The lengthy route Qing Liao plotted in order to use the mountains to return to Mother's Gift contained two main trouble spots along its course. Spots where they would be required to leave the shelter and protection of rugged topography. One, the former heartland of the True Heart Sect, worried him greatly, but it lay near the end of the journey in lands he knew well. With care, those borders could be skirted. He'd done so before. The other was a narrow strip of flat, river-carved plains lying between the coast range and a vast rambling assemblage of hills that served as the boundary between the former orthodox heartland to the south and the vast grasslands to the west.

Liao knew this gap existed, having seen it on maps, but he had no idea what he would find there. Once, several large sects sheltered in this region. They prospered by relying on the fertile soils of the plain that lay between the two mountain ranges. Rather than dip south toward the coast, Liao had driven his path straight west to avoid their ruins, but he had little foreknowledge as to what lay within the northern section of the plain. He had, previously, crossed a number of reclaimed coastal plains and broadly expected a similar mixture of bottomland forest and reed marsh.

Upon reaching the western edge of the coastal range, with Amami Yoko beside him, he discovered that his anticipatory imaginings had been drastically in error. This mistake paired with surprise in all three souls that looked down into that gap and discovered a vast grassland almost completely devoid of trees. Instead, the expanse was filled with animals.

The plague had killed the humans who lived in the inter-mountain plains that filled the lands between heartland and taiga, but it had not slaughtered their mighty livestock herds. Those animals, having moved from feral survival to true wild existence, had refused to surrender the land.

Cattle, donkeys, goats, sheep, and huge numbers of horses, all shaggy-haired and wide-hooved, congregated on the plain in herds tens of thousands strong. Viewed from the elevated vantage, it seemed as if the grasslands were dotted with an immense number of black and white playing pieces, all engaged in intense competition for possession of the fields with the best quality forage. Even from their position on the heights, the sound and smell of the animals could not be ignored.

"Unexpected," Sayaana spoke quietly across the edges of Liao's skull. "I have seen vast herds before, but always of beasts with wild origin. I thought the wolves claimed such domestic survivors as these long ago."

Liao had thought so too. In some hilly areas he'd encountered small groups of surviving goats, for those were tenacious creatures that could forage on almost anything. On the steppe, he'd seen small herds of donkeys and horses. Yet this was his first time seeing cattle or sheep anywhere. "Some trick of the husbandry arts," he supposed. A breeding program that had enhanced the local stock to the point they could survive without their human minders in the rigors of a wild world.

Amami Yoko stared at the mighty herds with an expression of open puzzlement on her face. "I have seen creatures like this, in old books," she whispered. Her words expressed a mingled combination of reverence, disbelief, and fascination. "I supposed they must exist, somewhere, but such numbers exceed all that I imagined. Animals gather surrounding the Nine Peaks, sometimes," memory seized hold of her voice then, spilling past a wavering guard now overwhelmed. "Dolphins, sharks, and vast shoals of fish, but this, this is more than I thought the land could hold. We have passed only lone animals before this, and flocks of little birds. How can there be so many huge beasts?"

"Grass." It pleased Liao to be able to supply a proper answer for once. "It grows with great swiftness during lengthy summer days, and to those animals that can consume it, supplies vast quantities of forage, far more than any forest can. There are herds many times greater than these moving endlessly across the steppe to the west, a grassland large as a sea. The true abundance the world offers up is immense, when there are no humans to lay claim to it. I'm sure it is the same in the oceans," he offered the last mostly in the hope of salving Amami Yoko's pride, for he did not know whether or not it was true.

"You may be right," the water cultivator admitted. "It is strange," those quiet, cautious words continued to slowly worm their way free. "I have now seen more of the land and the sea in a few weeks than I ever did in centuries within the Nine Peaks Range. The world is so big, and our safe places are so very small."

"Yes," Liao felt sharpness edge into his voice at those thoughts. He felt his mood, in that moment, brush against the dao. "That's why we must take it back. It is not something for the plague to own. You are," he felt strangely warm as he said this. "The first person to see this vista in centuries. By the time we return to Mother' Gift you will have made a greater journey than anyone other than I since Sayaana raced across the world almost half a millennium ago." He tapped the gem band on his forehead.

"A worthy deed, though not one that weighs anything against all that was lost." Wonder faded from the somber expression, replaced swiftly by anger. "You may strive to take all this back from humanity, but that is not my path. "I will settle for revenge upon those who submerged our homes."

"It is the same course," some primal instinct drove Liao to immediately offer up that convergence.

"No," Amami Yoko shook her head, the movement accentuated by the current absence of her once luxuriant hair. Only a light fuzz had grown back so far. "It is the same war, but though we are on the same side, we do not fight for the same thing. Remember this."

This grim declaration demanded a lengthy period of consideration, but for now Liao moved away from such things. Rumination could wait upon safety, something still weeks away. At present, he needed to concentrate on reaching it.

