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Chapter Text

The ancestral hall of the Lotus Pier was drowned in the smoke from incense sticks. The sound of water from the fountain didn't sound soothing at all. Clan leader of the Jiang sect of Yunmeng kneeled in front of the fountain, staring at the names of his deceased family members, his hands clenched on his lap. The three name plates seemed to float in front of him. His head ached and he felt dizzy. "Mom, dad, today I saw him standing in front of me. I saw Jin Zixuan standing in front of me."

...

Lan Wang Ji, Hanguang Jun stood in the middle of a field of scattered bodies. Most of the soil was covered in blood. He could not believe he failed. He failed to get there in time. If he could have gotten there a little bit faster, he could have at least saved a few of them from whatever monstrosity that occurred. Or, so he hoped, because he didn't want to even think that there could be a chance, he is not strong enough to fight against this evil.

But looking at the bodies he could not stop thinking even though he will be strong enough, there is a chance that he would not know how to defeat this evil, for it is unlike anything he had ever seen before.

When two disciples ran into his room and warned him about the killings that was happening near the mountains, he just rushed there without wasting any time hoping to save as many people as he could. The last thing he expected was to find every human he could lay his eyes upon to be dead. And it was certain this was no human doing. It was dark even to the point it could be considered as demonic.

When Wang Ji first got there the smell which overpowered everything else was the iron smell of blood. But now the corpses were smelling like rotting garbage and something acidic. Withing few minutes, the corpses had started to smell like they had been rotting for days. It smelled like it was almost poisonous. And the skins of the dead were bubbling like they were boiling from the inside.

He had to return with some disciples later to carry a few bodies to the Cloud Recesses for further examination. At that moment, he longed for Wei Ying so much. Wei Wu Xian is the one who was more familiar with demonic power. And also, because even though it had not been that long, Wang Ji really missed him.

Chapter Text

Sizhui could not think what was taking Senior Wen (Wen qianbae) so long. He hated that he had to stay behind when Senior Wen went out to the nearest town to look for food. They could have spent the night in a tavern, but to be honest they were running out of money. The little money Sizhui had was spent a long time ago, and the money he borrowed from Hanguang Jun was almost spent as well.

Thanks to the Lan clan’s wealth and Hanguang Jun making sure he had everything he needed, he had never been in a situation where he had to worry about running out of money before. But Senior Wen assured him if they spent sparingly, what’s left will be sufficient enough for them to reach Gusu without any problem.

So, they decided to spend the night in this abandoned village. They found a house that was good enough to spend the night in. The harshness of the cold winter was just leaving. The decaying house was not good enough to hold back the cold air. But the coldness was bearable, so Sizhui did not mind. But the coldness brought an eeriness with it and the rising fog reminded him of the Coffin Town (Yi City), even though he knew this fog was caused by nature and no evil.

As time passed by, a concern started nagging at his heart. He really wished Senior Wen had let him accompany him. Sizhui wasn’t scared of the town, and he knew nothing could have happened to Senior Wen. The Ghost General was totally all right. Well, he had to be all right. He is one of the best warriors ever to exist on this earth. So, nothing could have happened. But he was the only blood relative that Sizhui had. He didn’t want to lose him too.

They were heading back to Gusu after they built a resting place for their deceased family. It took longer than they expected because they could not decide on a proper place. They wanted it to be somewhere beautiful, but Sizhui didn’t feel like Qishan is the right place. Even though it was the original home of the sub-Wen clan they belonged to, the only other place that felt like home for him apart from Cloud Recesses was the burial mounds. But he knew it was a place that they lived in fear and the least their family was reminded of that place the better.

Wen Ning didn’t want to go anywhere near the Dafan Mountains either, where their village was and he told Sizhui it was also a place that held bad memories. Sizhui didn’t feel like asking him what happened. At last, they agreed on this beautiful, isolated spot near a calm lake and spent days in building a memorial. Senior Wen could barely remember all the names of the people from the burial mounds and Sizhui could only really remember one other. The grandma. He didn’t tell senior Wen that he could barely remember his sister.

After the memorial was complete, Sizhui played a beautiful Gusu melody to calm the spirits down.

Sitting against a wooden wall of the abandoned house, he knew Senior Wen left him behind because he was tired and sick. Ever since they started their journey back, Sizhui was getting tired more easily. Senior Wen said even though his sister had treated so many patients when she was alive, he had never seen anything like this. Never seen a sickness where a person grows tired without showing any symptoms.

Sizhui didn’t tell Senior Wen the first time he started feeling tired was when he played his guqin near the memorial. The song should have been soothing and energizing. But instead, he felt like something was sucking up his energy. He knew it wasn’t his fault. There was nothing wrong with the song. He played it exactly the way Hanguang Jun had taught him to. So, it couldn’t be the song. The fact that he started feeling sick the same time he was playing his guqin had to be a coincidence.

When Sizhui came back to the present he realized a strong wind was blowing outside. He could hear it howling. A high-pitched noise. No, it wasn’t the wind. Even though he could hear the wind too, if he strained his ears, he could hear another sound. It was almost like a wailing. He got up and went to the door. Now he could hear it more clearly. It was the sound of a child crying.

He couldn’t believe it. How could there be a child in this abandoned place. He immediately started to follow the noise. But he couldn’t tell which direction the sound was coming from. First it seemed to be coming from north, then it was south-west. It seemed to be changing directions every few seconds. It felt like someone was trying to trick him, or scare him off. He was about to give up and go back to the house when he heard a scream, definitely human and came from down the road he was standing. He started running towards the sound.

He saw a black figure standing in the middle of the road. ‘Wait, is that Senior Wen?’ Sizhui couldn’t even imagine the Ghost General being scared of anything. Why in the world did he scream?

“Senior Wen…?”

“Ah! A-Yuan, what are you doing outside? It’s getting cold. Is it cold inside of the house too? If so, I will go and collect some firewood.”

Senior Wen should really stop treating him like he is still four years old. “No Senior Wen, it’s fine. I came out because I heard a noise. I heard a scream too. By any chance, was that you who screamed.”

“Ah! No…. I mean…. Yes… I mean…. I wasn’t scared. I was just shocked.”

“Shocked?”

“I thought I saw a child. A little girl. It was just for a second. I couldn’t see properly. There was a lot of fog. I didn’t see properly. I think she was wearing ragged white clothes. I mean… I didn’t see properly. For a second the fog cleared and I could see the child. Then the fog came and she was gone.”

“Senior Wen, did you hear the crying too. Was it that child?”

“Crying? No, not really. I can’t tell whether the child was crying. I couldn’t see her face properly.”

A nearby door suddenly banged close. Sizhui was sure he saw something enter that house from the corner of his eyes. He started running towards the house. Wen Ning followed. When they pulled the door open, it opened easily with much less noise than they expected. Inside the house it was dusty and dark exactly like the rest of the houses. But Sizhui could see the freshly made foot prints on the dust layer from the last light of the day sweeping in through the cracks on the walls. Two sets. One small, one big.

They both started to slowly follow the foot prints which led to a room, and there she was, huddled in a corner. Just like Sizhui was a few minutes ago at their house. Sizhui was certain this was the same girl Senior Wen saw before. She was covered in layers of parched white fabric which seems to be keeping her warm.

Sizhui could hear the crying again. He wasn’t sure when it started again. But it wasn’t the little girl. The sound was coming from the outside. And even in the low light Sizhui was sure there was no tears nor any traces of tears on her little cheeks. Her face was completely dry. She hadn’t been crying. It took him a few minutes to realise even though she and the cloths that wrapped around her seems like someone had unceremoniously dumped her there, the child was actually sitting very straight. She seemed to be in the lotus position with her hands resting on her knees, but it was hard to tell with all that cloth.

Her eyes weren’t shut like he thought they were at the beginning, but she was looking at the floor. Sizhui thought it was very strange that she didn’t move or react to their approach at all. Even the floor boards creaked when they walked. How could she not even look to see who approached? Was it because she was terrified? Couldn’t be. She didn’t look like she was terrified at all.

Sizhui started to speak while slowly approaching her. “Hi, don’t be scared of us. We are not bad people. I’m Lan Sizhui from the Lan sect of Gusu. Are you alone? Who’s looking after you?”

The girl suddenly looked straight at them. They got startled and took a few steps back for both of the child’s eyes had no black part. They were completely white.

Wen Ning suddenly bumped into something. No, it wasn’t something. It was someone.

Chapter Text

Xia Hong Guang just didn’t want to open her eyes, but being a light sleeper, it was really hard for her to go back to sleep. Especially when her aunt was screaming at the top of her lungs saying it’s almost midday. She never liked waking up early. But it had been even harder ever since they moved to this house.

It was way near the forest for Hong Guang’s liking. No matter how hard she tried to sleep during the night some thick-headed animal will decide that it’s its time to shine by screaming at the top of its lunges in the middle of the night and disturb everyone’s sleep. Then as soon as the sun light hit the ground the villagers will run into the streets and will start making all sorts of noises like they were counting the seconds to get away from their small sad excuses for homes.

Hong Guang had to keep reminding herself that now she had to call one of those small sad places her home, and this thin layer of hay spread on top of a wooden slab her bed. She wouldn’t complain about any of that as long as she could get a good night’s sleep to wash away the day’s regrets. But she just couldn’t, could she?

“A-Huiling, get your sad ass up and help me carry these grains.” Oh great! Now her aunt has started calling her by her birth name. Where the hell is A-Juan? Why can’t aunt ask her to give a hand. She was sure A-Juan is up and fresh for she knew Xing Juan can sleep through an earthquake like a baby, or more like a dead corpse.

“It’s okay, A-Guang must be tired. I’ll help you out.”

