Sen made a point to put on a show of cooking for a few days. Somehow, he always managed to cook at least three times as much as he needed. Although, for Sen, it was only mostly a show. He did have a vested interest in making sure that Luo Ping got the things that her body needed to heal. Of course, the greater part of it was simply so everyone could pretend that he hadn’t bought them a truly absurd amount of food. He did make a point to store the meat in his storage ring, though. After all, there was no benefit to buying a bunch of food if it would just spoil. On days he didn’t cook, he made sure that some meat would appear near the stove when it was getting to be around the time for the evening meal. Sure, it was all a big piece of fiction, but one that left everyone’s dignity intact.

What Sen hadn’t expected was for people to start showing up at the farm looking for him. He’d been deeply wary the first time it happened. He’d assumed that the frothy pond sect had finally caught up with him. Except, it wasn’t them. It was a man in his middle years. When Sen approached, the man offered him a deep bow. Then, he launched into a detailed explanation of his medical problem. It took Sen’s stunned brain a few seconds to catch up with what was happening. It wasn’t the prelude to some devious attack. It was just a man looking to get some help. Once Sen realized that he wasn’t going to have to fight anyone, he really started listening to the man’s problem. After hearing the man out and examining him with his qi, Sen wondered why the man had come to him. It was a simple enough problem that any doctor should have been able to help with it.

“Have you seen a doctor about this?” Sen asked, mostly out of curiosity.

“What doctor? We might get one through here once, maybe twice a year, always on their way to somewhere else. Sometimes they see people, sometimes they don’t.”

The man didn’t even sound bitter about it, just resigned.

“What do you do when you have illnesses or injuries?”

The man shrugged. “Take care of it ourselves. People who can afford it to go see a doctor in the city. The Widow Ang knows a little bit. She can stitch people up. Maybe give them some kind of herbal brew.”

Sen nodded along. He’d asked Luo Ping and Luo Min about it, and everything the man was saying was consistent with what they’d told him.

“I see. Well, yes, I can help you. It won’t taste good, though.”

The man blinked at Sen owlishly before he said, “You can?”

“I think so. I’m not sure I can resolve it completely, but I can certainly make it better.”

Sen did think he could resolve it completely, but better to set expectations low. He could be wrong, after all. An hour later, the man left with a stoppered bottle in hand and a smile. Sen was left with some money. He’d just picked a number out of the air that he thought sounded reasonable. The man had seemed happy enough to pay, which made Sen wonder if he’d grossly undercharged for it. Sen resolved then and there to visit the village and learn what things cost. After a few moments of thought, he decided that there was no time like the present. He told Luo Min where he was going and caught up with the recently departed, well, customer. With a potential solution to his medical problem in hand, the older man was happy to chat with Sen about mundane things like the price of rice and where Sen might find some medicinal herbs for sale.

The trip to town was an eye-opening experience for Sen. He’d been dramatically overestimating the cost of things like food. Yet, his sense of what medicinal herbs were worth was far too low. What little there was available in the village, most of it of only so-so quality, was selling for far more than Sen would have paid for it. Still, it did give him a better idea of how much he should be charging if ever decided to sell his alchemical services again. Which he did three times the next day. After the last person left, he found himself frowning into the distance.

“How do all of these people know about me?” he asked the open air.

“That may be my fault,” said Luo Min from behind him.

He glanced over his shoulder to see Luo Min’s nervous eyes on him. She looked down when he looked back at her.

“Your fault? How is it your fault?”

“When I went to get food, I may have said something about how you saved Mother from death.”

Sen didn’t groan out loud, but he did let himself take a deep breath. Then, he looked down at the chicken that was passively sitting in the crook of his arm. It had been the only payment the old woman who had just left could reasonably afford. Sen had been wondering what he was going to do with a chicken, and now he knew.

“I see,” said Sen, and then he handed the chicken over to the startled young woman. “Your rumor, your responsibility. Enjoy your chicken.”

As Sen walked away, Luo Min called after him. “I can’t take this. Livestock is valuable.”

“What’s that?” Sen almost shouted. “I can’t hear you over the roar of that chicken.”

As Sen went back into the hut, he glanced back to see the dumbfounded expression on Luo Min’s face as she held a chicken. A chicken that, as far as Sen knew, had yet to make a sound. As one week turned into two, Sen found himself moving back and forth between accepting coins and bartering for his services. Except, Sen didn’t really need most of the things that people had to barter. It was a problem that vexed Sen until he realized that he was standing on a farm that was in dire need of just about everything. So, he stored the coins he got and bartered for the farm. It wasn’t a lot, individually. An hour or two of labor in a field or making minor repairs on the hut seemed like a good deal to the villagers, who were often lacking in coin. Luo Ping had to explain it to him.

