It was already near midnight when Fengli came back from the audience with master Lan. The journey downhill from master’s residence, round the barracks then uphill again towards servants quarters located on the opposite hill, overlooking the eastern cliff, will take several dozen minutes. In other words, she had enough time to think things through and decide on what to do next.

She looked over the nightly panorama of the village and the nearby woods. Most household’s lights were already off, their inhabitants trying to get well rested before next day’s work. However, the night was cloudless, and the stars and the nearly full moon illuminated the view quite well. All around the area were seemingly endless mountain summits. Infinity, as always, is an illusion. In truth, Chenfei was one of the southernmost villages in the northwestern mountain range. About 150 kilometers south from here, the rocky peaks and earthly mounds end abruptly and give way to the vast plains of the central lowlands.

…In all honesty, she didn’t have much attachment to this place. She didn’t want to stay here. Wen Fengli initially came her for two reasons-because she didn’t want to stay where she was before, and because a certain old trickster promised her that her dreams of becoming a cultivating warrior can come true in his school.

However, not long after arriving here, she learned the hard way that her dreams of becoming a warrior are just that, dreams. The difference between talented and talentless is just that huge. For every 100 days of training she has to do undergo, a human skilled in qi manipulation needs to only meditate for a day to achieve similar results. Yet, she continued observing and training and trying to copy the moves of human cultivators training in the gymnasium, because she didn’t want to give up. She didn’t want to admit defeat, before herself.

However, the painful reality is, that the average human can never stand up to a cultivator trained in manipulating qi. Qi is a mysterious, incomprehensible energy. According to the ancient scriptures, it’s the energy of life, flowing through every living being in the universe. Yet somehow, only some humans and spirits, and no yaren or animals can control it efficiently. And even within human society, those who do, are many steps above those who don’t. With the rise of cultivator schools, clans and sects, old-style armies and wars became a thing of the past, and fantastical duels between qi warriors and otherwordly powers became the standard. Society became divided between haves and have not, and Wen Fengli found herself unwillingly assigned to the latter group.

Just because she was born with wolf ears and tail.

But now, there is a chance to change that fate. She was willing to grasp the straw, however thin it seemed to be. And in fact, it was quite thick.
She squeezed the medallion hidden under her shirt, the elaborate floral patterns digging deep into her skin.

This thing is probably enchanted. Magical. Perhaps even, demonic. The calm she feels when touching it is unnatural. The decorations are both beautiful and bizarre, and looking at them fills her with a certain sense of familiarity-as if she has seen them before as if she should know them. And the violet ink-like substance they are filled with seems neither liquid nor solid, and frankly speaking, she’s at a loss what it’s made of.

According to master Lan, the medallion is a memento of her mother, who was a pure-blooded human…and also a cultivator associated with a somewhat famous Wen clan. Someone like Wen Feili wouldn’t carry useless trinkets, much less pass them to her only daughter almost a decade after her own death. There is certainly more to it than meets the eye. Just as she was instructed, she’ll keep it hidden, but will continue looking into it nonetheless, trying to uncover its secrets on her own. But should she fail at that, there are no worries. The answers will surely become clear once she reaches her destination.

Far in the south, there is a land where human supremacy has not yet reached. Beyond the central plains, and huge rivers, and steep cliffs, there are endless bamboo forests and subtropical jungles inhabited by native, beastman tribes. Humans, and even some mixed breeds, are known to be unwelcome there, and multiple attempts to subdue the region by various expeditions sent by the people of the middle kingdom ended up with failure. There are legends of magical beasts, spirits, ghosts and devils lurking in the dark, wild lands, and terrible rituals and heretic cultivator sects, that, having being exiled from civilization for straying off the orthodox path, found shelter within the southern darkness, to pursue their corrupt ways freely.

This is also the land where Fengli was said to be born. She only knew the name of her home village and barely remembered anything related to it, as there was a vicious military conflict ongoing, and early in her life she was separated from her family and send to live in an orphanage near the southern border of the civilized world, alongside many other orphans and illegitimate children of war….

At that point, she didn’t know yet about what happened to her family, and mindlessly waited for her parents to come and pick her up…and someone came indeed. It was an old man, with a long, white beard, wearing fancy, white robes that signified the rank of sect grandmaster….He told her he’s a friend of Wen Feili, and narrated to her daughter the circumstances of her life and whatever he knew of her death. The young wolfgirl had no reason not to believe him, and she followed him to far northern mountains….

She shook her head and inhaled the night air. There is no point in reminiscing about these past events. In fact, she should prepare for the most difficult struggle right in front of her. As she made her way downhill, then uphill again, and the familiar building that served as the lodgings for the furry servants came into sight, she steeled her mind and heart, in preparation for the challenge ahead.