 Oh great, oh just great. It was the cherry on top that she needed. To hear the conceited ‘perfect husband’s’ voice early in the morning. And who did he think he is to call her A-Guang. She couldn’t fathom why everyone liked the ‘perfect’ Zhang Yong Zheng. She was the only one who hated her sister’s fiancé. And just because of that everyone started saying that she was jealous. But she wasn’t. Why would she be? In actuality, she was really glad that she wasn’t the one who’s going to marry him.

Hearing that irritable voice seemed to have shaken her out of her sleep completely. So, she jumped out of the window hoping no one would notice and headed towards the lake to clean herself.

               Even though she meant to head back sooner, surprisingly there was no one near the lake. So, she sat in the lake, submerged neck deep in water, her back resting against a smooth rock and closed her eyes. She was thinking maybe she could get used to this life after all. Maybe she can get used to doing household chores. She had to help her mother anyway, now that there are no servants around. Maybe it wouldn’t be that bad. That’s when she heard A-Juan calling for her. She was almost at the lake. It seemed wherever she was Xing Juan could always find her.

“You really know how to slip away from work, don’t you?” Xing Juan skipped on to the rock next to hers and squatted. “There’s going to be some celebrations at Xiang Qiang. So, I was thinking about visiting the town.”

Xiang Qiang is a big guest house near the border of Qinghe, which held vibrant celebrations every once in a while. There will be a lot of dancing and food, storytelling and a lot of merchants selling anything you will ever want. They used to go to many celebrations back when they were living at the Xia clan’s mansion which was very near to the town in comparison to where they lived now.

It’s not just them, a lot of other comparatively wealthy people attended to one or other of these celebrations. Among them taking the lead were young women looking for spouses especially from rich clans. It’s not a secret that some disciples from the Nie sect also visited from time to time. Nie clan is the most prestigious clan in Qinghe. And on top of that they are cultivators. Some women are really thirsty for cultivators.

The Xia sisters never went to any of these celebrations looking for a man. They never really liked bothering about marriage or who they were going to end up with. Like their father, they just liked to have fun and enjoy life much to the disappointment of their mother. She scolded them saying they were too reckless and too outgoing. Two things beautiful young ladies should never be. But lucky for them their father was always there to back them up.

Hong Guang liked that place even when there were no specific celebrations. It was a place for meeting new people. Most travellers came to lodge there for a few nights which paved the opportunity for people of Qinghe to know about the outside world. She went there whenever she was free with and without her sister. She used to wish that she could spend her whole life either hanging around Xiang Qiang or running around the forest. Well, that was until one day her sister returned from Xiang Qiang saying that she met the person she wanted to spend the rest of her life with.

Xia Xing Juan could almost feel a headache blooming up after listening to Hong Guang complain about having nothing to wear for more than half an hour. There were outfits scattered on the small bed as well as the floor. It seemed like Hong Guang really didn’t want to go to the town, especially after hearing that her fiancé was coming with them. Xing Juan had to pester her for so long until she finally agreed to go. Usually, Hong Guang won’t miss an opportunity where she gets to wear something nice and walk around in her beautiful attire. It seemed like the only thing Hong Guang enjoyed. Xing Juan on the other hand, even though loved wearing beautiful clothes can switch to a mindset that does not care about the outfit at all.

Given their current situation it seemed like Hong Guang also needed to learn how to not care about what she was wearing and what other people think about what she was wearing. When it finally registered on Hong Guang’s mind that her sister is not going to give up, she unwillingly settled on a very plain outfit, knowing the more she hindered them, they were going to lose daylight. Now that they have to walk miles through isolated roads losing daylight is not going to work on their favour.

After walking for some time Xing Juan seemed to lag behind. “How much further is the town?”

“You already knew it was a long walk before you dragged us two out of the house. So why are you complaining. You can’t even walk this short distance? You are such a baby.” Even though Hong Guang acted like the long walk didn’t bother her at all, her feet were starting to ache as well. But seeing that Zhang Yong Zheng had fallen behind to put his arm around her sister’s waist to help her walk, she could only speed up her steps in annoyance.

To be honest going to the town wasn’t Xing Juan’s idea at all. Even she was surprised that morning when their mother told her to take her sister to the town. It seemed their mother had been worrying about A-Guang as well. It was obvious that her sister was feeling a little down after they moved to the village even though she tried to keep it to herself. Maybe their mother thought going to a place she loves and meeting some old friends could help cheer her up.

The ‘meeting old friends’ part really bothered Xing Juan. They hadn’t seen their friends after moving to the village. They even sold many of their ‘luxuries’ – which both Xing Juan and Hong Guang thought as necessities more than luxuries - to pay off some debts. Xia Xing Juan was worried that their sudden lack of privilege would lead them to face more hostility than friendship.

After a few minutes Hong Guang could see the top of the roofs of Xia mansion. Without turning around to face the other two she shouted out saying, “We are almost at the Xia mansion. We can go in and rest at our aunt’s place for a little if you want to.”

Xia Hong Guang waited near the gate looking towards the direction of their old house till the others arrived. “It seems like Uncle still hasn’t sold the house yet. Maybe, if we ask uncle, he will even let us live there again. Does dad really have to be this righteous. So, what if we couldn’t afford to live there for a while. We will be able to make money soon enough. Then we will be able to pay uncle for his kindness. Uncle even told that it was okay if we stayed. Dad really didn’t have to make us pack our bags and leave to that damn village right away.”

Hong Guang even with her lush personality wasn’t someone who looked down on the poor. But angered by the current situation she could not stop bad mouthing the village and its residents. Even so, she thought Xing Juan would agree with her like she normally did these last few days. It was a thing they did whenever they were frustrated and scared, to let it all out. Both sisters recently had realised that knowing you might not have enough money to buy your next meal can be quite scary. What she didn’t expected though was, her sister to be angered by her words.

“It is a really good village. Which is something you would have noticed if you care to come out of your bedroom and mingle with the villagers. And dad is not as shameless as you are to live off of other people.”

“I didn’t say anything about living off of other people. I just said that he could have waited and see what’s gonna happen before rushing into decisions.”

“You do not know what dad’s dealing with. So, stop talking like you know everything that’s going on.”

Before Hong Guang got a chance to say something rude back to her sister, starting a fight, Zhang Yong Zheng spoke up. “A-Juan, if you are tired let’s rest soon and leave before it’s late. Otherwise, night will fall before we reach the town.”

Xing Juan turned to walk. “I’m not that tired. Let’s just get this journey over with.”

Chapter Text

The last of the liquor from the third bottle went down his throat. He missed him. He really missed him. Wei Wu Xian could not believe how he could have possibly thought it was a good idea to sell that stupid donkey. He even ate apples for breakfast, but that donkey shaped hole inside him was still empty. (You really thought he was thinking about Lan Zhan, didn’t you. ;p)

Those conceited cultivators of the Jin sect were all to blame. Wu Xian really didn’t want to lose to them. He could have laid low. They really didn’t seem to recognise him. These younglings should have been toddlers when the YiLing Patriarch used to rule the darkest dreams of the people. But those kids really needed to learn a lesson.

To be honest, Wu Xian could not really remember what took place the other night. He barely suffered any memory loss after drinking. But he could remember only bits and pieces from that night. That liquor must have been really strong. He remembered these people clad in light gold white peonies walk into the tavern and ask for the most expensive liquor available. They started shouting at the owner when they realised there wasn’t as much of the liquor in store as they wanted. To be honest it wasn’t the owner’s fault. This was a tavern in a small town. It barely got any customers that were rich enough to buy this expensive liquor. They also complained saying the waiters weren’t attentive enough and that the tavern was way too crowded. It seemed like they expected, as soon as they walked in, the staff should stop everything else and wait on them.

It reminded Wu Xian of how years ago, him, Jiang Cheng and even his older sister (Shijie) along with other members of the Jiang sect was thrown out by that peacock bastard from a tavern. Oh no, as soon as those words hit Wu Xian’s brain his heart clenched in pain. He could not think ill of Jin Zixuan. It seems like there was no hatred towards him in Wu Xian any longer. He felt like the Jin Zixuan who existed before the wedding was gone. He could only think of him as Jin Ling’s father and his sister’s husband. And the reason he was no longer on this earth was… was……..

It seemed like that night he got angered by these youngsters’ arrogant behaviour. He remembered walking towards them planning on teaching them a lesson. He remembered drinking, probably to show off his alcohol tolerance. He wondered what Lan Qi Ren would have thought about his stupid attempt to show off. But he really couldn’t lose to those Jins now, could he? He remembered walking along the streets teaching them some night-hunting techniques and whatever. They must have spent money along the way, because he remembered not wanting to appear poorer in comparison. So, his drunken brain must have come to the conclusion of selling little apple. He could not even remember when and where the trade happened.

It didn’t matter. Even though he remembered it was not like he could have gone and bought him back, because whatever money he got for the donkey seemed to have magically disappeared. Maybe he really needed to check his sleeves because there’s no way he spent all that money in one night. (Ancient Chinese people seems to stuff things in their sleeves like we do with pockets, so…) Or did he sell little apple for a really cheap price?

He collected his stuff and went downstairs to buy some more liquor jars and head to wherever. He was already bored with this town. Even night-hunting is boring. Originally, he was planning on roaming as far as he could without heeding borders. But he really didn’t feel like leaving behind…. Leaving what behind? His family? Wen Ning and Sizhui? Lotus Pier? Lan Zhan?

