Master, it’s hardly my fault that the sect grounds exploded. You may have been in seclusion, but in my defense, I was unsupervised. -Disciple Sun Tai of the Flaming Lotus Sect

  It was hardly the first time that Xinya had been left on her own, since her own father had left her alone just about every day when he went to sea. But, that was a long time ago for an eleven-year-old. She’d since grown quite used to having her uncles around almost all the time. Normally, Yoru would always be around to answer her questions about cultivation, and Lin would be available to help her with whatever problem she was facing in the inn.

  But during those long months while the fields along the Starlight Path were readying for their second harvest, Xinya was forced to handle everything herself. Uncle Yoru had given her the responsibility of managing the Moon Moths while he was away. Though he’d given her some training on how to care for the creatures, they didn’t listen to her nearly as well as they did to him. Her qi just wasn’t the same, and they often tried to fly off into the darkness beyond the light of the ward flags. Wrangling them took time that the little girl didn’t have to spare, but she did anyway. After all, she would sooner drown herself in the reefs beyond Saikan before she willingly let Yoru down.

  The pollination route and care of the Moon Moths were the highest priorities, per Yoru’s instructions. Nothing came before that, but Xinya had added another responsibility to her own plate after Lin had gone into seclusion. Her uncles had closed Half-Moon Harbor to guests, as they would not be able to tend to it while advancing to gold.

  Xinya, however, had other plans. Knowing full well that Mister Satoro would break in for his 20 daily jars of wine whether the inn was open or not, Xinya figured that she might as well make him pay for those jars. To that end, she’d secretly reopened the inn and was running most of the business herself. The quality of the food wasn’t nearly as good, and several customers complained that it was far too spicy for their tastes, but Miss Ishida seemed to like it. She and Di Xiaolong came by every day to make sure that Xinya was managing things alright between her duties, and it always helped that any guest, mostly Chikara, who came by looking to cause trouble were thoroughly cowed with a single glare from Satoro to make much of a scene. Even Sect Leader Iza stopped by with her beautiful silks that seemed to trail glitter, just to see if Xinya needed any help. It turned out that she was actually extremely knowledgeable about running an inn, which was something Xinya was extremely grateful for. All in all, the little girl had a lot of help to keep things running, and the only thing she had to handle on her own was the books.

  Xinya always prided herself on being a fast learner, but the nights she spent up trying to puzzle through all the math and reading that went into keeping track of the day’s sales were slow and dull. She bit her knuckle, pushed into the early hours of the morning, and hoped that her math was at least close to what it was supposed to be. Maybe Lin would be proud of her when he finally got out…or at least maybe he wouldn’t be too upset with her for reopening the inn.

  It was hard work, but when Chiho finally trilled a welcome to Yoru as he walked down the stairs, Xinya felt a sense of pride at what she’d accomplished.

  “Uncle Yoru!” she cried, throwing herself in his arms. He laughed and wrapped her in a hug. In that one motion, she could feel the difference immediately. As always, Yoru was gentle with her, but there was a certain strength in his grip that she hadn’t known before. His eyes sparkled with life and power, even though she could see the weariness in his face.

  “Hey, Xinya,” he greeted.

  There was something off about his expression, an uncertainty that Xinya wasn’t used to seeing from the legend. He was usually so confident in everything he did. Seeing him this way was…unsettling.

  “Is everything okay?” she wondered, weaving her fingers into his chains. Panicked worries about his cultivation began to race through her mind.

  What if something had gone wrong with his cultivation? There had been times in the past where Yoru had seemed hesitant to touch her and Lin, times when he thought she wouldn’t notice that he was more distant. What if his new gold core would only make that worse? What if he didn’t want her around at all anymore? What if he sent her away? He would think that he was keeping her safe, but Xinya didn’t care. She didn’t want to leave him.

  Yoru seemed to grow visibly worried, which only made Xinya’s fears grow more founded. He wasn’t saying anything, just looking at her. In the end, she buried her face in his robes, gripping his chains tightly to keep him from escaping.

