She had known it was over the moment she saw the mighty grandmaster. Fang Xiu did not know, precisely, who Yan De was—her husband did not like to speak of his past, and she did not press him. It was clear, however, that he had been a man who even Zheng Long could not oppose. Xiu knew that the sects held onto their people jealously, that was why rogues were so maligned. Being unaffiliated meant you had no protections, and having left a sect guaranteed you had enemies.

  Zheng Long had always been clear that his presence was a danger, and Elder Fang—Xiu’s adopted father, though she still didn’t like to call him that—had said the same. She didn’t care. It wasn’t about mortals and immortals, sects and rogues, or even the benefit of having a powerful cultivator supporting the village.

  Some of the other women in the village liked to tease Xiu about marrying the dashing hero that had come down from the heavens to save her life, but that wasn’t how she saw it. True, he had saved her life when she’d wandered into his cave, nearly freezing to death, but what about him?

  Zheng Long had been sitting alone in that cave for so long that he’d started to build up a layer of dust. Sitting motionless for years, trapped in his own head with nothing but his own self-loathing for company.

  Xiu knew what it was like to be trapped in your own mind. She’d lost her parents when she was little more than a toddler, and much of her childhood had been defined by a profound sadness that she couldn’t even understand. The village elder had taken her in, and the entire village had worked together to help her.

  She hadn’t appreciated them, at first. Even when she’d gone out and risked her life to search for a cure for Elder Fang’s illness, it had been half because she welcomed death.

  Then she’d seen Zheng Long, and it was like looking into a mirror. Xiu never found out what exactly had happened to him, or why he’d fled one of the great sects, but it didn’t matter. One look at that sad man and she’d realized that she needed the village, and so did he.

  Falling in love had been an unintended consequence, but she couldn’t say it was unwelcome. Zheng Long kept his heart in a box, under lock and key and heavy guard. It was a point of pride for Xiu that she of all people had managed to pry that box open. At first, it was only for her, but eventually she managed to coax more of him out into the open and show the other villagers what she had seen in him from the beginning.

  Her only regret was that she hadn’t gotten him to propose sooner. Five years felt so short in hindsight, and they’d only officially been together for less than one. Xiu wished they could have had more. Time enough for Zheng Long to meet his son, at least. She wondered if he even knew. He’d probably known before she did—cultivators were ridiculous like that.

  But her husband was gone, and Zheng An would grow up without a father. He’d left to protect them one last time, from the phantoms of his past. Maybe she should have asked more about who he had been before after all, because when the night sky suddenly turned to daylight for a moment and a strange figure descended, Xiu had absolutely no idea whether they were a friend or an enemy.

  Not a single villager missed the stranger’s appearance. Even if they’d been sleeping, she was heralded by a shock of thunder that shook the earth enough to make Xiu nervous about landslides.

  Little An started crying immediately, and so Xiu was gently rocking the baby in her arms as she went out to investigate.

  “Shh. It’s alright, mommy’s here. You’re safe.”

  Despite the dark, the stranger was perfectly illuminated, as though she had captured the attention of the moon itself. Her white hair shone in the moonlight, and her golden eyes practically glowed in the dark. Xiu blinked in surprise when she realized that the woman was a beastkin. She had the ears, tails, and eyes of a cat, with fur as white as her hair.

  Xiu had never met a beastkin before, and she’d never expected she would, living so far to the north. She didn’t realize they could be cultivators, but this one seemed to be as powerful as Zheng Long—perhaps even Yan De.

  She touched down outside of the village proper, and since Xiu’s cottage—she’d insisted on staying there, even after her husband left—was on the outskirts, it gave her the dubious honor of being the first person on the stranger’s path. Xiu really hoped she came in peace, but something about the woman’s presence eased her anxiety. Even Zheng An had stopped crying.

  The stranger met Xiu’s eyes and walked right over, her strides crossing a greater distance than they should have. To her extreme surprise, the beastkin woman held her hands out in front of her and bowed deeply at the waist—a traditional and extremely respectful greeting.

  “Greetings, miss. I am Lee Jia of the Jiaguo Empire. I’ve come on behalf of Zheng Long to offer this village my protection.”

  She was so small! If Xiu didn’t know any better, she’d think the girl was even younger than she was, but you could never tell with cultivators. Xiu returned the bow awkwardly, not able to match Lee Jia’s depth with a baby in her arms.

  “I am Fang Xiu of...erm, our village doesn’t have a name. The Heavenly Empire of Qin. I-I didn’t know there were others. Daughter of the village elder—adopted, not that—sorry, I’m rambling. You know my husband?”

  Xiu blushed. She’d never done anything like this before, and she was embarrassed about stumbling over her words like that. Zheng Long’s tired stoicism had been far less intimidating than Lee Jia’s friendly introduction.

  Lee Jia stood up straight and smiled, and Xiu could swear that she felt her spirits lifting from the undisguised joy in that expression.

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  “I do! He’s a friend, and we studied under the same masters once. Though those two facts are, uh, unrelated.”

  She giggled at her own private joke, and it was hard not to get caught up in the casual levity of the moment. Xiu herself smiled wryly at Lee Jia’s comment.

  “I can only imagine. That man has a shell thicker than the mountain I found him in. I’m shocked he has any friends at all, much less one close enough to come all this way on his behalf.”

  “Really?”

  Lee Jia cocked her head, and it occurred to Xiu that this was someone who’d known her husband far longer than she. Probably before whatever had caused him to isolate in that cave for so long.

  “Er, I suppose he might have changed since you knew him.”

  “Much to his credit, yes. I think I have you to thank for that—between us girls, he used to be a real nuisance. Is that his son? He’s so cute!”