The quarters were already silent, and most people were asleep, recovering their vital energy before the next busy morning. Although the mixed breeds were more resilient than humans, and they didn’t participate in combat training, they too, needed to rest from time to time, else they’d eventually collapse from exhaustion-both physical, and mental.

Fengli shared the room with Annu and Zhanzhan, and thanks to that the three of them naturally became good friends….eventually. To her surprise, they were both waiting for her return, playing xiàngqí. As always, Annu was winning, much to catgirls frustration. Despite being older, her strategic sense left much to be desired, tho if you were to ask her, she’d most likely tell you she’s a girl of action or something along these lines.

When the wolfgirl opened the door to their room quietly and walked in, Zhanzhan and Annu jumped up from their seats and immediately started barraging her with questions. They told her about how everyone was looking for her the whole day(looks like that bastard Shunji wasn’t lying after all), and wanted to know what was the master’s business with her. Zhanzhan complained about wasting a portion of her day and worrying needlessly, and Annu just stared silently in disapproval. Neither of them knew about the history of Wen family, nor about prolonged training sessions in the cave, nor about bullying, nor about many other things they shouldn’t know.

However, today was the day Fengli would share some of the secrets with her closest friends. “Find someone you can trust”, old master once Lan told her, “There is no greater treasure than a trustworthy friend”. At first, she disregarded his words as an old man’s rambling, but in fact, she had two such friends. She took a deep breath and started narrating from the beginning. Soon the two of them went quiet and just listened to Fengli speechless.

Of course, there were things she couldn’t tell them, and there were also things she didn’t know, but since she was going to make a most unreasonable request, she thought it only fair to clearly explain some things to them. Her tail was wagging uneasily, as she didn’t know how they will take her story, yet she clenched her teeth, knowing it’s something she has to do nonetheless.

First, she started about her past in the southern orphanage. This part was known to both the catgirl and sheepboy, as well as pretty much every other villager and servant living in Chenfei. Fengli never hid the fact that she’s basically a foreigner-and her first year or so in these lands was quite rough, as she wasn’t used to local customs and way of life. However, thanks to the friendly guidance of older servants, mainly Zhanzhan who was her senior by a year, she was eventually accepted as one of their own.

The catgirl laughed, recalling the first time she met the tomboyish wolfgirl. However, before she had a chance to share this embarrassing story again, she was whacked quite hard in the head by Fengli, who protested, and stated she has much to tell them yet and the night is short. Annu kept looking back and forth between them with a panicked expression, not sure if they are fighting for real or just playing, but calmed down after he realized its the latter. He too, remembered his first meeting with Fengli rather vividly, but he never shared that story with anyone-it was a precious memory that he kept only to himself.

Afterwards, she briefly narrated the circumstances that led her to being essentially adopted into service at Shuangshan. She told them a half-true story that her mother was a talented human cultivator of a famous southern sect, but fell in love with a pure-blood wolfman, and Wen Fengli was the fruit of their forbidden love. It was the first time she shared her surname with anyone in this remote northern village, and she braced for impact, but neither of her friends seemed to have recognized the name. That’s for the best.

“Your mother was a human cultivator!” exclaimed Zhanzhan, surprised. “No wonder your qi is so high!”

That was a bit of simplification. It isn’t that Fengli’s qi is high- it’s a life energy that flows through all life-but rather, her ability to manipulate that energy was significantly higher than that of most yaren. In fact, it was close to the average human level-a couple of years she even successfully managed to establish a cultivation foundation! …After many days of gruesome training, that is, and ultimately it led to nothing. For average human level is still not enough- average human plows the fields or sells fish in the market, and bows before his superiors with shock and awe. To become a cultivating warrior, and walk the legendary path of the immortals from ages long past, one must be more talented than mere average.

Still, her achievement was exceptional enough that for a while she became a little celebrity among the mixed breed servants of the Shuangshan-until her reputation as rebellious, mischievous, and slightly asocial tomboy eventually overtook it.

As instructed, she didn’t say a word about the amulet passed on from her mother. However, she did intend to fill them in about that..eventually…if they accept to…

“Join me on the journey far beyond southern borders of the middle kingdom, to the wildland of the untamed bamboo forests….” she repeated this line over and over again on the way from master’s house and did her best to sound solemn and serious. However, before she could finish, she was interrupted by Zhanzhan’s high-pitched laugh.

At first, she asked if it’s a joke. However, seeing that Fengli isn’t saying anything, her expression gradually darkened.

“Are you out of your mind? I understand why you’d want to go back to wherever you came from, but why should I follow?” She looked at Annu for confirmation, but he was looking at the wolf with sheepish eyes. For him, Wen Fengli was everything, and he wouldn’t mind following her even on a dangerous and possibly suicidal journey south. Like her, he was an outsider to the village and didn’t have much to look forward to regarding his future.

