She will give the kid and his relatives the solemn, apologetic expression she's very used to giving and glide off. You can't save everyone. She wasn't even there for most of this.

Though she does wonder, quietly—

That expression was focus group tested for an Earth Bet audience, primarily sampling from the United States. She might want to study local norms to develop a more localized version... later.

She heads back to the fort and lands in the courtyard again. Is Wen around? Anyone here can direct her to the fox girl? She's putting on her more approachable interacting-with-civilians face now, not the grim right-out-of-battle face.

An old woman flags her down. She has a faint ghost of the energy that other strong powered people have.

"Wen Huli is in there." She points to a half-detached part of the center house. "She won't let it show but she's not doing great. And she's a foundation level, who fought a golden core for us when she could have fled. So if you have any miraculous healing dan or secret <baby?> soul restoration pills or something... That would be great. But I'm just a talentless old woman, so," shrug.

Her brain informs her that if she makes herself fall in love with Wen Huli then she can heal her. She squashes the thought.

"I don't have anything with me, but if you know where something can be bought..." she trails off. "I'll speak to her first. Maybe there is something I can do directly."

Also: foundation level < golden core? Gao Gao said he was barely at the foundation level. She wonders what level she counts at, if at all.

"Not here. As you wish, senior practitioner." 

She bows, somehow making it look sincere and slightly sarcastic both.

"I mean in the closest major city, or so on. I can fly very quickly, but I don't know the local geography." She pauses. "I would need to consult more people and a map anyhow if I wanted to do that." She gives the old woman a grateful nod, to indicate she's leaving out of haste and not scorn, and enters the indicated chamber.

 The room is nice but empty of substance, like a fancy hotel. There's a bed, low table, desk, closet, and a water basin. Clean, aside from a reward bag seemingly identical to hers, a set of dirty dishes in the corner, and a few stray pieces of fur.

She's sitting cross-legged in humanoid form as Rebecca enters, and makes a point of standing and bowing before sitting again.

"Thank you for saving my life."

Close up, she looks small. Not smaller than the youngest Wards she's had, but for someone an entire town pins its survival on—though perhaps before all of this it was the son and daughter-in-law of Gao Gao who held that title—it's too young. Rebecca has seen girls and boys in the same position, travelling the Earths or just the nations of Bet. Children forced into positions no one can envy because of the powers fate thrust on them.

Perhaps she's projecting too much onto a face. Spirits are said to to be immortal, in stories. This girl may be hundreds of years old.

She doesn't look like it.

"Please do not stand on ceremony," Rebecca says. By what the old lady said, she shouldn't directly point out that Wen is hurt. Instead, she offers, "It must have been a long day. I'm not sure if you heard what I told the <mayor?>, or if he passed a message on to you?" She uses the title Gao Gao identified himself by.

"...I have had longer days, if not so many. The way I understood it, you used a powerful technique to imitate my qi for its properties of opposing the blood rifts? You may not be an ascended beast like me after all, and that you wished to speak to me. I cannot detect your qi, but that's explainable in a dozen different ways, of course. You surely have seen far more of the world than me. For all that the beast ascending path is a slow one, I am merely a middle-stage foundation practitioner. A speck of dust in the vastness of heaven and earth. And furthermore I'm proud to have reached this level quickly since attaining <sapience?>."

It's hard to tell, lacking this much context, how important Wen is versus what she's trying to project. The important words here are "middle-stage foundation practitioner" and "beast ascending path", but Rebecca doesn't know what those mean. Obviously Wen is stronger than Gao Gao, who claims to be a weak foundation practitioner, and weaker than the blood tree leader, who's supposed to be a "gold core"? But how far are those levels apart, and where do they think Rebecca places?

Wen appears to be the town's strongest defense, yes, but as Gao Gao said, she wasn't meant to be. Being hosted here implies a certain level of respect from the townspeople, but by the furnishings, it's clearly not her usual abode, and by what must be Wen's reward bag, defense of the town must not be one of her ordinary duties. So—a protector of circumstance, then. The town must either not think Wen is reliable to stick around, or believe her not powerful enough to hold the town against future threats, even with the leader of the local demonic practitioners dead.

