deaths look like an accident or natural causes. That part of my brain that just came up with me scared the fuck out of me.


    That cold calculation had to be a part of her everyday.


    The small chance that she wasn''t one hundred percent in on it was getting smaller and smaller.


    I decided that Xueyie, my therapist in training and Lorenzo would probably be the two that I would talk with about this. Memphis, I expected that it would be a good exercise and how to treat someone that is probably going to only be interested themselves or others. There''s a chance that she could make a way back. What was I going to do? I start my own private prison? That was the only thing that I was equipped to do I said definitely something that I was not prepared to pay for.


    First thing, I got them together that morning. Instead of doing rounds like we normally did, I asked them to take the time to go over this problem. Xueyie was about the price of this situation was well apprised of the situation and she understood. Heck, she had been part of the party that had brought her in.


    I thought this might be useful for her training. I was a big believer the notion that prisoners could sometime learn and get better. It was like a regularly visited prisons, but it was part of her training. Just because someone is locked up by virus doesn''t mean they don''t deserve good medical attention or mental health help. It just meant that those things were filtered through the reality of situation.


    "So you just kidnapped her? I mean I could see what you did but this is just a liability," Lorenzo said. "I would just turn her over to the authorities. Getting the information you got more with the stroke of genius. I just don''t think that she will be much more useful for any reason."


    "We are really struggling about this. But we learned so much actionable information from her and Joe seems to think that we can do something with her. I don''t know if it''s going to pan out. She''s very reticent to do anything now. I feel like that''s going to hold her back," Xueyie said.


    "So is the question whether she''ll have more isolation information later or is the question that do we try to save her. I know she has agreed to many things, but we haven''t promised her that she''s going to live."


    Just because I value human life and didn''t want to kill somebody instrumentally didn''t make me a terrible person. In fact I thought it made me more of a good person. I didn''t just go to people and snatch them up to turn into a cultivation pill or something like that. If I didn''t like you, chances were that I hadn''t met you. And there was a big group of people that had already tried my patients and I was more than done with. Mostly those people were improv players. It''s not acting guys.


    I promise.


    Relaxing, had direction. Just like this poor girl didn''t have any direction in life. Right now, she was stumbling through the will of us. We willed her to be in place. We willed her to devil with all of her secrets. She wasn''t really that great at keeping them to begin with, she was already leaking like a sieve. This in fact made me more nervous than usual.


    Lorenzo agreed to work on her. Or with her, depending on what actually it didn''t happen with them. It was going to be teaching Mama for everybody. Could he get her in a spot where she could rehabilitate herself. Could he do that but we were trying to ascertain the truth of what was going on?


    At some point in time we''re going to double-check that what she was saying was actually true. Now I didn''t understand the intricacies of everything that she was telling us about. But the elders had taken notes and I was going to confer with them. Either way, it looked like someone was going to have to go check in on them in their home base.


    That fell to the actual legitimate government to to that work. I was worried that they might not actually do it chances were that they will get the information and not act on it in the timely manner. Or even worse, some bureaucrat somewhere between myself and the Mandarin would figure out a way to go by telling them this bad news. I had seen it before. They just didn''t want to pass bad information up. Bad not being the type of information. Bad isn''t information about bad guys. It would run counter to their narrative that they were good guys doing great stuff and that they were no bad guys around, only large cultivation beasts.


    I was going to go out to talk to the Mandarin. In the back of my mind, I wanted to take direct action and I wanted to do it very soon. But I knew that I had to go through the right channels to give them the chance to disappoint me. After all, that''s why they said they wanted to do. They said they wanted to support the populace. So I was going to give them a chance to do so.

 2-24

    There were only so many ways to ruin a government functionaries day. On that fateful morning, I would like to think that the man on the front desk just go done reading his dao horoscope and it had a warning about the cultivator who would be asking him to speak directly with his boss. At least that''s what I assumed based on his look of disdain when I arrived.


    "Hello!" I said.


    "Good morning, young master. What business do you have with the blue robes outreach team?" He said. The cultivator behind the desk had to have some kind of nepotism just running rampant through his bloodline, the was that his contempt just misted into the air.


    "I''m here because I have some intelligence that the Mandarin would be very interested to hear, and the last time I had information, let''s just say that we found over one hundred demonic cultivators working inside the city."


    The flat affect of my tone probably didn''t convey what I wanted but I found that being hyperbolic or even slightly more than tepid didn''t get me anywhere. I needed the man on the wrong foot because I was about to hammer him.


    "Ah," he said, immediately dismissing me. "He will take in visitors in ten days for-"


    He was hitting behind the table. I tell you this because I want you to know that he was sitting and that when I did the next thing I was about to do, got even lower. I unveiled my core just a bit. It was just enough to let him know that I was truly powerful. For most people without any training, the sort of flattened that. I gave him just enough to make him reconsider dismissing me out of hand.


    "Pardon me sir, but allow me to reintroduce myself. My name is Joseph Pudge and I''m responsible for the deaths of over fifty demonic cultivators directly or indirectly. So when I tell you that perhaps the Mandarin would like to speak to you. Right now, I''m going to need to see him within the next fifteen minutes."


    He looks like I was the Mandarin come down from on high to issue him a holy reprimand. I wasn''t but it was fine. He wanted me to think that I hadn''t worked out. The right amount of words or correct phrases to say to get to the part where I could just skip levels of bureaucracy. This guy was going to have to report to somebody and that person was going to have to figure out a way to get the Mandarin here or me to the Mandarin. But as I did not want to cause a fuss unduly, all I could do was pressure the bureaucrats in front of me to do their job expediently.


    "I must impress upon you the need for haste in this matter," I said.


    "Yes sir," he said, returning to stand. " This one would be pleased connect you directly."


    I stood around for about five minutes before a very stern and familiar looking man brought me to through a side passage.


    The Mandarin was somehow doing paperwork when I arrived. The last time we had met had been a very interesting time for both of us. Now we show them to him with some very good intelligence and he was going to ask some questions that I didn''t want to answer. And now the real question came to me. If he asked if she was still alive would I say yes or would I say no?


    "I see that you have arrived here and once again come with news of grave import. Please sit and tell me why my manservant needs to change his uniform again today," the Mandarin said, indicating a cushion on the ground.


    It wasn''t kneeling. It was more like I was just sitting there in the seiza position. Get gestured for me to continue. I explained what was going on, leaving out that the girl was still alive.


    For his part, he took it calmly asked a few questions and after a few minutes called him a scribe to take down some notes. He had me start again with some of the information as he clarified some of the things. I told him everything I could possibly get and let him know when parts were speculation. Nothing. He said maybe any less certain that if he saw Xiran, he would kill her. That made my choice crystal clear.


    If she wanted to stay alive, we would have to break her cultivation, and then potentially work her back.


    "All of this can be corroborated?" He said.


    "The elders I have mentioned that were there, they will corroborate. I must impress upon you that we can act before the demonic cultivators understand that we have such a view of their operation," I said. " My understanding is that you want to get some bragging rights over the blue codes. I can offer you exactly that. But if you''re not going to act on it, I need to know so I can act on it. This trail can and will go cold very soon. I already have a center runner to book passage for me to one of their hubs."


    He gave me a look that said that he really wanted to say something. I knew what he was thinking. He had too much on his plate and he didn''t want to take care of this. But he did want to get credit for it. If he asked me it''d be to deputize the agent of the state or something like that. I wouldn''t say no but I also would not work under anyone else''s supervision. I had eyegotten so far to be someone''s direct report. I was going to do my own damn thing. However, I damn pleased and demando could be damned. But if the government actually looked, then I might not have to do all that hard work myself. I could see him chew this over. I was going to give him a minute or so to the side.


    I really wanted to offer my entire group to go after them. I was absolutely certain that the Taoists and Moon clan would be incensed if he didn''t do anything. All I had to say was that he''s going to take care of it and then I would call it a day. That''s all I need. But he looked like he was going to be taking liberties with his staff.


    "If I head out of here, they will not be another cultivator of my realm to defend Western Jewel. But if I send a small Force that is trying to do this, we can get to them before they understand what''s coming?" he said.This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    "That''s why I came directly to you this morning. We got to stick while the iron''s hot and I think that this trail will go cold within three days. She said that she was supposed to report in at that time."


    I don''t know what he was going to do. But he said that he would send a word to me shortly. I told him where I was going to be, at the Moon Clan holdings and he accepted that.


    If we were going to do something for these guys, it would have to be far sooner than I expected. I had only told the Mandarin about her checking in, to see if you would actually follow through. That wasn''t entirely necessary for me to tell him. And they wanted to be informed as well. But otherwise it sounded like I was going to be getting on a airship with whoever wanted to join me on this little. Jon. And I''m all I need to tell us to figure out what to do with the girl and if Lorenzo could keep her safe.


    At worst, she would be tied to me and then I would have to take her back to the last place she had come from. Then we would use her to point out where her former family was.


    That felt unnecessarily cruel. But seeing what they had done before, I could understand it. It will be beyond the pale to ask her to physically go there and point out her family. Either way, something was going to happen.


    My second meeting with Mandarin ended with him. Thanking me and letting him know that I would be hearing from him very soon. He was going to have to go through his people to figure out which ones he could spare. If he could send them at all. I let him know about the airship that I had looked. If we were going to head where I thought we were going to head, then we were going to be hitting a lot of roadblocks. If he wanted to could stand his authority over us. I was only a mere fourth round cultivator and I could use this help. I thought that this week was going to involve me working with the victims, but it looked like yeah that I was back up to speed that I was going to be working against the demonic sect again.


    ---


    I headed back.


    "I''m coming with you of course. I think that this is foolish but I''m with you," Moon Lee said.


    I still had a ton of unresolved feelings about the dress that she wore last night and how she had asked me to go to see the Opera. More and more. I was thinking that she was trying to move but she just didn''t have the social niceties to actually take the next step. I appreciated a strong independent woman but also I was not going to just give it away to the first. Really nice girl that I met in this world. I honestly was still getting over Lauren. I was such a dumbass back then.


    "I won''t go without you. You mean a lot to me and you''ve done so much for me," I said.


    She blushed and then tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. She actually blushed. This side not expected. I was thinking that you''re the praise link or something like that. Why does everyone in the Scott forsaken place have a praise kink? It''s like the parents ever loved them when they were kids. Now I know, that you can''t infer correlation from causation here but more and more. I was just thinking that things that this was normal and that yeah she was going to have to think about this. I was going to have to think about what I would do if she would move on me, while knowing that she would respect me.


    If you really wanted something she would come out and say it. And then I realized that I was staring at her and she had asked me a question and I''ve done it again.


    "I''m sorry you said something? I''ve just been so distracted with this recent discovery," I said.


    "That is understandable," she said. "


    I wanted to talk about last night."


    "Okay. What did you want to say?"


    She gave me a look. I don''t know what would be worse. If she was going to try to nail me down about not killing the girl or if she was just trying to try to nail me the sexual way. Either way, I have to admit that I was kind of digging it. She was that type A girl that every guy like me who doesn''t want to bother the waiter loves to have around. No I''m not going to have my food sent back because I have this bulldog of a wife or girlfriend here to send that back for me. So I can sell with a good guy.


    Then I thought about this. Was I the good guy? Because I was trying to say this little girl''s life. Want to have done the same thing if it was a guy. And I realized that I would have tried to save a guy who was so naive and out of touch. If he had grown up in the sect and they had just kicked him out here like some candy to try and bait me or my team to come find him, yeah I would have done the same exact thing.


    "If this is about Xiran, you don''t need to worry. I''ve made up my mind."


    I don''t know if she was put off but she folded her arms close to her chest and kind of stepped back. I hadn''t realized how close she was. I was kind of thinking that she was finally getting comfortable enough to actually tell me her And not just be a little...


    "Lee, do you want to hold my hands?" I said.


    Her face was beet red.


    That''s a bingo.


    I came up a little bit closer and grabbed both of her hands and mine. Now normally when I do this I don''t really linger. But at that moment, I wanted to linger. I wanted her to know that not only was I here for her. That I might be here for her in the future and I''m more in-depth capacity. I didn''t know if she was actually looking for companionship or just friendship. Either way, her hands made me feel like she was a thirty year old virgin who just didn''t know what she was doing.


    We had sparred so many times. Hell we had gone through the ringer together killing a sect of demonic cultivators and if she couldn''t tell me what she felt, then this society was too fucking repressed.


    When even hand holding felt super lewd, yeah things were a little different. So I stood there, holding her hands face to face with a woman who couldn''t keep a goofy grin off of her face. I smiled.


    "After last night, did you have plans to tell me something," I said, my head only about a foot away from hers, my face directly looking at her. If she was going to go end run around me and be awkward as fuck I was going to give her the same that she gave me.


    "I ...uh..." She said. The strongest woman I''ve ever known just melted in my hands. I wasn''t even doing anything special that we were just giving her attention and letting her know that I wanted to know what she had wanted to tell me.


    "Look. We''re both adults here. I understand that things are different here than where I came from, but if you want to do something officially, you can just ask. You are amazing. You can''t be my sparring partner and companion for all this time and not be able to tell me what''s really going on inside of your head. I already have an inkling," I said. One of my hands found the small of her back and the other one found her chin. She had been staring at my chest and I gently nudged her to look me in the eyes.


    She hadn''t thanked her what felt like forever. I knew that she was strong and stubborn and she was not calling to admit anything. More than likely she wanted me doing the first move.


    "If you need me to make the first move, blink once," I said.


    And that beautiful woman blinked. I smiled and leaned in. If I could fight demonic cultivators next to her, I sure could date her.

 2-25

    If you''ve ever used public transportation, then you might feel the exact pain that I had to go through that day. The damn airship station was one of the things that I hadn''t ever expected to visit.


    I was established in Western Jewel. My new friends were there. My ex wife was there, somehow. It wasn''t Los Angeles, but it was home. The most unfortunate part of moving while Lee was trying to work through her feelings for me was that she kept blushing. Clearly, the moon clan was going to let her go on this important mission.


    Like they could stop her.


    Just as clearly, she had gotten very comfortable. So when I came to talk to her she was sitting with Min.


    "Hey aren''t you supposed to be my spirit companion?" I said, nuzzling the beast.


    "I try. But mistress needed help packing," Min said. "She decided to stop at some new boutique shop in town."


    The spirit beast rolled her eyes. I could see a bit of lace poking out from underneath combat robes.


    "I was going to say that I could take you to Resting Bitch Lace, where we could get you a sports bra. Maxine is very good at making sports bras."


    She was super cute when she blushed. I was definitely going to let this one play out.


    There used to be this thing about gays that came out in their late twenties. They never grew up being in relationships, so they had to kinda make their way through it like they were still in high school. It wasn''t exactly like that when I left, but I remembered it well.


    She was so awkward that it was cute.


    The woman who I will remind you many times, was a stone cold killer, smiled at me.


    "Hey," she said.


    I fell into my old standby. Always be kind.


    "Hey. I don''t know what''s happening here," I said, moving closer to her. "But I do know that I respect you as a person and as a cultivator. I wouldn''t be where I am today without you.".


    I tucked a strand of hair behind one of her ears. That had to have been intentional.


    "So I don''t know where this is going," I said. "But we can go as fast or as slow as you want. The last thing I want to do is to add more to your plate."


    That was the right thing to say at the time and the gorgeous woman swooned. She reached up and pulled me in for a kiss. In the history of kisses, this was probably pretty sub par. She clearly didn''t know what she was doing and it took me a second to get both arms around her.


    The second kiss though? Now that the dam had broken? She was hungry and I was on the menu.


    "Min," I said in between kisses. "Hold my calls."


    "But you don''t even have a phone ...ewww, humans!" She said before slinking away.


    Things got a bit hot and heated there for a moment. Now I''m a gentleman and I''m not going to describe what happened when I should have been packing but whatever you think happened dial the spice back a little and you would be about right. She was inexperienced and we didn''t get far but I did get to see that she was wearing one of Maxine''s finest. Maybe it was the feeling of knowing that we would be at the same inn that night in a different city.


    "Let''s talk tonight when we get there," I said, coming up for air. "I think..."


    "Shut up," she said, pulling me in for another kiss.


    I was a simple man. I did what the hot lady said.


    ---


    Min packed several of my outfits. Basically I was professionally homeless. The only little wrinkle in our space was that Egiya showed up. Xueyie was going to stay and train with Lorenzo and try to figure out the puzzle that was Xiran.


    Egiya had been told by her mother that she was going to go and witness this. She might have thought that her daughter was needed. She was appreciated but when I saw her at the Moon Clam compound?


    "Hey!" I said, shoving another scroll into my hobo bag.


    "You know that we have better ways to do that, right?" She said. She clearly was wearing one of the options like a model. It was like a backpack but long.


    "I like that design. I need one of those," I said.


    On the other hand, I had put my own stuff into a small pouch, then attached it to a long stick. I was either a tramp or a hobo. I definitely wasn''t a murder hobo.


    "If you are coming, then we will be happy to have you," I said. "If you can tear yourself away for the length of time that we need to be away."


    "That shouldn''t be a problem," she said. "Also are you wearing a woman''s robes?"


    She looked at me and let me just say that I hadn''t even paid attention to what I was wearing. Let''s just say that my shirt has gotten on and off in the process of the morning.


    Was I going to tell her? Hell no. Lee would tell her if she wanted and it would be evident if she actually went through with the lewd act of holding my hand. I mean based on what she had given us, we were heading to the imperial capital, district forty, wherever that was.Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    She was already packed, having gotten the word.


    "You''re going to head home, tell your mother goodbye and then return with us?" I said. "That sounds good. Let''s plan on meeting at the airship port."


    "I will see you there," she said.


    Lee was ready to go. She had grabbed nondescript robes that would let her blend in.


    "You''re still wearing my top?" She said. "It looks good on you... Is it alright if I say that?"


    "That''s good. I can see that you are trying."


    We just stood there for a bit. Then we moved on.


    A representative from the Mandarin came to speak with us.


    "You have to understand how this looks s with the government. We don''t want to look like we''re competent. But if you''re saying that you have actionable intelligence, I hope he''s sending a squad with you," the man, who pointedly did not give his name despite the many markings on his robes, said.


    I know that he was just being weird to mess with me.


    "Well make sure that they dress like they are on vacation or something," I said. "We need to not draw attention to ourselves. Just arriving in the Capitol will stir up enough problems for us if what I''m hearing is right."


    "Our blue coats know how to be discreet," the man said.


    I''ll bet they did.


    "Well if they are going to help us, then they need to be with us today," I said. "We don''t have long to get to these hot spots."


    Left and said was the threat that they wouldn''t actually show off and help out. I trust the government just a little bit. But really, the amount of times that I wish that they''d actually just do their job and let me not had to do all this shit.


    I wasn''t a cop.


    I was just one guy trying to stick up for this little guy. And also to prevent unneeded deaths due to these demonic cultivators proclivity to kill.


    Had blue codes gave me a little bit more information and a password so that they would know who we were. It would be pretty evident with my description as I was the only guy around to like curly hair but that was really on them. It was distinct. I could also go by having two female companions but we would see how that went.


    Before long I was headed out myself. My spirit beast and I were making our way behind Lee. She had less to carry, having traveled more often and knowing what to expect. I felt like I was overprepared. But also there was still fast fashion around. Everything was made custom or made by effect in batches. So you really didn''t really have a lot of choices when it came to what you were wearing.


    To see the airships, you have to imagine a very nice blimp. Now once you have that steampunk image of a blimp I want you to imagine it''s rewinding back in time a little bit. There was a lot of wood and a lot of rope. And the portion I was going to lift of the air, really looks like a bad cannabis balloon. Although it was very inflated, I just had the idea that it would not stand it forever.


    Thank God I had that tactile telekinesis which would help me fly in the case of bullshit cultivators deciding to end someone''s family line by destroying the public transportation system that I would be using. I could deal with far less things going sideways.


    I wasn''t hoping for something amazing, just looking for a silver lining in all this.


    And honestly I didn''t know if this was going to be a week or a month. I didn''t have a map to the Capitol. Not only that, I didn''t know how long the airship was going to take to get there. I guess I could ask, but it didn''t seem like that was going to be something that normal people asked. Asked. Just got on and then when you arrived, you were there. According to Lee, there was a lot of food service there and it was expected that you would have your meals on the issue. This made me think that this airship was going to be going for a while if they had to restock at every port.


    And honestly, I had lived most of my life for the past ever so long within a bubble. I was kind of excited to see what life was like in a different city and if there was the same amount of criminal underbelly representation as well as if the government actually was functional there. There''s no way that I''d move just because social services worked, but I might be tempted.


    Now if they had full health care and benefits and Universal based income? Then we might be having a little bit of a conundrum.


    Egiya found us at the port.


    "My mother said to wish us good luck and that she says that you better return me home in one piece," she said.


    "We will bring you back in one piece," Lee said.


    For the first time, both of them I''m wearing non-script ropes. They were still very pretty and I knew them both, but would be far easier for them to blend into a crowd. When everyone has amazing hair and looks like a movie star, it''s less important how your face looks and more important what the recipe potties looking like. And with pretty dry clothing, it would be pretty easy to just not focus on that. For my part, I had to conceal what I felt was one of my best features. I had curly hair so Lee grabbed hooded towel for me to use while we were inside of the city. It wouldn''t change much if someone was looking directly at me, but unless they were looking Charlie at me through my cloak, they wouldn''t be able to discern that I was out of place.


    Because I totally was a native of district 40 in the capital. And I totally was someone that already belonged there and but there for a while. And no, I didn''t know anything about a commotion at that one Sect.


    There was nothing to see here.


    "Does it tell you about our rooms?" She said.


    "Did we get adjoining rooms?" Egiya replied.


    Both of them smile widely.


    I didn''t ask you know the answer to this though. I mainly found out that it was going to take us one and a half days to fly to the Capitol. This was a perfect amount of time for me to debrief the two of them and bring in the blue coats. I hope that those guys would show up soon though. Because from my understanding, the airship was only for anybody. It was only by the grace of the mandarins deep pockets that we had gotten such good birthdays and we did that to stay in the economy class with the rest of the riff raff.


    Now when I say the word airship, I want you to think about a cruise ship in the sky. Because that is the most accurate depiction of what it actually showed up. Despite the fact that it was mostly made of metal and wood, it was large enough to be a small cruise ship. That was about when it took off. I realized that I have missed a lot and decided that I would take the tour with whatever I had become with Lee. My spirit beast would keep us safe and get those blue coats to come talk to us whenever they''re ready.


    I had no doubt that they were on board. I just didn''t want them to interrupt the next time that I had to change my robes because someone was deciding that she wanted to kiss my chest.


    Remember, two adults making out is totally normal. What''s not normal is a spare beast deciding that they want to walk it on something that two consenting adults had decided was what the hell they want to spend the rest in. So after the ten-minute tour, we circle back around to our rooms and sat down to go over the training point of the next couple of days.


    We lay down a good rhythm trying to tap into her strengths. With two of us at the Nascent Soul realm, the focus was on pushing what we could do into her cultivation as much as possible. She had this opportunity to work with us. She just cracked the second realm recently.


    I decided that if she was going to make a move on me that night, that eventually we were going to have to talk to our handlers. Before the sun went down, I wanted to talk to the blue coats.


    Min had finally nailed them down and personally requested them to come to our birthing. This is when we realized that they had given us two people to do the work of about five.


    "You both have to understand that this isn''t a personal vendetta. You''re more than welcome to join us, I expected them to send someone a little bit more experience though, but that''s fine. We can do it with what we have. Let''s talk about how I think we should do this."

 2-26

    There were only so many things that one can say about being up high in the sky on the equivalent of a cruise liner. Instinctively, I knew that I could fly. Also I knew that I didn''t want to fall.


    Once we got to the correct altitude, we were greeted by the stark beauty of the wilds. Most of the continent looked like humans had never graced the ground there. I had to wonder how a society could even exist in such small pockets like Western Jewel. I also began to think about why in particular they had chosen to make that a city. Clearly that had been a choice, most likely affected by the proximity to the hunting grounds of the local whales. Hundreds of pounds of whale meat had been put below before we departed.


    Not that I was paying attention to any of that. Moon Lee and I were taking turns sparring with Egiya. She had gotten used to her new level of power and was now trying to finish hammering out the kinks. I had invited the blue coats to watch.


    "She has excellent foot work, but I worry about her close range game," Feng said.


    Two of them were clearly able to discern what she was going through. One was third realm the other one was second realm, close to his breakthrough. I was thinking about talking to him about how he might break through as an exercise for me to get better in my practice because clearly something was blocking him. If I could get him through then that might be helpful to me. Although not every blue coat wanted to experience that same ecstasy of being able to advance. They didn''t want to open up to a therapist. Not only did they not understand it, I was going to have to explain entirely to them. So instead, I did the classic thing where we watched two women fight and talked about stuff. That was not exactly our feelings but kind of tangential. I was trying to build a report with them because if I needed him to break through the third realm and he was very close, I wanted to give him away to do so.


    "So Feng how long you been at the second realm?" I said.


    "He''s been there for two years," Liu said.


    Neither of the blue coats had given me a last name. I feel like this was on purpose. The only reason I knew that they were blue coats was that they had given us the agreed upon passcode. Otherwise, the Mandarin did really good in selecting both of them for this clandestine work.


    I would not have been able to pick out either man and for crowd. Their hair was glorious but it was exactly what the average person had.


    An utterly forgettable spy is probably the best one.


    "Two years?" I said.


    "He''s a bit incensed about it," Liu said.


    "I am not," Feng said, rage dripping hot, as if someone had asked him his sisters phone number and bra size.


    I watched the two guys fired each other. Despite the fact that they didn''t work together, it was evident that they had done a lot of work on their own and that they were both spending the time in a shared birthing as well as ignoring the fuck out of each other. This was not going to go well. The facade of them being confident mid-level bureaucrats had crumbled faster than Lee did when told her she was cute.


    The girls paws they''re sparring looking at Fang. Was it his vault that he didn''t want to talk about his problems? No. I blame society for not picking him up in a way that let him express himself. He could do so much. But what was happening was that he did not want to admit something to himself. He was blocked.


    "Do you want to go next?" I said, gesturing to the small training room that was totally necessary on a cross country flight.


    How did people do these long flights for? I knew that after this, I was going to be heading back to my birthing with my new girlfriend and perhaps taking a hot shower with her. A man has to eat after all. Some of those needs involve Tom frankly to his girlfriend on their first trip together.


    We hadn''t decided what to tell Egiya. In a roundabout way, it looked like this wasn''t going to be a problem because the two of us were sharing a birthing. Unless something else happened it would look like we were really good platonic friends. Which we had in up until yesterday. Today? Things were a little more complicated but we were easing into it. It''s not like I was able to take her on a date right this moment. In fact she had taken me on a date to the Opera and I didn''t even know it was a date and it caused all these problems because we based them on a cultivator. And yeah this is just how a relationship starts, doesn''t it.


    Feng and Egiya went at it. She was much faster than she had been and it looked like she''d spent enough time in the second realm to get used to Lee''s attacks. But this guy was excellent. He slipped in and out of shadows like it was his home. The best description I could think of this guy was that he was teleporting place to place, but I knew that had to be a very difficult thing and about five minutes and into sparring, he had to hold up sand.


    She had the endurance to go for long distance and he was more of a one trick pony. That meant that I wouldn''t be able to rely on him if we needed to go in someplace. He was more of liability, then. I sighed. If only they could have sent me somebody who actually could fight as well as blending with the crowd that would have been perfect. But I had to work with what I got. And I had another fourth realm cultivator as well as another third rope cultivator who was pretty good in the fight and my two liabilities. One of them was looking at the daughter and the other one was like the punk kid that wanted to date my daughter.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    Of course I wanted them all to come back in one piece, but I was going to have to make some decisions about how we were going to array our forces when we were out there. I''d almost forgotten about my spirit. Beast, and it looks like she was going to have to be their OverWatch. In addition to doing so much for me and the communication realm, she was herself with her drum cultivator, meaning that I could count on her.


    This was good. In a sense, all I needed was someone to be able to make sure that the demonic cultivators were not able to escape. We went over that a few times talking it through and then after everyone was truly spent, I pulled it into the dream realm and we played through a few scenarios. Liu and Feng We''re very surprised at how realistic things were and how detailed I could think .


    For me, it was like playing through the first person shooter with a define story path. For them, it was like they were real and in some sort of virtual reality simulation. I never wanted to stop them from thinking that this wasn''t a dream, but they kept doing things that made me realize that it was hard for them to distinguish the real from the unreal.


    This wasn''t Inception. This was me working my ass off to try and give the guys the proper training that they would need to not die on my watch. And one small way, I was resentful for the Mandarin for sending me people that needed to be trained. But on the other side of the card, at least now I knew that we had two government functionaries that could do the job if with a little bit of help. That in itself felt like a step off from what we had before and I was grateful that they at least pretended or seemed to want to learn. I did not know if they were actually going to follow through with what we were doing or if they were just playing along. Either way, when we were all done with that, we led them back to the birthing event and we walked back up to mine.


    Egiya split to fall asleep like a log. I was surprised at how fast she fell asleep, but seeing as how she''s born against all four of us and Men repeatedly that day, I could not blame her. Her. And the good news was that the other person that I was with? She was not so tired and she wanted to play.


    We spent a very pleasant evening together that night and I am happy to say that the showers on that ship were world class.


    ---


    The next morning, I woke up with a beautiful woman holding me down and realizing that we were both naked, I kind of reveled in it for a while. It had been so long since I had felt able to open somebody not just on a therapy way but I''m like in an intimate way. After I had woken up with Lauren, I didn''t realize that I made a mistake and then came here. And it''s been so long just pushing my feelings away. Now that I found someone that was into me in a way that I could not imagine I was just so happy. I swear that had to have sat there for half an hour just gleefully looking at her head on my chest.


    When she woke up, I''m glad to say that she was not any less giddy than I was. That new relationship energy it was chaotic and unforced. It permeated everything. And I wondered if they would Chase their sheets while we were out. Because I kind of like that smell.


    She smelled like everything that was good in this world. I could dig it. I let someone calling forever, but I knew that at some point in time we might have visitor and I probably was going to have to wear pants for that. I hated the idea of pants, the concept of putting things on my body just felt an asthma to who it was at that moment. But I don''t think that Lee was ready for going public with what we were doing yet. She was still feeling about herself and what she wanted with this. Clearly, shear God when she wanted from me physically. Now we were just trying to nail down what we wanted in a relationship.


    I hadn''t even asked her if it was possible for her to have a child because it seemed like she will be able to make the decision if and when she wanted to.


    So very gradually. I got myself up and changing the day clothes and realized that she was just looking my bare ass while I was doing all that. It struck me that she probably had never seen a naked band before. I wasn''t sure how I felt about that. The culture of these sects was so repressed as to make me ask if they even knew basic sexual education. I was damn sure that she was going to give me some very particular answer about where babies came from that her sect had given to her if I ever asked.


    I could imagine now two sect elders deciding how they were going to present this kind of information. Like women definitely could get pregnant and have children but between here and there I was not sure if she knew. Maybe they got all the facts of Life after they got married. Or maybe there was some sort of auntie underground that passed out the information at the time when it was appropriate. She hadn''t mentioned anything about that, so it was pretty sure that we all knew.


    Breakfast on the airship was probably one of the best things I''ve ever had. It was a flank steak that was just made in a way that drew out the salty and peppery flavors of the meat. I was already looking forward to getting this meal on the way back. Surely they were going to have to pick up some of this delicious meat somewhere. I knew it didn''t come from Western Jewel. Now that I knew that they had it, I could ask for questions of the staff so I could figure out where to get something for myself. Hopefully there was a vendor in the capital that made all this and I would be able to find them.


    Other than that, it was just another day training with the only big change being that we were training in a different location and a location now had been moving. It was odd that I could feel that the airship was moving as we were fighting. Especially when I want to fly, I had to account for the movement of the Air As it was way faster than me unless I was actively putting energy into it.


    That was when we finally got to see the capital. That was fully the size of an actual City, wide enough to be Las Vegas and long enough to be not confused with the same. It was in a dry desert. On the inside of the city, marble houses and buildings Rose to be three or four stories in the center. As a clearly man-made canal with water ran through the place. The whole city itself seemed to be a mockery against nature. It''s stood there as if saying that there''s nothing that natural world could do to bring it down.


    I loved it. If it was going to mock nature, I understood exactly what this place was. The opulence that I was getting off of it? The vibes were immaculate. Now I just needs to figure out where the fuck district forty was.


    "We''re going to have to move south of the port here," Feng said, breaking out the map.


    By his estimation as you poured over the map, it was about a mile away from where we would be landing. This meant that we would not have to go very far, but the capital was packed. Even if it was a 20-minute walk, they were going to be hundreds of thousands of people to eat us in there. There and this is if we didn''t fly. Two of us could fly. But we weren''t going to because we were trying to be low profile. This meant that we had to decide how we were going to split ourselves up as we approached.


    We had a plan. Now it just needed to survive first contact with the enemy.

 2-27

    The capital was laid out like a grid system. Unfortunately, the city manager in charge of this had decided long ago to forego doing the smart thing and numbering the blocks by where they were. No. Instead they were numbered by the order in which they had begun being inhabited. This meant that around block one were the next nine blocks.


    Now I have a whole rant about urban planning where there is no room for changes and how in particular, Robert Moses is my mortal enemy, but on this fine day, at least the only problem I had with the system was the numbering.


    District forty was effectively far south of the main block of single digit districts. It was far enough away that it could be a pain to go to but it was close enough that if they really wanted to they could make it a day trip.


    My twenty minute walk there was about as eventful as a walk could be. I saw tons of street performances from what had to be down on their luck martial artists. They had to be because they didn''t have any makeup on. Then there were several displays of actual Sect warriors trying to show how their their group was the best. I was super happy that they weren''t doing the hard sales pitch. Perhaps it was because I was veiled.


    I couldn''t see anybody who was third realm or higher around which made me think that they were showing us the b team. That was fine, as I really had no interest in joining a sect.


    It just goes to show that recruitment was big. I had a feeling that perhaps by the time that a child got to an age they would have been through so many of these displaces that they wouldn''t know by then. How else the recruiters would be very picky. There had to be some Central registry to be having children were born and how many went to school somewhere.


    It made no sense to me, unless they were just flexing their muscles. The children of the sect members would have a choice to join. Outsiders would have a opportunity to join. But they were only so many children around and unless I was missing something and they were all trying to drop in the same pool of applicants. How many children could actually show up and get accepted?


    It wasn''t immediately clear.


    But these were all a distraction from my current goal.


    First part of what we were doing was a stakeout.


    All I had to do was it in a highest if the information we gotten was good or not. It wasn''t even that old. In order for somebody to have notified the cell here that something was going wrong, they would have had to travel faster than us. I checked and there were no airships between the night and the morning. This was the first one to depart. And it had a very long flight because it went very far. So unless somebody was running cross continent, it was unlikely for them to beat us here.


    But still, out of an abundance of caution, we found a reputable Inn in the fortieth district and got three rooms for a week. The woman behind the desk was more than happy to take her money up front with no questions asked. Our nondescript guard was about as nondescript as she was. Despite being absolutely amazingly gorgeous, nothing stood out about her.


    It was so odd that I had to make sure that she didn''t have the mark. When she didn''t I was reassured by the fact that I could feel how she was first realm at best.


    So that afternoon, we began our steakout. It turns out that they were occupying a club of some sort. As we got closer. It looked more like a general cultivator dief bar mashup with a definitely something going on here type club. It looked like they had a fence and as was getting close to night, I could see that a crowd was already forming and line queuing up to get inside.


    I could imagine them all being there for beat poetry or improv. As he walked past the line, it wasn''t immediately clear that any of them were members of the Red Fang. I would have thought that I would see more, but that apparently didn''t happen. They might have kept their operatives more close holds on the interior. My guess was that the ones on the outside had not gotten far enough into the inner sanctum to get the tattoo.


    Maybe they were junior members or in assistant to the assistant vice president type roles.


    There had to be some sort of middle management there. It didn''t make sense for one super powerful demonic cultivator to just have a flat command structure. He must have like a right-hand vampire or something like that. Now I''m not an expert, though all this might on this day, the first one I saw was one of the bouncers. I''ve walked past him twice and then discreetly. Had men run around and check. She confirmed what I knew. The first of the demonic cultivators was a bouncer that was holding the red carpet up.


    What we did next was navigate around club red and see that there was a apartment complex on the same block. To my understanding that was where they spent their time when they were off duty. They had some very particular rules about what they did there and what was allowed. It looked like they were keeping all of the inner members of the sect close at hand.


    There was definitely up some room inside for that to change though.


    If I got my way? They would all be spread out to the cosmos after turning into Ash. Now I know that demonic cultivators are to actually turn to Ash when you stuck them in the heart with a steak. But I wanted to try the scientific method and see if I could test my theory out. After all, there was a chance that it could happen, right? Who Knew what would be the result of this?


    On my second trip around the complex. I realized that there was no easy way to get inside of this unit of housing. It was either through some path that ran through the club itself or over the club to a particular set of stairs that was guarded. The right at that moment, was only guided by one. And it was deficated. The community that I was trying to break into, had a gate guard. Obviously I wanted to check him out and see if I could test his loyalty but I wasn''t sure if he might be one of them.Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    And this is where my men came in to play.


    They could bring something for questioning far easier than I could. Part of their path was disabling other people''s paths. I really didn''t want them to know that we knew they were there as that might alert them far earlier but they were there when we began to see if we could pick them out one by one.


    In short order, my spirit beast was able to map out the compound and we were able to get a good idea of what we would have to do. I signaled the girls and we regrouped at our Inn, the Lower Forty.


    Our two buddies arrived, not 5 minutes later, after getting the nod from my spirit beast. We headed back to my room and sat in Kauai meditation while I used men''s ability to display a 3D image of the compound. My companions were very familiar with this ability and they looked around trying to parse what''s going on. The blue codes on the other hand were shocked. Not only that they were shook.


    "This is an amazing ability. What path is this on?" Feng said.


    "Would you believe that I made my own path? With dream aura?"


    He gave me a look and said he didn''t really believe me but he was going to drop it. The fact that I had a spirit beast that could do so much just like Moon Lee''s spirit beast meant that I was a highly available member of this team. Now this was not going to be a Smash. Rob operation. Man. I didn''t fight at least 20 people and it looked like they worked in teams. The one that we saw on the outside of the club doing all of the holds of the line, had a buddy nearby. See that person, but men did. And she identified that they were both marked and both close enough to support each other!


    They were both within shouting distance of each other.


    "If this pattern plays out, then instead of facing an individual cultivators, will be facing groups of two or more. More. It''s even more important now to stick together as teams so that we don''t have to return your remains back to the city," I said.


