Fey Lin walked, and a fifth-rank walked with her.

Mei Shan had told her that she should use a different name than her official one. Even if small syllable names were common and even if there were surely people with the same name as her, that was no reason to risk it.

So she had made a new name, Lin. It was common, it was small, and it was hers.

Mei Shan shrugged at it. And then the second thing hit her. This girl, this child who wasn't even an immortal, had talked to her like she was an equal. Was this an insult? If so, by whom? By the strange man? By the girl? What should her reaction be to this? Was this a test? Did he expect her to kill the servant?

No. He had rules. No violence within this area, yes. Maybe this was a test to see what she would do when faced with such disrespect.

But then, she had a thought. The girl had talked to her casually, but she had done the same with Bill Terrance. Was she also a powerful cultivator masquerading as a nobody?

No, she obviously served the demigod who had broken her shackles with a mere thought.

But she had been so casual with him as well. She hadn't bowed or greeted the man in any formal manner. She had just spoken, as if she was an aid rather than a servant.

Could that be it? Fey Lin thought. No. No that couldn't be the case. She would follow his rules for now and do everything she could to stay in his good graces.

"Here," Mei Shan said, holding out a wooden mask. "Mister Bill said that your face might cause trouble, and that you should hide it in order to avoid attention."

Oh yes, her face. The man hadn't been moved at all.

Then why had Fey Lin Fo done it? Why had she asked the man for help?

He was a man. He was a person. She had seen women with husbands turn red in her presence. She had started battles among clans and wars amongst sects, just for her face alone.

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She should have fled as soon as she knew he wasn't just a mere mortal and she certainly shouldn't have begged for aid.

She had asked for aid before and she had paid the price for it. Her body had almost been taken. Everytime it had almost happened, another had intervened to save her. Her pursuers were only disrupted by others who wanted her.

She was a jewel to be had, a fruit to be savored, and the only reason she had been chained up and left to her own devices was because none would allow the others to have her. And thus they kept her, claiming her own choice would set her free.

People desired her, not as a person but as an object.

But this man didn't. He had no attraction towards her, and she knew this.

He judged her for her troubles and allowed her to stay as long as she followed the rules.

He didn't desire her. If anything, he disliked her presence.

Fey thought about this and put on the mask, nodding slightly and set it on her face.

For some reason, she trusted the man. There was something there, something genuine. She could tell that he pitied her.

But more than that, there was a desire to be near him.

What was that feeling? It wasn't love. Fey Lin loved no one. She cared for few, but loved none.

It was something different.

She felt something platonic and pleading. As if she was standing next to a peaceful pond in her youth. She felt like a little girl, staring at the pitch black sky in wonder. She felt like a young lady standing in front of her elders.

She felt like a… person. She did not feel like Fey Lin Fo, the Saphire of Ah-Marin, but like any other person, being judged for their merits.

The mask fit like a second skin and she felt her face grow and shrink.

"Hm?"

She used her senses to see herself and saw… a plain woman looking back at her. She had black hair, fair skin, and an oval, somewhat chubby face.

"Incredible," she sighed.

"Yes, Mister Bill says you can take it with you and travel. He says they won't be able to detect you with that mask on."

"Truly?" Fey Lin asked.

"Truly," Mei nodded.

"Then does that mean he wants me to leave?" Fey Lin asked.

"No, just that if you choose to do so, you will be safe."

"Why?"

"He is a strange man, I think."

"Yes, but why all of this? And for nothing? Is he really that powerful that there is nothing he wants in return for freeing me?"

Mei Shan smiled.

"I asked myself the same thing not too long ago."

"And? Do you have an answer?"

"He's just being kind," Mei Shan shrugged. "That's all there is to it."

"Kind?"

"Yes, kind."

"Then why not rule the realm? Why not take over and bring that kindness to this place?"

"Like I said, he's a strange man."

"What does he want?"

"Peace," Mei Shan answered.

"Then why not enforce it?"

"He has no desire to rule or take over people. I think he mostly wants to drink his tea and stare at the sky."

"The world will never allow that," Fey Lin said with surprising venom in her voice.

"Yes, he knows. I believe he's getting ready for that."

"For what?"

"For the world."

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