----------------------------------------

Epilogue Part 1: "A Short Hike."

----------------------------------------

Wise Kwan exited the Minlin City outer gates just after sunrise. It was a pleasant autumn morning, and he smiled during his walk down the road that led out of town. His smile changed to a smirk as he spotted someone sitting on a bench beside the road.

"Diviner Mei, what a surprise to see you this morning."

She was sitting with her hands on a cane laying across her lap. She was dressed in well made travel robes and wore a small satchel. Kwan noted the satchel had a Diviner's mark on it, for those who knew to look. She looked up at the monk with a slightly annoyed glare, "Wise Kwan. You're late."

"Late to a meeting I wasn't aware of? Well... I didn't leave the inn as soon as intended. And I was delayed at the inner gates, just a moment or two, though."

"I was expecting you yesterday, when the caravan left."

"Ah, yes I suppose that would have been preferred. Someone I know missed their departure, so I was equally delayed."

"She's still in town then?"

"She? Could you be more specific?"

"Yes."

He smirked at her. "Well if you mean the girl that missed the caravan. Then no, she left with two runners just as the sun rose."

"They're going to catch it? No one was worried?"

"Are you? We are not, because Wise Kaiun reported that Staff Sergeant Xiang had been scouring the land around the town."

"Scouring? Did he say whatever for?" She got up from the bench and joined the monk's walk.

"Trying to find a beast core."

"Ugh, that will change a few things. Did he try the mountain?"

"Of course not. The sect still has their exclusivity demands."

"Bleh, meddling politicians. The spirits are not stupid, they will just hide there. Feeding the stronger beasts."

"I assumed that was part of the point."

"I wouldn't know what was intended. Did Xiang say why?"

He smirked. "He implied. But he didn't find one."

"Ugh. Probably cleared out the forest for fifty li."

"And the roads for a hundred."

Mei shook her head. "Probably for the best he didn't get it, whatever it was for."

"Oh, he had one already, he just wanted to replace his."

"What? What fool thing did he do with it?"

"Wouldn't say. But he claimed it was for the best."

"The best of my ass." She shook her head. "You can't just hand a little girl a master's sword with a rank three beast core enchantment."

"Ha ha ha!" The monk laughed joyously. "Ah-ha. Miss Mei! Heh. Remind me why I tell you anything. You always seem to know more than me already."

"Because you're weak to a pretty smile."

"Hmm, in not sure-"

She swiped at his shoulder with her cane. He smoothly slid away, shoes scraping along the gravel just far enough to avoid the cane.

"I mean, yes. That explains it perfectly." He smirked and straightened his monk robes.

She glared at him, but kept walking down the road leading to the mountain.

"So, you've invited yourself along." He asked.

"You would have invited me already, if I had needed to step in earlier."

"And when would you have needed to step in?"

"Nearly yesterday. I felt that... confluence."

"I'm quite surprised he stopped it."

"Me too. But it's for the best."

"Whose best of whose ass, this time?"

"Hmm, that's always the real question, isn't it." The Diviner mused and lightly snorted a laugh.

They walked in silence for a short while, passing the furthest housing of Minlin City. The monk took the time to contemplate her words.

"Are we walking the whole way?" The older woman asked.

"I had considered it. Are you in a rush?"

"I'm never in a rush."

"Yet, you said I was late."

"Well, I'd like to get there before dark, and I have a few trees to see on the way."

"Trees? Looking for imprints?"

"Yes, but there will be plenty of those at the top." She pointed up the mountain.

"It's not technically at the top."

She waved him off with a frown.

"I believe she followed Song's Creek to the road." The monk spoke.

"Why do you think this is about her?"

"Who or what else would it be about?"

"Perhaps our shared old acquaintance that recently shattered his Dao?"

The monk cringed at that. "So, he really did? I thought he was doing well enough."

"If by well, you mean digging himself the deepest grave, then certainly."

The monk sucked air between his teeth. "That bad?"