    " I would appreciate it if we kept this as low-key as possible, but still understanding that we''re going to need to identify some of these people and flush them out. Out. And the more we can identify it at once and incapacitate the easiest going to be to convince the emperor and the local constabulary that we''re not just here doing real bullshit. We are here tracking down a very hot lead and we need to figure out where that goes before it goes very cold."


    "We need a place to take them," Moon Lee said. " It doesn''t have to be the police station. It can be a part of this building."


    That let me down to him that rabbit hole where I had to think about what would happen if the demonic sex was the one that was running the club and then all of a sudden they all got disappeared. Who would own the club after that? Was it going to refer back to the prior owner? Was there even a prior owner or had this whole thing? Just been up front for the start. I was leaning more towards this had been a front from the day was built.


    If this had been a front, then there was a small chance that they had living humans somewhere somewhere underneath or around the club that they were using as chattel. This meant that for every man we spent here, there was a chance that more of these people would die. Being in a monocultivator fence and the blue coats here. Probably think that s*** really seriously. If we could produce victims, they would be on this like nothing else. It might in fact delay a return back to Western Jewel if we got so much scrutiny. But on the other hand, I was a man that believed in government actually functioning because we pay our taxes. So if I was going to have them show up and do their work, I didn''t want to answering them by not giving them enough people to ask questions from.


    People being kept underground as slaves to be turned into meat, that was disgusting.


    Now, that is hell.


    One way or the other, we were going to burn this place down. My only question was did we have the backing of the blue coats here and that was what one of my guys went to go check. With one confirmed demonic cultivator already there, it was only a matter of time until we found enough to make what like a nest? There was no proper term for I thought of like a murder as a group of them, but that would be too awesome.


    Fang return within an hour saying that a little blue coats had been advised to step up their patrols around district 40 and that was all that I needed. Well that had been going on, men was still trying to figure out if there were any victims that we could quickly show to local authorities. Just like the last time, we were looking for interior places where there were hidden doors or obstructions to Passage. It would probably We''re here a little bit weird about this and they obviously need protection. underground but I wouldn''t put it past them to have a building that was be used for this purpose.


    With a legal president already said, I was ready to kick some ass. I talked to my girls and we were ready to kick some ass together. The only problem was that the blue coats. We needed the legitimacy of their office.


    They needed our detection skills.


    I gave him an hour to get ready and they spent that time contacting the low authorities. Then it was time. Night was fast approaching and this was the time when district 40 heated up. With the opportunity to go see them in their natural environment and f*** s*** up sideways, we approached the club ready to pay away in. In. Once inside, we were going to do our best to find out if there was a false floor somewhere or with globe itself. Was just a money making thing unrelated to their other work. They knew what they were doing and if a few called if it has appeared at a club one night, no one would be what more the wiser. It looked like a win-win on their side except that if someone showed up with a friend, they would say to leave with a friend. And this is exactly how I found myself in line to go to the club but by myself when the rest of my crew was that ten to fifteen feet behind me or having on their own. Yeah it wasn''t exactly ideal for me but I just made it work.


    The first thing I noticed was that at night, they had way more lights than I expected. The second thing I noticed was that as it got closer, it was more hypnotic than I had thought it was going to be. I had to actually stop myself looking at some of the lights and turned to look at some of the people heading into the club. For the most part. It looked like they were there to. Have a good time and it don''t start contrast to the young Masters from the Western Jewel, most of them did look like they were here for a fight. Sure. They looked like they could fight, but it looked over or they were saving it for exactly the right person.


    I struck up a conversation with a few of them trying to figure out what they were doing. Trying to speak in general tones. The sense I got from them was that this was something they did a little bit but not with regularity. That made them happen here every week or something like that.


    It wasn''t like there was rampant alcoholism here. It was working hard to even get me drunk without how high my tolerance was. Then two men with the tattoo showed up on the opposite side of the bar.

 2-28

    It was the first pair that I had seen so close to each other. I knew that other pairs were working together, but this?


    This was brazen.


    If they knew what I knew, they would have been miles away. I stirred my dao whiskey. I had asked the mundane bartender to make it slightly watered down to see if he would actually do it. I was surprised when he did.


    In the background two women played large stringed instruments. Their discordant buzz wasn''t quite right for dancing, but it did background lo-fi pretty well.


    The two cultivators with the mark were irritatingly, looking at the performers. I couldn''t read their lips from his direction. I was going to have to get a little closer, but then I saw Lee taking a move. When she moved, I stayed put.


    I held up two fingers to ask for a second drink. The bartender clocked me and wanted over.


    "Do you know those two men over there?" I said.


    "They''re both enforcers for the club," he said.


    That explain the uniform as well as the particular Harry part that they both had reminding me of Obi-Wan way back in the early days. He lingered there for a little bit longer as if he wanted to say something. I gestured at him to continue.


    "They''re up in some business right now trying to recruit," he said. " If you''re interested in joining then you should talk to him. Otherwise I would steer clear. They''re very shall we say persuaded with their pitch,.especially with people that they think might be a benefit to the group."


    Now as injured as to what the bartender''s role was with this. Surely he had to know that people were not showing up again and again sometimes. But then again that was exactly how a bar was run. Wasn''t it? Anyway, walk ing whenever they wanted while they''re open. The only difference is that people could leave and not come back and here, they left because they were being abducted. On the surface, I can imagine how he didn''t really want to know how the club worked, but on the other hand, if he had even the slightest inkling of what was going on, he might be one of them.


    It had to be the case that there were some people that kept around because they were too useful to kill. If this was the case then perhaps this is one of their touch points. He went back to another customer and I observed him doing his thing for a while.


    When I look back at the two enforcers, they''re gone. I had to check them around the room to see that they were talking to my girlfriend and she was looking very at ease. In fact, She looked like she had a will in hand. Now. I didn''t know exactly what she was doing or what she was saying but I saved to say she My pants easily so I was pretty sure that she could navigate into a discussion with them about the final points of cultivation. Now I don''t want to say that they were going to mansplain cultivation to her. Even that just sounds ridiculous. But it was probably something it was because she was going to try to do.


    If you were trying to impress a woman and you told her about a secret skill that would unlock something, would that sound suspicious?


    It sound like whatever they were telling her and she was not really impressed. Or at least it looked liked that. She might be saying something otherwise to confuse the fuck out of them.


    I was torn between thinking about where I could find any victims and also really starting to enjoy what she was doing.


    I''m not really a fan of heading to the bar. I am a man and I can generally get along wherever I am, but if I had my choice it would be game night with the homies with plentiful snacks for the girls and whoever else was there.


    Call me old fashioned but the idea of paying an upcharge for a drink that costs less at home? Those days are behind me. That''s money better spent on more nosh. I did like to tip the server when I went out, but as a social worker I was for a robust living wage.


    The bartender here looked like he would fight me if I tried to insinuate that he would take a tip, but he took my waan. I was number waan in his books.


    As far as I was concerned if she was doing the talking with the guys then I was going to drop her. She didn''t know that they were enforcers for the sect. We were exactly the kind of people that they were trying to stop from infiltrating. That meant that they worked out the people that we wanted to make friends with.


    If there was one thing that I figured out that would make them want us around. It was to ask them about recruiting. The way that they probably needed us to be there meant that they would take just about anybody. It wasn''t that I was particularly strong, It was because that was a warm body.


    I mean it was, but not only that.


    A willing warm body would get very far in this arena.


    Me? I was just trying to see where this situationship was going.


    She had them laughing.


    Over the full roar of the crowd and music I couldn''t make out what they were saying. Sadly, I was going to have to move in if I wanted more information.


    Instead, I looked around the room for any other members that I could get my hooks into. She seemed to have herself well under control.Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    In any of the situation I might have been Ella at East. But I knew she could handle herself. Not only that first that I found looked like they couldn''t handle anything. Across the way a woman in a black cultivator robe looked like she was trying to get a cancer as fast as she could through a pipe. What surprised me about this was that we were indoors and yet she was still smoking at the store. Thankfully, she was by window and something was happening. That made her smoke just float out in such a way as to not linger. I could see the mark on her face.


    At one point in time, I thought that perhaps the different types of marks meant something. The very first member of the Red Fang stack that I met hadn''t had any marks. And he was the highest drum cultivator that I''d ever fought today. These guys they all had a very similar Mark. What this told me was that either the Mark went away or there was some bullshit about a certain people being given a chance to get And then if they don''t do it they will get the mark.


    My thought was that they took several select individuals through training and use them as their enforcers or as their big bosses once they got to a high enough level. Otherwise, it was like giving someone a tattoo that they would always be no better than this level. In theory it was terrible and I practiced it looked even worse if that was what was going on. But I didn''t know these guys.


    As I moved closer to the woman with the pipe, all I knew was that she was high enough in the organization to have become a trusted member of the team. I was going to ask her some cultivation tips. I might have to fake smoking as well. I wonder if the effects of smoking or is bad for cultivators as they were for regular human beings. Probably. I also couldn''t imagine being a cultivator and getting lung cancer. That had to be the absolute worst.


    But if I only made my way over there, she acknowledged me with a nod.


    "Good afternoon madam," I said.


    I waited for a 10th couple of seconds before Sgt. Actually trying to look at me. If she was second round she was just that. I wasn''t about to unveil myself in this club but I wanted to get her attention.


    "Good afternoon young master," she said. "I don''t believe we''ve had the pleasure of meeting before. Your hair is so...unique you must get constant compliments."


    It really wasn''t that unique but try telling her that. When everyone around you has jet black hair, the one guy with curly brown hair was the anomaly. I was well aware that I stuck out. It was one of the reasons that I had spent so much time learning how to do my hair like they did and also trying to figure out a way to straighten it if possible. It was not really working out.


    "It''s only so many people that can say they''re interested in this kind of hair. It''s a lot of work," I said.


    " Even so, curls? In that hair? It looks lovely," she said. For a second I thought she was going to puff some smoke in my face so actively or something but she just carried on. I realized that she wasn''t going to hold up her into the conversation unless I did. And before I punched her straight through several walls, I was going to need some information out of her.


    "So this is a nice club right?" I said.


    "You know it," she said.


    I was trying to gauge what she was going to say. On one hand, I was very interested in her impression of the place. I was also very impression interested in her impression that she would give to an outsider. Because this is saying a lot about her and what she liked and what she thought she could sell to other people. If she thought this is a good place where people should actually go to, she might be one of those naive idiots.


    Xiran haunted me.


    She seemed like a normal person until she revealed what she was and we knew already. And then when we tried to get her to stand down, it was only my threatening of her life that made her play along.


    "You''re a cultivator of some strength," she said.


    Now she has my full attention. At her level she wouldn''t be able to see my level. That was part of the reason I spent so much time training on hiding my cultivation. You would see it if you were looking straight at it and you knew what you''re looking for, but her?


    "How very interesting," I said. "I saw you smoking here and I had a few questions. Based on the way the smoke is flowing, it looked like a cultivation technique."


    "Oh this? This is a parlor trick," she said, waving her pipe around. "You''re not going to learn anything from this path. That is unless you are a free agent?"


    My heartbeat quick enough for a second. I think she was ready to play ball. I had been a little bit tired of sitting out of this entire Mission as my girlfriend decided to move into my territory. A quickly look at told me that she was doing very well. As a fourth room cultivator, she could easily take those two cultivators in a fight.


    The one in front of me? If I was mistaken, she was second round but it looked like she was trying really hard to hide that. It either wasn''t a part of her path, or she had them been trained.


    I gave her my full attention.


    "I''m open to negotiation," I said. "What are you offering?"


    I expect her to launch into her sales pitch. I didn''t expect her to laugh.


    "Offering? We can remake you stronger and more durable," she said. "You could be the strongest cultivator here and rise to become one of the top in this city."


    I prepared myself mentally to hear the same spiel that I had heard so many times. Promises about potential and advancement would change my life.


    I had heard the mantras before. ABC! Always be cultivating. In fact, I''d heard it so many times that I could probably say them all myself. What was the point of them if I could do their pitch for them?


    Heck I could even train them up to a respectable level and they would all be none the wiser. They would just consider me some secret hidden Old Masters or something like that. I wasn''t. The way that these things went? I might as well have been.


    I briefly considered showing her just the smallest inkling of my power. She might be able to take it. She definitely could but then everybody else would know. Would that make me more or less of a good recruit for her? Did they even have someone of my realm? Chances were they didn''t.


    "That sounds interesting. What''s on it for me?" I said.


    "What''s on it for you?" She said.


    "Listen here friend. You''re trying to sell me on joining your Sect. Every man, woman and child in this city is selling for their particular path. If you don''t have a good pitch? You can''t sell it," I said.


    She cringed back.


    "Friend?" she said.


    I was tempted to take her out right there. But there were too many witnesses and ... I wanted to see if she was beyond saving. Something told me that I would be disappointed anyway.


    "What?" she said, exasperated.

 2-29

    Let''s get one thing straight here. I am a killer when I need to be. But I am not a murderer. If there is a way to take this woman out of here and save her I would do it. And not just because she was a woman either. Though it tug to my heartstrings, the two men that were there were also probably under some sort of compulsion to stay in the sect. This meant that if I got them out, they would be bound to me or they would be bound to the Civic authority.


    I could not imagine the field day. The case manager of a former demonic cultivator would have. When the primary method of dealing with demonic elevator is to shoot on site and ask questions later. Or we''ll stab on site as a case may be in this place. What I need to do was to figure out a way to get her to come to a secondary location from here. I have nothing that she would like you to come with me but I knew that she had to. If she was going to live. I chose to give her the opportunity.


    "Okay friend, so we''re going to use our hearts now and think about what we really care about," I said, leaning in. " And what I think you care about is getting out of here and telling me more about your cultivation."


    She looked like she had been considering it for a minute. Look. I''m not going to walk sporty about how good I looked. But you know those studies how they say that once you''ve had sex, then other women will find you more desirable?That was playing through my head at that exact moment.


    It was total bullshit.


    But still, it was one of those human interest pieces that you''re like really. Is this a thing? I was just trying my best to give her that Dad charm. She looks like she had a severe lack of father figures in her life. This lead to an unreasonable lack of any kind of parental guidance really.


    In the end, all that really mattered was if she took the bait. They might be trying to lure me in but if we were a neutral ground, I would had the upper hand.


    "You want me to leave here with you?" she said. "How forward of you, but I''m happy here."


    "I really think that''s in your best interest to come with me now," I said.


    For a second I let her feel my actual realm. I figured it was the only way. In this world, people respected strengths and just about nothing else. She had known that I was drunk within her before. All she knew was that I was looking for a place in her organization or someone''s organization and perhaps she would get a kickback from signing me up. I hope it was one of those cheap knick nacks that you get on a free trial.


    Those were really a thing here? I certainly hope not. But I would have had passed the vampires to have a pizza party for their guys instead of giving them living wage raises or something.


    "I''ll come..." she said, meekly.


    "Great."


    I felt compelled to grab her hand. Mostly because I have been holding hands with Lee as much as possible. But this was the Lee. This was just another cultivator. And she was going to get the note that I was leaving from my spirit beast so I didn''t feel bad. The constables outside would appreciate This woman''s aid in answering a few questions once you got to them. All I need to do was to get her out and get her under their control. With their specialized devices, these demonic cultivators might be able to be draw upon their qi.


    She left behind me, following me through the crowd. Was close, it just felt like shooting fish in a barrel. It wasn''t until we crossed the road and she was beginning to question things that we got


    First, I want you to consider that a big part of what made that sect special isn''t the people, or the area, or the block. It isn''t the color or the decorations, the sounds or curtains. What made that place special was the effort you invested, the memories you have with your them, the memories of days and nights feeling like a family. And those things, those _feelings_ and _memories_ will **always** be yours, untouched and untouchable by anything these blue coats say or do.


    Next, I''d like you to build on that idea, that this safe place of happiness existed not because of a Sect or leader, but because of the _effort you put in_ shaping it and caring for it and making it your own group. Which means **you,** your efforts, your passions, are the key to making places that feel safe and welcoming in your life. That means that when you have kids, you can build a new tree house with them, teach them how paint and nails and love can create a safe space. And it means that right now, wherever you live, there''s a corner or a closet or a room that you could decorate, invest time and effort and love into, to make your own tree-house.


    > Last thought, I promise. You''re an adult. You''ve moved away from home, hopefully for good, but obviously even if you return, it won''t be as a child. That''s a _transformation_ for you, from dependent child to independent adult, from a kid who is supposed to do what they''re told and obey their parents into an adult who is still thoughtful about what their parents say but does what is in their own heart. Transformations like this are mostly internal things. We don''t go from limb-climbing larva to big-winged butterflies; we still look the same and talk the same and mostly act the same. But this tree-house, and the hot-tub, that''s physical evidence of this transformation. Your parent''s house is still a home, but they''re no longer full-time parents of a child; their lives are being transformed as well, and they are remaking their environment to reflect this new reality. You''re changing, they''re changing, and the relationship between you & your parents will be different too. You''re not a child who **must** live with her parents and needs a shelter; you''re an adult who gets to negotiate new boundaries with her adult parents. Take this as a symbol, an omen, and run with it a little.


    She didn''t know it was about that her. With the collar on, her face drain of color. Her entire demeanor changed.


    "What the hell am I here for?" She asked.


    "You know why you''re here," I said.


    Under my guidance, the blue coats had a pathway forward. They had chosen to use my idea.


    "The state is going to give you one option right now. If you tell us everything you know about the Red Fang sect, you might live for a few days more."


    She might have struggled against the collar, but now, she was as weak as a puppy. I had to think about what would it be like if I got into that position and realize that I was not going to want to do that. Maybe there was a way that I could grab one of those and train to work against them.Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.


    "You guys have it from here?" I said.


    "We can take this part."


    She sobbed. She had been so proud, but the laws are the laws for a reason. This was about to turn into a hot war and the only reason that it hadn''t was because men hadn''t found a secret underground bunker somewhere with live people being kept. It could be that they weren''t doing that to not draw attention. But now that one of us was convinced. Min was one hundred percent on the same page as me.


    I walked out of our the second story safe house at the blue coats had set up for us. They had wanted to come in but now I was going to tie them up with doing the parts that I didn''t want to deal with. Their local connections were going to be there soon. Men plopped onto my shoulders, and welcome feeling that I was waiting for.


    "I take it that you found nothing either?" She purred.


    "Just the woman there," I said.


    "Shame, really. This group must be good at hiding their tracks," she said. "Moon Lee is working on those two enforcer types. They are very interested in her, almost to the exclusion of anyone else in the club."


    "Shall we go and talk with them?" I said.


    I bound it off after her, stopping. When I was with insight of the club. Club. The bouncer gave me a look and nodded apparently satisfied that I was returning. I was glad that they didn''t ask me about the woman that I had left with ten minutes earlier.


    Myin had snuck in some other way. I could feel her ahead of me. Not that we were in competition, just that she was doing really well and at that point in time I was thinking about how she''d gotten in. I looked up and I saw several over windows and sighed.


    I just hope no one saw her.


    She could take care of herself though. Heck, Lee could take care of herself, I just wanted to speed up the process. If you''re dating somebody you have to think that you''re going to enhance their life. You shouldn''t be pulling them down. This was even more evident in this case where I highly skilled woman who trained me did not need my help but I was just trying to be her backup even if she didn''t eat it. And by enhance her life. What I mean is that I was going to get her out of the situation that we were in as fast as we could and as safely as possible, thereby getting us to a place where we could move on with the rest of the mission. I think that the sect would start to notice when more and more of the member started to disappear. It''s not like I could just grab them and turn them into little pills and then take them out of my pocket. They were going to have to leave at their own feet well if we did want to cause a ruckus. At some point in time someone was going to notice that they were all missing somewhere. And that was the person that we were trying to find. So far men hadn''t found a secret hidden crime Boss somewhere sitting in FIP booth. She had found a bunch of small rooms where people were doing on say everything to each other but it was all just cultivators getting naked and getting the rocks off. Not the other kind of unsafe for you that I was trying to avoid.


    Like maybe it was me but being strong and flexible made things way easier than I thought. It was going to be in the bedroom. And this is after just a day of being in a relationship here.


    When I got back into the club proper, Lee was looking like she was on her second drink and a tube went next to her. Looked like they were giving her State secrets the way that they were leaving spiritually. So of course I was like. Let''s give him more time. I looked around for more people with the mark.


    My working theory was that the bigwigs were not here. Whether they had been pulled away for some important meeting or they just didn''t show up every night at the club, they physically were not here and they were letting their lieutenants do their duty work. This meant less oversight and less higher ranked cultivators. This was the ideal time for us to strike then. Whenever that woman gave to the blue coats would lead to a larger group coming down on the sect almost immediately. As knowing at a reliable way of testing? If so, was it to Monica until they have their hands on them, this whole business was so bureaucratic as to be exactly up my alley.


    It wasn''t me. Being a killer was one thing but I didn''t want to be a murderer. With these guys? I would become the thing I didn''t want to be.


    We just needed to lure them out. Now how would I do that if I was smart?


    I ran back outside and passed by the guy at the door. I looked at him, his curious face never turning away from me.


    I ran back the two blocks to where the blue goes were hiding.


    They were questioning her.


    "Deputize me," I said.


    "What?"


    "Make me a deputy blue coat temporarily. Give me two of those collars," I said.


    They had at least thirty or forty collars right there. I was going to have to pull something out of my ass if I was going to get them to leave but at least I would have four of them to use. I expected some resistance but did not know what was going to happen. I fully expected the worst to happen, as always. Murphy had a way of edging his way into my heart and soul.


    I had tried the quiet One. I was expecting Min to come back with news at any moment that she had found humans being held someplace. I was going to get these guys outside. Ask them to smoke and then drag them off.


    I was a bounty hunter and they were about to be big game. I just need to to make sure that they didn''t have a vote in what was happening to them next.


    I turned to the woman.


    "How many of you are there in the club?" I said.


    She spat.


    "I''ll never tell you anything," she said.


    I smiled.


    I squatted down really close to her.


    "Look. There''s no way that you get out of this without some sort of scars. You might think that you''re evil but really all you are are children playing at evil," I said, unveiling myself. "You''re not evil. You''re children."


    I put a hand behind her head. My nascent soul pushed her back as my hand held her in place.


    "Now, let me make one thing clear here. The government has failed you. Your sect has failed you. You should have been killed already. I am doing this as a favor to my friends over here. So if you don''t give them exactly what they want, you''re not going to be in a position to want anything ever again."


    She was already pale but now I could feel her skin getting cool clammy. Of course this asshole would go into shock right about now.


    Feng put a hand on my shoulder.


    "We can take it from here, sir."


    I returned my veil to the active position. She projectile vomited next to me and I got out of the way in time.


    I wish that I had a good quip ready but it wasn''t to be.


    Instead I just slunk out, back to the streets, with several collars under my robes. When did life become so complicated?


    It had to have been when one asshole decided that I was the one that he needed to recruit to get to the next realm.


    Fuck that guy.

 2-30

    I stormed into the bar. This time the bouncer just let me through. There were only so many curly haired men in the capitol. Safe to say, I stood out.


    I could tell that he wanted to say something.


    He raised a hand but then he realized that I was looking mad so probably it was not the best time. He might be an idiot but he was not dumb.


    There were still dumb demonic cultivators somewhere. I just hadn''t found them all yet. It reminded me of Voldemorts rant to Harry about how inbred the wizard community was- all sycophants and nepo babies.


    Once I got to the smart ones, then the real work would start.


    Lee was still talking to the enforcers and now I decided to see if I could butt into their dance.


    "So that is why we prefer to train unarmed at the end of a training session," the darker of the two men said as I arrived.


    He gave me a cursory glance.


    "Who are you?" He said.


    "Joe Pidge," I said. "I''m friends with-"


    "Moon Lee," she butted it. "They were just telling me about their cultivation style and how they work themselves to exhaustion with weapons, then do hand to hand to simulate being disarmed."


    I nodded. The bartender who had completely clocked me returning gave me the sign for another and I nodded. I almost gave him a thumbs up but I wasn''t interested in his flavor. I just wanted to calm my nerves.


    "What Mei and I were saying, is that we think that this will provide a good idea for newcomers to get a sense of how we work," the darker one said.


    "No one cares what you can do fresh, right?" I said.


    "Write that down," Mei, the lighter one said.


    Was it bad that I couldn''t really tell them apart? Otherwise? They are both men both with long luscious locks of black hair. They were both talking to Lee at the bar. I got a feeling that they were close enough to be related, but also far enough apart to be on a different tanning schedule. Maybe one of them did their training at night?


    Mei laughed.


    "This one would be an excellent addition to to group," he said, carefully not saying the word that I thought he would say.


    "I''ll spar you right now if you''re interested," I said.


    Honestly the whole thing had me going. Here. They were acting like they were big shots in a place where you needed to be strong to survive. And then there were doing the most unspeakable thing to all these people.


    It was gross.


    I wanted to punch them through a wall. Scratch that. I wanted to punch them through a mountain. After seeing what I saw last time? Nothing will be enough for them. Their only value at this point in time was that they knew things that I needed to know and that I could only get while they were alive.


    I wouldn''t give for the ability to speak to the dead and have them tell me only the truth. That would make my goddamn day. If I could just get the questions answered the way that I wanted them to be answered without all the subterfuge? Then it would be great. But I knew that I couldn''t wait. I needed to identify as many cells I could. The emperor himself would want to know this was in his city, right underneath his courts nose.


    That was probably where the brass was. Doing some court appointed function. I couldn''t find them because they were working for the state. I was thinking that they had the version of the CIA plans for how to corrupt an organization and take it over. All those steps to make them less effective.


    If that was so? Well played.


    I expected nothing less from an enemy like this. If I was one of them? I would try to inventory the government too. I would fake my cultivation. What I wouldn''t do is what these two idiots did and challenge an unknown cultivator to a match.


    "That has a sound of a challenge. We like challenges here," the other one said.


    Mei raised a hand lifting three fingers up starting from his pinky. In short, order a older bald monk in an orange and green robe came by.


    "Does the young Master wish to challenge one of these two men?" He said.


    I couldn''t get a read on his power level. Baldness here usually meant that they had made a specific choice to be bald. That or they had some criminality in their past. This man looked like he was over all my bullshit already.


    This was my kind of guy.


    It was very doubtful that he had a membership in the sect unless he was a very high-level cultivator and adept at hiding his abilities.


    "To be frank," I said. "I don''t think that either of these men pose me a challenge, but if it''s a formal duel then are we allowed to bid on the outcome?"


    "Oh, you''re one of those," Mei said. "In that case, I''ll need a second referee."


    A second monk appeared shortly after and apparently this was a common thing place bets on matches. There was even a small court where people could duel that they cleared out in the center. Honestly, given the type of sect that ran this place, I was surprised that it wasn''t more of a fighting pit or Arena. Maybe this drew more of a crowd? And there was more deniability if people didn''t show up the next time because of all the reasons I thought of before.


    In short order, I had an ironclad contract of a fight to surrender or unconsciousness with Mei. Apparently my request to fight both of them once was summarily denied. That was when things got interesting.


    The monks together were at most second realm, however, they had an ability that let them block off areas around the arena.


    One of the monks made a showing of letting people know that there would be a little tussle. The second one began taking bets. As I was an untested, The odds were terrible on my side. But I wasn''t here for that.


    I was trying to get a spectacle going. I was the distraction.


    In the back of the club, Egiya was working her magic. I hadn''t even noticed her come in and she was betting on me and taking bets and apparently I was about to come into a lot of money if I was able to beat this guy fair and square.


    That make me happy.


    Was it fucked up that one of my people was betting on me? Against someone''s whose hours were numbered?


    I tried not to think about the implication of that and instead stretched. I was warm from all the moving around. As I got into the ring, I discarded the notion that I would immediately defeat the poor guy. I would have to make it appear like a fair fight.


    It was improv class all over again.


    My opponent was taking off his blouse and of course he was ripped. He had several scars that had to have been from fights to the death.


    In less than a minute the fight was on. We got a brief synopsis of the rules. No fighting dirty, all that stuff just went in one ear and out the other.


    In fact, when I got into the first first pose of my old Tai chi form, he was doing some kickboxing warmup.


    The man was ready. He charged at me, or at least that''s how it felt. He just kept stepping forward awkwardly and maybe he was trying to end this in a slow manner because of whatever bet he made. I closed the distance as well. It was exactly when we got to front kick distance that he decided to start drawing a kick or two.


    The first was a faint and I could see it coming. Instead of black and I stepped out of the way. He readjusted stands to face me. He was the inside of the circle as I slowly moved around him. Then he tried another kick. This one, once again had no power behind it.


    "Is that all you are going to do? Circle around me?" He said.Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.


    "Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee."


    His telegraphing needed work. He pushed off from his rear foot to jump into an actual attack. Which vital account could have done, leaving the ground for a second to try and deliver a haymaker. Now in this moment I could have done many things. I could have stepped out of the way. I could have taken it and pretended it actually hurt. I could have countered.


    I carefully thought about a response as I fell onto my back, catching him in the chest with my foot and flinging him backwards. He skidded a few times.


    "Is that how you got your scars?" I said.


    "How did you do that? That had to have been luck."


    He spat out a mixture of equal parts, blood spit and beer. I wondered if he had fangs. He definitely didn''t glow in the sunlight. He was probably one of those energy vampires that just took the life out of you by telling you boring shit.


    This time, he waited for me to close the distance. It was only about five paces. I carefully kept my neutral stance as I moved up one foot at a time.


    Both my hands were empty and ready to react. The crowd was going nuts. If I had the aikido throw his ass several times just to make my point, I would. At the same time, those blue coats needed to figure out if our first Target was actually demonic cultivator and then come in and do their fucking job. I''m not playing around with this.


    If I had to be the one to kill them all, I would be so pissed. I would fucking do it but I would be pissed as hell. And these mother fuckers would hear about it every goddamn day.


    "Make my day."


    If I had to kill women to do this shit? So be it.


    They wanted the war? I didn''t think so. But they were about to get one. They made it inevitable.


    He stepped up again and tried a jab. He was awful at telegraphing his moves. This. Let me Dodge easily and cop up to empty palm his midsection. I didn''t even put that much force behind it. But he was shaking. I knew at that point that he was trying to determine my cultivation level. And I also knew that I''d shut them down with Bernice in the Soul. So not only did he not know my level, he didn''t know how far apart we were. And if he had any sense, he would have realized at that point in time that I was hiding my actual cultivation level because I was so far above him. One second of the realm called The Vader could probably take four or five first level. Cultivators. But on fourth level cultivator right? Like me at that point in time? I could probably take 20 second while cultivators. And this is if they got close enough for me too. Actually do some damage. Chances were they could keep up. And the other thing was that I had a group of people very interested in my survival which meant that they weren''t just facing me, they were facing my squad.


    He pressed his luck. I batted away several jabs. At this point in time, egiya gave me the signal. I had spent enough time circling around him to realize that she had been in contact with flucoats and it was go time for them. That meant that I could quickly wrap this s*** up. Unfortunately for this guy, his time was definitely up. Rather than meeting him at his level, I began to inexibly move faster on the counter attack. Whenever you would attack I would block and all I want to block. I would block harder than his attack would have been. I pushed through his guard and got into his space and pummeled his chest several times. He was strong enough to withstand some of this but after about 2 minutes not being able to land anything, It appeared that he understood what was about to happen .


    Because the counter attacks were so much more fun, I began to make them hurt. I could tell by his face that this was not going the way that he thought it was going to go.


    I''ve played along for a little bit longer as he pumped more of his qi into his muscles. He must have thought that I was doing the same. Honestly? This was nothing compared to what the moon clan put me through time after time.


    I was going to have to thank them profusely next time I saw them.


    Another haymaker and I found the opening I needed. I could see several blue coats and their normal garb.


    I could see several blue coats and their normal garb entering and taking up positions.


    It was time.


    "I''m sorry to say this, but this is a raid," I said.


    "What?" He said, trying to punch you in my face. I tucked away, and before you could break his arm back, I intercon did it to his back. And all the sudden, he was staying on his tippy toes trying to not right arm be broken by me holding it up and...


    "I yield!" He said, shrieking as my wrist lock got him.


    "Good," I said.


    The announcer ended the ring and the impenetrable temporary walls came down. I still held them there in that position, I held up the other hand, as the man tried to twist out of it. But his arms are not strong enough to do so. They were strong enough that I knew that any break would have to really take its time to heal.


    As such, I prepared him for the next part of his life.


    "I''m not sorry about this."


    I said one of the callers onto his neck with my other hand. Instantly the man shrunk and the hold that I had on his wrist popped his elbow out. I almost felt bad.


    I could see Egiya at the bets and generally smiling and having a good time. Lee was standing next to the other enforcer, whose entire demeanor looked like he was about to take revenge on me.


    I smiled, trying to give him the idea that I was happy to be here. Which of course I was happy to be done with him. And when the blue coats came in to arrest the man for being part of an illegal fighting ring, he just went with them. That left his friend who''s following the blue coats and as he walked out, I went to place to collar on him as well.


    He looked shocked.


    Honestly, I was just as shocked as he was. As the blue coats LED those two men away, I began to scan them crowd again . The bouncer and his buddy were not exactly within my line of sight. I ran out of those cultivation collars but I was pretty sure that one of them was going to figure out something. Fish was going on. The two enforcers were probably known by the bouncers. If not, they had more problems than I could probably deal with by myself. Jae, all wanted to see as the two men left for the blue coats. The entire crowd was just buzzing. Though they potted to see you what was happening, it was clear that all eyes were on the two. Lee came over to me and began to check me over for any blood or anything. I was happy to say that I was basically unharmed.


    That match up had heavily favored me mostly because I had more information than they did. Now, the blue robes here would be able to figure out why they were able to work out in the open. Clearly something was going on. If this was so blatantly what they were doing. And that was when men got back to me. I could sense her distress.


    "Min found something," I said.


    "Let''s go," Lee said.


    My two biggest fans followed me from close distance as we went to the back of the club.


    There were several doors going either further inwards or further after one side or the other, I could sense. Been trying to get me to open one of them. The door far to the right looked like it was locked.


    "Anyone want to open that door?" I said.


    That was when the bouncers finally got up to us. The interior bouncer came up and gave me a glare.


    "Hey, you can''t go back there," He said. "That''s for staff only."


    "Son, you and I both know what''s actually back there. If you weren''t so dumb you would be out of this district already. Unfortunately for you, your life is about to be a lot of pain."


    "What the hell are you-" he said.


    I elbowed him in the stomach, hard. He crumpled to the floor.


    "He''s one of them?" Lee said.


    "And his partner out front," I said.


    "I''ll take care of this. Let me get one of the guys," Lee said.


    Behind me, there was even more commotion as people realized that the bouncer had been knocked unconscious. I didn''t much care for the man, but he was getting in the way so he had to go.


    Let the emperor kill him himself. I had places to be.


    On second luck, the door looked like it didn''t actually open without key. This was another time that I was glad that I had all this physical strengths. S. I also had a very good formations person. And she just so happened to be done counting money.


    "I''m not going to ask how much we made," I said as Egiya approached, "But can you check if there are any formations on this door?"


    I took old girl about a minute to assess the situation and pop the door. Shouldn''t you have to do much, as she did some voodoo magic with three of the formation.


    And then, I retched.


    "Not this all over again," I said, weakly. About three blue robe officers were milling about the downed bouncer.


    Egiya grabbed their attention.


    "Guys, if there''s a hospital or something nearby, we''re going to need them right now. We''re going to need a lot of help. Safe to say that this is not going to be pretty."


    There''s a smell that a dead body has. There''s a scent that lingers in a room where someone has died and stuck around for a while. That faint smell, with the addition of my nice and soul reached out and touched the interior of this hallway as it slowly sloped downward. I knew what I was going to find. I didn''t know if I could handle it. I just knew that I couldn''t subject the girls to the skin. But the back of my mind, I had to know. I had safe for myself and I had to save some of them if I could. If I could put some of them into a coma and let them sleep, that might help me feel something. It wouldn''t be better. Almost nothing I could do would make me feel better.


    Well, almost destroying that bouncer made me feel great. That was for about five seconds and then I felt empty again. In the grand scheme of things I really didn''t want to have to do it myself. But there was no one else. It''s not like someone trades you to be a professional rescuer of vampire victims. These demonic cultivators were going to eat these people up and use them as living pills or pill furnaces before they killed them for power.


    It was only a two or three minute walk before we got to a scene similar to the one that had haunted my nightmares. Humans. Chained humans lined the wall and I was having one of it. I was honestly expecting This to all be a cruel joke. But it wasn''t. Just like the last time, they had them down there like human chattel.


    Several people at the front were blind or looked ready to be harvested. I could tell that there had to be a lot of demonic cultivators based on the amount of people they kept for them. It didn''t make any sense to me. It''s not like they were actual vampires. It didn''t need to feed on live humans that regularly. They just turned these people into key inside of the bodies so they could fill up there. And then I realized what they were actually doing.


    They were turning humans into qi.


    They suck the energy out of these people to turn them into the kind of techniques that I saw that man use against me. For a second, I realized that he might have spent someone else''s life energy to try to make a point.


    That was when the girls led me away.


    It was too terrible for me to do anything. I needed to not be there at that moment and they came in clutch.


    We left the same way that we came in.

 2-31

    "I''ve made it so that they are in a blissfully unaware state," Min said. "Most of them are dreaming."


    I knew that was a lot of qi for her to expand on such a large group. If they weren''t already near the brink of death, it probably wouldn''t have worked.


    Dozens of victims stood tall as a horde of blue robes locals came through. Far too many of them wore robes that I would classify as formal black tie robes. There had to have been some thing going on. Maybe the blue robes athletic organization was running some fundraiser for inner city youths.


    The endless line of officials who had apparently been summoned from a formal event irked me. Didn''t they have actual work to do? Or were they just here getting the paycheck without dealing with the demonic cultivators in their mist.


    "They felt simple," Lee said, cleverly not saying any four letter word that started with e.


    "Yeah that''s just great," I said. "Took them long enough."


    I felt myself over. Besides a few aches from moving too fast, I was feeling pretty even.


    "We made pretty good money," Egiya said.


    " I think that I have a new idea of who I want to be," I said.


    "Oh what''s that?" Lee said.


    " I''ve been thinking too much about killing people that are in this game. They chose to be here."


    "What does that mean?" Egiya said, frowning.


    "If they chose to be here, they chose to be a part of this battle. To be part of this war, they opted into that. I''ve been tying myself up in knots about this girl that we got last night. Xiran. I don''t want to kill her."


    "If you don''t want to kill her just because she''s a woman, just say so," Lee said. "No one will think less of you. But as a woman, I want you to know that I would not hold back."


