Memories of the Fall

…The politics of the periphery across the sea, locally called ‘Yin Eclipse’, is perhaps best described as a pyramid. At the top are the branches of our noble clans and heroic settlers whom his Majesty’s Imperial Grandfather sponsored from our Imperial continent and who, with the ongoing support of our August Imperial Throne since that time, have endeavoured to bring enlightened civilisation to this difficult land.

Below them are those who arrived in their wake, seeking to exploit the opportunities provided, yet well-meaning and capable of following the tenets of the Blue Morality to the best of their capacity, limited though it is by their innate disposition. Below them are those who have cast aside their misguided ideas of a ‘heritage’ and made some mediocre effort, through the generous and beneficent means granted to them by the Imperial Court, to better themselves. At the bottom are the indigenous, who have resisted most opportunities we have afforded them and at best are apathetic to our Majesty’s rule – living in towns and villages but barely embracing anything beyond this that might make them less savage – and at worst have even been known to provoke outright rebellion against the Imperial Mandate…

Excerpt – A report on the current situation to the East of Blue Water City to the Imperial Court.

~Imperial Envoy Dun Tenshu

~ Jun Arai & Sana ~

Arai spent the remainder of her day, and much of the next, trying to ensure that she wasn’t cheated out of the worth of one very un-meek yin ginseng root. Kun Juni, her fellow Herb Hunter, was it had to be said a good friend in this regard. The local branch of the Kun clan, despite being minor nobility themselves, were somewhat more integrated than most of the other ‘settled’ or ‘planted’ nobility as the locals considered them and Juni’s role assisting her elder brother Kun Talshin in managing the town’s largest independent spirit her warehouse made it easy enough to get the thing stored safely. That was a proper weight off her mind because, due to the root technically still being ‘alive’, it was impossible to store in her talisman and, in light of the previous day’s events, carrying it through the streets had attracted some rather unwanted notice.

Selling the fate-blighted thing, however, turned out to be an exercise in anger management. If she didn’t know better she would have sworn that the whole proclamation thing from the Ha clan had just been a long con to try to scam that thrice-cursed root from her. After half the herbalists and processors in the town made exorbitant or downright mendacious demands while offering to 'take it off her hands', she was just about ready to go home and plant it in the garden. It was only on a whim that, when she had found herself back at the warehouse to see if Talshin had any connections outside the town, the Procurement Officials all arrived to update their own stock records. In the end, with some polite intercession from Kun Talshin, she secured an agreement from the City Captains’ Procurement Officer – in effect the Military Bureau – to donate it to the next regional logistics export.

So she found herself, a short while later, walking down the street from the warehouse feeling much more upbeat than she had for most of the day. It was easy to ignore the hawkers other than to nod to a few street sellers she was acquainted with as she reviewed the Binary Jade with its four glittering links. One piece was held by her, one bit was now with the Valley Master’s Authority, one with the Kun Warehouse and the final one with the City Captain’s Office. It was a lot of effort just to ensure no silliness could come from any single party, but it was all in accordance with official rules, no matter how much the Town Procurement Official had grumbled. The reimbursement of four spirit stones and 290 iron talismans was a bit less than the herb’s normal worth, but she was rid of the thing and had actual wealth for it rather than easily diluted promises, which was all that really mattered.

It had surprised her that the City Captains’ Procurement Officer would pay spirit stones for it on the spot, without any of the usual preamble, even as the others were all trying to convince her to take some kind of trade. He had only paid a few percent under the market price as well, which the paranoid part of her mind groused had to be some kind of fated sign. Still, compared to selling it to someone who would just turn around and sell it for three times as much, or gift it to the Ha clan then stiff her of the excess payments, this felt like the best option she had seen all day. Especially when she still wasn’t exactly clear why the Ha family seemed determined to make her life beyond awkward aside from happenstance.

In the end, it was close to dinner hours by the time she arrived at the Captain's Pavilion within the Military Authority compound in the west of the town, mostly expecting him to still be on business. Ostensibly this should have been for her proclamation appointment, but really she was more interested in making sure the Binary Jade was properly enshrined as a record of the herb sale transaction.