What she needs to know, the information she would mean to extract from an accurate read is—how does Wen expect to be treated by Rebecca, and how does she expect to be treated by the common townspeople? Is she a harmless rogue, cautiously feared respected, but ultimately cowed by the martial leaders of the town? A local folk hero, reasonably well-liked in spite of her species, forced to step into bigger boots when other champions fell? A minor god descended in time of need, but still unable to withstand the most powerful villains of man? All of these inform how Rebecca should approach to get what she wants.

Wen is expecting Rebecca to know the facts of the situation from her words and common sense, and her deference from her tone and phrasing. But Rebecca knows neither the words nor what is common sense here, so she can pick up little more than the deference. Rebecca knows she's significantly stronger than Wen; she wants to know the dimensions and scale.

What she does notice, from what Wen and other people have said: there's a strong background assumption of a path of ascension. Growth. A way one goes from a civilian to one like Gao Gao, to one like Wen, to one like Gao Gao's son and daughter-in-law or the leader of the demonic practitioners, and eventually to someone like Rebecca. With the implication that the beast's path is slower—than humans? than Rebecca's, whatever they think she is?

Wen was a normal fox once, by the sound of "beast ascending" and the reference to gaining <sapience?>. And she became what she is now. It matches with some of the stories she's read.

The implications are positive for what this world can do for Rebecca.

For now, though, she needs to clear things up now she hopefully has a better grasp of the language.

"That is partially correct. The place I'm from does not measure power in the terms you use, and does not wield it in the form of qi techniques I suspect you to mean."

In some of the novels she's read, characters can learn to use inner techniques and training to express what amounts to minor powers. Strength, faux-flight, even energy projection. This world she presumes must be a... reification... of those tropes, sampled from the space of possible worlds, as she has inferred hers to be likely a sample after superhero stories.

"The power I used to emulate your abilities does not emulate your techniques or your qi, but your essence: in a metaphorical way, expressing a heritage in imitation of the person I am copying. It doesn't take anything away from you, or modify your bloodline or add yours directly to mine, but that is the practical effect. I now have the metaphorical blood of a—nonspecific—ascended fox.

"I am still learning the language, so if I said anything you don't understand, I can explain in different words."

At first she holds herself as trying to maintain stiff respectfulness. It doesn't really seem natural for her.

Offense and pride both flash across her face briefly during the explanation, both quickly quashed to return to that respectful pose, which feels like a neutral default for someone stronger than her.

"...Do you feel a tie of fate, Senior? Or do I presume too much. Of course, I will be happy to teach the words of this region."

Her instinctual techniques, she would not be so happy about. So hopefully she doesn't ask. But she wouldn't really have a choice if this unfamiliar powerhouse demanded it.

Well, at least Wen conceals her emotions poorly enough that Rebecca can read her,  closing some of the subtext communication gap.

Her having a slightly injured pride is workable. Even good, perhaps, because a starting frame of an exchange of favors is better foundation for a working relationship than just descending from on high as a saviour.

She's not entirely sure how to interpret the "tie of fate": it could be asking of she thinks their meeting was fated, or it could be asking if she thinks they are now bound together by fate.

"It is reasonable if you feel this as a slight against you," she says, "I would normally have asked for permission, but I did not know enough about this world to know if the leader of the demonic practitioner was powerful enough to hurt me, or if his technique was something I would be vulnerable to. I saw you were able to defy his powers, and that you and the town were in danger, and I did not have the time or words to negotiate an agreement, so I chose to act first and ask forgiveness later. For this, I consider myself to owe a favor to you."

A pause to let that sink in.

"If you wish, you may take that as the end of it: you can bank the favor for later, or ask something of me now if it is within my power and does not go against my dao*. However, if you would provide me pointers on this world and its ways, or instruct me in using the abilities I so rudely copied from you, I would consider myself further in your debt. I will not be offended if you refuse part or all of that request."

* Literally "way", Rebecca here referencing the principles by which a martial hero of ancient China lives. It is the only meaning she is aware of.