Zhanzhan was different. While she did consider Fengli a friend, she would not abandon her native village and possible future career prospects for adventure or out of a weird sense of loyalty. Despite her, rather frequent and vocal complaints, she felt her place in life secure, and wouldn’t risk losing that security. However, Fengli next words put a tiny crack in this security.

“Master Lan told me…” started Fengli, her head down, fingers clenching her sleeves insecurely “that he will die soon. However, his death will not be natural. He said the village will be attacked, and many people will die. The only way to be safe is to be far away from here-the farther, the better!”

“Why would the village be attacked, and when? Tomorrow is…” Zhanzhan wanted to instantly disregard her friend’s words, but stopped herself mid-sentence. The first rays of dawn were slowly rising beyond the horizon. Today all servants had free day, because tomorrow was a very special day-a day 0f sparring tournament when all the prominent martial artists of the sect would show their skills before the audience. It’s a grand, but also chaotic festival. If there was any force willing to attack Chenfei, it’s when it’s population is most distracted….

“But it still makes no sense” this time, Annu raised voice. Despite being all too willing to leave this place and travel with his favorite person, he was still a smart boy, and wouldn’t willingly believe such story without investigation. “If the village is to be attacked, wouldn’t he inform warriors first? Call off the tournament, prepare for defense?”

“You’re just making this up to convince us to join you, aren’t you!?” exclaimed Zhanzhan, and laughed. However her laughter was a bit forced-in truth she didn’t feel like laughing at all.

“The master said…” Wen Fengli had some trouble calling the old lunatic a “master”, but the extent of her disregard for the old man is not known to her friends, nor did she intend to make it know now “…that there are internal enemies to be wary off. He doesn’t know whom to trust anymore”

Her friends looked at each other, perplexed. True, there were two rival factions in Shuangshan, but surely, it’s nothing that serious? Neither of them could imagine that righteous Bai Lianfei or that mischievous Wang Shunji capable of spilling innocent blood. So where would the internal enemies come from?

“…at any rate, he said he can’t guarantee my safety anymore, so he told me to go back on my own to my home…town. However, I don’t want to do it alone, and that’s why I asked you two for companionship. " Fengli raised her finger up, as if she thought some brilliant idea now “I know, when we reach the first city, we will look out for any news from the north, and if it turns out nothing happened, we will turn away and come back!”

Frankly speaking, she didn’t intend to come back. Not when the cold surface of the amulet dug against her skin. Not when she finally got a chance, however faint, to break her fate, and be something or someone more than just a servant. However, she did not intend to share this with her friends, even as she was asking them for help. She was afraid they will deem her insane if they learn how strong is her resolve, especially since she didn’t intend to tell them about the medallion.

Which, of course, doesn’t mean they didn’t realize it. They knew the wolfgirl long enough that they were capable of perceiving her intentions and reading some of the things that were left unspoken. For this reason, Zhanzhan’s tail was wagging madly. For this reason, Annu put his head down and didn’t say anything.

The cat and wolf went back and forth for a while longer, but soon, they conceded. Since neither of them felt like giving in to the other side’s arguments, there was nothing left but to agree to disagree. At the very least, Zhanzhan offered to help Fengli and Annu with travel preparations.

They set the city of Kiyi, the first major urban center in the lowlands they will reach after leaving the mountains, as their first destination. Annu assumed that walking 15-18 hours every day, they will reach it within 3 days since departure. Yaren are much more resilient than humans and can withstand long marching with little sleep or rest in between. Ironically, that’s also what makes them valuable as laborers and servants but can’t help much in battle against those who wield supernatural powers.

They didn’t want to over encumber themselves, so they only took enough provisions and supplies to last them until they reach the city. They would resupply there, and try to buy a horse or a donkey to carry additional stuff for them. While Zhanzhan left to “fetch” some stuff from the kitchen for them, Fengli revealed to Annu exactly how much money she received from master Lan. It wasn’t coins, preferred in the north, but rather a heavy bag filled with a huge amount of paper money, popular in the south. It wasn’t the first time Annu saw this kind of currency-in the past he used to briefly travel with a merchant caravan that traded with similar money, among the other means of barter-but it sure was the first time he saw such an amount of it in a single place. They made several precautions to secure the money bag, making it waterproof and tying securely inside the backpack with several leather straps, all the while keeping it a secret from their cat friend, who might have an idea to demand a share for keeping quiet. Greed is a dangerous drug that can mess with the mind of even the most righteous people, and Zhanzhan was known well to be the opposite of righteous.

There was also a matter of disguise. In the north, yaren and humans lived along with each other in relative peace and without incidents. However, the lowlands weren’t so accepting of mixed breeds. Discrimination was rampant, and they were treated as second-class citizens. Fortunately, aside from wolf ears and tail, Wen Fengli could pass well for a human. She found a slightly oversized hooded cloak, and tucked her tail under her robes. There, she’s pretty much incognito!