As it turned out, the Town Captain had in fact returned, she was told, but had immediately gone to meet with the Valley Master and the Town Authority about a matter. The official looked suitably haggard as he explained this, but did thank her for her contribution. That stood out to her as odd; the officials were usually never more than perfunctorily polite in the line of business. She might have thought the root was being sent as a gift to someone’s firstborn heir the way the official had looked at her.

In the end, there was merely time to get the Binary Jade verified, which suited her just fine. Concerning the ‘proclamation’ of that morning she was told politely by the Duty Commander’s Envoy, after waiting a while longer, that it was ‘noted’. Her counter-complaint of ‘ill practice’ had also been passed to the Captain's Office to evaluate and had been countersigned by the duty astrologer on the gate when she entered, as was proper. Statements from the duty guards and the duty astrologer would be gathered, she was assured, and her talisman and jade authentication would be sought at her later convenience, which made a pleasant change from the usual run of these things.

To an onlooker not familiar with the local region this might, she considered, seem somewhat contrary to expectations. However, the Imperial Bureaus and their regional chiefs took independence and civil control seriously these days. This went all the way up to the current Captain, who was something of a local hero and the complete opposite of the previous occupant of that role. That Captain had been a man whose indiscretions some decades past were still brought up regularly. Less widely talked about, but very much in the public consciousness for the impact it had apparently made, was the fallout of his choices: a spear that arrived like a tribulation bolt, literally dropping out of the blue to end his tenure.

Returning back through the town towards home, she had cause to reflect that these bustling streets, with their markets and their winding alleys, were rather like a forest in their own right. A different kind of impenetrable morass of living confusion and subtle danger. Today wasn’t a market day at least, which would have made things even more crowded, but the local markets had been iffy of late anyway to the point where the old-timers were starting to grumble about how it was heading towards the bad old days. The increased guard presence suggested they shared this worry. Of late, they had been noticeably at pains to not provoke issues that might lead to the large-scale riots or unrest of that previous era.

That was something that suited her just fine, from what she understood from her father and others. Compared to back then, the town was now actually somewhat prosperous, and people liked it that way. The unrest of before, on the other hand, was something only a few influential nobles and outside powers wanted. Stability made a lot of people prosperous, and gave good prospects all around, whereas the trouble of thirty years prior was something that would only lead to a lot of difficulties.

Pausing by the talisman shop of Grandmaster Li, she chatted to his wife’s nephew, Li Feng Wei, who was minding the storefront, for a few minutes, getting the low-down on the district’s gossip. His main bit of news was that the 'Society of Yin and Yang' had approached Grandmaster Li asking him to become a Society Leader… again. She shook her head wryly at that. The talisman and formations Grandmaster hated titles, lived for his work, and cared about as much for politicking as the common man did.

Listening to him talk on while she considered some of the newer editions of formations manuals on display, most of the rest of the news was pretty banal. A few scuffles here and there, some cheating in business a street over, old Gong had blown up another alchemy cauldron while she was away. There was nothing particularly untoward in it though, unless she counted the new gossip about her. Her own incident was now somewhat in the local rumour mill it seemed, which was expected and probably desirable anyway; rumours had a way of spinning weirdly when left alone in the ecosystem of this place, and the Ha clan wasn't very popular among the working folk of the town.

Bidding Li Feng Wei farewell, having purchased one of the books for a hundred iron, she made her way onwards, mulling over the news that some strange artefact was making a buzz in formations circles in Blue Water City. Apparently, a 'Young Noble' from across the ocean was there and had made a great discovery or something. In all likelihood, though, her sister would know more about that when she returned than Li Feng Wei would. He had wanted to talk more about it, but really it was just nobles doing noble stuff. She occasionally had an interest in those things, but not to the point where stars lit up in her eyes over it.

Upon arrival back at the house, it was a pleasant surprise to find the door open and the lanterns lit, signifying that at least one of her father or her sister had also returned. She saw her father first, on the garden veranda with a tired look on his face. By his side, she could see a package from the Blue Duke’s Authority – probably something relating to the Official Levy Order, although the red seal on the side told her that it was personally addressed, which was odd. Curiosity could wait, however.

