And so a mortal and a near immortal walked down the streets, enforcing the law. The law was a little lacking and empty to enforce in truth. A small village like this ran more on conscience and common sense instead of a big book of written rules most of the time.

There were written rules, of course, but you'd have to beat around the dusty light tower and haul it out to consult it. And if you didn't agree with it, you could probably scratch out and write a new one in without anyone being the wiser.

That was a problem, Yai Mien thought.

You needed the rules to be hammered out, particularly with a growing society like this. She could judge everything herself if she needed to. She trusted her own impartiality for the job, and everyone here would fall in line real quick with a fifth rank cultivator yelling down on them.

But that wasn't her job, was it?

She didn't make the rules. That was someone else's job, the people's, maybe.

She'd have to talk to Mei Shan about all of this, possibly Chin and Mister Bill as well.

They'd have to take a look through that old tome and come up with a fair system of punishment, maybe build a prison. Rin would just slap the rule breakers away towards the edge of the region at times, but that was no proper punishment.

Yai likes the more stringent methods. Throwing a criminal away was nothing more than tossing him aside for the next village and group to suffer over. Imprisonment was a good option, crippling their cultivation would work as well, depending on the crime. It was worse than death in some ways, but she had known many people who deserved it.

Yai tried not to think about those days. They all did. Mei remembered them and spoke of them more freely than the rest, but the Divine Beast Emporium was a name that had brought fear from her heart for a long time.

And now that she was here, now that she felt truly free from it.

It aroused fury.

She didn't know when it happened, and if it had been a month ago or maybe two months ago, she wouldn't have believed that it could have happened. But one moment, she was another slave working under her new master, and the next, she was a villager.

It was like Mister Bill had turned from a god to a person. Watching him walk around with the villagers, get chastised by Chin, be force-fed food by Medin, and even play a quiet game of cards with Po Pen.

It had all seemed like an act to the girls. Some sort of strange experiment or pastime. At best, he was a man playing with his pets. That was what they thought.

And even now, it didn't really make sense. She couldn't for the life of her understand why he was doing what he did.

But then she met Jha, an old man, a mortal. And she walked with him, talked to him, and worked with him.

And suddenly, she understood. It was never an act. It was never a game.

Then, the man had gone from godlike and mysterious to incredibly simple.

She would never have thought this would be the case. But something, maybe it was the air or the village or, more likely, Mister Bill himself. Something had changed her. She felt happy waking up, and though it had only been months, her past seemed so incredibly distant.

She was euphoric.

Yai walked through Cultivator Town. Captain Jha was back in the village, sitting down for his afternoon nap. He was getting older now. He had been old ever since Yai had met him, but he seemed all that much older these days.

It was as if the man was waiting for a replacement. As if the lack of a fellow watchman was what kept him going. When he was the only one doing the job, he couldn't afford to miss a day, and it wasn't like he could ask Chin Chin for another full-time guard. It would have been a waste of money in that small, peaceful town of his.

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But now, there were more people, and most of them were cultivators. That was a complication, but it was one that Yai Mien was very capable of dealing with.

But she needed more people, more guards, and a decent book of rules and punishments.

For now, she could make do.

Cultivator town was an ever-changing place. It was mostly tents, and as such, it shifted its roads and scenery quite often. One of the few permanent fixtures was the brothel, aptly named Madam Rose's Parlor.

The building had just been finished and it took up a nice large chunk of land. The lights would be on at all times, and there was always a group of people moving in and out of the place, a bit of shame and joy struggling to keep quiet on their faces.

Yai didn't like it. She didn't hate it either, but she knew the nature of the work. You generally never go down that career path with happiness and understanding. It was a job most women, even her at some point, had been forced into.

She watched as a burly half dwarf woman tossed a cultivator out into the street with amazing accuracy. The half dwarf was at the fourth rank, a high enough rank to settle anywhere within this region. Now that the man who was hunting Madam Rose was dead, they could have settled anywhere instead of this place. The Raging River Sect always hosted the strong passing cultivators. They had an immortal there about once every two years. It would be a passing merchant or a visiting delegation.

And those were some very rich customers indeed. Living in that region would gain them access to immortals if not fifth rank cultivators. Or better yet, she could go live with her brother Gai Fang. He was now the head of the Bloody Fist Sect and would protect her to the best of his abilities. Though businesses near a temple might be less than stellar, she at least had a reason to move.

But Yai knew why they chose this place.

There was an indescribable sense of safety here. It felt like a warm fire on a cold day. She didn't know why and she didn't know how, but when she was here, the world seemed to get better.

"Thief! Thief!" Someone yelled.

A small, fast blur passed at imperceivable speeds through the crowds. Yai blurred, and her afterimage thinned.

Her hands rushed towards the thief. The person dodged.

They dodged? Yai thought.

Now she rushed, pushing all she could into her legs and senses. She chased the blurring little thing, and yet somehow, it was getting away.

This time, she watched and focused, sensing where it would go, thinking about what route it would take.

Then she doubled and leapt. One of her, a false image, ran towards the thing while the other ran for where it would be.

The blur turned but was met with a strong pair of hands that lifted it up into the air.

Yai Mien stared at the guilty party.

Nai's eyes watered. Her palms and knees were dirty with mud, and a giant piece of cake was shoved into her tiny jaw.

"Thief," Yai Mien accused.

Nai shook her head desperately and pointed back in the general direction of Cultivator town. They had long since left it and ended up within the village proper.

I paid! I paid! Nai seemed to be yelling. I paid but she didn't see it!

"Oh? Where's the payment?" Yai asked.

An image came to Yai's mind of a small Nai scuttling about the market at an untraceable speed. She checked every stall, smelled every food, and she did it more than once. The vendors hadn't noticed, and neither had the shoppers.

Not even Yai Mien had noticed.

Eventually, she picked an item and put a whole first rank spirit stone into the lady's money pouch, which was far too much for a piece of cake in Yai's opinion.

Yai sighed and put the baby down onto the ground.

"Wait here, okay?" She asked.

Nai nodded lightly, taking care not to let the cake crumble with the action.

Yai teleported to the stall, much to the stall owner's surprise.

"Ma'am, your product was paid for. Please check your money pouch."

"My- my money pouch?" She said, falling back slightly.

"Yes," Yai nodded.

The lady reached into her side pouch and opened it lightly, her eyes widening a little at the sight of one full spirit stone. She was a first rank cultivator, a cook that set up shop traveling caravans.

"Oh ye- yes. I see now," she said with a deep bow. "But this is far too much. Would they like any more-"

Nai flickered over to the stall, but Yai Mien held her back. Yai stood there, holding the squirming baby by her shirt and raised her up to her chest.

"No, I believe one cake is enough for the day," Yai replied.

Nai stared daggers.

"Do you have a permit for the shop, ma'am?"

The color drained from the lady's face.

"A permit?" She squeaked.

"Yes, you don't need one, but you could register yourself as a permanent vendor and own this stall stand if you wish to. The Sect is planning on building lodging for this area soon."

"I- would I be allowed? I mean, so many other sects have already tried to-"

"Yes, ma'am. Most of those attempts have been by threats or coercion, and we do not take those lightly. Would you like for me to file one on your behalf?"

The small lady nodded.

"I will do so then."

Then Yai left.

"See, now you can have those cakes whenever you want, as long as you pay. Understand?"

Nai nodded, cake still held firm between teeth.

"Now, eat that cake before we go to Medin and tell her that you ruined the new pants she made you."

Nai let out a silent scream of horror, but Yai marched on, holding the baby in place.

Justice would be served.

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