David

The Lin mansion was as much a mansion as Cloud Mountain City was a city. It was a small compound on the edge of the village with a single word inscribed on a stone plate above the door. David noted now that with knowledge that the word was indeed Lin that it did have some passing resemblance to Chinese.

When the book burnings occurred in the Qin Dynasty, the written language of Chinese had been unified into a monolithic script and most words which had many pictographic representations were lost to the fires of an Emperor's ambition. David imagined that this could also be the word for lin, which meant forest, in an alternate universe where a different pictogram had been picked.

That came with a current of motivation - it wouldn't be too difficult to learn how to read and write in this modified variant of Chinese once again, as long as he paid a little bit of attention and gave the signage which littered the world some thought. Alice, David was sure, had already been doing so - or else she would pick up on this quickly whenever they had some privacy to speak.

Who did he think he was kidding? This was going to be absolutely awful. Maybe being illiterate wasn’t the worst possible thing in the world. Surely most people in the village had no schooling whatsoever.

David gave up on the impressively unambitious desire to never learn the written language of the world as they entered the Lin household.

Mayor Lin had clearly been informed by servants who ran ahead about the situation at hand because as they approached, he opened the doors personally and knelt in the same way the old man had.

"Disciple Lin greets senior Uncle and Aunt," he said, kowtowing. Three times to David, then three times to Alice. "This disciple thanks his ancestors for disciplining his unfilial son."

If possible, Young Master Lin shrunk even further into himself. The shred of pity that David felt for the boy magnified. He was sure nothing either of them said or did would save the boy from a beating when they inevitably left - if Mayor Lin was that patient.

Alice had long forgotten whatever insult the young master had brought before her, or at least took the same view as David on the situation. She helped Mayor Lin to his feet, shaking her head and searched for something wise and vacuous to say.

"A lesson learned many times is more likely to be forgotten. I'm sure Young Master Lin will need no more help in learning caution." She gave him a bright smile.

Mayor Lin looked to the heavens and then sighed at his son, who looked relieved. He led them into a rather spacious parlor with many doors. Alice and David took seats on a wide oval table. The mayor and his son sat across from them and Zhou found a chair to David’s left.

They were then served with tea, which Alice seemed to enjoy more than he did. David sipped politely. There were distinct notes of rice and a hint of ginger.

"We were surprised at the state of the Sect," Alice finally said. David said nothing again, assuming she'd come across something useful in her line of conversation.

"Bad business," Mayor Lin agreed.

The old man who everyone in the town referred to as Teacher Zhou did not look up from his tea cup.

Mayor Lin had his own take on the end of the sect. "It happened before most of us were born. My own father arrived at Cloud Mountain City to try his luck at the Falling Leaves, all the way from the Western continent. If you would forgive my presumption, this journey has probably been undertaken since the two of you were disciples."

"Pity to those who believe they have talent, for they could not match a single leaf on the Mulberry Tree," said Zhou, from behind his cup of tea. Neither the mayor nor Young Master Lin seemed to even react to what was certainly an insult to Mayor Lin's father, so David figured that if it weren't a saying, it was the sort of thing the old man said often.

"I'm surprised that the grove still stands," Alice said softly.

Mayor Lin chuckled, surprising her. "Many of your sect brothers and sisters of various generations have come back from far and wide through the years, most of them before my birth.”

He considered them for a while, then found something about the pair which satisfied him. “It’s been nearly a decade since we had last hosted honored guests such as yourselves. It is custom to take anything - from a seed, to a cutting, to a dried mulberry back to the Greater Realms or even the Starfields and plant it in remembrance of the Falling Leaves."

Mayor Lin looked troubled. "The symbolism is undeniable. But I’ve always been of the opinion that it's an end too beautiful for such a tragedy. It is said that the Falling Leaves should cross all of existence and take with them the shade of the first trees they had called home."

David was more comfortable with this than Alice.

"Why has no one tried to rebuild the Sect?" Alice asked.

Zhou looked alarmed. "Did you not see the name that had been stricken from the Stone Pillar?"

Alice shook her head, even though she had, in fact, seen it. This was a moment where the divergence in the written word did them no favors - not that she could have read that gouged out name even if she had full knowledge of the language.

The old man paused, considering his words. "No one has even dared to approach the doors to the sect," he said.

He swallowed heavily. "It is not the place for a failed disciple to name the Deities, even if they are my ancestors. But you should be able to guess by my reticence.”

“That phoenix who would not fear offending our founders cannot be someone who Aunt and Uncle can challenge." If he had expected vehement disagreement or at least cold dismissal, he was disappointed.

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David nodded.

Alice looked bitter, though David thought that probably came from not being able to get the full story. "This is a standing injustice," she decided.

It was now Zhou's turn to chuckle. "I have heard those words many times, from all our visiting Aunts and Uncles."

"I just wish there was something we could do for our remnants," Alice said, picking at her nails. David noticed that her nail polish had nearly chipped off in full, compared to the day of the talent show.

Maybe lightning was more effective than those liquids which smelled of licorice and lemons. Her hair, which had been bleached blonde, had returned to its natural inky black somehow. The changes seemed rather arbitrary to him.

"The two requests I have are always rejected but it is my nature to try and try," said Zhou.

He drained his cup of tea and then drew in a deep breath. "The first is for Honored Senior Aunt and Uncle to stay and teach." He then laughed outright and continued without giving them a chance to answer.