Leaving her father to his thoughts after her quick greeting got only a somewhat absent-minded response, she went into the kitchen to find her sister putting the finishing touches to dinner. She cooked – could cook to a fairly high quality actually – but was, by her own confession, unenthusiastic about it and would happily buy takeout or just eat salads, fresh fish and bread for meals if left to her own devices. She had nearly bought fried bread and a pot of spirit herb soup from Mrs Leng’s stall on the way past earlier, only resisting because of the queue.

Giving her sister a cheery wave, which was returned, she went on through the building to stash what remained of the money in the house safe room and record it in the array ledger, something her father had created years ago. She noted that there was a significant stash of new pill jars in one corner, and also several jade maps that had not been there previously. The pill jars were likely something Sana had brought back, presumably payment for whatever work she had had to put up with in Blue Water City while meeting with Ling Yu.

By the time she was done and went back to the main part of the house, Sana had put the food on the table. It was simple and delicious fish soup and a salad of herbs and spices, cold meats and some roast vegetables. Enough for five, as was tradition.

They ate their meal largely in silence on the veranda table overlooking the riverfront, lost in their own thoughts until Jun Han finally spoke. “The town will not meet its commitments for the year ahead as it currently stands.”

They both paused. She wasn't sure what to make of that, beyond it being somewhat nonsensical from her current understanding of the town’s stockpiles.

“That... You are certain, Father?” It was Sana who spoke first.

“Yes,” Jun Han sighed. “It relates to my summons in part”.

Nobody looked at the package on the side table, but it was clearly that, with its official seals.

“Master Tai is livid; as a result of the failure he is likely to be moved to another posting."

“A demotion?” she cut in; that would be... problematic.

“No, actually,” her father replied, pausing to drink some soup afterwards. “Not a demotion, but rather a reshuffling of posts. It seems that the Duke's Authority has concluded that having a man of his skills is not as necessary here as it once was. The post, unfortunately, requires someone of a more... disassembling skillset.”

-Oh. So basically somebody who won’t be tempted to break the knees of every noble from the Ha clan that they meet face to face, she thought wryly.

-That means that politicking is going to be more of a problem in the near future.

“When does the post change?” Sana asked, looking pensive.

“Not for the next few months, fortunately. But we will get to that in due course. There will certainly be friction in the Town Authority before it is done though,” Jun Han sighed. “All of the Envoys have similar issues. It was a point of contention at the meeting.”

“So that is why you are days late…” she noted diplomatically.

“Yes, dear daughter, that is why your father is days late and probably looks like a man who wishes to punch rocks to death for amusement.”

That elicited a light laugh from Sana, who took the opportunity to serve out seconds of the food onto their plates.

Jun Han rolled his eyes wearily and leant back in his seat a bit. “Truthfully the matter is politics from top to bottom, which I know bores both of you to tears, but this is important. There has been unhappiness among the planted nobility for... well... far too long about the relationship between the Bureaus of the Azure Astral Authority and the imperially-sanctioned Provincial Authorities, with their so-called ‘Blue Morality Scripture’.”

She sighed at that. He was right, it was boring and very annoying. The fact that her father was willing to speak about it at all meant that it was going to be a ‘thing’. The last one of those had been when Han Shu was nearly killed two years ago and she was in no hurry to see another, despite having more than sneaking suspicion that what she had undergone in the past week was also such a 'thing'.

“This meeting was to compare notes as much as anything," he explained, taking a sip of wine before continuing. “Particularly since there has been a spate of escalating issues in the last few years. Our own farce surrounding the rift anomaly in ‘Spirit Field Valley’, and what happened with the previous Ha Young Master, are just several of a number of similar escalations, apparently. Not to mention, of late there has been friction between the Duke's Authority and the sects to the north and across the ocean that have connections to the noble clans."

Her sister nodded at that. “I heard similar things while I was out with Yu. It’s the gossip of Blue Water City frankly, and will be here within the week I suspect.”

“Li Feng Wei was saying as much as well,” she added.

Jun Han agreed. “Master Tai’s view is that we will… avoid that mess. For now, our issue is a bit more technical and I’m afraid it means more risks all around.”

"Whatever is up with the quota?" Sana muttered.

Sipping her own drink she frowned, because it really didn't make sense. “You said so, Father, but... How. Is. That. Possible?"

