Part 4, Chapter 17

Village life

Ch 17

Xun laughed aloud as the twins wrestled with their friends in the village square. 

“They’re growing up quickly,” Baimao (白猫 - white/cat) said smiling. 

She and her husband, a mortal, had stumbled into the village almost ten years previously. Baimao had been heavily pregnant and within a few days of their arrival had given birth to a litter of three half mortal, half cat demon children. Baimao’s litter grew more quickly than Xun’s children and the five were now almost of an age, despite the twins having been born almost fifty years earlier. 

Xun reluctantly stood. “Can you watch them for a while?” She asked. “Renping and I are going to check on the far field this morning and don’t want them getting into mischief like last time.”

It was Baimao’s turn to laugh. “To be fair, those purple dyes sold twice as well as the red ones we were supposed to make.”

“If only a I could figure out what they did,” Xun said wryly. The twins were precocious to say the least, their magic coming out in odd ways that were hard to unravel. 

“It would be nice to have an idea, it was a lovely dye,” Baimao said. “You and Renping should hurry though if you are going to make it to the field and back before sunset. I know the wolf pack will be roaming the area, but it’s still dangerous after dark.”

“Thank you,” Xun said, brushing the grass from her skirt as she stood. “Jingyi is going with us today. If the madder is ready we can start the harvest in a few days.”

“Oh joy,” Baimao said sarcastically. 

Xun grinned and left to find Renping and Jingyi. 

When she and Renping had first come here the village had been only a few refugees from the Heavenly Realm, a few sprites and fairies. They had lived off whatever the soldiers could hunt and the fairies could gather from the woods. 

It hadn’t taken long for Xun to decide that she had had enough of that way of life. She and Renping had used their knowledge from the pharmacy to begin growing and preparing herbs that were native in the area and a few that were encouraged through the use of magic. Xun had then used her connections with her cousins to sell their goods in the wider market. She never went to the drop point herself, usually sending one of the soldiers, but even so Yu’Bo and Yu’Luo had done well for her and soon the village, if not wealthy was prospering. 

They had several new additions over the years as well. Baimao, a cat demon and her mortal lover, who had been driven out of his village. A pack of wolf demons, three adults and five young cubs running from hunters. The wolves had chosen not to live in the village itself, preferring to stay in a cave near the base of the valley, but they were still on the land protected by Jingyi’s magic and contributed to the village with meat and by protecting the perimeter. Changhe in particular was fond of chasing the cubs on his stubby little legs, laughing hysterically when they would let him grab their tails. A pair of priestesses who were focused on reaching enlightenment had followed Taiwu back to the village one year, and they had settled down in their odd ragtag collection of misfits quite well. Although Taiwu had loudly voiced his wish that they stop calling him Master, they persisted much to Jingyi’s delight. Their most recent additions had been a minor river spirit and her half-demon daughter, who was still scared of the men in the village. She did get along well with the wolf demons, as long as they stayed in wolf form and with Changye and the other children, so Xun had hope that she might overcome some of what happened to her, given time. 

Xun, Renping, and Jingyi decided after checking the crops that they would need to ripen for at least another week before they were ready to be harvested. Renping worked a little magic to ensure a soft rain that evening and Xun pushed her magic deep into the earth and through the plant roots to encourage them to grow a bit faster. The two women had discovered that the combination of Renping’s water magic and Xun’s earth and wood magic were an excellent combination for growing high quality crops. They buyers the twins had found always paid top dollar, at least according to Yu’luo’s letters.  

As the three friends walked back Xun gave a deep sigh. She was content with her life as it was. She still missed Jianyu with all of her heart, but the business in the village and caring for the children kept her occupied, if not completely distracted. If her bed felt empty and her heart ached constantly that was her business.