    If these two women thought that I needed to man up? We had done several things that were at least on the surface legal. We had started our own little criminal Syndicate. We hadn''t sold any drugs or really gotten into any gang, politics or Turf. Really, all we did was identify demonic cultivators and fight them and kill them and retrieve the victims of their slaughter. What they were doing was beyond the pail. But every single woman inside of that sacked had decided to join.


    If they were inside of the game? If they wanted to be in the game so bad?


    Then I would let them have it. It wasn''t for me to say at that they were less than me because they weren''t a man. In fact, there were so many smart women that I trusted more that I trusted myself, including the two next to me.


    Women like these diamonds didn''t come that often. It was too bad that Xueyie was missing out on all this action.


    "Look, it''s not that I think women are inferior. It''s just that where I came from there was a very strong divide between the genders or the sexes. And for years and years and years women didn''t have the same rights that men did. And that became entrenched in our culture and then our society. And so every time that I think of this in my head, I have to push that thought aside and the second the thought, that is a real thing."


    "You know what? That is. Oddly the sexiest thing you''ve ever heard you say," Lee said.


    The three of us were huddled around, and that was when trouble decided to rear its ugly head again. I saw the flash of a mark. I tugged Min in to come back to us.


    "It''s always one more thing with these guys, isn''t it," I said. "I keep forgetting the blue robes can''t see this shit."


    I hadn''t paid too much attention to the rank structure of the blue robes. But there was definitely a series of pips in writing on either their arms or the shoulders indicating what they were. As there had been over a dozen of them inside, I hadn''t paid much attention. That was until I felt a fourth round. Cultivator walking through with the club with a murderous intent. I looked and on her cheek, because Chris was a woman, she had the mark of a red Fang enforcer. And she looks like she was looking for some one. Her head was also full looking all around. It made sense if she was trying to pretend she''d have been here before even though she need to lay out like the back of her That''s not the way that someone would actually react in the situation. Or at least that''s my intuition told me at that moment. Not only was she burying the mark, she was actively pretending to do a job. Based on the rank on her shoulder though she was an inspector, conferring her more senior rank and definitely giving her the ability to shut down this crime scene or do something nefarious.


    Min hopped onto my shoulder.


    She got a good head pat.


    By this time, my companions were well versed and not looking at a threat when it was still not unveiled. They knew that I was looking what at her and I knew that I wanted to get close to her. I wasn''t sure if I could get one of those collars and get it on your neck or if she was just trying to silence some of these demonic cultivators before they were captured and or sent to received their summary judgment. The only thing that I really appreciated about the governmental system here was that justice was swift and acted in his fast affection as he could.


    "What''s the plan here?" Lee said.


    "One of the higher ranking inspectors is part of the sect. I don''t know how much she knows about this place, I think that she knows Wayne wasn''t she letting on. She''s really pulling in all the stops to pretend that she''s never worked here before."


    If anything, it was getting more obvious that she was acting out apart.


    "Very well," I said."Let''s offer her a role. A leading one."Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.


    I wasn''t one to beat around the bush. Even though she looked pretty average by called diverter standards, I knew that this woman armored deep intent inside of her heart. Whatever God had shined upon me the day that I got this ability to see into the ultraviolet, I kept thinking it all the time for saving me. But I knew, in the back of my mind that it had come in the clutch so many times. That ability had safe on life time and time again.


    Lee had saved my lifetime and time again and I freaking loved that woman. I wasn''t going to admit it so soon, is that my complicate things but perhaps whatever we had now might blossom into something. Something. But first I had to speak to an inspector.


    Blue robes on the woman for laid over a white under robe. Honestly, when I saw this woman I thought that she was going to be either the headliner of whatever blue robe bulb was going on or an honored guest that was going to be some sort of speaker or receive an award. I''ve made a beeline for her and she gave me a look.


    If she had a gun, I swear to God that she would have pulled it at me right then. No matter how high the lighter went, there was always someone to pick off at the top. It gave me pause to think that she had the ability to be in charge of people that weren''t in her sect. As one by one, three men came up to her and gave her some information or waited for her to say something and then left very quickly. I checked and done and then I had the mark. As very pleased with that. She was probably sabotaging this intentionally.


    "Hello inspector," I said. "You''re probably wondering why I asked you to be here today. And just so you know, I wasn''t just looking for you. I was looking for all your friends."


    "Excuse me? Who are you?" She said.


    "I''m just a man trying to get the government to work better. And it looks like that''s going to start with me talking to you."


    "Why are you talking to me? And what are you doing in this crime scene?" She said.


    She has to have been a bit flustered the way that her voice wavered. I shrugged.


    "I just want you to know something, I said. I''m going to one hundred percent enjoy bringing you in!"


    She gave me the most baffled expression of any cultivator that I''d had gotten since I arrived here. It was like she knew half the words but not in that kind of sentence. I didn''t even care to expand on anything.


    "In other words, you''re coming with us for questioning. We have reasonable suspicion that you''re a member of the Red Fang sect and I can confirm that very easily. The real question is why did you damn come into work this day and take this person''s robe?" I said. Egiya and Lee took up my flanks as the woman began to turn pale.


    "What do you mean? I''m not doing any of that. I''m not doing anything you say at all," she said.


    Two of the low robes start to listen to our back and forth. Neither one looked like they were anywhere near us senior level and I quickly checked to make sure that they were not part of the red Fang sect.


    " Hey excuse me guy over here. Hey you. Are there ways that you can check to see if someone''s path of cultivation is aligned with these demonic paths?"


    I was tossing a softball to see if he would swing and whiff at it. Thankfully, he caught my drift.


    "We can get a specialist in very quickly to ascertain someone''s based fundamentals. We wouldn''t be checking someone''s specific path or style... So you want us to do that?" He said.


    "No!" She said, cutting him off.


    She backhanded him through one of the club walls.


    She moved almost faster than I could see. His partner, then realized that he was standing next to somebody with absolutely and zero remorse and decided that he had seen enough of this battle.


    "Ah," I said, dropping my pretense. "A challenge."


    I reached for the deep well of hatred I had for bad parenting, bad use of government resources and improv theatre. There, I found the exact amount of energy to press the attack.


    I moved in a middle stance and threw several exploratory strikes at her. She met my speed with the same. Of course he was fast. She was at least their realm. I fully unveiled, I''m pushing her down with my nas and soul. If she was supply prize before, now she was frantic. It was like she knew she was in the net and I was just yanking it back up in order to get her. All she had to do was Summoner than that or turn herself in. But she had never done anything like that. She had been a mole inside of the blue rose. If I hadn''t come with these new guys? She probably would have rather be out and I would have been in a different position than I was in right now. All things considered? She was about to feel by wrath. I could feel my spirit beast and my companions around me ready to take up the fight.


    That she was so brazen about showing up here with a visible Mark, it had gave me pause. I was not going to be able to tell them how I knew that someone was a darn a cultivator. The cat will be out of the bag so fast that they would all have left for the hills or something like that. If the rest of the blue robes were confident, they would actually think about doing the right thing for once.


    I doubt it''s another blow, ducking down underneath it and going into her guard. This time I held on and pushed her to the ground. I was going to try a wrist lock on this one. What I did was get his phone around so that by the time she hit the ground her face was down. And her whole torsa was facing that direction. And then, both of her arms decided they wanted to join me on top of her body. Then, like I had before, I twisted the arms up and gave her just enough pressure too for her to realize that if she did anything, she was going to dislocate both shoulders.


    "Yield, and your death will be painless," I said.


    She spat on the ground.


    "You will never-" she said.


    I slammed her head into the ground. Both arms cracked as they connected to the ground once again. Her arms now hung lovely to her side and she was going to either need with medical attention or she was just going to be in a disabled state from now on. I had to remind myself that she had opted into this. She had decided to join the war on the wrong side. Maybe it was glamorous or maybe he paid. Well, I didn''t care.


    I was done with her.


    "Can I get snacks after this?" Min said from my shoulder.


    "Not the time, Min. Do you have the qi required to put someone into a dream state?"


    We were totally getting snacks.


    Min shook her head. Due to the fact that she was on top of my shoulder, I expected to actually move with that shaking.


    I knew that she had something in there. Through our bond, I can feel her drawing on her rapidly refilling core.


    The inspector was out. I had seen to that.


    Now I just needed to get her into a dream. It would have to be very suggestive and get her to spill her beans.


    There was no chance she was going to make it out alive. Another casualty to her own hubris.


    We would do our best to get her talking.


    Xirans information had been incredible and it had gotten us to this target right environment.


    The real test was to see if what she said lined up with what this new woman said. Depending on which one knew more, we might even get more leads.


    I didn''t know how many leads we could get, but I was hoping for at least several to give out the next location of the headquarters.


    And all we needed was for one thing to make sense. I was going to let them handle that. But as of right now? I didn''t trust the blue robes as far as I could throw them.

 2-32

    "We''ve got a problem," I said.


    Five more people on the outside had the mark. All of them were wearing blue robes. It would have been funny if it hadn''t been so sad. If I went and attacked him now, they would instantly realize that there was something that I could tell about them that they probably sort of figured out. I was absolutely certain that they could see each other''s marks.


    What I was also absolutely certain of was that they were confidently sure that no one else could. This was not a problem for future me. Just was a problem for me. And my crew right here which meant that judging on their level, I was going to be in a hell of a fight. Three of the five were at third realm, meaning that I couldn''t leave my Spirit beast or Egiya to fight with them one-on-one.


    "Fuck what do you want to do here?" I asked Lee.


    Egiya crowded me, putting a hand on both of our shoulders. What would have previously felt reassuring was now messing with me. I might be over killing women who got into the game, but I was not over letting these two die needlessly because I got them into the wrong situation.


    "Where''s Feng?" She said.


    It took us all a second to find him. He was talking with one of the local officials. He was presenting his badge from Western Jewel and the writ that had brought us here. Of course it was nothing that I''d ever seen. I was here because I wanted to be here at the request of the Mandarin. This shit was good about to spiral out of control.


    Not only did we see him, it appeared that the five were looking for someone to blame for this incident. They were making a beeline for him as he talked to one of the inspectors that had to be a normal regular cultivator.


    Is it sad that I immediately assume that every blue robe is just an idiot cop? Or is it just experience speaking to me and bodily shaking me to recognize the reality of the situation.


    Fucking Murphy.


    The best that I could do was to not have this man get pulled away to be questioned by these five very suspicious individuals who just so happened to arrive on the scene with the rest of the guys from this cultivator gala.


    In my mind, I was thinking about what they would do to raise money for inner city youths here. It was probably putting them into some sort of fight club or something.


    Fuck.


    "Alright let''s distract them-" I said. "Lee you''re on uh...."


    She slapped me so hard that it made my ears ring.


    "You bastard!" She yelled. "How dare you touch me like that!"


    "Yeah! You dare!" Egiya said, yelling and keeping her tone.


    "Officers! Arrest this man!" She yelled at the five in particular. I could see Egiya running over to grab ones hands.


    "Sir! He just groped me and tried to have his way with me. He''s despicable and needs to be stopped," she said.


    If I wasn''t so surprised and shocked by it, I would have smiled. But I needed to play along.


    "And you''ll get much worse if you deal with those coppers," I said, snarling. "Stay out of this, blue robe if you know what''s good for you."


    Now, I had all their attention. Peggy, I was trying to drag two to come over here and beat me up and the other ones were just watching with a bemused expression. That was good but we needed all and it looks like one was trying to break away.


    "Oh, officer please you must be an inspector. This man needs the death penalty! He fondled my buttocks!"


    And here I was thinking that she liked that yesterday. Oh well.


    "Settle down. Settle down," one said approaching. "What seems to be the problem here?"


    "Officer this lech just grabbed me and molested me in plain sight," Lee said, her part completely on point. It was damn sexy in fact, how good she was acting.


    "Officer! She lies."


    I was playing into her role. He wanted to be some sort of savior. He had some male complex about saving women that she was tapping into hard. Like even though he was evil, he was getting a justice boner.


    I checked my veil and it was good. He placed an arm on me, though not strong enough to do anything more than stop me.


    "Take your hand off me, pig," I said, clearly tossing the insult in the wrong culture. "Oink, Oink."


    He might be strong, but I was playing a part.


    "I think that we''re going to have some questions for you and-"


    That was the cue. He would have by now figured out that I was more powerful than him and his three friends that were paying attention all were closing in.


    The fifth man? He was still heading towards my charge.


    "I think not," I said.


    Using his own hold on me, in one swift movement, I detached my robe and threw him into the fifth man from across the street. The three blue robed demonic cultivators in the center all decided that they were not fast enough to catch the man and looked confused.


    My bare chest showed over my gi pants. Of course I was going to have to get another robe, but for now my chest was covered in bandages from the last big fight I had with demonic cultivators.


    I let them take it in for a second.


    "You dare put a hand on me?" I said, hamming it up. "Suffer the wrath of the five fold gentle parenting technique."


    I ran to the first of the cultivators, who decided that now was the time to square up against me as my two lady friends watched.


    He expected a throw or something. I don''t know what he expected.


    "Take him down!" I heard from the back as I folded the first man in half like a pizza box, then tossed him in front of Feng.A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.


    I heard some of his bones break. It was either me crushing his spirit or his contact on the ground. It was a faint sound, but he was definitely down for the count.


    Lee wailed as the man contacted the ground.


    "He''s a murderer! He almost killed that blue robe! You have to stop him, officer! Save us!" Lee said.


    "Take him down!" The inspector barked and all of the blue robes around me were now watching the fight.


    Feng made eye contact with me, disgusted at something. I winked. The mother fucker rolled his damn eyes, then motioned for me to continue.


    He wasn''t ready to admit that they had infiltrated the force. I had no such problem.


    The remaining demonic blue robed cultivators closed in. I smiled.


    "This ought to be good," I whispered, low enough for only the to hear.


    "Let me unleash my demonic defense against these implacable foes!"


    They rushed me. I dodged right, towards Lee.


    "Great work," I whispered. I could see her smile.


    I was past her, running towards the folded man as the inspector tried to pull him out of the reverse fold that had mad him look like a laundry rack. Egiya was already on top of Feng, talking into his ear beyond those two.


    This inspector had to have made his way up, somehow never being subject to a test of the nature of his cultivation. I was about to check his notion of invincibility.


    He stood up and stopped me from punching him through a wall. It was a very close all and he punched my stomach. I coughed blood.


    "Great shot," I said. "But I only need to touch you to get you."


    "What?"


    He tried to pull his hand away, but it seemed to not want to leave. It unleashed my tactile telekinesis to fold him as well.


    It turned out that the crunch I heard was from when I folded him, not from the throw.


    "Two demonic cultivators, as requested," I said, putting the second laundry rack near Feng and the high ranking man next to him. "I''ve got three more to take care of."


    "What?" the blue robed man in the middle said as I announced his business to the world.


    That was when Lee, Feng and Egiya took up a fighting stance.


    The regular cultivator behind us had decided that this was the day that he was too old for this shit.


    I was absolutely certain that nobody was understanding this fight more than my team. Everyone else was just watching the display, kinda shook.


    Lee jumped into the first man, pushing him into the second. If they weren''t hard men in for a fight, both would have fallen over.


    She reads through the two of them, not going over and then hitting the other. Neither one of them expected it. The third one meant an idea head on as she decided to join the prey. I was so proud of that girl and she knocked him down with the force of an entire junior varsity girls track team. Not everyone will get that reference, so let''s just say that it was very rough on the poor guy.


    I walked over to execute my five fold gentle parenting technique on the remaining three.


    "Care to explain why you''ve nearly broken five blue robes backs?" Feng said.


    "Five Red Fang enforcers backs. These guys were moles in your organization," I said. "Demonic cultivators, like the one we found inside."


    I looked at the guy who had been talking to Feng.


    "Who is this guy and what does he have to say for his organization, now that we all know that a demonic cultivator made it to the rank of inspector?" I said.


    "This guy is the chief inspector for this district," Feng said.


    "A pleasure to meet you," I said, extending into a bow. "I have several men here that I think you might be interested in getting to know better."


    The man in the top knot sighed.


    "You''re the one that had the Mandarin get these two over here?" He said. "Well done on finding all of these demonic cultivators and their victims."


    He bent down to look at the broken former Inspector.


    "I always hated you. I''m glad that you were just as evil as I thought," he said, kicking the man. I wanted to say something but I didn''t know what to say.


    Telling him not to kick the mole in his organization? That would not have gone over well. I really wish that I could have done something about that. My best guess was that they knew each other intimately and this Revelation just put together many puzzle pieces for the chief inspector.


    "Is there anything that you need me for chief inspector?" I said.


    "I''m going to test these five men. My new buddy here tells me that you know how to find demonic cultivators. Is that correct?"


    "That is correct," I said, realizing that the rest of my day was about to get fucked sideways.


    "You wouldn''t care to tell us how that happens, would you?" He said.


    "It''s just a part of my path," I said, trying to be mysterious. He gave me a look that said that he knew something was up. But I told the Mandarin I wasn''t going unless they wanted cultivators to know all of my secrets. Telling this one man could exacerbate my problem because he might tell the people. Based on their carb, they had been in a formal dinner and this entire debacle had become such a problem for him that several aides had been running up to ask him questions the entire time that we fought.


    I just wanted the rest. I sat down in the lotus pose, watching the aftermath of my five-fold gentle parenting technique. I had named it because there were five of them and I folded them all into half.


    Each one of them looked like they were going to have a very excruciatingly painful time until all the questioning was done. I was pretty sure that none of them could walk properly anymore, and just being bent over backwards was making me so happy at that moment. If there was a cultivation pass that let someone generate, that would be great.


    These guys definitely didn''t have it. And if they did, they would have fixed themselves already. That they hadn''t yet meant that things were going on inside the bodies that were just setting them up for failure.


    "This has been a very interesting evening," Egiya said.


    While we stood there, three more aides came and talked to the chief inspector. We waited until they left before giving him our full attention.


    "Your methods are strange, but we do see the merit if they are proven to be demonic cultivators," he said looking at the five folded humans. "We will make sure to send you the discovery fee that the emperor requires."


    "Ah, wonderful. Have your people call my people," I said.


    "We need to understand your methods," he said, the crease around his eyes crinkling.


    I was not going to give away my methods. Not only that, I don''t think that they could get it. They didn''t have the abilities that I had and I don''t think they were going to go down my path. I was beginning to think that it might be a thing that I got because it was some dear. That would be pretty terrible.


    That meant that they had an incentive to kill any one that came across who could figure out their schtick.


    Not me of course, as I was too beautiful for this world, but other less gorgeous men probably. There were only so many therapists in the city and I was all of them.


    Feng rejoined us, after a brief discussion with the chief inspector


    "I think that you have flummoxed him enough for one day," he said. "Where to next?"


    There were no more big city where they had an enclave. We were going to have to figure out a way to get them to talk. Or at least that was what the blue robes were going to have to do. Me? I was done with this damn game.


    "Do you want to call it a day?" I asked our handler.


    "That would be appropriate," he said. "I''ll finish up here and gather my partner first though. We can meet you at..."


    He looked conflicted.


    "If you''re going to ask me to parade through their entire group then..." I said.


    "Don''t do it without asking for money," Egiya said. "This is definitely worth a steak dinner, at least."


    "Oh at least!" Lee said. "With some wine?"


    "That would be marvelous," Egiya said.


    "Hey you guys, you didn''t mean anything you said during the distraction part, right? Guys?

 2-33

    You know what I miss? Taco salad. It''s one of those things. It''s a fusion cuisine that no one really thinks about. But what do you need for taco salad? You need the cultures to mix in a way that creates a breakdown of a taco shell and a taco into a salad and at marriage of those two things have to become exactly the most crunchy thing you''ve had in a while.


    Because no one wants to eat a non-crunchy taco salad. That''s just not a thing. Because if it was, then people would actually do that and that would be shameful. So long as you don''t do that, you''ll be fine. But getting that correct is a lot. It''s especially a lot when you''re trying to consider when to add that dressing.


    The girls jumping in on that improv note where I was an abusive guy or a pervert was exactly the dressing that I needed at the right time for my taco salad.


    And you''re probably going to wonder right now about my mood. Let''s just say that I''m a bit tired of blue robes not doing their jobs.


    It''s getting a little bit old. They need to find these guys themselves.


    To that end, I have been told that I''m going to be having an audience with the Chief inspector as well as whoever the emperor appointed as the police chief. Because apparently at some point in time, you have to switch from people that have done this job their whole life in the hierarchy to people that are appointed and hold ceremonial roles but came from outside the system.


    To give you a very American analogy, it was like I was meeting with a supreme court justice about my conduct in person with the highest cop in the land. I told them first thing in the morning and they told me that they would have an armed guard around wherever I was staying.


    I told them that if I wasn''t able to check them all then they better not send any guards. They said har har.


    We went back and forth for a little bit and it was decided that they would make a show of putting me in one particular place. Then they would have me actually go someplace else. This was in their words a way for them to ferret out these individuals that had decided to work against the law. All six of the cultivators that I had found within the ranks were summarily executed that evening after being questioned for hours. I was happy to say that I was not part of that discussion.


    Whoever did that? They had my respects. The interrogators, of which there were five, were all paraded before me and I had to ascertain that they were not demonic cultivators. It felt like I was doing the most to help them out. But at least they knew that these five cultivators were not double agents. And that in itself was enough of a change for them that they were going to be able to start with that. If they had physical hands on a demonic cultivator, they could figure out if they were one. They .


    What the inspector had done was to fake the results for those people that were on the take. Those demonic cultivators that had gotten onto the blue robes had been part of the group that he had taken in himself. He himself had a path that let him obscure his path, showing people a different set of internal qi than was there in reality.


    You''re probably wondering what that even means. I had a core that I packed full of dream qi. That was my primary aspect. All I need to do was be by the aura of people sleeping and dreaming about their lives. Even nightmares would feed that. When I meditated. I drew in on the ambient dream or around turning that into my energy that I used. The fact that my two current companions had such lofty aspirations now fueled my growth.


    They were daydreamers.


    I was also able to tap into Min''s qi as our bond let me share energy back and forth. She was fine.


    She just needed to rest into the night. I let her retire into my dantian after a long cry. It was good for her to get that out of her system.


    ---


    Honestly, the best thing about that evening was the hot baths. And the fact that I was able to soak for a bit. Lee joined me, fully not caring that either of them were naked. Egiya talked to us from across the way, in a separate hot bath.


    I loved cultivation in the way that it had let practical hot baths exist where they shouldn''t be.


    When you spend your days taking down monsters, you quickly realize that you don''t care if you''re naked around the people that you rely upon. I tried to look away, and it was definitely clear that she was keeping just a head above water out of respect for me. But Lee had no problem sitting next to me.


    I was worried that I''ll get found out here. None of the demonic cultivators here knew me, and the ones that I''d see my face were already in deep conversation with the interrogators that I had cleared.


    That was another thing. I needed to clear these people. This was upstream of them doing their job. Trusted agents of the state didn''t just do demonic BS.


    They needed to have some way to vet them first. That would be a start. Even when they were vetted, I was brooding about how people who were vetted could obfuscate the results or later turn to a life of crime.


    The message if you worked hard and you could make a life for yourself in the blue robes was seeming to be more of a marketing gimmick than anything else.


    The only thing that they were guaranteed was the respect of cultivators that they were stronger than.


    That was exactly what everybody else got.


    People were constantly squaring each other up based on their perceived strengths or perceived slights to their pride.


    It didn''t make sense to me why they did their job, but they did. And as the heat in the bath eased the aches in my back and neck, thought about how I would change this if I was the emperor.


    I hated to think that police were necessary. I had seen so many bad apples that had made them tainted in my eyes. If there''s a hungry man who needs spread to feed his family, but he steals the loaf of bread why is law coming in on either side?If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    Instead of taking the man into custody for stealing, they should just feed the man. But if they do that then they''re bad cops. But if they take the guy in? Then they''re also bad. It was a lose lose situation.


    Like if the law is bad, change the law. But it didn''t seem like laws changed that often here. The emperor himself had been on the throne for quite some time. I was feeling that we would butt heads eventually. My perceived disrespect at finding a nest of the enemy entrenched in his own city would probably cause an outcry. At least that''s what I thought he would do.


    Chances are the emperor was the same narcissistic self absorbed kind of person that the upper crust of society here created. If not? Well, I would like to be surprised.


    "I would like the emperor to make my day," I said, in between blowing bubbles in the heated bath like a big boy.


    "You''re such a good lap dog," Lee said. "Also, you''re brooding again. You told me to tell you the new time "


    "Woof," I said. "It''s not even that, though. The guy is either willfully looking somewhere else, to some bigger threat or he is...I know we are not supposed to criticize the emperor, but I imagine that I would do more."


    It was an old wives tale that the emperor could hear it every time that his name got invoked. Still, though I wasn''t going to tempt fate. I didn''t need the man to drop in on my soak.


    "I see that the bandages are all off now," Lee said. "Are you feeling better?"


    "I am, a bit. I''m going to be sore tomorrow. Unless you know a secret martial technique to massage out the sore parts."


    "Is that a secret martial arts technique or are you just happy to see me," she said, giggling.


    "Well, to be honest," I said. "It''s a bit of both. But I''m not going to rush anything. You did amazing with the two guys at the bar, by the way."


    "I would do amazing things with you if you would take any of the hints that I have been dropping this evening," she said.


    I was a simple man. I let her lead the way.


    ---


    "So you''re in a relationship now?" Egiya said, as the waiter left with a round of drinks.


    "I didn''t expect it, but she basically uh..." I said, pushing my food around the plate.


    I wanted to say that she held me at gunpoint. But we were at breakfast and Lee had decided to get the sausages and cut them in the most on purpose way that I had ever seen someone do it. Like I have heard of girls covering their mouths when they eat, or not eating bananas the normal way in front of a man, but this was just her sense of humor finally cutting loose.


    She might act mean, but she was nice as fuck.


    "She is very persuasive," Egiya said, watching the spectacle. She gave her tea mug a sniff and then nodded to herself. I spared a sniff for mine and it was going to be good.


    There''s just something in the tea the day after a big fight. Or maybe it was the soak?


    Lee cut her sausages into little chunks, somehow maintaining eye contact with me.


    "She is... She is also funny. I like it when they are funny, because I can''t be the only one always making the guests laugh."


    Egiya giggled.


    "You''re terrible," she said.


    "You''re pretty great yourself kid," Lee said, chomping on the last bit of sausage. "Now how long until our handlers come in here all hot and bothered?"


    "Less than one minute," I said, closing my eyes. "Twenty Waan."


    "Bah. Make it forty, you coward," Lee said.


    "Ten minutes tops," Egiya said. "Forty Waan. What''s a few Waan between friends?"


    I counted out my haul, or at least the amount that I had brought with me. That was on the more expensive side, but the bank of dad could handle it. If I couldn''t treat the girls to a fair bit of disappointment, was I even a father figure?


    It is a dads solemn duty to make his kids cringe at wholesome jokes. I wanted to take that extra far especially when Lee was doing the whole sausage thing.


    "I didn''t even see sausage on the menu," Egiya said.


    "I had to special order it," Lee said.


    That was about the time that Feng and the chief inspector arrived. Their steps were easily recognizable once they were close enough. The chief inspector was at least fourth realm, as I got absolutely nothing on his movements


    This meant that there was a specific lack of sound. This lack kept movement to a loud brash man who stomped around like he owned the place.


    "Feng. Where''s Niko?" Lee said, deciding that this was the perfect moment to slice a sausage.


    I could see him pucker.


    "He got tagged on paperwork duty," the blue robed man said, as if he wasn''t totally responsible for that. "Chief Inspector, I believe that we have everything that we can give you from our side. Now I think, you have some questions for our hunters of the demonic?"


    The chief inspector made a show of ordering a breakfast and then dismissing the waiter before Feng had a chance to order. I didn''t even know what flank noodle steak was, but it sounded amazing. I was going to have to try it some other time.


    I feel like it''s a good idea to try and live like a local and experience a local culture. But I definitely didn''t see sausages on the menu and the flank noodles. What? I was going to have to ask a lot of questions. A lot of very pointed questions about what the heck was going on in this noodle house. My breakfast ramen was delicious and had an egg and doodles but I was not even aware that you could have that.


    "I have spoken to the emperors aide. He made me recount yesterday''s incident to the chancellor," the chief inspector said. "That means that sooner or later you are going to be mentioned to the emperor and his court."


    He let that hang there for a little bit as his tea arrived.


    "If you think you''re going to pressure me to give up my trade Secrets, you have nothing coming. This is a proprietary past technique and not only do I not think it can be duplicated, I don''t think it should be duplicated."


    "Proprietary, hmmm," He said, sipping his tea. "There are many paths that take one from where one is to be a more powerful place. All of them begin with you taking a single step. But in each one that I''ve ever read, the unique ability to spot a demonic cultivator from far away is something that has never come up. We''ve always had to have them there in person and close enough to identify it. And then either we won''t identify it through their usage of Aura or..." He trailed off, wastefully looking at the closest waiter.


    The man had no chill. Shortly thereafter his food was arriving and he got caught up in that.


    I Wanted to tell them. But I also needed to make sure that they were sending me people that I could trust. I didn''t know any of these people, which was okay. I needed to really understand the motivations on a personal level before I decided to give up the whole thing.


    " I think what we have here is an impasse. You need what I know. I don''t think I can teach that to anybody. Instead, what I propose is that you send a bunch of people with me and we test them on if they could even try this. If they can do it or they can attempt it, we might have a chance with them. If not... There''s always my spirit piece too. Might be able to help you. But I think that she''s going to be more expensive than me."

 2-34

    A man in a round robe that screamed bureaucrat walked into the breakfast place and saddled up next to the chief inspector. It was apparent that the chief inspector was waiting for this man and also apparent that the man was late. Now, I didn''t know if this was intentional or not, but he looked like he wanted to give us something and I was reasonably certain than this man was at first realm or so and definitely not demoni cultivator.


    He put a stack of papers onto the table.


    He turned to the chief inspector, nodded and then turned to me. He had been playing for time, like he was going to give me a subpoena to appear in court or some of the shit. As soon as I could buy take it back? I would. There might be a s*** ton of people in the demonic cultivator hunting circle, now that I dislodged their biggest nest, but we were going to have to let the guys at work there handle this. Handle this. It would be very quickly evident how many were actually demonic cultivators and how many weren''t, especially with the interrogators who had a good idea of who was already on their side. I was going to offer them to go through and check several hundred members if they could arrange it, but I wasn''t going to give that without bit of payment.


    He turned to me.


    "I''m Freud, aide to the comptroller. I''m sure that wondering why the chief inspector brought me here. I brought you the important forms that will let you requisition your pay for killing these demonic cultivators. I just need you to fill out all these in triplicate and send them back to the office of the management of the budget and you''ll get your pay within five to seven business days," the man said.


    "Nice to meet you," I said. "I see that this isn''t listing all of our captures or kills here?"


    He scanned the list.


    "Sir, please fill these out to the best of your ability."


    It wasn''t very often that government bureaucrats came to me to have me sign forms for money, but I was going to accept that.


    Bureaucracy was always a little bit of a work in progress.


    There had to be some leeway in the amount of things the government workers could do, but also they needed to do their function. And if this guy''s function was to travel the places to make demonic cultivator killers happy, I was pretty sure that I was now getting the very important person treatment.


    "I''ll have these forms back to you within..." I regarded the chief inspector.


    "Half an hour," he said.


    "...Ten minutes," I replied.


    Egiya copied my word effortlessly. Her dao of forgery would be world class, if she ever decided to do anything like that. Not that anyone in a mentor role would try to do that for her. Nope. That definitely wasn''t something that anyone would try to get her to do, ever.


    "All right, so in order to forge this correctly," I said. "You need to imitate my signature."


    "I''ll remind you of the chief inspector is right here," Freud, the man from the office of management and budget said.


    "All I''m having to do is copy these forms so that I can sign it multiple times really easily. I would never ever suggest that she was going to sign for me. All she''s doing is making clear where I need to sign. You have given me just enough to keep me busy for some reason."


    We took the five minutes to sign the forms, completely surprising the man and the chief inspector with how fast we were doing things.


    "Alright, that is done," I said. "Now if you both don''t have anything else for us, we are going to make our preparations to head back to Western Jewel."


    Both men looked shocked. Neither of my companions nor my spirit beast stirred. They knew the deal.


    We came in, we kicked ass, and then we left. We had a hot trail and now we didn''t have the benefit of that hot trail, so we were going to pack it at in. If our handlers wanted to come back with us that was on them.


    "Cultivator Pidge, the emperor has requested that you report on your findings," the aide said. "As such we will be in contact."


    "Well you can have your people call on my people," I said.


    "Send a message through the Western Jewel branch of the Moon clan," Lee said.


    Egiya wrote down the clans address and gave it to Freud.


    We said goodbyes and let them go. It was not even that great of a breakfast. But the sausages happened to be one of the best sausages I''ve ever had. Yeah I stole some from my girlfriend, wouldn''t you?


    ---


    "This money feels great, mostly because I got it from betting against you both and winning," I said.


    "You knew that they were coming," Min said, well inside of throwable range above my shoulder.


    "Yes, but they knew that I might know that, so it''s on them to make a bad bet," I said, waiting for the line at the ticket booth to die down. "You know that there''s this line that my dad likes to sign from this rapper- Win the Superbowl and drive off in a Hyundai- and I have never felt it more than here."


    "A hyundai?" Egiya said. "One of those iron golems? You had those on earth?"


    "They uh what...?" I said.


    "Iron golems. Ancient. Made by a dynasty prior to the current emperor? Before Tigers used to smoke?"


    Lee nudged me.


    "You seriously haven''t heard of hyundai?" Lee said. "You''ve told us about divorce but not golems."


    "Well, uh in my world that''s a type of car, which is like a cart but with a motor that makes it move fast."


    The line moved exactly enough to infuriate me.


    "Why would you need a fast cart? You can always run faster than a cart," Egiya said.


    "Normal humans in my world are nowhere near this strong. They definitely aren''t this fast, either," I said, stepping forward less than two paces. The capital took queues seriously.


    We were four people away from getting tickets when they finally explained how yes they were real things and this wasn''t some elaborate joke at my expense. Then they asked me about what a superbowl was and I had to just sigh.


    ---


    We spent our time on the airship resting. I was going to need some time. I was feeling that expenditure of energy but I was also feeling burnt out. I knew that I was about to have some heavy conversations with the Mandarin and that was going to be the easy one.


    I didn''t know if he was going to go on a hunt and try to bring me along. He seemed happy enough with the presence that my recovery team was doing. I decided to delay meeting with the Mandarin until I could do a full download with Lorenzo. When we got back we went to the Kang residence first to speak to Ellen and drop off her daughter in one piece.


    That was when we caught Lorenzo scandalously drinking tea with the woman. Now I know that she had a husband somewhere, but I had never seen hide nor hair of the man. I wouldn''t put it past him to be a gentleman and I was glad that he had a friend now, but it felt odd.Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    "So your girl? The moon clan has been working on breaking her cultivation," Lorenzo said after offering me some street meat. "They think that they can undo the damage to her dantian and put her on a different path. She seems like she would be receptive to hunting demonic cultivators down."


    "I would be honored to tell her about my path. I don''t think that it will give her the ability to see the mark, but..." I said.


    "Oh, that''s the other thing. She can see them now. The taoists are going to do...well the closest thing I can say to what it is... it''s like skin surgery. They''re extracting the bit with the tattoo and that bit is going to be sent to..."


    The elder Kang coughed as she searched for the word.


    "To the office of management and budget," Ellen said.


    Of course it would be something like that. And of course you would know immediately. As a previously high-ranking cultivator, she knew where in the city. She knew the offices and I was going to have to get back with Moon City to see if we had any buddies there that he could talk to. Every single time that they asked me to fill in my paperwork. I just wondered where I went. With a filing somewhere? They weren''t putting into a computer. Was it just going someplace just to go someplace. It felt inadequate. Like the actual level of bureaucy did not rise to the task that I was given. I killed some one cultivators. I want to claim a reward. It was well established that I do these things. They know that I do this. So what the heck''s going on and why do I have to fill out all the stuff to get my money?


    "We expect you to spend all afternoon filling out forms to get your reward transferred from the capital to here," Ellen said. " It''s a shame that you only found a few. But you did expose their hideout and maybe some of the victims will be able to come back with some better information."


    "Every single cultivator that you took down is now on some blacklist somewhere, meaning they won''t be showing their faces anytime soon," Lorenzo said. "They are not going to be happy about this. But the fact is that they don''t know who you are. Your anonymity is your greatest strength."


    "Well thank you for that. I feel like finding the one guy with the curly hair in the city will be very easy if you just paid any attention. But everyone is just so self-absorbed that it just doesn''t happen," I said. "It would be great if I could just rely on people to do their jobs."


    "We can all hope that dearie. It''s never going to happen. Only my wildest dreams do I feel like the governments will actually do a job promptly in the right way. If I ever see it done that way? I''m going to assume that I have gone off the deep end."


    I didn''t want to think about what would put her in the deep end. After losing basically her husband''s attention and having her daughter run all around following me, she had enough out of life. Her daughter was doing great on my tutelage though and I expected that she would hit the third realm far faster than she would have otherwise. The fact that she even got to the second world was due to a lot of work we had been doing together.


    "And I''m sorry but your daughter was amazing, I would always love to have her work with me. You should be so proud of her. I know that I am."


    I swear that mothers love to hear that more than anything else. It was her son and she didn''t have any sons, she might have acted differently but Sgt got a little bit choked up. Lorenza battered around the back as she just held back to yours. I could tell that I probably should have said that one. Her daughter wasn''t in the room, but oh well. If I''m proud of you, I want to tell you I''ll let you know often. It''s something that you deserve. In her case? She was now trying to get the idea of what she wanted her mom to be and the actuality of what her mother was and realize that those were two different things.


    If she wants that relationship with her mother, she needs to understand that she was not going to get that fantasy mom. She was going to get this woman.


    Sure. She was old and broken and flawed but she was supportive. Sure. She rarely left her block but she liked it where she was.


    So did Egiya. Of course that one was far younger. It took us a few minutes. Say our goodbyes and then it was just the two of us. I was going to stay with them and I was heading back to the place where I slept for dinner with my girlfriend. We are walking through one of the districts that I''ve been through many times and new like the back of my hands. I grabbed her hand with my hand and it felt like the most lewd thing that you could ever imagine.


    Just out in front of everyone. I was letting her know that I liked her.


    Honestly I could have dropped trail at any other time and felt more comfortable doing that in the middle of nowhere.


    We went back to the moon clan and got a hard refund. Once we talked to the clan elders, I took her back to my room and debriefed her as well. Thankfully, she was wearing one of the best sets of lingerie I just seen at resting bitch lace and I was just a really happy guy.


    "So this works for you?" She said, checking me out.


