She spent about another twenty minutes working on formations there. Then we headed to the next spot on her list. There were, according to her, sixty more formations on totems that she could check. I asked because I'm a nosy guy but it seemed like a lot.

They didn't have to be checked often, which is why they went by a system of checking the one that had gone without inspection for the longest. Several of the totems were in the water and those would take the most lift.

In her regular work, she went around the entire perimeter of the Western jewel barrier in a clockwise manner which I found pleasing. Fully two thirds of the totems were on solid ground, meaning that if she did a few a week she would only need assistance to attend to the totems in water for about a month or two.

Unless someone asked the Mandarin to address a specific totem, they were rarely touched though.

It was uncommon for someone to call in a complaint. This also meant that it took her months to revisit a totem unless it was specifically called out for.

And if somebody was intent on doing some sort of mischief that is about how long it would take before the powers that be would notice it. The barriers were there to keep the spirit beasts out and it was unclear what would happen if they went down. For my understanding, if one to two of them went down next to each other then it would just be an open door for higher level beasts to swarm in looking for easy targets.

Egiya put her papers into a large pack that she was carrying to indicate that she was done with the totem. Then she brought out a diagram of the region and made a note.

"So did you make any progress with the constabulary?"

"I can't say that what we did is going to stick but I have at least one person who was willing to listen to us and regular basis. That is a lot more than I had last time and I'm really grateful for it. I don't know what would happen If I just came into the office of the constabulary with a demonic cultivator in tow and just slapped them down on the desk of any inspector. Do you think that they would even raise an eyebrow?"

"If they're committing demonic acts right in the public eye and the constabulary isn't taking them into custody, then you should probably just petition the Mandarin to get them to do their job," she said, putting the map away.

"Hey question for you. Why don't people live out here next to the barrier? I know it's a bit of a walk back to Center City and all the things that are in there, but like if you had somebody who knew formations and they lived nearby here then you wouldn't have to do all this work, right?"

"It's not so simple. Not everybody wants to learn formations. There is some things which are important for society, like formations practice, that you can't make somebody learn. You can't put someone through a training gauntlet and turn out a formation's expert. Not only that, all the families have a specific thing that they want their children to do if they are born cultivators with the spark. If they don't have an affinity for formations practice, then it's hard to make a case for them to train it in. And if they did, well you know how my family, or rather my father and mother, are practitioners; they trained me but other formations experts would have to be trained in the imperial capital. It's highly regulated, so unless you came into a family that teaches it, you wouldn't just break in."

"This sounds a bit like gatekeeping. Is it really so difficult? Oh uh, gatekeeping is when there's a group of people that keep some knowledge or some specific skill or thing away from the general populace. Like we have these laws back home about who can be a hairdresser."

"We have laws like that too here. It's a very prestigious occupation."

"No but like. Let me give an example. There's a specific type of hair that let's call it dreadlocks, and if you wanted to do say dreadlock braiding in a specific style, then you were not allowed to unless you had a hairdresser license. However, getting the license and all the schooling that's required to have the license does not cover that type of activity. You don't go to hairdresser school and learn how to braid dreadlocks it's just not taught. So it's a stupid kind of gatekeeping for no reason except to do it."

"Braiding?"

"It's for a different type of hair. Everyone here for the most part has very fine thin hair that is straight."

I cracked my brain, trying to think of anyone that had hair comparable. I didn't know anybody here.

"Maybe that's a bad example, but let's just say that back in my world, there's more than just curly and straight hair. There's a lot of gradations in between. It was just me trying to illustrate a point. It's like if you had people who wanted to learn formations from you but also they had to get your approval to work in the field."

I kind of wished that we had more time in the day for her to explain formations. It also would have been nice if we could just shoot the shit. Though now that I thought about it, this was kind of what I was looking for. This interaction where we had a good banter going back and forth. The grass is always greener when you're not thinking about what you have in front of you. I had a great friend with me who was willing to explain in depth lots of details about her culture that I would never have guessed otherwise. It was like having a personal guide to explain everything; a hitchhiker's guide to Western Jewel.

"Friend Egiya, I should let you know that he is thinking sappy thoughts, right now. He's probably thinking about how he misses his daughters or something. Approach with caution."

"I should just wear a sign that says beware of dad. Then people will keep away from me and my little moon Spirit too."

"You're both two tea bags short of a full brew. And I think we're done with this one. Let's move on to the next if you're ready."

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

"You want to race?"

"Do I get a head start?" she asked.

"Nope!" I said, running ahead.

---

"Three in a day is a lot. If you really think about it, they should probably hire somebody else. What would happen if something happened to you?"

"Oh I imagine that they would find someone from the Empire to come in and fill in. There are far more people there interested in formations and this specific type of formation who want to become settlers. If you have a powerful Ally then you can make your own town or city. But it would have to be a formations expert working with someone truly powerful. Like yourself."

"Oh you're just saying that because you want to settle down and own your own land."

