I love to make people smile. Especially with my candy. There is nothing I love more than giving some child the sweetest treat they’ve ever seen, looking at the wonder on their face, and then witnessing the struggle as they realize I laced it with a paralytic to keep that expression on their face for my enjoyment. – Poison Master Kai Xiufen of the Sweet Venom Sect

* * *

“Again,” I instructed. Xinya brushed her hair out of her eyes before taking the specified stance once more. Determination was clear in her gaze as she glared down the stuffed dummy with absolute focus.

She struck with the grace of a viper, lashing out to land a solid palm strike on the doll’s chest. It barely moved, but I smiled anyway.

“Stop.”

Xinya froze in place, gaze still set forward. I walked around her, gently adjusting her feet to give her a steadier base. She allowed the change but gritted her teeth in frustration.

“What is it?” I asked.

“Nothing.”

I raised an eyebrow. “It’s alright to be frustrated. You are only a month into a journey that could take you centuries or longer. It’s only natural to make mistakes, so long as you learn from them.”

Xinya dropped her stance and looked at her feet. “I know that. I just…have many thoughts in my head.”

“Do you want to share them?”

“The weather has been clear,” she explained. I understood immediately. Xinya had been waiting for another storm like the one she’d experienced at the Black Crevice, but the world had not cooperated. She needed one to channel the lightning qi she needed to reach Leaf.

We’d gone through all the stages of Manifestation save the last one. By the time we returned to Saikan, she’d already managed to pass through the Seed and Seedling stages through exposure and affinity to her chosen qi types. She determined the location of her core and began building the framework for her qi, thus getting her to Sapling. In the last month, we’d focused on developing her meridians, and, though it had taken time, she’d finally managed that, as well. In truth, she was a genius, a prodigy who reminded me much of myself at that advancement. For a while, I’d even been considering finding ways to slow down her advancement, ensuring her full understanding of her cultivation before allowing her to advance to Bronze. After all, she was only nine, yet she was on track compared to how young the inner disciples of Heaven’s Blade had advanced.

However, the issue had largely become irrelevant as she tried to reach Leaf, the last advancement of the Manifestation Realm. Since it was largely considered the first point at which someone could truly be considered a cultivator, Leaf was the first truly difficult stage in the cultivation journey. She would need to harness the qi of her chosen type and mold it to fill the space she’d set aside for her core. Only then, would she be able to interact with qi on a somewhat meaningful level. In order to harness that qi, she needed to find it in the world. Here in the Shore, Moon was easy. If she wanted to be a pure moon artist, the power bleeding into the land from the Labyrinth below was more than enough to put her on a lunar path.

But, she had her heart set on also cultivating Lightning, which I could only approve of. The few lightning artists I’d met in my day were generally of exceptional character, and I was confident that a path of moon and lightning would serve her well. To get lightning qi, however, we needed either a large storm, or a cultivator who could produce it from their own core. Of the two, the storm was much easier to get, especially in the Moon-Soaked Shore, the desolate wasteland of the cultivation world thanks to yours truly.

I knelt next to the nine-year-old and took her hand. Her knuckles were wrapped in bandages from minor injuries during training, but they were already starting to heal.

“Patience is one of the most important elements of cultivation,” I explained. “Some things are worth the time it will take to complete them the right way. You must have confidence that someday you’ll get there. It’s not like that was the last storm to ever grace the Moon-Soaked Shore. You’ll get your chance.”

“I’m not very patient,” she muttered. I laughed heartily.

“I’m not either. My masters are probably laughing from the afterlife that I’m giving this lecture at all.” I empathized with the girl. How many times had I been disciplined for trying to skip steps and take shortcuts? It had taken a hundred lashes, the threat of expulsion, and a heart-to-heart with my Sect Leader before I’d finally gotten it through my thick, teenage skull. That was so many years ago, at this point. I couldn’t help but laugh at the foolish child I’d been.

“Tell you what, if we don’t get a good storm by the end of autumn, I’ll convince Master Tenri to take us both out to sea and find one on the water,” I promised. Xinya frowned at me.

“But, you can’t swim.” I winced at her bluntness, but it wasn’t entirely misplaced.

“I am capable of a great many things you cannot fathom,” I said, standing and stepping back. “Now strike again.”

Again and again, I drilled her in hand-to-hand combat. Her features were set with a stubborn determination as she struck the dummy again and again, alternating between open palm strikes and punches. Meanwhile, I looked on with pride. I’d never had a dedicated disciple before, choosing instead to become a wandering hero of my sect instead of passing my skills on to the next generation. Despite my lack of experience as a master, I had been roped in on several occasions to help others teach their disciples. My specialty was in the development of qi techniques, so seeing Xinya’s progress in combat was quite heartening.

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“Stop,” I interrupted her again. Once again, she froze in place, and I reached over to adjust her technique. Her strike was too high, hitting the dummy in the middle of its chest. “Remember to strike the weak points of the body. Vital acupoints and key structures like the solar plexus will allow you to cause greater harm without expending as much energy.” I rested my hand on her wrist, applying a gentle pressure to lower her hand to the right position.

As I did, Xinya flinched. I withdrew the hand immediately, worried that I’d somehow hurt her with my vastly superior strength, but, as I pulled away, she drew the hand back and hid it behind her back.

“It’s nothing,” she muttered.

“What’s nothing?” I asked with a pointed glance at the hand behind her. She stubbornly refused to look me in the eye or even acknowledge that I’d asked her a question. With a sigh, I held out my hand. “Show me.”