She found herself stressing every word as she said it. "I understand being short in some areas, given how the season has been, but for Captain Tai and the other administrators to be sure we will miss it completely?”

“Mmhuh,” Sana agreed. “That seems entirely ridiculous, actually. Our town has its problems, sure, but the prosperity relating to its exports is definitely not one of them.”

“Indeed,” their father said sourly “It is not… but this is a ridiculous scheme far beyond our means both in its execution and its breath-taking vexation, frankly.”

Looking even more jaded suddenly, their father rubbed his temples and poured himself another cup of wine.

-That’s three now, in one meal. He is definitely vexed, he’s usually a very light drinker, if at all, she observed.

“The problem is, as far as the committee of Bureau Envoys could determine, indeed not of our making; not the Hunter Pavilion, not the Guard Command, not the village militia, or the Beast Culling Cadre or the other Bureau influences. Truthfully, even had we sat on a record seasonal surplus we would still be out of luck.

“Last month a new requirement was put out from the three schools, pushed by the Teng and the Golden Promise at the highest level. With the Blue Gate School's issues with influences across the ocean at the moment, it appears they have either ignored the problem or are also not in a position to contest it. It seems to have originated with the Teng School of all things… but the long and short of it is that all the towns are to supply two tonnes more in their logistics levy and forty percent of it must be above four-star grade in unique harvest.”

She narrowly avoided spitting out her food.

-That is...preposterous. Forty percent extra is another half a year’s harvest, and to get it above four-star grade would require asset stripping a high valley quadrant down to the bedrock and getting it back down here without dying.

Her sister made a coughing sound as well, as her father went on.

“The order should have been relayed immediately… As in over two months ago."

"Oh," she saw where this was going now.

"Oh indeed," her father said putting, the cup down with a clunk. "Apparently it was ‘mislaid’ somehow when the official in charge of such matters was requisitioned by a Young Noble from the ‘Imperial School’ to become part of their pet survey of coastal ruins to the south of the former Lin Province several weeks ago.”

“Something that... banal... is going to cause us to get an Official Censure? It hardly seems fair?" her sister asked, looking as confused as she felt.

“A truly banal matter,” their father agreed glumly. “And because someone seems to have put the fear of the Heavenly Emperor into the headmasters of the three schools, each in their own ways, in the last week, it will not be an Official Censure, as that would reflect on the Valley Masters. Instead, it will be an Autonomous Censure, complaining about a failure to meet responsibilities at a 'local' level, a wonderful compromise in competitive ass-kissing to arrive at that no doubt.”

“Bah!” she muttered in disgust and took a gulp of wine herself.

"Why do we even have the schools if not to act as a windbreak for this kind of stupidity?" her sister muttered.

He paused to spit over the veranda, earning a frown from both of them. “It would be vexing enough if it were just that, but West Flower Picking Town will be especially hit as a result because our regional authority deputy in Blue Water City failed to relay the message in a timely fashion even after learning about it late.”

Pausing, their father held his hands together and offered a pious expression heavenward, as if he were a Buddhist petitioner…

“And get this – Because ‘his supervisor was a truly competent and studious teacher,’ he was ’Sure he had already passed the missive onwards.’ .”

He rolled his eyes and scowled. “The little shit was really visiting Imperial Lord Qian for one of his famous 'parties' and didn’t leave his functionaries sufficient thrice-cursed instructions to pass the matter on. He will, however, avoid all official censure because of the personal intercession of Imperial Lord Qian and his current ‘good friend’ Lady Ha Lian.”

She stopped with food halfway to her mouth. “Ahh, monkeyshit.”

It was weird, how sometimes something just made things go ‘click’ in your mind and everything suddenly made sense.

She stared at her father. “That explains…”

Jun Han looked at her, frowning. “Explains what?”

“Have you heard about the Proclamation of Censure against me..?”

She shuffled her thoughts so the explanation would make sense in the context.