  “I don’t care what it is, I don’t want to leave you!” she all but sobbed into him. “I’ll put up with any misfortune! Just don’t send me away!”

  “Xinya, I’m not,” he paused mid-thought, pushing her away from him enough to tilt her chin up to look at him. “What gave you the idea that I was going to send you away?”

  His soft smile was slightly blurred by Xinya’s own tears welling up in her eyes. She grit her teeth and tried to blink them away.

  “Something’s wrong, I can tell,” she answered. “You always get distant when things go wrong, like you’re afraid you’re going to hurt us. You refuse to let Lin or I touch you, and you don’t pat my shoulder or correct my stances.”

  Or give hugs, she added silently to herself. She still had just enough pride to keep from admitting that part to her adopted uncle.

  Understanding dawned on Yoru’s face, and he put a hand on his niece’s head before sitting down on the stair behind him.

  “I think I see how you might draw that conclusion.” He took Xinya’s hand and squeezed. “There was a time when you were right. I was afraid that my misfortunes would hurt you and Lin, but even then, I never thought of sending you away. I was just…surprised, when I saw you just now.”

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  “Surprised?” Xinya asked, wiping a tear from her eye that had stubbornly refused to be blinked away. She didn’t have any idea why he would be surprised to see her. She hadn’t changed at all in the three months he’d been under.

  He nodded. “I didn’t need as long to advance as Lin did, but I took the extra time to follow some of Shi Reili’s advice to know the void a little better.” Xinya crawled into his arms as he continued. “I spent days submersed completely in the void, listening to its words, trying to understand it better. When I finally did, I realized some aspects about the void I didn’t know before.”

  “What are those?”

  “That the void is more than just distance and isolation,” explained Yoru. “In fact, I’d even go so far as to say that isolation is a poor word for what it truly is. The void is space, but it’s also the conquest of it. Crossing the vastness, communicating over the distance, those are also elements of the void.”

  Xinya bit her knuckle. “That sounds a lot like your approach to lunar arts. Most people think it’s just illusions and visions, but it’s actually a reflection of reality itself and how we perceive it.”

  “You’re right,” he praised. “It’s by looking beyond the normal applications that we gain a deeper understanding of ourselves and the paths we walk.”

  “But, what does that have to do with you being surprised?” She didn’t know why having an epiphany about communication would make him so uncertain upon seeing her again. Then again, she also knew that Yoru could ramble for hours on the topic of qi and cultivation before actually getting to the point he was trying to make, as if his brain couldn’t quite make the direct leap from A to B, and instead, had to take the scenic route that explained the theory behind the jump.

  “I developed a technique to try and use the communicative aspects of void qi more,” he began explaining. “It…brings me closer to others. When I saw you, that technique transmitted your joy to me, which was startling. Then, it turned to fear, and I didn’t know how to handle such raw fear that wasn’t my own. I’m sorry I frightened you.”

  Xinya nodded, her fears calming as she sat in his lap and listened to the beating of his heart through his chest. As her mind calmed, his heartrate settled, and she felt his chains relax around her fingers. He really was startled, but everything was okay now.

  “And speaking of, I can feel Lin waking,” he said. “I think he took the time to sleep after he finished his final advancement. Why don’t you go make some tea and we’ll sit down to hear what you’ve been up to while we were gone?”

  Xinya nodded and stood. After retrieving her new favorite tea set and setting the water to brew, she took a moment to pull a few dumplings leftover from her dinner the night before and put them next to the fire to warm. By the time the water was boiling, and the tea was ready, the dumplings were warm enough to serve, just in case her uncles were hungry after their advancement. She didn’t know if Golds needed to eat anymore, but she did know that they had hardly touched what little food she’d left for them during their advancement. They were probably too focused on their goal to eat much.

  Lin and Yoru both sat at Satoro’s table, the hour being early enough that its usual occupant hadn’t arrived yet. Lin looked about as tired as Yoru, but the tiny shoots of vines that were growing haphazardly in his hair were such a vibrant green that Xinya was sure that he was still in good health.