    I took off my robe. The top one felt a bit loose.


    "This is good. You don''t understand that. That''s my ex-wife''s shop and it''s kind of weird that you go get your lingerie from her right?"


    She ran a finger off my chest. I was like that, I was not paying attention to anything at all except for her. And by the time we were done? I was sore in so many places that I just just lay there for a while. Surprisingly, she did all the work. She was really getting bold about what she wanted and I was loving every second of it.


    Once we''re done doing all that, we went back to cuddling and I went back to my existential trade about having to talk to the Mandarin. I did not want to talk to him.


    I really didn''t want to give a report at all but if they kept coming here to talk to me, I was going to have to. That meant that at some point in time I was going to have to actually talk to them to save myself the hassle of doing the opposite.


    We spent the night wrapped up just naked arms and legs, a mess of lust and love crossbreeding into some nefarious purposes. It was well worth the trip and I advise all people to from time to time get time with their girlfriends and just let it happen.


    If the bureaucracy of the Western dual government had one point, it was this. They wanted to drown a man in paperwork. I feel like I give him enough interviews that they could write this s*** down for me. But no, they wouldn''t. Every single top-tier inspector had swung by my place. Usually they came with a friend or two.


    And one instance, I was actively en flagrante with my girlfriend. It was not the best time but we had to clean up quickly.


    Every single time I repeated my story and every single time I checked to make sure that they were not one of the demonic cultivators. It sounded like what they were doing was drip feeding me every single member of the blue rose to make sure that they were on the right side and then because of that one cultivator in the the Red Fang sect that didn''t have a tattoo, they were testing everyone''s cultivation.


    A one-two step to make sure that every single person was the exact person that they thought they had. No one was going to be able to hide this. I was surprised at how many inspectors they had. I mean of course a mature police force needs a certain amount of people to be detectives and solve crimes and shit but in the end how many did you need? Inspector here. Kind of meant something more like a sergeant back home. The blue rose didn''t have a detective division or a non-uniform division. They just all had the same authority so long as they were strong enough.


    They also had to be smart enough. So once you had enough brains and brawn put together, you might make it to be an inspector. To make it a chief inspector, it was an even bigger leap and they were only about a dozen of those. Each one was at least third realm, which is saying something because not everyone passes through the first threshold or the second threshold.


    What I found out almost universally is that they were very skeptical of my methods. They liked the results, but I was a black box to them. The inputs came in and the outputs came out but they didn''t understand and I didn''t care to teach them as apparently I had figured out how to impart my knowledge. It had to do with where I was from and my spirit bond.


    The fact that I could Bond a spirit beast and use that spirit beast ''s abilities to figure out who was a demonic cultivator led to some clashes between the blue robes and the Moon Clan.


    The moon clan was all but ordered to try and direct their spirit beasts to bond with whomever was willing and able to be cleared for the duty.


    The spirit beasts had many to say about that. I heard the talk of unionization mentioned several times and it made sense to me. And a place where everything of any substance was done through collective bargaining, you had to expect that intelligent creatures would try to do the same thing.


    When Min presented the spirit beast with demands of the blue rose. She almost got laughed out of the clan itself. It took them nearly two weeks to warm up the day''s idea and then another three weeks before they were willing to offer up the first of many bonds. I laughed every time that the blue robes tried to strong arm the moon beasts into doing things.


    They were not used to this and it was clear that the blue robes had a very heavy hand.


    At the same time, work on the victims continued and it became apparent that a lot of them were able to get to the third realm with some work. Many of their dantians had been examined and seemed to be more pure than the average person of their realm. This meant that if we wanted to we could have brought them on board.


    A small group of the victims began to branch out from the post-traumatic stress training. Xueyie was leading them through martial arts exercises to calm their inner demons so to speak. When the first one made a breakthrough to the second realm we cheered. When the third one did we began to take notes.


    If there was something about them having lived through a trauma of that type, I would be absolutely terrified to see their growth as a result.


    It was pretty clear that the singular event had changed them. So much that they were all ready for what had to be the next realm or higher.


    The Taoists and the Moon Clan began to see the value of installing a trainer within their ranks after that.


    It was something that I''d never expected. It was welcome, of course.


    So there it was a month and a half after getting back and I was finally feeling like myself again. All my bones were healed. I had a new girlfriend who was amazing. Even Min was less snippy.


    All in all, things were looking up. I even got time to work on my cultivation and that felt great. All in all, things were looking up.


    So of course that was when the summons came from the emperor.


    ---


    <h2>The End Volume 2.</h2>

 3- One

    "On the order of his majesty, the imperial emperor, heavens guardian, you will report to recieve his grace and blessing at..."


    My eyes glazed over.


    That day was the first day of many days in which I was handed a letter telling me to report to the some functionary. This one came directly from the office of the emperor.


    You see, as a fourth realm Nascent soul Cultivator; I had an obligation as a land and the people. This also meant that I was one of the strongest motherfuckers around.


    When you¡¯re strong? The Empire recognizes that. To give you a little ribbon and a gold star and they tell you they¡¯re going to calling you in their hour of need.


    It felt to me like they were a little ahead of the time there and asked for me. I had already been responsible the deaths of dozens, if not hundreds, of demonic cultivators, just by showing up at the right place at the right time. I had an ability to see them when they could blend in with a populist. They had a marker on their faces.


    There are a few things that the general public doesn¡¯t know about demonic cultivators. The first? Though it sounds like something that would be related to a demon, they are more close to a group of cultists than anything else. There were no demons. At least none that I knew here. What was demonic were their methods.


    They took living people, and he turned them into energy. The stronger the person they grabbed, the easier it was to feed on their life essence. The more one did this, the more one needed to higher realm fodder. In the capital city of millions, if not tens of millions, there were so many people that a few disappearing here and there would not cause a lot of fuss.


    They knew how to find people they could make disappear and effectively use those and to power themselves. Now there weren¡¯t many. There are far more in Western Jewel where I came from than they were in the capital like, but that was because they had a specific operation they were doing there.


    Oh yeah, and I¡¯m a cultivator. What cultivators do is we draw upon the natural aura of the world into that of energy or qi.


    We then empower our bodies with that energy to fight against the Spirit. Beasts and other cultivators and this endless war of dick waving that I am just not a fan of. In fact, there¡¯s a lot of recruiting of people to join one sect or another just so they can have even bigger dick away from contests. When I got here, I came from Los Angeles and my great job as a therapist. Many people trying to recruit me for my skills and my ability to take an aura better than most of the average person instantly beset me. Something about being from Earth made my dantian or physical body more able to process the aura around me and energy. This also meant that it was more pure. The regular Joe on the street was very impure and spent their life trying to purify themselves from the energy around. Large sauce of this world were uncleaned and therefore many beasts roamed outside in the impurity. They had to cultivate as well, to become more pure and more strong. Starting at the baseline of that, I worked my way up from the first realm to the 4th where I could use my abilities to reach out and since the world around me was as if I had a giant telekinetic force field. I could also learn how to tap into the power of dreams, taking someone into a living daydream where they could train or develop a therapeutic relationship with them.


    You might not be surprised that I started a therapeutic practice on the side because I was competent and wanted to expand it here. I even took on a student, Jin Xueyie, who got a lot of work with the victims of the demonic cultivators. One of those was my partner for my therapeutic pact is Lorenzo. Between the three of us, we were doing a lot of group therapy and a lot of individual therapy to address the post-traumatic stress of those victims.


    Jin Xueyie was a part of a theater truth family who had, until recently, been a backup actor. Her cousin¡¯s death forced her to take on a leading role. And during that time, we found out that the demonic cultivators were now setting in more agents to return their influence to Western Jewel. The first one in had been attending the Opera that she starred in and took a liking to her. Xiran the daughter of a demonic cultivator, had been sent along by our family. We abducted her and turned her over to our internal authority.


    Apparently, she had been sent here under false pretenses and did not really understand the scope of the problem. Her family had basically tried to get her to bait me out. I wasn¡¯t having any of that. We asked her if she would rather die or live after us breaking and reconstituting her cultivation to not rely on the deaths of others. She allowed us to reformat her conservation and gave us some crucial information. This being the location of the demonic cultivators¡¯ safe house inside of the capital city. The capital city, under the guidance of the imperial Ming emperor, was very far away.


    Tracking down any leads before word of her capture or death spread was a top priority for us and local enforcement. Indeed. Later that next day, we departed and caused a giant panic. We discovered nearly a hundred victims less than ten miles from the Capitol and the emperor¡¯s courts. To save face, the emperor had given us an endowment which had yet to actually really reach my coffers. But that morning that we were summoned, I got two letters. Letters. One was from the aid to the emperor asking me to return to speak to him and the other one was from the bank telling me I finally had the money that was owed. I got it down to you for every demonic cultivator I located and or killed. Like it wasn¡¯t on me to kill them all, but I could definitely find as many as possible. The blue rose could determine their cultivation pathway. Being a demonic cultivator was punishable by death.Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.


    And this whole time that I¡¯ve been here, I¡¯ve been staying with the moon Clan. The moon clan dedicated their lives to the techniques set out by the moon spirit. Beasts and, in fact, several members of the Moonlight and were my personal friends, including my tea broker Moon Xiru, my girlfriend Moon Lee and our little intelligence mole Moon Fei. Yes, I¡¯ve only been here for a few months and I¡¯ve already got a girlfriend. But I broke up with my girlfriend in a last world a week before I left, and I regret every minute but that was far behind me. I left my ex-wife a long time ago and even though she decided to follow me here and set up her own shop nearby where I was working, again; we were amicably working things out. Maxine was an industrial engineer who made women¡¯s sports bras into lingerie. She had a shop called resting bitch lace. Back on Earth, we left our two daughters there, Rachel and Courtney.


    I didn¡¯t choose to be here. Circumstance pulled here me.


    Every day that I¡¯m away from my girls, I ache.


    I want nothing more than to get back to you than. I wanted to get back to Lauren and apologize, but it¡¯s been too long for me. She¡¯s probably already moved on and I know her son is not going to miss me how I thought he would. To be honest, I¡¯m pretty sure they all think I¡¯m dead. They probably think the same thing about Maxine, too. It¡¯s going to be rough. But the Moon Clan thinks I can make my way back if I just figure out the right formation.


    That brings me to the other person on my team, our formation¡¯s expert, Kang Egiya. Egiya is a daughter of two cultivators, one who spends his time doing the formations for the emperor and the other one whose formation was broken upon trying to ascend to the third realm. Her mother Ellen stays above her shop of formations and inks and papers. It had been one of the first places I visited once I got my bearings.


    It seemed like I finally gotten myself into a groove of getting closer to where I wanted to be. While I was working with a system that had so much law and so much bureaucracy and red tape. As a former social worker, I understand the need for government efficiency and for governments to not respond to every single demand. I felt that having a group of people that ate other people and turned them into energy might be high in the priority list for a government. Eternal that it was, and that no one else could kind of pinpoint these guys? It meant that my services were very much needed, and that I was in business. I wanted to be giving people therapy and coaching them through their problems and issues. But what the government wanted me to do here was to find every single ass amount of cultivator and call their number.


    So, I knew what was going to happen. The emperor¡¯s aid was going to have me go meet with the Chief inspector or someone in the government and they were You tell me I had to do this. They were going to tell me that this was the mandate of heaven or some bullshit.


    Because the emperor is like the agent of heaven and the mortal realm. I would call bullshit on this whole thing and I would still probably do it because it would help people out. And the one thing I¡¯ve learned here is that if I could just cut the problem off the knees, it wouldn¡¯t be able to find its way to me. And even then, it would need some sort of help to get to me.


    So that morning when the courier came with the two notices, I paid him his fee and rolled back over. I was going to have to get a ticket onto an airship and take the airship cross country for about 2 days and then I would be back in the court. This time, I would take my entire crew so we could go out there. Or at least the ones that were second realm and up. That meant all the girls and my spirit beast. Oh yeah, I got a spirit feast that was a part of the Moon Clans Spirit beasts. And one thing about me, bonding with my spirit beast, was that I could share my ability to see demonic cultivators with her


    My spirit beast, Min, was an ephemeral cat or dog, depending on her feelings who could go intangible or invisible at will. Often she spent his time with my dantian. But also often she was out there making sassy remarks to me, all of which I endured because she was hilarious. Jersey girl and put her here. Because she could access some of my memories, she could make references and also get inside of my head a little. Maybe a little too much for my own good, but that was fine.


    She was really great at being mean on the outside while being nice on the inside. It was the perfect thing for the job we were doing and if you had asked me if I wanted this? I would have absolutely said no.


    But in practice? It worked out really well for me. Apart from the times when I was actively doing the nasty with my girlfriend, we were constant companions. My girlfriend also had her own spirit beast, which meant that we were always all four together. Though hers didn¡¯t speak up as much, having decided to be a quiet dog most of the time. In fact, I hadn¡¯t seen it in a while.


    There¡¯s only so much work for a moon dog.


    It¡¯s not like the courier came really early. We just decided to take the afternoon off from training.


    In the early mornings, the two of the train can¡¯t stand fighting and various weapons. Then I would go to do group therapy for the victims of the demonic cultivator. I would always be there with Lorenzo and Xueyie. Then in the afternoon I would have lunch with whoever was around and this afternoon, Lee and I had decided that we were a little too... We needed to take the edge off.


    Listen. We¡¯re all adults here. I made her happy; she made me happy. That was all. We weren¡¯t trying to get married right now. Both of our sisters had been married with kids for a while and as she was, she was in no rush. Apparently, cultivators can have children until whenever they felt like it.


    She, too, was a Nascent Soul Cultivator, meaning that she was about as powerful as I was. She was also hilarious. She had a dry humor that I loved and she knew enough about this world to be dangerous. She had paid attention to the trainers growing up and although she had grown to this level; it had taken her some time. I had helped her get from the third drum to the fourth realm, and she had appreciated that.


    It had taken us a long time to get on the same page, but the results were worth it.


    Though I might miss my old world, I had a plan to get back to it and maybe this time I would bring my girlfriend with me. Me. Just wanted to see my girls again. Maybe I¡¯d be able to apologize to Laura for leaving her abruptly. I know she had plans for us and maybe the distance was too far, but I want to apologize properly.


    But as often the case, when life starts coming at you? You hit right back. A month and a half ago. I had been trying to put this thing after thing after thing. And I thought now it was time to get back to it. I had healed from my injuries. My girlfriend was feeling up to the task and my actress could get her leave of absence approved. We were going to have to head back in and this time I was calling and end to it.

 3- Two

    ¡°The emperor has sent notice that you may fly at the expense of the government,¡± the man said.


    ¡°And I suppose that there are forms for that?¡± I said. ¡°The kind that needs to be put into triplicate and all of that?¡±


    The man sighed as if I had just taken away his puppy.


    ¡°Sir, you must be mistaken,¡± He said. ¡°I¡¯m from the office of travel and transport, not the Office of Management and Budget. Our forms are only required to be filled out in duplicate.¡±


    His seriousness took me aback. In this shit hole of a town, to see the man was actually serious about his job and not fucking around was nice. However, he was asking for too much. There was a thing is too much paperwork.


    The stack in front of him? That was it.


    ¡°Well, at least I have my sidekick with me,¡± I said, putting Egiya on the back.


    ¡°We¡¯ll have those forms to you shortly,¡± she said.


    She was immaculate. The vibes were definitely on with that girl. Her writing was his meticulous as her hair, makeup and nails. Not to mention that she had a set of robes that would have given Xueyie, our actress, a run for the money. As the brains behind the operation, she was making sure that I wasn¡¯t going over my budget. Not that I had a reason to have money except for the victim fund.


    I was a simple man. I ordered at the company store and kept it on the down low.


    ¡°I think they don¡¯t want us to show up. Like the people that are here to help us? They¡¯re actually not really a particular invested in their jobs,¡± I said.


    ¡°You can¡¯t say that in front of them. That¡¯s like telling people that you¡¯re divorced. It¡¯s not even a thing,¡± Egiya said.


    ¡°It¡¯s totally a thing,¡± I said.


    ¡°Luck again that you have strange customs in your old world. You guys can actually be married and then not be married and not have a person die. That¡¯s insane. But bringing it back here? That would never fly. Weddings? Marriages? Marriages are for life.¡±


    She twirled a graphene pen.


    ¡°... And again, I think that you¡¯re thinking about storybooks,¡± I said. ¡°This isn¡¯t a story. This is you and me and our two close friends heading on an expedition to find more of these demonic cultivators.¡±


    Xiran, the newest recruit to the team, was still nominally an enemy that we expected could eventually turn in us. I knew in my heart hearts that she was still wrestling with the idea of her family doing the right thing and us stopping her. I didn¡¯t know what I would have to show her to change her mind. There¡¯s always we can kill before it becomes something that you¡¯re not looking forward to, but you expect to be a part of your daily life. And I was speaking about the difference here between killing and murder. Murder is never okay. Killing sometimes justified, and it¡¯s a war thing. And there was no genie of a convention here. They were going to use civilians. They were going to act out terrorist plots and there was no code of ethics to stop them from doing the most heinous thing. Possible.


    Us? I might say the more evil, but we were at least lawful. Some girls might say that I was awful, but that¡¯s on them. I¡¯m outstanding.


    ¡°Now that we have an insider who¡¯s turned, we¡¯re going to get further in and see if we can recruit more. Or is it a counter recruit? I don¡¯t know,¡± I said. ¡°Speaking of which, has Xueyie decided to show up today? Or do we have to go to her after this?¡±


    The guidance that we got from the Emperor''s date was that we needed to be on the next ship out of here and that will be tomorrow morning. This gave me plenty of time to close up my affairs and talk to my people before we headed out. I knew I was going to take the three girls who had been with me from the start and the new one. I debated on taking Moon Fei, if only so it didn¡¯t look like I was having a hero. He was not a cultivator. He had never broken through to the first realm and it was unlikely to for many reasons. At his age? I questioned his sanity. He was in his mid-twenties, probably, and still running the streets for the gangs. He would be in a valuable asset at the Capitol if he could find the right people to talk to.


    I was also skeptical that he might have problems if he got into a fight with one of the demonic cultivators. He didn¡¯t have the defense. But unlike his cousin Moon Xiru, He didn¡¯t really have a job. This meant that if I paid him, this was his job. And I just gained a low-cost person assistant to help me out with everything that was going on.


    ¡°Do you want to walk over and check out what¡¯s going on? Or do you think your mom needs you here?¡±


    I didn¡¯t want to touch on a nerve. She Kelly really wanted to go with me. Her dresses clearly had a codependent relationship with her mother that I was not going to get anywhere nearby. When I tell you it was a classic narcissistic bomb who wanted to make everything about her. Just that she had been so much more powerful before she broke her cultivation. Now, the formerly strong woman relied on the weaker one to do just about anything. It wasn¡¯t really a problem unless it was.


    We had all these classes in school about how stress can cause so many problems and how it basically eats away at you. Ellen was very stressful for Egiya because she demanded a level of work that was inconsistent with the girls¡¯ goals.This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.


    ¡°I think I¡¯ll say goodbye to Mom. We can head out.¡±


    I met her outside, and we wandered back to the compound that had once housed the demonic cultivators. Now it was the rehabilitation clinic that Lorenzo was running. We had taken the girl Xiran there to see if she could be scared straight by seeing all the victims. It¡¯s not like she would have readily seen this. In time, while she had cultivated the path of the demonic cultivator, she would have had to take another human¡¯s life in order to empower herself. Now, she had broken her cultivation, allowing her to reform it. The Reformation process was still going through. If we could pump good blood into there to get it to go for, we needed it to be. She was going to be back in the first realm soon. But the thing that I want the most was to know if she was really going to be on our side.


    ¡°Have you seen her since last week?¡± I asked nonchalantly.


    ¡°I think that she¡¯ll be a fine addition to the team. Unfortunately, I also think that we need to monitor her,¡± Egiya said.


    It has decided that if we were to take her, someone would have to watch her and be her handler. Then the girls all photos blocked to decide that I was the one that was going to be responsible for them. As I was the strongest person and the most likely to be the one to put her down if something happened, it had become my job to watch over this girl. She couldn¡¯t do much when she was sleeping and we again a pair of bracelets that would sap her aura and energy so she wouldn¡¯t be able to use any of that while she was sleeping. But still. In time, we were all going to trust her or we¡¯re going to have to kill her. She knew too much that either way; it was going to happen.


    When we arrived at the training yard of the former Red Fang compound, a lot was going on. Unlike the other times that I¡¯ve been here recently, it looked like they were hosting a lot of local talent as the City in Western Jewel decided what to do with these victims that had already been given a death sentence before, and we¡¯re only now coming back to the realization that they might fully be alive.


    I mean, I would buy all that for a dollar.


    She looked rung out. Of all the girls in my growing evil operation, she was the most out and out, had been an evil princess and now was working for us. Or at least that¡¯s what she claimed. Come to think of it, wouldn¡¯t that make her a demonic princess?


    If there¡¯s one thing in this world that was constant, it was that there were no actual demons. They were demonic looking Spirit beasts, but the actual demonic sect was based on their pathway being evil. They didn¡¯t make deals with demons or devils. They just killed people and used their bodies for fuel. The distinction might be small, but it was significant. I was going to be walking into some Cthulhu, like summoning circle worrying about new demons. We all knew what these animals were. It was just the way they showed up. That was the difference.


    ¡°Xiran,¡± I said, moving to see her directly. She looked up, hope blossoming in her eyes.


    ¡°Sir,¡± she said, kneeling. ¡°My life is forfeit.¡±


    Oh yeah, she was definitely going to need therapy. I think we were all going to need therapy. It was this morning before I saw the work that we did. Or in particular? She¡¯d be betrayed by her family in a gruesome way. Luckily, we caught her at the right time, otherwise it might have been a problem. It sounded like they had set her up to trap or trap me. Of course, I wasn¡¯t having any of it. Now, she was acting faithful looking faithful and I couldn¡¯t read this in her head, but I was pretty sure that she was ready for us to come help her out of her rut and into the light.


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s a start. How¡¯s your training been going?¡± I said.


    ¡°My dantian and meridians have been reformed and I no longer can draw energy from how I did,¡± she said. ¡°It¡¯s honestly a relief to be like this. The moon clan thinks I would be a good fighter.¡±


    ¡°Game recognize game, little sis,¡± I said.


    I reached out with my nascent soul, the intangible sixth sense that I now had basically caressed her and feel her cultivation pathway. Pathway. It was the most invasive thing that I could do. Short of stripping her down and doing. You know what? But she expected this for me. She knew I was going to check her cultivation path. The chances are that I would let her go free? That was not a thing. She had a long way to come back here and earn her trust. She had been working diligently with Lorenzo to get herself back to. If not good, at least to a place where she wasn¡¯t a menace to society. I had a vested interest in her. Right before I went through the whole ordeal of taking down the nest of Red Fang cell members in district 40 of the Capitol, I realize I had no problem killing women who were inside of this game who it opted into it. But this girl? She grew up in this and she knew nothing else. When I pulled her aside and tried to take her out of the game, she will get it out. Now I had to pull up to my end of the bargain and get her out of this game. Having her as the hound dog to snap out of other Deborah Cultivator sales meant she had to do a fair bit of work before we were done. But we would dismantle the institution and brick by brick if we had to.


    Starting with the closest places that we can get to by a ship, we were going to plot out a few spots and then see if we could get someone to use a higher level cultivation to transport us there. Apparently, there was an option to take a transportation pathway that would bypass the deed to use an airship to cross the continent. And with the North American continent going through the reported hell, that was a divine beast trampling all over it. I wanted to avoid those kinds of problems.


    The kinds of problems that I wanted were the kinds where I had to sign between two different delicious street foods. And oh, wouldn¡¯t you just know it? I had enough to buy both at the same time? Now I am fixed now. I had the chilling problem of having to decide which one to eat first. That was the problem I needed in my life.


    Xiran represented the opportunity to do the right thing. She was hungry to get revenge on her family. Or at least she said she was. She was happy to follow my lead. Though I wondered what she said to the girl when I wasn¡¯t around. I might be a noble son of a gun, but she? We were working on her.


    Lorenzo came up and gave me a high five.


    ¡°She¡¯s ready for you, man,¡± he said. ¡°Just give her a chance and she will prove it to you.¡±


    ¡°I really want to. But now I got to ask you if you¡¯re just trying to blow smoke up my ass into something. I will believe you but if I have to come back here because you were wrong? We¡¯re going to have some words.¡±


    ¡°Relax, my friend. The last thing that I want is for you to be dissatisfied with the street women that you find out there they were trying to...¡±


    ¡°Once again, they¡¯re not street women, Lorenzo,¡± I said.


    ¡°Well, all right? If you say so. Have you gone to any of Moon Xiru¡¯s poetry bashes? I know that is not exactly what it¡¯s called..¡±


    ¡°I have not gone to any poetry festivals, improv shows or even stand-up comedy out here, a possibility. I might start attending that kind of thing, but definitely not the improv class.¡±


    There was nothing I hated so much in this world as an improv class. Either that or people that just jumped into improv, no matter what the heck was going on in their lives. It was something that was very popular. My kids were old enough to get out of the house throughout the day.

 3- Three

    "All right. So the first thing we''re going to do is we''re going to go speak to the emperor," I said, briefing the team. Inside of the ornate wooden conference room that my station afforded us, we had arrayed easily. Having literal help show up was just a bonus.


    Moon Fei, though wounded more than a Yamcha body double had joined us. Moon Xiru''s had remained at Western Jewel. This meant that we had a man back home to run operations and we had our fixer here with us to make sure that the mundane parts of our job were going to be taken care of.


    "The first thing you''re going to do is speak to the emperor? Look. Who''s all high and mighty right now huh?" Moon Lee said.


    "This one thing said it''s going to be a good time to get information from moon clan contacts at the Capitol," Moon Fei said. "Once we arrive this one will head out to the compound and integrate with the local efforts."


    "Okay, that''s you," Xueyie said, flicking her hair back. "What are the rest of us going to be tasked to do?"


    Min was sitting on her lap. Of course she was getting head pats. But to me it felt like she was petting snooki from Jersey shore. I knew the mouth that Spirit beast had. Moon Lee, sitting next to her was doing the same thing with her spirit beast. It wasn''t a competition but it was clear that the two had the same idea. The two spare piece had been floating around between the two of them and Egiya.


    Of course, right now I had Egiya filling out the paperwork that I was told would only be thirty pages. Xiran was watching over her shoulder, trying to get a sense of her path. Right now she had a new path where she could kind of decide where she wanted to go but she hadn''t. I wish she would sometimes, but I''d already taken her away from everything she known and given her an ultimatum that was going to be a death sentence if she didn''t lose everything that connected her to the culture from her previous life.


    Once we gotten through with the pleasantries, the girls took her in this training our newest recruit in combat. She was solidifying her foundations right now. To get your foundations correct. You have to connect all your meridians and solidify your dantian. Or something like that. For me? I just came up having been purified enough by just not being from here. It was like stepping through a 5k finish line, after walking the whole way. It was harder to get to the fourth and third realm, by far. Those felt more like a professional fight. But I could see that she was moving well.


    I asked the girls to take it easy on her as they were getting very talented by this time. But still they had to have some value to their training. Just because in one case one wasn''t a drug fighter and the other one was didn''t mean that they could just ignore what would happen if they were in a one on one fight.


    When one of them came in with a low attack, Xiran found it back, dodging it. When the other one went with a eye attack, she dodged to the side. It was like she was doing her best to predict the next move. I know that the two were coordinating but not as much as if there were actually fighting.


    They were taking turns. I like that about them. This meant that they could rest and relax while they were doing their work. Moon Lee and I were just watching them go back and forth for what had to be a half an hour before we called a halt. It was enough for them to finally get familiar fighting each other.


    We might not be a great team, but we were a passable dysfunctional family.


    That work would get us pretty far. Moon Lee and I gave her some pointers I wanted you to do but for the most part let them do their own thing. It wasn''t really even something that we could intuit normally. They all needed to take some time to go into their cultivation. Just like my own cultivation, there was going to be some time to meditate and some time to do your techniques and fight as these el-solidified your pathway. Pathway. Once we join the basics really well, everything else kind of fell into place and that was what we''re trying to get them to do here. That and keep them occupied while we''re flying for two days. Somehow, we had taken a airship that was making a single stop on the way to the Capitol and that it had really pushed us back far more than I thought we were going to be.


    Then, when they got too tired to continue physically, we jumped into the dreamscape. There they fought my inner demons as well as theirs. As it turned out, Xiran had a lot of location specific memories that she let us draw upon. That meant that when we got to the part where we were in the capitol, we went to a version of her parents mansion that looked over the main square in the first district.


    As in, two of the leaders group that was the largest single problem that the Empire had lived underneath their noses. They were probably somewhere else now if they knew it was good for them. If I were them I would have been far far away, but I knew better than two deal with this kind. Those that live by the soil and die by the sword kind of thing.


    I wasn''t just in this game to make money. I wanted to make it to the point where Sects would just stop bothering me. See that in itself will be a amazing thing for me to have happen. Because here?This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.


    In the dreamscape where all my feisty dreams about fighting bears and tigers came true? There were no suites men trying to pull me into their pyramid scheme. There were no MLM karens trying to get me to sell their herbal tea supplements either. And they definitely weren''t going to be trying to get to my girlfriend to get her to sell those things. That''ll be ridiculous right? But I figured those things more than I feared actual combat.


    So that was when I had a chance to work with the team on what''s going on with them. It was very quickly evident that there was a good foundation there for us to build from. She haven''t trained in combat. She just wasn''t as strong as either I or Lee were. This kept her in a competitive spot with the other ones. I could build something out of that. The only question was, how much could she take? The answer we quickly found was that she was a little bit more durable than we had initially expected.


    I wanted to think that it was a mental fortune that she had that had saved her ass from being killed by me. Her reality? The change in her life? Those were huge things. The fact that she had been basically thrown into the wolves to try and figure it out the person that could distinguish demonic cultivators meant that she was expendable. Expandable people didn''t last long.


    Expandables people that were sent to do a suicide mission in a brand new city to them really didn''t last long. But on the other hand if you took those same people? And you re-aim them back at the initial cause of their disillusionment? You can have a great time using them to undermine the exact systems that brought them out. Let me explain.


    There''s a difference between the institution that creates demonic cultivators and the individual cultivator. If there was no institution, the individuals could just easily leave. Xiran could just as easily get up and get out of this organization. In fact, she did so. Without the institution or the sect to back her up, there was no reason for her to do the thing she could potentially do that would support that group.


    This was why we went after the institution and not just the people. Anybody who wanted out? We would give them a chance. We would make sure that they were going to get the same. Look that this one got but we were going to do it all the same.


    It was just a part of our due diligence to get these people out of the institution so the institution could collapse in on itself. At least that''s what I was going to tell the emperor if he wanted me to pontificate on the point. I could go on and on about left-wing violence versus right-wing violence, but the fact the matter is if she didn''t have a group to return to then she would probably just do something else.


    Right now?


    We were about to dismantle that group wholesale. The fact that her parents who were demonic cultivators were close enough to the imperial Court to see it meant that there was some high-level cultivators that were going to find. This also meant that they probably knew what''s going on and they had probably moved to some different place and assume new identity is already.


    There are only so many high-level cultivators around. After the fourth realm? It was rarer to find a hire, more powerful cultivator. Were as strong as I could suspected they were, they don''t be easy to pick them out of lineup of strong cultivators.


    There was a bottleneck of the second round and a bigger bottle like at the third realm, which meant that the amount of people that actually got through was small and you noted those people when you saw them. It was still a significant amount of people because of the selection bias of you spending time around them or seeing them often because they were notable but it just wasn''t that many in the grand scheme of things.


    This meant that when we did a rehearsal of a raid on a house, we let her run through to feel what it was like to be on point. Because she wasn''t really that strong yet. He was going to have more time to get to that point. She still wanted to come with us and lead us to some places that we might not have expected to go to but I wasn''t going to throw her away.


    She had begun to prove her usefulness.


    When presented with a map of the capital, she calmly pointed out several hotspots that we would probably need to go to in person. This caused the aide to the emperor to realize that not only was this going to be a problem for him, we were going to make it a problem if he didn''t do his job.


    As far as I was concerned, his job was to make us happy so that we could make the emperor happy. Nothing would make me happier than making that man sweat out the small details.


    We sparred there for what had to be another half a day and then we went back to the real world. If I liked to be on a virtuality into work at the reality. I knew the dreamscape was fake because I created it and it wasn''t active part of my will to keep it up. I also knew that if I got too messed up in the head, I could could definitely do some damage with that.


    I didn''t want to think about it. I knew that in my heart, I could not use the dreamscape for terrible things. I have a code. My basic code is this. If I feel like I wouldn''t be able to explain to my daughter s? I wouldn''t do it. Questionable things like going to people''s heads and trying to mind control them or try out them into a dream space? Yeah, I don''t think I was going to want to explain that one. Rachel and Courtney would definitely say something.


    It''s exactly why I had decided that the dreamscape was only going to be used for happy dreams and training montages thankfully fell on the preview of training. After all, I was a big softie when I wasn''t trying to save the neighborhood. And when I wanted to go see at the neighborhood? I was going to do the best damn job I could. Even if it took me away from the neighborhood to destroy cultivators. I was ready, willing, and able to put an end to this this little skirmish


    ---


    There''s this little trope that once you''ve done something like going on a little drive or walk once, the next time it feels a bit shorter. Somehow that happened on our way and it felt like we were there in no time. I might have enjoyed our time together. I had our s*** was because it was the size of a cruise ship. But I was glad to be back on solid ground. Even if I could fly using a lot of my energy to keep myself afloat, the people that I was with? They might have some issue with gravity. We are all victims of physics. Those that can''t fly, especially so.

 3- Four

    There are only so many ways that you could take an hour-long at etiquette class.


    As a man who didn''t grow up inside of a monarchy, I was not accustomed to being told how to sit and how to receive orders and how to wait. According to my handler, the emperor''s aid, it was expected that I conduct myself as a fourth realm cultivator should. This was fine, as I expected that the emperor was stronger than me.


    He was very vague about the emperor''s actual strength. I found that odd.


    If I was that level, I would want people to know so that they can know what to shoot for. I ended up getting a non-committal answer that he was somewhere around the eigth realm. This meant that although he was immortal, he had decided not to ascend the heavens or whatever that meant.


    It also meant that with him being that realm, that was about the highest thing anyone around could hope to achieve. Apparently at some point in time you needed resources at only a state could get. Resources like Divine treasures that had to be created or had to be found and then that became part of your process to get to the next realm.


    I didn''t have the powers of the state.


    I was barely able to get the state to start functioning. The state was my bitch at this point in time. I was going through extensive state training to up its game. At least, so far as it affected every blue robed individual.


    We sat through the tea ceremony and the tedious process of being assigned a specific time to petition the emperor.


    Now I''m going to remind you that the emperor requested our presence. He wanted us there. It wasn''t so much set out right but it was heavily implied that it would be in our best interest to actually show up and speak to him. I didn''t want to forget that I was a free agent and despite me wanting to help out the government so it''d be more efficient, I had no dog in this fight.


    I just wanted to be back with my kids again. If that wasn''t something that he could give me? Then he could just go fuck right off. Rachel and Courtney were probably all alone, bouncing around between my parents and Maxine''s parents.


    In my nightmares, they were out in the streets. Trying to do whatever they could for money. I knew that my parents wouldn''t let them do that.


    My father had been agent for multiple grammy-winning artists. He was well off. Had to that, he was still alive even if he was absent and had been an absent father for most of my life. They will be taken care of as they were teenagers who only had a few years left to complete high School.


    The rational fear that they would be on the streets Ward with my knowledge that they would be fine.


    I knew that they would be fine. I just wanted to be home. There was a little ache in my heart when I thought about how no one was going to be able to give them a satisfactory answer as to what happened to me or Maxine.


    Our divorce hadn''t been the best and our split had been particularly acrimonious, but we still agreed that we were going to put the kids first. Neither one of us had decided to come here.


    That we were both here meant that they had lost both of their parents. Part of me thought that perhaps only my consciousness had gone here. Maybe my body was still back there and this was all just a figment of my imagination and I could still be hooked up to like an ICU bed and in a dream state.


    Someone had told me that there was a way to get back. I even had someone who had described this very same world. Come into my office once as a client. I hadn''t connected the dots until later but once I did it made sense that at a certain level people were turning or people were going over to Earth from here.


    That no one was able to tell me exactly how meant that I was just going to have to find that information myself.


    I was clinging onto that hope like the third monkey on Noah''s arc.


    So if he asked me for anything I would ask him for what I wanted. I tried to hold on to that feeling this is the price. I had done so much for him already.


    The hallways outside of the imperial court were all marble. The gray and white flowed together as if someone had painted them. Above it, columns held up an impressive looking roof. The cord itself was a public arena where many people could come and see the petitioners of the emperor as well as listen to the degrees. When we filed in, we sat at a space designed for petitioners on the side.


    At that point in time, there were dancers or fighters that were going through a increasingly intricate back and forth. They were dancing with swords or spears depending on the moment and it was a play fight where they were trying to tag each other.


    They were moving very fast, in fact I had trouble following it from time to time and to compound this, there was a percussive band playing music. One stringed instruments stood out against the drums, it''s discordant vibes exactly in tune with the fighters.


    As a music increased in tempo, so did the two that were performing. When it slowed down, they did the same. I could imagine an old sword dancing master mustering the courage to ask these young masters to plie across the yard. They in turn would jump and spin in accordance to the dao.


    The jumping spin? Yeah that was an easy opening for an attack.


    If this was a fight to the death, one of them would have taken that opportunity to kill the other.Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    That cemented my idea that this was a display for the court, the dozens of people that were washing around from the outside as well as for the emperor who seemed to lounge disinterested on a throne of Jade.


    The emperor himself looked like he was a model out of a martial arts teen vogue magazine. He very clearly was intelligent and he also very clearly was wearing the most expensive hairpiece around his high cheekbones.


    Angular face and long beard made him appear young. Although I knew that he was at least somewhere in his hundreds, based Where I had expected gray hair, it was all black. If there was a living breathing definition of dad bod, this was it. I had heard rumors that he had several children himself, but it wasn''t able to confirm that. All I saw was a woman to his side on a chair that was just as equally ostentatious and gaudy.


    She on the other hand was intently watching the proceedings.


    I got a sense that music drove the fight as she only glanced every so often at the fights.


    By the time I realized that, they had switched weapons and now they they were doing so I could see that one was donning the mask of a demon. Were they going out with some historical piece of theater? Or were they showing one of the recent acquisitions that the emperor had figured out to use his propaganda? I hadn''t the foggiest idea.


    Let''s get one thing straight. I knew that I could be a great source of propaganda.