"As a Nascent soul cultivator, you are allowed to request for a parcel of land from the Mandarin and so long as you're able to hold on to it, you can keep it. However, you can imagine how difficult that is without a support team. And then think about how many people just like yourself who have thought about that and decided that they would make a formations expert into an indentured servant because they're off the grid somewhere."

"Off the grid?"

"Min said that you say it sometime. I assume it to mean the grid of control."

"The grid of control? Min what are you feeding this poor girl?"

The moon spirit purred. I patted her on the head.

We got to the final totem and we began our work. It wasn't too long before we were done. I had plans for that evening after all.

---

"I didn't know that I needed this, but I did."

Moon Lee had taken me to see the Taoist play that Xueyie was starring in. If there was an opposite of improv, this was it.

"The play was nearly three hours long, Lee. I love supporting the arts but next time I'm going to have you play a game with me instead. It's not that I don't appreciate the long history of the rise of the emperor after he decides to stop being a sheriff and ascend to the heavens, but maybe I could have gotten the short version of it?"

"That was the short version," Moon Lee said, her shimmering formal gown, a testament to my commitment to not look down her cleavage. I was not mentally ready to even think about dating again.

"I think that is wonderful. But you expect someone to sit through an even longer version for some reason? I'm so glad that the intermission was as long as it was. I needed that. I'm about as limber and flexible as I have ever been in my life, but even I needed a stretch."

The milling crowd in the Opera house. The place had a raw charm that flowed like a river through the many paintings of the various historical figures. Moon Lee was vibrant as she show me the three paintings that depicted the Moon clan in their heyday.

"All of these would not be possible without the moon spirits. They were the ones that gave us the visions that create such art."

"They don't die, do they."

"Unless something truly terrible happens, no."

"So then there's a possibility that this would actually be very close to what it actually looked like. If the moon spirits were back then, and live through all this. I actually find it hard to believe that people can live so long here. The average lifespan on Earth where I live was about eighty. Here? Cultivators can live to be several hundred years old before they bottleneck out."

"It's true."

We sat and admired the artwork for a little bit. I briefly checked to see if our actor had showed up yet. She hadn't. And that distracting dress made me smile. It was a really lovely dress. I just wasn't ready. And I was pretty sure that Lee was either asexual or aromantic. I just had an idea with her big auntie vibes. She was lovely and fun to be around but I was pretty sure that was because I treated her the way she wanted to be treated. Back inside the moon clan compound, even though she was a nascent soul, she still had to answer to the clans elders.

And they of course wanted her to secure an alliance with me. They didn't care if we got married. They just cared if she got her hooks into me. She had told me all this frankly and I thanked her for it. When I asked her if she did want to get married she was confused. I had to explain the whole divorce thing, once again. It really was so foreign to them.

"Lee, that is a lovely dress. I think it's exquisite. The only thing that's missing is a pocketful of meat buns."

"I know you have some. Joe. Joe. Joe! Look at me. Give me one."

I palmed one of them into her hand. If you have never seen a lady eating a steamed bun in a ball gown, you haven't missed much. However, if the lady in question is so hungry that she would eat day old fries, you might be in for a treat.

That was precisely when our friend finally arrived.

"Xueyie! You did wonderfully out there. I loved every moment that you were in the lead. Don't mind her, she just wanted to munch on my buns."

Both women's eyes went wide.

The actress herself still had her sage makeup on, but she was dressed in the final set of robes that she had worn for the show. It was a Regal white robe with the trimming that just looked expensive. Not gaudy. Just expensive.

"Don't poke fun at your auntie. She is a valued member of the team. I would be lost without her. We would be lost," Xueyie said, "Though really Auntie? You couldn't wait until the two of you were out of here. And there's usually a few vendors that set up right outside."

"A woman has needs. And one of those needs is not to be questioned about her eating choices after a 3-hour Opera. You should thank us for sticking around because I'm ready to gnaw off one of Joe's arms. In fact, do you have sauce here anywhere? Those arms are starting to look delectable."

"Leave it to my date to resort to cannibalism after a mere three hours. You wound me, Lee. Is all I am to you just a pocket of buns?"

"I heard that you had nice nuts as well," Lee said, "Though that might be apocryphal."

"I told you that," Xueyie says,"something about Deez?"

"Deez what?" I ventured. I didn't know how much she had gotten out of Min in this regard but I expected the bad jokes. I just didn't expect ones that were so topical and particular.

"Ahem," Xueyie said, "Deez nuts."

I was going to take that statement in the Good humor it was given in. I was proud that she was stepping up her game in the humored apartment. It meant that I was not going to have to make her laugh as much. The fact that Min have been apparently teaching her really bad jokes did not bother me.

Her comedic timing was excellent. I'll say this for the woman when she has something in mind, she took care of it. Perhaps it was part of her training as our apprentice, but seeing her in this new light, in her element really showed me who she was.