Madam Rose sat in her tent quietly. It had been that way for the past few days.

All the other workers had given her space. Magney, the half-dwarf, and her ever-present companion stood outside the tent, warding off would-be pursuers.

The local village chief had been stringent with the negotiations. She had thought him to be a mere farmer at first, and she turned out to be right. But he was also the chief and fairly well educated for living in such an isolated area.

He had given her a plot of land, under the condition that she and her worker helped clear a large section of the land. Apparently, they were to be part of a new group of settlers and they would help clear the land for those that would come after them, in return for one of the better spots in the area.

She had expected a lot of noise and distaste. According to that Bill fellow, everything would be left up to the mortal chief to decide.

That had scared her for a bit. She was more than ready to seduce him to ensure her safety, but that had proved unnecessary, the man had been more than reasonable.

It was a strange relationship her people had with mortals. The stain of a whore on the glory of a cultivator was a dichotomy too large for their minds. Succubuses were one of the only groups of cultivators who even mortals routinely shunned.

It wasn’t open of course.

They would still welcome them with smiles, and let them shop as they needed. But other cultivators were given invitations to inns and mansions. In larger cities, cultivators would receive gifts by the handful, they would be tolerated at worst and hired at best.

A mortal in power was a fearful thing for her.

But the old man had been fair if a little firm in creating the rules. The consequences were laid out. The usual village rules applied here, no murder, no violence, no indecency. He had also asked her to not tempt any of the village men or women.

“If they come to you, I won’t care but I’d rather not have old men and housewives yelling for me to get rid of you because their lover couldn’t keep their pants on.”

That was what he had asked for. And he had asked, not demanded.

It was a pleasant interaction. No lies, no bargaining, no seducing.

She couldn’t keep track of how many men had tried to seduce her over the years, thinking their sword would be the sharpest of the bunch. It was like a beggar trying to cook for a chef and expecting the chef to say it was the best meal they’d ever had.

But there was none of that this time. She had felt a little insulted and a little surprised, but some people were just different.

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Then she had learned.

Gai Fang was free. She still thought of him by his old name, he would be Gai Jin now. Lee Heng had come by a few days ago. She had been happy then. This town- this village was paltry for entertainment but at least she was safe.

But that had turned into an afterthought in an instant.

The joy, the relief, the eagerness to build something permanent-- all of that had slipped into the river that was Gai Jin. She wasn’t even worried, that was too defined of an emotion.

She was anxious, scared, worried, happy, sad, and terrified all at once. She didn’t know what to feel so she felt all those things at the same time.

Overwhelmed would be the proper word for it. Her people, her clan as they sometimes jokingly referred to it, held little actual power. She had heard rumors of seduction sects controlling parts of major empires in the past, but that was not her people.

They were just outcasts, all lost and broken coming together to make each other whole. They had fallen into the job out of necessity but they had taken to it, and those that hadn’t did different things, like Magney. She was strong and had a hefty build so she served as security. All cultivators had some power, but the ones here didn’t practice any fighting arts, Magney did.

After Gai Fang had been captured, she had fled. She had cried, she had screamed, but more than anything, she had abandoned him.

Guilt weighed upon her some nights, guilt with the weight of an ocean. If she had remained silent if she hadn’t told Gai Fang about her discoveries. If only she had said nothing, he might have been free right now.

And in one swooping instant, that had changed.

He was free, her younger brother was free.

Would he see her? Did he want to see her? Did he even know that she was alive? What torment had he been through?

She had lived out here peacefully, troubled but still, peacefully, and she had done nothing. She could do nothing. That was what she told herself.

Was that true? She was a cultivator of the fourth rank, she could have tried something. But the monks would have killed her before she could even speak Gai Jin’s name.

Flashes of Li Fang’s body came to mind. Her elder sister one moment, a corpse the next, that was the power of a fifth rank.

Fear, guilt, shame, horror, and sadness all coalesced into one overwhelming river of emotion. Self-loathing thoughts came into her mind and hungered.

And all she could do was stand there.

“Lui?” A voice came from the opening of the tent.

Magney walked in with speed and quickly wrapped her arms around her, her wide torso cradling her body.

She didn’t ask what was wrong. She knew it already. She’d known it for the past few days.

“It’s okay sweetheart, you’re okay.”

Madam Rose, Lui Yong, melted into her friend's shoulder for the moment, the half-dwarf’s shoulders helping the storm in her soul.

“I should have done--”

“There’s nothing we could have done. That sect would have killed us the instant we stepped foot in that city.”

“I could have gone alone and--”

“No, you couldn’t,” Magney interrupted. “I’d never let you.”

The two held still for a second.

“You’ve got to wait, Lui. He’ll come back. He’s free. Why wouldn’t he come back? You’ll see him then and he’ll be happy that you’re alive.”

“...Will he?” Lui whispered.

“Of course he will. He’s your brother Lui. Have faith.”

She sometimes wished she had died that day with Li Fang. Dying was no worse than living in fear, and dying was far better than living in guilt.

Even if she had no reason to feel the way she felt, even if she was truly helpless against the sect, she felt guilty.

She was alive and free while her older sister was dead and her younger brother was imprisoned.

Why should she be so lucky as to have slithered away untouched?

“You lived, you got away and that is a good thing Lui, that is a great thing.”

Lui Yong flattened against her friend.

Yes. She was alive, for better or for worse. And she would face him, eventually, for better or for worse.

Lui Yong knew this, and she would not run away this time. She would not lose her brother twice.