“There is…?” her father’s frown deepened abruptly before she could finish getting her thoughts in order. “Oh… that… it was mentioned in passing by the duty officer as I recall… Does this have something do with it?”

he shrugged, still a little uncertain herself, despite now harbouring a rather sinking feeling in this regard. “Kind of... that’s mop-up I think. No, this has to do with why I was designated by the Valley Master’s Office personally to go up the nameless-loved Red Pit to haul the corpse of Ha Deng out of there two days after Sana was requisitioned to go to Blue Water City on what I can only categorize as a remarkably spurious errand with potential for some socialisation along the way.”

“No offence sis,” she glanced at Sana, who was also scowling now.

Her sister waved a hand dismissively. “It was indeed fate-thrashed spurious in its own way. Although it was good to catch up with Ling Yu and I did end up making the Ling household redo the formations on an entire estate... and brought Grandmaster Mang some nice business in the process.”

“What,” Jun Han’s voice went flat, and the veranda actually chilled slightly.

“You. What. YOU were designated that seven-star recovery mission?”

She blinked, then narrowed her eyes as other bits of the puzzle slotted into place. “Seven-star..? My mission, erm…”

Pulling out the jade scrip she passed it to her father.

“How can it be related to a mission you know of? My mission was a three-star one. The official log reported Ha Deng missing about three days ago, you had been gone for two days before that. The jadework was a spectacular mess but that’s… if not typical of the Master's Pavilion, then predictable, especially where people burying their own stupidity is involved. It only specified that I had to go find Ha Deng’s sorry corpse and bring back him and whatever killed him before the Ha clan master returned.”

As she spoke, Jun Han stared at the talisman... hard. A bit too hard in fact. She could see the light flickering in his eyes as he peered into it, looking at something they couldn’t see in its inner workings.

He placed it down on the table with a harsh *clack* and looked grim. “You are lucky, daughter, that your skill and foundation exceeds what those malignant fools judged by a substantial margin. For once the disparity between our region's Hunter Pavilions’ awarded 'star grades' and the official designations of 'star ranks' for mission grades actually worked in your favour. Hah!”

Looking out at the river for a moment he paused before continuing. “This mission is indeed the one I feared, and it is malpractice from start to finish by the looks of it, made clearer with hindsight now.”

The trees rustled oddly on the terrace below as he continued. “Ha Deng was reported missing a week ago. Apparently, he had been requested to gather a mutate red thorn ginseng from the place you Herb Hunters call the Red Pit, and which the Valley Master's Office still cheerfully calls a three-star harvest zone despite the ridiculous things that border it in that particular valley.”

Taking a second helping of roast vegetables and another serving of wine he went on. “I had stated I would do it myself when I returned and lead a team with Sir Feng and Lady Xiao Hai from the Beast Cadre.”

“Eh?” she was shocked at that.

Her father, despite holding an ‘affiliate post’ with the Herb Hunters’ Pavilion, seldom took missions. Nor did Sir Feng, who was technically a Militia Elite. Lady Xiao Hai was the leader of the sweeper team for the Beast Cadre. That was a big team, though it made sense for the true ranking of that valley if they expected to go into the true blood ling grove. They would have dealt, certainly, with the situation she had in a quarter of the time, albeit with less nuance.

Her father shook his head angrily. “The Valley Master gave me an assurance of such, and Master Tai agreed that it was too dangerous to tender. The mission was to recover Ha Deng’s corpse and provide visual confirmation that he was killed on route to his quarry by something on the upper cliffs path entering the field zone, as divined by Senior Astrologer Tu.”

-Ha Tu, she sighed mentally.

His eyes narrowed and she felt a deeper chill in the wind as the river waters and the trees in the garden shivered once again in a truly artificial manner. “That this... THIS has been reclassified and reissued through the Master's Pavilion to the Hunter Pavilion directly through the Town Authority, and as a three-star 'Recover and Collect' request is... is.."

He trailed off, his anger draining away a bit, and refilled his cup of wine.

She surreptitiously moved the jar to their side of the table. That made eight cups.

Her father growled, idly swiping the wine jar back. “This? This is an attempt to murder for personal gain by the Ha clan. Again.”

She looked out at the river, the chill of the knowledge seeming greater in the cool of the evening.

"They knew in advance,” she muttered, “despite the levy not being relayed."

Her sister nodded. "It does look that way, doesn't it."