There was no room for argument, but the little girl hesitated. I could see her mentally doing the math. She could try and hide whatever it was from me, and I’d find out one way or another, or she could just tell me up front. The choice was hers, and I wouldn’t begrudge her either way. However, I would find out, and it would be so much less painful for us both if she just told me.

Xinya gingerly pulled her arm out from behind her back and settled it in my hand. I gingerly pulled back the sleeves of the simple training uniform Hanako had made for her, and a dark anger sparked in my heart. The outside of her wrists bore the roughly healing lashes of a willow switch.

“These are not training injuries,” I stated. She nodded in agreement. I looked at her expectantly, but she gave no answer. Eventually, she cleared her throat and looked me right in the eye.

“I tripped on the stairs yesterday.” Her words were precisely delivered in both tone and diction. She had practiced this. “The stones were sharp, and I cut myself.”

“You…tripped?” I asked. It was the worst lie I’d ever heard. “Are you certain?”

Her violet eyes sparked with pride as she held my gaze. “Yes, sir. I tripped.”

I didn’t believe her, and her gaze told me she knew that well. It wasn’t just that I recognized the type of injury, but also that her story didn’t make any sense. If she’d fallen, the scratches should be on the inside of her wrists, and they’d be far wider.

These were punishment lashes, the kind used to teach a misbehaving child their errors. However, by my figuring, there were only four people in the world who had the authority to punish Xinya that way, regardless of the transgression. Two of them, her mother and father, were dead. As her master, I was another, and I knew I wasn’t responsible. Finally, as the master of the house we were staying in, Tenri would have been the last, but I didn’t believe for a moment that he would have done so without consulting me first. Whomever did this, they were out of line, and I would make sure they knew it once I found out who the culprit was.

“Well, since you tripped,” I began, letting the little girl keep face with her lie, “we’ll have to prioritize some extra lessons on being aware of one’s surroundings. I think we’ll take a small trip soon to drive the lesson home, but for now, go ask Miss Hanako for some ointment.”

Xinya nodded. “Yes, sir. Thank you, sir.” She bowed politely before rushing back into the house.

Cold fury settled into my heart. I would need to figure out the culprit quickly. Injuries like these were small and trivial, but my pride as Xinya’s master was on the line. Furthermore, if the culprit got bolder and tried something worse while I wasn’t around…it could prevent Xinya from being prepared the next time a storm came.

The investigation was afoot.

I followed my disciple into the house where Tenri’s mother was sitting on the sofa, reading a book. She spotted the rolled-up sleeve and the injuries underneath.

“Oh, dear thing, what did you get into!” she cried.

“I tripped,” Xinya repeated through gritted teeth.

“We were just going to see Hanako. Do you know where she is, Madam?” I asked. Xinya was glaring daggers at Madam Tenri, but the older woman didn’t seem to notice.

“I believe she said she was going to the clinic,” she answered. “If you wait here-”

“Actually, that’s perfect,” I interrupted. “Come, Xinya. We wouldn’t want to be a burden to Miss Hanako by taking her away from her vital work.”

I swept past the older woman without showing a shred of respect. Technically speaking, I was her senior in just about every way you could measure. I was born first, I was of higher social status, and I was of higher cultivation. Most days, I only humored her, but given Xinya’s reaction, I wasn’t really in the mood.

Xinya fell into step behind me and to my left as we stepped onto the street and began walking towards the business quarter of Saikan. The disciple was quiet.

“Was it her?” I asked softly, not looking her way. Xinya didn’t answer, meaning she wasn’t going to tell me. I nodded. Her pride was at stake, and I was sure she thought she was being tough as a cultivator ought to be. There was some sense to that. Accusing elders of treachery was a dangerous business in the real world. If she was starting to understand that, then perhaps she really had learned something since she was forced from her home.

But, while she was bound by the logic and politics of dealing with her elders, I was not. I would find out the reason why Madam Tenri was hurting my disciple, and when I did, I would make her life miserable.

It wasn’t far to the clinic, but it took us nearly twice as long to reach it as it would have at night. On the way, various villagers and shopkeepers stopped me to ask how I was, how Tenri was, and how Xinya was progressing with her training. I answered each one, making sure to make a point once or twice about how well my disciple was progressing with her training. Xinya beamed with pride whenever her name was brought up. Praise and joy are as potent a medicine as any ointment or salve, and far less expensive.

When the tiny wooden bell rang over the clinic door to herald our entry, the sun had begun its descent towards the western horizon. Hanako and Jaili came out from the back room a few minutes later.

“Oh my! What happened to you?” Hanako asked when she saw the cuts on Xinya’s arms. “Master Yoru hasn’t been cruel to you, has he?”

“Hey! You slander me,” I protested, but she put up a hand to silence me.

“No,” Xinya insisted stubbornly. “I just tripped.”

Hanako and Jaili exchanged a look before both shooting a silent question to me. I just shrugged. I only had slightly fewer answers than they did, but I had given Xinya some face this long by not prying. Discussing it with the two apothecaries while she was around would take that away again.

“That’s what she told me, too.”

“I see,” Hanako answered. “Well, let’s get these cleaned up, shall we?” Xinya nodded and followed the apothecaries to the patient room. Hanako took a bowl and clean towel and began washing the wounds while Jaili left to prepare a salve. “You know, I was going to stop by the market on the way home. Was there something you wanted for dinner?” she asked.

“Maybe chicken dumplings?” Xinya asked. I smiled. She would do anything to avoid eating fish.