    He could point to me and say if this foreigner living among us can ferret out the amount of cultivators and so can you.


    I did not want to be used for that. I would not agree to that.


    As the pace increased, the man attacking the demon fighter had donned a wig. If so had to describe it, I would call it a deflated afro.


    We''re they trying to approximate what I looked like? No one had hair like that anywhere, so far as I had seen.


    This caused my companions to all turn and look at me.


    I shrugged.


    They turned back to watch as the man using a spear tried to drive the demonic cultivator back. At least that was my sense from their interaction.


    There was a lot of finger snapping and toe tapping in between where I was like. If this was a terrible gang or is them trying to approximate what actually happened they were failing hard in the name of a good story.


    They made it look as if the demonic cultivator was the aggressor, which made sense, because otherwise they would have to account for how I knew what I knew.


    It was looking more and more like this was a rush job. Some two-bit hack had created this to appease his patron. I had a lot of notes for that composer, but the dance itself was on point. I wasn''t a dance critic, or even someone with a passing fancy for dance, but I had brought up two teenager girls and yeah let''s just say that the two of them had performed on ''Dance Force'' at their high school.


    I had paid for enough dance tickets to know that this was a cross between that and a trip to the circus. It was professional, just super new. The crowd loved it though and that seemed to be enough for the emperor. Maybe he has some path the required others approval. That would be some kind of hell long term if you didn''t do what you needed to do to gain and keep it.


    More likely he was just powerful and wanted his friends to not fight him. I could dig that. Still, I wasn''t here to watch the circe de soleil. Going to the opera has gotten me into this damn mess in the first place. If I hadn''t found Xiran there, then we wouldn''t have branched out to hunt these cultivators and let''s just say that my life would have been very different. I might even be sipping wine on the beach, As ridiculous as that might sound. Western Jewel and the capital both had a nice warm year-round temperature that I had grown accustomed to.


    Of course, one was right next to the water and the other one wasn''t which meant that I could jump in the water if I ever wanted to lose my life to a Leviathan or a whale.


    As the dance dragged on, I realized that it was as much a show to make us wait as it was for other people to watch. This is probably going to be about 2 and 1/2 hours you might have watch. Ed. Still, didn''t have a smartphone and I didn''t bring anything to rage so I just sat there. I briefly debated heading into the dreamscape to get some training in. We were there and we were going to see our way through this.


    Moon Lee and I waited until it seemed like they were finally going to do the final curtain call. Honestly it felt like such a waste of our time. We should have just showed up later if they were going to be like this. But if this is how they honored their heroes?


    I was going to have to do the right thing and accept it. Nothing less would be acceptable.


    I took a moment to fully envelop Lee''s hand in mine. Getting out of this situation would be great for my morale. I felt like we could have a conversation about what we were while we were there. We had gotten a space up high. It wasn''t like a special box. It was more like we were waiting to wait.


    "Hey, I know that this is crazy, but did you want to talk about the future?" I said.


    She turned to me.


    "What does that mean?" She said.


    "There''s this thing we use as back home where we ''define the relationship''. How do you feel about us putting a label on this?"


    She cuddled in closer.


    "What are my options?" She said.


    "Well, we can be boyfriend and girlfriend, friends with benefits, not definite this at all or something else?"


    She rested her head on my shoulder.


    "Can we be besties?" She said. "What about frenemies? I have heard that one before."


    "That was Min, trying to get under my skin."


    "Doesn''t she live in your dantian?"


    "Technically yes," I said itching my belly. "But really she''s just around. I take it that your spirit beast doesn''t give you the same issues?"


    I feel like she had an opportunity to float and had decided to not take it.


    My stomach gurgled.


    "Mostly yours just seems to give you indigestion and anxiety," She said.


    "I prefer to call it spicy depression."


    She squeezed harder.


    "There''s the man that does the thing that makes me need a soundproof bedroom."


    "But seriously, I know we''re having a good time and I''m in no rush to define this. It''s been six weeks and I''m fully ready for you to call me your boyfriend whenever."


    "Is boy toy short for boyfriend?"


    "No it''s the familiar version of fuck boy."


    "That''s a good girl," I said. "Now I think that there are going to be **several** speeches from men that are completely full of themselves and then we''ll be off to the races."


    The chancellor called the court to order and then praised the performance for what had to be the length of one, maybe two Bluey episodes. Long enough that you were annoyed that you had to click play again. Just thinking about that. It was something that I wasn''t able to get to.


    The conveniences of modern day living were all out of my reach. I just wanted to be able to turn on some streaming service and watch something mindlessly for hours on end. Something to lower my cortisol would be just the right thing. Of course I didn''t have anything close to modern equipment on hand. The closest thing I had was the Opera and I could only handle so much of that at once.


    It seemed that every time I went to the Opera everything went to shit.


    But then, I could see that the emperor was beginning to address petitioners. And went over it in my mind. One more time. Don''t speak unless spoken to avert your eyes. Don''t look directly at him. Speak frankly but quickly. It felt like I was going to the principal''s office.


    Frankly, I had been a graduate for far too long for this to feel like anything more than a supreme inconvenience.


    But I was going to get them. I was going to get them all. And when he asked me what I wanted? I would ask for a trip home.


    I might even ask my new girlfriend to come with me.

 3- Five

    "It has come to the attention of this court that there is one man who has done much for the empire without a title or a specific mandate," the chancellor said, taking his time to push feeling into his speech. The preamble was heading into the short work of fiction territory.


    I was holding my breath. I had told them in confidence about how the path worked. If they have it away then it was as good as painting a target on me. I thought back to Earth.


    Would a president sentence a man to die by revealing who he was? Would an unappointed dictator do the same?


    "This cultivator has done so much for the Ming Empire that he is today being honored with one of the highest honors that our nation can bestow, that of the Jade Pendant. So named because of its illustrious rarity, this shows that one has achieved the height of what a mortal can attain and is the best of us. He will go far and take us further. His efforts have lifted us up as a nation."


    At this point I realize that he definitely wasn''t talking about me and that I really wasn''t sure who he was talking about. There were several cultivators whose level was blocked to me because they were too high for me to measure. They certainly had the measure of me. And then as one man walked up the center of the court I watched and horror as ultraviolet light hit me.


    I couldn''t say anything. It was very clear that I was going to be one of the next to be called upon and that the chancestor would call people in whatever order he chose. It wasn''t for me to say when I was going to come up. But I knew that whoever this man was? The one who was at least one realm higher than me?


    He was one of them.


    Fuck. How deep did the rabbit hole go?


    This man had to be at least a fifth realm cultivator and for all appearances, he was a champion of the court. I knew that corrupt cops got to the top of the pecking order at some point in time, but this?


    This was a made man being made better. This was an insider getting those stock chips before they were about to announce a new law. I didn''t know his official position or his official title but when the chancellor had droned on about him. I took note.


    His name was something like Hei Hei. I knew that I had to double check that because there was a lot of adjectives and adverbs tossed in to compliment whatever humanitarian aid project that he was doing. My victim rehabilitation project was not going to get a mention here if I had anything to say about it.


    Better that the Red Fang had no idea that they were being hunted.


    Better that the members just went dark and the remaining ones just didn''t know.


    But the damn man wasn''t going to give them better. He was going to stroke his own ego.


    "It has come to the attention of this court that we have a man here who has delivered an amazing boon to the Ming Empire. Over one hundred demons have been culled because of this man. I am told that he has achieved this without joining a Sect."


    There was a smattering of gasps as a murmur went through the crowd. I was absolutely certain that they were wondering who was about to receive this next honor. Honestly, he was making this feel like they had added extra flourish. They were putting one pound of shit in a ten pound bag.


    It still stinks but it is far from full. It was a bit breezy in there.


    Mood: stinky but empty.


    "For his service to our nation, we name him friend of the court."


    I had enough interest of things going on in my life. I needed less of those things. Court intrigue? Hell no. I was wondering if they were going to make me some sort of noble. I did not particularly like that idea. In the grand scheme of things if they were going to throw money at me great. But I was going to hold him do their jobs. Even if they did them terribly, they should probably just find somebody that would do it correctly.


    He kept going on and on. Honestly it hadn''t really been that much. It had just been the rage that I''d gotten pushed out into the open.


    I could feel the target grow as I stepped up to receive the pin. The Golden Lion pendant was pressed onto my chest under the watchful eye of the emperor and the court.


    "It isn''t just the man or woman who provides service, it is the act of service that makes us all recognize his heroism. Rise and be known by the court," he said.


    And so, tentatively, I rose up and stood. I turned to face the court as I had been instructed and waited the required thirty seconds before returning to face the emperor once more. I then knelt.


    "Thank you for allowing this one to provide such a service," I said, words that I had rehearsed for two days.


    It was enough. It felt like so much bluster and fast talk. I was readily over it and just wanted to go to the part where the aide interviewed me. Apparently, I had gotten stuck with the wrong aide. This one was for ceremonies and official protocol. He was one of a team of dedicated protocol people. There was also an internal investigations team, one the overlapped with the duties of the blue robes.


    That was group I needed to speak to at some point in time. There was no standing army here just a group of what had to be overpaid intelligence and security officials.


    It took the longest ten seconds of my life to leave the stage and return back to where the protocol guy was. He gave me a look that said that I had done everything right except for one little detail that I would hear no end of for the rest of my days. It was probably how I knelt, honestly. Playing that back again, had I put my right knee down? Or had it been the left?


    The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    Either way I steeled myself for the potentially lethal tongue lashing. It would be unforgiving, but I was ready for it.


    "Sir, when you..." He began before I held up a hand.


    "I was just awarded something by the emperor himself. Let me have my after glow," I said.


    The stone corridor that separated us from the rest of the cord would have been a great place for an ambush. Of course from the very person that I brought me there to begin with. I eyed him cautiously.


    "There was a time and a place for such conversations. This is neither the time nor the place. Should you want to continue this conversation, I will be glad to receive you at Western Jewel or wherever the emperor has decided that he needs me to go too. I will be in contact," I said.


    "Sir. I must insist," he said.


    He put a hand in my arm for the first time in this world, I was up against something that I didn''t have an easy answer for. He was going to be absolutely destroyed by whoever was in charge of him later. If he cared this much? It meant that it was actually important.


    "If you want therapy, it''s going to cost you. And I''m I''m not interested in taking on any more clients. I have someone I can refer you to but my practice is closed right now," I said.


    I tried to think about how this was something that I couldn''t do much about. If the court was going to sanction him or punish him then that was on them. Their exacting standards for personal contact were just super tiring. I had had enough of people telling me what to do where and when and with whom.


    I was choosing my own destiny.


    Now why was he looking like he was about to cry or something? Oh yeah he was going to have some problems.


    "Hey buddy it''s okay," I said. "If your job is that terrible then you need to quit and find another job."


    I could tell that he really wanted to cry. It wasn''t the first time that a man that I had been in contact held back his emotions. I took a second to jump into a different tactic.


    "Hey friends, when we get the big sad, we don''t lash out at others. We do not hit others. What we need to do is express our feelings in a positive way. Do you like being hurt? No? I didn''t think so. I don''t think others like hurting you either."


    "The big sad?"


    "We can take our emotion and we can turn it into something fun. How about we have a little foot race or something? Then we can get a big wiggles out and we will all be refreshed. Or do you want to try making a big yell?"


    For those that are new to gentle parenting, when people are not expecting it, it''s hilarious. When people have no idea what their emotions are, even though they wear them on their sleeve? It''s enough to make you think. It''s like they spent their entire lives masking their emotions to appease society.


    He was definitely about to cry.


    "You don''t need to hide your emotions, friend! All emotions are valid. It''s what you do with them that matters."


    He finally released my arm. I was torn between telling him that he could talk Egiya or telling him how I really felt.


    Honestly, he probably needed both.


    I kept walking and he just stood there. Before long, I was far enough that the man would have had to run to catch up to me. When I turned the corner I could feel him realize this.


    For a brief second, I thought about making him chase me, but even though he might act like a toddler, he wasn''t. I wasn''t in the mood to play Chase or hide and seek. I wanted to gloat for at least five seconds and then forget about this whole ffair. I knew that I was going to be talking to somebody else about this extensively far faster than I expected.


    And so it was that it took my spot back on the stands to watch the rest of the people that the emperor was honoring on that day. For some reason I thought that I''d be able to talk to him directly. Everything that I''ve been told at this point mentioned the protocol for actually talking to the emperor but they never said anything about how I was going to talk to him. If I wasn''t able to approach him on my own then it was going to be a real question.


    If I was going to call on somebody to fly an airship across the continent and meet with me in person, I was going to be sure to dedicate some time to talk to that person. Not that I had such an extensive criminal gang, mind you. If we are running operations in several cities that I might ask somebody to show up once in awhile to receive some product or some bulk tea order. But otherwise, it didn''t really make much sense.


    It was like announcing a return to the office for field agents. It just didn''t make sense.


    So much about this didn''t make sense unless you knew the background of the courts or the emperor or the people involved. I didn''t care to learn all those things. I had an assistant for that entire purpose. She stirred on my shoulder.


    "You didn''t have to be so hard on him," Min said. " I know you''re trying to get past this and I just worry that we''re making him a victim when he''s not really a victim. He is just as much in charge of his own destiny as you are in. If you''re a slave, he''s a slave."


    "He chose to go work for this protocol office. Everyday he comes in. What are they going to do if he stops coming in? Kill him?"


    "They have other ways of making them comply, I imagine."


    "Even if they did, could you imagine that? I quit my job and five minutes later they killed me?"


    "You''re thinking that these are all rational human beings that can''t instantly kill somebody with just a thought. This is not that."


    "I''m not here to make this guy feel better about himself. For some reason. He chose this life.... Didn''t he?"


    "But the chances are high that he chose to be part of the game on his own, there''s always a chance that this is not true. Therefore messages that we approach him with the idea that he is not here was on the free will and he is being told to do this. This means that we should probably treat him with respect," Min said.


    A little bit of gentle parenting talk was not going to be disrespectful.


    Especially when it only had the effect of befuddling him. The way that he had my attention in a vice grip though that was problematic. I was going to have to let him go.


    I could hear him running up behind me.


    "Sir! Sir!" He yelled.


    There had to be some sort of sound dampening effect causing him to not be heard by the arena above and around. That worried me. It made someone trying to kill me or him down here even more of a juicy Target. If that demonic cultivator was going to take us out? This was going to be the time. I just had an image of that fifth level or higher cultivator appearing and then then crutching him or deciding that now was the time that he wanted to sip on the guy''s neck. I know they weren''t literal vampires but still they glittered in my mind.


    "Do you think we can do anything with Xiran? The girl that was raised to be a weapon?" I said, casually, trying to change the topic.


    "We can treat it like a person can''t we?" Min replied. "That''s already more than what her family did for her."


    "Sir!" The man said.


    I held up a hand. I wasn''t going to forestall any discussion. I just wanted him to catch his breath. He needed to practice the Dao of running. That and he sounded like his feet were just slapping the white marble floor.


    I turned to see the man losing his shit. He was either about to have a coronary heart attack or a stroke.


    "Sir! This! Is! Serious!" He whisper yelled. "The court looks on such tiny grievances badly. Small missteps can lead to large problems in the long run."


    "All right, let''s say I buy with what you''re selling. What did I do wrong and how do I fix it? Or do you just want to vent about it?"


    It was always a good idea to see if the person that was mad wanted a solution or they just wanted to vent their frustrations. In this case, the man himself wasn''t doing much thinking. He was probably not open to anything like that. I didn''t want to pry open his can of worms, but the man was clearly ready for something. I just didn''t know exactly what it was.

 3- Six

    He gave me a tongue lashing. I expected it. I expected nothing less than that from the finest protocol officer that I''d ever met.


    There''s only so much tongue a man could take from a new guy.


    When was done, we finally made our way back to where the girls were sitting. Egiya was happily talking to an older man that I had never seen before and they were deep in discussion about something.


    I sat down next to Xueyie.


    "Who''s the old guy?" I said, hoping that I wasn''t going to have to eject somebody from the group.


    Though there was a lot of people around, the fall, part of today''s festivities had ended and people were beginning to socialize and move about. Down in the center, food was being put out. The emperor himself as expected was still sitting and people were beginning to queue up to speak to him one-on-one.


    I looked at the man who was speaking to her for a minute. Like everybody else, he had long black hair but besides that there was nothing to tell him apart. I looked at his hands and I saw smudges. He was either recently working on something with charcoal or ink or those were smudges from earlier and he never washed his hands. Then, I looked to Egiyas hands and saw that she had the same exact kind of smudges.


    "You know who that guy is. Old man, fourth realm cultivator, smudged hands?" Xueyie said.


    "If Joe can''t figure this out, then we''re going to have a long talk," Lee said. The man looks like he''s the spitting image of her.


    "I assume that what you''re hinting at is that he''s the father?" I said. "That makes sense but I also don''t know why he''s here."


    "If your daughter got an invitation to be honored by the emperor, I should hope that you would be invited to watch If there was an award ceremony that is," Lee said.


    "They''ve been talking ever since he found her and the formal part ended. He''s actually quite a nice guy," Xueyie said. "You could learn a thing or two from him."


    "I don''t want to intrude," I said.


    They look like they were deep in discussion and if I had seen my daughters for the first time in ages, I would want to talk to them for a long time. He only had one daughter.


    From what I knew about him spending his time fixing formations in the far-flung corners of the Empire, he didn''t get much home time. That would be hard on me, but I picked a career where I could stay close to and sometimes work from home. A lot of things were chosen for me because Maxine and I had our children while we were in college. Childcare is definitely a thing.


    "I have no problem talking to him," Min said hopping down from my shoulders and darting over to Egiya.


    Honestly, I needed to control my Moon spirit better. There was just something about that little Moon spirit running off whatever she wanted to that made me realize that even if I wanted to stop her, I wouldn''t. I probably could but I wouldn''t. She was in a court of dozens of higher realm cultivators.


    She blurred across trying to jump into the arms of the second realm cultivator, like she had done so many times before.


    This time however, she was stopped cold by a man holding out two fingers to pluck her from thin air. She wasn''t even surprised, sounding more pissed off that she was being cat handled than anything else.


    "What do we have here now?" The elder man said.


    If I had any term to describe this man it would be that of a zaddy. Smooth gray locks ward against the rest of his black hair. As I got closer, he had that ageless face that reminded me of so many cultivators I had seen and met before.


    He had lived a long time, probably longer than his wife would based off of his looks. His wife''s broken cultivation had given me an idea of how old she was. She had been old enough to have a daughter that was well past her early teenage years which meant that she was at least in her thirties.


    The put him in his mid fifties. Possibly much older based on how many cultivators had bullshit lives. I never wanted to ask a lady her age as that might incite a riot. He still had those smudged hands though.


    "Joseph Pidge at your service, sir. Your daughter is an excellent cultivator and there''s been an asset in our hunt against demonic cultivators," I said.


    He gave me a wide, inviting smile.


    "She has told me extensively about your dealings. I want to thank you for treating my family as if they were your own. It''s not often that you meet someone who can change the course of someone''s life."


    Min purred, and finally, he realized that he was holding a cat.


    "Is this your spirit beast?" he said.


    "It sure is, and-"


    "Unhand me, you uncouth lout," she said.


    "My word," the elder kang said, passing the moon spirit to Egiya.


    "Thanks for keeping the peace dad. The moon clan might have had a problem with that long term," Egiya said.


    She just sat there for a little bit. Min looks like she was panting. Was she having difficulty breathing because she had been held? Or was she had a breath because she was playing a victim? Clearly, I had no idea.


    "Please don''t torture my spirit beast." Min relaxed as his Nascent Soul retracted. Just as clearly it would have been funny if she was just trying to get one over on us. I was going to have to keep my eye on her.


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    Lee slid in between us and retrieved the spirit beast. Min accepted a head pat.


    "Anyway sir. If you''re here, you understand what we''re doing and you understand that this is a very dangerous Enterprise. We''re going to have a lot of eyes on us," Lee said. "We understand if you don''t want to be associated with us, but if you do, why don''t we go down to the court and have some food?"


    "I''ve heard that the cream puffs are extraordinary," he said. "Who''s with me?"


    Lee held out her arm to link with him and we followed. Egiya linked arms with me and she felt soft and warm. "He''s really not that bad, I swear."


    We kept a few paces behind them on the way down. "I can form an opinion of him myself, thank you so much. I understand that he is your father. I understand that I have strict standards from what a father should be doing. But there''s just so much about this that I don''t understand. So you''re going to have to help me, okay?"


    "Always." I had a feeling that she was overjoyed to see him and that was crowding at her brain from thinking about how he had been missing for so long.


    He was supporting the family but working so far away but I couldn''t imagine that for me.


    If I had children, I want to hang them out with them all the time. I couldn''t see somebody else feeling the opposite way. But then again not everyone should have kids. I just liked mine. I made them so...


    "Did you find anything in the crowd that we need to know about?" Egiya said, trying to be way too obvious.


    Lee looked around. as the two of them finally got to the floor and then were obscured by the many members of the court.


    "Yes but I-"


    "Cultivator Joseph Pidge," a dry voice said.


    My heart dropped.


    The exact man that I didn''t want to see was standing right in front of me. The glint of his face nearly made me cover my eyes and at the last second I realized that that would be giving away the game.


    The man who had received highest award in the land, stood staring at me. With a small fraction of his power, I could wither away and die. I didn''t want to, but I knew that he was strong enough to make me really want that. I briefly thought about challenging him right there and then.


    There was probably some formal rules procedure that would make me have to fight him more than one and then die in front of my friends. That was definitely not happening. Just because I knew that he was my enemy didn''t mean that he knew that I was his enemy.


    In essence, he was trying to play his hand too early. If I was up against a bad poker player? That would be the best of many worlds.


    "I saw you receive that award. It''s a pleasure to meet you," I said, staring straight into the man''s eyes. They were a deep purple, unlike most of the eyes I''d seen that day. Something else was going on with this guy.


    What was his name? I had forgotten.


    Was it Kobayashi?


    What was a Japanese name doing here?


    I began to sweat buckets. Everyone else had a Korean or Chinese sounding name.


    "I''m so sorry sir but I''ve seemed to have forgotten your name. We''ve also never been introduced. Are you a patron of the arts?" I said.


    "A patron of the arts?" He said. "Whatever do you mean?"


    "A patron of the art of war. As these demonic cultivators are a threat to our way of life." I could feel Egiya tighten her grip on my arm. I didn''t really want to bring her into this. She had chosen to be part of the game so she deserved a chance.


    "I''m Kang Egiya," she said, holding out a hand. "Daughter of the chief formations expert..."


    He held her hand and then kissed it. It made me feel secondary cringe. If this is the time that all my enemies, we''re going to talk to actual vampires, then I was going to have some words with them. This was unacceptable behavior and you do not do this to my friends in front of their dads and their adopted fathers.


    But really it wasn''t sitting right with me.


    He knew that we knew what he was or at least he expected us to know that. The question was how much did he know about us and how much he just think. I wasn''t going to let him just roll over us here.


    "Perhaps you would love to speak to me on the merits of your service To the country at a later date. We could speak at my villa," he said.


    Then I thought about Xiran and how her parents had lived someplace in the Capitol. We had thought that they would fled. They was still a chance that they are around. If all these men were going to be so ridiculously out in the open about what they were doing. It was like they weren''t even trying to hide. Could this man be Xirans father? Surely they would have known each other.


    "Thank you, sir. We''ll take that under advisement," I said. "Allow me to send your steward a letter and it will.be arranged."


    That was the cheesiest thing that no one would ever fall for. But then I saw Egiya eating out of his hand, almost literally. She looked blank.


    If he''d asked her without me there? I nudged her.


    I was trying to dislodge her from that exact moment. If I had to draw upon the dream world, I might just do that. She looked hypnotized and not for the first time I realized that I wasn''t even thinking about where Xiran was.


    Where the hell was she? Oh yeah she was back at the hotel. Wasn''t she?


    Now I was getting confused. It had to be part of this man''s aura. There was something about him that made me want to give him what he wanted. I shook my head.


    Mind control was not one of the things that I was expecting to have to fight. Egiya was completely enchanted.


    "We''ll just be off then," I said, nearly manhandling the girl down to the food. There had to be something there just for me to eat that would get me out of this funk. He was relying on people ''s attempts to stay proper and not make a scene in society.


    I didn''t give a fuck about making a scene. I''d make a scene all day if it meant that I could get away from this guy scot-free.


    I could feel that he was trying to make me do something and I was going to not let that happen. I wanted to be done with him. He wanted me to keep playing around and really captured my attention and make me do something. Probably chances where he was going to have me reveal my secrets to him someplace else at a secondary location, which is why I was freaking out. There were mangoes on the table and I made a beeline for them.


    "Eat a mango," I said, whispering to Egiya.


    "Yes master," she said in a monotone.


    Shit. It must have affected her more.


    She picked up a mango and just bit into it like it was an apple.


    Fuck.


    She was really out of it.


    Fuck fuck fuck.


    I found her father and we nearly toppled over several groups of socialites.


    "Sir, we ..." I said.


    Things were getting hazy. Had I been poisoned? No, I felt normal. Just high.


    That these minor cultivators are going to get me high in order to get me into their lair they had another thing coming. I was from Los Angeles and I got a contact high whenever I walked to work.


    This was not going to get me in but it was going to get Egiya all fucked up and the last thing I want to do was to bring it to your dad that way.


    It was my fault. I could imagine myself trying to hide that from him but he-I was going to play it straight. Eventually we come out that he knew that this wasn''t me doing this directly despite him or to do this to her. I hated that this occurred to me as I locked my other arm with Lee.


    "Lee uh ... I forget the code, but we need to get out of here soon."


    She smiled when she looked at me but then she saw my face. And then she was a believer.


    "We can leave whenever you''re ready," she said. "Is she just eating a mango without peeling it?"


    We both turned to watch the horror show. Honestly, I thought it''d be worse, but apparently it was just fine to eat a mango that way here. Either that or everyone was so self-absorbed that they didn''t care; that made even more sense to me. It was a welcome site to see her father contemplatively looking at her as if she had spouted a second head.


    "I take it that is the most delicious piece of fruit you''ve ever had?" she said.


    In between bites of her mango, she gave him a thumbs up.


    "That means that she likes it," I said.


    "I should hope so, with the way that things are happening at the local mango groves," he said. "I''ve been away from home for far too long and only now am I just realizing how much a family can do a man good."


    My sobriety was approaching as I got a bit more clear headed. My head was still pounding like I was in hour three of one epic tantrum.

 3- Seven

    Of all the things that I had never expected to do, talking to the father of one of my comrades was high on the list of possibilities. It was so fresh that I hadn''t even expected to have to identify the man.


    To be so close to the father of an enemy? Even a former one? And then have them pull some charm on one of my crew?


    He had just been tipped off and shown up. That was very similar to what I expected the red fang to do. Of course he was here to see his daughter, and who could blame him. Even though she wasn''t the one receiving the award, she had a large part in helping us do what we''re doing. In fact, I was beginning to think that maybe I need to ask him some question about formations.


    I sidled up next to the elder Kang. "Is there a formation that can make a portal to...."


    His grey mane miraculously stayed in place. "There''s a formation that can transfer someone between worlds, yes. It''s very complicated. Basically no one below the fifth realm is able to achieve that with any amount of success. I have done it exactly once."


    He rubbed his hands together. The smudges remained.


    "But it is possible so this is something I could do, with enough training?"


    I itched to get out of the area and take him someplace secure. Some place where I couldn''t be overheard by random cultivators would be great. So long as I was here? I was a target. They knew where to find me so it wasn''t like I was going to be ''running away.''


    I just wasn''t going to wait all day just to be told when to speak to the emperor. If they came to me and talked to me great. Otherwise I was going to slowly get us away from the center of the court and see if we can make our way out.


    "Are you a fighter, Mr. Kang?" I said. "Because your daughter has become a hell of a fighter. She''s grown in leaps and bounds even only since I met her."


    "Is that so?" He said, eyeing her. Egiyas was there in our orbit. It felt like I was playing out a reverse betchdel test and failing badly.


    "She''s done so much for the victims as well," I said.


    Under our fatherly gaze she flowered. I was expecting her to be meek and submissive or something but no she liked the bit of attention that we gave her. Or maybe it was seeing a father after so long and having the image of her father and her mind stuck at a place where she was actually thinking that they had a good relationship. I didn''t know what they were talking about before, but she seemed to be somewhat happy. I want the image of a person. We think we know clashes with the actual person. That''s when it begins to be a problem. She hasn''t seen this man in a long time and she was probably romanticizing who he was in relationship to her. Who she was since then had changed significantly. I wouldn''t put a pastor to impress him with some new path technique or a manual that she had made herself. The girl had been copying down some of the high grade path techniques to make duplicates for sex around the city. She ain''t even Days before I even met her. And now, she was advancing in her formations as well.


    Sometimes, I forgot about her because she was only in the second realm. Even so that still meant she was still strong as hell.


    Despite that she had an outside effect on our group''s work. It wasn''t that she just dealt with the mooks that the Red Fang threw at us. She also knew a lot about the formations, enough to get us out of trouble once or twice.


    She got us into trouble using her knowledge almost as many times, but I''m not going to fault her for that. She really did her job well and then when she was done with that; she worked for me at least well enough that I retained her. Of course she would have to do something graduous for me to drop her, but that was all well and good. In the short term, she was one of the few women that I trusted with my life and as she doted upon her father, I realized that she have been missing something for a long time. I wasn''t that something, I might joke around.


    I pretend that I''m her adopted dad but real dad? He really had a hold on her.


    "Do you need to stay around for anyone?" He said.


    "I would actually like to leave now. My handler was yelling at me before I came up to see you guys," I said.


    "Shocking of the person that yells about protocol was yelling at you for any reason," Min said, from Egiyas arms.


    "Just because he yelled about protocol doesn''t mean that he comes from a broken home. I mean he did but that''s besides the point," I said.


    People started coming out with food trays and I was delighted. Unfortunately there was no bagels and cream cheese. Even though there was a significant amount of delicious goodness, I had to come tell myself with cheese and crackers or the cultivator equivalent of it.


    I expected them to roll out some sort of pills or something like that and then I would be asked which ones I wanted to snort and then the entirely serious Butler would grind them up and present them to me. And this would be entirely played straight and everyone around would be like. Why isn''t he doing this? And I''d be like is this the worst joke ever?


    That fully melded with my idea of how upper crust cultivators would be. They would also ban those same drugs to the lower classes intentionally to get people into private prisons or something.


    I realized that I was zoning out and I got back into it. This is not the time or the place for me to drop my guard. I could see the chancellor walking around and the line of people who wanted to speak to the emperor was long, but neither of them are close enough for me to think that they were going to talk to me. I wasn''t going to get it on the line, if the man wanted to talk to me I would do it later.


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    That bitch better have my money though.


    "I hear that there''s a cash prize for what you did?" The elder kang said.


    "There is a cash prize and dividing that between my group because they''ve all been so helpful. I couldn''t kill them all by myself. I couldn''t even find them all by myself. These guys? Especially your daughter? They made this possible. And never forget that, Egiya."


    I flash her a warm, welcoming smile and she smiled back. She''s come a long way. For a long time, she wouldn''t smile and she would always belittle herself and now it felt like she was a member of the team and she would actually take a compliment. And despite being smart and knowing all this stuff, she did not feel inferior.


    Like honestly, she wasn''t even good enough for imposter syndrome in her own mind. I can''t imagine that. All she had to do was stop letting those inside thoughts out into the world. We had worked on this a lot and right now I was reaping the benefits. Not nearly as much as she was but I would have to ask her later.


    Main things that I''d asked her to do was to figure out some of the kind of complicated formations that we didn''t know much about. There were several in place that she could not make heads or tails of.


    Then I heard the problem child talking.


    " Do you want to know why I hate mortals? They''re leeches. All they do is drag us down and try to give us more and more tasks to keep them safe. We build up walls to keep the spare pieces out. We expend our energy to create crops for them to eat. We make so many sacrifices for them because they are weak and we are strong. Honestly, they''re a burden upon us all. I do it because I have to but against these guys? I wonder if I should continue to do so. I''ve already got the accolades I''ve always wanted thanks to the chancellor. Now, I need them to think about what else they can do for me."


    The strong cultivator was speaking with two men in particular and he was definitely trying to be overheard at least by me. I knew what he was doing. He had taken his time to etch him closer to try to get underneath my skin. He did I knew something about him that he didn''t want anyone else to know. He also wanted to get me alone. I was not going to give him that chance.


    Here? I was safe right now.


    I was thinking about how I was going to have to have moon fei clear out our rooms before we even got there. It was part of the regular everyday protocol to switch rooms but now I was going to have to have him switch hotels.


    The addition of the elder kang meant that we were going to have to do our best to keep him safe as well. He wasn''t a fighter, clearly. He quite as clearly looked like he spent his time behind computer even though I knew that a lot of his energy went into formation work.


    You probably saw anyone who was an immortal or had yet to come and spotted for himself. I wondered how much energy he could. It get out of immortal cultivator though. That might be beyond his abilities. Or it might be the exact thing he needed to advance to one of the higher tier realms and go through trials and tribulations.


    At some point in time, if I stuck around I was expecting to have to fight heaven itself. That might not be exactly what was going on, but I got the sense that no one ever wanted to talk about their trials. I wanted to hear about them, but no one was offering. Mr. Kobayashi in the back was monologuing and I wasn''t having it.


    "Can we go now?" Min said, snatching up half of a tray of biscuits. "The sexual tension between me and a hot meal is rising to an unacceptable degree."


    "Your spirit beast certainly talks very well for herself," Egiya said. "But maybe let''s not talk about sexual tension here in the court, yeah?"


    I tended to agree with her on a lot of things, this in particular.


    "Let''s get going if we''re all done then," I said. "I see a fifth realm enforcer that works for the protocol office."


    Surprisingly everyone followed me that way. It was good and I was more like a goose that was leading them someplace than anything else. But it was slow going through the crowd. Every so often I could hear a snatch of monologue from Kobayashi. He''s really going to have to think about where he wanted to be interred.


    His time here was definitely limited. Very soon. Now someone realize that he was on the wrong side and it didn''t matter what the emperor said. If you were found killing people for sport or just to power up, you are not going to last long. If you came up against me? You were not going to last long. If you came up and monologued nearby me to try to get me to give into something that you were doing? Then you already have lost. He had lost when he had taken on that tattoo. Now, it was just coming to get him.


    It was going to bite him in the ass and he had no idea. I smiled, thinking about how much money I would get if I''m turning in a cultivator of a higher realm than I was. Was it too much to hope for enough money to get this guy to make me a formation back to Los Angeles? Maybe but I was hoping for a lot. They''d give me much and I am going to request much because I was tired of sitting around while my girls were probably back at home bawling their eyes out about losing both of their parents.


    Would I offer Maxine a trip back as well?


    Probably, But then again she left me because she wanted more adventure in her life. And I was the boring stable guy. That did not bode well for our continued divorcee lifestyle.


    You know what everyone always asked how , but very few people ask how your divorce is going. Mine''s going pretty shittily because my ex-wife decided to show up at the same place that I had been reborn at. She could have at least had the common decency to go through a portal to a different world or something, but no, she was here.


    She was here and I was here and it was enough of a problem that I was now thinking about ways to leave this world to get away from her.


    It wasn''t selfish to think about myself. I thought about myself a lot. It was selfish for me to think about her first. She made it very clear that we were not an item. We were not together and not only that she had left us. I had moved It had to have been an effect of being close to that high realm cultivator. It was really being very obvious that he was doing something. on. I had a girlfriend before I was sent here. Things were getting serious. Then I made a bone-headed mistake with Lauren and we broke up.


    Now? I was happy with my new girlfriend and I was living a life that well. Not ideal. Was pretty darn good. I missed all my family but I was going to be taking steps to get the back. As we got closer to the protocol guys, I could feel the tension evaporate.


    It was very evident that he was doing something, especially as we got out his fear of influence. For him to now affect us, he would have to affect the dozens of people in between us and that was unacceptable to him. He wanted to kill me. That was sure, but he did not want to be found out or to be pegged as the killer. That would destroy his image and if I was guessing correctly he would not be top cover for any demonicultivator activity. For sure. If somebody was found out to be a demonicultivator they would be killed on site, but this guy? He might be able to give them insider information so they could run away from a potential raid or if they could reorganize and split. I knew that there was somebody at the top of this chain. I just didn''t know where they were.


    It had come to my door. I wasn''t entirely sure where to find the man who could fix this, but I knew that the portable office would be very interested in this and if not, I was going to have Moon Faye get the blue robes involved. The fifth film cultivator would be a difficult thing to fight, especially if they focused on martial prowess.


    With this one focusing on social prowess as far as I knew, he might be a bit weaker. I might be able to match him but he was on his home turf. The home terrif advantage was undeniable and the fact that he didn''t even pretend. It was like he knew that I knew but he wasn''t sure why. I was absolutely certain that he would have me killed as soon as he could if I didn''t do something to stop it.

 3- Eight

    The man in charge of the emperor''s staff, the chief of staff, was the chancellor. He made his way to our little group and I could see him shaking hands on his way. Kobayashi was also watching him.


    By the time the man made it through enough robes and hair that would make a housewife blush, he was looking refreshed.


    "Sir," I said, trying to get his focus on me as well as telling my group to pay attention.


    "Joseph Pidge," the man said. His smooth voice was a hard contrast with his announcer voice. "I understand that you have been talked to by the protocol office about your... minor slip up."


    The man looked like he was holding back a chuckle. Behind him another tray of food was being passed around and it was exactly the stick eat buns I longed for. But I was here for a reason and there were plenty of meat bun vendors outside.


    "Sir."


    "As it pertains to our ongoing professional relationship, it is of little import."


    Of course he would say that after making a point to mention it. What a standup guy.


    "What is important is that our head of security would like a word with you, in private."


    "Chancellor," I said. "If I may speak freely."


    He stepped backwards, and then composed himself.


    "I suppose."


    "The tree of this court has at least one foul fruit," I said, doing my best to lay on a quick metaphor.


    It could be that they knew that they had such a man here. I wasn''t entirely sure. They probably had suspicions.


    I knew.


    I really wanted to tell them directly but the presence of a fucking problem was stopping me. I wanted to gauge the chancellors strength, but that seemed to be the exact wrong thing at the moment.


    "That is a rather odd thing to say, but this court shall take it under advisement. I have asked the head of security to speak with you shortly," he said.


    Have you ever gotten a sinking feeling that everything was about to go sideways? When a man with short cropped hair walked over to join our little trip, my hair went on edge. I turned to see that all of my fears had been realized.


    The man walking over to brief me on the next phase of the plan had a big old ultraviolet fang tattoo covering half of his face. Underneath the multiple scars-a strong choice- the man looked like he had just gotten out of maximum security prison and I was the first decent bagel he had seen.