Auntie Mei opened her mouth then closed it to reconsider. "You'll hear it later when he tells it. Then you can listen when I have to explain why he's an idiot, if you don't comprehend it sooner."

The monk nodded in acceptance.

"So, Song Creek? Care for a jog?"

"After you." He gestured to the road.

They took off running, much faster than an observer might have expected from the older pair.

----------------------------------------

The sun was setting when they finally crossed into the sect formation, high up the mountain.

"Stopping again? What is it this time?" The monk said, a bit sharply.

"Ember Berries, and flowers, both quite nice."

"I didn't know you liked spicy food." He said with a defeated sigh.

"Oh, I don't, but others do. Only a few good ones here, though."

The monk took a deep breath, then exhaled it slowly and loudly.

"How can you be so impatient?"

"Talent." The monk said with his eyes closed, and a smirk on his lips.

When they reached the unlit campfire, another figure was waiting for them. "Monk, Diviner. What business have you come for?" Elder Ngoc demanded.

The two in question shared a slow surprised glance between one another.

"Can we not simply enjoy the mountain?" The monk asked.

The elder stood firm.

"Don't bother." Mei said. "She doesn't know how to play along, and plans to stonewall instead."

Ngoc continued her stern expression, refusing to respond to their prompts.

"Very, well. Business it is." The monk sighed. "I am Wise Kwan, here to follow up with Elder Ghon on an investigative matter."

"He is in seclu-"

"He is not." Mei cut in. "Since you were not going to play along, I will not let you act the fool."

"And you are?"

"Diviner Mei, but Miss Mei is enough for you." She smirked. "I'm here to settle a debt. And maybe catch up with an old friend."

"Sect debts may be settled at the sect, not at our satellite locales."

"This is a personal debt."

"With who?"

"Why you, of course, Elder Ngoc."

The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

Ngoc swallowed and thought for a breath. "I don't recall being in your debt, or any others, recently."

Mei smirked. "Then you have a short memory. Why don't you handle Wise Kwan's business first, lest you forget he is here."

She frowned at the older woman. "The nature of your investigation, Wise Kwan?"

"Souls. Grade three inquiry. Recently resolved, but there are loose ends to tie up. Elder Ghon should be able to do so."

"I am able to ferry messages to the Elder. That is the most I can offer."

Mei clicked her tongue loudly.

"I have prepared a message, he will most assuredly ask us inside when he reads it."

"I disagree, he is-"

"We are well aware of his condition, girl." Mei cut in again.

"I do not know what you-"

"Stop." The monk raised a hand. "The world aches with his failure. Even if we did not already know. We would know simply by being here."

"Your foolish act of ignorance does not save him face." Mei scolded. "You lower yourself for nothing. Stand with pride that he is not dead from his missteps. Most would be."

Elder Ngoc swallowed again, this time her pride instead of her nerves. She gave half a bow. "I will bring him your message now, Wise Kwan."

----------------------------------------

Elder Ngoc returned a short time later. "Wise Kwan, Diviner Mei. Elder Ghon will see you at your leisure." She gestured towards the doorway into the Sect's interior space. "I will give you privacy."

Kwan made for the door, hesitating briefly as Mei stayed still.

"I'll be with you shortly. I'd like to talk to Cultivator Ngoc about a young ginseng that doesn't belong to her."

Ngoc tilted her head, brows furrowing. "Are you accusing me of theft? That is a bold accusation."

"It is not an accusation, but a statement of fact. You pilfered from another, claiming it..."

The door shut out Mei's voice. Wise Kwan nearly shuddered. He had heard a similar setup used by the Diviner before, and had even been the target once. He would be surprised if it was as effective here as the other times, it was rather situational, but Mei could always surprise.

He entered the only room with a bed. An old man sat up in it, facing the doorway. Looking like he'd rather by lying down.

"Kwan." He greeted, in a weak voice. His usual stoic mask, nowhere to be found.