“Farmers only really have coin to spend after the harvest comes in. They spend most of it getting ready for the next year. They buy seed, replace tools, whatever it is they put off for the rest of the year, they pay for then. At least, that’s how it works for most farms,” she amended.

Sen remembered some of the nicer places he’d passed on his way into the village. Yes, those farms looked like they probably had some extra money lying around for emergencies. Still, all of those small barters added up over time. The number of chickens around the place doubled, which led to Sen bartering for someone to build a proper coop for them. One family paid in bags of rice. Sen did keep one of those, depositing it in his storage ring as proof against some future bout of poverty. A few people even paid in seed, which Sen had needed to consult Luo Min about. When she’d given him an enthusiastic, almost desperate, yes, he’d accepted, and then handed off the profits to her safekeeping.

Of course, it wasn’t all positive. As the Luo Farm became visibly more prosperous, young men started turning up to, supposedly, court Luo Min. Sen found himself rather unimpressed with the quality of those young men. One of them had leered at the young woman like she was some tempting piece of food. Sen had quietly excused himself and waited outside. When the young man finally left. Sen spoke with him, feeling that some gentle chastisement was in order.

“If you ever look at her that way again,” said Sen in a calm, conversational tone, “I will remove your eyes. Do you understand?”

The abruptly pale, trembling young man moved his head up and down in tiny, jerking motions. “Yes. I understand.”

Sen supposed that the jian blade hovering a hair’s breadth from the eyes in question made more meaningful movements precarious. Still, the young man said that he understood. Sen decided that would have to be good enough.

“I’m glad to hear that. Now, leave. Do not return.”

When Sen pulled the jian away, the young man simply ran as fast as his legs would carry him. Sen watched him go, and the boy never even glanced back. Sen wasn’t sure if the real message would carry, but he expected that he’d only find it necessary to send that message one more time before everyone understood. Sen wasn’t entirely certain afterward if the universe was rewarding him for good deeds or punishing the young man who turned up the next day. He presented himself better than the first few who turned up, but there was something about him that set Sen on edge. When Luo Min and the young man stepped outside so that she could show him something about the farm, Sen traded a glance with Luo Ping and followed them out.

He kept his distance and hid his presence. He might be wrong, after all. There were bound to be people in the world he simply didn’t like who were still basically decent. Except, he wasn’t wrong this time. When the pair were far enough from the hut that any screams might go unheard, the young man grabbed at her robes and yanked. That was as far as he got. Sen had very nearly killed the young man on the spot, but he thought better of it at the last second. There was no need for Luo Min to witness that. He contented himself with grabbing the young man’s wrist and squeezing. Somewhere in the middle of the bones shattering and the screaming, the young man let go of Luo Min’s robes.

Sen’s opinion of the woman went up then. While she’d clearly been frightened by what had just happened, she was made of stern stuff. She drove her foot between the man’s legs hard enough that she could have broken a thick tree limb with the strike. It wasn’t artful, thought Sen, but, on reflection, it didn’t really need to be. The man lost consciousness at that point, which Sen felt was probably more mercy than he deserved. Sen gave Luo Min a nod and, to his surprise, she threw her arms around him. It was brief, just a few seconds, before she released him. Sen remembered when he’d craved a moment of comfort on the mountain. He couldn’t really fault her for taking one.

She glared down at the young man. “What will you do with him?”

Sen gave her half a smile. “Only what he deserves. You should head back now. I’m sure your mother needs your help with something.”

Sen considered what to do with the young man for several minutes. There were a number of possibilities, but most of them involved doing things to the young man that Sen simply preferred not to do. In the end, he decided to go with a balanced approach. Sen was leaning against a tree when the young man finally came around. He almost immediately started bellowing in pain. The appearance of a spearhead mere inches from his throat cut that down to groans.

“You like to stalk and ambush people. Well, consider yourself blessed. Today, you’ll get to see true masters of your craft at work. There are many beasts in this forest that like to do the same thing.”

The young man looked around with wild eyes. As understanding of where he truly was dawned on the young man, he started begging. “You can’t leave me out here! Not like this!”

Sen let the silence drag out before he spoke. “I suppose you’re right.”

Before the relief could even register on the young man’s face, Sen continued.

“I shouldn’t risk the slim possibility that you might reach safety.”

With a swift, smooth motion, Sen drove the spearhead through the young man’s calf. It didn’t quite sever the muscle, but there was a spray of blood when Sen pulled the weapon free. Sen ignored the howling and the curses laid on his house.

“You bastard!”

“You may be right about that,” said Sen. “I really don’t know.”

“This is murder. You’re murdering me! What kind of healer are you?”

“I’m not a healer. I’m a cultivator,” said Sen. “By the way, I’d start hobbling away now if I were you. All that blood is drawing some attention.”