Feng Ming walked through the town where Sen had apparently decided to make his home for the moment. He was less than impressed by it. Not that there was anything specifically wrong with the place, but there was nothing particularly great about it either. It had just clearly been chosen for its proximity to Fu Ruolan and no other reason. The people were friendly enough, even if there were a lot more mortals wandering around armed than was typical for a small town. It also had an unusually sturdy wall. It had the air of something made by a cultivator, but it didn’t look like Sen’s work. Had the boy convinced some wandering cultivator to do the work in exchange for some alchemy? He stopped in at what looked to be the one and only inn the town supported and had something to eat. He listened to the people talking and found himself frowning at just how often the word academy cropped up. That word was an uncommon word at the best of times, especially on this side of the Mountains of Sorrow. It was rare to hear it outside of major cities, but it was on everyone’s lips here. When the serving girl came back over to check on him, he decided to get some clarity.

“I keep hearing everyone talking about some kind of academy,” he said. “Do you know what that’s about?”

“Oh, everyone knows about the academy. It’s just outside town to the south. I’m trying to talk my parents into letting me go, but my father is against it. He says women don’t have any business learning how to use weapons.”

“I see,” said Feng Ming. “Well, I wish you luck in convincing your parents.”

She gave him a bright smile and bustled off to attend to someone else. This is strange, thought Ming. An academy that teaches weapons to mortal women? What kind of mad fool would… This has to be Sen’s doing. Quickly finishing the last of his meal, he marched to the southern gate and out the other side. There was an obvious path leading off the road that he followed until he came across a building that did look like Sen’s work. Spreading out his spiritual sense, he realized that there were a number of buildings clustered in the area. He also felt lots of mortals milling around, some of them clustered into what might be classrooms or some kind of barracks. He was more shocked to discover that there were even a few cultivators. Ones that appeared to be teaching classes. He spotted a modest sign near a door on the building and lifted an eyebrow at what it said. Deep Wilds Academy.

“What are you playing at here, boy?” muttered Ming.

He wandered around outside the buildings, trying to make sense of what he saw. It had an almost military feel to it, with groups of mortals running in groups or practicing forms. He even saw a few doing what looked like meditation. He studied those people. No, they weren’t meditating, not exactly. They were almost cultivating. They were really too old to be starting down that road. They were also clearly lacking in some crucial guidance. No, thought Ming, that’s not part of the learning here. Sen would never be so careless as to leave people unguided in cultivation. Ming had only been willing to try an unstructured approach with Sen because so many things aligned in just the right way. Even then, it had been a gamble and one that he and Kho had monitored closely. Facts that he’d made clear to Sen after he reached foundation formation. So, this pseudo-cultivation that was happening had to be something unplanned. Spontaneous cultivation? Ming had never heard of such a thing before, but he was the first to admit that he didn’t know everything. Still, thought Ming, where is that boy? If he was aware of this, he ought to be doing something about it.

Ming was of half a mind to go and do something about it himself, but he suppressed that urge. He didn’t know what was happening here. He shouldn’t interfere before he understood what Sen’s goals were. There was just too much that didn’t make sense. There were too many mortals and not enough cultivators for it to be a sect. Yet, it wasn’t a military thing either. Not with so many mortal girls running around the place. Ming resolved to sit Sen down and get some answers about this madness the moment he found him. He was preparing to go search inside the buildings when a positively adorable little girl came charging up to him. She peered up at him with curious eyes and absolutely no fear in her eyes. This is how children should look at things, thought Ming. He smiled at the girl.

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“Hello, little one. What’s your name?”

The girl seemed to recall something because her face scrunched up in concentration, which was just about the cutest thing Ming had seen in at least a hundred years. Then, she carefully clasped her hands together and gave him a little bow.

“This one is Liu Ai,” she announced, briefly achieving a parody of adult politeness, before abandoning it entirely. “Who are you?”

He grinned at the precocious little thing and offered her a very formal bow.

“This one is Feng Ming,” he told her. “It’s very nice to meet you Liu Ai.”