But he didn’t want to go back either. He didn’t feel like Jiang Cheng would be too pleased to see him at the Lotus Pier. And Gusu on the other hand with its 4000 or so rules. Why did Lan Zhan really had to be living there out of all the places? He knew being a really close person to the second master of Lan sect, he could have broken a few rules and gotten away with it. But Lan Zhan being the righteous second master is the same reason he couldn’t. He didn’t want to be a bruise to his reputation than he already was.

So, he decided to walk out the door and go where his legs would carry him and the rumours would lead him. But he had only walked a few steps when he heard people shouting at each other. Out of curiosity, he walked towards the sound. A lot of people were gathered around to watch. From the small spaces the spectators’ wall of bodies made, he could see some flashes of white and gold. ‘Ah! So, it’s the Jin sect. AGAIN. So courageous of them to avoid their sect’s image and fight on the streets like dogs.’

Wei Wu Xian started to walk towards the fight, pushing the people out of his way as gently as possible. (but the people didn’t seem to think he was trying to be as gentle as possible.) When he was closing up to the fight, he could see that one idiot was getting beaten by many others. “Oh no, Oh no, Oh no. That’s our idiot.”

Jin Ling knew the moment the punch landed on his nose it would be broken. But he couldn’t do anything to defend himself. Whoever that hand belonged to; he was fast. So, all he could do was to squeeze his eyes and clench his teeth and wait for the blow to land.

But the punch never came. Instead, a figure clad in black with red trimming was in front of him. This person fended against a few more blows as well. He even heard a few ‘oh! It’s you’s from the others. He was actually planning on saying that cringy thing ‘thank you’ when his rescuer turned around and all the gratitude in his heart fell away and it filled up with disgust. He also almost muttered ‘oh! It’s you’ when the other grabbed his arm and dragged him away being inconsiderate about his throbbing bruises.

…

Sitting across from Wei Wu Xian in the tavern Jin Ling had a hard time meeting his eyes. All these months he had done a lot of thinking for himself and also his uncle Jiang, considering Wei Wu Xian and where they actually stood, after the revelation of the truth. He was feeling sorry for all three of them. He had played and was petted and cared by his parents’ killer when he blamed someone who was almost innocent. In the back of his mind, he knew that both Wei Wu Xian and the Ghost General was completely innocent. They were manipulated to do the things that they did against their will. But when you hate someone for so long it’s really hard to get rid of those feelings. In Jin Ling’s case he only knew how to hate the YiLing Patriarch ever since birth.

“You still get beaten up by that idiot. Didn’t I told you to practice your fighting skills.” Wei Wu Xian asked looking him straight in the eyes.

“Should I do something just because you say so.” Jin Ling finally met his eyes and was shocked to see it was filled with a deep concern. Thinking back, Wei Wu Xian tried his best to protect Jin Ling any time he could, just like uncle Jiang. The difference was while uncle Jiang only concentrated on protecting him, Wei Wu Xian did his best to protect everyone that was present. So, Jin Ling could easily brush off that concern. ‘Wait, did Wei Wu Xian actually care about him?’ All this time Jin Ling had been thinking what would it have felt like for Wei Wu Xian to be wrongfully blamed for killing someone. He just now realised he had dropped a very important part in that sentence. It should be ‘… Wei Wu Xian to be wrongfully blamed for killing someone he loved.’

He remembered people saying that his mother and the YiLing Patriarch were so close. Did the fact that he didn’t plan on killing his mother meant that he still loved her when he was forcefully made to kill her? He remembered uncle Jiang saying that his sister treated Wu Xian like the mother he didn’t have.

“So, sect leader Jin, tell me, how well does not listening to my advice working for you so far? Can you even call yourself a Sect leader when you have been beaten to be bruised like a rotten berry by your own disciples? Or are you conceited enough to request a bodyguard to do the fighting for you like those good for nothing Wen dogs back in the days?”

“Why are you calling me sect leader?” Jin Ling snapped. He hurriedly looked around the tavern to see whether anyone of concern was eavesdropping. Thankfully Jin Chan and the others were nowhere to be seen. The few disciples that entered the tavern seemed to prefer keeping their distance from the YiLing Patriarch. Even though now people especially from the Jin clan knew that Jin Guang Yao is to blame for many things that occurred, the fear and hatred that was there towards the name YiLing Patriarch seemed to take its time in dying down.

“Why? Weren’t you the next in line? Don’t tell me someone else snatched it from you? What was Jiang Cheng doing allowing something like that to happen? Or is it that the Jin sect had so many corrupted leaders that it finally decided it will be better off leaderless. Haha”

“Don’t call my uncle Jiang that. He is a well-known sect leader, and you are just…just...”

“Why shouldn’t I call Jiang Cheng Jiang Cheng? I’ve always called him Jiang Cheng. Sect leader or not Jiang Cheng will always be Jiang Cheng.”

“Whatever” Jing Ling said with a frown. “Anyways it’s not like that. The sect leader hasn’t been decided yet. And I don’t want it.”

“Why not?” Even though he said this like he found the fact that Jin Ling hadn’t become the sect leader yet is ridiculous, he knew even though Jin Ling wanted to become the sect leader, considering Jin Ling’s cultivational level and popularity it won’t be easy. Even though the Jin sect of Lanling, like most other sects nowadays, following Wen Mao’s footsteps had become clan oriented, there will be others, especially inside the clan who will try to snatch the spot if an opportunity rose. On top of that, even though Jin Ling’s cultivation level was good, it was not exceptional. (The difference between clan and sect: a clan is the family, the blood related cultivators. The sect includes all the disciples and servants who are not related to the clan as well as the clan itself. (My description can be a bit off for I myself am not that familiar with this subject matter.))

“I’m still too young.”

Wu Xian could immediately understand. Jin Ling is still 16. Becoming the clan leader, especially of such a large sect as the Jin sect is like throwing away your youth to rot in a pit of garbage. Plus being such a young sect leader is like making yourself a victim for other peoples’ judgement. Also, some people find it really hard to bow and listen to someone so young, and of course there will be those who wants to trample that person if an opportunity rose simply because they were just jealous. Wei Wu Xian had witnessed all these first hand. But when he spoke, his words were encouraging.

“You are not that young. Your uncle Jiang was about your age when he became the sect leader. He did very well as a clan leader. For him, it was even tougher. He even had to rebuild the sect from scratch. Your sect is well up and going.”

But he knew that the disciples of the Jiang sect really looked up to Jiang Cheng as well as himself back then. So, when Jiang Cheng became the clan leader, everyone from the Jiang sect seemed to want to support him in rebuilding the sect. Jiang Cheng even had him, another powerful cultivator supporting him as well.

When it came to the case of Jin Ling, it really didn’t seem like there were that many people from the Jin sect who’s willingly looking forward to support him.

Jin Ling was speechless. Even though he wanted to spat back something sarcastic, whatever Wei Wu Xian said wasn’t wrong. His uncle really did all that while he was still young.

Wu Xian continued. “That is unless you don’t want the position at all. If so, you can hand it over. Then you can live with no care in the world, just like me.” It was a little too late when he realised, he shouldn’t have added the last part.

“I’m not going to give the clan away. Why would I, when it is rightfully mine. Plus, why the hell would I want to be like you?”

“Fine, fine, you don’t have to be like me. Be like your uncle Jiang, whom you seem to worship.” Jin Lings face got darker when he heard this. “Okay let’s drop this matter. Just tell me what you and your peers doing here.” Wu Xian said quickly.

“I’m not here with anyone. I came alone.” Of course, Jin Ling finally making friends is something that is too good to be true. “It’s just, there has been news about many deaths in nearby villages. I just came to investigate.”

“Deaths? What sort of? Wait… You came to night hunt?” Well, of course, Jin Ling came to night hunt. Why else would he be there? Wu Xian felt a bit stupid for just realising it then. “Does that mean that steaming volcano of an uncle of yours is around as well?”

 “No, he didn’t come. He was busy with something else… I think.” Wu Xian couldn’t fathom what was more important to Jiang Cheng than making sure Jin Ling is safe and sound. But it seemed like Jin Ling agreed to the fact his uncle is a steaming volcano looking at how he didn’t complain.

Becoming curious, Wei Wu Xian asked, “What about the deaths? What sort of a creature has done it?”

Chapter Text

Wen Ning was surprised to see how small the old woman he bumped into was. She seemed to have a lot of strength even though she was petite, not to mention very old. But she barely even staggered when he bumped into her. He was sure he bumped into her hard. Accidentally, but nonetheless… hard. They also could see that the child’s eyes were white only because of blindness. It wasn’t something evil as they first assumed.

The old lady didn’t say anything. Wen Ning was too shocked to even apologize as the old lady walked towards the child and produced a steam bun while sitting next to her. The child took it and started guzzling it right away. Finally, that is when the old lady lifted her face and looked at them.

Sizhui had noticed that the steamed bun was made very badly. It seemed that this old lady didn’t have that much wealth to take care of themselves. “Senior Wen just bought some food. Shall we have dinner together.” Despite the fear and doubt in his heart, Sizhui couldn’t help but offer.

“Why would you noble people bother about someone like us? We can look after ourselves. You don’t need to bother.” Even though it was like a strong resist, the old lady’s voice was weak and full of humiliation. She wasn’t being spiteful. It seemed like she had really low self-esteem and genuinely thought that they did not deserve such kindness from people.

“He is not a noble human. He is different.” Despite the little girl’s slight frame, her voice was strong and sharp. But what was bone chilling was the fact that even though she was looking straight ahead with her pupilless eyes, her finger pointed straight at Wen Ning.

“A-Luli, don’t say such things.” Nonetheless the old lady gave Wen Ning a quick glance like she was really frightened of him. Wen Ning immediately looked down and shrank his shoulders to appear as small and harmless as possible.