"Ghon." The monk inclined his head slightly to cover the grimace of feeling the man's shattered Dao. The feeling was worse here than it had been outside. To Kwan, he'd rather see someone leaking blood from every orifice than feel this from them.

"I assume this is about Young Shae?"

"It's about a soul inquiry."

"I commend you on taking up such important work."

"Important, yet not important enough for you to pursue it."

"This is about the girl, yes?" He breathed raggedly. "What did she do?"

"Staff Sergeant Xiang was suspicious of her, and made the request. It naturally progressed to grade three."

"That's not what I asked. Why was he suspicious?"

Kwan looked at his one time friend. So close to progress before, yet now so damaged and broken. "She was behaving oddly..."

"And?"

"She spoke of Dao. Inquired about the sergeant's training, including implied questions of their Dao. Recognized two of his soldiers were broken. And then made some off hand comments that eventually led to both the soldiers and one of my monks having an enlightenment."

"Three!" The old man coughed repeatedly, then hacked painfully, spitting up phlegm and blood. "That wretch!"

Kwan remained silent. Using his divine sense to check on the man's physical condition.

"Two broken? What did she say, word for word."

"Ghon." The monk reprimanded with only his tone of voice.

He took another slow breath. "Please, Wise Kwan, surely you would not deny me. Am I not already broken?"

A pitying face did not match his flat words. "Fine. I will not keep it from you, however, their situation was different. Their struggle was over accepting the Dao imposed by the military. She said: 'One must accept their own world, before accepting another's.' Xiang and I agreed they are words far wiser than her age."

Ghon paused in thought, closing his eyes to look inward.

Kwan waited.

"She just said it? Sounds like a quote."

He nodded. "She began to say as much before she was interrupted."

"But the enlightenments? You said eventually, not immediately?"

Kwan sighed, "One of the soldiers didn't catch the whole speech. Staff Sergeant Xiang provided the additional context and the younger soldier was able to match his brother in arms eventually. The full context was important."

The broken man waved a hand dismissively. "I am not so helpless to need that. I can tell it would not help, your monk then?"

Kwan shrugged. "He has not consulted with me about it."

"Still, two and a half is quite good. It's a decent start. Has the old record been broken?"

"Not that I've heard. Though, I wonder if any would claim it, even if they had."

"Hah."

They paused briefly to consider it.

"So, your initial assessment of the girl?"

"She was suspicious, too knowledgeable. But her soul had no more weight than a feather."

"She was quite clearly being shielded when I met her. No qi presence, yet she clearly had qi, powerful qi."

"A side effect of the tribulation."

"Unlikely. How can you be sure?"

"She found the shield, a formation around her Dantian, and told me about it. She only gave it power when I was teaching her to draw in qi."

"It wasn't powered by the tribulation?"

"We managed to keep the lightning qi in her arm and leg, instead of letting it run rampant."

"You interfered?"

"No, this was after. The mountain's pressure did the work."

"Ghon." He frowned at the man. "How could the lightning form the shield, but stay in her arm and leg, and also not power the formation?"

The man on the bed stilled, his mouth hung open. Then his jaw shifted sideways as his head tilted. "Huh."

Kwan held his disappointed frown on the man.

"Oh, don't give me that look. I'm not one of your students."

"No, they would have caught that. I might test them with it later to prove as much."

"Ugh, harsh."

Kwan stayed silent for a few breaths. "You were blinded by opportunity."

"Bah, so what if I was. Recommend the sect demote me or something. Perhaps it will make it through their courts before I die."

"Right, so, back on topic. You did nothing about the girl being a risk?"

"No, I sent letters to the sect, and the girl herself. They could handle it easily."

"You warned them? What did you write?"

"Not as much as I should have, that child is a monster."

Kwan rolled his eyes, "Oh come on, now. Really?"

"She's- No, first what I wrote. She is clearly a lost soul. She used language which isn't local to the region, though she did grow up here. Reincarnated from somewhere else, or whatever you wish to believe, and I encoded as much in the first letter. My second letter, which she also has, should lead her to a test by a Diviner. But it is mostly... well, more of a pardon against what happened to me."