A local guide who is weaker than her but still of a relevant power level, worldly and not well-connected, and with a bond of battle, is ideal. She's hoping that's what she has here.

During the pause after a promised favor she seems - satisfied? Vindicated? Like this sort of thing is what she had hoped for, on some level. And then immediately after, conflicted and regretful in an introspective way.

This world. She stops breathing for a moment. Oh. That could be very good or very bad. Visitors from other realms are- Well, it's not like she wasn't already dealing with a Hidden Master. Okay, this doesn't really change anything.

"Senior, I am honored by your favor."

Always a good stalling sentence.

"...I'm not sayin' no or anything-" she catches herself and changes register back immediately. "-I have found myself at a turning point. I would seek to understand your dao, what you wish to reveal of it to me, and meditate upon my own, before making a momentous decision."

Declaring her debt did win Wen's favor, good. Some people take that as an insult.

Wen seems to be thinking of this as a greater commitment than Rebecca was asking for, but that's fine. She wouldn't say no to a longer-term guide and this girl looks like she needs help.

She needs to frame the context in a way that will make sense.

"In the world I hail from, I was one of the greatest among many heroes who took an oath to defend the populace from criminals and villains who would do them harm. For many years we enforced peace across the land. However, my world is under a greater threat which I and our other heroes cannot defeat alone. When I discovered a way to leave my realm, I therefore left to seek a way through the many worlds, to learn and grow in strength, in hopes of one day returning with the key to triumph. This is the first destination I have set foot in since I left."

What are her rules of conduct out here? Once she says them, they become real, so she has to be specific.

"On my journey, I intend to comply with the law of the lands I visit and fight evil where I see it. My goal is to trade power, services and knowledge with the people I meet. I will not swear myself to the service of gods, lords or emperors of worlds not my own, and in my travels I do not consider myself dutybound to enforce law and hunt down evil, but I will be moved by my personal sense of justice and the plight of those in need to intervene on a case-by-case basis."

And now to dial it back to the immediate scope:

"I of course do not at this time demand you join me on my quest or share my dao, merely act as a guide and instructor to what extent you are comfortable with. I am not sure if that answers the question to your satisfaction."

Righteous path, seeking new horizons.

Or lying for kicks and going to refine her for parts.

Not that acting suspicious would help in the second scenario.

She nods firmly and smiles.

"...I am also trying to take a righteous path, as much as I safely can as a wanderer. I'll tell you what I know and accept whatever lessons or treasures you think are fair in return, for now. I'm not sure about later. Uh... There are evil laws in some places. You probably don't want to follow those. I certainly do not."

Oh, good. That makes things easier.

She looks pleased and relieved without looking like she's trying to look pleased and relieved.

"If there is a law which says all who speaks of the local magistrate without the correct titles must be put to death, I may use the titles, but will not report those I see fail to do so, which is what I meant by not being bound to enforce the law," she explains, "...and of course if there is a law which requires one to slay an innocent man every week as an offering to some self-styled god-emperor, I would not do so, and may be tempted to depose the so-called god-emperor, is what I meant by 'intend'."

And she bows, confident but respectful. "And thank you for accepting my request."

She pauses.

"The use of qi as the beings of this realm wields it is unfamiliar to me," she says again, but it bears repeating. "I understand you have spent power, but not how surely and how quickly you will recover. Is there anything I may do to aid your recovery?"

She would offer to not count it against her debt, to avoid the impression she's trying to cheat Wen, but that might be a bit much. By what the old woman said and the sound of those objects she named, any remedies might properly be significant enough to count as a favor, and waiving that would be too good to be true.

"Yes, I mean evil magistrates and corrupt soldiers. I feel we broadly agree. Though there is... Each develops their own sense of acceptable acts, which do not necessarily align with the balance of Karma. Some of what I consider acceptable, you might not. Life is... Difficult, for newly awakened <diremonsters?>- The beings that become ascended animals, as opposed to demons, <ghosts?>, or 'true' <monsters?>. I did not... Have the luxury of walls and crop fields and guards."

Pause.