"So... my whole mission was just to try to injure or kill me so that a Hunter would be taken out of the equation, making non-completion just that bit more likely? And because it would have happened before the message came through... they would have deniability over any suspicions?" She circulated her mantra and fed her frustration and tinge of fear into it.

Speaking it out loud made it no better.

"It does look that way," her sister agreed. "Even as it currently stands, we have a Hunter laid out from ‘misadventure’ in Han Shu, and a dead Nascent Soul cultivator from the Master's Pavilion that can be blamed on 'our' malpractice, however hypocritically. Then I guess they can easily spin this as a result of 'us' not being professional? It would certainly seem to give them a screen to pretend to be the righteous ones. If you had... been injured... or worse, they could also pin that on you. Tie it all up in a neat bow, 'long-standing rivalry between the local Pavilion and the nobility' spills over, Pavilion Hunter with dubious qualifications causes deaths of Ha clan experts and so on..."

She chipped in. "Don't forget: 'Resistance to the precepts of the Decree of the Sagacious Blue Morality.' That's the problem really, no matter where you scratch the surface of this mess, it always seems comes back to that, or the Deng and Ha families trying to supplant the Hunter Pavilion here entirely..."

Her sister took a gulp of her own wine, glowering with disgust. "I ran into another arm of that spiderweb of machination in Blue Water City entirely by accident. Nothing is sacred to them it seems, not even Little Blue..."

She trailed off and turned to their father.

-Little Blue? Ling Yu's pet ginseng? How in the fates did that bundle of natural oddity get mixed up in all this?

She was about to change the topic to ask briefly about that, but her father just sighed and nodded. “It is not quite that pat, but yes... That is basically the gist of what we concluded on the return trip. Excluding the blatant attempt at murder, probably this was aimed as an attempt to discredit me by way of your ‘failures’ and, if nothing else, sequester me from supporting the City Captain in the next few months... that they pushed the weight of such a scheme onto you in a hurry is just...”

The wine cup creaked in his hand, making her wince surreptitiously.

She poured herself another cup of wine and drank it, her father’s absolute lack of apparent disapproval more evidence that he really was out of sorts.

“Skulking rats profiting in a time of turbulence,” he said, swilling his own wine rather aggressively, “and here this is meant to be a higher world.

“Anyway…” he sighed again.

All the tension finally left the air and the chill fully receded.

“Anyway… I will deal with it on the morrow. In person. Attempted murder is what it is and, while they will deny and obfuscate, at least that preposterous proclamation will die its death and you will see formal exoneration for any... invented wrongdoing.

“More to the point, there is another thing that came up at the meeting, born of comparing some notes on the way back. I am loath to circumvent rules as they are set, but frankly, the Captain will not gainsay this, and it would be wise to remove the more valuable elements of the Hunter Pavilion from the city for a few weeks before it arrives. It can be hidden behind our desire to let the more experienced heads sort out the levy issues."

She frowned, now somewhat interested, because opportunities couched like that were usually fairly profitable and a means to get good standing, the latter of which you could certainly never have enough of.

“Opportunity?" her sister queried "Is this related to what was fished out of the river, and the young nobles who came and threatened...?”

“The artefact that Li Feng Wei was harping on about?” she added... now regretting she hadn’t paid more attention to it.

With a chuckle, Jun Han nodded slowly. “Your friend Young Miss Ling Yu is well connected to the Blue Water City rumour mill, as befits a young miss of her status."

"Yes, we saw a small tournament in the city for a visiting noble, apparently some princess, although she wasn't there that I saw," her sister added. "There was much talk concerning it around the city."

Taking another sip of his wine, their father waved her to silence and continued on. “I must correct you, dear, on a point: ‘Young Nobles’ do not… threaten. They visit, they talk, they drink wine and they feast, and miraculously those whom they visited always come out on the same page afterwards.”

This brought a snort of laughter from both of them.

-Or come out in pieces or not at all, she didn't add out loud.

With a more serious expression on his face, their father spoke on once they had stopped laughing. “It is indeed a princess, an Imperial Princess even, along with a Young Noble of the Huang clan. Those two will do what they will and if we are lucky the storm will merely batter our windows and spread some leaves about. It seems their interest is focused on South Grove Town and the remnants at the mouth of the river there, where the oddity that caught their attention seems to have originated.”