"A pardon? You believe she needed that?"

Ghon shook his head. "I could have sent her to another sect if I was that worried. I was concerned over the timing, someone could piece together that she was involved in my... current condition." He waved a hand at the bed.

"And sect politics is nothing if not idiotic. So they would easily believe a mortal child shattered your core."

"Well, she did."

Kwan stared at the man with that same disappointed frown.

"What I should have written is to not test the girl's ability. Not challenge her directly in knowledge or Dao. Many will, I can see it. They will hear of her as a smith hears of a powerful forge, hotter than any they have used."

Kwan waited for the man to finish his rant.

"She is the anvil at that forge. Simply waiting impartially as men heat their steel. Then place their unfinished weapons and tools against her, hammering them until they are either sharp or shattered. And she is no helpful tool, she will shatter more than she shapes."

"Ghon. That is an awful metaphor."

"What? It took me hours to select that one."

"Hammering their tool-steel into her. Ghon, she is a child!" Kwan turned to make a disgusted face to the side. "Could you have made it any more inappropriate?"

"Oh. Oh my." He grimaced. "Alright, good catch, please do not repeat that to anyone." He huffed and shook himself. "Would you do better?" He asked honestly.

"Hmm, she is a tree stump. Impassive to the ax that splits the-." The monk cut himself off with a click of his jaw.

Ghon started to chuckle then coughed, then hacked, spitting another small bit of bloody phlegm. "Heh. Splits their woods on her? That's far worse."

"I stopped myself, didn't I? It's definitely bad, but it's not worse."

"It is." The man insisted.

A third voice joined in, "Those are both equally disgusting. You two should be shamed and shunned by your peers and families." Mei said from the doorway, walking into the room.

"Miss Mei!" Ghon bowed. "How much of that-?"

"Too much. Do you fools have these twisted metaphors for all cultivators?"

"Usually they are much less... evocative in that way. I like them less layered."

"Aren't metaphors supposed to be layered?"

"Only the good ones." The monk chirped.

"So, do you have one of these good metaphors for me?"

Ghon started. "Surely not."

"We would not, could not." Kwan continued.

Mei was squinting her eyes at them with suspicion.

"Diviner Mei always sees right through us; can gauge our worth."

"She knows our measure, our approach, even before we do."

"Can divine how we will endure, through any encounter."

"Knows exactly when and how to handle any-old monster. To benefit herself and others as much as possible."

"Yes, yes. Truly she knows how to ensure everyone comes out of any situation completely satisfied."

"Never to settle for simple contentment!" Ghon finished.

Kwan nodded appreciatively.

"I'm not sure this has as many layers as you two think it has. But if you want some hot, breathy action, I can oblige." Mei moved quickly to the bed and placed something in Ghon's mouth, then did the same for Kwan. "Eat." She commanded. Neither resisted. "And treat this more as punishment for your earlier disgrace. At least I am here to defend myself from your verbal attack on my purity."

The two men shared a glance, then returned to chewing.

"Ah. Ember flowers. How courteous of you." Kwan said through a mouthful.

"I've always wanted a-"

"Don't." Mei cut Ghon's words off.

He coughed lightly, clearly forced. "These seem hotter than usual."

"Yes, I found the strongest three."

"Three? What's the third for?"

"Leverage, of course. You two wouldn't shut up without the threat of more. So, the third is for some playful wolf that doesn't know when to stop barking."

The two old men quietly chewed the spicy flower, and chewed on her words.

"And just in case you can't resist another bark. I assure you my third flower will not find its way to your tongues."

The monk coughed, clearing his throat. Breathing carefully.

Ghon was already doing the same. He added a forced cough, then they both nodded. "Right, where were we?"

"Hopeless metaphors about how you should have warned your sect about a 16 year old." Mei supplied.

"Ah, yes. Would you like to try one?"

"No."

"Good choice." Observed Kwan with disappointment.

----------------------------------------