Chen Buping, outer disciple number 9527 of the Songfeng Sect, had spent three years tending the fires as a menial worker. His name was given to him by his parents; his work number came from the sect. At the Songfeng Sect, people recognized your work number more readily than your name.
The Songfeng Sect was a middling sect, ranked outside the top hundred in the martial world, with barely enough dignity to keep up appearances. Chen Buping wanted little: for the stove fire not to go out, for the food not to get cold, and to finish work on time. But ever since a copper coin engraved with a night owl fell into his palm on the first day of the lunar month, the pot had never cooked evenly again...