“Someone so full of death cannot be a noble human being.” She said like she was trying to prove that she didn’t do anything wrong by saying it out loud in the first place. “This one is full of light though. But wherever light is, darkness is always around.”

Was he the darkness? Is the little girl implying that he shouldn’t be around A-Yuan? Wen Ning really hoped that the little girl would stop saying such things.

After they got the old lady to agree to eat with them, Wen Ning built a small fire inside the house to keep them warm and went outside to prepare a meal. Exhausted as he was, even the adrenaline not being able to hold him upright, Lan Sizhui collapsed to the ground and rested his back against the wall. Despite how many times he told himself it was impolite to stare at a stranger, he couldn’t stop himself from keeping an eye on the child.

Of course, from the start it was obvious she was not a normal child. But what made a child so young say such words? When she talked, she sounded more like an elder. Sizhui was sure he hadn’t even heard his friends speak in such a manner. And the crying that he heard before of course was not normal. Sizhui could not stop himself from wondering who this child was.

After Wen Ning prepared a meal, they all sat down together and started to eat. The old lady was sneaking glances at them time to time like she was scared that they would do something bad if she wasn’t careful. But the child ate very calmly. She was just sitting there, eating, her eyes on her food bowl, minding her own business, so unlike a child.

Neither of them spoke a word for a while until suddenly the old lady started to mumble. At first it was hard to interpret what she was saying. But eventually the more sensitive ears of Wen Ning and Lan Sizhui could recognize the words.

“Why kindness? Why for us? What are they going to do to A-Li? Don’t throw A-Li away, she’s still young. What will they do to us?”

 Lan Sizhui couldn’t stop himself from saying, “Madam, please don’t be scared of us. We won’t bring any harm towards you. That is not our intention.”

“Then why would you show us kindness?” The old lady’s eyes were full of tears, but something in her face told Sizhui she’s not going to shed any. She was stronger than that.

“Why are you in this abandoned village? Where are you from? What about your family?” Wen Ning asked.

“We used to live in Gusu. A village near the mountains. My husband and I were well off to live a happy life with our children even though we weren’t that rich. When our children grew up one by one found partners and got married, so did A-Song, my third son. His wife was so beautiful and such a pleasant soul. Everyone said that my son was so lucky to have met her.

Soon after they were going to have a child. They were euphoric. Oh, the way they prepared for their first child! They loved her even before she was born. My son couldn’t stop going around the village bragging about how he will bring up his own child as royalty. He was willing to give his everything for this child.

Who knew he would meet such a tragic end? His wife was having an easy pregnancy so far. My son went out to hunt some beast with the other lads in the village as usual. And that night the child’s mother became very sick. The village doctor did everything he could, but he was barely able to keep her alive. In the morning she was finally only starting to regain her strength when we heard the news of A-Song passing away during the hunt.

At the beginning everyone was sharing their condolences with us. But as time went, villagers got bored and started to put pieces together and weave up stories. They said that the fact that my son’s wife almost died the same night that my son passed away could not be a coincident. It didn’t help when the lads that went to hunt that night started saying that my son’s death was quite unnatural. That, that a wild boar came right at him and he didn’t do anything to defend himself. My son was one of the best hunters, and this disturbed me as well. But they started to blame it all on the child. My granddaughter, she hadn’t even been born, how could they…”

The old lady stared into the distance through her tears for a while before she continued. “After the sorrowful news my son’s wife, the child’s mother was never happy. She started to fade away little by little. When the time came for the child’s birth, she was so weak she couldn’t go through it. My dear child, my A-Li became an orphan. And these rotten people had guts to blame her own mother’s death on her.

They said our Luli is cursed. They said she will only bring bad luck. And that this is the reason why she is blind as well. My poor child, they said she deserved it. She deserved not to see. They didn’t even want A-Li to stay in their village. Again and again, they told me to get rid of my child.”

This was quite shocking. People tend to look down on the cripple. This was nothing new. But to want to get rid of a small helpless child. Wen Ning really didn’t like the child either. But he still couldn’t think how can humans possibly wish harm to a small child. He remembered how it was like when the whole world was against them. When the whole world wanted them dead. Knowing every face he saw just looked at him wishing he was dead. But this was just a small child.

“Is this why you are travelling away from your village?” Sizhui asked. His voice was slightly unsteady. Only Wen Ning noticed this. He could see the concern and sadness in his eyes.

“No. If they thought they could get rid of us that easily they were wrong. Why would we leave when we did nothing wrong?” The old lady’s voice was filled with anger. “I think they took comfort saying our Luli can’t see.”

“But they were quite shocked when they get to know that I can see more than them.” It was a sweet high-pitched voice of a young girl, but it was so stone cold. It lacked emotions. It seemed even her grandmother was troubled. She looked at her granddaughter with worry.

“I told them they shouldn’t hate me. Their hatred could harm them. They didn’t listen. Their hatred burned them from the inside. They were burned to death by their hatred. Now the soil is getting blackened we need to leave to a better place.”

Both Wen Ning and Lan Sizhui was scared to speechlessness. No matter how they tried they couldn’t open their mouths. All they could do was stare at the child who had resumed eating like nothing had happened.

“What A-Li is saying is that there were gruesome murders happening at nearby villages. People were too scared to stay. People who have relatives in some far places, especially in towns are leaving to stay with them. I didn’t want any more fingers pointing at Luli. So, I decided to leave as well.” How ever having finished her story, the old lady started to stare at them like she expected them to shrink away in fear or to start accusing her granddaughter.

But both their attention had turned to another direction. “How could this happen? How many people have died? Where?” Sizhui asked while at the same time Wen Ning said, “Who committed such a crime?”

They both expected that the old lady would reply, but the child started speaking again. “Small areas, for it is not strong yet. They are the ones who invited it. But they will never see it coming.”

Even though Sizhui was scared of the child, he asked, “It? What is it?”

“How can I know when I can’t even see. Do you expect me to tell you when I am the blind?”

Wen Ning wanted to say ‘but you already know something,’ but he didn’t. Instead, wanting to change the subject he got up and started to clean up the empty bowls.

Later, Wen Ning met Sizhui’s tired eyes. Instantly he could tell that Sizhui shared his thoughts. Neither of them wanted to sleep in the same house with the scary child. They felt guilty about it. They shouldn’t dislike someone because they are strange. But they were both somewhat scared of the child, so they couldn’t help it.

Wen Ning was about to tell that they will take their leave for the night when suddenly the child spoke again.

“He won’t stop crying. I won’t be able to sleep again.”

Sizhui realised that he could still hear the sound of crying. His brain has started to ignore it a while ago. That is why he had stopped noticing it. Not because it had stopped like he had assumed. Wen Ning however looked completely confused. “Who is crying.”

“Our Luli can see and hear things other people can’t. She has been complaining about the crying for a while. I think she can see the unseen.”

“Unseen? You mean the ghosts?” Wen Ning was getting even more curious.

“He is not. Yet. If he is, he will finally stop crying.”

“Who is he?” asked Sizhui. “Where is he?”

“A little boy. I don’t know where he is.”

“Why is he crying?”

“Because he will hurt him.”

“Who will hurt him?”

“I don’t think he has hurt him yet.” With that she stood up and turned to her grandmother. “I am tired. Even though he won’t stop crying, I have to try and sleep.”

Chapter Text

Jiang Yong Liang sat next to the window, looking at the night sky, one hand resting on the window frame. He let out a long sigh. Even though the cold night wind was kind of refreshing, it wasn’t enough to take away the fatigue from his bones. He wished they would soon head back to Lotus Pier, but Sect leader Jiang seemed not to hold such intentions.

It had been more than five years since sect leader Jiang has appointed him as his second in command. Even though it was a prestigious position, a lot of people dreaded to occupy it for two reasons. One being the obvious short temper of sect leader Jiang and the other was because the position was once occupied by Wei Wu Xian himself.

But when sect leader Jiang asked him to take the position Yong Liang was over the moon. Not only was he able to get along with Sect leader Jiang so well without even angering him, he held a deep respect towards sect leader Jiang. But that night, looking outside the window of a tavern in Qishan near Qiongqi Path, Yong Liang really wished he wasn’t in such a position.

A few days ago, sect leader Jiang had gathered a few disciples of the Jiang sect and headed away from the Lotus Pier to night hunt. This was nothing out of the ordinary. Actually, this is what they usually do. But the strange thing this time was that Sect leader Jiang never told them where they were heading, or what kind of creatures they were hunting. So, this was enough to arouse suspicion inside the small group because, every other time they went night hunting, the Sect leader always kept them well informed.

But what they didn’t know and Yong Liang made sure that they would not know is that sect leader Jiang completely ignored young master Jin’s note that came the day they were about to head out, which said he would head out to night hunt as well. This was quite unusual. It was well known that Jiang WanYin would assist young master Jin whenever he went night-hunting. It was like sect leader Jiang could not even breath knowing that his nephew would be in possible danger.

So, Yong Liang received quite a shock when he presented young master Jin’s note to sect leader Jiang himself, and when sect leader Jiang told him to ignore it, for, he did not have time to be bothered with Jin Ling. He also asked Yong Liang to gather a hunting crew, for he was expecting to head out that very night. Despite how much puzzled he was, amid the chaos of preparations, Yong Liang made sure to write a reply letter to young master Jin saying that his uncle was terribly sorry he could not accompany him to night hunt this time.

After they headed out, it was even worse. It was like sect leader Jiang was roaming around without a specific destination. From all the places they went, only two proved worthy enough for night-hunting. Even those had a few low-level corpses and ghouls. They felt like target grounds of small clans that only began cultivation. Definitely not something the Jiang sect of Yunmeng would bother with.