"I ask out of habit and not hope. Twenty years ago, I did manage to convince an Uncle to stay for a week to help in the rearing of a child with what I had believed to have had enormous potential, but my judgment had simply been too many years removed from the Sect and I’d forgotten the standard of talent. The Uncle spent the week unable to comprehend why my best student could not - as a direct quote - 'just form her core'."

David and Alice smiled, but both smiles were a hair shy of a brittle grimace. “How old was the girl?”

“Nine.”

Zhou looked resigned.

"I have learned that genius comes in two varieties," said the old man. "There are those who believe they alone have discovered a secret which makes them superior. Such genius can be found in every village and every sect across the realm. And then there are those who cannot comprehend why anything could be considered a secret. Usually, this rarer, second type surpasses our humble Lesser World without much trouble. When they come back, we are grateful for their guidance."

He looked at them meaningfully.

"A high compliment, and earnest," Alice said. "One which I'm not sure we deserve." David, by contrast, was entirely sure they didn’t deserve any compliments at all.

"No matter," said Zhou. "The other request I have is uniquely selfish. I wish for death by the hands of an orthodox disciple of our sect. Even after seventy one years, I cannot shake the feeling that I have betrayed us."

There was the sudden strain of anxiety in the room. Alice’s calm veneer was gone in an instance and she opened her mouth to reply. David was suddenly sure she would say something very suspicious so he shook his head and answered him before Alice could gather herself.

"No one could believe that surviving that tragedy is a betrayal of the Falling Leaves. We apologize. We cannot fulfill your request. We must not."

Zhou nodded, expecting a response of this sort. David supposed that this answer would have made the old man far more unpredictable in years past, but he lived on, so no one else had chosen to grant him his wish. Zhou had even said that it had become a routine of sorts.

This didn’t stop Mayor Lin from looking annoyed. "You would think that after seventy years of having his request denied, my Teacher would have better grace than to ask again."

"In the same way you, my disciple, can ask me for anything, I can ask my Senior Aunts and Uncles for anything," said Zhou, an edge louder than when he previously spoke. “And whether they choose to honor or refuse my request, your opinions have little value.”

Mayor Lin looked to the heavens and sighed at Zhou. This must have been an old argument.

Alice was playing with her nails again but there was a current of nervous excitement in her eyes which made David think that this was all for show. Like clockwork, she appeared to brighten up. "I recall when we first encountered Young Master Lin, we were thought to be within the realm of Qi condensation."

Apparently, Mayor Lin did not recall this, because he looked at Young Master Lin with a new anger.

Alice soldiered on. "Perhaps we might be able to investigate the matter at Red Wind Sect and see if anything untoward is happening to those who have left the nest."

Zhou raised his eyebrows. "Surely I could not trouble Senior Aunt and Uncle with the ghost of my concerns. Your time is far too valuable for something like that."

Alice shook her head. "The Dao is the Dao is the Dao. Not all roads require long meditation and philosophical musings about the nature of the Universe. If you should write a recommendation for us, we can pretend to be the next batch of students you've sent off."

David did everything he could to not shake his head in bewildered disbelief. He succeeded, barely.

It was clear that the Teacher would like this very much because he looked quite excited now. "Usually my recommendations range from the more talented students at the peak of Qi condensation or early Foundation Establishment to those who have reached the bottleneck of forming their Core."

David wished these words were more meaningful to him and that he could regard these metrics of quantifying the Song with more respect, but to him it really did seem like a system out of a videogame. He supposed though that there was no harm in playing.

Alice nodded. "Put us down as students at the peak of Qi condensation then. If the Red Wind Sect would mistreat your disciples, they would probably start with those who are least capable of defending themselves."

The old man nodded hurriedly, as though he were afraid they would change their minds. "What names should I put on the recommendations?"

Alice considered this for a moment. "Put my junior brother down as Chong and put me down as Yingying." She smiled. David recognized it as the smile Alice gave when she thought she said something hilarious and knew she was the only one in on the joke.

She paused, then continued with her script by looking at David. "We really should have brought some money for this trip."

No way. Alice was about to shake down their purported juniors for loose change.

Alice let her excitement bubble over visibly. "I know what we will do!”

She tugged on his sleeve - she couldn’t wait to tell him. “On our way to the Red Wind Sect, we will earn money to continue travelling by doing odd jobs and playing our instruments in restaurants. It'll be an adventure! And I suppose if no one hires us we'll find some other way to pay."

The Teacher, Mayor Lin, Young Master Lin, all the servants and David stared at her, horrified.

Mayor Lin scoffed. "Money we have plenty of. I simply cannot allow our honored ancestors to pay for rooms at a mortal inn with spirit stones, or whatever treasures you must be carrying. For a single spirit stone from the Starfields you can probably have this continent with a few islands thrown in for free.”

Mayor Lin continued after some deliberation. “I will prepare funds and a dried mulberry for each of you. If that is insufficient, I will send servants to retrieve some seeds from the grove, or even a sapling if you wish."

"Dried is fine. If they were dried in the sun and not by an open fire then the seeds should live on," said Alice, grinning like a Cheshire cat.

Such satisfaction was inevitable from someone of Alice’s character, thought David. She had scammed a village of decent people into believing they were immortals, produced a recommendation to a sect for them to learn about the Song from the goodwill of an old man and then robbed the well-meaning mayor of his hard earned money. And they thought Alice was doing them a favor.

David vaguely recalled an adage from south of the Yangtze that involved people who you sold down the river performing the transaction for your convenience.