David

It was high noon when they emerged from the neutral white light of the Yin Fire lamps. Daoist Shi had led them past the entrance to Earth Peak and up the mountainside.

"Hey," David said to Shi. "Mulan," he cast a sideways glance at Alice, "might have sounded like she was needling you, but we really will put in a good word for you. When we first showed up, you tried to do something nice for us."

Shi looked at him doubtfully. "You don't even know me," she protested.

David shook his head. "I don't - but I do know that you saw a pair of refugees from the Southern Continent and tried to do right by them."

Shi opened her mouth to respond, but the peal of bells cut her off. They rang long and loud, twelve times - once for every hour, melodic and merry.

When the bells finished, David smiled. "I think I like it here."

Alice slipped her hand into his. Earth Peak was green and mossy on the outside. The path was a little slippery. When David turned around to look at the valley, he saw thousands of houses and businesses with little red lanterns hung at doors. David liked Tianbei.

The bells seemed to cheer Shi up as well.

David's curiosity had finally overtaken him as Shi surveyed the city with them. "Where exactly are you taking us?"

“To your demise,” said Shi. “You are to be killed horribly by the hand of this inner disciple.”

David folded his arms.

“Alright, alright, I’m taking you to the dorm for new disciples. You’ll get your official housing after initiation rites.”

“And when are those happening?” David asked, as they continued walking.

"The initiation rites will occur during the lantern lighting. For now, you'll get to know your fellow disciples. When I joined the sect, I was the only one - and, thus, got to stay at Earth Peak. In the past century, we've had many more worthwhile candidates, so Sect Master Su set aside a communal building."

“What’s going to happen with the initiation rites?” David asked.

“Oh, this and that,” said Shi. It was clear that she didn’t want to say - or wasn’t allowed to.

David wanted to ask her more questions, but Alice was focused on something else. "We're going to have to live with Zhu Feiyan?" she moaned in disbelief.

Shi gave her a wicked grin. "Better hold onto your boy tightly. Otherwise, he might become a prince."

"She's fourteen," David protested, for all the good it would do.

Shi had been waiting for this. "Would you say you prefer older women, then? Perhaps a few millenia older? Someone who can show you the world?"

"Gross," said Alice, turning her nose up, but she did tighten her grasp over David's hand.

They reached a fork in the mountain path after another few moments. "Straight up ahead is the housing for core disciples." There were roughly a dozen dwellings of various sizes and shapes on the peak. "You're allowed to build your own house on the peak you belong to."

Shi pointed to a particularly tiny cottage. "That house is Granny Meng's. If you ever run into trouble, she'll solve your problems for you." The cottage had an herb garden and a little pond in front of it. David realized he could see the sparkling scales of swimming fish. Shi gave Alice's guqin a light tap. "She loves music. She'll probably ask you to play her something."

Shi pulled them towards the road to the right. "The administrative buildings are this way, as is housing for Outer Disciples. The Outer Sect is spread over the three peaks." She lowered her voice conspiratorially. "Try to get a place on Earth Peak. They try to get new disciples to live on Sword Peak because apparently the view is good for cultivation, but that's garbage."

"Were you tricked?" David asked.

Shi inclined her head. "Yeah, they got me real good. Outer disciples get to pick up to four people to live with, and which peak they want to live on. But if you don't know anyone, they just stick you with whoever. That's how I got stuck with..." she grimaced. "Anyway, we'll get you regulation robes and shoes this way."

She looked down at their shoes. "I've never seen shoes like that before. Are they from the Southern Continent?"

Alice shrugged evasively.

Shi tapped her on the nose. "You stole them," she decided. "Don't worry, petty crimes are forgiven when you join a sect. If someone comes banging on the doors, we tend to compensate them. We protect our disciples around here."

Alice looked ready to protest but David gave her a sharp shake of the head out of Shi's view. It wasn't worth it.

"Say, what kingdom in the South are you from?"

"The Kingdom of Yi," Alice blurted out. It must have been the first thing that came to mind because she suddenly looked as though she regretted it.

"Relax," Shi said. "I'm not going to ask any difficult questions. Many of our greatest disciples have ignoble pasts. When he was young, Elder Ling was a dock worker in Bei'an," she said, as though that was something shameful.

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"What's wrong with that?" David asked, genuinely confused.

Shi looked at him with pity. "Nothing, there's nothing wrong with that. Master Ling is great."

They walked towards the largest building in sight, a house with a courtyard surrounded by large concrete walls. The gate to the courtyard opened inward.

“Elder Pang!” Shi called out as they made their way inside. Flowers of different kinds grew all along the walls in neatly sectioned plots.

“The uniforms are where they always are!” came the answering call. The voice was raspy and annoyed.

“Are you going to greet the new disciples?” Shi yelled.

There was no response.

Shi sighed, and walked over to a table positioned at the far corner, where neatly folded robes were piled. They came in many sizes and were new.

“He’s not been the same since the Widow died,” Shi explained quietly.

“Were they in love?” asked Alice, who loved intrigue.