Not even him, but the other disciples were noticing as well. Jiang Yong Liang was able to catch some of what the other disciples were talking about. Every passing day, they were getting more certain that sect leader Jiang was roaming without any specific destination. It was also obvious that recently sect leader Jiang easily got caught up in his own thoughts. The fact that sect leader Jiang had not lashed out on anyone out of anger the past few days, even though relieving, was quite unusual.

The disciples were getting concerned. They were debating among themselves, whether sect leader Jiang has lost his colours as a sect leader. If he behaved in this manner, will the Yunmeng Jiang sect be able to uphold its position.

Yong Liang was disgusted. It has only been a few occurrences. And these ungrateful disciples had an audacity to say such things. Thankfully there was only a handful of them. He had heard that back in the days, everyone in Lotus Pier really loved their two young masters. He wished he could have been in lotus Pier back in those days. But back then he was too young and definitely didn’t even wish to become a cultivator.

He was so tired; he was almost on the verge of tearing up. He promised himself he won’t break down. But it was so hard to single-handedly handle the situation at hand. The past few days he had been pretending that nothing was wrong. Pretending like this meaningless night-hunt sect leader Jiang arranged actually had a purpose. Pretending like he knew something the other disciples didn’t and that there was nothing wrong with sect leader Jiang and his decisions in hope of other disciples won’t see how ridiculous the situation at hand really was. While all this time being concerned about sect leader Jiang, wishing he would be all right.

If sect leader Jiang wasn’t all right, he had no idea whom to turn to, asking for help. He definitely cannot go to another sect. Jin Ling is still a kid. Wei Wu Xian? He was sure sect leader Jiang would not appreciate it.

He was thinking that it was not a big deal. All of this is a simple misunderstanding. That sect leader Jiang will get tired of this and will head back to Yunmeng and everything will go back to normal. Well, it was until he took sect leader Jiang’s dinner to his room a few hours earlier. Nothing was out of the ordinary. They had been roaming for a while, so they were all tired. Sect leader Jiang was sitting at the table staring at the opposing wall. He didn’t even look at Yong Liang in acknowledgment. Sect leader Jiang had been zoning out a lot lately, so he didn’t think anything about it either.

It was when he looked at Sect leader Jiang’s eyes that his heart fell. They were filled with anger and loss at the same time. He almost looked mad. It seemed like if he poked his sect leader even the slightest, the thin barrier would break and the anger would burst. But he couldn’t stop himself from calling out to his sect leader.

Sect leader Jiang finally seemed to acknowledge him. Jiang Wan Yin somehow managed to pull the corners of his lips up in a sad smile. All he said in return was, “You must be tired. Go and rest.”

Yong Liang really wanted to ask him what’s wrong? Why are they going on night hunting when there was really nothing to hunt? Why did their sect leader arrange this seemingly purposeless night hunt in the first place?

He also wanted to warn his sect leader about the small talks happening among the other disciples. To tell him that they have begun to say that Jiang Wan Yin is useless, and to beg his sect leader not to act in such a way that left room for them to say such things about him.

To tell him whatever it is, it’s going to be all right and no matter what, sect leader Jiang can always depend on him.

But he feared sect leader Jiang would not appreciate such words and he silently left his room.

…

Jiang Cheng finally took a bite from his food. He didn’t know how many minutes or hours had passed after Jiang Yong Liang had brought his dinner. It had to be a long while for the food had completely gone cold. He gulped a few more mouthfuls to quench his hunger and shoved the food tray further away from him, taking the liquor jar to his hand.

He was feeling empty, and even though he hated to admit it, he was also a little bit scared. He wished he had somebody to share this with. He wished his sister was there, or even his brother. ‘Seriously where is Wei Wu Xian? Roaming around like he had no care. When will he finally grow up?’

As soon as the matters that needed to be taken care of at Lotus Pier had somewhat settled, the first thing he did was gather some disciples and go to the place where he saw Jin ZiXuan. Or whoever was posing as Jin ZiXuan.  

The night he saw Jin Zi Xuan for the first time, it was in the middle of a busy street in a town in Yunmeng that they went to night hunt after hearing from the locals that there were some dark spirits roaming around. Even though the ghosts were not strong, there were a lot and it took quite some time to kill them all. So, they decided to stay the night in a tavern to rest without returning to Lotus Pier right away. After having dinner, Jiang Cheng decided to take a walk. He hadn’t had time to take any walk to relax lately. He was wishing that he could run around, doing mischief at night with his friends once again, like he did when he was young. Then suddenly the crowd somewhat thinned and standing straight ahead about 10 feet away looking right into his eyes, was Jin ZiXuan.

He almost smiled and was about to call out to him when he realized what was wrong with the situation. His brother-in-law was supposed to be dead. He started to approach him, but he was gone. Jiang Cheng looked around, confused. There was no sign of Zi Xuan. But he knew what he saw. Even though it was for a moment, it was crystal clear. It definitely was Jin Zi Xuan. He was a person that can never been mistaken for, and nobody can easily imitate him. His expensive attire, his handsome face, well-built structure, the pride that always radiated from him.

After Jiang Cheng went back to Lotus Pier, he could not forget what he saw. He had to be certain. No, he was certain. But he had to meet with ‘Jin Zi Xuan.’ The longer he spent pondering on it, the harder it became for him to believe it. But his curiosity built as well. So, what did he see? Was it really his brother in law? If so, what was he doing there in Yunmeng. Even though it really was the ghost of Jin Zi Xuan, that town was one of the most unlikely places for him to linger. Was he there looking for Jiang Cheng?

That is why, as soon as he could, he gathered a few disciples and went to that town again. He couldn’t exactly bring himself to say anything to his disciples. Not even to Yong Liang. He knew his disciples were very confused about this ‘night hunt’. Maybe he should have left by himself. But for a sect leader to leave alone for such a long period without even informing anyone where and why he was leaving was not right either.

But, when they arrived at that town, much to his disappointment, no matter how hard he looked, he couldn’t even glimpse the white gold robes anywhere. He kept on searching for hours. But nothing. He couldn’t just leave to Lotus Pier like this. So, he decided to search anywhere he thought the ghost of Jin Zi Xuan, or whatever creature that looked like Jin Zi Xuan might linger.

He couldn’t find any evidence in the other places they visited until they came across this place that had a few ghouls. It was a small forest next to a village at the boarders of Qishan. Some villagers saw them and kindly asked them to help with this problem. Having nothing better to do Jiang Cheng agreed to have a look.

It didn’t even take two hours for the team from the Jiang sect to dissipate the few ghouls. But this almost fruitless hunt proved fruitful for Jiang Cheng’s mission. He could see him again. Only small glimpses in the beginning. He would appear at the corner of his eyes and will disappear right away when he turned his head to look. But, with the light gold robes and the posture that illuminated pride, Jiang Cheng was sure who it was.

He was surprised that no one else showed any reaction, nor did they talk about the ghost from the Jin sect. But after a while, he got his answer. While battling with those ghosts and corpses, Jin ZiXuan decided to make an appearance. There were about three other cultivators around as well as his second in command. Jin ZiXuan stood far away but he was well in the clear, very easily seen by anyone looking at that direction. But none of his disciples seemed to react or acknowledge the figure standing in the clear. It was obvious, the only one who could see him was Jiang Cheng. He didn’t even waste a second before chasing after him. But it seemed that even though he flew on his sword he couldn’t catch up to Jin ZiXuan.

He will appear for a few seconds and disappear from a corner. The time gaps he appeared became longer and longer and finally Jiang Cheng could not find him at all. All he could do was give up and go back. He was so annoyed and frustrated. He really didn’t enjoy the game that ghost was playing.

He called Jin ZiXuan a ghost, because he didn’t know what else to call him. He definitely couldn’t be alive. But how can he become a ghost? That didn’t make sense either. From all the soul calming ceremonies Jin ZiXuan underwent, there’s no way he became a ghost after he died. Jiang Cheng was sure Jin ZiXuan being the beloved son of the prestigious Jin Clan back then, he had received more soul calming than anyone else he knew.

Jiang Cheng was planning on keeping this away from the Jin clan. Not even letting a hint of this fall on their laps. But now he is losing hope. The only thing he could do before going to Carp Tower to search for more evidence is to check Qiongqi Path, where Jin Zixuan died. Spirits tend to hang at the place they died, especially if they were murdered. So, if there’s something there to find, it should be near that godforsaken place. Or so he wished, because he really didn’t want to take this matter to Lanling.

…

Lan Wang Ji was in a dilemma. He really wanted to go back to Cloud Recesses. He knew his brother would rather be in secluded meditation after what had happened than taking care of the whole sect. But before he left, Wang ji couldn’t help but ask his brother to take over the clan for a few days. He really thought he could have flown straight back to Cloud Recesses after meeting up with sect leader Jiang. The last thing he expected was to find sect leader Jiang gone and nobody in Lotus Pier knowing about his whereabouts.

Before, if something like this happened, it would have been his brother who would have flown to either Qinghe or Lanling to either meet up with Chifeng Zun or LianFang Zun to converse about these sorts of matters. But he couldn’t ask his brother to do such a thing anymore. After they came back from Yunping city, other than to give his sworn elder brother a proper burial, he barely even stepped out of Cloud Recesses.

Not long after, his brother asked him to take the position of being the Sect leader. Wang ji personally wouldn’t have bothered either way. If someone else was there to take the position, - in this case his brother – he would have happily let them. But if the responsibility fell on his shoulders, he would have happily taken it as well. But right then it felt like he was taking the position from his brother which was rightfully his brother’s, away from him. So, he kindly declined saying he would look after the sect until his brother is ready to take over again.

