Chang-li entered the Scribes’ Office, escorted by Magistrate Bao. He’d been dreading this moment the whole trip up the mountain, at least once he'd been able to think of anything beyond the fiasco of his wedding.

Inspector Dah looked up. "Ah, you've returned. Excellent. Scribe Wu, we have plenty of—"

Magistrate Bao cut him off. "Summon your other scribes."

Dah’s face showed confusion, then worry. "Of course." He set aside his pen and hurried to the back.

The magistrate moved to the window, closing the shutters, and locked the door. "We don't need interruptions.”

A moment later, the inspector was back along with most of the other scribes. "Scribe Tu is assisting the quartermaster. Shall I have him fetched?"

"This will do," Magistrate Bao declared. "Inspector Dah, it is my duty to inform you that Scribe Wu has broken his indentures and accepted a position with a sect. The usual fines have been levied. From this day forth, he is no longer a member of the Order of Licensed Scribes, as he has failed to complete his indenture. That rank is stripped from him. He may refer to himself as a trained scribe, but not a licensed scribe. Your ring," he said to Chang-li.

Chang-li hesitated. It felt wrong. He'd worked so hard for this ring. His uncle had bought it for him the day he graduated from school. But he had no choice. He pulled it from his finger, not without some difficulty, and gave it to the Magistrate, who pocketed it.

"Is this true, Scribe Wu?" Inspector Dah asked, looking taken aback.

"I have accepted a position as sect scribe for the Morning Mist sect," Chang-li said. His fellow scribes' faces showed a mixture of astonishment, disbelief, and even envy.

"He must be well-heeled to pay off four years of a scribe's indenture," Scribe Jun grumbled. Then he looked Chang-li over, and his eyes narrowed. "Wait, that's cultivator's robes you're wearing. I recognize the Morning Mist pattern, but the red stripe means…”

“Cultivator-Scribe Wu has formed a matrimonial bond with a lady of the Seventh Rank," Magistrate Bao said calmly.

At that, the other scribes lost all composure. They whooped and clapped, shaking their heads, whistling.

"Wu, you dog," Scribe Dai said.

"You didn't let on to us. How long has this been going on?" Scribe Jun asked. "I guess I know why you were sneaking out late at night."

Ears burning, Chang-li bowed and accepted the good wishes heaped on his head. "Thank you. I am sorry I was not more forthcoming with my plans. Matters rather got out of my control in Fai-Lan City. I had not intended to leave your ranks so rapidly."

"It's done," Bao said. He seemed displeased by the show of support from Chang-li's former co-workers. “Cultivator Wu, a copy of the debt your sect now owes. This will be added to what your sect owes for its housing. I need not remind you that the sects debts will need to be settled by the end of this Tower Cull, or you will not be granted your endorsements.” He handed Chang-li a rolled paper. Chang-li didn’t look at it.

"From now on, Cultivator Scribe Wu may enter this office only as a supplicant,” he told the other scribes. “Good day.”

Chang-li took the opportunity to slip out of the office in his wake. It was uncomfortable seeing his former fellow apprentices. Right now, he just wanted to hide away. Only, there was nowhere in camp he could hide.

Instead, he went to the Morning Mist house. He slipped inside.

The scrolls and records he had brought back from Fai-Lan City had been delivered to the house.

Joshi and the three false disciples were standing around the crate and second box of records that Chang-li had brought back from the city. He hadn't even seen any of those records since the night in the inn and was glad that they had all been forwarded to the sect. Joshi looked up as Chang-li shut the door behind him.

"You had great success in the city," Joshi said cheerfully. "I am astonished at how much is here. You will be able to decipher these encoded ones?” He held up an ancient cultivator journal.

Chang-li fought an urge to snatch it from him. "Those documents are decades, centuries old. You can't handle them," he snapped.

The disciples looked taken aback. They carefully set down what they had been looking at.

"We were just on our way up to the tower when these arrived," Joshi said. "I thought we should look them over. I did not realize you were planning to come here. I expected you to be busy with your duties.” He frowned, and his eyebrows drew together. "That robe, it's not the one you borrowed from us."

Chang-li shook his head. "No.”

