I stretched in the late morning light along the slow little river. I was enjoying the crisp air while watching the water flow by from the top of my boulder. This was my new television. That’s how bored I have been when I’m not working. Thankfully the work was truly enjoyable but there had been fewer requests than usual the past few days. One of the few was a merchant who tried to commission a ridiculous number of frying pans, he was laughed out of the yard.

I returned to the small shack and found old Long talking to several large men that didn’t seem to be from the village. They were standing in front of a large wagon loaded with materials.

“What in the hell do you mean!? This is my house!” He was a bit irate but both men were still standing so he wasn’t planning to hurt them.

“Yes sir, and we’ve been hired to build you a new one right here.” The man seemed cheerful. Old Long just stared for a moment.

“What?” He was stumped for words. I had no idea what was going on in the conversation I had walked up to. So I went inside and began to crush some coffee beans with the mortar and pestle. I made two cups of coffee and brought one out to the old man who was still frozen in confusion. He took it and continued to stare into the distance. The two men nodded to me then began to unload materials from their cart. They went to the open area next to the little house and began to mark out a perimeter.

The only thing I could think of was the funky spear we made recently but the chubby old man that had picked that thing up didn't look like he could afford a house of his own, much less to buy one for someone else. I sighed. What was the expression? Never look a gift horse in the mouth? I don’t know shit about horses so I was probably misunderstanding something.

It's not like I would have any say in the matter either way.

I decided to stroll into the village. Strangely enough there seemed to be several more wagons like the one outside the smithy. Zhou and the Wang family both had one parked in front of their homes as well. Zhou was graciously bowing to a young man in beautiful silk robes embroidered with gold.

“Thank you so much, great sir! I can promise that with such an increase in funding I can make even more wine every season!” Zhou seemed to be working out some sort of business contract. Good for him. Honestly the guy made great wine, especially the brew he and old Long made together.

The young man bowed back and began to head on his way when he noticed me.

“You must be Henry.” He clasped his hands as he called out to me. I had no idea who this guy was.

“Eh, yeah. Sorry you seem to have me at a disadvantage.” I returned the gesture. He smiled but didn’t seem inclined to give out his name.

“I apologize for that but it’s something of a… Well a necessity really.” I wouldn’t push.

“How can I help you though.” I tried to speak confidently. It was difficult when faced with a guy that looked like he would have been able to star in any movie he wanted. Even if he only came up to my shoulder.

“Actually, I was wondering if you and Master Long were needing anything else to be added to your home?” I went blank for a moment. It should have been obvious seeing the way he was talking to Zhou but it had just dawned on me this was the guy trying to build up the village.

“Sorry, but I'm not sure it’s for the best that you’re doing this. You’re not even a customer.” Never look a gift horse in the mouth, my ass. Ever heard of the trojan horse?

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“Call it an apology, and a gesture of my thanks to master Long. He truly helped me more than you can imagine.” He smiled. I almost had to shield my eyes. He was painfully good looking.

“So you owe Long a favor?” I guess I could accept that, but an entire house still seemed like a bit too much.

“That’s part of it, but I honestly want to see this village grow. To do that, start with the craftsmen.” His smile never faltered and I was sold. This guy could have gotten me to buy anything with that face.

"I uh, well. A bed would be nice..." I said it under my breath and he began to laugh.

"Those are already included." Damn that was a nice laugh. Wait, no. Must look away.

I thanked him again for what he was doing and began to make my way around to check on the other people that already had the wagons in front of their homes. The Wang family seemed to be getting something massive compared to what they were doing for the rest of the people. Mrs. Wang was arguing with the worker about how she didn’t want such a large house. I could see where she was coming from. It would be way too much cleaning for me.

I yawned and continued to amble on while watching the large number of workers running around to and fro. That was when I came across a temporary building. It was honestly a bit surprising how fast they had put up camps for the workers that arrived. Especially when it had things like this. They had made an entire restaurant in a massive tent.

The noise from inside was rowdy and joyful. It seemed there were quite a few people already drinking for lunch. I glanced in and noticed that the large tent had been constructed quite well with an entire wooden framework somehow. I'm pretty sure they just got here this morning though. It was unreasonably fast.

Hopefully no one would mind me slipping in for a few drinks. They were all day drinking already anyways.

I entered and was greeted by a portly man that directed me towards a chair near the end of a long table. I passed him some of the copper chunks used for currency here and he happily brought me a tall, round, wooden mug. It had a large head of foam that had begun to drip down one side. It was real. It was here. I had to pinch myself as I took in all its amber glory. I took a sip. It was a bit weak but that didn’t matter right now. I nearly cried while taking a drink of the warm beer in front of me.

“You actually like that swill?” The tall woman that was suddenly sitting across from me had her chin in her hand. Her vibrant, unnaturally red hair was kept wild and stood out in stark contrast to the dark and prim hairstyles of most of the women I had met so far. She reminded me of a tigress sizing up prey.

I was suddenly overcome with a sensation that screamed danger. Like snakes were watching me from every angle.

I began to smile. Danger is my middle name baby.

_________________________________________

the lanky man rushed out of the offices and began to make his way into the darkness of the city. He had been able to hide most of the records but it seemed a few different people had already been investigating the travelers. He groaned internally as he thought about what was going to happen to him. He had already been demoted to mortal affairs and was trying to clean the damn mess up before anyone noticed.

The large armored man that had arrived the other day seemed to be one of the people trying to investigate. He had been able to separate the two mortals and prevent a conflict but damn it all. He had chosen this area because of how few powerhouses were here. Yet every single one seemed to be involved at this point. The scrawny man continued on his way. His movement technique blending him into the shadows.

The travelers were chosen for numerous reasons. Each one chosen from amongst the worlds and given a gift. Except for him There was one that had fallen through. Honestly he was used as a sort of tether to connect the different worlds. He should have died upon arrival, they just needed someone disposable to stabilize the connections. His world was completely devoid of any form of energy. He should have reacted like a drowning man, overwhelmed and suffocated by the spiritual power. Instead they had somehow chosen a damned body cultivator from that forsaken rock.

He wasn't weak either. Instead of drowning it was more like putting a shark into water with almost no other predators. The scrawny man sighed as he thanked all of the different heavens that the man hadn't gone on some sort of rampage. Paperwork like that could become endless.

The longer he stayed here the more the spiritual energy would refine him and build his connection to the path. Every day that monster would become stronger. He was already beyond what most of the minor heavenly bureaucrats could handle.

It seemed that they needed to take a more direct approach to handle this.