Egiya hit a tree. The tree as they are often wont to do hit back with an equal force. That was pretty painful for me and I was just observing and waiting my time. We had called today after the stake out, getting the actor home to her clan.

Egiya had insisted on accompanying us to training at the moon clan compound. The fact that there was food involved? Or should I say dangled to her did not hurt her enthusiasm. After we ate our fill, we all cycles for long enough to feel rejuvenated. Which is how we begin the argument that she wouldn't be able to punch through a tree. Now I wasn't on the side of the tree at the start. Moon Lee believed that the girl could punch straight through with just her determination. I, seeing a sucker, had to take that bet. So it was with a heavy heart that one of the older soul wood trees was picked to test her.

"Are you entirely certain that anyone can punch through this?" She asked after the tenth ineffective punch," it just seems far sturdier than it has any right to be."

"Why my dear anything and everything is always possible if you set your mind to it. In this particular case it had damn well better be possible because I am going to win this bet."

"You're just saying that because whoever wins the bet gets to pick where we go to dinner next time."

"There is no honor in fighting with thieves. However, gambling with them is the most honorable vocation one can aspire to. Would that we could be so strong as a couriers union? A group of men so ineffective that even their assignments show up late."

"Do you often consort with thieves?"

" And how often have you asked me for help? Cultivator, Joseph? Shall I begin to take account of your actions? Or should I just sweep them under the rug? You can tell you me your preference when you are buying me dinner after I win this bet."

" You are both wonderful people and I'm certain quite strong Cultivators but do you both need to stand quite so close?"

I hadn't noticed that we were hovering by her. We both stepped back and if that wasn't a blush on Moon Lees face then I was a virgin.

" Moon Lee we need to do something about the red fang. I thought that this stakeout would have panned out, but that is clearly not the case."

" You may be sitting with your pan out tomorrow begging for change after I pick the ritziest place I can think of. Punch all the way through girl."

The methodical even punching of a woman dared to greatness punctuated our speech.

"I know you like to build women up. It's something I like to do as well. I raised my daughters to think for themselves, and have the ability to go out in the world on their own and follow their own path. She clearly has the capacity to punch but I do not think that she has the will to carry out what needs to be done."

She stopped punching for a minute and just stared at me as if I'd run over her cat. Then she resumed and if I couldn't tell you how hard she was punching before, I could definitely tell you that it was harder now. Or at least it was definitively louder.

"Rude."

"Do you think of her as one of your daughters?"

I paused to really look at her.

"Hadn't really thought of it that way. This might just be a friendship that turned into a gang. Oh don't hit me I'm not tree," I squealed dodging a play punch.

"This might be a friendship to turn to a gang? Who even says that. Who really?"

"I don't know. But it's evocative isn't it."

"You keep saying that word. I don't think it means what you think it means."

"What do you think I think it means?"

" I think it means that you're very silly man in a very serious profession. A profession where silly men don't make it very far."

"I'm going to take that as a compliment. I'll have you know that it only took me ten minutes before my attention flew away from me at the stakeout."

"Aw your attention flew away like a little bird. Do you want me to feel sorry for you? I can do that if you want. It's a service we provide. Min told me all about your special needs in this regard. Something about you looking for a woman who wears pants? I really don't know what pants have to do with it. If there was some other mention of a mother made of sugar? I'm not a mother for certain, and I'm definitely not made of sugar but if you want a candy Aunt let me know."

"I'm going to need to have a very special conversation with Min after this is all done. Just me and her. I'll be honest and just let you know that for as much as we are on the same side, I don't believe that my moon spirit has the same grasp of sarcasm that you do. Also having a person or spirit that follows me around and tattletales on me is quite new to me. If anyone else is telling tall tales about me I would prefer to have them be told to my face. Especially if they're true but even more, especially if they're untrue."

Min moved out of the upper branches of the tree that Egiya was doing her best one inch punch on.