“So we must take steps to forestall the repercussions of a censure sponsored by nobility for a local power grab?" she asked, to return the discussion to the more salient, local point.

“Yes,” Jun Han said, getting up and walking over to the veranda.

He leaned on the edge and looked out at their rambling garden, filled with all kinds of odd plants and fungi from the mountains, composing his thoughts she guessed.

“Fortunately,” he continued after a few moments, “we have a solution of sorts, although it is a bit underhanded frankly... I saw you have a Binary Jade chit by the way?”

“Oh,” blinking at the sudden change in conversation topic, she replied. "Yes. It’s for the yin ginseng root I had to bring back to demonstrate what it was that offed that incompetent idiot and the three poor girls. It got me enough that we won’t have to skimp on food for half a month at least, and some iron besides.”

"Ah, so that's why there's another shrine in there," her sister murmured.

Her father stared at her and slowly asked, “You’re the one who donated a yin ginseng mutate to the logistics levy?”

"Yes, it seems kind of fortuitous now, I agree,” she confirmed.

She quickly recounted the day's dealings, which got a laugh and an eye roll from Sana.

“I had wondered why the Procurement Officer looked like he wanted to kiss me when I said I was willing to part with it for approximately the market price, but it was almost impossible to divest the damned thing anywhere else even with Sir Talshin’s help. I was starting to wonder if that farcical proclamation was just a tool to grab it off me for ‘misdeeds’ somehow.”

Her father's mood had almost turned on its head as he smiled happily. “What quality do you reckon it is?”

“Hmmm,” she drummed her hands on the table as she thought. “Probably low-grade five-star if I was being... ungenerous, which most were when I tried to sell it. The plant itself, if you could get the whole thing in an auspicious manner, is probably a Qi Refinement six-star passive with a Yin attribute and a metal mutate that allows it to draw energy from both water and earth. It might even be six- or seven-star grade in its main root given it nobbled a Nascent Soul cultivator so easily.”

She set aside her wine and thought some more.

“I’ll be honest though, I barely got out of there with my skin and it will be watching for anything coming for weeks, assuming it doesn’t just go someplace else now. I’ve watched that thing for around four years and it’s never been vicious if you watch for it.”

Her sister cut in. “Only if you bother it does it usually make problems.”

“Yes...” she agreed. “I put warnings up on the access, and a special one in the nearest shelter that sees full use. I also need to fill out a request to resupply all the ward stones, the cart and the blankets for that now that I think about it. Someone broke the cart, and I had to take every ward stone there to trap the root.”

“What size was the bit you divided off?” her sister added.

“The bit I got off..." frowning, she pictured it in her mind's eye.

"The sub-tuber was a good thirty centimetres long and ten thick, weighed about ten kilos I think. As for the whole thing, harder to judge… it’s probably four tubers, maybe five? Based on what I saw it probably weighs in at fifty kilos? But you’re never going to get it all. Its yin frost field was able to shatter rocks on the upper cliff and ‘kill’ water ferns… those are basically immune to yin water qi.”

Sana whistled. “And we just waltzed past it like there was nothing odd… haaa.”

She nodded wryly in agreement at that. They had always treated it with caution, but still…

“Well, there wouldn’t have been anything to worry about had some stupid idiot not blundered in there, ignoring all the information and trusting to their cultivation, and got a bunch of kids and dogs killed, turning his stupidity into a borrowed knife. I bet they thought they were really smart over that.”

“That last bit is a stupid rule to enforce outside of the most passive areas of the Outer and Low Valleys….” her sister made a face even as she finished speaking of that.

“I have to agree there," she said, slumping back in her chair. “The ecosystem up there, over the high ridges and among the upper cliffs is… smart, and very cutthroat. If we know where the dangers are, they are dangers we know. If we keep having to find new dangers because people offed the ones that were there already, that’s a self-fulfilling prophecy when it comes to rising body counts…”

“While I do agree, dear daughter.” Jun Han sighed, “The rules are what they are, and hoping to change them for one six- or seven-star ginseng is really…”

“Yeah... Foolish,” she muttered.

Her mother had used that phrase a lot… it was funny the things you picked up.