“I have seen other cultivators wearing robes with bands of color like that," Joshi said, looking at the red stripes on Chang-li's arms and hem. "They indicate social standing, I believe, related to their marriage. Is this a new scheme? Shouldn't you be at the scribe office?"

Chang-li shook his head. "I have lost my position as a scribe," he confessed.

Joshi immediately turned to the disciples. "Go into the courtyard and practice your cycling."

They obeyed without fuss. Chang-li was glad to see that Joshi had them in hand.

"Come," Joshi said. "Tell me."

Chang-li didn't think he could, not for the second time in one day. Instead, he withdrew his new cultivator record from his robes and presented it to Joshi, who frowned as he took it.

He rubbed a finger across the embossed logo of the Morning Mist Sect, then opened it and perused the first pages. When he turned the page to the record of Chang-li and Min's marriage, his mouth dropped open. He looked up from the record. "This is not just another of your forgeries?"

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Chang-li shook his head. "No, it’s real."

"But why?" He looked, frankly, astonished.

Groaning, Chang-li sat himself on the floor next to the crate of records. He itched to dive in and lose himself in the ancient records. He would need a stack of books and gallons of ink to copy all of these out. That would be his first task. He couldn't risk the ancient records deteriorating. Then he'd have to translate them and see which held secrets that would help him reach the Peak of Mental Refinement.

"Min found me in the city. She offered to help me at the library. I accepted her help. We were successful there." He pulled out Scribe Wulan's pen case and set it on a low table by his elbow to remind himself to summon the shade later and see what he knew. "After we were at the library, we were looking over our finds and celebrating. We were caught together by a representative of the Gem Court."

Joshi clucked his tongue sympathetically. "So, they left you no choice but to marry? I will have to take care not to be alone near any of these gem nobles. Could you not have explained?"

"It, eh… didn't look good when they found us," Chang-li admitted. He felt his ears burning. "And her brother, not the one you've met, this one is a provincial official, was threatening to have her sent into seclusion. The dowager had sent word already banishing her from the court here. I..." He shook his head. "I couldn't let that happen. It seemed like the best option. And now I've been stripped of my scribe's rank. The documents that said I was a member of the Morning Mist Sect passed scrutiny." He shrugged, wryly amused. "They have sent me here now. And worse," he remembered the paper Magistrate Bao had handed him and took it out. "My debt has been levied against the sect."

Joshi’s eyebrows drew together. "How bad is it?"

Chang-li unfolded the paper. His stomach dropped. "On top of the fees for paperwork and a fine for you entering the tower without proper license and our expenses here with my indentures as well," he looked up, meeting Joshi's gaze. "We owe thirty-eight thousand kwam.”

"Thirty-eight thousand?" Joshi's breath came out in a rush. "The last time my contract was sold, it fetched only twenty-seven hundred. How are we to pay that?"

Chang-li shook his head. "I have no idea."

"We shall have to disappear in the night," Joshi said. "Once we've gotten everything we can.”

“They won't give us any license endorsements if the sect's dues are unpaid," Chang-li warned.

"Then you shall have to steal a seal and fake them."

"I can't fake my way all the way up the Divine Path," Chang-li said, his frustration coming to a boil. "Cultivating isn't something you can fake. It has to be real."

"Cultivating, yes," Joshi agreed. "But these records are not the meat of cultivation. They're just a way of the emperor controlling us.”

“With good reason. You've seen what cultivators, even at our level, can do. Imagine those who are past the Peak of Spiritual Refinement. They could rule over normal humans like gods, forcing them into slavery.”

“Then it is better for the emperor to be the one to decide who is a slave and who is free? No!” Joshi and Chang-li stared at each other for a long moment, and Joshi turned away and took a deep breath. "I'm sorry. I'm merely trying to decide what course of action I should take. Tell me, did you bring back anything good?"

"I believe so. These records are extensive. I need time to copy and translate them. But even from the ones I've glanced at, they have techniques and teachings we need.”

“I do not know that I wish to trust my advancement to something I learned from a scroll." Joshi hesitated, then told Chang-li what had happened over the last few days.

Chang-li was filled with horror. He had liked Li Jen. The young man was polite but had a good head on his shoulders. He didn't have the same flair that his sister or Feng did, but he had struck Chang-li as a solid cultivator. Now he was dead because he had pushed to use a skill he didn't truly understand.