"If she breaks the tree then we have some well crafted soul wood that our artisans can work with. Also I get a dinner, paid for by mysterious syrup father."

I could adopt mysterious syrup father persona. It sounded a bit too high carb for me. But whatever the ladies really enjoyed about this exchange stopped when we were with heard a crack.

"I won!" Moon Lee said.

"Did you expect anything else? She is exceptionally strong. Stop dancing. No really. All right, laugh as much as you want. I would have paid anyway."

"Yes, but it will taste so much sweeter this way, syrup father."

"The phrase is 'sugar Daddy' but your know what I think I have had enough surprises for one day."

"You want to call it as well?"

I didn't really need sleep the way I used to, being at the stage I had reached. I still wanted to do it and it felt great, but I was going off of six hours of sleep and feeling strong. A sugar daddy needs his rest, after all.

"I think that we can attack our problem tomorrow a bit more effectively. You can stay in the Moon clans guest quarters, Joe, and you as well."

"Thank you auntie, but as much as I am tired, I still need to watch the shop and make sure that my mother is safe. Min can escort me home and then fly back.I think that would be fine. She's looking down the road to her second realm advancement, after all," Egiya said.

"I had no idea that you were so close. That is excellent news, Min. I would high five you but you don't have any hands."

"I will settle for medium petting, at a time of my choosing," Min said.

"You always put your mother first, Egiya, but soon it will be time for that to change."

"I doubt that she will put me first anytime soon," she said.

I laid a hand on her shoulder. The thin sheen of sweat had gone through her fighting robes. She crumpled into my embrace.

"Now, I know that you know that I didn't mean that."

"I know," she said, holding me tighter,"but it's great to hear you say it like that."

"Min got to you, didn't she. You don't have to lie to me. I get it."

"I would never admit to such an allegation," she sighed.

I released her. When my girls were little, sometimes they just needed deep pressure hugs and lots of exercise. In that moment I wasn't seeing a beautiful cultivator at the height of her workout, but a little girl who had just played with her friends all afternoon on the playground.

"What's going on with your face?"

"Oh, sorry, just some dust got in my eyes is all."

"Uh huh. You don't have to tell me the truth, just don't lie to yourself."

"Min take care of our companion here, I'll be here when you return."

We went out separate ways and Moon Lee led me to the guest quarters. Something in her eyes told me that we had some unsettled business. That or she suddenly got a lazy eye. I paused by the way too well made marble door frame with intricate battle art.

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

"Did you want to talk about something?"

"I did but..."

It was the first time that I had seen her uncertain. Or perhaps it was the first time that we had been alone and I wasn't focusing on a group of people.

"What's going on?"

She stood by me, and for a minute I was brought back to those awkward teenage dances where I had to ask girls to dance with me. It always felt like somewhat of an imposition but having been the one oblivious to every woman's advances, I took it in stride.

"Joe, you've advanced so far in such a short time and I'm beginning to think that you're going to overtake me."

"Are you afraid that I'm going to overtake you? Because," I grabbed her hand."I don't want to leave you behind. You've been good to me."

"I'm not worried about... well maybe I am a little but after third realm, you tend to stand out unless you're really shrouding yourself very well. Which yes you're doing well, but oh I don't even know what I'm saying here."

The hint of a blush touched her cheeks.

"This is a safe space. You can tell me whatever you want. Except that you're going to have Egiya throw our bet, because I'm going to win."

"And I need to learn to put a time limit on these things. You're being a real mandarin about this."

"Listen if you need me to be your mandarin, I'll be the biggest attack dog you've ever met. We're on the same side."

"Thanks. I think I needed that."

"Look. I asked some of the core elders and what I'm about to say next-we can keep it between us, right?"

I nodded.

"There have been reports of demonic cultivators summoning people from other worlds, advancing them quickly to a higher realm and then..."

"What?"

"...then apparently feeding on them. Your bodies are so good at passing through the lower stages and when I heard this, I didn't want to believe it."

I instantly had a pit in my stomach.

