‘‘Did I fall asleep...? What is this sensation?‘‘

‘‘Senior brother! I touched him! See, see!‘‘

Something poked at his face.

Zhang Cai opened his eyes and glanced into the pupils of a young girl kneeling beside his head. She had black eyes and black hair. As it was the most common colour scheme of the North, he was not surprised. And she also had small white fingers buried in his right cheek. He gave a mild smile.

‘‘It moved!‘‘ the girl exclaimed, and she fell on her back, sending dust left and right. Zhang Cai coughed at the exaggerated motion. While the girl scrambled back up and down, rushing for a figure he could not discern on the ground, Zhang Cai cast his eyes to his own body.

Indeed, sleeping for how many hours in open wilderness caused him great trouble. From his chest to his feet were dunes of ash and char and dust drowning him, and under their remnant heat he felt his flesh warmer than usual. Pain, his eternal companion, did not leave him be as well. His heels and ankles, and the lower bone connecting to his knee‘s bottom were sore.

‘‘He, my dear junior sister, he. Do not go de-humanizing fellow cultivators, now.‘‘

‘‘But he is not a beast, is he not? Look at him, his face and body are all dark black!‘‘ she stopped for a moment, one finger on the lips and another towards him, she asked the figure. ‘‘Deep black? Dark? How do you say that color?‘‘

Now that sentence dumbfounded Zhang Cai. He had somewhat dark skin indeed, but black?

Then he looked over the ash once more, and realized it must have covered him whole before these fellows unearthed his body. Indeed, that must be the case.

‘‘Dark-brown, my dear junior sister. Now, take (for) me out some bandages and that horrid salve. You do not seem to be in the best shape, do you, Wahlidian friend?‘‘

‘‘Oh, you know where I am from?‘‘ He thought few people would recognize him! That was a good start. Now they would not be awkward like all those other cultivators he met with his master.

‘‘I do. But that is not important for now; so, can you show where you hurt?‘‘

Zhang Cai shook his head.‘‘Nah,‘‘ he giggled, ‘‘I can‘t move myself.‘‘

The figure froze at his steps.

Then he appeared before him, fluctuations of Qi hidden by his speed, and an elegant pair of green eyes stared right into his own.

‘‘How is this a laughing matter!? Junior brother, how can you laugh at your state?‘‘

‘‘Huh? What are you worrying for?‘‘

His bewilderment did seem to affect the man, for his gaze softened. He had the same manner of black hair, glistening and long and held together by a gold hairpin at the top. Those green eyes of his did seem natural, not from any cultivation arts or somesorts.

‘‘So tell me, then, where you hurt.‘‘

‘‘Below my knees are all battered up. Also I might have cracked my rib and shoulders. My spine is tingly...‘‘

‘‘...‘‘

He kept the incredulous look of wonder for some time before Zhang Cai smiled again.

‘‘What a strange fellow...junior sister, for how long are you going to search for some-‘‘

‘‘But I can‘t find themmmmmm!?‘‘

The young girl stood a little far from them. Flying boxes and pellets and spiritual weapons danced around her being, and more food and jars of water and pouches and rings that had traces of Qi. The bag in her hand, one much smaller than his, kept vibrating, and somehow she pulled out more from that hand-sized brown pouch than he imagined. Was it a spatial pouch?

‘‘Calm down! Don‘t have a meltdown in public-‘‘

‘‘AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA...‘‘

‘‘Junior brother...‘‘

Zhang Cai just gave a strained smile. He could not really stand children, though the few that loved him he adored back. This girl, at most ten or eleven looking, didn‘t seem to be much of a...cultivator. Yet when he looked deep inside, he saw her cultivation equal to his own.

They were both at the fourth-step Glassmade. And he was sixteen years old.

‘‘Am I that weak? Master said I was strong...tch. Liar!‘‘

Watching the man softly guide the girl to calm her emotions, Zhang Cai found himself smiling again. Somehow it reminded him of his master, and how he had slapped him the night of his first murder. The guidance, though the form had changed, was the same, for he got rid of all the malice brewing in his night with a single palm.

Though the hand he received was harsh, and the young girl‘s was a faint pat of acknowledgment, he recognized its nature. Perhaps this duo were somehow fated with him?

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‘‘Nah, those fancy concepts ain‘t for me.‘‘ His master was the only weirdo that kept talking about fates and karma and chance encounters. The latter-most he had too many, so he might have been right in that one.

‘‘Now now, my dear junior sister. Put them all back in as you want, alright? You can arrange their orders as well, but make them distinctive. Not haphazard. And after you are done come help me tend to our friend.‘‘

‘‘You already became friends?‘‘

The girl peeked at him, silver gleams shooting out of her eyes. ‘‘Can I become as well?‘‘

‘‘Would you?‘‘ asked Zhang Cai. ‘‘I give my friends too much trouble.‘‘

‘‘OH! I do the same! You are definitely my friend!‘‘

‘‘Then please hurry so we can help your friend, junior sister.‘‘

The humble-looking man came and settled beside him and tended to his wounds. When he swept the ash and dust and gazed at his wounds the man winced and whispered ‘‘Well done, my friend.‘‘ He did not know why, but Zhang Cai found them among the most sincere words he had ever heard. He cleaned them and applied salve to them, spreading the foul-turd-like smelling medicine through his knees to his heels, and between his toes and fingers even. Then he bandaged them, and he tended his other limbs until Zhang Cai felt no more pain but more relief.

