The Shattered Moon Festival is a rather pedestrian ritual that the locals engage in every few years. They drag the esteemed Spirit Caller Sect to their backwater with some ancient, defunct agreement when the local spirits become too much for their pathetic administrators to handle. Then they proceed to throw a lavish festival dredging up the memories of that dreadful Moon Ascendant while the cultivators perform the actual banishing with the mortals scurrying underfoot. -Assessor Tin Sula of the Tin Clan in “An Argument to Remove the Shore”

* * *

Lanterns of every color illuminated the streets of Saikan, painting it in a thousand beautiful hues. Each of the lanterns was painted with a silver moon with a slash through it, and glitter trailing to the bottom of the lantern. I might have considered it a festive addition, with the glitter reflecting the light from the surrounding lanterns…if it weren’t so morbid to me.

I looked up at the sky above. The moon hung in the sky, nearly full. On a night like that, you could clearly see the chasm that had been cut across its face all those years ago. It was an ever present reminder of my own defeat.

But, despite the fact that the festival was meant to celebrate my downfall, I tried to keep a positive attitude. After all, as far as the people of Saikan were concerned, the legends were just an excuse to have a party and a good time. The Spirit Caller Sect’s ritual was cultivator business, and the average mortal in town cared little for the ways of spiritual artists. So long as shades and monsters didn’t bother them, the civilian population was content just to celebrate being alive.

Despite the festival’s early arrival, the townsfolk had spared no expense. Market stalls were filled to the brim with toys and sparklers for the children, and with trinkets and food for the adults. Laughter filled the air, and everyone was dressed to the nines in their best festival attire.

“Oooh! Uncle Yoru! Look over here!” Xinya called, waving me over to a stall. It was Madame Meng’s stall, and she winked at us as we approached.

“Oh, Master Tsuyuki! Welcome in, Welcome in! I am honored to have a gentleman of such fine taste peruse my wares,” the elderly shopkeeper said. “And hello to you, too, Chiho. My work shall never compare to your majesty.” The jade crane trilled happily as it flitted around, examining all her wares to make sure none were as pretty as it was.

“Ever the charmer, Madame Meng,” I answered. I’d come to her shop on several occasions, most of which were during Lin’s inspections of the town. She was a purveyor of exquisite hand-crafted jewelry using the pearls, lunar tears, and corals from the reef. In fact, Xinya’s favorite hairpin, a dark wooden hairpin featuring a qi-infused pearl in a coral setting, was one of Madame Meng’s.

“And what of Master Tenri? Is he not enjoying the festival with you?”

I blushed and smiled sheepishly. “He’ll be along later once his duties as administrator are finished.”

“Of course. What a diligent young man he is.” Madame Meng winked suggestively. As one of the chief supporters of the rumors surrounding the two of us, Madame Meng took every opportunity to poke and prod at us, trying to weasel out any information that might confirm the allegedly illicit relationship between us.

It was all in good fun, but I was grateful that those rumors had become rather hushed since the death of Lin’s wife. I’d worried they’d get out of hand, since he was now living under “my” roof instead of his…even if the roof in question really belonged to Xinya instead of me. But people had been sensitive to the dour mood in town and hadn’t brought up the rumors since. In fact, Madame Meng’s comment was the first I’d heard them since we’d left for the caravan job.

“Look at this one!” Xinya pointed to a hairpin near the front of the display. The pin was made of jagged purple coral and had a shimmering pearl set into a silver flower. Tiny silver rods dangled from the pearl.

“Disciple Lang has an excellent eye,” Madame Meng praised. “It’s the finest in my collection currently. Notice the details on the silver? There’s even a matching necklace that I’m sure would look stunning on the young mistress.”

“Oh, that’s okay,” Xinya answered. She pulled a silver chain from under her collar to show a black pendant I’d never seen before. “I’ve already got a necklace.”

“May I?” I asked, kneeling next to her. She nodded and I took a closer look at it. It was a black disk carved with a small silver array. Though it was drained of qi, I immediately recognized the design. “This is quite the treasure,” I noted. “Where did you get it.”

“It belonged to my mom,” she admitted. “Dad said she didn’t wear it much after she came to Saikan, but it’s apparently a family heirloom.”

“Then you have some pretty lucky ancestors. That’s an aura suppression amulet,” I explained. “Cultivators who are much stronger than you can have an oppressive aura, and if they’re too strong, the aura alone can kill. This amulet will suppress that aura so you can be safe in their presence.”

“Really?” she asked, studying the thing carefully. I nodded and took the amulet from her. After rubbing it several times, I reached into the stone with a thread of my qi. The silver array flashed brightly before going dark again.

“There, it’s charged,” I said, handing it back to the girl. “I’ll show you how to charge it yourself later. As long as it’s charged, it can’t be taken away from you by force.” After all, a protective charm against more powerful cultivators would be a pretty pathetic protection if they could just take it away.

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“Whoa,” she breathed in awe. “I already feel it working! It’s like a tingling in my cheeks!”

Xinya threw herself into my arms and squeezed as tightly as she could. I couldn’t help but laugh at the girl’s enthusiastic thanks. It was nothing special, just a little qi to jump-start an ancient artifact.

A cheer arose from down the street, drawing Xinya’s attention. “Oh! The matches must be starting! Come on, Uncle Yoru! We need to see who’ll beat Kansi Ren!”

“Go on, then! I’m right behind you,” I lied with a gentle laugh. She didn’t even look back before racing ahead while I turned back to Madame Meng to buy the purple and silver hairpin. The proprietress gave me a conspiratorial wink and swiftly processed the payment before handing me the pin discreetly. I nodded my thanks and took off at a jog to keep up with my wayward disciple.