"Do you think that Maxine- that they called her up just to eat her soul and advance in their own cultivation?"

"In a word, yes."

I had every intention of loudly pretending that no, she wasn't my ex wife and no I had never seen that woman in my life the next time we crossed paths. I didn't have some Savior complex, but if my demonic enemies were going to suck the soul out of a woman who had made my life a living hell? The woman that drew out our acrimonious divorce? Yeah no if anyone was going to eat her soul it would be me, served iced. The enemy of my enemy could be my friend, but in this case she was just my ex wife, so also my enemy.

Yeah this was a bit confusing.

"I don't think she will take it well if I show up ostensibly to save her life. Not like I know where she is staying in any case. You know something about her don't you. Do you know where she's staying?"

"I have an idea. We can send a neutral third party to confirm. The moon clan could use a strong woman like that."

"Please tell me that you're not trying to recruit my ex wife for the clan," I deadpanned.

She gave me a very bland expression by way of a reply.

"Good night to you cultivator," she said, smirking.

I went off to bed and before I could even get mad at her, I was asleep.

___

"Well, our connection is severed. My guy in the courier guild got burned for last night somehow and they didn't even send the package. The word was bad so we acted on bad information. This one humbly apologizes and stands ready to accept any punishment that the cultivator wishes to deal out."

"Moon Xiru, get your ass up and come over here. You don't need to bow and scrape here. We're running a counter criminal enterprise here, not a military unit. I have tea for you as well."

With formalities kicked right in the place where the sun never goes, my favorite tea broker joined for brunch. Or at least it was a meal that I designed to call brunch with the mid morning timeframe. We were in the second Moon clan cafeteria, the first overrun with a family reunion that I had no business being nearby.

"This one would greatly appreciate some tea," he said, grabbing a mug and joining me,"perhaps this entire enterprise could wait on the sampling of this Za family brew. Curious, this one didn't know that we had any of this in stock. After the divine beast Rahelish carved a path across the northern continent, the source dried up."

"The, uh what now?"

"It's some cultivator legend, they fight this beast from legends when they suddenly appear from the water and wreak havoc upon whatever they find. They're mindless, or they seem to be. It was believes to be a myth until one of the five struck."

He took the tea to his lips, pausing to adjust his man bun. He would probably do okay with bangs and I could see him doing that in some sort of midlife crisis situation. Not that I had seen bangs anywhere here.

"Well that's another fear unlocked. Anything else I should know about this world?"

"Our continued existence here is due to the strength of the cultivators. They don't tell us everything, but some things can't stay secret for long."

"Alright. But tell me about the courier and what do we even do? Find another connection? I guess I could do that if I had to."

"We can deal directly with one of their bosses, but it would be more costly perhaps than you are prepared to do. They deal more in favors or information as well, with more being better. Auntie Lee would be excellent at this. She studied the art of the deal when she was younger. This one just doesn't know exactly what to look for, so she might help in that manner. Before my buddy wanted to work against the red fang. They are too paranoid about their job s which sometimes -often- leads to irreconcilable differences. Then there's the union contract which spells out how much they can work and all of that. When you take out a job with their union, you're paying a premium for delivery."

"I have no problem paying people what they're worth. More should go to the guys on the ground doing the thing and getting dirty."

"Agreed."

Our tea finished, I went to town on the little folded buns that accompanied them. I would have to ask for those specially next time. The soft outer dough gave way to a tender savory inside and I was instantly brought back to days when I have more money than sense.

"These buns are particularly great. They're a moon clan staple. The expected thing for any guest to do is to sneakily grab any that they can't immediately eat, leaving the platter empty."

"I didn't think of you as the leftovers type, but well met."

"You can trust this one to take care of the minor details with the couriers guild."

"Moon Xiru, how is Moon Fei?"

"He-he is stable but this one wouldn't ask him anything now. The healers have asked that he be left without any duties for the time being. Too much spiritual strain can cause problems, especially in those of us who can't reach the first realm easily."

