The Treaty of Sunkai is a rather comprehensive document, and yet one of the most effective and influential of our age. A treaty maintained by the Phoenix King with signatories on every major continent, the document and its outlined procedures have allowed for vastly expanded protections, and thereby operations, of the merchant class. –Master Merchant Daran of the Daran Merchant House in the Phoenix Lands.

* * *

“So, that’s three sea spiders, a giant octopus, and a lovely coast singer,” I counted, marking down the yokai on a page as we walked. “The spiders were successfully sent on a wild goose chase, the singer has been bribed in fish and qi to ignore us when next we pass, and the octopus shouldn’t be a problem if we don’t wake it up.”

“How do you know so much?” Tenri asked in wonder. “You knew exactly how to handle each one, even stopping me from falling for the singer’s trap!”

I shrugged. “You learn a thing or two as the Prince of Yokai.”

“I always thought that part was a myth.” Tenri shook his head in amazement. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were a yokai in disguise.”

My calligraphy brush snapped in my hand, and I fought to keep a straight face. Tenri didn’t mean to be insensitive about the fact I wasn’t human anymore. I was sure it was just a misunderstanding. He didn’t mean it, surely.

“Oh yes, well, I learned a lot on the streets of Half-Moon Hearth,” I said, trying to shift the subject away from my unfortunate change in species.

“Half-Moon Hearth? Where was that?” he asked, completely oblivious to my distress. However, the change in subject was still welcome.

“It was my capital city,” I answered. “It used to be in the central plains of my dominion.”

“Used to be?” Tenri looked away as if he were embarrassed. “I’m sorry for your loss.”

“Loss?” I scratched the back of my head, wondering if I should tell him the truth. Figuring he might laugh, I continued. “It’s not gone…or at least, it was still standing when I was imprisoned, but right after I became an Ascendent, I was trying to conduct a ritual to create better defenses when the Sword Saint jump-scared me and messed the whole thing up. I accidentally shifted the entire city into the spirit realm by putting it out of sync with the rest of reality. It took us weeks to find a way to connect back to the real world.”

“You…what?” he covered his mouth to hide the smile forming in his eyes. “The mighty Darkened Moon, Prince of the Night, got pranked by his friend and accidentally shifted a whole city into the spirit realm.”

“I was the butt end of many jokes for that one,” I said. We nodded at the guards of Pemai as we stepped through their gates and into the town. “It ranks up there with the time I got annoyed that the calendar didn’t match the lunar cycles, so I adjusted the moon’s orbit slightly to compensate.”

Tenri snickered. “I knew you were petty, but I don’t think I realized just how petty you were.”

“Tenri, this entire adventure is so we can give flowers and sweets to the shades and yokai Administrator Delan asked us to get rid of.” I flipped my hair over my shoulder. “I am the king of petty, and you love me for it.”

“I guess you do keep things interesting.”

I gave Tenri my best smile, and we continued walking through the small town. Pemai was quaint. Despite being a fishing town, much like Saikan, it was much smaller. Ships travelling from the Southern islands or around the northern coast of the peninsula that made up the Moon-Soaked Shore were much more likely to stop in Saikan, as the first town on the southeastern coast of the Shore. Though the reef prevented many large trading vessels from making landfall, their crews could sometimes send landing parties with goods for the locals to trade with.

Pemai was much more difficult for them to land at. The reefs were even more dense in the region surrounding the tiny town, and they didn’t even have a lighthouse to help ships navigate like Saikan did. Thus ships tended to keep their distance and sail directly from Saikan to the Shimmering Coast where goods were offloaded and sent to either the capital in Haishui, or to the Teeming Waters Sect who operated the area.

However, despite its lack of sea-travel, Pemai was the perfect stopping point for land caravans destined for the eastern towns of Saikan, Heimian, and Lanxiao. This travel kept the small streets bustling with just enough people to give the illusion that the town was a thriving center of trade without actually being one.

Despite their small success, the entire place gave off the appearance of trying too hard. The roofs were painted gold, even if it was faded, and the buildings were built of solid black pillars with red doors to welcome their trade partners. With such attention devoted to the appearances of the buildings, you’d think the roads would be well-maintained and free of holes, in the short walk from the gates to the Administration building, I spotted three separate caravans trying to repair broken cart wheels and another two cracks in the road that looked suspiciously responsible.

“Money was spent in interesting ways,” I noted quietly to Tenri.

“That’s what happens when your town doesn’t produce a cultivator of their own,” he answered softly. “Administrator Delan was assigned to Pemai by the Governor rather than being born here. He’s a decent man, but his priorities aren’t always aligned with the town’s interests.”

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“I still wonder if that’s really a good way of governing the Shore,” I mused before shaking my head. There wasn’t any point in trying to dictate the way things were done in this day and age. My kingdom was long gone, and I really wasn’t keen on ruling anything anytime soon.

The Administration building soon came into sight. Tenri and I jogged up the stairs and entered. After being greeted by a handsome young man in the role of Delan’s secretary, we were led into a cramped office. Inside, a man wearing robes that matched Tenri’s was writing a letter in the same beautiful calligraphy in the many letters we had received in Saikan.

“Ah, Administrator Tenri,” Delan greeted as he stood and bowed. We both returned the bow out of politeness, since, politically, he and Tenri were of the same rank. However, his eyes flicked to the iron badge around Tenri’s arm, and I felt a small kernel of pride that he recognized my companion as his better.