"As for my recovery, exhaustion is not a true issue. The wounds are, they are the same as your fading one. That was a <terrible?> technique, it attacks the <???> and lingers, which... I don't actually know if I can <sift?> clean with my usual method... I might need to do some research or find a spiritual doctor, if you are unfamiliar. This one is yet young and unlearned in many things."

Is she saying that she was once a petty thief ("crop fields") or has killed in self defense ("walls", "guards") or something else—some sort of... karmic violation? Cannibalism, kinslaying? In the context of newly awakened wild animals, it sounds plausible.

She can't actually make declarations about what she will or will not condone without knowing what it is she's condoning.

But she's condoned a lot, in the past.

"I do not much begrudge the acts of those who do what they must to survive or defend what they care about, especially if they are weaned of the habit," she says finally. "In my world, there are many who worked alongside me in service of righteousness who were once counted among the villains we swore to oppose. People can often change—and even more often, it is not that they must change, but that the conditions keeping them down change; that someone reach out to offer a chance to be better..."

To reach out and offer chance to be better.

She's more or less believed that, for some people more than others. But she never much thought of this speech in relation to herself. She shapes the circumstances, not the other way around. Cauldron wasn't... her vial and their resources were power, leverage, not slack. She's always been the one to pave the hardest paths, in light, in shadow or in blood.

But this time, translating this old spiel to a new dialect and having to ponder and hunt down the right words—she's thinking of the Spirit again, and what it promised her.

She gathers herself.

"I am unfamiliar with the problem you refer to, unfortunately. Is this an urgent problem, such I ought to fly to search for a spirit doctor to ask for assistance, or one that will keep while you research?

She looks very sad for a moment.

"...Heaven and earth are truly vast. Is anyone really righteous? You cannot- Offer a beast your hand and not expect to be bitten." Scowl. "The scorpion and the frog. Some are beyond help. And those in power always seem to have as their first concern- Keeping power, no matter the burden others face. I'm probably even the same, aren't I?"

She shakes her head.

"...This is a conversation for later, perhaps. I think this... Might actually be intended as a <???> furnace technique. To <inject?> foreign qi, capture with debilitating pain and imprison, and then slowly overpower and convert my true qi with more attacks, so that the demonic practitioner can take it for himself. It might pass in time and only hinder me for a while, or even prove to be beneficial once overcome. It might be getting worse every moment and lead to my doom. I would be surprised if it were that insidious. Han Nai of the Blood Tree cult was not a heavens-blessed genius. But it might be. I don't know and can't tell."

"Not all are open to redemption, true. And I do not extend my hand indiscriminately. But—you are right, it's a conversation for another time, but I do hope to revisit it. I consider it a field of scholarship."

And now for the poison.

The way qi apparently works here is oddly... mechanical? Versatile, powerful, expressive, in the way one might describe a programming language or design software; and also just more powerful in effect. She should have inferred as much from the runaway goons being able to turn into blood and open portals, but now they're getting into the moving parts, it's really striking her. Not at all like the novels she's using for reference, which mostly focus on martial arts. She supposed that old superhero comics didn't particularly well capture the complexity of Earth Bet.

"Your judgment here is better than mine. I can fly... I don't know your measures of distance and time, but I can fly"—she does some quick mental maths—"the distance of a month's horseback travel in about a tenth of a day, if your horses are the same as my world's." By her old speed. She suspects she may be able to sustain extended supersonic flight now. "I cannot carry a passenger that fast, but if there is a library that can help, I can memorize any books and writing perfectly. And I have heard mention of healing dan or soul restoration pills, though I don't know if they will help you or how hard they are to procure."

"Do I look like I know how fast mortal horses run? Let alone how often they need to rest... Anything like that would be expensive, and you do not know the customs in this world yet. If there's no other-realm knowledge that's immediately applicable..."

This is transparent fishing, but she moves on after a moment.

"I have... Thoughts that come without thought. <Instinct?>. They are vague, but rarely completely wrong. And they're saying I should eat a lot, do my katas, and cycle qi, and see if it is getting any better. If not, I had planned to leave this place soon anyway, we can travel back to the main part of Three Jades and make <enquiries?>."