In the main market square, a crowd had gathered into a wide circle. I peered through the crowd, unsure of who was within. Xinya jumped up and down, trying to see through the crowd. A sharp whistle drew our attention to the raised steps of a nearby tea shop. Pollen waved us over and we joined her and Hornet Queen Suzume.

“A fine evening for a festival, don’t you think?” I greeted. Pollen shrugged.

“It’s a bit cold for my liking. I don’t usually leave my hive this late in the season,” she admitted. “But it’s not snowing, and the festivities more than make up for the cold. But, enough about me, how is the cutest young lady on the Shore?” The Honeybee Queen knelt next to Xinya and pulled her into a tight hug.

“I made it to Leaf!” Xinya exclaimed.

“What? No way!” Pollen answered, even though I knew she could see the qi inside the little girl. “That’s incredible! Tell me all about it.”

“Later, Later! The fight is starting!” Xinya said. From our vantage point, the combatants were clear. Pharyx flashed a charming smile at the crowd, and I heard quite a few women sigh at the sight of the High Queen of Hanai.

Contrarily, the sighs from Queen Suzume and Queen Pollen were much more exasperated…and accompanied by an eyeroll from each.

“Leave it to my brother to flirt with the crowd,” Suzume muttered. “I swear, he’d smile sweetly at every plant and flower if he thought he stood half a chance.”

“You must run yourself ragged keeping up with him, Queen Suzume,” Pollen added politely. Suzume just laughed.

“He’s always been a handful, even before he took the title of High Queen.”

Below, Pharyx twirled his spear several times. He was relaxed as he faced Kansi across the circle.

“He’s awfully confident,” I noted.

“Arrogant, more like,” Pollen answered. Suzume chuckled in agreement.

“Kansi’s cultivation is certainly more advanced than his,” I noted. “But Sun aura is known to be capable of hitting above its class.”

“If he can even land a hit,” Suzume pointed out. “I’ve seen the way she walks. She’s agile. Skilled as he is, my brother is still a queen. He’s much slower than the rest of our kin.”

I bit back a laugh. Despite the fact that Pharyx was “much slower than the rest of their kin,” he was still probably the fastest of the native defenders, including spirit beasts and humans alike. In a competition of speed, he’d run me ragged in a heartbeat as I was.

Then again, the Sword Saint could outrun me any day of the week, even at my prime, and his disciple was the one facing off against our favorite High Queen. Wind arts were founded on the principle of staying away from your enemy’s attacks. Kansi was not only fast, but extremely agile, as well.

Pharyx lunged at the waiting wind artist, lance bared and already shining with sun qi. As expected, Kansi twisted out of the way of the attack, staying close enough to the hornet that his lance was less effective. However, he was not to be deterred and brought the end of his lance around to slam into her head…only she disappeared once again from the line of his attack.

“Well, aren’t you a slippery one,” he called. Sunlight flared and his qi wings began to form on his back. “I can see you won’t be an easy one to hit.”

“I would have thought a hornet would have been familiar with riding the wind,” she said, joining the banter. “Or are you so small that you get blown away by a light breeze?” Without warning, ten blades made from sharpened wind qi sliced towards the hornet. He sprang into the air, spreading his wings wide to leap over the majority of the blades. His lance swiped in a flash of sunlight, dispelling the remaining threats before he lunged at her through the air.

“And now she’s made him angry,” Suzume noted as she sipped her tea.

“That should help him, given his nature,” mused Pollen. “After all, there’s a reason it’s unwise to swat at a hornet.”

“This is playing out a lot like our fight against the spider matriarch,” I noted. “I wonder if he’s learned anything from that encounter.”

“I hope so.”

* * *

The crowd cheered and shouted as the two artists traded blows, but two men stood out from the rest of the onlookers. They both were dressed simply, the kind of travelling clothes expected of a merchant who’d only just entered town and decided to stay for the festivities. The only difference was that a normal merchant would have been cheering along with the rest of the crowd as the spirit beast and the cultivator battled in the impromptu arena.

“Father, what are we doing here?” asked the younger of the two. Though he spoke at a normal volume, the raucous crowd ensured that none besides the intended recipient would hear him.

The older man watched as the wind artist landed her first blow on the spirit beast, drawing blood in a fine line across the blond hornet’s leg. Fury rose even higher in the eyes of the beast, and he redoubled his efforts to win.

“Pitiful,” said the older man. “Yaoxan lost to this?”

“The hornet was only one.”

“The others in the group must have been quite exceptional to make up for such a wretched spirit beast.” The older man’s lip curled in distaste. He looked away from the fight, only for his eye to catch a group of unusual individuals watching the fight from the steps of the teahouse.

Two women, a man, and a child. The women seemed to only be paying half attention to the fight, and the man watched casually, his posture relaxed and almost playful. The child, on the other hand, her eyes were glued to the fight and were wide as saucers with every exchange of blows.

But, what was most interesting was the qi that radiated from the group. Brilliant pink and green from one of the women, gold from the other, purple from the child, and a bluish silver mixed with black from the man.

“Over there,” he nodded in their direction. “A few more of Yaoxan’s opposition.”

The younger man’s breath caught. “That man…do you think that’s him? The one responsible? Tsuyuki Yoru?”

A cruel grin crept onto the older man’s face. “It would be rude of us to come all this way and not introduce ourselves. Come, Taihua, let us speak like civilized men with this wicked moon monster.”