You can have all the power you would’ve ever desired, but the Dao of Coin is legendary and can crush even the loftiest of gemstone artists. -Elder Bhan Zu of the Jade Scales Sect

* * *

The gates of Heimian came into view, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Even without a massive retainer of cultivators to guard the town, the odds of a caravan being attacked by yokai and shades within a town were unlikely…at least generally. I neglected to tell Master Feng about the recent occupation of Heimian by wicked spirit spiders at the command of their yokai matriarch. He’d learn about it soon enough.

Per standard precaution, one cultivator would need to remain with the caravan at all times. It was annoying, but at least, we were paid for it.

“Tsuyuki,” Master Feng called. “You get to guard. After your little disappearing act, consider yourself lucky I don’t dock your pay for desertion.”

I rolled my eyes. He was still upset over the three days I’d disappeared surrounding the new moon. I’d excused myself, claiming that I saw the tracks of a potentially hostile oni and wanted to look into it before it caused harm to the caravan. Tenri supported my story, which was enough to convince Kansi Ren of its legitimacy, but such a paranoid man as Feng was not as easily swayed. When my chains had finally vanished with the return of the moon, I’d returned to a fuming trade master who tried to verbally rake me over the coals for abandoning my post.

If it weren’t for the fact that I needed him to find Chouko, I might have given him a piece of my mind. He might have been my current employer, but, if he thought I actually needed the money from this job, he was sorely mistaken.

He wouldn’t talk to a Prince this way, I found myself thinking bitterly. If he knew who I really was instead of just some wandering cultivator in search of his next bit of enlightenment, he wouldn’t dare speak to me so rudely. Then again, if he knew who I really was, he might just pass out with fright, which didn’t serve my goals. In the end, I shook my head and sat down on a nearby crate to observe the apprentices as they untethered the horses and brought them into the stables.

“Care for some company” I flinched as Kansi Ren sat down on the crate next to me. She laughed. “Tenri’s gone to find an inn. Didn’t think I’d sneak up on you, though. Feng’s words bothering you that much?”

“Oh, no. I’m fine,” I answered. “He could stand to be a bit more respectful, but I’ve withstood worse.”

She nodded and rolled her eyes. “He’s not worth the trouble of cracking his skull and getting-”

“And getting his stupidity on my hands,” I finished.

“I guess I didn’t realize that was so common a phrase amongst wanderers,” Kansi mused. “I just thought it was something my master said.”

I bit my tongue to keep from cursing myself out loud. Habit had betrayed me, forcing me to slip up. It used to be one of Jinshi’s favorite sayings, one he developed in our youth while dealing with a much more hot-headed Yoru than the one that currently existed. That Yoru was determined to pick a fight with everyone who disagreed with him, and it was only through Jinshi’s ability to let the words of others slide over him like wind against a pillar that kept me from acting.

Of course, that was the very early days of our relationship. Later, the phrase just became a joke. A small reminder not to worry about the insignificant. It was also the philosophy that ended up getting Chouko killed.

“It’s just a saying,” I said with a shrug. “Lots of people know it.”

Kansi nodded and we both continued watching the apprentices unload the more valuable goods from the wagons. The seven of them worked tirelessly, but they kept their heads down anytime Master Feng was near. I narrowed my eyes as I watched carefully.

Since departing from Pemai, my opinion of Master Feng had dropped considerably. He was a bully, and his apprentices were his victims. Any time one of them slipped up in the slightest, he was there, ready with a slap and a tongue lashing. Though this was a different era with different ways, such treatment was not uncommon, even if it did leave a bad taste in my mouth. It was a vicious cycle where abused apprentices became abusive masters and believed it perfectly normal.

One of the younger apprentices stumbled, the crate in her hands slipping forward. I nearly stood from my place, but Kansi put a hand on my arm. Pink and green qi, strong as the winds and just as invisible to the layman’s eye, rushed across the path between us, stirring up a wind that supported the crate before the young girl could drop it.

I settled back onto my perch. Kansi was right. Subtle interference was the way to help them. Her winds caused no fuss, but helped the little girl carry on with her task. Master Feng need not know just how close she’d come to failure.

There was little I could do that held that kind of subtlety, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t keep an eye out. Time and again, Kansi sent a brisk wind to support an apprentice or sweep a pebble out of one’s path. However, we couldn’t protect them from everything.

“How could this happen?” Master Feng’s shout was heard far across the stable. “You had one job! ONE! Count the coins, record the numbers. We’ve been on the road the entire time. How could the numbers have changed?”

“I…I don’t know, sir. I must have m-miscounted,” muttered the apprentice, a stocky young man who seemed to be fifteen or sixteen. In another situation, he could have been a promising young artisan, plying a trade of woodcraft or masonry. Whatever put him on the path to becoming a merchant, he clearly had picked a path that brought him hardship.

“Miscounted?! I knew you were an idiot, but you’re only paid to count! Five coppers might not mean much when they’re numbers on a page, but we’ll see how you feel when it’s taken from your pay!”

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“He’s really picking a fight over five coppers?” Kansi muttered. “Even I don’t make that kind of fuss, and I’m all but broke.”

“If he’s so upset over it, then he should count his own coin,” I agreed.

For a tradesman, five coppers was a pittance. It wouldn’t even cover the cost of a room for the night. Master Feng regularly dealt in goods that were easily sold for multiple silvers, not to mention his more valuable goods. Five coppers was little more than an accounting error, not even worth a thief’s time to steal.

Feng raised his hand and brought it down across the apprentice’s cheek.

“I take it back, maybe he is worth getting his stupidity on my hands,” Kansi growled.