"So, you can see why I hesitate to attempt to use a technique that is not taught to me by someone who understands it," Joshi said. “I might risk it myself but I don’t see how I could do it with others.”

Chang-li nodded. "I understand. However, we may have just such a guide." He channeled lux into the pen case. To his surprise, it took much more lux than he was expecting. His core was still relatively full, thanks to his visit to the library a few days before, but the pen case seemed to suck in lux as it never had before.

Wulan appeared, looking dense and more real, much like the shades in the library. He looked them both over.

"So, you are the cultivator Chang-li has chosen in place of my old friend Kang?" he asked Joshi. "Are you willing to restore the fortunes of the Morning Mist Sect?"

"I am intent on my own path," Joshi said.

"What did the other shades give you?" Chang-li asked.

Wulan swelled up with importance. "They opened my eyes to a deeper understanding of lux."

"Does that mean you can teach us how to reach Mental Refinement then?" Chang-li asked.

The ghost hesitated. "I read the techniques of our sect when I was alive. They meant little to me then. Now, with my new understanding of lux, if I can but refresh myself on those records I may be able to assist you," Wulan said. “So long as you are not complete dunderheads.”

"That's enough for now," Chang-li told him. He had been hoping for more from the ghost. "You can go back to sleep. We'll speak with you again later."

The scribe shade vanished. Chang-li had been expecting more protest and was glad Wulan went.

The door of the house opened. Chang-li sprang to his feet as Min entered. Her face was white. Joshi hurried forward. He bowed politely to her.

"Lady Min, Chang-li has told me what happened. Welcome to the Sect of Morning Mist."

She was looking lost and worried. "Thank you, Young Master Johi," she said politely.

"I will order the servants to prepare the largest chamber for you and Chang-li as you will be living here now, I take it?"

"I think we must," Min said. "If we're to maintain the sect."

"Are we going to maintain the sect?" Chang-li asked bluntly.

The other two turned to face him. He cleared his throat. "This sect right now is a sham. We have no real masters, no true disciples, no library of tried and trusted techniques. We have false papers and the only thing that's real about us is our debt."

Joshi opened his mouth to speak, but Chang-li continued. "No, wait. I know we started this more or less accidentally, thinking there was something we could all get out of the sect for our own benefit. Your freedom and path forward," he said to Joshi. "Your brotherhood to get cultivators of its own. Me," he hesitated. "A chance to become something more than a scribe," he finished. "This isn't where we thought we'd be, but on the other hand," he pointed at the pile of boxes, "look what we do have. Ancient secrets of a sect lost to time. I don't know what's inside these journals. It could be garbage. It could be the most valuable secrets we've ever known. We have the right to participate in this tower cull and to be recognized as a sect of cultivators. We have standing now with the nobility," he gestured at Min. "We have a sect shade who can help us and men who could become disciples for real."

"You're saying we could take this further, deceive and forge our way to a high enough level?" Min asked, but Chang-li shook his head.

"Not forge, not deceive. I'm saying we can make this real." He had their attention now. "I'm not saying it'll be easy, but I'm saying we have all of the pieces here. If we're willing to work together, take the risk, we can do it. On the other hand, if we admit this is all a sham, then what? I've lost my place as a scribe and I have no sect to fall back on. Min, you're married," the word came out in a rush, "to a false cultivator, someone with no future. And Joshi, even if they didn’t try to put you back in chains, you certainly wouldn't be allowed into another tower. I suppose you could run home to your father and you, Min, to your grandfather, but-"

"No," Joshi said at once, crossing his arms. "Not without proving myself. What do you suggest?"

"I'm suggesting we show them what the Morning Mist Sect can do." Chang-li looked from face to face and saw there the same hunger and yearning he felt in himself. "I'll have to translate enough of each of these journals to know which techniques we can use. It'll take some time, but-"

Min interrupted him. "Yes, I agree. We make this real." Her eyes were shining. "But you need to know, I just had word from my brother. The Court of Gems is coming here this evening to congratulate us on our union. We have," she glanced at the window, "perhaps three hours to prepare a reception for the Dowager Pearl and every other cultivator in the camp.”

Chang-li gaped at her.