"Lady Guizhong."
A broad-shouldered man bowed slightly to the god who sheltered them. He wore only a gray sleeveless tunic; sun-browned skin and corded arms spoke of youth and strength.
"Oh? Little Shichen is back!"
Perched atop the palisade, Guizhong watched people dismantle a section of fencing and stack the stones neatly. Seeing the man return, she brightened.
"How was the hunt?"
The man—called Shichen—looked a touch embarrassed. He was already full-grown; having little stuck in front of his name felt awkward. Then again, to the being before him, most creatures must look like children.
"Please rest easy, Lady Guizhong. We've brought enough to last until the first harvest."
He stepped aside to reveal the hunting party filing through the gate, their wooden carts piled with wild boar and other game bound for the granary.
Guizhong brought her hands together with a gentle clap.
"Wonderful! So—did the tools I taught you prove useful?"
"They did. We owe you everything, Lady Guizhong."
He ran a hand over the crossbow at his back, the god's design far sturdier than their old makeshift bows.
"With these, even ordinary folk like us can stand up to stronger beasts and reach hunting grounds we never dared approach."
"Hehe, but of course. And this is just a simplified model. My true design is much, much bigger."
She swept her arms wide to show the imagined size.
"And stronger. With its power, you might one day protect your homes by yourselves."
A spark of yearning lit Shichen's eyes. For those who lacked elemental power and whose bodies broke easily, a safe home was already a blessing. To defend it without a god's hand—that would be a leap across an abyss.
"That would be… something to look forward to."
"Oh, and—I have a surprise."
She traced a fingertip through the air; a thread of sand drifted away on the wind. Legs swinging idly where she sat, she smiled.
"The white-haired yaksha you keep talking about came to our lands the other day. I just summoned him."
Shichen's face lit up.
"Then I can finally thank my savior in person!"
He hesitated, brow creasing.
"But I only just returned. I've nothing prepared—no gift to properly show my gratitude."
"Him…?"
Guizhong's expression turned complicated.
"Just take him to eat something. That will do."
"There he is."
Before Shichen could turn, a gust of wind pressed at his side and a small figure dropped from above, landing on one knee beside them.
White hair. Familiar. As Shichen looked him over, the yaksha finally raised his head.
Yes—round-cheeked, a little baby-fat, unmistakably the one who had saved him.
Except… Why was there a fish in his mouth?
"...Sigh."
Why was Lady Guizhong sighing?
"Why arrive like a bird with a fish in your mouth?"
"It won't taste good cold," Xue Kui said around a quick bite. He'd been about to chow down when the sand-script summons appeared in the air. Unwilling to part with his roasted prize and tormented by the smell on the way over, he'd clamped it in his teeth to sneak a few consoling nibbles while he ran.
"Did you steal someone's food again?"
Thinking of his recent antics, Guizhong instantly regretted ever treating him.
"Nonsense!"
He tore off a flaky piece; his words were mushy but intelligible.
"I helped hoe fields today. This is payment."
"I never imagined you'd learn human ways for that reason—and learn so quickly."
Guizhong pinched the bridge of her nose.
"And the foolish things you did the other day? Any excuse there?"
"...Also payment."
"What did you do to earn it?"
"That woman pinched my cheeks."
"So you badgered her into buying you snacks?"
"She offered!"
Guizhong waved the matter away. No point in wrangling with a red-faced yaksha now. When he hadn't understood, that was one thing. But since he was learning and willing to follow mortal rules, there was no need to harp on the past.
"I'm not arguing with you. I called you because someone wants to meet you."
"Looking for a fight?"
Xue Kui's eyes lit up. He'd found new pleasures lately, it was true—but no worthy opponent made his hands itch.
Guizhong rapped him lightly on the head.
"No more 'fight, fight' all day. He's here to thank you."
"Thank me? I don't remember giving anyone tasty food."
Xue Kui frowned. "Thanks" was a word he'd only learned recently—meant for people who gave him good things to eat.
"You can tell him yourself," Guizhong said with a helpless look, turning to Shichen.
To Shichen, the white-haired yaksha seemed no different from a neighbor's child—mischievous, willful, exasperating… and oddly endearing.
He remembered the day he'd been saved: a single ice spear, the beast felled in one clean strike. The contrast felt absurd. Perhaps these powerful beings, aside from their inborn strength, were not so different from humans after all.
He glanced at the sulking god with folded arms, then at the yaksha chewing fish on his own terms. Gratitude mingled with a flicker of curiosity. Lady Guizhong was kind, always gentle—but that gentleness was like a thin film between gods and men. This childlike yaksha, somehow, could stir the god's moods with ease.
"Hello. My name is Shichen. I wonder if you remember me."
Xue Kui looked him over, chewing. His eyes rolled up as he searched his memory—then brightened. He pointed.
"Oh! You're the one with the broken leg!"
Shichen froze, mortified.
Guizhong, gloomy a moment ago, burst into laughter.
He wasn't wrong.
But… could he maybe leave the man a little dignity?
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