“But it’s the little things that kill you up there,” Sana added. "As you always warn us, Father."

"Uhhuh," she nodded affirmatively.

"That's a busy route, relatively speaking, and pissing off a six-star ginseng like that is an insane idea. Having gotten away as it did it will certainly hold a grudge now and likely look to freeze the knees off of the next person who walks by its new hiding spot. It's those things, or the 'trappish vines', or the 'sage cutter ants' that kill people. Not the twelve-star ‘vermilion thorn thicket’ squatting like a toad on a rock in the middle of the biggest valley on that mountain face, that everyone and their grandmother can see and prepare for or avoid from miles away.”

"Not to mention whoever does get nobbled by it next will then blame it on us rather than that fate-thrashed moron Ha Deng," she sighed with disgust.

Her sister nodded as she spoke, with a resigned air; this was a topic that they managed to come back to at least once a month.

“It’s also,” Sana picked up, “why we are called all the way to Blue Water City for weird arboreal oddities like I was, never mind the merits of the task itself. It’s because even the Blue Gate School knows that it’s best to call in experts to deal with that crap rather than have a bunch of idiot young cultivators, fresh out from under the coat-tails of their merchant house, tromping around with their weird arts and their total lack of common sense, getting people infected with soul setting spores or accidentally throwing out ‘ling jit’ seeds into the local cesspits because some up-and-coming alchemist decided to try a new method of making explosive smokescreen talismans.”

They all paused to admire for posterity the lingering reputation of one of the most infamous recent municipal incidents… certainly since the great monkey incursion. Ling jit seeds had been on the proscribed list for the town’s municipal area, outside of certified handlers, in the Pavilion and Alchemy Society ever since.

“Well. It’s a matter for tomorrow anyway,” Jun Han said, trying to pour out the twelfth cup of wine and finding the jar empty.

“To return to the original point, properly this time, there is a mission we are to send out the three junior teams over five-star grade from the Hunter Pavilion for, a bounty in North Fissure Town for leng jing flowers. It is not ‘public’ knowledge yet, although word will make it here with the next central message distribution. We spoke of it at the Envoy meeting; they are ‘required by the Blue Duke's household for a certain matter’ and it takes weeks to stalk a single one under normal circumstances. It is tedious work that few will be interested in undertaking without a designation even though it is for the Duke. In our case though, it is helpful because tedious work builds reputations and covers many other, more awkward, excuses and interpretations with obvious ones.”

She understood what he meant there. “I take it Old Ling will talk to us about that tomorrow?”

“Undoubtedly. Try to act slightly surprised, the Pavilion Elder likes to think he has the best contacts inside the local Bureaus,” Jun Han replied with a laugh, echoed by Sana.

She could only join in the laughter on behalf of the crotchety old man who would undoubtedly be grinning like a cat that got the cream about being able to help solve some aspect of this 'crisis' now visited upon them from afar. It cost nothing to keep the old man happy at any rate and, depending on who you asked, he was somewhat troublesome if you seriously crossed him or did something to incur his disappointment.

“As for you two…” their father looked pensive.

“I suggest you get the Young Miss from the Kun household, Han Shu and at least one other, maybe Lin Ling or Dan Kai if they are willing, and prepare to go into the eastern valley access leading through to East Fury and Thunder Crest peaks.”

Watching the setting sun he went on, “There are a bunch of listed spirit herbs up there that the Beast Cadre have been writing up from their patrols. They were due to be put for public tender, but now we have a requisition problem of some distant powers’ making, we have only a few weeks to try to make something of this mess. While we won’t be able to get two tonnes of seven-star or higher materials… short of a literal spatial crack leading to a Dao Immortal’s herb garden opening up right outside the city gates…”

"There is no need to let others take what we need,” she agreed.

"Indeed,” her father confirmed.

“Given we lost time on this already, we can certainly make sure that the recriminations when they come can be returned straight back at the idiots in Blue Water City. Or the Ha clan,” Sana added, eliciting a laugh from their father who nodded in turn. It probably wouldn’t work out that neatly, but still.

All three of their gazes wandered to the side table where another jar of wine sat… it seemed only fair after the terrible few days it had been.