Annu had a bigger problem. In addition to rather prominent horns on his head, his facial features were clearly distorted and sheep-like. The inhuman blood ran thick in his family, and it had a strong influence on his appearance. What’s worse, small patches of wool started appearing all over his body some time ago, and he feared that in a few months or years, he will have to either start shaving it off, or resign himself to looking like some kind of bipedal ram talking with a human voice. In short, there was no way to easily conceal his racial profile without raising suspicion.

“I know!” exclaimed Zhanzhan, her ears fluttering in excitement “Fengli will pretend to be a human, and you will be her sheepboy servant!”

Annu blushed and protested, but Fengli loved this idea, and instantly suggested finding him a collar as well and leading him on a leash to underline that sweet master-servant dynamic!

“No no no, certainly not!” protested Annu even louder, and threatened to not go after all if he’s going to be leashed after all. Of course, the truth is, he was going to follow Fengli no matter what because he saw her as the best person ever, but he kept that piece of info to himself, deeply concealed within his heart.

After a bit of arguing they gave up on the leash, and in return for this concession, decided to make him carry the heavier load. How else would they reinforce the servant-master impression? What if some southerner gets suspicious and decided to search them?

After a bit of hesitation, he agreed, all the while feeling a bit uneasy, as if he was but a marionette dancing to Zhanzhan’s and Fengli’s tune. Needless to say, this wasn’t the first time he felt like that in his life, nor was it the first time he brushed the suspicion aside and went along with whatever his older female friends told him to do.

And soon enough, the preparations were complete. Under the cover of early morning, the sheep and the wolf said goodbye to what have been their home past couple of years. As he was walking down the servant hill, Annu was overtaken with a wave of nostalgia. Although he never intended to stay in this backbone village in the first place, before he realized it, he grew accustomed to the role of servant. If he spent here a few more years, he’d become like Zhanzhan for sure-complacent and willing to spend the rest of his life in Chenfei. Such fate was unforgivable to him, who dreamed of traveling the world since he was a little kid, and he was thankful for having Fengli to get him out of here before it was too late.

Speaking of the wolfgirl, what….ah, of course. Fengli stayed behind to play with Zhanzhan’s cat ears for the last time. Even though he walked several dozen steps ahead, he could hear his feline friend’s loud purring in the distance. Despite having opposite personalities and life outlooks, he liked her too. Who knowns however long they aren’t going to see each other? Is he even going to come back to the north? What are they going to find in the south....?

The south…is a mysterious place, where many exotic items and foodstuff come from. It’s also the land of undisputed Yaren dominance. Children of the north often tells each other fairy tales and stores about the south, but not many people in the northwestern mountain range have ever even been to central plains, much less southern jungles. For sure, nobody in his family ever did. Most of his relatives stayed in their home village of Yafan, content with their status and accumulating wealth, serving their human masters.

And also, interbreeding, to create perfect servant phenotypes. He gazed at his deformed, wool-covered hands. What was the point of all that?

But before he could brood further on the topic of his ancestry, Fengli caught up to him. Her presence was like a ray of sunshine, dispelling the darkness of his mind, which tend far too often to drift away and overthink matter. Without saying a word, he was grateful to her, and resolved himself to follow her, whenever she went. Which is…were exactly?

“We’re going on a detur first” proclaimed Fengli. “There is something hidden beyond the northwestern waterfall that I want to retrieve first~”

The northwestern waterfall? There were several waterfalls in the northwest. That’s where the river circling the village took off from the higher ground and made its way south. What could she possibly want from there?

…….

After the two of them left, Zhanzhan returned to her room. Meant for three, it was now strangely empty. If nothing happens she’ll have a hell of explaining to her supervisors about where the other two went. However, if the master told Fengli to go, he’ll probably vouch for her…probably.

She dropped down onto the bed with a heavy sigh. “What am I thinking about?” she asked out loud. She had a habit of talking out loud to herself whenever she thought no one can hear me. “If what she said is true, I don’t need to worry about any of that”. She let out a loud laugh and curled in a ball, then fell asleep without delay, purring occasionally in between inhaling and exhaling. This time, she had no dreams.

---

* kilometers: this story uses metric system, and not the ancient Chinese one, to measure distance

* "sect" here means a hierarchial organization of cultivators studing to become immortal in accordence with teachings of whatever tradition their sect follows. It's devoid of religious meaning the term has in the west. Members of the sect don't have to be related.
* on the other hand, cultivator "clan" means a sect where everyone is related by blood and usually has the same surname. 

So far, the story introduced Shuangshan "sect" and Wen "clan".