  “Given that the building didn’t burn down, I assume the Shattered Moon Sect hasn’t attacked yet. Is this a new tea set?” he asked when she served the tray.

  “Sect Leader Iza gave it to me,” Xinya explained. “She comes by most days, sometimes even before Mister Satoro does.”

  “Does she, now?” Yoru said, stifling a grin. “Whatever for?”

  “The inn was closed,” Lin continued. “What purpose did she have in stopping by?”

  “She was teaching me.” Xinya was not prepared for Yoru to begin choking on his tea at her statement.

  “What exactly was she teaching you?” His eyebrow was starting to twitch, which Xinya found very confusing. She thought that he and the Leader of the Blushing Rose Sect were friends…

  “She taught me how to keep the customers happy.”

  Yoru set down his cup, but Xinya could see his other hand go white. Even Lin was visibly confused, though he hid it a lot better than Yoru did.

  “I needed the help,” Xinya admitted. She bit her lip nervously. “I…uh…might have reopened the inn while you were gone.” This time it was Lin who reacted, his head snapping to the side to glare at her through his glasses.

  Why does he even still need those? Xinya wondered. Shouldn’t his cultivation fix his vision like any other illness?

  “You…did what?” His tone was carefully controlled, but Xinya knew that was only for her benefit.

  With a deep breath, she explained everything. “I opened the inn. Sect Leader Iza and Miss Ishida helped me run things. Mister Satoro scared people away when they got too rowdy. But, I did the ledgers and everything! Sect Leader Iza stopped by on her way to and from the Starlight Path! She even checked my math once to make sure I was doing it right.” Yoru and Lin exchanged a look before both visibly relaxing. Xinya frowned. “What did you think she was doing here?”

  “I’ll tell you when you’re older,” Yoru said, taking a sip of his tea.

  Xinya…didn’t know what to make of that answer. He’d never pulled an adult card on her before. Even when everything she’d ever heard in Saikan said that only adults could pursue cultivation, Yoru had always discussed it with her openly. What kind of strange adult things was he thinking about that made him so wary of the Sect Leader spending time with her?

  “Oh, that reminds me,” she said. “Sect Leader Iza wanted me to let her know immediately when you two got out of seclusion.” The little girl stood, rushed behind the counter, and retrieved a small slip of paper with a small array drawn on it. She pushed a tiny bit of her qi into the parchment, just as she was instructed to do. It burned bright pink for nearly ten seconds before vanishing into thin air.

  Lin and Yoru both exchanged a look but didn’t question it. They got their answers soon enough when Sect Leader Iza glided through the doors less than five minutes later.

  “You have excellent timing, Xinya,” she declared. “I was already on the way when I got your message.”

  “They’re back,” Xinya confirmed, gesturing to her uncles.

  The Sect Leader bowed deeply to the two of them. “Then, let me be the first to congratulate our newest masters on their advancement.”

  “You’re too kind,” Lin muttered.

  Yoru nodded. “It sounds like we should be thanking you, Sect Leader. I hear you’ve been watching out for our niece. You didn’t have to.”

  “Nonsense. I would never leave a young girl like her to fend for herself, even as capable as she is.” She ran a hand through her long hair, left loose this morning with only a few roses woven in. “In fact, I should very much like to offer her a place in my sect someday, if she’d accept it.”

  Xinya saw Yoru twitch slightly, but he otherwise remained polite. “I’m afraid Xinya’s already a descendant of my sect.” His words filled Xinya with pride. Nice as Sect Leader Iza was, her sect wasn’t nearly as ancient or cool as Uncle Yoru’s was.

  “Oh well, can’t blame me for trying,” the Sect Leader answered with a smile. “By the way, now that you’re up, I am pleased to tell you that thanks to Xinya’s hard work, the rice stores from the Starlight Path are even greater than Ishida Sumiko thought they’d be. As such, the Blushing Rose Sect is hosting a feast to celebrate the unity of the district, and you three are formally invited.” Her eye twinkled with mischief that Xinya didn’t quite recognize. “In fact, I would be most grateful if you’d all attend. After all, you would be our guests of honor.”