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It was a question I grappled with as I wandered the hills in my backyard. The worst case scenario had come to pass, in my mind. Well, not the worst case scenario, but it was pretty up there. The cat was out of the bag. The cultivators knew who I was. And not just the Cloudy Sword Sect, who I guess I could trust to be discreet or at least leave me alone. Every sect in the Azure Hills and the Shrouded Mountain Sect knew who I was.

I was no longer an anonymous farmer. I was a person of interest.

This was coming, I knew it was, but I didn’t want to admit it to myself. My rice was getting too good. I was expanding the roads too much. There was no way I could have remained hidden forever.

Maybe I could have said no to Tigu when she had asked to leave for the tournament. Maybe I could have tried not to grow my rice as well as it was doing. Maybe if I had done nothing at all I could have prevented the chain of events that had been set in motion. But it happened and I can’t change the past.

I couldn’t change the fact that I had killed a man and taken charge of effectively an entire province.

I had killed somebody. I couldn’t say I really regretted it. Some men needed killing. Taking charge of the Azure Hills? Well, that was downright terrifying, but I think it had to be done too.

The question was, what was I going to do now? I had a responsibility to my family. I had things that needed to get done.

What was I going to do about this whole thing? I was clueless. I had some brief respite,but my mind kept on replaying and inventing new scenarios. People taking me upo for my offer of emergency aid. Having to host some kind of cultivator get together. Having to fully return to that life through some quirk of fate.

I sighed and kicked the ground trying to settle my mind when I heard Big D sound the call for lunch.

Pondering the conundrum before me, I wandered back home. Everybody else seemed in a relatively good mood. Meimei was already poring over the new medical scrolls with fervor. Bowu apparently had bone shards in his cartilage and needed his kneecap broken and reset—both things Meiling never would have attempted without the Lowly Spiritual Herbs. Nothing else in the Azure Hills healed people fast enough, or repaired damage like the unassuming green sprigs. She glanced up with an unreadable expression on her face as I approached. She hummed at my appearance, her brow furrowing for a brief instant before she gave me a smile.

Bowu was sitting off to the side on the veranda. The young man hesitantly reached out a hand and patted Chunky. Bowu didn’t really seem to know how to interact with everybody. He was quiet and skittish… though Chunky seemed to be winning him over with sheer dogged friendliness.

Yun Ren was practicing with his sword in the courtyard and cursing at it occasionally. “So, like hwa! And not haacha! Right?” he demanded of the sword.

‘Summer’s Sky postulates “Huwa”. This method of training and vocalization defies expectations. Interesting. Approval.’

I kept walking. I saw Babe come over with a look of interest from the fields, looking at Yun with curiosity on his normally placid face.

I entered the house, walking into the main room. Huo Ten was checking over the crystal with Big D. The annoying chunk of rock was apparently nearly ready… after something almost destabilized it during the transfer. Apparently there was a lot more stuff in the thing than even Master Gen had thought, and the crystal was different enough that there were some minor issues with the transference.The monkey had explained all that and said it wouldn’t be too much longer before we could see what this old thing was all about.

I slowly sat down at the table, mulling things over. I jumped a little, as a plate was placed in front of me.

Xiulan and Gou Ren were both on food duty today, whipping up a light lunch for us all. It was tasty, but I spent most of lunch thinking about things again. I muttered my thanks for the food, and went out to the fields, doing the chores I had neglected in the morning.

I spent the time lost in thought. And when I finished with my chores… I leaned up against the fence. Mulling over the paths available to me and getting steadily more frustrated.

My dark mood was interrupted by a voice.

“Oi! Jin!” Yun Ren called, holding one of my makeshift lacrosse sticks. I raised an eyebrow at him. I sighed at the expression on his and his brother’s faces. I kind of wanted to, but I had too much crap to think about.

“Not today, guys. I—”

“Chiiickennnn.” Gou Ren called. “Bok Bok Bok Bok!” I froze and raised an eyebrow at him. Really?

“Old Man is just tired, I get it. Too infirm to go at it with the boys, I get it,” he shrugged and smirked at me.

My eye twitched. Seriously? They were really doing this?

Their boasts were poor and annoying... but I kind of did need some stress relief. Smacking the two asshats around the field would probably be fun.

“Gimmie a stick.” I commanded, and my two friends whooped. I couldn’t help the smile that came to my face.

It was... surprisingly normal. Aside from us being faster and stronger than normal people. Neither of the Xong Brothers evidently wanted to escalate the situation, so there were no illusions… though Yun Ren had great footwork. Maybe it was all the sword practice he was doing? Gou was getting more and more solid too, to the point where he could take my cross-checks, even when I gave them a little bit of oomph.