Lan Xi Chen didn’t protest either. The last thing he wanted to do was to burden his little brother with his own responsibilities. But Lan Xi Chen could not stop thinking whether somebody like himself is capable enough to run a big Sect like Gusu Lan sect either, when he couldn’t even see through Jin Guang Yao until the very end.

However, when Wang Ji first thought about discussing this matter with a sect leader, he also thought about these two sects. But the Lanling Jin sect currently didn’t have a leader and Jin Ru Lan is not yet that experienced, and the behaviour of the leader of the Qinghe Nie sect was really hard to predict. Even though, as of now both Lan Wang Ji and Wei Wu Xian knew the true colours of Nie sect’s leader, unlike the rest of the cultivational world, there was a chance that Nie Huai Sang would not contribute to say anything other than ‘I don’t know’ about the current problems.

Therefore, the only well-known sect he could visit was the Yunmeng Jiang sect. Even though he didn’t agree with Jiang Wan Yin’s bursting and unreasonable personality and he knew that he was not Jiang Wan Yin’s favourite either, this was a pressing matter. If people continued to die like this, it was their responsibility to put an end to that problem. So, he flew to Lotus Pier.

Now, it was a wain to search for sect leader Jiang, without knowing his whereabouts and to wait for him not knowing when he would return. So, he conversed with one of Jiang sect’s cultivators and asked for information. He got to know that luckily, no similar incidence had occurred in Yunmeng, but also about some deaths in mass numbers around Qinghe. So, he decided to head there.

As he flew, he could not help but remember, that the two times he visited Qinghe, a certain other accompanied him. “Wei Ying, where in the world are you?”

Chapter Text

Both the Xia sisters and Zhang Yong Zheng were pacing through the main streets of the town. Sadly, there was no festival at Xiang Qiang that night. But the streets were as busy and vibrant as ever. They were lit up with many different coloured lamps. Sweet scents of food drifted around making their mouths water and the sweet aromas of flowers came from perfume sachets sold by many vendors. Beautiful melodies that make you want to forget where you are and dance to the rhythm could be heard as well.

Xia Hong Guang went to browse along a set of beautiful hair pins. There were so many beautiful ones. They were all uniquely beautiful. She wished that she could buy them all. Only if she had that kind of money. Her eyes stopped at a red and white pin. She never thought that red and white went together. But this one was so beautiful. It even had a red stone. Probably fake but nonetheless beautiful. It will go perfectly with her sister’s sharp features.

She just turned around to say so. But for once Xing Juan was not next to her. She glanced around panicking a little bit. When she could finally locate her sister, she has already gone few paces further without realizing that Hong Guang stopped to look at the pins. She still hadn’t noticed, or she just didn’t care anymore. Wrapped in her lover’s arms, her head was drifting from side to side trying to take it all in, laughing, probably at some stupid thing ‘the perfect husband’ said.

Hong Guang walked straight towards them. “You two are not planning on making me watch you canoodle, are you?”

“Really Hong Guang, can you stop being annoying all the time? Not everything is about you. Can’t I just be with my fiancé for a few minutes without you fuming about it?”

Hong Guang was taken aback by this. Was she really annoying all the time? Of course, she knew that not everything is about her. But everything used to be about them. They were never annoyed by each other’s presence before. But oh well, it seemed a sister can easily be replaced by a lover. She was a bit mad.

“If you are going to make babies in the middle of the street at least give me some money so I can go my own way.” She said scowling at her sister.

Xing Juan scowled as well and was about to say something in return. But she thought better of it. “Here,” Xing Juan handed out her whole pouch, for there was not enough money in it to give just a portion anyway. The moment Hong Guang got hold of it, she could tell by the weight it was way less than she expected to get. They came to the town after so long. She was expecting to buy a lot of things and clearly this much wasn’t enough. But she couldn’t even bring herself to ask for more. How could she when her sister handed her all the money she had on her. She was about to turn around and walk away when her sister spoke.

“Book a room at Xiang Qiang while you are at it. The corner one on the first floor is my favourite.”

“You sure you don’t want me to book two?” Hong Guang asked eyeing Yong Zheng from the corner of her eyes.

“Do you think we have that kind of money?”

Hong Guang knew that they didn’t. Well, the scary light-weight of the money pouch was there to remind her anyway. She told herself it would be for the best. Even though she preferred to be in the other end of the world from where the perfect husband is, she still loved to chat nonsense with her sister deep into the night. So, she thought they would be able to do that tonight as well if they were in the same room. And having a grown man who is not related to her in the same room has also stopped bothering her after they had to sleep in that tiny house with so many people inside.

But still if she spent the money she just received on a room, she will barely have anything left. It’s just so little money.

“It’s time for you to learn how to spend sparingly.” Her sister said scoldingly surprising Hong Guang.

Oh no, did she really say that last sentence out loud or was her mind so readable to her sister? She really didn’t want to bother her sister in the first place.

“It’s okay A-Guang, here, take these as well. Buy some good snacks as well.” The amount of coins Zhang Yong Zheng held in his hand were unbelievable. Even during their best days, both sisters altogether won’t spend that much at one time. Seriously, what was that perfect Yong thinking? Did he really think that she was that spoilt? And why is he offering her money? Is it out of pity? Did she really look like a beggar or something in that moneyed Zheng’s eyes? Plus, how dare he call her A-Guang, again? He’s really too much.

She wanted to straight off refuse the money and spat something nasty at him. But she had promised both her mother and to herself as well, she will do her best to try and be friends with him or at least respect him. Even though he is someone she could not stand, he treated her sister really well and her sister loved him so much. So, if she misbehaved, indirectly, she will be hurting A-Juan.

So, she opened her pouch and let Yong Zheng drop the coins into it. “Don’t expect me to give a single cent back.”

“That is okay. Buy your sister something nice for me. That will be enough.” With that, the lovely couple walked away leaving Hong Guang behind. Hong Guang could not believe it. ‘Aaaarh this guy is just so annoying.’

“Oh Mr. Perfect, have you ever tried not being so perfect? It’s actually really fun. You are the one who is missing out.”

After walking a few steps from her sister, Xing Juan turned around and looked back. Her sister had already disappeared into the crowd. “You really didn’t have to give her money like that.”

“It’s okay, I wanted to. Plus, I wanted to be alone with you.”

“You still shouldn’t have. You will spoil her. And you shouldn’t give her your money. It’s not hers to take.”

“Oh, come on A-Juan, she is my sister-in-law.”

“Exactly. You are lending her money because she is my sister. You are lending us so much money because of me. I don’t like it.”

“But you liked it before when I bought you things.”

“That’s different. I am your lover. Of course, as a man you should treat me so. I expected nothing less. But this is different. I didn’t want you to look after my whole family. Aaarh I hate this. I really never wanted to be in such a pitiful place.”

“Pitiful? You are not pitiful. I’m just helping your family at a time of misfortune. Like A-Guang said, your family will be able to recover from it. And who knows? You might even be able to repay me afterwards.”

“Seriously? Do you think I will be alright after hearing that? If you do, you are a fool. And you know that A-Guang really hates when you call her that. Sometimes I feel like you are just doing that to piss her off.”

“Oh! I would never. Well, enough of this. What do you really want to do now?”

“Just walk.”

“A-Juan, you haven’t visited any vendors yet. You usually visit every shop and vendor when you come to town. Come let’s buy some snacks.” Yong Zheng tried to drag her towards a shop a sweet smell was drifting from.

“I’m not hungry, don’t want food.” With that, Xing Juan dragged him past that shop.

“But…. But… Can’t I buy some at least for me.” Yong Zheng whined looking back at the sweets displayed in the shop.

“Not unless you want to look like a pig. I don’t want to marry a pig.” Zhang Yong Zheng is far from being fat. He was tall and had a perfectly toned body. His features were really sharp, but somehow, they managed to look really handsome. He was handsome enough to turn heads of old women much less, young maidens. His good looks were something that as well added up to the title, ‘perfect husband.’

Yong Zheng was confused, looking back at the shop while being dragged away, with an expression on his face of a small child whose candy had being snatch from him. “Ah A-Juan, at least stop walking. It’s fine if you don’t want to spend any money. But if we kept walking like this, at this pace we will be exiting the town from the other corner.”

“Fine. Let’s go to the other side of the town then.”

“Hell no. Why would we do that. That’s still a long distance away. Let’s just go to one of those places where there are a lot of dancers and other entertainment.”

“They are so boring.”

“Then what’s there at the towns border that is so entertaining?”

“I heard that there is a peddler, selling things related to the YiLing Patriarch.”

“Oh no. Not this again. Why do you search about him so much? Do you have a crush on him or something?”

“Yes. I think he’s hooot.”

“You haven’t even seen him. How do you know whether he is hot?”

“I just know. People say that he could summon demons and open the gates to hell. Some says that he had been there a few times and even visited the devil king. If that’s not hot I don’t know what is. And my guess is when everyone thought he was dead, that’s where he was. He was living in the devil king’s castle under his highness’s protection. That’s why nobody could find him”

“Seriously you are something. His Highness? Why do you like hell so much? Aren’t you scared of it? Don’t you want to go to heaven?”

“Hell no. I think heaven is boring. The hell sounds like so much fun.”

Zhang Yong Zheng could only laugh nervously at that. “You sound crazy, you know?”

“I don’t expect someone with a shallow mind as you to understand.”

“Oh really?” He pretended to be angered by that and started to walk away. But he knew that Xing Juan only meant it as a joke.

“Slow down, are you showing off how long your legs are?”

Yong Zheng turned around and started to slowly walk backwards letting Xing Juan catch up. “If you want to learn about cultivation, I can teach you. Why do you care about those low tricks of the YiLing Patriarch?”