"I feel responsible for what has happened to him. If there is anything that you can do, please let the clan know. He has done so much for me, which is probably the reason he keeps getting attacked like this. I gotta make it up for him somehow."

"All in due time. He would go back out and hit the streets for us right now if he could. He really shouldn't and the healers would nearly kill him just to prove a point."

"That point being that he needs to follow their damn orders, of course. Look, I get it. But back in my world, you visited with sick people to raise their spirits because hospitals tend to get boring."

It wasn't my fault that a weaker man kept getting caught in the way of a more advanced foe. It did sting a bit. The red fang was able to hit me wherever I was. I didn't like it. I spent way too much time thinking about how to fix it. And short of a an open war-I was at a loss.

He was going to run to interference for us. Moon Lee was still helping me train and for that I was forever grateful. The girls were a bit caught up in their own family drama. So like the man I was I took stuck on situation. Maxine had taken up residence somewhere in western jewel. She had taken some contract for the sect. They must have a way of communicating with her, otherwise it would be pretty useless.

So in other words, if I found my ex-wife I could find the way they were passing messages to her. If I found that then I could exploit it. Although that might be a rabbit hole that went too deep. I wondered idly if I could go to their hairdressers just to get the tea. Like if I booked an appointment and then just listened in trying to peel layers like an onion until they gave me everything. I wanted. Some rich barber was making a killing off of their sect. Either that or the had a whole crew just dedicated to hair and makeup.

This is almost worse than that summer, the one where I bounced between improv classes. Everyone has a time when they think they could do show business. Thankfully, thankfully for me that lasted about 2 weeks before my junior year of high school. Otherwise it would have been problematic. When you grow up close to it, it seems like a foregone conclusion. Not that you're be in show business, but you would take some ancillary role.

"Anything else to report? I think I'm going to hit training for today if not."

"By all means. This one will report in with any news promptly," he said, getting up.

It's not that his pouch was comically stuffed with just the right amount of buns but it was getting close. I thought about helping him to button it closed-I really missed zippers- but then decided not to. This problem, he could fix on his own.

---

The next week I dove into training. Moon Lee began to take him more hands-on approach. I could see myself getting faster. She was still faster than me but the gap was closing.

My crew gave me daily reports where it was applicable. It sounded like the red fang sect was biding their time. That, or they finally took the note. I was for the most part hold up in the moon clan compound. With a very brief exception of our long runs in the morning, we tended to stay behind thick walls. It got easier and then it got more difficult as the moon clan trainers decided that I was getting off too easy. I went from sparring one to one with someone of an appropriate level to two to three people at a time.

I got a little further in my reading. A lot of it was going on just wasn't written down. It felt like frozen power had little interest outside of their own petty squabbles and this reflected in what they wrote down. For the most part it sounded like they used ghost writers a lot to embellish their stories. This led to problems with a historical record where different parties had different stories about events that both had lived through. Long lived cultivators could even pass through an age of history and comment upon such things happening cyclically. There was no journalistic best practices and there was no such thing as a neutral historian. Each clan had their own historian but you can imagine they are other duties to fulfill.

So it was with surprise that I found myself far stronger at the end of another week of training. I knew that I was advancing faster than a base cultivator could. What I didn't know was that I was leaving my companions in the dust. On the eighth day, I nearly fought Moon Lee to a draw which surprised the heck out of me. Here she was, a peak third realm cultivator having to tap deep into her dantian to get an edge. It's enough to make a grown man cry. I didn't, really because I was sweating too bad, but I could have.

She was as surprised as I was. After a close inspection, she told me that I was halfway to needing another day of closed door cultivation. This blew my mind. I was going to want to push to the next stage, the beginning of which I was starting to see. A fourth realm cultivator develops a Nascent soul, something that lets them physically reach out with their spiritual senses like a sense of touch. I was able to feel Moon Lees presence from a foot away while I was blindfolded.