Mei Shan walked through the door of her office. Yes. She had an office now and it was as useless as it sounded.

  Offices were for resources. It was where one stacked papers and information. A place of work, and in this village, a sign of high position. She didn’t need resources and though her position was high relative to the mortals, it wasn’t so high that it warranted a waste of a room.

  But Chin had insisted and while she thought little of the farmer at first, he and his family had quickly proven themselves worthy of respect. Medin had played an integral role in helping out Rin Wi and Chin had given her sisters duty.

  She owed them if only that much.

  She was just sitting down and leaning back when a knock came from the door.

  “Mei Shan,” A voice broke through from behind her. “I need you to take a look at this.”

  Light Master Renk walked into the door followed by a small girl carrying a set of robes in her arms. They both wore pure white robes, though the girl’s was a little more stained with droplets of food.

  Renk dropped a pile of pages onto her desk. Mei nodded and read through them instantly.

  “Order more supplies,” she commented. “Spend as much as you can on everything you can’t produce locally. As for this new imperial book, it shouldn’t matter too much. Just give the delivery face and call one of us to pick it up.”

  “More supplies? For what? The rainy season’s halfway done and we have enough to last us through the next year even with the increased population.”

  “Well, since the desert scar’s been healed, you’ll have more traffic even during the dry-”

  “What?” Renk interrupted. “What do you mean the desert scar is healed? What scar?”

  “You don’t know? Mister Bill didn’t tell you?”

  Renk frowned deeply at the man’s name.

  “Tell me what? What’s ‘the desert scar’ and why has it been healed?”

  “It’s the reason the Great Desert Strip is empty of qi. It’s tough to explain, but this region is- or rather was unable to hold qi. Mister Bill fixed that and that means that the desert will hold qi again.”

  “I don’t understand. Will the desert disappear or something?”

  “No,” Mei replied with a shake of her head. “It won’t disappear, but it will be filled with qi again.”

  “And that implies spirit beasts? More cultivators?” He asked.

  “And more cultivator tools. Cultivators can now take water-producing treasures across the desert. They can use techniques to fend off the sun and traverse the desert heat. And with an immortal living here, along with the new immortal of the Bloody Fist Sect, traffic is bound to increase across the desert.”

  “And that would make our village a… trade city of sorts?” Renk said, finally understanding her point.

  Mei nodded.

  “There’s more money coming. I suggest a small trade tax and an increase in-”

  “Yes, yes, of course,” Renk said cutting her off. “Heavens know how much time we have before the next wave of cultivators, and I suppose I should warn all the villages at the entrance of the strip as well. Increase food supplies, tell Chin. He’ll be thrilled to have an excuse to farm more. And the lodging will have to go faster as well.”

  The man walked off, mumbling under his breath about all the things he had left to do. She liked Renk. He was rude, arrogant, and held great disdain for anyone more powerful than him. But he was smart. All she had to do was draw the edges of the picture and he would pick up on the rest.

  He was better than the other mortals, the ones that asked questions all the time.

  “Uh, Miss Shan?”

  Mei Shan looked down at the little girl still holding a pile of scrolls and books.

  “May I study here? I don’t think my master will go back to the tower for a while.”

  Mei Shan smiled and nodded towards the child.

  “You may.”

  Taura Chin, granddaughter of Chin Chin and one of the few people Mei Shan enjoyed being around.

  The girl was kind, respectful, adorable, and intelligent. Yes, in terms of intellect, she could probably equal any adult in the area. That was one of the reasons Mei liked her.

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  “What are you studying?” Mei asked.

  “Common parlance and tongues among the ten major sects of Ah-Marin,” Taura answered.

  “Oh?” Mei asked. “Did Renk assign you that reading?”

  “No. But with an immortal in the region, understanding the grander empire might be important.”

  Taura answered as she sat down on the floor and cracked open the tome.

  “And you’ve taken to court parlance as a point of interest?” Mei inquired.

  “Well, not particularly but Renk doesn’t buy books pertaining to the grander empire. He says it's a waste. That we’re too small to even bother asking for information about it.”

  That was true. A small backwater village couldn’t afford news of the grander empire and its happenings.

  It’d be a waste for Renk to buy books on that topic. But it wouldn’t be a waste for Mei Shan.

  “You know, that book is coming in a bit. Within the day I think.”

  “Mister Bill’s book?” Taura asked.

  “Mhm, I can let you read it if you want.”

  Taura eye’s tried to widen into plates.

  “Really? But that book is for immortals! It contains the laws and layouts of the empire, wouldn’t Mister Bill get in trouble if he let a mortal touch it?”

  “Young Taura,” Mei said with a shake of her head. “In the eyes of the empire, Mister Bill is to unimportant to get in trouble.”

  “But what about the rules and conducts? Wouldn’t it be theft or a violation of the respect of the empire?”

  “You wouldn’t kill an ant for stealing a stray crumb would you?” Mei asked.

  The small girl thought over the sentence.

  “Is Mister Bill really that weak?” Taura finally asked.

  “No, he’s not weak. He’s just common. Immortals are everywhere within the Void Blade Empire. And the codes of the empire aren’t a precious treasure of the empire, but rather just a set of laws every immortal is expected to follow. You could buy them off some vendor within the capital you know.”

  “Really?” The girl repeated.

  “Oh of course. This isn’t a secret technique. It’s a code of conduct, rules, nothing more. I could even get you more things you know.”

  “Oh could you? Could you really?” Taura said practically bouncing off the floor.

  “Of course I could,” Mei said with a nod.

  “But the question is, what could you get me?”

  Taura frowned and Mei smirked.

  This reminded her of the past. The days she’d tease her sisters for favors or force them into training servitude even when they hadn’t wanted to. She hadn’t become the de facto leader of the group at first. Everyone liked Xi Lu more back then. But Xi Lu was soft. She would have gotten them killed or punished if she had led the group. So Mei had taken over, forcefully at first in order to make sure her group survived.

  That had been a mistake. The best servants go to the most powerful people, and Mei Shan’s group has over-performed and ended up in Kin Jey’s hands.

  But they had earned merits and were spared from the more…forceful jobs.

  Concubines, that was a nice term for them.

  Mei Shan pushed away the dark thoughts.

  “How about this, help me out every week and I’ll get you more books, along with the Immortal’s Conduct.”

  “Really?” Taura asked practically bouncing with excitement.

  “Really,” Mei Shan smiled.

  “Oh yes! I’ll help! We can start now! What can I do? What do you need?”

  Mei Shan needed absolutely nothing from a mortal child. Whatever Taura could do, Mei could do ten thousand times better. Truthfully, Taura would be a burden more than an aid.

  But Mei couldn’t help but be a little bit happy at the sight of a young, smart mortal girl giggling over books. She reminded her of the past. Of a time when a group of young girls faced slavery and death, but found moments of joy within it regardless.

  Childhood joy was the only real joy Mei Shan had ever known.

  Mei felt a shadow of that burden, that sense of being needed weighing down on her shoulders.

  Duty.

  She was wanted and she was needed, by a young giggling girl who wanted to know the world.

  “I’m sure we can find something for you to help me with.”