I witnessed another beautiful morning in Nine-Clover. Watching the sunrise over the moon, and seeing its light spread across the surface of Nine-Clover was a wonder. I can’t believe that I’ve been living here for the course of multiple patrols. Ah, by the way, it’s been multiple patrols. This particular stretch of my little journal isn’t just me killing time on a single patrol. Sometimes thousands of years pass between the updates…

And that’s fine. That’s just how laid back, and slow, things are in Nine-Clover. Things are changing all the time, but at the core, the world itself seems to always be the same. Plus, there’s not much going on in the rest of my life that I feel is worth talking about here. Or at least there's nothing that I’d be willing to talk about.

Anywho, I was taking in another beautiful morning in Nine-Clover. My main-self had just finished boring its way through the heart of one of the DSO’s generals. I figured I’d go take a walk, and meander through the surface of my moon for the next couple of decades. Just as I was about to start my walk, a man appeared.

The Man had sword-like eyebrows, dark hair, sun-tanned skin. Handsome. A dude, who looked like your typical xianxia protagonist. He held a massive sword that was almost as tall as he was, and let it rest on his shoulder.

I couldn’t help wondering how the hell he got past my little house’s security, or how he’d wandered onto my moon. Surely, the Empty-Clockwork guardians and gardeners would have stopped him. Maybe he “was” an actual protagonist. A protagonist's aura was a scary thing. Even an immortal like me would need to be wary of it.

“Can I help you, young man?” I said. Brow furrowing briefly, before I smoothed my expression over and tried to play the part of a magnanimous senior. This wasn’t the first time someone had found their way to my abode. I usually just chatted with them a bit, and sent them on their way. It was generally no big deal.

“Is this your forest?” said the man.

“Uh,...Pretty much, yeah,” I said. Considering lying but deciding against it, because it “was” my forest.

“Then die!” yelled the young man. Swinging his sword and charging at me.

I was taken aback but not panicked. I mean why would I be. First off, this wasn’t my main body. Second, while I’m not trying to flex here, the guy was barely moving at multiple times the speed of sound, and his pace would have still seemed positively glacial had he been moving at multiple times the speed of light.

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

I considered this strange situation at length, as I watched the young man’s body move in slow-motion. I extracted and analyzed the young’s data, and found that contrary to his rash actions. The young man was generally a good sort. The kind of guy who goes out of his way to help people. Honestly, disposition-wise, this guy might not be suited for cultivator life. He’s got a kind, earnest, gentle nature that would be more suited for a school teacher, or a stay-at-home dad, or someone who raises livestock for purposes other than meat.

He’s brave, but he’s not really suited for how cutthroat this life can be. He’s strong, but lacking in the stereotypical cultivator viciousness. That viciousness was something that he had to force out of himself. Yet, people can change. This guy was getting there, and changing. A heart demon that he’s suffering from had slowly begun to turn this good-hearted, shounen protag, into an edgy, trash-hero.

This rash move on his part, was part of the process of that change. A wrong step that he’d taken after a bout of bad luck that had him separated from his allies. Forced to fight fake allies. Hopelessly lost, and now wandering the wilderness in searching of cultivation materials that would help him A) find his way home, and B) get some revenge.

I decided that I didn’t want to kill the guy. First off, he hadn’t yet killed anyone that didn’t deserve it yet. He’d managed to maintain the basic standards of basic human decency outside of his ill-advised decision to attack me/ Finally, his pure stupid luck had revealed a massive gap in the protections I’d set up for my property. So, instead, I snapped my fingers and sent the young man somewhere where he could cool his head.

Teleporting the young man back down to Nine-Clover. Dropping him into the ocean near an island that had plenty of wood and food on it, for him to build a raft and get to the mainland. By the way, building a raft, and surviving in the wilderness, were things that the young man was plenty capable of. I wasn’t just assuming he should be able to do those things. The boy came from self-sufficient folk, and his sect taught survival training to all their junior members.

“Welp, I guess, I can go on that walk now,” I muttered. After confirming that the young man was already swimming to shore, and not just drowning, since I might have dropped him from a little too high up.

After my walk, and after my review, repair, and thorough upgrade of my Lost-Cloud Moon’s defenses, I figured I’d grow enough batches of trees. Expanding my forest was always fun. You’d think I’d get sick of it, or run out of space, but you’d be wrong. Planting trees and bushes was dirty work, but the way I did it gave one a certain sense of satisfaction. Besides, I could always play with the Lost-Cloud Moon’s spatial-data to increase the amount of space that was available while I was there.