    The man was hungry.


    At this point, I was thinking, what would happen if I caused a scene here in the emperor''s court? What if I took down the head of the Ming dynasties security forces upon meeting him?


    I gripped the chancellors arm as the man strode towards us. I knew he knew what was going on and if he reached me? It was over. He might be fifth realm or higher but he at least matched my strength.


    "Plan Zoo," I said, dropping to one knee. "Chancellor, please forgive my rash actions, but your head of security is an agent of the Red Fang."


    There is a moment that separates men from boys. It''s when you decide to live for others despite the things going on in your life.


    There''s an even more important moment that separates dumb evil guys from smart men. A dumb evil guy would have stayed and attempted to teach the head of security a lesson. Me? Once operation zoo was in the picture, I was sprinting all out.


    I was heading towards the door as fast as humanly possible behind my people. Somehow, the elder Kang had gotten swept up into this and I was glad. Without his assist, his daughter might have been too slow.


    He was clearly dumping qi into her directly through some formulation. He might have a deep pool but she was using every drop of what he fed her.


    Xueyie was next to them, darting between little cliques inexorably away.


    Out of the corner of my eye, I could see several guards begin to move.


    They might think that this was some sort of heist or something. I ducked between two people who were reaching for more oerderves.


    Then I had a straight away and I began to dump qi into my own dantian. Out of my full to bursting core, I pushed myself to the limit. Min even felt like she was doing her best to not borrow any qi through our bond.


    We burst through the exit door of the court, moving faster than any sprinter had the right to be.


    I could see Xueyie nod to me as she broke left. Moon Lee tagged along with her. The two of them could take care against such a cultivator. I wouldn''t be able to take him down myself.


    I passed a marble column, then another. Row upon row of columns went up, each one spaced equally well.


    I just needed one little push to get past this. Then... Then what?


    "How do we get out of here?" I said.


    "We need to get away from the capital!" Min said. "Maybe the elder Kang knows the way?"


    "It''s possible!"


    By this time I had gotten caught up with them.


    "Do you have any shortcuts?" I said realizing that we were running through a large open courtyard. Every court has to has a courtyard, right? Well this one definitely did. And of course it was the time when everyone was out there doing martial arts practice in lined rows that were all very distinct and clear to see. We were the other ones out running down the well traversed middle path.


    Stolen novel; please report.


    Every six feet there was another spiritual artist doing their best to work through some form or another. Lee and Xueyie closed the gap and we were all running behind Egiyas father.


    "What the hell is going on?" He said.


    Ahead of us, a cloud of smoke boomed up ahead.


    "What''s going on? We don''t have time!" I said.


    "The TLDR edition, then!" Egiya said.


    I was acutely aware how many people were looking at us right? Then. It took a lot of work to not watch the five people running, but somebody was doing it. Just not the people around us.


    "Security guy is demon! Run fast!" I yelled.


    In the smoke, the single man stood out. Clearly he was itching for a fight.


    "Hey you said....Do you have any formations that will let me temporarily jump a level of cultivation?" I said. "I think we need to fight him."


    The man looked stricken.


    "I..." He said. "I can make you better in a short area but it''s going to take ten seconds and-" he said.


    "Do it!" I said.


    His hands moved impossibly fast. Min jumped to him and had to be back seat driving it. Lee and Xueyie got into a fighting stance. I could feel Lee''s deep well of qi overflowing.


    Xueyie was looking for a fight. She had missed several chances on our last time here. Now, she was going to get her pound of flesh, given the chance.


    "You! You come in here and make a mockery of this court!" The man''s voice boomed, as he walked forward. "You dishonor the emperor so as you rabble come in and try to pretend that you could do a tenth of what I could do."


    He pulled his aura out.


    Fifth realm.


    Well shit.


    Today was a good day to die.


    Dozens of spiritual artists ran away from the man, more were simply pushed out like a wave of force pushing in all directions.


    I could feel several formations take hold.


    I desperately wanted to see what he was doing, but I couldn''t take my eyes off the man. He was...taking his damn time.


    "You common street trash," he spat to his side, leaving a ditch. "Of course if comes to me to take you out. It''s been too long since I''ve been able to cut loose."


    He was even stealing my lines as he got closer. He was definitely monologuing to try and throw everyone else off of his scent.


    Fuck it, cards on the table.


    "Demon!" I yelled. "I will take you down in the name of the emperor. No longer will you kill his people for your gratification."


    I swear the man was liable to throw a coronary at that exact moment. He eyes bugged out as his muscles clenched all over his body. He looked like he was holding back a fart at a wrestling show, as one of the performers.


    "You dare!" He bellowed, as the gravity began to switch.


    At this moment, I was hoping that the damn emperor or chancellor might get involved. This was clearly an execution style attempted manslaughter.


    I wasn''t going to give him the chance. I had two options, if this new power that I was getting from The elder kang meant anything.


    It was at that exact moment that a second stream of energy hit me. Egiya and Min were working together on some complicated formations and I could feel how tapped out both were as I felt my dream qi spike.


    They were hoping, beyond hope. That hope became dream aura and as I breathed in I felt it. I was electric.


    My enemy kept moving but now was finally looking slow. Or if now slow, at least partially slow motion. I was going to get exactly one shot at this.


    The man droned on about hating the little guy and it wasn''t even bad I just needed him to get into range.


    "Girls?" I said.


    "On it," Lee said.


    "...and that''s why I''m going to take you down in the name of the emperor and-"


    A circle of cultivators around me all cowed against the pressure that I faced head on.


    I didn''t have a five finger death punch. All I had was the inception of pulling him into his own dream and as I hit him in the chest I took that image of the cultivators running away and formed the dreamscape.


    I floated above as he hammered into a dream clone of me. He wasn''t even realizing that he was in the dream world. The man probably was going to have a coronary anyway.


    "That''s weird," he said. "I thought you would be more solid. Turns out that you''re just a smear on the pavement here."


    The dream Lee and Xueyie both advanced upon him and attempted to get him to submit. Xueyies sword fly whisk looked gorgeous for the moment it was unveiled as it takes across his body, stinging him both in the dream and what had to be in reality.


    Min had to be giving her the okay by play, or something. I hoped that my recent investment into qi dampening metals was about to pay off bigly.


    Dream Moon Lee was keeping his attention. That would be Mins extra work making it look realistic. Lee would be devastated in reality.


    Honestly, I was surprised at how well articulated she was. That in itself felt like the little nudge I was going to need to make it to the actual fifth realm. Not this temporary quick fix that would probably set us back a day if not a week.


    The damn emperor needed to show up in real life right now to sort out his people. That he hadn''t yet was bugging me beyond belief. It was like the man didn''t want to deal with the petty squabbles of lower ranked cultivators. I would have like him to do his damn job.


    If he was the protector the land, maybe I could...


    The emperor showed up in the dream world. I carefully made certain to make him appear powerless. It was as if he had been stepping through the damn dreamscape.


    Instantly the head of security turned on the emperor.


    Fuck.


    Was I going to have to act out his part? Mood: disturbed.


    It was like being out into a place where you had to play the part that you have never rehearsed. I didn''t want to be the emperor. I just wanted him to do the right thing.


    For all I knew, he could be like a the modern day equivalent of Robert Moses- benign if you were part of the in crowd, but terrible otherwise. There were enough cliques, clubs, civic organizations and even sects around for him to have authority over.


    "Sire! I have killed the dog," he said. I had both Xueyie and Egiya stand back to give the fake emperor full run of the area. Little did the dreamscape know the truth. If the emperor was actually here, he would probably be able to undo anything that I was actually doing.


    That was about the time when the man''s energy began to drop precipitously. The girls had caught on, at least the ones in the real world.


    As I distracted his mind, they were putting the traps on around his body. They had to have several chains in place before this was even viable. Then he looked confused and I pushed to knock the fucker out.


    "What is the meaning of this?" A chill voice came across the air around me. I couldn''t pinpoint it''s direction.


    And then I saw it. Golden and purple robes flowed. I had to crane my head up in reality to see the new thing that fate had in store for me that day.


    It was the man himself, arriving two acts too late, trying to get a handle on things.


    I hadn''t done it before, but this time I knelt over the nearly powerless head of security.


    "Sire, I bring you a demonic cultivator, I suppose that the regular rates will apply on this unorthodox catch?"


    "This is a strong claim," the emperor said, his voice letting me know that he wasn''t going to broker any jokes. Not a one.


    I itched to tell him something, anything.


    "You can have his pathway tested. It''s how I helped purge your blue robes."


    I was surprised by how normal I felt in his presence. The man should have felt so much more powerful, but he only ended up feeling like he was an everyday person. I had to pinch myself to make sure that I was outside of the dream world.


    I was, but it was still strange. Xueyie and Egiya both knelt next to me as the head of security dozed off. It was the perfect way to get him tied him up for inspection.


    Instead of waiting for someone else though, the empty just stepped over to the man and breathed.


    The longest minute of my life passed as he pressed a palm against the man''s chest. He examined the man as only an expert could.


    I could see other court functionaries appearing around the periphery.


    He exhaled deeply, like a cat being asked to move out of a treasured spot.


    "He shall be made an example of," the emperor said. "I should thank you again, but perhaps that will take some time. A cultivator of this level, making it to the top of my security services... This is troubling."

 3- Nine

    There were several days that stand out in my memory, large against the vastness of time. Some might call them core memories. I wouldn¡¯t go so far. They aren¡¯t all treasured memories. I remember my first daughter¡¯s birth and the love I felt then. It was a special time.


    The second was just as special, but I knew what to expect, so a different kind of happy. I also distinctly remember worrying about childcare for the first one while she was two and the other one was a newborn. That sticks out a lot for me.


    My day with the emperor stood out as he decided that this was the day that he would personally use his path to identify which of his high-level enforcers were a part of the red fang.


    It turned into a pretty big fucking problem.


    ---


    ¡°You and I both know the real power behind the empire is power,¡± assistant to the regional security officer Li said, his face entirely sweating under the glare of the emperor.


    The man was two steps removed from the previous head of security, as the emperor has taken me personally to meet with them to make sure that this man was not a double agent. Safe to say that he was not. Despite my objections to the fact that he was missing the mark, the emperor himself still tested his cultivation personally.


    ¡°The power of the empire is a force of nature. We must shape and mold it into our will. A series of bonds and pacts created the empire. Somehow, this sect has infiltrated our ranks. I¡¯ve already killed ... How many was it?¡± The emperor said.


    ¡°You¡¯ve killed five,¡± I said nonchalantly. ¡°Heck, you killed five before lunch.¡±


    There were only so many times that the people in your top secret security organization could be double agents. I felt like we had hit the limit a while back. It was also pretty clear he wouldn¡¯t be killing me for talking to him casually. If anything, he was getting way too familiar with me.


    ¡°Understandably so,¡± he said. ¡°I cannot stand someone subverting the system for their own gain. We must not tolerate these leeches who prey on the common man.¡±


    Li shuddered as if he was going to be the sixth person killed by the emperor¡¯s own hand that day. He wasn¡¯t because someone had to do the dirty work. Following the emperor¡¯s slaying of the second official, he changed from his ceremonial robes into utility robes. The black hid the blood exceedingly well. Of course, the emperor¡¯s robes would. He would have access to the best tailors.


    ¡°Your majesty,¡± Li said. ¡°The blue robes have been subject to what had to be a generation of internal subversion. Several of my predecessors were in position for over thirty years and this man...¡±


    He gestured to me. The matte marble floors and walls glinted. I was once again reminded that it wasn¡¯t even dinnertime yet. I was compelled to follow the emperor around. It was like watching insanity sprout spontaneously as the emperor had to reshuffle every single person in his employ around the ones that had been in there for a long time.


    It also brought to mind that they had some big plan. There was a generational plan being pushed that each one of those men and women has been an integral part of. On their path, officials tested each new security force member once, at the beginning of their service. It wasn¡¯t even common for them to test the cultivators that could identify the demonic pathways.


    ¡°Your majesty,¡± I said. ¡°We should probably work on those that do the testing at the lower level. Everyone that they tested is now suspect as well.¡±


    The emperor blinked, momentarily dropping his mask. There, underneath the makeup and the propriety was a tired old man. The old man himself looked ready to kill the entire eastern half of this continent.


    ¡°First Rahelish appears on the northern continent, and now this?¡± He muttered. ¡°Deputy Li, take me to the bureaucrats in charge of testing new recruits on their path.¡±


    I could tell that the man desperately needed some good coping strategies. The mask fully slipped. He was now scowling.


    ¡°Yes, your majesty,¡± he said and began walking with a purpose.


    Two turns and three staircases later, and we were in a large office full of functionaries. True to form, none of them looked up.


    The emperor turned to me, beckoning me to continue my work.


    It made me sick, but these people were going to do terrible things. They had opted into the game.


    I needed to get past that. It was like going down the galley of a ship where everyone was rowing the boats, except instead of rowing; they were all filling out forms in triplicate. Or their reading forms in triplicate and then deciding that they needed it in one more form before they would actually respond to whoever was sending the form.


    I pointed out five men and three women.


    ¡°You all,¡± the Deputy said. ¡°Come to the front.¡±


    As I pointed to them, the newest deputy on the block showed for them to come up to us. There was nothing to show that the emperor himself was anyone other than a bureaucrat based on his vibes. But at that point in time, they realized they were approaching somebody whose cultivation they just could not sense. Every single person who came up was at least in the second or third realm. So they did the normal thing where they tested the limits of the person just by reaching out with their senses.


    This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.


    They came up short.


    The first woman to arrive immediately looked stricken and then, after looking directly at the emperor¡¯s face, looked like she¡¯d given everything up. It wasn¡¯t like they were sharing notes that fast.


    There was no WhatsApp group for young and hungry sect members on their way up. They probably missed all the management changes.


    ¡°We¡¯re going to need all of your records,¡± Deputy Li said once the last one arrived.


    Thankfully, they immediately accepted the situation because the man was a higher realm cultivator and each one returned with a stack at least two feet high.


    ¡°Thanks. This makes the next part easier,¡± he said. ¡°Your majesty?¡±


    Upon hearing those words, each one of them prostrated themselves onto the ground. And then in the worst game of duck duck goose ever to exist, the emperor went around touching each one on the head.


    Each time, he was sentencing the person to death. I was hoping that he would say something, but no. He found out they were all part of the red fang, he crushed them under his nascent soul.


    The former assistant to the regional security officer promptly threw up. Whether it was the pressure or just seeing several people just be killed summarily, he was about to have a rough time of it.


    Heck, I was wondering how he had gotten to such a position and if I was in his place? My resignation letter would be formulated at that exact moment.


    The rest of the room gaped at the former cultivators.


    ¡°Your majesty... if I may...¡± Deputy Li said on between dry heaves. ¡°We may... want to... question some of these people.¡±


    ¡°That is an excellent point!¡± The emperor said. ¡°You had better ask questions faster than!¡±


    I liked this guy more and more. It was like he had intentionally set up the system to be all formal up to a certain level and above that he just didn¡¯t give a fuck.


    Mood: whatever he was on, though it was probably pills.


    Min was cowering in my dantian all day. I could feel her testing how things were going and then immediately turn off. She wanted none of this. Xueyie, Egiya and her father were linking up with our Moon Fei and Xiran.


    At least that¡¯s what I had gotten from their talk with Min. The emperor just needed me to help clean house. I was terrified by the emperor¡¯s power, Min just accepted their impending death.


    ¡°I believe you can take it from here, deputy Li,¡± the emperor said. ¡°Please do great things for the empire.¡±


    He waited a tense ten seconds before leaving us with a mess that I had no way of untangling.


    ¡°Hey, how are you doing?¡± I asked the new deputy.


    ¡°I... this has been a hard day.¡±


    The soul pressure of the emperor stayed for an inexcusable amount of time after he left, as if to remind us how far above us he was.


    ¡°It¡¯s going to be an arduous week,¡± I said. ¡°Min, are you ready to head out?¡±


    The room returned to its normal state as half of the employees looked shocked and the other half looked like they were hoping to get off early. I guess everyone has a different view of that sort of trauma.


    ¡°So before this all was supposed to happen, I was going to speak with the former head of security. His grand plans probably involved nothing actually concrete after killing me,¡± I said. ¡°With that in mind, would you like to speak with our own double agent?¡±


    ¡°That ... I guess I need to confer with the remaining staff. Though I suppose I need to keep this place up or face the wrath of the emperor,¡± Deputy Li said.


    I swear that he had had no gray hair before, but this day might have changed that significantly. Either my eyes were playing tricks on me or he, too, had dropped his facade. The damn fool had to have a cultivation pathway that let him disguise his hair color, because, of course, that made sense. It was probably one of the commercial off the shelf styles that you could learn anywhere for five waan.


    Not that I could blame the man for being vain. If I had gone grey, I might consider dying my hair. I probably wouldn¡¯t, but I might if my lady friends told me to do so. There was only so much that I could let slide. This wasn¡¯t it.


    ¡°I can go, or I can stay. Either way I¡¯m willing to do whatever it takes to have peace,¡± I said.


    ¡°That¡¯s reassuring,¡± he said.


    They definitely hadn¡¯t groomed him for this role. The reluctant deputy was doing it because he had to. There had been so many of them at the top of the command structure. With a fifth realm cultivator on my side, I could do a lot. Like avoid taking steps to the next realm myself.


    I definitely was not sand bagging my progress to let my friends catch up. Noooo.


    ¡°First time dealing with a demonic cultivator incident?¡± Min said.


    ¡°We all have to start somewhere,¡± I said. ¡°He just... Deputy Li, do you need a minute?¡±


    ¡°That would be great, thanks,¡± he said.


    I was thinking that he was ready for a nervous breakdown, so I went to talk to his staff. ¡°I believe Deputy Li will ask you all to wait outside for a few moments. I would appreciate it if you all would leave the area for a short time.¡±


    ¡°Is the deputy okay? What about all our coworkers?¡± A woman¡¯s voice rang out.


    She had to be very early in her cultivation. She looked like a teenager at best. Either she was a young prodigy or she had been a nepo hire.


    ¡°That¡¯s a good question. Yes, he is okay. He has just had a meteoric ride to the top of the empire¡¯s security office. Your coworkers...¡±


    They weren¡¯t part of the game. They hadn¡¯t signed up to be enforcers, though they were the equivalent of detectives. I didn¡¯t know how they got into their careers, but I¡¯ll bet it was through connections with the blue robes. Maybe their brother or sister was in, and this was a family thing. I didn¡¯t know.


    There were several dozen left that didn¡¯t bear the mark. They all filed out after being dismissed for the day.


    ¡°I don¡¯t even know how I¡¯m going to clean this up,¡± he said.


    ¡°You have a staff, Deputy Li. Use the staff. They work for you,¡± I said.


    Until a few hours ago, he had been a small part of someone else¡¯s staff. It was through sheer force of will that he could keep his position and move up. That and the people above him had all decided to be on the other side.


    ¡°What now?¡± I said.


    ¡°Deputy Li must assume that whatever we knew, they know. Until this moment,¡± Min said. ¡°Whatever we do now, we are shooting into the dark. They will respond eventually.¡±


    ¡°The red fang will have a suitable response once they get their act together. No questions about that,¡± I said. ¡°We just need to be ready. My team is ready to lead your people to wherever we think the next group is.¡±


    I then remembered the man who had gotten the award before me, but I could not for the life of me remember his name. It was like the idea was just plucked out of my head.


    ¡°Hey Min, do you remember the cultivator who got the award before me?¡± I said. ¡°The prestigious one?¡±


    She looked at me like I had three heads. I didn¡¯t. That shouldn¡¯t have set her off so much.


    ¡°I don¡¯t remember anyone before you getting anything, Joe. Are you feeling alright?¡±


    I began to sweat.


    I couldn¡¯t remember what I was trying to think about.


    ¡°Nevermind,¡± I said. ¡°It can¡¯t be that important, can it?¡±


    ¡°What are you on about?¡± Deputy Li said.


    I turned to face the man. We needed to make a plan to go after... Something.


    ¡°We need to get with my team, but I¡¯m feeling a bit off,¡± I said. ¡°Shall we depart this location?¡±


    ¡°Yes, let¡¯s,¡± he said.


    Leaving the room, we found our way back into a hallway that I was sure I had never been through before. We were probably taking a different route. I was sure that this was going to work out well. After all, there had been a few things that had gone right in the middle of this cold war.


    It always did, right? Right?

 3- Ten

    We got our marching orders from Deputy Li shortly thereafter. We were heading to the next largest cell. There could have been many operating independently in the city, each one a threat known only to a handler. Of course he wanted to go to cut off the head, but we all thought that would not end well.


    ¡°There¡¯s a body of knowledge that everyone in the Red Fang knows,¡± Xiran said. ¡°They call it the sacred text, but it¡¯s just a path manual.¡±


    She paused for several seconds; the silence filling the regally appointed hotel room.


    ¡°It also details what to do if someone is burned or cut off from the rest. They would do that now. First, they would cut ties to their old identity and then they would go dark for a period. The sect would then reform itself later.¡±


    ¡°If that is so, they we need to strike now while they don¡¯t expect it,¡± I said. ¡°They started this war.¡±


    ¡°We can¡¯t be certain they¡¯re all dead unless Joe sees everyone or they¡¯re all tested,¡± Lee said. ¡°And you need a nascent soul cultivator to test someone¡¯s pathway.¡±


    ¡°There are how many cultivators at that level here in the capital, a few thousand?¡± I said.


    ¡°About four thousand,¡± the elder kang said. ¡°By the last count.¡±


    ¡°Four thousand?¡± Lee said, her mouth wide open. Had I ever seen her shocked before? I tried remembering when she had last been shocked.


    The large hotel room had several beds that all looked like they were big enough to hold a poly power throuple with room for more. I took a second to find my way into one bed and sit on the side.


    I didn¡¯t have a context. Or rather I did, but it was that the Moon clan had several fourth realm cultivators and one fifth realm one. There was just the Western Jewel branch. For a people that dedicated their entire life to cultivation, that was unfathomable. If just a medium to large amount of this effort thousand were in the Red Fang, it would be problematic.


    ¡°I feel like we are at the point where this is a statistic that doesn¡¯t help us,¡± I said. ¡°Like it would be great if this helped us in any way, but it¡¯s not like the government can mobilize the entire population. That would be maddening.¡±


    There was a long moment of silence.


    Moon Fei raised a hand.


    ¡°If this one may, don¡¯t fourth realm cultivators customarily adhere themselves to the clan or a higher authority? Isn¡¯t is custom that binds them to a... Higher powered cultivator?¡±


    I blinked several times, content to let that one go by.


    ¡°So, wouldn¡¯t they all be sworn to someone? And most clans and sects swear allegiance to the empire?¡± He said, gathering steam.


    He was cooking.


    ¡°If that¡¯s true, then a higher power has sworn the most nascent souls to it?¡± Fei said.


    The Mandarin had asked me to be one of his deputies. My understanding of the leader of Weston Jewel was that I was supposed to help in case the walls broke or spirit beasts decided humans looked delicious that day. If there was a genuine emergency, a true emergency, then I would definitely help.


    But without a proper reason to, I just would not be spending my time there waiting for a command.


    He couldn¡¯t just call me up or something. He would have to put out an order, send runners and all that. Honestly, if the walls broke? I wouldn¡¯t notice for a long time. That part scared me a little. One minute I would be there, the next minute I¡¯ll be fighting beasts of about my level in the middle of a packed block.


    We had to think about their counter attack.


    ¡°Most Nascent Souls are sworn to a higher power,¡± the elder Kang said. ¡°It¡¯s about control. I¡¯m sworn to do my duties for the empire. If Egiya grew enough, she would have to swear an oath to someone else. They would probably make her swear an oath to me, or at least heavily imply that I need her to sign one.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know that I would just sign any old oath,¡± Egiya said.


    He stared blankly at her.


    ¡°They would make it mandatory. You wouldn¡¯t have a choice in the matter.¡±


    She shuddered. That right there, that was the power of the state. But the state shouldn¡¯t make the people afraid of it. This state should be afraid of the people. This was how the people on top kept an even cool head.


    The emperor feared nobody.


    That was a feature, not a bug. He was just too powerful for most mortal concerns. If he wasn¡¯t, he wouldn¡¯t be the emperor.


    ¡°So what, we mobilize the masses on this hunt? Deputize every nascent soul cultivator to test everyone around them?¡± Egiya said.


    ¡°That is one way, mistress,¡± Moon Fei said. ¡°This one-our jaunt wasn¡¯t quite helpful.¡±


    We all turned to Moon Fei and Xiran.


    She coughed. Gone were the bags under her eyes.


    ¡°My family is gone. Someone sold their villa. I asked around, and no one had even heard of them,¡± she said. ¡°People who knew me growing up greeted me like a stranger.¡±


    The hairs on the back of my neck stood up. Did someone intimidate them into forgetting the voice? Or was this even possible? They had to have been gaslighting here, right?


    ¡°It¡¯s true,¡± Moon Fei said. ¡°We spoke to several people that she had visited many times and built a rapport with. There was nothing there for her.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what they did. They look at me and it¡¯s like they don¡¯t see me,¡± she said. ¡°The neighborhood kids that I grew up with? They don¡¯t even recognize me.¡±


    ¡°This one went and asked them if there was something going on, but none of them really knew her. That seems hard to fake,¡± Moon Fei said. I just kind of let that one sit for a while. The red Fang sack had done so much against us that now that they were trying to erase her identity, I felt it was almost poetic justice. She could now pretend to be someone who knew and not pretend to be the person who she was. I was almost happy that this had happened. Who would be able to even do something like this?


    I still remembered her. It was going to have to be a devious path that they used, or there were a lot of traumatic brain injuries.


    Memory loss is definitely not a joke, especially when it concerns someone¡¯s actual life very confusingly. They wanted to talk about how the house was under New Management and the owners were not there, but it definitely wasn¡¯t the same staff. Yes, of course she had a staff. The valet at the door didn¡¯t even recognize her. It wasn¡¯t even the same group of people and she had only been gone for what, 6 weeks at most? Whoever had done this clean up thorough job in a very short time. I was thinking that there was something else a foot here because it seemed so widespread. But I wasn¡¯t there. I could only go off with what they were telling me. And if they were telling me that this was going to be a really weird problem that they didn¡¯t have a solution to, I was going to throw my hands up in the air and tell them we¡¯ll have to table this for later.


    Thankfully, Lee told them instead of me.


    ¡°This is very interesting, but I don¡¯t think we have the bandwidth to explore this right now. But we need to find any more pockets of the red Fang here in the capital before we move on to our next location. If we have a next location to go to.¡±


    Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.


    It was looking more and more like every single place that we could find them reliably was burned. I didn¡¯t want to give up, as this had been a special mandate of bullshit from heaven, but we were at a dead end.


    ¡°Xiran?¡± I said from my comfortable perch on the side of the bed closest to the discussion. ¡°Is there anyplace else that we should check?¡±


    It took a long time to get her face in order. I wasn¡¯t someone who was going to tell somebody to rush something, but the whole reason we were here was because she had helped us identify one nest of demonic cultivators and we were really hoping that she would be able to identify a second one. But if a few of them from the first nest had escaped and alerted the other ones, then it was a kind of moot point.


    That we¡¯d waited six weeks to come back and do this was also weighing on me. We had needed that time, but now I felt like we should have been at the grindstone the whole time. Chances were that we would not have survived that. I didn¡¯t feel bad about not doing it, but if I had the resources? You know I would. If I had the resources of the state? I will be there. But I didn¡¯t have the resource to the state. I just had my resources on my team and maybe some help from the blue ropes. And even their best help wasn¡¯t that much. Was it time for us to go back to Western Jewel? Or is it time for us to head to a different city? I couldn¡¯t decide.


    But I didn¡¯t have to decide. I could ask questions and have them decide. The person who I wanted to ask this question to was the man that received the award before me. He had similarly disappeared during my fight. I¡¯d expected to have to duel him before I let out on some manly landscaping. He would put up a good fight, but he was definitely a higher level of me and I would lose that fight.


    I¡¯m not saying I have to be nihilistic, but a man of two realms above me? I might as well be trying to win an argument with my ex-wife. It would never happen. I just needed to get a few jabs in before things went sideways so that I feel good.


    Otherwise, this was going to turn to a big fucking problem.


    I identified as a big fucking problem.


    If I had to burn this damn capital down! To regain my sense of balance in the world and keep my calm? You¡¯re damn sure that I would do the same thing that I did in Western Jewel. I would burn this shit to the ground.


    I¡¯d leave them seeing a Johnny Cash song about rebuilding their city from ruins, if I could.


    Maps of the city were brought out to try to jogger memory. Thankfully, the elder king had several in stock. It made me realize he had so much more going on that I had even thought about. He had some sort of dimensional storage thing worked out. Using this formulation, he could put things into a bag of hold of pouch of holding. Holding that was effectively the most magical thing I¡¯d seen in a dog¡¯s age. I was going to ask him some questions, but first call Kelly. We all watched as the girls who once been a part of the demonic sect showed us every single red Fang hideout she¡¯d ever seen.


    ¡°And finally, there¡¯s this one that¡¯s just on the border with the untamed lands, but it¡¯s at least close to the airship Depot down there,¡± she said.


    Of the five spots she showed us we hadn¡¯t visited yet, this one was the one that excited me the most. If I was staging for something, I would want to be close to the airship Depot. But I wanted a bit of a consensus.


    ¡°It¡¯s not like we can just jump through a portal and get there immediately. We need to run over there or walk over there or take...¡± I said.


    ¡°We could make a rift in the way and head over,¡± the elder kang said. ¡°I can open up a passageway for a short while.¡±


    Everything stopped. It was like the record scratched and all eyes were on him.


    All at once, everyone except for me began talking over each other, asking questions. His daughter was yelling about how he needed to teach her that immediately and he was telling her it was for more advanced cultivators. Then Lee was yelling about how she wasn¡¯t a dance cultivator and she needed to learn that technique immediately and things sort of spiraled.


    When you¡¯re a group this big, a brand new divisive issue might become a problem. That the man who was probably going to hang out with us for a little could teleport place with his pathway intrigued me. I¡¯m not even going to tell you I was disinterested.


    I was full on ready to pay this man anything to teach me that technique. To save the time on the two-day trip to get here? I would take that in a heartbeat.


    ¡°Settle down,¡± I said. ¡°Let him cook.¡±


    ¡°There are limitations like you have to have been to one spot before, but I¡¯ve been there. I can take you there now.¡±


    And just like that, we were preparing to jump through a portal to another place. I did not believe it, but that¡¯s what was going on and I was excited to be thinking about portals for once in my life. If he could hold a torso size portal open, we could jump through it head first and then on the other side land gracefully. He could only make it so big, which meant that you couldn¡¯t just walk into it nicely. You even had to fly poor jump through it. In fact, he recommended doing a tuck jump, which is where you jump up and tuck your knees to your chest. Chest. Made it hard to land on the other side, but it got you there. It was about a 3-ft wide circle, maybe four. The other option was for him to put the opening by the ground so you could just crawl in. I chose that option as I was a man who didn¡¯t want to have my extremities cut off at the apertures of the formation. True to form, my girlfriend decided to go through first, but that was on her. I was in no rush. I just wanted to get there.


    Once all of us were across, he threw himself through.


    We were going to let Fei stay there, but He was far too excited to play with the portal. If the man knew what he was doing, we could all be back in Western Jewel by the end of the day.


    That sounded amazing. It sounded like I was about to be getting to work from home and not have to spend two days on an air shift to get to any other place. It turned out Mister Kang had been all over the Empire and thus could connect us later to a bunch of the spots that he¡¯d been through. But our priority right now was to root out any remaining cultivators in this city before we hop to any others. And then we might call him the blue rose to actually do their jobs. That we had a handler that was sitting outside of our hotel room while we jumped through this little portal meant we had to deliberate on if we were going to take the guy or not.


    I reluctantly made him come. If only to prove that, I was definitely a team player.


    I was a team player, after all. And we were all going to get through this together.


    I looked once again at Xiran.


    ¡°This is where they would go?¡±


    In the back of my mind, I was thinking about how she would be an excellent double agent now that she showed our little group. I was also thinking about how she knew I would utterly crush her if she did something so stupid as to decide she was on the other side again. It wasn¡¯t even a question of my mind. She had joined the game and decided she wanted to get out. I wanted to help her, but I wasn¡¯t going to be a pushover. If anything, I was going to treat her like she wanted to be treated. She was an important member of the team who was about to get her clock cleaned if she didn¡¯t put out some bread.


    It wasn¡¯t my fault that her parents had failed her. It wasn¡¯t my fault that society had failed her.


    I wasn¡¯t going to fail her.


    I wasn¡¯t going to fail any of them. What I was going to do was get her to do exactly what I needed her to do. It was the same thing with Egiya and Xueyie.


    They were in the game now.


    We needed to move.


    ¡°If you wouldn¡¯t mind opening a portal to our next location?¡±


    ---


    We stepped through to a tea shop nearby the airship Depot. Moon Xiru would have had a coronary. Just seeing tea delivered directly to the consumer without a complicated network of masters. Making a taste maker pick an influencer getting in their chop felt so strange to me.


    I wasn¡¯t going to question the highly unionized positions that resembled nothing less than a cartel ever. That was a kind of crazy talk that got you put into a strange place for a long time. I didn¡¯t want to be in a strange place for a long time. I wanted to be in a happy place for a short time. In fact, I want to be back with my kids, kicking it and talking about awkward teenage problems. Just thinking about seeing Rachel and Courtney again. Drew a smile onto my face as the girls followed me through the portal.


    The big difference between Western Jewel and the capital was that the capital sprawled out. Even though it was a capital city, it looked more like a suburb. Yes, sure. It had neat lines and everything and it was a beautiful place to live and work and such. But also they had built up Western Jewel like it was on top of itself and everything was two or three stories because that¡¯s just how it had to be. They could only make the walls so big while leaving room for cultivators.


    But here? They had room. They had room to stretch, and they had room to breathe. And they let it happen. A building that would have been a two-story walk-up or three-story mixed-use building here was just a two-story tea house that had a good view of the air shipping business.


    I took up a spot with the team, trying to direct traffic around.


    Groups of men carrying things in rickshaws being loaded onto transports right around me. Again, in the culture where everyone was strong as fuck, there was no need to have a car. And the only reason that someone had a hand truck was because something was big and awkward to carry. They could carry it for sure, but they didn¡¯t want the awkwardness. They just wanted the efficiency.


    I just wanted some tea and to slow down and enjoy my time.


    But the world did not want that.


    We have Xiran the room to wander around and we followed her in discreet groups, each only a block from another. Lee was with her.


    I was in the central block with Moon Fei, just us guys.


    Egiya and her father were in the back.


    I felt like it should strike me as odd how quickly he¡¯d adapted to this situation. He had come from something to join us. It wasn¡¯t like every single cultivator you met was a spy thriller reader or some sort of John Grisham. He was just a normal everyday guy who just cared about his daughter and sent her stuff all the time, but just wasn¡¯t able to be present because of his job. True, she was an adult now, but wouldn¡¯t you want to be closer to your cool little daughter who ran the ink shop that you created when you were a youngster? I would want that. I would want that for him as well.


    But I had my bone to pick with him about abandoning his family and I felt like we would come through a partner journey together where we would both have to wrestle with what it meant to be an African father. He left his daughter, knowing what was going to happen. I did not leave my daughters willingly and every day I still ached.


    We passed by what had to be a wholesale Market. Everyone there had a large cart with them to remove goods.


    Wall to wall wooden carts, fight, as far as I could see, dominated the thoroughfare.


    They were selling everything from wild animals to tea.

 3- Eleven

    I just stared down at the slate that announced that this wholesale tea shop would sell tea directly to tea shops. Someone had erased the slate several times recently. Apparently somebody did not like the policy and kept racing it or the seller himself realized when people who were going to raise a fuss about the policy were coming by.


    Either way, he saw Moon Fei and immediately erased the contents of the slate. The only thing left up was the pricing list.


    The seller deflated as we passed. Maybe it was Moon Clan robes. They probably had their fingers in the tea trade here as well. With a start, I realized I was wearing Moon Clan robes. I probably looked like an official at that exact moment.


    I had asked the tailors to prepare me something that would stand up to scrutiny when I went to speak to the emperor.


    I was going to have to go back to them and talk about it.


    That wasn¡¯t the issue, though. If he could identify me as a moon clan cultivator and I was just wearing the robes, others would also recognize that as well. I didn¡¯t have time to go on a brief shopping trip right that second. I had no problem letting the moon Clan take credit for what I did. Heck, I brought two of them along with me and I left one back home.


    I was going to have to find some other way to deflect the curiosity of a random pass by. My robes, though great and form-fitting, were going to betray me.


    Moon Fei brought me out of my reverie by tapping me on the shoulder. That meant that he was up by me.


    ¡°Did we find it?¡± I asked without looking away.


    The tea seller looked about to launch into their schpiel.


    ¡°We found something,¡± he said. ¡°I didn¡¯t want to move quick but-¡±


    ¡°Sir, did you want to buy something?¡± The sales agent said. ¡°We have some of the finest tea leaf this side of the continent. Some of the freshest leaves from Western Jewel arrived today.¡±


    I pause to taking what he was saying. I went so far, and he was trying to sell me something that I could have gotten in my backyard. Course. That made sense because that¡¯s what you did, right? You sold people something that you thought they couldn¡¯t get otherwise?


    But I¡¯d had the teammate locally in a Western duel and it wasn¡¯t anything to write home about. In fact, it wasn¡¯t anything to even mention in like conversation unless he really wanted to. It was just adequate for my purposes. Had it come with 200 mg of caffeine, I would have been all for it, but that hadn¡¯t happened. It just did its own thing and tasted kind of mind.


    If you were going to sell a product, you had to believe in it. This guy looked like he was just trying to clear the back of the store.


    ¡°Thank you, but I¡¯m not interested,¡± I said. ¡°I have tea at home.¡±


    ¡°But sir, our Western Jewel tea is guaranteed to provide the energy you need for continuous cultivation,¡± the man said.


    I turned and gave him my full attention. There were strange things and then there were strangers ones.


    ¡°Always be cultivating?¡± I said.


    ¡°Yes, indeed. It¡¯s a refreshing way to... close the deal.¡±


    My mind went back to seeing Glengarry Glen Ross with my daughters. We¡¯d always loved the quips. So what is it was rated R? We could still enjoy most of it.


    ¡°You¡¯re talking about... let¡¯s talk about something else,¡± I said.


    ¡°Sir!¡± Moon Fei said.