It was… well. It was just like old times. Until we were interrupted.

“Ah! Can I play?!” Tigu asked hopefully, jogging up to us.

I acted immediately. “Yeah, you can be on my team.”

Tigu’s eyes widened happily, and both brothers cursed.

I’d been losing to the Xong brothers but with Tigu the tide turned instantly against the brothers. Tigu was just way too fast for them to handle, though Gou Ren just tanked her checks and Yun could occasionally dodge which was no easy feat.

In the end though, we were too much for them. I was actually starting to feel a little bad when Yun Ren hit the emergency button. “Washy! I’ll bring you with me to Pale Moon Lake City the next time I go, and you can pick out whatever you want!” he howled.

The sky darkened. Thunder cracked. A smattering of rain fell from the sky.

Washy descended from the heavens, his eyes burning with greed.

Things… devolved from there. Our little game grew quickly into an all out Fa Ram battle to end all battles , it started getting a bit out of hand. Chunky and Peppa joined our team, while Xiulan decided that she wanted to face off against Tigu again.

It was pure wild chaos, and I couldn’t help but laugh. Especially when Yin and Big D were trying to figure out how to use the sticks. It was super unwieldy for them and we didn’t have that many to begin with. So instead we switched to some kind of bastard love-child of soccer and rugby.

At some point the teams dissolved completely, each person just trying to grab the ball and run with it. Off on the sidelines, Meiling, Noodle and Bowu watched with varying degrees of interest. Bowu finally let loose a bit, hollering and cheering on Gou Ren, while Meimei cheerfully aksed me to kick their asses.

Chunky got a bit too excited and with a mighty swing of his head slammed the ball into the air so high it was practically a speck. Everybody paused trying to see where it would come down… except for Washy, who flew up after it. I got an idea.

“Tigu’er,” I called as I crouched down, cupping my hands.

She turned to me, and then confusion turned to elation. The dragon spiked the ball back down. Tigu’s foot caught into my cupped hand and I launched her into the air.

The girl howled with laughter as she spun around like a top, before putting all her momentum and strength into her leg, smashing a shot straight into one of the goals.

The ball hit the ground so hard it exploded. The game stopped at that point.

Tigu looked at her handiwork. “That was worth more points, right?” she asked hopefully.

I burst out laughing and ruffled her hair.

I took a breath, and let it out, grinning all the while.

That… that had been fun.

=================================

It kept going. Bit by bit, little by little, I settled back into my life.

Chunky and Washy showed me around the mushroom farm that they were tending to, the logs so covered with fungus it looked like we were on an alien planet.

Big D performed the cognitive tests on the chickens with me and greeted each day.

I spent time with Yin trying to find something around the farm that she truly enjoyed doing.

Helping Gou Ren expand his house had me thinking about the tools that I would need in the future. I’d end up talking about steam engines to a steadily more enthusiastic Bowu.

At some point Yun Ren somehow found Meiling’s bunny costume… and then tramped downstairs singing a musical number, illusioned to look like a woman.

At night I had long chats with an old snake, sometimes about nothing and sometimes about healing wounds.

I lost terribly to Xiulan at answer go, and had to tell her a few more embarrassing stories. The girl was merciless!

Reconnecting with Meiling. Our silly talks in the morning… and our… activities.

The little things brought me back home, to the place I was building.

One night days after, we all decided to camp out under the stars together. We laid down with our backs somehow all fitting against Chunky. The massive boar huffing happily.

Yun Ren told us the stories of his tribe, as he traced the constellations above.

It wasn’t that I wasn’t thinking about it… I just wasn’t obsessing anymore. Constantly thinking about the worst case scenarios, the consequences, and the responsibilities.

I knew what I had to do. I had to ask the Lord Magistrate for lessons. I had to… well, I should probably look over gramps’ martial arts scroll.

And then take things as they come. Or if I could, head them off before they began.

I took a breath and closed my eyes, humming. I could also desensitize myself a bit. Go on another adventure, but this time… a place with smaller stakes. A little place all of us could go. It was something to think about.

Whatever I did though, I wasn’t alone. A rooster on top of a boar. Xiulan, her head on Meiling’s shoulder. Tigu, listening raptly to Yun Ren. Gou Ren pulling a blanket over Bowu.

This was my path. I’d started going down it when I decided I wanted nothing to do with the Heavens. This is my Heaven.

It was a pretty good one if you ask me.