The girl started at his name. Her eyes went wide before she offered him a glowing smile. Then, she launched herself forward and hugged his leg. Ming was momentarily taken aback by this unexpected outpouring of affection.

“You’re my grandfather!” she shouted excitedly.

Ming was feeling both taken aback and mildly confused by the announcement, but he was also amused. This wasn’t the first time some small child had mistaken him for a grandparent, nor did he expect it would be the last time. He just had that kind of a face. He decided to indulge the child.

“I am?” he asked.

She nodded her head vigorously. “You are!”

“Who told you that?”

“Papa,” she said as if that being was the definitive source of all trustworthy knowledge in the entire universe.

“And who is your papa?”

“Papa’s name is Lu Sen.”

Ming felt like he’d taken a blow to the head. Since when had Sen had an adorable daughter? Had the boy been hiding the girl somewhere? And if so, why had Sen hidden her from him? If he’d known, he would have… Well, Ming wasn’t entirely sure what he would have done. It probably would have involved a lot of sweets, and issuing blanket death threats across the continent. For a brief moment, Ming wondered if he’d been gone for longer than he thought he had. He did lose track of time when he got focused on something. Did I miss out on years of shamelessly spoiling Sen’s little girl? Then, he heard someone laughing. He looked over and saw Ma Caihong, hand clamped over her mouth, using a tree to help her stand as she shook with mirth. When she saw him giving her a narrowed-eyed look, she came over to them. The little girl let go of his leg and cheerfully pointed at him.

“Grandfather is here!”

“So he is,” she agreed, gently ruffling the girl’s hair before she turned twinkling eyes on Ming. “Oh, your face.”

Ming rolled his eyes.

“You sent her over here like that on purpose, didn’t you?”

“I absolutely did. It’s too bad Jaw-Long is teaching. He’ll be sad he missed it.”

That prompted a slew of questions that he never got to ask because Ai grabbed a few of his fingers and started pulling him back toward the trail.

“Where are we going?” he asked amiably.

“You have to meet Zhi,” she told him.

“And who is Zhi?”

“She’s my friend.”

“And do you normally just run into the town on your own?”

The little girl stopped and looked up at him with an expression of perfect confusion. Like it had never, not even once, occurred to her that she shouldn’t just run into the town whenever she pleased. Ming glanced at Caihong.

“You’ll see,” said Caihong.

And he did. As soon as they entered the village. Ai started shouting and waving at people. All of them gave her big smiles and waved back. More to the point, every last one of them carried spears or had jian belted at their waists. Nothing mortal was ever going to bother that little girl inside the town, because she had built herself a fortress of willing protectors. The heavens help whatever poor bastard breaks her heart the first time, thought Ming. With so many people concerned about her well-being, he won’t live to see the dawn. A few of the men and women she waved to came over to say hi and were cautiously interested in meeting Ai’s grandfather. Ming did his best to be gruff and grandfatherly and thanked everyone for keeping such a good eye on his granddaughter. He found it helped people relax. Eventually, they reached a particular house. Ai raced up to the door, opened it, and ran inside.

“She didn’t even knock,” said Ming.

“She’d only ever do that here,” said Caihong.

Ming lifted an eyebrow, but Ai came back out, all but dragging another adorable little girl with her. She pulled her friend over to Ming, who gave both girls a smile.

“This is my grandfather,” Ai announced proudly.

The other girl looked up at him, warier than Ai had been, but still curious.

Ming gave the new girl a very proper bow.

“This one is Feng Ming. And who might you be?”

The girl gave him a shy smile before she managed something vaguely like a bow.

“This one is Li Zhi.”

“She draws birds!” Ai interrupted. “Show him!”

That was how Ming found himself watching two little girls drawing birds and flowers in the dirt. It was only after that had been going for nearly an hour that he finally turned to Caihong.

“Where is Sen?”

“In the capital,” she said. “Something to do with the king.”

“Hmmm,” said Ming. “I wonder if any of the city is still standing.”