The sun had just been swallowed behind the mountain peak when Ningxi and Xiao Mo returned to the courtyard.

The whole sky had already been stained deeply red by the evening clouds, set against the white of the snow below, creating an impression of boundless quiet and solitude throughout that still world.

Ningxi had intended, as before, to simply roast the winter-zhen pheasant for their meal. But Xiao Mo had a different idea.

"Elder Sister Ningxi, why don't I cook dinner for you this evening?"

"You can cook?" Ningxi asked.

She knew that the human and demon races of the mortal world had their methods of preparing food, adding various seasonings through a variety of techniques to make what they ate more flavorful. The divine spirit who oversaw "grain" and "fine wine" in the Celestial Court was, in fact, frequently known to suppress his divine nature and travel to the mortal world in secret to taste the food there. But Ningxi herself had never been particularly interested in what mortals called fine cuisine, and she had limited confidence in this small human child's ability to prepare anything worthwhile.

"I can. When the Village Chief Grandfather was busy, I was the one who cooked. Please wait, Elder Sister Ningxi, I will have it ready as quickly as I can."

With that, Xiao Mo ran into the kitchen, got the fire going, and set a pot of water to boil.

Despite how small Xiao Mo was, the way he handled the wild rabbit and the pheasant was practiced and efficient, the kind of ease that only comes from having done something many times before.

Once the game was prepared, Xiao Mo rinsed away the blood with water, chose one pheasant and one rabbit for the meal, and wrapped the rest in clean snow to pack into the large jar in the courtyard for keeping.

Standing on a stool, Xiao Mo gripped the cleaver and chopped the pheasant and rabbit into pieces, then cut the winter mushrooms, wild pepper, and wild vegetables into small portions.

Before long, threads of white smoke began drifting from the kitchen chimney. The rich scent of meat mingled with the sharp, fragrant heat of wild pepper, and beneath it the delicate, savory aroma of pheasant simmering with winter mushrooms.

Ningxi sat in the courtyard, watching the small figure within the kitchen moving steadily from task to task, managing the fire and cooking with quiet efficiency, and it occurred to her without warning that human children were perhaps not entirely without merit after all.

One incense stick's time passed.

The sky had gone entirely dark. A clear moon hung in the night sky above, and all around it the stars were scattered like fine grains of sand across the dark.

Ningxi looked at the night sky in silence.

In the Celestial Court above, there was only daylight. The night of the mortal world was something she had not seen in a very long time.

"Elder Sister Ningxi, I have finished."

Just as Ningxi was contemplating the darkness above, Xiao Mo's voice came from the kitchen.

Ningxi turned to look, and saw Xiao Mo carrying a clay pot of soup out with careful hands.

It was winter-zhen pheasant braised with mushrooms.

Xiao Mo set the pot on the table and went back for the rest. A moment later, Ningxi brought out a dish of stir-fried wild rabbit.

The abandoned courtyard's grain jar had still held a little rice, and Xiao Mo had steamed some of that as well.

He was, truth be told, somewhat puzzled by this. By rights, when people fled, they took everything of practical use with them. The most valuable items would be tools like cleavers and spades, and whatever food could be carried yet here in this courtyard, there were cleavers and a spade, those most precious of iron implements, and even grain. Elder Sister Ningxi had even found a sword somewhere in this village.

Had the people of this village truly simply fled as refugees?

"What is it? Is something the matter?" Ningxi looked at Xiao Mo's vacant expression.

"Nothing." Xiao Mo shook his head, then placed a pair of chopsticks before Ningxi. "Elder Sister Ningxi, please try what I have made."

Ningxi looked at the food before her, then picked up the chopsticks with her slender white hand and took a piece of the wild pepper stir-fried rabbit.

When the fresh, peppery heat of the rabbit and wild pepper spread across her palate, her eyes flickered ever so slightly brighter. She reached for another piece and ate it.

"Elder Sister Ningxi, please have a bowl of pheasant soup as well, to warm you." Xiao Mo ladled out a bowl of soup for Ningxi. She did not refuse. Her lips parted slightly, and she took a small sip.

As the warm broth moved across her tongue and settled slowly into her stomach, Ningxi felt warmth spread gradually through her body.

What Xiao Mo had made was hardly an extraordinary culinary achievement, but the flavor was genuinely decent. For an eight-year-old child, it was already no small thing.

"Elder Sister Ningxi, what do you think? Does it taste all right?" Xiao Mo asked with curiosity, watching Ningxi finish half a bowl of the broth.

"Tolerably good, I suppose." Ningxi set down the clay bowl and gave a slow nod.

"Then please eat more, Elder Sister Ningxi. The pheasant should have braised until very tender, and it will be good for your body."

Xiao Mo placed a piece of the well-cooked pheasant in Ningxi's bowl, then filled his own and began eating with enthusiasm.

After the evening meal, Xiao Mo took it upon himself to clear and wash the bowls, then heated a basin of water and bathed in the kitchen.

Ningxi, meanwhile, remained sitting in the courtyard. She raised her head again, looking at the winter night sky, turning over in her mind everything she had done these past days, a trace of puzzlement in her eyes.

In her heart, Ningxi understood that she had come to the mortal world to search for whatever it was that might help her advance to the Dao-of-Heaven realm. Whatever that thing was, she did not know, but surely it was not here, in this place.

And yet here she was, having idly rescued a small human boy, spent several days in this village, and meddled in matters that were not hers.

"What on earth am I doing here?"

After a moment's silence, Ningxi lowered her head and murmured softly to herself, as though turning the question on herself.

"Elder Sister Ningxi, do you want to bathe? I will go and heat the water for you."

And just as Ningxi sat frowning in thought, Xiao Mo came out of the kitchen.

This was his first bath in over two months, and he felt considerably more comfortable for it. The various itches that had been tormenting him were finally gone.

"It does not matter. This winter will be over in the blink of an eye."

Ningxi ignored Xiao Mo's words, closed her eyes, and settled her thoughts.

"Xiao Mo." After a short while, Ningxi turned her head and looked at the small child standing in the moonlight. "Do you wish to learn the martial arts?"

"Learn the martial arts?" Xiao Mo blinked, wondering if he had heard correctly.

Ningxi nodded. "For whatever remains of this winter, I will teach you swordsmanship. You can use it to defend yourself, or to hunt for your livelihood. How much you learn depends entirely on you."

"I will learn! Elder Sister Ningxi, I will work very hard!" A brightness came into Xiao Mo's eyes. "Then Elder Sister Ningxi, should I be calling you Master from now on?"

"That will not be necessary."

Ningxi rose, walked into her room, and her voice drifted back through the open courtyard as she went, settling quietly in the air.

"Between you and me, there will be no karma of master and disciple."

"Not now, and not ever."

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