“Let me get this straight,” Olivia rubbed at her forehead, hoping that her mint water would be ready soon. At this rate she’d down the cup, cool or not. “There are ghosts here. Ghosts that rise during the night, seeking anything and everything to tear to pieces and eat?”

“Not all ghosts,” Heng Ju finished a cup of the local tea. Olivia barely resisted the urge to scrunch her nose at the unfamiliar smell. She wasn’t sure why she suddenly had the need to sneeze, but she managed to avoid doing so by pure will.

“Just the mad ones,” Min pipped up from her bowl of rice and vegetables; somehow, most of those veggies had found their way to Gipp’s beak, who was busily making a mess of a piece of squash with some rice still stuck on him. “Mr. Yuan says that people who die mad come back as ghosts. Most can’t touch living people, but if they are really mad, then they can hurt people.”

“Great,” Olivia grumbled. Note to self: Don’t tick off anyone near death or already dead. The last thing I need is a ghost on my case and following me back home. “So, who takes care of these ghosts when they get the posthumous munchies?”

“The cultivators do.”

Olivia jumped at the new voice, eyes landing on Ping, whose eyes were still locked on his own bowl. If the surprised look on his mother and sister was an indication, Ping wasn’t expected to talk. “Cultivators?”

Those were usually the heroes in those Wuxia/Xiania books, right? Go around flying on swords or something, always seeking to better themselves and seek immortality. Or go mad and seek world domination to change the world to their image.

That was how Robbie explained the books to her. He had gotten hooked on the genre during his chemotherapy and always tried to get the rest of his friends to read them.

Olivia had tried reading one herself, but the headache she had gotten from the badly translated English, grammar errors, and the bad explanation of qi cultivating and techniques had her putting off reading them altogether.

I kind of wish I read one now. Maybe I’d have an idea of what I’m dealing with.

Come to think of it, Robbie mentioned in one story about techniques of the “too-dangerous-for-the-average-Joe” variety. Something about a portal to another world.

It’s a long shot, but maybe one of these techniques will be my ticket back home. Something had brought her here, and that had to mean there existed instructions that could send her back.

“Cultivators…they fight the Hungry ghosts and monsters,” Ping continued, looking as if every word was a fight to get out. For him, if Olivia’s sudden suspicion was right, it likely was. “They serve the Emperor…they keep everyone safe.”

Oliva blinked. From that tone of voice and the wistful look on the young boy’s face…

“Do you want to be a cultivator, Ping?”

The boy looked up, eyes surprised as if he hadn’t expected Olivia to figure out what he wanted. Swallowing, Ping nodded and seemed to brace himself…

“Well, I’m sure you’d make an amazing one.”

And deflated in shock at Olivia’s words.

Olivia continued. “I don’t know a thing about cultivating unless it involves mushrooms, but I do know it won’t be easy. Anything you want in life won’t be. If you keep working at it, I’m positive you’ll make it.”

“Though I suggest you work on your conversation skills,” she added, taking a testing sip. Ack, still too hot. “I mean, listening is all well and good when it’s someone who knows a subject better than you, but sometimes you need to tell someone they’re being an idiot.”

Poor Sarah. Who’d have thought something cute would be so ill-tempered?

Olivia had. Thank goodness chipmunks weren’t known to have rabies, so all her cousin got for her troubles was a couple of stitches. As a bonus, they didn’t even scar.

“You what?” Ju was aghast. “You actually told people that. And you didn’t get in trouble?”

Olivia shrugged. “My folks raised me to be an honest person. Though my mom will say that I’m more of the ‘brutally honest’ variety. Got no problem with speaking my mind and don’t care what others think of it.”

Taking a chance to eat while her three hosts processed her words in stunned silence, Olivia thought about what she had learned in subtext. Unless I’m going daft, my guess is that Ping has had his dream of becoming a cultivator shot down before. I don’t know what the cultural norms here are, but in a lot of past societies back home there had been a very strict hierarchy based on one’s father. If you were a peasant, you were stuck as one for life with no chance of getting out of it.