  Xiu chuckled as the powerful cultivator fawned over her son.

  “It is—little Zheng An, named for the peace I wish his father could have had a bit longer. Is he well? I don’t know what carried him away, exactly, but it must have been quite a risk to petition a foreigner for aid.”

  Lee Jia glanced up from gently tickling the baby, smiling apologetically as Xiu nervously eyed those sharp claws.

  “You can ask him all about it yourself in a moment, but first...”

  She straightened, and the playful smile dropped from her face as she closed her eyes and the air around them shifted. Xiu shuddered, not from the cold—she was used to it, living so far north—but from the uncanny sense of presence that surrounded her. It was like the feeling of being watched, but magnified a hundred fold and from every direction at once.

  Lee Jia’s lips moved as she whispered, mostly to herself.

  “Three...four agents, no xiantian. They know I’m here, but they’re not acting yet—good. Worried, uncertain, they haven’t heard from the sect yet. No lines of communication—I keep forgetting that’s a problem here. Hmm...”

  She opened her eyes and smiled at Xiu.

  “I’m glad to see you’re safe, for the moment. I was worried the situation would be more urgent, but that gives me options. You said you were the chief’s daughter?”

  “Elder—uh, adopted.”

  “Can you speak on behalf of your village, or should I seek him out?”

  By now, many of the villagers had emerged from their homes to see what was up with the random stranger. Even after getting used to Zheng Long, wandering cultivators weren’t everyday occurrences—especially when they made as dramatic an entrance as Lee Jia.

  “I can introduce you—what was that about speaking to Zheng Long?”

  “Later, sorry—we should get things sorted here first. The elder’s house is the one in the middle, yes? The man with two helpers leading him here?”

  How did she know—?

  “Uh, that’s probably him, yes. Damn it, he shouldn’t be moving around so much—hasn’t he ever heard of a messenger?”

  “Let’s save him the trip, then.”

  Lee Jia reached out and took Xiu’s arm in a gentle grip, then the world around them blurred and suddenly they stood before a very startled Elder Fang and the two young men that Xiu had assigned to attend him.

  Xiu’s adopted father was nearing the end of his life, and in truth she probably could have spoken on behalf of the village. He’d been mostly bedridden, lately, and after the first year or so of Xiu acting as a go-between, he’d told her to stop bothering him about every little thing and just make the decisions herself. By the time An was born, Xiu had already been accepted as the de facto head of the village.

  But she needed Elder Fang for this. He was the man who’d been skeptical of Zheng Long from the beginning—and even quite frustratingly through to the end, despite begrudgingly approving of their marriage. He had experience with cultivators, and unlike Xiu, he had met beastkin before. Her father had lived a very long life, and done a lot of traveling before founding his own village in a tiny forgotten corner of the frontier and settling down.

  Lee Jia gave him that same overly respectful formal bow as she reintroduced herself. He stood up straight, despite his failing back, and smacked away the hands of the young boys trying to support him as he scowled at the stranger.

  “Jiaguo? Never heard of it. Stupid name—’good country’? Really? The half-spirits don’t do empires—not since the Fox Princess. Too big for their fancy bubbles, and the high nobility wouldn’t stand for it.”

  “They weren’t fond of it, no. Neither were the great sects, but the southern frontier stands united nonetheless.”

  “Does it now? And what’s this, then? You want to scoop up the north, too?”

  “Not at all. I’m here on personal business on behalf of a friend, Zheng Long. Your village has been held hostage in order to compel him against his will.”

  Fang scoffed.

  “I know all about that, and he did the right thing by leaving. Should have done it sooner, instead of leaving my daughter with such a burden.”

  Xiu had to stop herself from slapping him.

  “Fang! How dare you?! That’s your grandson you’re talking about!”

  She regretted her outburst immediately, as the baby started crying and she had to bounce him on her shoulder. Her father met her eyes with a tired expression.

  “I know, and I love Xiao An more than anything in the world, but I’m not going to live long enough to stand in for his father. The boy deserves better, and so do you.”

  Only Xiu’s efforts to calm her crying baby kept her from snapping back, and it was Lee Jia who cut in by awkwardly clearing her throat.

  “Um, as I was saying, I’m here to offer my protection—even that of Jiaguo, if you’ll accept it. I’ll respect whatever decision you make, but first and foremost I’d like to return your original guardian—now freed of his obligations.”

  She held out a hand and the space in front of her glowed brightly, building in intensity until it resolved with a flash. When Xiu’s vision returned, her heart skipped a beat and she nearly fell to her knees. Her husband caught her, supporting her in a gentle embrace.

  “I’ve got you! I’m so sorry, Fang Xiu. I’m back, and now that I have you once more, I’ll never let go again—I swear.”

  The tears welled up in her eyes as Xiu struggled to find her words.

  “You—you missed the birth of your son, you filthy deadbeat.”

  Zheng Long gently stroked An’s head and smiled wistfully.

  “I know. I’m sorry. He’s beautiful, just like his mother. I promise not to miss another moment.”

  A sniffle interrupted their moment, and Xiu looked over to see Lee Jia wiping her eyes in vain as tears flowed.

  “S-sorry! Ignore me!”

  Zheng Long sighed and shook his head.

  “Fang Xiu, father-in-law, since she has no doubt been excessively humble in her dealings with you, please allow me to properly introduce Empress Yoshika of the Jiaguo Empire, Queen of Goryeo, Supreme Overlord of Yamato, and Unifier of the Southern Frontier.”

  ‘Lee Jia’ blushed bright red and bowed as, for the second time in as many minutes, Fang Xiu felt as though she might faint.

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