    ¡°One minute,¡± I said. ¡°Do you have any tea? Like a mug of it?¡±


    ¡°Tea?¡± the man said in a feminine voice. ¡°Tea is for closers only.¡±


    I narrowed my eyes.


    I gave the man a look. His eyes look younger than he was. His beard looked one hundred percent fake. Now I¡¯m not about to tell a man what he shouldn¡¯t do regarding facial hair. But when he looks like he¡¯s just a girl wearing a Santa Claus wig, I question whether or not he knows what he¡¯s doing. Knew who he was. I stared into eyes that reminded me of my own. There were precious few mirrors around for me to get into. Good luck with.


    This set of eyes in particular?


    They reminded me I hadn¡¯t seen Rachel in forever. God, I missed the kids.


    ¡°Sir?¡± He said, in an exceedingly low voice. ¡°Care to buy?¡±


    ¡°I have some business to conduct, and then I¡¯ll be right back.¡±


    There was something there that I wanted to see. Not that I felt familiar with them, but I felt something. Moon Fei was tugging on my arm and I reluctantly left. We moved out towards the next block, where Xiran was speaking in hushed tones to everyone there.


    Had it gotten so caught up in my shopping that I lost them all? Maybe it was time for me to take a brief break from this. I had taken 6 weeks off. Maybe I could take the work of my working idol, Adele.


    Didn¡¯t she work like six months out of every six years?


    That was something I was looking forward to.


    I came in on the tail end of the discussion.


    ¡°I can confirm that this is the place,¡± Xiran said. ¡°I want to lead us in.¡±


    I gave her the look. Not that I didn¡¯t approve of this. I approved. However, I didn¡¯t want to be the one putting her on the line. If she wanted to volunteer? I would back her up.


    This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.


    So, for the first time, I would let her lead the mission. Xueyie would be right behind her.


    Lee and I would follow.


    ¡°Capture or detain if you can,¡± Lee said.


    ¡°Wait, you¡¯re just going to go inside and fight these people?¡± The elder kang said. ¡°But the girls?¡±


    ¡°The girls will be fine,¡± I said. ¡°They know what they¡¯re doing. Can you make a formation that we can toss living cultivators into like a jail cell?¡±


    He took a second and then nodded. I could tell that he had some more reservations about this. Essentially, he was letting his daughter run in and do her own thing. Her own thing being killing demonic cultivators.


    I wondered how her father paternal instinct would kick in. If she was my daughter overjoyed to see her doing all this. I might be reserved with my own daughters, but ultimately, it wasn¡¯t my decision. All I wanted to do was to give them the opportunity to grow and get better. It was on them to do anything.


    Beyond that? I would cheer their accomplishments but I wasn¡¯t going to tiger mom them into submission. Yes, tiger mom was a verb in our household.


    As Min and I watched, Xiran and Xueyie knocked on the door to the disguised building. It was a front, of course. All of their buildings were.


    The front of the day was that this was an import export business. At least that was what their signage said. I didn¡¯t believe it, but it was on them to actually prove it to any government authority that was going to be there.


    If I was doing this myself, I would come in as an inspector and ham up that I was looking for a bribe or some shit.


    The girls made a seamless entry. I saw a guard outside that they had just flirted with briefly, or they had sweet-talked. Either way, they were in.


    I checked the guard, and he had the familiar signature tattoo on his face.


    This was the place.


    Fortunately or unfortunately, we were in it.


    I gave them about two minutes before I send Min in.


    Then Lee and I walked up. The guard was quite disinterested in the two of us.


    ¡°What do you want?¡± He said, flatly.


    ¡°Excuse me, sir, but we are interested in exporting some of our more esoteric goods. Might we have a word with the proprietor?¡± I said, trying to sound as regal as I pretended to be.


    ¡°The boss is with a customer,¡± he said. ¡°Come back later.¡±


    He was definitely not the customer service type. He didn¡¯t care if we dropped off the face of the earth.


    I could hear the muffled sounds of a woman beating someone to within an inch of their life.


    The guard turned, obviously hearing the same thing.


    Of course.


    Mood: Nobody¡¯s going to stop me.


    ¡°Lee, I believe that this man is missing a hey you,¡± I said.


    ¡°A what?¡± He said.


    ¡°Hey, you!¡± She said, popping him into the jaw.


    He jerked back.


    ¡°Why you little-¡± he said, winding up for a haymaker. It was the most telegraphed move I had seen in ages.


    She leapt off the group and into him, cleanly kicking him through the wooden door. He left a man-sized hole.


    Peering through the wall, he had fully disappeared, clearly having gone through the wall on the far side. That would be tough for the resale value of the place.


    I hoped that the next group got a deal when they bought it.


    A demonic cultivator threw himself at me, full force.


    I twisted him in the air and then did him the honor of tossing him through two layers of granite wall.


    A general contractor just landed the repair gig that would buy his daughter the cultivation pills to advance to the third realm.


    That was my team. Irreverently causing gentrification by destroying real estate for new age cultivators to buy.


    It was almost our calling card at this point.


    Chances were that the Mooks that we had tossed through the walls were going to be seeing stars. Then they would talk to the blue robes.


    I walked into the devastation.


    Xiran was cleaning house. Xueyie was only watching her back.


    It was like they were just trying to see what the bare minimum devastation would be. They conspicuously stacked several unconscious men and women against one wall. I eyed Xiran as she tossed another.


    It was clean and efficient work. I had to give her credit.


    ¡°Papa Kang, is your part ready?¡± I said, leaning back.


    ¡°Bring the first few through!¡± Egiya yelled.


    Lee and I formed a human chain with Xueyie, moving humans into the chains that the blue robes had supplied and into the holding formation. It would hold a cultivator of up to third realm, but one of those wouldn¡¯t go down easily.


    Within minutes, twelve were behind the formation lines and we were looking for a reason to go through the rubble for some of those that had gotten their shit pushed through the wall.


    God, I love smart, strong women.


    Especially the ones that made my job so much easier. These two were legends in their own right. Now all we had to do was to put them in the hands of someone competent in the security ministry.


    ¡°Lee, I¡¯m going to go talk to a merchant about some tea,¡± I said. ¡°Can you finish up here?¡±


    I felt like I was done with the game. I wanted to quit before, but now I was so thoroughly done with these shenanigans. I was so done that I was not thinking straight. How else would the merchant¡¯s eyes so remind me of Rachel?


    The dream of going home and seeing them safe again floated up to me once more, unbidden. There I was, just driving them to either and they-they were just laughing. They were teasing me about something that Lauren had said or they had a new inside joke or... something broke my side of me.


    Somebody knew how to get me back to my daughters in this city and I would tear is apart until I could see them again if I... if I did what? If I became the monster that I fought against?


    I didn¡¯t have that in me.


    I just had to keep putting one foot in front of the other. These damn day dreams kept pulling me out of where I was and bad to something that had no chance or happening. A part of me believed it wasn¡¯t going to happen if? Heck, I would take Lee with me too!


    I was back around the corner quickly. The merchant was still there. There were also several groups of blue-robed cultivators passing through the crowd. I recognized a few faces from our last problem. None that I knew the names of.


    A few saw me and nodded. They flowed past me. The merchant locked eyes with me briefly and then stepped out. I wanted to run and spout a quip or two. He was gone before I knew it.


    I walked to what I thought was his shop.


    ¡°What are you doing, Joe?¡± Min said.


    ¡°That tea seller- he reminded me of home,¡± I said. ¡°I just wanted to talk to him.¡±


    ¡°He reminded you of home?¡± Min said, appearing on my shoulder.


    ¡°His eyes- he had my eyes. The eyes I gave my daughters,¡± I said.


    The moon spirit dropped, and I followed her. She moved like a cat.


    For once, she didn¡¯t give me any sass. I was expecting it. There was a part of me that needed it.


    Min worked her way in between the crowd, picking up speed.


    I was right there behind her, and then we were in front of a closed up shop.


    That wasn¡¯t right.


    He was fully open before we came. What had prompted this? He closed up because of all the heat?


    There was a considerable amount of blue robe presence. It was like back on the blue night at the cop bar. Rather than keep moving, I just sat down and looked at the cultivators passing by.


    After a while, the blue robes stopped being in most of the traffic. Then there was a lull, as the customers weren¡¯t certain if returning would tip them off or something. The merchants were open and out talking, trying to draw in anyone.


    They didn¡¯t pay attention to me.


    I let myself just sit there and watch as the hustle and bustle of normal commerce took over. The damn market would go on. Apparently, whatever they were selling here would keep selling, if only because of the people morbidly curious about what exactly was going on.


    There was no social media here, so it made sense that this would become a juicy piece of gossip.


    For matters of public safety, this kind of thing needed to get out. The amount of times that I had killed demonic cultivators without the word making it out was getting to be a problem. The public had a right to know, but also how would they get the news?


    Maybe I needed to start a printing press and just tell them. It wasn¡¯t the first time that I had thought deep thoughts about getting suitable reading material. This time, though, I was thinking of how society found out about their demonic infestations.

 3- Twelve

    There was a fair bit of paperwork for some other poor schmuck to do. It wasn¡¯t for me, thankfully. I never found the vendor again, sadly.


    The best part about being the guy that had to hit the guy was that I didn¡¯t have to do the paperwork. I made sure that was part of my contract. It looked oddly at me, but after I explained my situation with the bureaucrats from my side of the house, they were more than happy to oblige me.


    The blue coats took over, and we regrouped at the hotel. This time, we walked. I wanted to let the heat of the battle simmer down.


    ¡°That was such a rush!¡± She said. ¡°I can see why people fight! I mean, we practiced a lot, but... Xueyie tossed a guy casually through the wall like it was nothing.¡±


    ¡°She is impressive. I¡¯ll give her that,¡± I said, reaching up to pet Min.


    ¡°And then I tried the same thing, and I didn¡¯t get so far, but I got them stuck in the wall and it was so...¡± she beamed. ¡°It was so outstanding!¡±


    I was a bit taken aback by how young she felt. Like she was just not able to do things on her own and was taking full advantage of not having every minute of her day devoted to reading demonic scriptures. How that came to be, I just couldn¡¯t imagine. It sounded like they were going to make her some sort of high priestess or something.


    They might have turned her into the figurehead.


    They made her into a weapon.


    ¡°You realize that there¡¯s more to life than fighting, right?¡±


    She went all wild-eyed at that. I would give her the benefit of the doubt at this moment.


    ¡°Relax. I¡¯m not going to jump down your throat,¡± I said. ¡°It¡¯s just that I have plans for after this is all done and...¡±


    I kinda gestured vaguely up, like the future existed in the air above us.


    ¡°I haven¡¯t really thought about what I¡¯m doing next,¡± Xiran said. ¡°I have only been thinking about the next mission.¡±


    ¡°In time, I¡¯m not going to need your services anymore. Then you can do your own thing and...¡±


    She couldn¡¯t think about that because they had taken her dreams away. Not the things that happened at night, but how people looked forward to things. Dreams were important because they gave you something to look for. It was a bit of a thing when I was dealing with someone with depression or anxiety. I would ask them if they had something that they were looking forward to.


    ¡°After this?¡± I said. ¡°After all of this, I want to explore this world. Hopefully, with my daughters and Lee. Maybe you could tag along.¡±


    ¡°Maybe.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s something to look forward to. It¡¯s important to have something to look forward to or a goal,¡± I said. We were getting close to a large open air market. The smells were getting me going. Without clocks, we punctuated our time with meals. It was time for a meal.


    ¡°You hungry?¡± I said. ¡°Obviously, my treat.¡±


    I turned to see the rest of the group. I motioned to the market and got some indifferent nods. When in Rome, though...


    The meat on a stick here was at least on the same level as I had expected. It¡¯s good to know that humans everywhere liked street food. It was good enough for this guy, at least.


    ---


    After we finally got together with the blue robes for debriefing, I found my evening free. Should I go to another opera? Something itched at the back of my head. The last time I went, I was still paying dividends for.


    Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.


    Xiran had retired to go into closed door cultivation. We all expected her to take about 4 hours to return to the second realm, if not halfway through it. Her New-path ought to use the surrounding aura much more efficiently and because she was retracing steps with a better base, it was like she had my advantage. Maybe I should sell the whole thing to them.


    ¡®Come back train with Joseph Pidge. You had the demonic cultivation pathway before, but now you¡¯re going to have an actual cultivation pathway. Oh, and you¡¯ll have fewer impurities because Joe knows what to do and you¡¯ll be using some Earth technique that is forbidden to the locals.¡¯


    Rachel would have loved that. She loved it. When someone presented some stupid fake argument for their own thing. Then she loves taking apart the argument. Not that I thought my argument had zero merit, but who would believe me?


    I sure as heck wouldn¡¯t believe me. I was living proof of the actual worthiness of the technique. Then I thought about the cultivator who tried to take me aside and sell me some tea and how I¡¯d blown him off. Those eyes came up to my dream. Distinct hazel eyes stood out to me in everyone that interacted with me in my dream.


    To be fair, it was a pretty mundane dream about washing clothes in a river and then putting them out to dry. I was already living with the woman of my dreams. The other dream would be to fuck off wherever I wanted to whenever I wanted to.


    Fuck you, money only really matters when someone can¡¯t get to you with violence. You¡¯ve heard about these people before. People that have done the right thing for years invested in their retirement accounts and now they don¡¯t really feel like they have to work, so they don¡¯t. That kind of wealth takes time. Unless, of course, the emperor''s hands are straight to you for your honorable service.


    But just having that also gave the emperor the impression that I was going to keep hunting down to my cultivators like it was vintage early 2000s rap albums. I didn¡¯t need those. I wanted them. If I didn¡¯t have kids, maybe I would be really into that. But also who was a record player now? And with media all being digitized, how is supposed to take it across to a different world? That got me thinking about hipsters and how they would take their record collections. Tran is migrating across a universe and then not realizing until too late that they didn¡¯t have a backup record player.


    I shuddered at that dream.


    I had enough of that and when brunch finally rolled around, Xiran had made it to the second realm.


    ¡°I did it, senior!¡± She said.


    ¡°Well done,¡± I said. ¡°Keep it up.¡±


    I wish I had some cool catch prices for her, but I really had little. We would celebrate with brunch. There wasn¡¯t much else to do about it.


    That was about the time when the Kangs walked in. They obviously had gone through a lot. Egiya had been crying, then applied makeup, giving her rosy red cheeks. At least that seemed like the order.


    ¡°Good morning, sir,¡± I said, offering him some tea.


    He readily accepted it.


    ¡°I suppose you have big plans for today?¡± He said.


    ¡°Not really. The blue coats they owe us more information and that is about the end of Xirans lived experience. I was thinking that we would make plans to head back, but the travel time is just horrific. If only there was somebody that could let us just make a way there faster,¡± I said, leaning forward.


    ¡°There... uh... Might be a way,¡± he said.


    For a moment, it felt like I was talking to a friend¡¯s dad when I was young. He obviously knew me as his kid¡¯s friend and didn¡¯t want to rock the boat. But how much did he really know about me? I wasn¡¯t a high schooler trying to get a prank pulled. I had a group of people that I took care of back at Western Jewel.


    ¡°Well, I ... we.... Have a plan for that,¡± he said.


    ¡°You don¡¯t say?¡± I said. ¡°You, the man with the formation circle, might get us back there faster?¡±


    ¡°We could work something out,¡± Egiya said. Something was troubling her.


    ¡°Actually, do you mind if I step out for a second? Lee, can you take over?¡± I asked the gorgeous woman who the elder Kang had sat next to. ¡°I need some fresh air.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll convince him of the merits of saving us two days of travel,¡± Lee said, smiling.


    She got a little closer to him and poured a bit of tea into his now empty mug.


    ¡°I feel like I need some fresh air too,¡± Egiya said.


    The capital was so beautiful that I was a bit taken aback. I have forgotten how much I love the hustle of a large city.


    Egiya and I took a quiet minute.


    ¡°I just found out all this time that he could have been coming home. He said that he didn¡¯t even think about it, but ... Now? Now he says that he wants to try?¡±


    ¡°You have an idealization of your father in your head. He is not that person. He is who he is right now. You can¡¯t change who he is. You can choose to accept him or not. No one is going to tell you that you¡¯re doing the wrong thing by shutting him out when he could have visited you often.¡±


    I let that stand there for a second.


    ¡°He could have just gotten the ability recently and-¡°


    ¡°He¡¯s had it for two years,¡± she said.


    I whistled. That was a lot of bullshit to put up with. It explained why she was crying so much this morning.


    ¡°Let me be brutally honest with you right now. If there was a way for me to see my daughters? I would be there with them. Me not having a way to get back to them and I¡¯ve been trying to do anything I can to get back? That¡¯s how you want him to be.¡±

 3- Thirteen

    ¡°Let me be brutally honest with you right now. If there was a way for me to see my daughters? I would be there with them. Me not having a way to get back to them and I¡¯ve been trying to do anything I can to get back? That¡¯s how you want him to be.¡±


    ¡°Actually no,¡± I said. ¡°Brutal honesty is pretty terrible. See if he wants to be forgiven and then, if so, what he does to make that happen...¡±


    Min popped out of the window to look at us. If there was something going on, she would have told us. But it looked like she just wanted to eavesdrop.


    ¡°I get where you¡¯re coming from and I appreciate you. Maybe one day I¡¯ll have kids and I¡¯ll treat them the way they that you say that you treat yours,¡± she said, faltering for a minute.


    I had loads to say about how others parentified her and forced her to act older than she was, but it wasn¡¯t my time to talk.


    ¡°For now though, maybe you can learn his teleportation circle technique,¡± I said. ¡°Then he really won¡¯t have an excuse to not visit your mother.¡±


    ¡°I hadn¡¯t even thought about that. I was just thinking about him and me,¡± she said. ¡°She¡¯s going to be ecstatic.¡±


    She took a seat on a bench next to me. It was one of those pastoral scenes that get because of proper urban planning. A beautiful park laid out in front of us. Someone cultivated every detail to create the effect of a lush forest. Probably more like a savannah, given the amount of grass and trees.


    In a veritable forest, that would be way more trees. In a proper family, they would be way more love. She was going to have to get to where she wanted to be, but she knew. We had talked about her dreams and her hopes. Now she could make those real.


    ¡°I¡¯m serious about this teleportation thing,¡± I said. ¡°I need a realistic way to get from here to there and if you can teach me to do it as well? Even better.¡±


    She laughed. I could see her wiping off a tear.


    ¡°Can I have a hug?¡± She said, getting up.


    I knew her parents were not big on hugs of physical affection.


    I nearly bowled her over with a bear hug.


    She melted.


    Min saw that happening and sucked back in.


    We returned to brunch.


    ---


    They spend way too long. Working on something that I was hoping would have taken half a day.


    By the time Egiya had a working prototype of her own, I was ready for dinner. Thankfully, the blue robes gave us our final set of debriefings and we could use her newly enhanced teleportation circles to head all the way to Western Jewel.


    ---


    We popped out into the safe house. Or rather than Kang residence. I hadn¡¯t gotten all the details, but it looked like it was easier to return to a spot that one was familiar with than not.


    This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.


    Behind the three story shop was the second floor walk-up area that we appeared in. It was a thoroughh way for the residents in that block to easily walk through without going to the street. I was very familiar with it. Ellen Kang, mother of Egiya, would be there.


    ¡°Thank you for keeping my daughter safe,¡± he said, pausing at the door. ¡°I think we¡¯ve talked a lot about how I have to face the music. I hope to speak to you all soon.¡±


    ¡°Hey,¡± I said, placing my arm on his after shaking his hand. ¡°If you want to talk, I may not have been a cultivator for as long as you, but I raised two girls.¡±


    He smiled back at me. The man had no right to look so classy.


    ¡°I¡¯ll... keep that in mind,¡± he said.


    Min and Egiya said their goodbyes. Xueyie gave her a hug.


    We went down to the square where is all started and I looked about. I felt like a new man.


    If only I had taken the time to savor the moment.


    ---


    The next morning, Lee woke me up early and it was quite nice. Halfway through fooling around, the bed shook.


    ¡°That wasn¡¯t me,¡± I said, still naked and sweaty.


    ¡°That wasn¡¯t me,¡± she said as she straddled me.


    ¡°Do we need to stop?¡± I said. ¡°It would be pretty uh...¡±


    ¡°We need to stop,¡± I think, she said. ¡°Something¡¯s off.¡±


    ¡°Or we could continue,¡± she said, before an earthquake rocked us. ¡°Or next time.¡±


    I didn¡¯t even have time to clean up, which was probably the worst thing. Fuck walking into battle. All around us, the moon clan was assembling into various stages of war footing. No one raised an eyebrow at me coming out of Lee¡¯s room, though her hair was immaculate already.


    Sex hair was so in right now.


    ¡°I gotta speak to my cousins and sisters. Can you see if Min knows anything?¡± Lee said. I could see that she wanted to stay with me, but she was one of their stronger fighters.


    ¡°I understand. Be safe,¡± I said.


    She came in for a kiss and again; I was grateful that she used to be the one that would beat you with a sandal if you got out of line. No one would mess with her, and by proxy me.


    We separated, and she went to the innermost part of the compound.


    ¡°Min, do you know what is going on?¡± I said.


    The spirit beast who had been napping outside of her room bounded in front of me.


    ¡°This earthquake, it feels like the...¡±


    Min trailed off and looked distracted.


    Well, that wasn¡¯t good.


    Was this one of the divine beasts? I flew up to get a better look. Something was off. The normally colored city now had an orange hue to it I couldn¡¯t place. The only thing that it reminded me of was our trips in the airship and...


    ¡°Min, what¡¯s going on with the orange hue?¡± I said.


    ¡°Oh! That¡¯s... not normal,¡± she said. She, of course being on my shoulders had a good view of the strangeness.


    ¡°I know. But like what...?¡±


    A time comes in every man¡¯s life when someone offers him a chance to be a hero. This wasn¡¯t one of those. When I saw the cracks, I knew it was going to be a rough day.


    ¡°Something is going on and yeah, I think we need to get ready,¡± I said.


    ¡°There¡¯s something else going on as well,¡± Min said. ¡°There are several powerful cultivators just blasting their aura around town as if they just want to be noticed. At least one is heading to the Moon clan right now.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t say. You think they finally made their move?¡± I said, descending. I was going to need to conserve my energy, if there was going to become some sort of long drawn out fight.


    ¡°It looks like it. Destroy Western Jewel because we killed so many of their people.¡±


    I landed softly on the ground. I headed to the assembled moon clan group. Several men and women that I had trained alongside were present.


    ¡°Does anyone have an idea what¡¯s going on here?¡± I said, quietly.


    ¡°Not yet, boss,¡± one of the junior members said.


    Then the higher ups arrived, and the tension decided to ratchet up two notches. They were on a war footing. I got that by their tone. Also, that they had shown up so quickly meant that they had to make some sort of response.


    Fuck. What was it this time?


    ¡°The Mandarin is about to call in all fourth realm cultivators. There¡¯s something big brewing,¡± Lee said.


    She paused and then looked at her sisters and brothers before speaking again.


    ¡°There¡¯s something else. The walls are down.¡±


    I could feel the picker from there. I knew that she had said something relatively profound, but it was taking its time to reach my big dumb brain. I was only useful for punching things and making obscene jokes at that moment.


    ¡°The walls are down. There¡¯s nothing stopping the beasts outside from breaking in,¡± Lin whispered into my ear.


    ¡°Ah yeah, that. See, now that means something to me. Fuck it, let¡¯s go,¡± I said.

 3-Fourteen

    Up above, the sky grew dark. The darkness strangely localized itself, like an effect from a path technique.


    Of course, that was where the damn threat was.


    Mood: not a fan.


    Dozens of spirit beasts were now flying into our territory. All sizes of ephemeral beasts, from smoking elementals the size of dogs to the size of horses. I am few cases I could see slower beasts the size of houses moving from the outskirts of the city.


    They moved with a purpose.


    I could sense that they were each looking for humans to deal with. I also felt a surge of dream aura from the surrounding people. I cultivated it, trying to fill my core. Dreams or nightmares both did the same thing for me.


    They filled me up. Whether with dread or hope, it mattered not matter. I was getting the job done either way.


    I hadn¡¯t really leaned into the side of my path that recruited nightmares, but if anything, this was the time.


    There were at least five giant beasts that made manta rays descending from the heights. It at least that was their dominant shape- they were shifting like Min did. It was like they were trying to find the most nightmarish combination.


    Were I a lesser man, it would have worked.


    ¡°Min, I think we need to work on those,¡± I said. ¡°Do you have any information on them before we jump into it?¡±


    ¡°Expected tier is third. They don¡¯t look like they¡¯re trying to fight, just feed on the locals.¡±


    ¡°Well shit, that was all you had to say,¡± I said.


    I pointed at the spirit beasts and got Lee¡¯s attention. If they were going to descend and try to eat people, I was going to stop them. It was at this exact moment that I realized the city was so tightly packed that any amount of fighting in or above it would be a tragedy.


    I could only do so much. Someone else would have to evacuate the people. I didn¡¯t know where they would go, but this situation was untenable.


    ¡°Get the Mandarin!¡± I said.


    I might be on the outs with the federally appointed governor, but he was a tool capable of excising these spear beasts. I wondered why he hadn¡¯t done so already and then I saw a flash of light coming from way of North. The governor¡¯s island was there.


    ¡°Never mind, Min. We have to keep this area.... safe. ¡°


    This was looking more and more like a coordinated attack. I paused in mid-air.


    ¡°Decide, already!¡± Min yelled at me.


    ¡°Some of these guys are third level? Can you take them?¡±


    Did they want me to go all the way out and expose myself? It seemed and more like yes. Could I hide in plain sight? If this was the Red Fang, they would look for me. Assuming that one fifth realm guy was following up from the capital, I might be toast.


    ¡°Fuck it, we ball.¡± I would have to obscure myself.


    The answer was immediately obvious. I could fight veiled. Then no one around would know why the beasts were being tossed away from the city limits. To them it would just look like they were deciding to leave.


    ¡°I can match some of them,¡± Min said. ¡°But we have to figure out where they are coming from.¡±


    ¡°Can we find that out? How did they get past the barrier?¡±


    ¡°Does it matter? They got past the barrier. We need to get to the Kangs,¡± Min said.


    On the ground, I saw two pairs of nun chucks. I had little combat ability, but there was one thing they did exceedingly well. They were good focuses for my tactile telekinesis. I put one bright red one into each hand.


    Yeah, I looked like a teenager at the shopping mall, but hey don¡¯t knock it until you¡¯ve tried it.


    That settled, I flew up.


    All the dreams and nightmares from the city were coming true. I could feel the aura sweeping up and Megan it so that other forms of energy were thick.


    It was a lot of fear and daydreaming and nightmares at that exact moment. The people were crying out. Hope was rampant. Fear was dripping from the walls.


    I took all of it. I packed it down, powering my flight as I headed into an ever shifting eldritch abomination.


    I reached the first one who would nearly reach the ground by now. As I got closer, it¡¯s modular shape and size changed. So now it looked more like a balloon with grasping tentacles. Those all dropped to the ground, reaching for a meal.


    I was going to have to give him the bad news that we were out.


    I crashed into the side of it, and it was strangely sturdy. How much? It looked like it was an immovable, unchangeable mass. This blob of otherworldly flesh was solid.


    Good.


    I reached out to make contact and use its body as I tucked my right nun chucks into my belt.


    For the first time since using tactile telekinesisis felt. Usually I had a sense of the entire thing, but this was one of the first times that it took me a while to contact it as well as to secure it. What I realized was that it was fighting against me, tryinme,to change its shape. As soon as I realizI realized I couldge its shape, I attempted to squeeze tighter with my telekinesis.


    That proved to be the ticket to making it freak out.


    This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    It did not want to be held in place. Heck, it didn¡¯t want to keep a single form. It resisted me with its whole core.


    Where I had been comparatively fighting a toddler, suddenly the force of a varsity women¡¯s throwing team hit me.


    The beast knew what was going on. It was being captured or was about to be thrown. It did not want that to happen. My initial idea of grabbing it by the long side and tossing it out of the city was not working. It would just limp back.


    Then I saw another one was friends were terrorizing one of the Eastern districts for the city. I was going to have to kill it.


    More to the point, I didn¡¯t know how to kill it. So I pushed, trying to squeeze it to death. The beast turned white, then black, then red,red, as if signalling a sale that I was not privy to. If there was a sale on spirit beast cores, I would have wanted to know.


    There¡¯s a certain person who decides they want to wrestle a watermelon while they¡¯re oiled up. It was the kind of skill that you developed after being bored over the summer with your friends and having nothing better to do. It was something that you got better at when you got older.


    I finally remember seeing people do this and wondering what kind of fun was going on. Though the beast was about my size around, I gave it a go. The one time I tried the watermelon grease trick came back to me; I recalled trying it once. It felt slippery.


    The memory of rescuing my daughters from running headfirst into the pool also came to me. Odd thing to think about while I was fighting for my life, but whatever it takes.


    This watermelon shaped beast was my current problem.


    I was struggling to control it, and then it launched me.


    No arms, no legs, just pure force punched me through a third-floor walk-up window. I didn¡¯t even see an appendage.


    I went through another door to the terrified shrieks of the inhabitants. Two little girls and an an older man huddled in a corner.


    ¡°You might want to get down,¡± I said, brushing debris off of my chest as I got up.


    In my surprise, I had dropped one of the two nunchaku. Well shit. I just needed them to focus my flight on, otherwise I would have to focus on my clothes.


    It had two sides, though.


    I extended it and grabbed it on both sides. The man and the girls looked hopeful.


    ¡°If you can get to the ground floor, do it,¡± I said.


    ¡°Yes, sir,¡± the man said.


    I couldn¡¯t do much for them. Well, much except close the distance.


    I gave them one last look. I couldn¡¯t do anything for them right now, but my heart ached.


    ¡°You got this Joe,¡± I said, connecting to my sandals and my nun chucks to hover and then gently took off. It felt good. I had practiced this little maneuver many times.


    This time, the beast extended eyes above and was clearly watching. Beyond it, I could see Xueyie tangling with one on a rooftop in the next neighborhood. Her family was with her.


    That gave me an idea. I flew into my target and then pushed him. They were on the opposite side. I just needed to steer a little.


    It proved difficult, but not impossible. I was cycling aura and turning it into qi as fast as I ever had in the moment. Apparently, the nightmare was going to be something special.


    I knew that should be emotional, but I was just feeling emotionally stunted at the moment. I use that, pushing the qi into my body, reinforcing my muscles as I desperately pushed it. This demonic thing most resembled an overlord from StarCraft, or at least that was as close as I could get to an idea of what they were when they weren¡¯t flailing about between positions.


    I was going to use it to get my friends out of danger. I was also going to use their skills to destroy mine if that could. Both of her parents were strong cultivators, though I didn¡¯t think they had a combat focus. Either way, I have them in my sites.


    I had the image in my mind of a balloon comically losing its shit as it got pushed into a live fire range.


    It didn¡¯t look like a balloon as much as it was one. What really was it? An eldritch horror that would grow to be one of my most favorite nightmares was my best guess.


    I got into range of them. Finally, one of them noticed me. Xueyie¡¯s father, who I forgot the of name of, looked the part of the smiling Buddha as always. I really needed to speak to him more now that she was becoming part of my practice as well as my inner circle.


    If it was one thing for me to work with somebody. It was quite another thing for them to be part of my therapeutic practice.


    I bodily shoved my beast into the other one. The Taoist sect was blasting the air with attack after attack. They were definitely spamming the attack button. I had forgotten what type of elemental affinity they had, but it appeared to be wind type. Xueyie herself was weaving around protecting people from debris that the battle was creating. She was fast as fuck as I briefly passed her.


    Our two beasts mashed together, a mess on both ends. I was ready to quit when the Taoists brought both of them down.


    Quickly, I could connect both of them with my tactile telekinesis. My control now extended to where one was connected to the other once I connected them. I could get them basically to be part of the same large sphere.


    I turned that over to the Taoists. They blasted the beasts.


    ¡°Can you handle this?¡± I asked.


    I released the sphere well inside of their range.


    Xueyie¡¯s mother nodded. I jumped back up and looked for another target.


    The neighborhood with the tea vendors and Moon Xiru was being hit hard by two more of the floating beasts. I picked that one because I had a stake there.


    I flew as fast as I could.


    It felt good to move so fast over the square neighbors surrounded by canals. Three of the beasts were massacring any normal humans they found. I stopped short.


    ¡°Fuck... Min this is all out carnage,¡± I said.


    We were in an open air snack container as far as these beasts were concerned, but I needed to check on Moon Xiru.


    He wasn¡¯t outside his shop, one of the few mercies that this situation had given me so far. I briefly wondered where Xiran was, but I would find her next. I was going to get Moon Xiru and then head to my people with Lorenzo.


    He would know what to do. He might not be a fighter, but he was an effective person in crisis. This city had probably never seen a crisis like this. Even the Mandarin himself was doing something crazy up in the air.


    Every time he hit whatever he was fighting, sparks flew. Some of their attacks didn¡¯t cause devastation.


    I ducked down.


    I wasn¡¯t here to look at that. I need you to stay focused exactly on where I was and make sure that I got through exactly what was trying to do.


    I looked at the shop and gasped.


    Xiru lay there, bleeding out. Something must have gotten to him.


    ¡°Min, can you help him?¡± I whispered, falling to my knees.


    ¡°I will do what I can. All I can.¡±


    He looked at me and I choked back whatever I was going to say.


    ¡°Be...hind...you,¡± he said.


    I pumped my Nascent Soul out and immediately got bowled over. All he had on me was speed. It wasn¡¯t one beast. This was a man with a revenge mission.


    For the second time that day, I had my torso shoved through a wall against my will. The dust from the shoddy marble work was in the air. I looked up to see what had to be a top level red fang enforcer. He was at least third realm.


    ¡°I thought they might send me a challenge,¡± I said, wiping the blood from my mouth. ¡°Oh, Oh, well.¡±


    The bald man leered over the dust, looking like he was about to launch into a villain¡¯s monologue.


    ¡°For too long you have killed my brothers and sisters and-¡°


    I punched him mid sentence. My fist went through his stomach, nearly reaching his spine. The door hadn¡¯t hardened his body, instead deciding to gloat.


    ¡°-and... and...¡±


    He looked down. I extracted my arm, wiping the blood and stomach acid off on his shirt as he just gaped at the hole where his abs had been.


    He collapsed, a slow train wreck falling down in front of me.


    ¡°Fuck you for making me get out of bed.¡± I stripped off my shirt. Battles had shredded it, and blood covered it. ¡°And fuck you. I liked this shirt. My girlfriend gave it to me.¡±


    After cleaning off my arm, I tossed the shirt over his head. I had abs, which was an odd thing to think about it the situation.


    ¡°Heh,¡± Moon Xiru said. ¡°That was entertaining.¡±


    I was at his side instantly.


    ¡°Hey, it¡¯s going to be alright.¡±


    ¡°Joe,¡± he said. ¡°Thanks for the most interesting season of my life, but I¡¯m... not going to make it. Take care of Moon Fei for me.¡±


    He coughed blood.


    ¡°Whatever they did to you, I can...¡±


    He kept coughing up blood. The man was severely bleeding.


    ¡°Let it go. Save Fei. I never agreed with what you did for Xirans but... her too.¡±


    ¡°What about the rest?¡± I said.


    Min appeared in his lap.


    ¡°The moon is calling me...¡±


    His eyes closed, and he stopped breathing.

 3- Fifteen

    I had to leave him there. I didn¡¯t have time to do him justice. The damn enforcer had apparently brought friends. Min would see him through and then rejoin me.


    I had other problems.


    Three of them surrounded me, though they looked very uncommitted to this fight. Each one of the Mooks was bald and looked like an extra on a film satirizing martial arts films.


    ¡°Let me explain what¡¯s about to happen here,¡± I said. ¡°You guys killed my friend. Or your boss did. Honestly, I don¡¯t care who did it. Put you here right now in front of me and I just killed your boss. And you¡¯re thinking we can take him. There¡¯s three of us. But the God¡¯s honest truth is..¡±


    I unveiled my Nascent Soul to them. The pressure of my energy made them all flatten against the nearest wall.


    ¡°I told my friends that if it bothered my peace? I would burn this entire city down. Now I don¡¯t know what you think about that. Maybe you¡¯re feeling like he¡¯s not going to do it.¡±


    I pushed harder. Every single one of them looked like they were about to shit their pants.


    ¡°But I¡¯m close to getting to the fifth realm,¡± I said, stepping once.


    The walls creaked against the strain of their bodies being pushed.


    ¡°I don¡¯t have time for you. A younger me would have saved you or given you a chance to repent. But I¡¯m all out of that. No more chances.¡±


    I left the place as the building fell down


    I brushed some dirt off my shirt. It wouldn¡¯t do to come out of here. Not looking the best I could look. After all, I had an image to protect.


    I took a few minutes to make sure the building crushed that nobody. A mass of humanity was moving towards the governor¡¯s mansion. Already, I could see several canals that were red with blood. Many of those had bridges that were destroyed. They didn¡¯t have a good reason to be heading that way.


    The Mandarin was still in the middle of a pitched battle. I couldn¡¯t tell if they were speeding up or not.


    I saw one woman sprint towards a bridge just before it collapsed under the weight of a spirit beast.


    Fuck. I couldn¡¯t save them all.


    In that moment of indecision, somebody else swooped in to save her. Right, this place was a strong bastion of cultivation.


    There were others that could do things I wanted to do.


    But there was only one person who could do what I had to do. I searched the skies for any more opponents. This will be the time for them to show up and engage with me.


    I unveiled my soul, daring anyone to come and get a bite of this fresh meat. I didn¡¯t see any sign of any more floaty enemies at that exact moment. Several Mooks that had to be about the third level or approaching me from a rooftop. Their faces glinted.


    I turned more of my attention to them.


    Now some might say that they were just following orders. But in order for them to make the third realm as a demonic cultivator, they would have had to kill dozens of humans and absorbed their qi.


    I was not having that.


    They went into the game, so let¡¯s play.


    Beneath me, the ground shook as a mandarin must have delivered another powerful blow to whoever he was fighting. It would have been incredibly useful for us to coordinate our efforts. I was at the peak of the fourth realm.


    I launched myself as at the first of them.


    Honestly, it felt like fighting against toddlers. Physically, not that difficult, but mentally it was the hardest thing I¡¯ve ever had to do.


    I ducked in, hitting the first one in the stomach with my right hook. Perhaps it was his dream, which to me felt like he wanted to kill me and eat me, but something propelled before wards. For the first time, I could just feel a dream coming off of the man to me. It was the worst nightmare imaginable


    It was just a split second, and it was over. He was dreaming of killing of the humans for sport. He was thinking about taking their life essence and using it to advance his own. He felt hungry. I shuddered as I hit the next guy in a temple. My feet graze on the top of the roof. And suddenly, they were having issues holding on.