“Administrator Delan, it has been too long,” Tenri said. “I apologize for dropping in unannounced, but it took some doing to extricate ourselves long enough to make the trip. This is Tsuyuki Yoru, a wandering cultivator who’s graciously offered to assist in this matter. I do hope we’ve made it in time to assist in the caravan’s departure?”

“Yes,” the administrator eyed me warily, and I bowed my head politely. “I take it you’ve dealt with the yokai on the way here?”

“They gave us no trouble,” Tenri answered with a smile. “However, the Flower Maiden didn’t appear to us. We’re hopeful that she’s gone into hibernation for the winter.”

“Let us pray that is the case.” He paused for a long moment. “Forgive me, Master Tenri, but isn’t Tsuyuki Yoru the name of the one the Lunar Hunt is after?”

I sighed. “We cleared that up with them directly. Surely Xi Qiwu passed through here along with the other cultivators bound for the Hunting Lodge? She said she’d explain everything.”

Delan shook his head. “No, she did not. I only know of the small army of cultivators led by Shen Tori’s son bound for Saikan. If they’re not with you, then they must have returned by way of Heimian rather than coming through here.”

“Ah.” That seemed like an odd route to take, given how far north Heimian was, but since I didn’t know the exact location of the Hunting Lodge, perhaps it wasn’t so far-fetched. “Well, I assure you that it has been cleared up.”

“Right, I see. Please accept my apologies for insinuating otherwise.” Delan bowed before us once more. “If you wish to find Master Feng, he is presently staying at the Gold Tile Tavern.”

“Thank you. We’ll be sure to escort him safely to Saikan,” Tenri finished.

* * *

The pride of the Gold Tile Tavern was a “solid gold” set of mahjong tiles in a display case just beneath the stage where a woman played the pipa for the rowdy patrons. Frankly, I had my doubts as to the authenticity of the “solid gold” set of tiles. They just didn’t have the same luster of earth and sun qi that large quantities of gold normally had. Just another way that the town of Pemai was trying too hard to secure its clientele.

Tenri and I sat across from a burly mortal and his wiry apprentice. The former was downing wine in a truly impressive quantity, while the latter kept sneaking scraps of food from his plate and wolfing them down as if he couldn’t bear the thought of anyone seeing.

“I’m sorry, you want to go to Saikan by way of Heimian?” Tenri asked incredulously. “That would add weeks to the journey.”

“That damned Shade is out to get me. She’ll expect me on the normal roads,” Master Feng, chief merchant of the Feng Trading Company, said before pouring another cup of wine and downing it. “Look, I’m grateful that Administrator Delan sent for guards from Saikan, but I’m not taking any chances!”

“But, that doesn’t make any…nevermind.” Tenri sighed and smiled. “Why don’t we discuss the arrangement?”

“You’re the Administrator from Saikan, yeah? What arrangement would you have?”

“Please, for this job, my companion and I are just regular cultivators, here to protect your goods. Nothing more than a standard arrangement should suffice.”

“Alright, if you’re sure.”

I found myself smiling at Tenri’s integrity. Though technically illegal, it would not have been unheard of for a town’s administrator to request an exorbitant tax or a string of favors for the work we were performing. The fact that Tenri had no such aims showed just how dedicated he was to his post.

The longer I thought about it, though, the more I noticed the redness of his ears. I coughed, then turned my attention to the rest of the room.

What are you doing, Yoru? Do you want rumors to spread here, as well? Get your head together, I chastised myself.

The patrons were fairly mundane. Most of them were merchants, chatting amongst one another to share the local news and gain insight into their rivals’ business. A few were locals trying to weasel their way into the good graces of those same merchants. No doubt those ones were trying to find a way to make their own business, either here in Pemai or in the wider world beyond. The normalcy of it warmed my heart slightly. No matter where you go, people are always people.

My eye flickered over a man who was clearly trying to remain out of the eyes of the crowd, albeit poorly. He was trying to hide in plain sight, but the black cloak and scarf he wore singled him out more than anything else. A small paper doll sat on his shoulder, moving around of its own power every so often. He was probably some kind of young cultivator who hadn’t mastered the idea of true stealth yet.

What was more interesting, though, was the woman he was watching. She sat at the bar, chatting amicably with a merchant, and by all appearances, she was a normal cultivator. Her light brown hair was pulled back into a long, thick ponytail which trailed down her back. Her robes were the pinks and greens of an aurora, marking her as a likely wind artist.

However, at her waist were three swords. As soon as I noticed them, I nearly spit my wine all over Master Feng’s apprentice. Each one was an exquisite piece of craftsmanship, as was only right given the age of two of them. One blade sported a jade encrusted hilt and a matching sheath. The jade danced across the length of the weapon in the pattern of a blowing wind.

I’d been stabbed by that blade, for it could be no other than Razor Wind, the Sword Saint’s favorite blade. There was no way I would ever forget it.

Though as much as seeing that blade made my heart ache for Jinshi, it had nothing on the brutal twinge of emotion that came from the second important blade in the woman’s possession. A silver and blue tassel hung from the simple black hilt, and the phases of the moon were carved into the blade’s sheath.

I’d recognize the blade I forged with my own hands anywhere. That was Eclipse, the blade of the Darkened Moon.