Getting used to the pain was a good ability of his, but he prefered to be more comfy than agonized.

The young girl had finished arranging their equipment and came to them with a strange chair-looking fixture. The humble looking man held it and crossed two circles to his shoulders, and then the device was fastened through his belt to his body.

‘‘Can you put him up here, junior sister?‘‘

Zhang Cai said a word they did not hear, and then he found himself strapped to the man‘s back.

‘‘Put your feet through here,‘‘ the girl said, and pulled his legs until they rested on a wooden block nailed to the device. His knees felt a little strained, and he kept sliding his feet until he found a comfortable position.

‘‘Do bear for a little while. Where are your sect-mates in, junior brother? In the forward base, or Li-kon?‘‘

‘‘Ah, brother, um. Senior brother, I am new here.‘‘ Zhang Cai said. ‘‘I am not from here. I am from south.‘‘

‘‘I do understand that. What I am asking is...one moment please. Do you mean...?‘‘

‘‘I came through the Southern Wall and the Wasteland of Xian.‘‘

‘‘Is that so much, that far away?‘‘ The young girl asked.

‘‘Too far, even...and the path to here is arduous. Even for me, it would be a challenge to come safe.‘‘

Zhang Cai felt a little proud at that remark. He had come safe from there, had he not? Though a little broken and burnt here and there...

‘‘Woah. You had a grand adventure, then!?‘‘

‘‘I sure did!‘‘ He said. ‘‘Want me to tell you?‘‘

‘‘Tell me! I love adventures, you know? They even call me Zishen! But my name is Li Huan.‘‘

‘‘Ah, names!‘‘ He had forgotten the most basic etiquette among cultivators. ‘‘My name is Zhang Cai, senior brother, martial sister.‘‘

‘‘Martial sister? Haha,‘‘ the humble-looking man, ‘‘My name is Li Bo. I have the honor of being the elder brother of this martial sister...‘‘ Li Bo laughed. ‘‘Please, do not call anyone a martial brother or sister here, junior brother. It is a little...ill-fitting here. Simple brother or sister would do.‘‘

Zhang Cai noted that in his mind. Then, Li Huan pulled at this torn sleeve to get his attention.

‘‘So!? Tell me!‘‘

So he recounted tales of his worth a few silver.

*********

The path they took did not grow old or dirty. Through his tales, and at the mention of the Xians in the mountain Li Bo expressed great dread, the journey went on fresh. They rested two nights in the wilderness still, and he was only let down from his seating behind Li Bo at night, when he would tend to his wounds again and ask him where it hurt most or where it felt weird. And he also asked about his Qi while they ate fresh bread; about how it flowed, how it felt, how he controlled it.

Zhang Cai answered them honestly, for they would not decipher his manual nor his master‘s methods. Though Li Bo made many diverse expressions, alike to his sister in that way, as they frowned and smiled and gasped quite a lot. But they laughed the most. They were cheerful fellows, for sure, who looked at all the hardship on their way and to Zhang Cai who was a burden with eyes not caring about it. He had been too happy at that instance, and he rubbed Li Bo‘s shoulders to give him some comfort.

Not that he would be tired. Li Bo was most likely someone at the second step of Rocksmote. He could carry hundreds of kilograms behind his back and would not work up a sweat for hours. But he had to somehow show courtesy, and so Zhang Cai did it the way his master liked. And he did smile, thanking him along the way, and they talked more about their tales and whatnot happened here.

Three days passed, and they came to the foot of the solitary mountain holding them away from civilization. At its foot were traces of a settlement. Marquees and military tents replaced the scenery, where wild plants and crops were cut and replaced with racks and make-shift buildings and shops and stalls. Many people came and went, and they met some who knew the Li siblings and greeted them. But all gave him weird looks. And he looked at them back, smiling wide, and putting out his tongue as courtesy.

Other than a strange fellow covered in three different cloaks, no one tongued back at him.

So they went and came before one of the two-story brothels. A courtesan recognized Li Bo and Li Huan and led the trio to a private room upstairs.

‘‘Rest well here, junior brother. I do need to report your findings to my masters. Also,‘‘ here he turned to the courtesan waiting by the door. ‘‘Do bring him good meal and...‘‘ Squeezing his jade-green pupils between eyelids, he assessed something of him. ‘‘Fresh fruit juice.‘‘

Wonderful news! Zhang Cai smiled and bade him farewell, and after talking to him some more Li Huan left as well to go and tell her friends of their journey. Truly, having people to go together was such a blessing. The listless, bored feeling in his heart went away and he felt happier than before. When the bowls of rice and mutton and pork soup came with bread softer than clouds, Zhang Cai shed a few tears.

The courtesan shed some as well, blew her nose, and wiped his tears before leaving him alone. What was that for?

‘‘Nevermind!‘‘ he said and ate his fill and drank to his fill of the plum juice. And he fell down on the soft bed, looking at the decorated ceiling of the establishment. The ceiling had a chandelier of some sorts, and the paper doors had glistening wood around them. The window looking outside, transparent and twice the normal size, depicted a better sight of the green heaven this place was. And he saw trees tens and twenty meters in length, and many a cultivator gliding atop spiritual weapons and fans and swords. Sunlight never seemed so bright.

Casting his gaze away, Zhang Cai had a single thought rumbling inside his mind.

‘‘How am I going to pay for all of this?‘‘