    The tiles glistened under the red light of so many fires. Smoke waft in between us. I¡¯d like to think I was a badass, but really I was just trying to be efficient.


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    The second one had the same dream. It was thick. I took a second to hit a mother fucker with another mother fucker, using the man¡¯s head as a base. I pulled him off of the ground, as if I was grabbing him by his foot. I slung him in the next man. The only one that remained standing was the one I punched in the gut.


    He still wasn¡¯t even properly dead. I could feel his nightmare. In it, he looked up at a man with curly hair. The man was properly a realm above him, but he was going to wring his neck if he got a chance. He Just wanted a chance.


    I wasn¡¯t going to give him that.


    He didn¡¯t need to walk to have a dream. My qi enhanced fist crushed his sternum. Then, instead of letting him be ripped apart or fly backwards, I kept contact with my tactile telekinesis. So all of the force that I pushed into him stayed and it was a shock wave going through his body. For a moment, I felt a whimper.


    It wasn¡¯t the whimper that caught my attention. It was his complete disregard for his own well-being. In that situation, it kind of put me out. In this situation? Why are we think going to s***? I didn¡¯t really know what to do. I was just doing the best I could, have given what I had.


    I let him drop. There was no chance that he would get up soon. I got no more aura from his dream, whether he lived or died. Took a second to take all of his nightmare Aura in.


    I looked around for another threat. I could see a giant ghastly had to be some sort of Minor Bigfoot walking on the outskirts of town. It had to be at least three or four stories tall. They moved like it was a mini Godzilla, but slower. Based on its size. It had to be strong as fuck.


    I didn¡¯t see anyone else going for it, so I sided with Lee and flew in that direction. After half a minute, one of my operations joined me.


    ¡°So good to see you,¡± I said. ¡°Help me in this third realm, spirit beast?¡±


    It will be my pleasure, she said. I think I think that my family has some of this well in hand. We need to stem the tide.


    Beyond the lumbering Sasquatch, there were more. It was like all these Titans had broken through the barrier and come in a single direction.


    You know what would help? Getting our formations masters over there so they could plug up the hole.


    I commanded my spirit beast to see if that was possible. I got the mental equivalent of a thumbs up.


    I¡¯ll have to admit that I was not going to get the same amount of dream Aura from the spirit beast as I was from the thugs that had just attacked me. There were more than enough people having panicked nightmares at that exact moment that I could just use. That I could glean his dream and his nightmare just by being in close contact with him was a sign that I was advancing faster than I thought. I¡¯d always hoped that I might reach the fifth realm in this year, but it was becoming clearer that it was almost that time.


    With all these dreams swirling in the area, my core felt full to bursting. This was probably the most potent that it had ever been. It was too bad that I had split with Moon Lee for the time because if I was able to push through to the fifth realm at that exact moment, I might just do that. Even if it was mid-battle. Before, I¡¯d had the luxury of time. Now, I didn¡¯t have that. Everyone around was going to have to fight to defend me while I pushed through the fifth threshold and beyond. I could see it clearly my mind. As we flew towards the outskirts of the city, I¡¯d put my plan into motion. Rather than do what I normally did and cycle through it and do the normal thing where I meditate, I was just going to push. And I was going to keep pushing until I was done. Because not only were dreams something that you could think about and imagine happening. James was something that you could bring into reality on your own. And if my dream was to get through this battle and I needed to advance?


    And I would use that. I would take that dream and I would make it my own. I would make my dream intangible thing by advancing farther. I¡¯d heard so many times that people take on the aspects of things that they want to see. A dream was a nightmare. A nightmare was a dream, depending on who was who. It was like. Squirrel hell


    I can feel it in my soul. I just needed to push through.


    ¡°Xueyie, I¡¯m about to advance to the fifth realm. Defend me if I look sluggish,¡± I said.


    ¡°What right now, right here?¡± She said.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to pass the threshold.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you want to like sit down for a minute and take your time doing that?¡±


    For a second, we paused in mid-air. We were a block away from the beach and it hadn¡¯t gotten our attention yet. Or rather we had given it our friend full attention yet.


    ¡°I¡¯m just going to advance right now. During this fight. Just because I can.¡±


    ¡°You know what? Before I met you,¡± she said. ¡°I would not have believed that was possible. Possible. But now? I¡¯ll believe it. You want my help? I¡¯ll protect you. Call your spirit side piece, though, as well.¡±


    The screams of people being terrorized fluctuated our talk. Right there was a monster¡­


    ¡°I¡¯ll hit him high. You hit him low?¡± I said.


    ¡°Just give me a second to get set up,¡± she said. She sprinted off.


    The spare bite beast realized by now had realized that we were there. And by now it was looking at the little girl who was tickling its knee. Or at least the woman that was annoying it. It gave her the slightest bit of a detention. And then I flew in right by its face. It was an ugly creature. When I say Sasquatch, I really mean it. It was hairy. It was muscly; it was gross, and it was exactly what would keep me awake at night if I saw it on a commercial for a meat stick.


    In that exact moment, I probably looked like a little meat stick to it. It opened its maw, showing a disconcerting amount of teeth both in number and in rows. With three rows of teeth, the thing definitely ate enough. It was not what would leave a plate unfinished on the table. Honestly, it probably also ate the table as well, if I¡¯m being honest.


    ¡°Well hello there Guvnah,¡± I said. ¡°Welcome to Western Jewel. This is me, Joe pitch, your welcoming committee. We¡¯re so glad you came to come visit our Fair City and now let me tell you what a special we have on a two-for-one deal.¡±


    The bee swiped at me, much lower than I expected. Given its relative rank and size. It should have been so much faster. It looked like instead of putting anything into its body; it put everything into its belly.


    Right? Well as a new neighbor, I just want you to know about our favorite game here, which is called bait and switch.


    I knew it was listening. I couldn¡¯t tell whether it was paying attention to what was happening to its knee. But at that exact moment, I pushed forward at the same time that she pushed backwards, causing the beast to topple over. It really was the most elastic way to fight an enemy honestly.


    But there¡¯s no honor in combat or war. It¡¯s just winning. And I¡¯m not known for losing battles.


    Not even custody battle.

 3- Sixteen

    ¡°All right. So what do we see?¡±


    Ahead of me, there was a stream of spirit beasts leaving from a singular point. Before, I thought that the entire wall was down. But now it looked like it was only a few places.


    Crystal cracks raced up and down the bottom of the clear dome, reaching approximately three or four stories tall.


    The formation was down.


    We could try to patch up the wall or we could try to stem the tide, but as Moon Lee landed next to me, we had to decide as a group. Seeing her again was a relief.


    ¡°Most of the spirit beasts are coming from that direction. If we can get there, then we can stop it. But I don¡¯t know how we can close up the hole. That¡¯s a formations thing.¡± She followed my gaze, getting close enough for our nascent souls to briefly touch, and it felt so intimate and out of place. She was a wall of iron that my senses couldn¡¯t see behind.


    Another spirit beast dared to come within slapping distance. It was a shame that it had one of the more humanoid faces. I knocked it down with a backhand.


    ¡°Good shot,¡± she said.


    ¡°Thank God we have the kingdom¡¯s formation experts here and on call,¡± I said. ¡°We¡¯re going to have to break up the Kang family reunion.¡±


    My backhanded foe slammed into the three story tall spirit beast. My attack interrupted its dream of defeating me.


    It was coming together. I could feel my core filling. Each punch would be just a sliver of energy, but I would get back so much more. I could see why people got addicted to fighting in this world. If you set up the right situation, you would advance.


    Not that I wanted to beat people to a pulp and all, but when it threatened my calm, it was on. I could only be so calm as these nightmare beasts fed me with their own hopes and dreams.


    Xueyie flitted into view.


    The spirit beast struggled against the hit, attempting to cause as much property damage as possible on the way up.


    ¡°May I?¡± she asked, politely.


    It must have tapped into a speed enhancing technique because it was back up and trying to close in on us.


    Xueyie extended her own energy, matching and then overturning its super speed.


    All at once it was trying to hit me and move, but Xueyie kept it down.


    Mon was getting close. Her disappointment was palpable, enough that I could sense it from a half a city away. I¡¯ll remind you now that Western Jewel was about the size of New York City. This meant that she was probably several miles away. I hadn¡¯t gotten emotions this dense from so far away recently.


    It felt fresh and new. Lee¡¯s nascent soul reacted to an attack, and I launched myself at the titan sized beast.


    I hit it again, one leg punching several inches into where its neck equivalent was. My leg sank in. This had to be the worst day of its life.


    ¡°Ugh,¡± I said, extracting half of my right calf from it. ¡°Stinky peasant beasts, getting their funk on my freshly laundered clothes.¡±


    I got what felt like a raw data feed from what passed for its consciousness.


    It felt like I was opening the door into a rough, independent film set.


    Literally sitting at a door for a moment, I could see how it saw humans as expendable little birds. It didn¡¯t want to eat us, it just wanted to see what happened when it squi-


    I nearly threw up, coming back to my senses.


    All I had to do was not go through the large open door into the place where all the little targets were. I could see how it saw us. We were little ants. It wanted to play with the ants.


    The urge to be somewhere, anywhere else, gnawed at me.


    I don¡¯t think that it had a mean bone in its body, but how it went around was destructive. And so it had to go.


    Min screeched to a stop a block away. She had to have been flying. I had lost track of time. I just continually pounded the titan into the ground. I didn¡¯t even know if it was dead or not.


    ¡°Joe! Joe! Stop!¡± Xueyie yelled. ¡°It¡¯s already dead!¡±


    I held my hands out. Both were bloody. My knuckles felt raw. In time during this, I had broken my nun chucks into two. The pressure I exerted had to have snapped it. I felt doomed to never find a weapon I could handle.


    Maybe after this I¡¯ll calm down. I could find something that I could hit them with that wouldn¡¯t break. It was feeling more and more like I was going to be the Tai Chi guy who flew around and stole your dreams and nightmares. Fuck, it would be nice to be some kind of bogeyman to the Red Fang Sect. Maybe they would leave me alone.


    My core thrummed with power. The hair on the back of my neck stood up as I veiled myself again.


    ¡°Point me toward an enemy,¡± I said. My hair might glow yellow by the end of this as I got closer to true ultimate power.


    ¡°Joe, let us have a brief conference. We¡¯ve beaten down the larger beasts that have made it here, but there¡¯s still a lot coming,¡± Lee said.


    I thought we were doing really well and I¡¯m wondering what we should do next to make a success. I had several outstanding ideas, but I listened to the strong women that I surrounded myself with.


    ---


    Never let it be said that Joseph Pidge doesn¡¯t listen to women. Especially in matters of war and emergency situations, I was all ears.


    ¡°We need to get to the Kangs,¡± Moon Lee said.


    ¡°Agreed,¡± Min said. ¡°They are the first priority. Without them, this whole city will fall.¡±


    I was glad that she was done just being my sidekick and spare piece and now thinking about the strategic plan and how to best use the assets that we had at our disposal. Not that I thought that the Kang family was part of our disposal, but that¡¯ll be great if, for once, my spirit beast thought about things that weren¡¯t trying to make my life difficult.


    I might like her a lot and she might be one of the best things that had ever happened to me in this new world, but sure as heck did she give me a lot of shit for no reason?


    ¡°So what you¡¯re saying is true.... It doesn¡¯t matter how many people they save if we don¡¯t get to the Kang family and get them to fix the outer walls,¡± Xueyie said.


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    Min puffed herself up, looking less like an ocelot and more like a Pomeranian, fresh from a haircut.


    At that moment, I realized she was going to give no quarter to me no matter what happened and I kind of appreciated that about her. I could take what she was saying at value because she was not human. Her primary drive in this world, me, at least regarding me, was to piss me off and get a lot of laughs about how she got me all twisted in knots.


    ¡°Mom, do you mind if I?¡±


    She relented for the most scratchy scratches of her life, petting her as if she was my evil sidekick, which she was. She was a good girl. Mostly when she wanted to be, but that was almost never. At least, she wanted to get into the middle of the fights so she would definitely have my back in most of these.


    It¡¯s important to have buddies that will have you back in the event of a demonic cult outbreak and the collapse of the wall of containment that kept your city in a safe and wholesome place.


    ¡°Are you going to lead us to the Kang family?¡± I said.


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Anyone got any other ideas? We stop the flow of spirit beasts, then we can take care of the ones that are already here?¡± I said.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡± Lee said, scooping up my adorable spirit beast.


    She didn¡¯t even wait to see if anybody was joining her. The collapse just began jumping, bounding from rooftop to rooftop towards the central district where the cultivator¡¯s ink pot was located. My phone was a step behind her and I realized she was holding back so that Xueyie could keep up.


    We passed within striking distance of the former compound of the red Fang and I saw that my friends there were staving off attacks from Spirit bases that see equal size and rank as they were. I didn¡¯t know how long they could hold out, but we needed to make sure they did so.


    All we could do was give them an opportunity to live and have good lives. After this. I couldn¡¯t save them personally. It was up to the team that I had put together to do that. There were several close calls, but we finally jumped the last canal to get to that central district I had spent so much time in and the Kangs were just sitting next to a pile of Spirit beasts.


    There were so many piled up that I was wondering if they might have missed a few in their haste to dispatch them and put them away. Kang, the father, would finish a humanoid-shaped beast and then toss it to his daughter and she would fling it up into the pile, which was almost two stories tall. By this point in time. It was in the Central Square, the one that was commonly used for recreation and socializing.


    He looked up and waved to us before punching clean through another spear beast¡¯s neck and tossing the remains to his daughter. Then he looked around and, finding nothing, waved for us to approach.


    ¡°The Western bridge is down and this other one, so these are only going to be so many. What brings you all here?¡± he said.


    Moon Lee landed next to him, as graceful as a trained gymnast. ¡°We need your help to close up the crack in the outer dome.¡±


    I had to do my landing after that, which felt rough. Why did all these amazing women always outdo me?


    ¡°Can you stem the tide while we have a brief discussion here with the elder kang?¡± Lee said.


    ¡°If you¡¯re going to handle logistics of us moving across town to transport a high value target to do a job that I¡¯m going to allow you to take care of that. Any day of the week.¡±


    ¡°Thanks babe,¡± she said. ¡°Nope, that does not sound natural at all.¡±


    A one-story tall beast with impressive speed came rounding from the East and I jogged off to deal with it. It was definitely a first realm cultivator equivalent. Meaning that while I might look fast, to me, the beast felt slow.


    It was the first time that I¡¯d seen a spirit beast actually look like it was moving in slow motion, and I relished the chance to give it exactly what it deserved. With a swift kick in the chest followed by one on its neck equivalent, the spirit beast slammed into the ground, rocking the cobblestones.


    It was at this time that I thought about collateral damage and how I could effectively destroy the insurance industry here by making them pay out all the unique claims that were going to be issued, cursing my name. Technically, I would have no problem pushing this spirit beast through a wall, spirit beasts they were, but all I needed to do was to disable it and toss it onto the pile of dead ones. I had no remorse in doing this. I would have no reason to bond with them unless they were bonded to a human or friendly. In fact, something had amazed all these spirit beasts they were drawn in.


    ¡°Min, do we know why these beasts just came over with a blood lust? It can¡¯t have been like this for the entirety of human history or the race wouldn¡¯t have survived.¡±


    ¡°There is something going on here,¡± she said. ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡±


    ¡°Is there a disturbance in the force?¡±


    She gave me a flat look. ¡°Thousands of Western Jewels people called out asking if you could skip the dated references for films that haven¡¯t even been shown on this planet.¡±


    ¡°Star wars is a treasure!¡±


    She gave me a flat stare. ¡°I¡¯ll take cultural cues from someone without such a long history of attendance at improv shows-¡±


    I held up a finger.


    ¡°-whether or not their attendance was compulsory.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s unfortunately fair.¡±


    Another spirit beast, this one closer to a pokemon than a man, came up into my boundary space.


    ¡°Thanks for choosing us for your best down services,¡± I said, easily sidestepping its fiery mane. ¡°Please don¡¯t forget to leave a review when you¡¯re checking out!¡±


    It wasn¡¯t like the fire based beast was trying to be smart about attacking. I drew out of its dream about setting something significant on fire. That was disturbing, but only the dispassionate hulk of a titan that just wanted to smash up as many people as it could out of boredom or curiosity.


    One of my half chucks found its way to the creature¡¯s eye equivalent.

 3- Seventeen(1)

    There are times in a man¡¯s life when he realizes he has sufficient firepower to do the things that he wants. I had such a memorable moment on that day when it that came to me. All of my set pieces were arrayed around me.


    They were looking at me.


    I would tank.


    Or rather, I would provide the emphasis that we needed to tank. Our way back out of the city was going to require a lot of qi. I had a renewable source of dream aura that was in between myself and the team¡¯s next objective. I kept packing the aura down.


    Look, I¡¯m not going to lie. The position of ¡°meat in a fist sandwich¡± flattered me. I was the point man. I was the muscle dude that flexed on our enemies before punching them through a wall.


    However, it was gonna be a long day if I was the main force behind us moving back-and-forth. I needed to draw in as much dream and nightmare aura as I could. In my mind, I was already thinking about how close I was to achieving the fifth realm. My core felt right; almost full. A few more of these guys would do it. There were only hundreds of them in front of me.


    As the reality of advancing again dawned upon me, mundane problems came to the fore.


    I wanted to rest. I wanted to eat something.


    I wanted to push forward.


    I didn¡¯t know how long I would be incapacitated while I advanced. Not only was this fifth realm, but I didn¡¯t know any fifth realm cultivators enough to ask.


    If I had to go super saiyen in the middle of nowhere with my guy supporting me?


    I could do it.


    I could not do closed door cultivation for a week.


    I barely had before we were overrun here.


    I¡¯m not saying that I was going to deny myself. The pleasure of using these dreams and nightmares to fuel my cultivation, but I was thinking about the brief period of incapacitation between realms where I had to take a nice bath or shower to get rid of all the impurities that I had sweat out of my body.


    By this time, I thought I had been done removing impurities. There couldn¡¯t be that much left.


    My core filled more and more with each blow. There was probably a good five pounds of sweat in there that I was about to lose just to get to where I needed to be. If it wasn¡¯t for the aura replenishing and sustaining me, I would be in far more of a dire situation.


    Min was guarding me, keeping me on track. She felt stronger, drawing upon the lake of qi that my core had become.


    Our contract had evolved, or at least our relationship had. Where once she had done so much to undermine me, now she gently nudged the spirit beasts around, providing crowd control and watching my back.


    She wanted to advance as much as I did. I could feel her pushing. Where once her aura had felt like it was the ephemeral smoky thing that I couldn¡¯t pin down, now she felt like a stone.


    You see what happens is when you¡¯re a married man and you come back to your town. And it¡¯s under siege by demons. You want to take your wife out with you? So what it had become a small procession turned into a larger line of refugees trying to follow us to safety. Because, when demons were being slayed left and right or steep spirit beasts were. Actively deterred from following us, refugees took notice. Internally displaced people of western jewel realize where the power was when they could feel me from blocks away.


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    They also could feel what I¡¯d like to call my therapeutic touch.


    When you¡¯re a therapist, you develop your bedside manner, as doctors call it. This means that you have to build up a report with somebody or you have to be affable, or you have to be kind and genial. Doesn¡¯t mean you have to be nice; let me be precise, you do not have to be nice; you have to be kind.


    You have to care.


    Some of that was leaking out of my aura. I had fully unveiled my aura as I was ahead of our line of refugees. Moving East and south through the blocks and canals that divide the city up.


    The compound itself was doing fine at repellence therapy attacks. But if I had a train of thousands of people following me because I was in the hope of this poor doomed city, that I was gonna have some actual problems with management.


    With the word, the people there guarding.. Upon opening, I observed they had already begun accepting people. Hundreds rushed back into that large compound. In the urban center for safety. I couldn¡¯t save everyone but the people that follow me because I am my aura?


    I can say those people, I could say that. And I¡¯m on and I can save the whole city if my people would just keep moving.


    Good feelings were made better by seeing good friends helping each other. I was like to see the helpers in a situation like this where everything seemed dire and helpless. I wanted to be a helper but I knew I couldn¡¯t do everything. Having friends with me meant I could do the most good. Bringing people here to safety? It was a side quest but it made me feel warm inside.


    I would take it.


    Any help.


    I could give to the city to make it right. Felt like the right thing to do, also potentially. This might end up with me being bothered less, which was exactly what I was going for.


    A man asked about boundaries after all. I can¡¯t always be there for every little thing like a breach of a containment field that clearly was escalated by somebody wait too much time with their hands and a death wish.


    The worst part about this was that people still can¡¯t follow me and my group after we didn¡¯t We were still going East and there were a few blocks left but it was like they were all deciding to do exactly the wrong thing and exactly the wrong time. I couldn¡¯t shoot them away because we were a safe spot and a sea of chaos, but it¡¯s the same. But if all things if this hadn¡¯t happened, then I would have told him to get the heck out and stay home. The problem I kept seeing repeatedly with the 3 star tall spirit piece that kept wrecking people¡¯s homes indiscriminately. What kind of normal human do against their home?


    None of them could withstand that kind of pressure on its own, combined with the fact that many of these spears had auras


    These ores could be deadly in the wrong hands or close enough


    It was.


    Impossible for freedom to imagine how humanity had flourished here when it looked like they had been struggling against a foe that could easily destroy them. How this had ever become a place where people could live and go to school and raise children baffled me.


    But then again there were people that lived in new jersey so there had to be a way right


    There just had to be.


    We finally reach the edge of town comma hundreds of people once again following us as we left the relative safety of the urban environment and moved into the farming and forested areas outside. Now look. You can¡¯t toss a stone in America without hitting an aid worker or someone that works in healthcare or charity. But in western jewel? There was no such industry.


    Most people here were strong, somewhere in the realm of a college athlete. That meant nothing against cosmic horrors just at the edge of my understanding.


    ¡°The opening is here,¡± Lee said, pointing to the place where a stream of beasts and cold air was coming through. ¡°Are we in the right spot?¡±


    His eyes flashed blue and then faint blue lines popped up. It was a sight like his daughter¡¯s dream ability.


    She was next to him.


    Egiya paused, holding up a hand. A second series of blue lights joined the first ones. The lights streaked towards the opening and then banked to the right, a sharp turn. ¡°They tried to trick us. The totem that they went after was no the one directly next to the opening. There are two?¡±


    Her father grunted. ¡°There are two closer ones. This was deliberate. Only a few cultivators understand formations on this level.¡±


    It sounded like an inside job. ¡°Well, shit.¡±


    ¡°That narrows down the potential culprits. It has to be one of those people, doesn¡¯t it?¡±


    He gave me the stare of a man who was deciding who of his friends had been an enemy all along. The poor dude¡¯s world was being rocked to the core.

 3- Seventeen (2)

    We moved out, a large mass of humans pushing forwards. The cleft is the wall was just spewing beasts.


    Thankfully, they all seemed to be lower tier. It would have been nice to have a flamethrower at that moment. Or like a Laser rifle.


    Ahead of us, I saw a thin female cultivator touch down, superman style and tear into the tide of beasts.


    ¡°My bestie has joined the fight!¡± Min said. ¡°Do you mind if I go say hello?¡±


    ¡°If you really must speak to my ex wife in the middle of an active battle, and can make your way over there without getting hurt, then be my guest.¡±


    ¡°OK, thanks be right back!¡± She bolted over the crowd behind us as I tried to hold off some beasts.


    Maxine was drawing the most aggressive of the spirit beasts. She has unveiled herself, making her a juicy target for any spirit beast trying to make a name for themselves. I didn¡¯t even know why she was helping. I hated her guts, but damn, she still looked fine as he¡¯ll.


    I felt tempted to speak. Honestly, the woman was both too much and not enough at the same time. Yes, I was grateful that she had appeared. As she bodily tossed wolf sized beasts around like they were toddlers, there was a certain feeling I got. Not one of reconciliation; no, something more akin to the feeling I got after a successful exchange where we got the kids between us without the normal level of it of vitriol.


    Our petty human concerns meant nothing here.


    After all, what were quarrels between former lovers, when you had to fight for your life? In order to survive until tomorrow. These petty things meant nothing here and I can see why the elder kang had been away from his wife for so long. This is what he was stopping from happening all over the world? Then I would how have him work every single day to the bone.


    It wasn¡¯t enough for her to realize.


    That she needed to help me out.


    Maxine doing the right thing was just enough for me to say that she wasn¡¯t a complete waste.


    I Just wish that she could have helped us out a little more. But maybe she was doing her own thing compared. I bet that her shop was still standing. Peri could hear several buildings falling behind us. The outside buildings were mostly stone and wood; however, marble mostly comprised the interior buildings. There was a lot of wood there and I was just thinking about home being terrible with beef. We had to rebuild everything.


    I didn¡¯t want to think about Johnny Cash. That exact moment, but my city wasn¡¯t ruined, and I still had to beat back the beasts.


    At least my team did.


    The girls spread out. I¡¯m trying to make sure that we had a good premiere between the refugees we were trailing and the tide of spirit piece we¡¯re coming in closer and closer.


    I didn¡¯t blame them for doing. What monster wouldn¡¯t want to at least try human flesh?


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    Still, we held the line while the formations team went to work. The elder patriarch¡¯s enthusiasm for finishing this job on time and for our specifications was keeping me going. He would touch one rune, lighting up, then another, repeating an ever-changing pattern.


    I didn¡¯t know how long was going to take the formations guys to fix this. I just knew that I had to hell the line. Rather than me moving into fighting more of them, the beast started approaching us. We formed a perimeter around our refugees. With several dozen people in the front, evidently cultivators, they were trying their best to hold it down.


    Their ranged attacks, given their cultivation level, surprised me. And then it was me punching wolves one after the other. If you¡¯ve ever wrestled with a toddler, you can understand how you want to keep a light touch. But you want to keep it going because the Tyler¡¯s having a good time. The wolves were having a great time, and I wanted them to stop having any time at all. So whenever one came close enough to snap at me, I reached out and hit it with the end of one of my nun chucks.


    I didn¡¯t have time to delve into their dreams or doing anything fancy. It was just a defensive perimeter that I worked , out. I could sense the minutes on one side of me.


    Lee was definitely on the other side. I knew her aura could. But it was when my newest prot¨¦g¨¦ arrived I knew we were going to hold back.


    Duran had been present when we took the group of refugees into the Red Fang compound. And now, she had left a compound, leaving the safety to join us to fight. I hadn¡¯t even seen her arrive. She looked like she was wearing the most generic cultivator outfit ever. For the first time since I¡¯d seen her, well, the first time since I turned her to our side, she was approaching with a smile. She took a position next to men. Behind us, I could sense someone dancing their way through countless Spirit beasts, even if they were not entirely up to snuff. I could feel the hope of the crowd. Crowd. It was their dream that we survived this encounter. It felt like the will of the people was coming up to me.


    And just like that, my core was full. I knew what was next.


    I¡¯d heard countless tiny lectures from Lee and the rest of the Moon playing about how the more you are on your path of cultivation. The closer you are to attaining some specific ideal. I knew just then what my idea was going to be. I might not execute the world of the people, but I could help them dream of a better life. I could help them execute that. In a sense, they told me what they wanted. They wanted to be free to live a life where Spirit boost like this couldn¡¯t come in and invade their homes and take their brothers and sisters and daughters and sons away from them. They wanted to live in a world where the government actually worked for the people and wasn¡¯t stuck doing superhero level fight in the sky against one opponent. Heck, if I was in the fifth realm right now? I might level this whole playing field on my own.


    I was tired of being a pawning somebody else¡¯s game. I was about to flip the table.


    I was packing more into my core than I could carry.


    This whole business hasn¡¯t orchestrated by an evil cult that just wanted to turn these people into shadow. They wanted something that I would deny them every day of the week. And if I had to burn down this city to save it? I might just do that.


    My meridians opened, and I fully unveiled myself, making sure that to not reach out to four of my nascent soul. Touch them directly, like I was touching them with a finger. I could feel them as if I was looking at them. As if I was hearing their essence with my soul.


    And luckily enough for them, I was ready to advance. These people needed me at the next level. I wanted to, if not be the leader that they wanted, then to become the needed that they need needed. I was going to make a Batman quote later to Maxine, and she was going to get it because she was from my world, and then men were going to laugh about it because she could read my thoughts. And oh God, was she going to ruin a perfectly good Batman joke later?


    I knelt on the ground. The force of my will pushed the horde of spirit beasts back. Thoughts split it across my consciousness. I should have left them where I shouldn¡¯t have even gone here. I should have stayed out. I should have not gone after the Red Fang.


    But the man that would do those things was not the man that I had been or the man that I had become.


    I couldn¡¯t rule it out, but I felt like my long path had taken me here with not just a purpose but a kick in the ass.

 3- Eighteen

    Kneeling there in front of a crowd of tired huddled people, I was struck with a thought.


    I was only wearing pants.


    That my belt had made it this far was a miracle.


    So much of my clothing that I started the day with had been tossed away. It wasn¡¯t like I was going to get another chance to go back and replace it. So if I had to live like this? About to be pants less? Abs on full display for the girlies? Going from Dad to Daddy? I would have to bear that in silence.


    As I stood up from the ground, minor fractures of rocks crackled around my touch. Several stones detached themselves from the ground and actually followed me up, as if the gravity of my personality was greater than that of the planet below me. And knowing what I had just done, it might just be that. Maybe the rock just wanted to be a part of the dream team.


    Where I had once seen a haggard crowd, now I saw a group of people who would follow me into hell. All of a sudden, those dreams that they were dreaming that had fueled my transformation had turned into something physical.


    My dream of having a weapon that I could actually use without it immediately break joined with my actual image of a bow staff. Wisps of qi turned into a solid staff and I poured my intent into it.


    The physical manifestation of their dreams had become the aura that I was now wielding as a tangible weapon. The long pole of forming Aura dropped gently into my left palm.


    ¡°Alright.¡±


    I had trained extensively with the bow staff. The moon clan had lots of bow staff because of the bamboo farm way they did to support their cultural efforts to make paper to advance their unionist interests.


    This? This felt like the moon clan and Min conspiring together to make me a special spirit weapon. Or maybe the crowd just wanted me to have something badass to whack the doggies with. Either way, for the first time, the spare piece in front of me looked fearful. I have to the staff. Weighing it slightly, it felt just right for me. And I stepped into a fighting stance as I swept the staff around in an arc towards the rank and file of the spare abuse. They broke. Leaving a wide open area where I could dance through and even though they moved, they seem sluggish to me. Lee, on my flank, was still going through the motion slaying beast after beast, but she looked like she was just going through kata. She wasn¡¯t doing anything different. There was something about this new realm that made the specific time in my life feel like a quick time event.


    **I** was going to take advantage of that.


    Fighting went from something that was potentially deadly and dangerous to a simple mop-up operation. Sure, my companions were still doing their work, but it felt like that was taking the backseat to me actually doing something. I kept moving forward as they corralled the beasts towards the walls. It was like we were increasing the range of our perimeter as we enclosed the horde of beasts. They didn¡¯t want to face me, but then they turned and they didn¡¯t want to face Moon Lee. Then they turned, and they didn¡¯t want a face.


    I don¡¯t know what got into the girl. But she was fighting as fast as Moon Lee was, even though she could probably at best be called a third round cultivator. And this is after having broken her cultivation and starting a new again.


    Then, I don¡¯t say this lightly. She literally was on fire, using techniques that had drawn from the fire aura. Several of the cultivators inside of the group of refugees were tossing her lit flames she kept using as range attacks to hit BCs further on. She used their key, make more impressive fireballs and you know what? It¡¯s exactly what the Mentor likes to see from his prot¨¦g¨¦.


    I would take that. The pack broke ranks slowly.


    Now when I say formation, what I mean is that they were shoulder to shoulder packed densely. It was like we were the Roman legion and we had just routed them. Clumps of them ran back towards the wall as I felt my newly enlarged sole core fill up once again. I knew it couldn¡¯t advance again in this way, but I felt that as fast as I was spending the aura and turning it into key, the faster that I could earn myself a good rest. The more that they dreamed about me being their helper or the person who came to help them in their hour of need, the more I felt like I was just a couple of lessons away from becoming Batman without the money.


    Because Maxine had picked Superman as her superhero, I was proud to say that at least this meant that I picked the smartest superhero. She was hiding in plain sight. And I think that Xiran fighting alongside us, she was having the same thought she had before about me having a harem and I was ready to shut that down.


    The cultivators that were supporting us started flagging.


    I felt like this was a good time to mention that most people couldn¡¯t feed off the dreams of others and that this was just a special oddity that had become a part of my path of cultivation. Dream or nightmare Aura wasn¡¯t just a thing you found everywhere and the fact that I picked this path and gone down it well. It felt right. When I was working with clients before, I would always think about the things that I had to do to get them to accomplish not only the task in front of them, but to set them up to accomplish their dreams. And now, I could make so many people¡¯s dreams come through even if it was just a dream of staying alive till tomorrow because the guy with the fro just destroyed a legion of spirit beasts. It took another couple minutes before the Open passageway through the outer wall was closed. By that time, both Kangs were now helping us corral the rest of the spirit beasts that were at least below second rank.


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    There was still a lot going on inside of the town, that, and I didn¡¯t want to leave this group of refugees with no help.


    That was about the time that Maxine decided to land right by me and talk my ear off.


    ¡°Did you just advance to the fifth realm in the middle of a battle? That¡¯s so irresponsible.¡±


    ¡°I might have done that, but honestly, it needed to be done and you should be happy for me. After all, this thing right here,¡± I said, holding up my dream bow staff, ¡°was built off of the hopes and dreams of all the people here. I don¡¯t know how long it¡¯s going to last


    Regardless, what are you going to do with all these refugees?¡±


    I shrugged. I could take them back to the former red fang compound but it looks like there were hundreds more and we still have to go back into the town and clear out any remaining Spirit Beasts.


    She shuddered. ¡°There¡¯s so many of them.¡±


    This would not be a rescue effort. This would be more like a recovery and maybe we¡¯d save a few people. Before we could even start recovering people and sorting out the dead and mourning them, you would have to deal with several of the higher ranked beer via had made their way in. I can still see the manager and fighting from this distance, and whatever he was fighting had to be stronger than me. Or at least it had to be stronger than I was.


    Not every single cultivator has to have a path that involves being stronger just for being stronger. Heck, the Kang family had formations experts that just made formations for the benefit of society.


    The next thing wasn¡¯t immediately clear for us to do. Like sure, we had to go in and find any remaining spirit beasts. That was obvious. What was not obvious was how we would find them, but then I thought back to all the volunteers and all the worked to rehabilitate the people with me and Xueyie. ¡°Hey! Do you think we can get these people to help us out?¡±


    Maxine scoffed. ¡°Do you want to use these people to go house to house?¡±


    ¡°What else are you proposing for us to do?¡± Xueyie said. ¡°Some of them are going to want to help. And we can¡¯t stay here and protect them, especially if there''re thousands of people in there that need help.¡±


    Lee arrived. She sized up Maxine and gave her a nod. ¡°I think that the Kang family can make a formation to keep these people safe. If we leave them here with the Kang patriarch. Then we can have our hands free to deal with the rest of that.¡±


    Everyone turned to look at the east side of Western Jewel, where the buildings began.


    ¡°It¡¯s inevitable that we¡¯re going to have to go in there,¡± I said. ¡°Is everybody ready to do that, though? Maxine, you look like you¡¯re topped up on energy. Is that correct?¡±


    She nodded.


    ¡°I¡¯m ready to go,¡± Xueyie said. ¡°I could do this all day. She looked like she had been through four marathons back to back and was still looking for the banana she deserved from the first one.¡±


    Her hair, drenched in sweat and blood, made me wonder which was worse. Because she had the classic black straight hair, she could hide a lot, to include her own blood.


    I just stared at her, slack jawed for a second. I instinctively reached out to her with my Nascent Soul and I could feel a strong core there. I received a death stare as if I had opened her underwear drawer and started rifling around for something I left there the night prior.


    ¡°Sorry, I¡¯m just checking,¡± I said.


    ¡°Do you always fondle your harem around company?¡± Maxine said.


    ¡°You can see that? I¡¯m just trying to make sure that she¡¯s not overdoing it.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s not, and you should know. You told me once that you believed in women. Believe in her.¡± Maxine gave her a smile.


    Xiran bowed slightly. I was going to let this one go.


    However, Xiran was looking far worse for wear. Not only was her outfit singed all over as if she was missing some level of control of her flames, I could clearly see her undergarments and they were definitely from the newest collection of Resting Bitch Lace. It was an elastic purple sports bra for those keeping track as home.


    ¡°At least this one has some class. Thanks for being a loyal customer.¡± Maxine smoothed down a smoky mess coming from Xirans basic cultivator costume. She probably would have pulled out a coupon if she had one on hand.


    I did not get the flashback to her preparing the girls for soccer practice or dance practice or anything like that; I swear. But it felt familiar.


    ¡°Are you the newest addition to my ex-husbands harem?¡± she said.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, cultivator Pidge has a harem?¡±


    ¡°He most certainly does not,¡± Lee said, coming in close to back me up. ¡°He can barely satisfy one woman at a time.¡±


    It was utterly uncalled for.


    ¡°That¡¯s unfair,¡± I said. ¡°I can make five women unsatisfied at the same time.¡±


    The groans were epic.


    ¡°Maxine, can you help me out with her? I don¡¯t want to ask you for this, but I feel you should know what we are dealing with RE, her backstory and...¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to tell me., Joe. She¡¯s doing the right thing. You¡¯re all doing the right thing.¡±


    ¡°This shitty day is just going to be one of many shitty days.¡±


    <hr>


    I looked at my newest recruit squarely in the eyes. I didn¡¯t point, instead giving her a proper knife hand. It pointed right at her chest. She looked right directly at me. ¡°If I tell you to not take part, are you actually going to listen to me or are you going to pull some dumb cultivator shit and stick around and get yourself killed?¡±


    Her silence spoke volumes.


    ¡°Great! This is my ex-wife. She is now your mother. Stepmother?¡±


    ¡°Stepmother, evil variety.¡± Maxine said.


    ¡°Great. I don¡¯t have the exact time to go over the entirety of our custody arrangement, but just understand that her word is law and you should probably think of it more than a natural law of the world, like gravity. Listen to me if you want to live, but if you don¡¯t want to die, listen to her.¡±


    Xiran bowed to both of us


    ¡°I will take your words under advisement cultivator Pidge. Teach me, master,¡± Xiran said to my ex-wife. ¡°Please educate this poor lost cultivator.¡±


    Honestly, if this is how she was going to take it, I was happy to see her under Maxine¡¯s tutelage.