“Any attack from either of us would kill him outright,” I muttered bitterly. But then, an idea came to mind. It was risky but could potentially warn Feng away from his apprentices for a short while. I shook my sleeve, letting Chiho drop out. Then, I lowered my voice and instructed it. “Keep hidden, but cause some trouble for the tradesman, will you?”

The pin vibrated, but didn’t move. I sighed. It was grumpy after several weeks in captivity.

“I’ll get the nicest polish I can find,” I promised. It vibrated again, and I sighed. “And you can do my hair however you like when we’re free of Jinshi’s huntress.”

The pin thought hard about the proposition before trilling softly and darting away. I sat back on my perch and watched. Feng was still yelling, and he’d taken the apprentice roughly by the arm and was ready to shove him to the ground.

However, just as he did, a blast of jade wind qi gusted through the caravansary, rattling the wooden chimes hanging from the eaves. Every voice went quiet as the merchants looked around for an enemy or other ill omen. Finding none, Master Feng released the apprentice and went to slap him again…only this time, his foot seemed to mysteriously fall out from under him. He stumbled to the side before losing his balance and falling in a trough of water left out for the horses.

“I’d be careful spewing more negativity, Master Feng,” I called, a hint of mockery in my tone. “Your resentment might attract unwanted company of the spiritual variety.” The merchant paled and scrambled to his feet. After wiping his sopping hair from his face, he rushed back inside without another word.

“Well done,” Kansi praised. “How did you summon the wind like that. You’re no wind artist.”

“Me? I thought it was you,” I lied. “You’re the wind artist. I’m just a simple practitioner of destruction.”

“So, you keep saying.” She sighed and stretched. “But few artists learn the ways and language of the yokai enough to so simply strike a bargain with them. Few artists dare to hunt oni on their own.”

“It wasn’t really hunting so much as making sure it wasn’t coming our way,” I explained. “Yokai are no different than cultivators. Everyone has their ticks and charms.”

The oldest apprentice, a young man nearly 19 years old named Zhao Pu approached and bowed. “Honored Masters, this humble one wishes to express his thanks for your assistance with this one’s brothers and sisters. Your magnanimous spirit will surely be rewarded by fate.”

“Zhao Pu, can I ask you something without your master learning?” I asked. Zhao Pu never raised his head but spoke clearly.

“This one is but a lowly apprentice and is unworthy and incapable of deciding what should reach his master’s ears or not.”

“It’s no threat to him or the caravan,” I assured him.

“Then this one will accept Master’s word. What can this one do for such a venerable master?”

I cleared my throat. “You and the other apprentices, why do you work for Master Feng?”

“Very direct of you,” Kansi chastised. I shrugged.

“There’s no telling how long Feng will be away.”

Zhao Pu bowed deeper. “These apprentices are all grateful for the work Master Feng provides. He is generous and gives us knowledge and training that we may better ourselves and provide for our families.”

“How much does he pay you?”

The apprentice didn’t answer, but his brow furrowed as he stared firmly at the ground. The answer was clear enough. Regardless of the number, it wasn’t enough.

“I see. Thank you for your time, Zhao Pu,” I said. He backed up several paces before finally rising and returning to his duties.

“They’re trapped in a spider’s web.”

“Funny you should use that analogy in this town of all places.” She turned her head in curiosity, and I smiled. “Heimian is known for its spider problem.”

* * *

It was late in the night by the time Tenri came to relieve me from my watch. He would watch through the darkest hours of the night before Kansi would take over the dawn shift. The administrator gave me directions to the inn, as well as the key to his room. No point in getting an additional one if we were on opposite shifts for most of the night.

I yawned as I made my way towards the inn. Kansi had left me several hours earlier, and in that time, I’d busied myself with observing the area while on watch. The town had recovered fairly well. The spider silk that had draped from every eave like banners had been cleaned up, and the rumors said that a new administrator would be assigned soon. In time, Heimian would again be a happy town of hunters and loggers.

“Oh, Tsuyuki.”

Why is she always around?! I thought furiously as Kansi trotted up from a side street.

“You don’t happen to know what happened to the Wind Master’s Temple here?” she asked. “It’s…not good. The priests are gone, and it’s been desecrated with blood and death. I was trying to clean some of it up, but I thought I should get some sleep before my watch.”

There wasn’t any harm in her knowing about my escapades on behalf of the local spirit bees and hornets. That was all common knowledge she could get from any civilian in town, so I told the story as I would any other: with just the right amount of dramatic flare.

Kansi listened intently before answering. “I see. Perhaps once my mission is complete, I’ll have the chance to return and set the temple straight.”

“Your mission?” My mouth went dry.

She nodded. “I’m looking for someone on my master’s behalf. It was his last wish that I find this person.”

“Oh, I see. What sort of person is it? Maybe I’ve…” My words trailed off, and I sneezed. Someone was watching us. I could feel their intent.

“You’ve noticed them, too?” Kansi asked. “Don’t look. He’s been following me from town to town since I was in Haishui, but he’s not very good at it.”

My mind drifted back to the black-cloaked cultivator watching Kansi in the Gold Tile Tavern in Pemai. Was he the one?

“What does he want?”

“Not sure, really,” she admitted. “He hasn’t bothered me, nor attacked, so I’ve left him alone for now.”

That was foolish. He could be anyone. Without knowing his motivations, Kansi could be leading him right to his goals.

“Hmm,” she hummed as we turned another corner. “His focus is less on me tonight. Perhaps he’s trying to study you, now.”

“If that’s true, then it would be rude not to introduce myself,” I growled. “How would you like to catch this mantis in a trap?”