Some places offered a chance for advancement, but that was only if you passed a really hard test and was only offered to young men who could read and write. Some required backing from well-known individuals in the community to even have a chance to take the test unless you came from a well-known family yourself.

Unless Ping is allowed to carry himself with his own merit, his best chance would be to get familiar with a bigshot family. But that has its own strings attached that anyone not desperate would avoid.

Hmm, wonder if Rogue Cultivators exist here. A lot of the stories Robbie liked centered around such characters who became well known without a sect’s backing. If Ping can’t get into one of the sects, finding a cultivator willing to take on a student would be his best bet.

“Do you really mean it?”

“Hmm?” Olivia looked up to see Ping staring at her, probably the first time he had done so.

“Do you really mean it,” he swallowed and appeared to be shaking, but kept his eyes focused on Olivia. “That I could become a cultivator?”

Olivia’s heart broke. Kid, if I didn’t think you’d freak out about being hugged by someone you only met last night, I’d do it right now. Thankfully Ju was doing the comforting, leaving her food to rub her son’s back, and Min who was trying to send death glares Olivia’s way and failing with her cheeks full of rice.

Nice as you are to help others in need, you won’t take any flak from anyone on your brother’s behalf. Good on you, Min. The world could use more little sisters like you.

Olivia smiled. “Of course. I did just say I’m brutally honest. It’ll take a lot of hard work, but you keep at it and I’m sure you’ll make it.”

If Ping started sniffling, Olivia wisely kept quiet about it. So did Min, though her gaze had lost its edge.

“So, getting back to the matter,” Olivia said after a few minutes. “What can you tell me about these cultivator sects?”

“Depends on which sect you want,” Ju explained, returning to her food. “The sects have their areas that they guard, the Xue Sect oversees this area, but they all answer to the Emperor.”

Olivia raised an eyebrow. That wasn’t in any of the stories I read or Robbie talked about. Usually, the Sects acted as their own City-State with people paying tribute in order to ask for help. “Is the Emperor a cultivator as well?”

“I’m not sure,” Ju admitted. “I’m sorry, but I don’t have a lot of knowledge of the subject. If the Emperor does, he likely doesn’t go out on hunts.”

Olivia waved a hand as she drained her cup of mint water. Weird, she could have sworn it had been too hot to safely drink a minute ago. Guess I lost track of time. “It’s fine, Ju. I don’t expect people to know everything.”

Though she does know more than what I’d expect from someone poor. Olivia hadn’t thought of it much, exhausted from the long trek yesterday, but now she couldn’t help but notice so many contradictions.

This house is an absolute mess structurally, her family is dressed in clothing that is more patched than whole, yet Ju and her kids can read and write, or those books and slate with chalk sitting on that chest near the bed are pure decorations, and there’s a barn with a horse and carriage.

Not the best craftsmanship, at best a shed placed on a wagon frame, but the lack of dust on the wooden vehicle showed that Ju took care of it. The horse Hu was a sturdy white mare who clearly wasn’t bred for her looks, but was in perfect health.

From what Min told me last night, the family doesn’t own any of the rice paddies around here, only what is included in the yard. I saw a small garden in the back, but it’s too small to feed anyone but the family here.

Olivia had wanted to ask about Ju’s husband and his line of work, but catching sight of a small shrine tucked into a corner had her questions kept behind her teeth.

Not my place anyway. Besides, for all I know, there might be some painful memories involved. Don’t want to leave with that topic hanging overhead and-

Olivia shivered.

“Are you alright?” Ju asked, concerned.

“Yeah,” Olivia smiled. “Must have been a draft.”

“Draft?” Ju looked around the room. “But nothing is-“

“Heng Ju! Get out here!”

Olivia twisted to look at the cloth door. “Who’s that?” Besides some dude with an attitude.

“Mom?” Min whimpered.

Olivia’s eyes narrowed. Okay, a dude that scares kids. Not putting you in my good books whoever you are.

“Children, stay here. I’ll deal with it.”

Watching the other woman make her way out the door, Olivia quickly got up and made her way to the door, and slowly pulled the door aside.