“It was a bit one sided, I think,” said Shi, raising an eyebrow.

David picked out the robes which he thought would fit best. Alice picked the shortest robes available.

“Now get changed,” Shi said, leering.

David and Alice stared at her.

“Just kidding! You’ll have your own rooms when we get to our destination. You two blubber far less than the other admits.”

The shoes available were also made of cloth. They were rough on the outside, but lined with wool. David doubted they would be more comfortable than the sneakers that he and Alice wore, but he took a pair that looked to be his size anyway.

With the clothing bundled in their arms, they followed Shi out of the courtyard across the road.

The communal dorm was a two-storied, square building the color of sandstone. As they approached, Shi began firing off a list of rules and regulations.

“Outer disciples need to be dressed in a way that will identify you as a part of the sect - though no one really cares.”

“Do we have to wear these?” Alice whined, holding up her new shoes.

Shi shook her head. “The shoes are just a matter of courtesy,” she said. She lifted her robes slightly to show them leather boots. “If you end up working at the Skyforge, Master Ling will give you a pair of these."

Shi continued, dropping her arms to her sides. “Outer disciples have to show up for one lecture with a peak master every three years - no one’s going to check but that’s for your own good."

“Are you going to pass out pills at the start of every month, for cultivation purposes?” Alice wondered.

Shi stared at her. “Of course.”

“Are we going to have to show up in a courtyard and have them handed out to us by inner disciples and then fight each other to get out with our pills intact?” Alice asked, excited.

“What sort of awful sect do you take us for, the Clear Skies?” Shi was incensed. “They’ll be delivered by hand to your dwelling. There’s a list that’s checked by multiple inner disciples, to ensure that you’ve received it. If you're in closed-doors cultivation, you should make sure someone trustworthy can receive them for you.”

She looked at David. “That shouldn’t be too much of a problem for either of you. The alternative is you can tip off the bureau at Earth Peak before you start and they’ll keep your pills for you, but I hear that’s not always successful. A lot of… untowards behavior might happen in that case. Any more stupid questions?”

Alice shook her head, smiling.

“On the topic of fights, Outer Disciples aren’t allowed to fight with one another except in a sanctioned environment - though that’s not enforced, basically ever,” Shi said, looking a bit sheepish.

“So we can just wander the continent getting into fistfights with people,” said David, who didn’t necessarily dislike the arrangement.

“Outer disciples are not allowed to leave the city - this is important, don’t get caught.”

“Wait, we’re not allowed to leave?” asked David.

Shi looked uncomfortable. “Well, you aren’t technically allowed to leave, but there are some fantastic parties in Bei’an,” she said. She looked at Alice. “You might be under a bit more scrutiny than most outer disciples,” she admitted.

Alice pouted.

“Don’t make that face at me. It’s your fault for being so special. And so seventeen,” said Shi.

They stopped outside of the door of the communal dorm. “Best of luck to the two of you,” said Shi. “It’s been an eye-opening experience meeting you.” With that, she began walking back towards the entrance to Earth Peak, many times quicker than they had come.

“We’ll remember you!” David shouted at her back.

“Please don’t!” Shi shouted back, already at the fork in the road, though David didn’t think she meant it.

David and Alice stood together outside of the building. “So, what was that about, Mulan?” David asked.

Alice pressed in close. “It was funny at the time.”

They didn’t speak for a moment.

“Hey, wait,” said Alice. “You can’t lecture me about fake names. You said your name was Ji Kang!”

“That is my name,” said David. “That’s what my mom calls me.”

“Well, doesn’t this feel like a bit of a cosmic joke, then?” Alice stared at her nails, looking troubled.

David remembered that it was the name of the composer of Guangling San, the song Alice had played in the library. “It’s a common name,” he protested.

“Right.”

They were silent again. Alice looped her arm around him.

“It feels like a new beginning doesn’t it?” David said. “A new opportunity. A sect, in a faraway world - the best sect in the world.”

Alice nodded, still clinging onto him. “This is real, isn’t it? We’re really here. And we might never see home again, but at least we have each other.”

David said nothing.

“If you should pass Suzhou by, there will be no more ships,” she muttered. It was a famous expression - one about not missing opportunities. When she spoke again, it was in English. “David Ji, go out with me. We’re basically dating already, and now we’re about to enter a sect together and-”

David cut her off by kissing her. Her lips tasted of iron and of wine, and of mulberries. Her hand shifted over his heart and she pressed herself into him. Her eyes were bright and brown, nearly green - and a little bit watery, but it was clear that she was happy.

They broke away after an eternity, standing in front of that sandstone door. “Close your eyes when you kiss me, you psychopath,” said Alice breathlessly, with her chin against his chest.

David shook his head in disbelief.

“Also, is that a yes?” Alice asked.

David nodded, smiling. “We’ll give it our best try,” he said.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Alice asked, chuckling. “We’re going to be successful. Have either of us ever not been successful?”

Hand in hand, carrying a bundle of clothing that belonged to them and a flute that didn’t, they walked through the red door.