Thankfully, the herds themselves offered a potent option. "We can hide our progress amid the animals by causing chaos. Send them all milling west, and then their raging qi will overwhelm our own even as we run with them."

"Spook the shoal and then flow with the ball," this plan was swiftly reoriented into an aquatic reference frame. "But how? Do these beasts fear humans? Large attacks might well spook them, but such grand moves would be noticeable from far away."

"True," Liao stepped out past the edge of the trees. He raised his left hand to feel the wind and ran his right through the ripe stalks of the tall grass that stood upon that woody threshold. "But the land hides other dangers we can utilize. We'll have to detour slightly to the north, but that is a minor diversion." He looked up, checking the clouds and light, and witnessed no indication of any swift shifts to come. "We are blessed. It had been many days since it rained. It will be easy to start a fire."

"How will cooking cause a panic?" Confusion reigned through the expression of the ocean born warrior.

"Ah," it did not take much imagination to realize what he had overlooked. Living in a world of water, fire played a very minor role in the life of the Nine Peaks Range. "There is no easy way to explain," Liao announced as he decided not to make the attempt. "Just follow me and gather up grass bundles. The results will be thoroughly clarifying."

Preparations took just over an hour, and then they descended to the plain amid the herds. The animals that spotted them at first mostly ignored the human presence, content to continue foraging and chewing their cud. Occasionally a bull, jackass, or stallion grunted at the new arrivals and brayed out a challenge if approached too closely. Thankfully Amami Yoko recognized such signals swiftly enough, matched them to underwater analogues, and recognized the need to back away to avoid unnecessary brawling. Creating a bloody mess would not serve their purposes.

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"I see no demons here," Amami Yoko noted as they moved about bundling grass and laying it in a tight line running northwest in accordance with the direction of the day's light winds. "Why should this place be empty?"

"The river." There was a sluggish, much meandering watercourse of some volume running down the center of the plain. "This far north, and surrounded by mountains, it floods in force every spring. The demons are swept away by those waters. It does not harm them to be tossed about against soft dirt, but then they walk back towards the nearest source of vital qi. Those would be the sect ruins near the coast, so they do not come this far. It seems this space contains no hidden lands." Thinking about this, Liao smiled slightly. "Your presence is drawing them up towards us." They could both feel it, pinpricks of demonic qi at the very edge of their sensory range. "So, this scheme should burn a few up."

Glancing back to see the puzzlement on Amami Yoko's face, he decided to keep further instruction minimal. "Once the flames begin, they'll move very fast. Run as hard as you can and don't stop until you hit the far hills." Those were well beyond sight, for now, but they had observed their outlines during the descent from the coast range. "Don't worry about outrunning the herd, we'll sweep through new batches as we go."

"At full strength, I will outrun you," the bard-bitten response was entirely practical, all confusion buried.

"Probably." In truth, Liao suspected that the water cultivator's lack of experience on uneven terrain – and prairie offered very different footing hazards compared to mountains – would induce sufficiently frequent stumbles that he'd be able to keep up just fine, but it would ultimately make little difference either way. "I'll catch up atop the ridge. We'll need to keep moving swiftly afterwards until we're deep into the mountains. The black clouds may well draw Schism Rider's eyes. If that occurs, we need to be well away before he arrives."

The water cultivator asked no questions in response. She was remarkably obedient to commands from her acknowledged superior. That vow worried him, at times, in its absolute nature and the lack of questions she was willing to apply to all orders. Liao did not feel equal to such trust. He was no grand elder with thousands of years of experience, just another disciple.

"Do not underestimate your unique knowledge," Sayaana's voice infiltrated his mind, addressing those loud doubts. "Between the two of us we have centuries of experience in the wastes. Even the best scouts have only accumulated a decade or two. Who else would think to use a fire to start a stampede?"

It was a reassuring speech, though Liao was far from certain he believed it. Still, he agreed entirely with one part. His experience of the world was greater than any other orthodox cultivator, and the demonic cultivators seemed to generally pay little attention to the world around them. Such neglect made him wonder what life in the sects of the old world had been like. After meeting Shingo, every step led to increasing doubts regarding the values of that age.

Thankfully, the Celestial Mother's teachings were immune to such suspicion. Her guidance and mercy had proven themselves true time and again. Liao did not understand what made them different, the reasons that separated Orday from other leaders of the past, but he recognized it to be true.

A land of death, created by Shingo. A land of obedience, created by the leader of the Great Waves Sect. A land of isolation, created by the leader of the Endless Needles Sect. Orday's legacy was a land of farmers and other ordinary folk. A vastly superior creation, in Liao's estimation, but also somehow incomplete, one that left him feeling mismatched. The 'farmer's pen' that had resulted from Mother's Gift might offer far more than other hidden lands, but it was still nothing close to a true world.

He shuddered beneath the glare of the sun, closest of all stars, as he lit and tossed out flaming brands into the rows of grass bundles. "Now, run!" He gave the command at once, and channeled qi through his legs to follow suit.