“If I want to learn about cultivation, I would have done even before I met you. I can’t care less about the cultivation world. Those narcissists thinking that they are better than others. I just want to meet some ghosts and demons.”

“So, you are saying that I’m a narcissist?”

“If you think you are, maybe you are.”

“Sometimes you are worse than your sister you know.”

“Oh. I thought you already knew that. Remember this master Zheng, I’m the queen of hell,” she said with her eyes burning and a wicked smirk planted on her face.

…

Xia Hong Guang was so annoyed as she walked in the middle of the street aimlessly, heedless of the other people. She didn’t seem to care about the frowns and angry remarks of the others as she carelessly bumped into them.

Earlier she had gone to Xiang Qiang straight away, after parting with the other two. She knew how popular the place was, and how quickly the rooms were filled. It was the best guest house in the town. Pretty luxurious compared to the two or three taverns that were around. It stood like a giant among the other small boutiques. Hong Guang was thankful that they could still manage to get a room in Xiang Qiang and did not have to worry about spending nights in those small tavern rooms that are barely accommodated.

The brothel opposite the guest house was live as always. This was also one reason why this guest house was so popular. This brothel is one that had a good reputation all around the country for beautiful women. So, there were rich people from far away who visited the town as they travel just for this reason.

Hong Guang kept her head down until she entered the guest house making sure that no one will mistake her for someone from the brothel. But as soon as she entered the guest house her eyes started to roam around to see whether there was anyone interesting. Not seeing any old friend or a new face worth of a conversation she went straight to the owner to book a room.

“Ah miss, didn’t expect to see you here. There’s no special festival either. Why come this time?”

“My sister wanted to visit,” Hong Guang replied lazily.

They used to be regulars and the owner and other people in the town knew them very well. Unfortunately, which meant they knew what happened to their family as well. It was kind of shameful. But Hong Guang made sure not to show it, holding her head high like a young lady of the Xia clan.

“I came to book a room. It’s better if we can get the one we usually get.”

“Ah, I see.” But the owner just continued to be busy with whatever he was doing than rushing to check the availability and giving her the room. This was very unusual, for usually when they went there, they were warmly welcomed and was notified about the food, liquor and other good items that are available.

“Mmhmm, am I being so much trouble right now?” Hong Guang asked sarcastically. Sarcasm dripping from her voice for everyone to hear.

“No lady Xia, not at all.” The owner said hurriedly, giving her a nervous sideway glance.

“Then, may I know which rooms are available.” She made sure not to add ‘please’.

“Yes, yes, of course. Please come this way.” He went to the counter and picked up the book that recorded the availability of rooms and got a key from under the desk and held it out to Hong Guang. “The one in the corner, right?”

“Yes, thank you.” But as Hong Guang tried to get the key from his hand, he held on to it tight.

“We don’t usually loan out our rooms. Prefer payments in advance.” He said with a smile.

The moment Hong Guang saw that smile her stomach started to turn in disgust. ‘So, this is how the poor are usually treated huh.’ She was so angry; she got her money pouch that was thankfully so heavy with Yong Zheng’s money and dropped it on the table so the owner and the people who were nearby could clearly hear the heavy thud. Then she opened the pouch and got two coins out and held it in front of the owner’s nose.

“Of course. It is the way businesses are usually run, isn’t it? I haven’t come across any other way. Do people usually buy things without paying?” Her face held a genuine curiosity as she asked it, but the mock in her voice betrayed the genuineness of that question.

Now walking along the streets, she suddenly realized some people were glaring at her. She wouldn’t have cared much about other people if she was with her friends. They would be in their own world, laughing loudly at stupid jokes, saying things that only made sense to themselves. Of course, other people would look over to see who this crazy bunch was, though they themselves wouldn’t even notice that. But suddenly being alone all by herself Hong Guang felt very self-conscious. So, she quickly looked around to see whether there was something that she could occupy herself with, or a secluded place she could be, away from the eyes of the strangers.

Earlier she was planning on visiting every boutique and vendor spending Yong Zheng’s money on whatever she wanted. But right now, after how she was treated at Xiang Qiang, she didn’t even feel like doing that. She had never shopped alone before either. It was always with her sister, or with her friends. She was thinking that maybe she should look around to see whether any of their friends were around when something caught her eye.

It was a painting of a waterfall. She had never seen one so big. The brushstrokes were really soothing to the eye and the ripples of the fall looked so real. The water foaming at the bottom looked so soft and chilling. She surprised herself by staring at the waterfall for way too long. She’s not someone who gets engrossed in paintings. Even though she found the activity of painting somewhat fun, she was not someone who appreciated paintings like some people.

This was a museum like space. Every now and then some artists will exhibit their work here. Even though the space was large, it was rarely filled with people. Hong Guang definitely had noticed the place before, but she never cared to go inside.

But right now, she walked inside, as in a trance, looking at more paintings. They were all paintings of nature. Birds, flowers, trees, and they all looked very alive. She had seen paintings of nature here and there and she always thought they looked sort of gloomy. But looking at these she felt really happy. ‘Oh! A-Juan would love these. She always appreciates paintings. I must show her, she will be really happy.’

She had already run into the streets before she realized she had no freaking idea where her sister was, and this is a big town. She could be anywhere. Nonetheless she walked around that area to see whether she could spot her sister nearby. After she walked around a bit she gave up. She could tell her later about the pictures. The pictures might be there for a few days, so no need to rush.

She went back inside. There was no one there, so she was able to kill some time without being disturbed by other people. She started to walk along the aisles of paintings. Now that she was looking through them, she could see only a few carried the painting style of the waterfall. There were clearly paintings from other artists as well. She was almost in the middle of the museum, trying to see whether she could find any more interesting paintings, when a voice suddenly spoke.

“Looks like it’s about to die.”

“Huh!!!?” Hong Guang turned around shocked by the voice. It had belonged to an adult male.

“That tiger, I mean.”

Chapter Text

Looking at the corpses, Wei Wu Xian could see that Jin Ling was right. The skins of all the corpses seemed to be tightly stretched over the bones. Everything else seemed to be sucked up from the inside. And the horrible smell was enough to make a person faint. The density of dark energy was extremely high.

Jin Ling stood further away like he could neither bear the looks nor the smell of the corpses.

Wei Wu Xian went and squatted next to him. He turned his head up and started taking Jin Ling in. His face has become a little less arrogant, which gave him a more matured look. Jin Ling had his arms crossed and was gripping his sword by its sheath, which made it look like he was hugging his sword; his father’s sword more than just gripping it. Wu Xian’s heart clenched involuntarily.

Jin Ling gave him a sideway glance. “So, what do you think? Can you tell who did it?”

“Not really. Even though there’s a lot of demonic energy, the energy itself isn’t that strong. So, it is hard to tell a demon did this by itself. Because if a demon is capable of causing this much destructions, it has to be a demon that has a high energy level. So, my guess is someone or something else had used demonic energy to aid them.”

“Are you familiar with the cause of death?”

“No, it is indeed very strange. Ah, Jin Ling why are you looking at me like that? Wait, don’t tell me, because I’m the YiLing Patriarch that you think I also used such gruesome methods of execution?”

“Does it matter?”

“Of course, it does. Completely forgetting about Jin Guang Yao, let’s look at your other uncle. Seems like the only thing he taught you is to have a temper. So, it falls upon me to be your role model and actually teach you some good human qualities and all the good qualities your mother possessed.”

Wei Wu Xian was joking, but Jin Ling didn’t seem to think so. “What do you even know about my mother?” The moment those words left his mouth Jin Ling felt guilty. He knew Wei Wu Xian was really close to his mother. He just spat that out of annoyance. Wei Wu Xian’s words were making him emotional, and Jin Ling hated that. So, trying to change the subject he said, “Do these deaths bare any similarity to the ones reported in the report Hanguang Jun sent to the Carp Tower?”

“Hmm… There are and there aren’t.” Wu Xian said patting his nose with ChenQing while in thought. “According to what you said earlier, what was written in Huang Guang Jun’s report the similarities are, that the dark energy is quite dense, and it has targeted a similar group of people and has killed in a similar manner.”

“A similar group of people?”

“Yes. It is a small village set a little afar from big civilizations. And there seems to be no survivors. You even said Lan Zhan mentioned about a rotting smell, right?”

“Right.”

“It’s hard to tell whether this smell is the same smell he talked about because these corpses are a few days old. But it still seems a little stronger than it should be. However, that is just my guess. The most striking thing is even though there are many deaths, they all died in the exact same way.”

 “Such a gruesome way to die if you ask me.”

“My thoughts exactly.”

For the first time, being next to Jin Ling, Wu Xian felt calm, it was almost soothing. Like he was being next to family, not someone who would lash out at him whatever chance he gets. He was thinking what has changed. Is it because now that Jin Ling knew the truth? No, it couldn’t be that. Probably it’s because Jiang Cheng wasn’t around trying to rip his head off. But he felt like he was running away from Jin Ling at times even when Jiang Cheng wasn’t around. Oh, no, how could he forget something that crucial?

He asked standing up almost involuntarily, “Ah, Jin Ling, where is that big dog of yours?”

“Why? You miss Fairy chasing you around? Want to know how sharp Fairy’s teeth are?”

“What? No. That’s not it. Ahh this kid really… I just asked. It seemed like you two were a package deal.”

“Did we?” With that Jin ling started walking back towards the town.

Wu Xian was confused. “Hey, Jin Ling, wait for me.” He quickened his feet until he caught up to Jin Ling.

“I don’t see that stupid donkey of yours either.” Jin Ling said angrily.

“Little Apple? Ah, well, mmm, here’s the thing. You already know how poor I am. I thought I could use a little money.”

