Book 9: Chapter 22: The Nature of Trust
“How long do you think?” Sen asked, not for the first time.
“Tomorrow. In a month. In a year,” answered Master Feng, not for the first time.
“I thought we’d know more by now.”
“We were always going to be at a disadvantage in terms of information. It didn’t have to be this way, but human beings are short-sighted at best.”
“How so?” asked Sen.
“How much land do humans actually control? How much land do the spirit beasts control?”
Those were depressing questions. Human beings had carved out areas of control, but Sen knew from firsthand experience that it was a fraction of the space occupied by the wilds.
“Not much and too much,” Sen admitted.
“I’ve advised mortals kings and sects in the past to make an effort to expand those areas of human control, but there were always excuses. Too much expense for not enough gain. Too much loss of life for no profit. Once, I personally cleared enough space around a city for them to expand fifty miles in every direction. Within a few generations, half of that land was the wilds again. Within a century, all of it was.”