The flames were, initially, anemic. Weak sputtering flickers along the surface of the grass, they were entirely unintimidating. Amami Yoko looked at them with a boldfaced expression of doubt, but she obeyed the order, nonetheless.

Her confusion only seemed to deepen when, upon smelling the heavy scent of burning brush, the vast herds reacted immediately.

Cattle, donkeys, horses, goats, sheep, and countless wild creatures sheltering amid the grass knew what their noses told them as the first tendrils of smoke rose from amid the green vegetation. Myriad hooves churned as immense masses of quadruped flesh surged free of their languid foraging sluggishness into rapid motion. It began at a walk, then accelerated to a rapid amble, and, as the motion of the herds themselves spread out waves of panic all its own and great flocks of birds took flight, expanded to a full force rambling stampede.

Tens of thousands of ungulates obeyed the primal signals sent by their simple minds to get away, far and fast, from the greatest of dangers known to their kind. Not the sharp fangs of tiger and wolf, but the burning red wall of raging flame.

And the beasts acted not a moment too soon. Flames produced heat, drying out the grass that surrounded them below and beside. Incomplete combustion threw out sparks that caught on the light winds and spread new sources of flame wide across the stalks. Burning deeper and further, the red flickers rose higher, stronger and faster, until they swept northwest in line with the wind.

The flashing yellow edge dried as it advanced, leaving behind ready fuel for the spark front and feeding the cresting wall of flame that swiftly took shape along a vast frontage.

Running hard, Liao looked back to see a three-meter-high wall of fire roar across the grass. It picked up speed, forming its own empowering winds, until even a galloping horse could not outrun that wash. Flesh, hair, and skin was soon added to the pool of fuels as the heat raced ahead and bathed the plain beneath a burning dome of crackling, killing warmth.

The cultivators ran through the herds, sliding past animals racing northwest in absolute panic. They slipped past, vaulted over, and even slammed aside those grazers that failed to move aside in time. Liao used a wide, loping gait that combined long strides imitating the forelegs of a horse with darting Stellar Flash Steps to blink across the open expanse. He charged through the disturbed mass without difficultly, a wolf racing amidst the sheep.

Amami Yoko, unable to mimic this overland grace, relied on cultivation and power instead. She smashed forward in grand, vaulting steps, coming down like a crashing wave with each stride, breaking through every obstacle, and launching her body onward using arm strokes when her feet caught in holes or divots. The herd gave way before her, avoiding the whale in its midst.

Behind them both, the hungry wave of flame consumed all in its path.

Running at maximum speed, they reached the river that carved its way through the center of the lowland gap in ten minutes. Without slowing down, they each crossed the waterway in a single arcing leap. Not taking the time to even pause for breath, they continued to run onward from the moment they landed. Sparks, carried on the wind, made this same journey, and the fire grew and spread at hundreds of points along the western bank. Countless creatures sheltered in the river, crushing and suffocating each other as they overflowed the capacity of this place of safety.

Another ten minutes more and they reached the first of the hills to the west. Once there, they passed over the top across the lower foothills and past the first scattered patches of trees. From there they raced for the ridges with flames licking at their heels. Liao, seeing the cliffs first, diverted to them. The barrier he found was not tall, only a few meters of flat stone face, but it sufficed.

Amami Yoko did not understand the principle, he was sure, but she knew enough to follow.

They jumped the rock face, and the water cultivator received a swift education in the inability of flames to easily climb flat walls. Instead, the fire front split and raced around them, rushing into the woods. A prairie-born fire, swift but lacking in power, it mostly passed around the solid tree trunks to scour away the undergrowth and shrubs before sputtering out across rock and ridgelines or terminating amid creeks and swamps. Stout mountain trees suffered crisped leaves and scarred bark but were otherwise unharmed.

Smoke filled the sky, coating the air in low-hanging gray-black clouds. "We need to keep moving," Liao pointed ahead after a brief pause. "Southwest, deep into the heart of these mountains. No rest tonight. We might as well make a full use of this distraction."

Amami Yoko nodded. They jogged together in silence for a time, until it was clear the immediate threat of detection by a demonic cultivator had passed. If Schism Rider had bothered to investigate, it seemed the vast clouds of smoke satisfied his mind.

"A bloody distraction," the water cultivator remarked as sunset passed hidden beneath black haze. "Do you regret the lost herd?"

"Yes, but fire is a natural thing," Liao grimaced a little, but regret did not penetrate very far. "Such a thing would happen on its own, every few years. If it did not, trees would grow to fill that gap, and the herds would be forced elsewhere." He did not especially enjoy accelerating the cycle, but it was no more than a modest act of shifting the patterns of the wilderness. A change that was, he knew, far less intensive than putting such land to the plot. "It is a price, but a payable one."

In reply he received only a brief grunt, one that he would puzzle over for many days.

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