Jin Ling raised his eyebrows. He didn’t expect him to be honest and open about something like that. And didn’t he say that Hanguang Jun gave it to him? So why did he dare sell him? Jin Ling was really confused. 

“Okay, let’s drop this subject. What are you planning on doing next?” Wei Wu Xian asked.

“Like you said earlier, the ones who killed these people are long gone. So, there’s no need for me to stay. I’m heading back to Lanling the first thing tomorrow.”

“Right away?”

“Yes, why would I dally. If not for you I would already be on my way to the Carp Tower by now. Wait, don’t you dare follow me.”

“There goes my plans.” Wei Wu Xian said with an imitated sorrow. “Fine, fine, I won’t follow you. I better head to Gusu to see how Lan Zhan is doing anyways.”

…

Wei Wu Xian was starting to get tired. He had walked all morning. It took him way more days to get to Gusu than he anticipated. He wished he could have ridden Suibian. It would have only taken him a few hours to arrive at his destination if he flew. He didn’t mind walking if he was really roaming around aimlessly. He used to just walk around Yunmeng for whole days just to get away from Madam Yu. Well, only to come home and get punished by her nonetheless.

But when you have a specific destination to arrive at, the delay can be really frustrating. Apart from that he had never travelled such a long distance all by himself. It was so boring. Even after he parted ways with Lan Zhan, he stopped at all sorts of places, met new people, and tried out all kinds of food and games. And he also had Little Apple with him.

Remembering Little Apple, a little fear as well as a sadness crossed his heart. For the last few days, he was trying to imagine how Lan Wang Ji would have acted when he got to know that he sold out Little Apple. Of course, little apple was his and he had all rights to sell it or do whatever he wanted with it. But he felt like that the righteous-animal-lover-Hanguang-Jun would not appreciate what he did.

Well, he could have bought a horse and told him he wanted a better ride. He actually wanted some kind of ride if not better. So, he had been looking at horses, donkeys, mules and all other animals he could use as a ride all the way to Gusu. But none of them felt right. Either he felt like those animals didn’t match his level, or they were way too expensive. In reality, some of the affordable animals would have been way more useful than the lazy and spoiled Little Apple, but for Wu Xian, little Apple felt like way more. He wished he had given at least a little effort to retrieve little apple back in that town.

He had arrived at Caiyi town already. All he had to do was to head towards the mountain of Cloud Recesses. But his feet felt heavier as he walked in that direction. He usually never felt nervous. But somehow, he didn’t feel like going in. He was looking forward to see Lan Wang Ji, but right now he felt like he wasn’t ready. He didn’t know why he felt that, but he felt it. Plus, what if he ended up face to face with that grumpy Grand Master. And he wasn’t a favourite person of the rest of the Lan sect either.

So, he was aimlessly roaming around the streets of Caiyi town with a jar of emperor’s smile when he saw a person walking towards him from the corner of his eyes. He didn’t alter his path thinking that the other person would, but the other person had his head down, also deep in thought so he bumped into him so hard.

“I’m so sorry master. I… I didn’t mean to. I...” This black clad person was still looking down.

“Wen Ning…!”

“Ah! Ah! Master! Master Wei!” Wen Ning’s eyes shined a little at the site of his old friend and leader.

“Yes, it’s your Master Wei. Who else is it?”

“I… I didn’t expect to… to see you here. When… When I asked earlier, Young Master… Young Master Jing Yi said that you went to travel the world.”

“Yes, I did. But isn’t Gusu also a part of the world?”

“Yes. I…I guess.” Wen Ning said with his head down.

“Ah, Wen Ning, why are you acting like a depressed little donkey.” Donkey? Why did he say donkey? Did little apple look like that when he sold him? “And why have your stuttering become even worse?”

“I… I don’t know.” Wen Ning’s head was still down.

“Why are you looking at your feet? Aren’t you even happy to see me?”

“I am Master. I am.” He finally lifted his head. His eyes were large looking at Wei Wu Xian with a hint of a smile like he wanted his Master Wei to know how pleased he was to see him again.

“Hmm. At least you said that without stuttering. Anyways, what are you doing in Gusu? Do you live here now?”

Again, Wen Ning’s head fell down. “I… I don’t know.”

“What do you mean you don’t know? Didn’t you tell me that you wanted to make your own choices now?”

“Yes, I did. But I haven’t made a choice yet. I was going to, soon. But it was just this morning I dropped off A-Yuan.”

“A-Yuan?” Wu Xian’s face lit up immediately. “Oh, you mean you just came back? Then why did you leave Cloud Recesses so early? You could have stayed there for a few days. I thought the kids would be glad to have you back.”

“I… I didn’t go in.”

“You didn’t go in?”

Chapter Text

Wen Ning and Lan Sizhui had said their good byes to Zhou Luli and her grandmother earlier next morning. None of the two groups seemed to show any interest in lingering in that abandoned place more than necessary. They seemed glad to get away from the others’ company as well, for they seemed to make each other nervous and uncomfortable.

However, Sizhui asked out of politeness. “Where will you be going?”

“Qishan, or YiLing. Luli said she cannot see that much darkness there. She said the crying kid might even leave her alone if we went there. I just want to find a place where Luli can grow up without this mess.”

“Yes, that will be best. But Madam, that is a long way. Will you be alright?” Wen Ning sounded genuinely concerned.

“I will look after my child as long as I have the strength to.”

Neither Sizhui nor Wen Ning felt like arguing with that. So, they set off to Gusu as well. They reached Caiyi town early one morning.

“A-Yuan, there is this tavern. I heard Master Wei liked the food there a lot. Why don’t we have some breakfast there before heading to Cloud Recesses?” Wen Ning asked hopefully.

“Senior Wen, we can head to Cloud Recesses and have breakfast there. We don’t even have that much money left.”

“Money… I have money. What I meant is, I have some money that I saved. Master Wei gave it to me before. I didn’t spend it. It’s not Hanguang Jun’s money. Oh! Now I think about it… It Master Wei might have got it from Hanguang Jun. It didn’t occur to me before.”

“Senior Wen, it’s okay. Wherever it came from, now it’s yours. You should keep it. Senior Wei must have given it to you for you to use it. So, we don’t have to waste that money. Let’s go to Cloud Recesses first.”

“A-Yuan, I just wanted to treat you with that money. With the money that belonged to me and Master Wei. Hanguang Jun had looked after you very well all these years. And I’m really thankful for that. But as your blood uncle I really didn’t do that much for you. And there’s still nothing much I can do. I’m really sorry for that. But I at least want to treat you to a nice meal.”

Sizhui was shocked. He didn’t know what to say. It really wasn’t Senior Wen’s fault. He was sure Senior Wen loved him so much before he was taken as a prisoner by the Jin clan of Lanling. Senior Wen really shouldn’t be sorry. But him saying so would only make Senior Wen even more sad. So, instead Sizhui said, “Senior Wen, then why don’t you treat me to a huge, delicious meal. And make sure you would pay and not run away without paying like Senior Wei did,” he added.

They both laughed at that, and Wen Ning led the way to the restaurant.

The food was really spicy. Sizhui should have known when he heard that it was a favourite place of Senior Wei. But it tasted pretty good too. So, he ate a lot to satisfy Senior Wen even ignoring his sect’s rule saying do not have more than three servings. They barely talked during the meal. They spent months together and it felt like there was nothing more to talk about. Sizhui was thinking whether Jing Yi would have ever run out of things to say even when he was locked inside a cave for years.

At the end, Sizhui could barely walk. But after Wen Ning paid for the meal, he stood up and started to lead the way towards Cloud Recesses. This time Wen Ning followed him without a single word.

They were almost at the gate of the Cloud Recesses, when they could hear running footsteps and loud voices. This was so unlike Lan sect members that Sizhui and Wen Ning looked at each other in surprise. But before they could comprehend what’s going on, a familiar voice could be heard over the others.

“Sizhui xiong, Sizhui Xiong you are finally back. What took you so long. I thought you decided on going back to Burial Mounds and living there or whatever.” Even though Lan Jing Yi’s voice sounded accusative he beamed and giddily jumped around the two.

“Jing Yi, what do you think you are doing? If a senior saw you, you sure will be punished. Where is Hanguang Jun? Why aren’t you in class?” Sizhui asked harshly.

“Sizhui xiong, you really need to be thankful that Hanguang Jun is not here. Otherwise, Jing Yi xiong is sure to be punished. I went to the town this morning and saw you, so, I came back and informed the others that you are back. The moment Jing Yi xiong heard that he just jumped up, threw his book away and bolted out of the room and ran all the way down the mountain to greet you. We just followed.” The one who spoke was a sect member who was a little younger than Sizhui himself. And while Jing Yi was all over the newly arrived, he and a few others hung a little way back suspiciously eyeing Wen Ning.

Wen Ning was used to this behaviour and he didn’t expect anything more from strangers. So, he took a few steps back and hung his head low, trying to look as harmless as possible.

Noticing this Jing Yi turned towards Wen Ning, “Come on Senior Wen, let’s go inside. Then you two can tell us all that happened.”

“La… Lan Jing Yi, you are not really inviting the Ghost General to come inside Cloud Recesses, are you?” This was from another kid who was standing behind the others.

At this, Sizhui casted a worried glace at Wen Ning. Seeing this Jing Yi started to speak with a scowl, “So what if he is the Ghost General? Is there anything forbidding him from entering Cloud Recesses. And he is our friend. Hasn’t our sect taught us to treat our friends well.”

“Young Master Jing Yi, it is fine. I will leave now. I didn’t plan on entering Cloud Recesses anyway. Please look after A-Yuan well. He is not feeling very well these days.”

“Si Xiong, why, what’s wrong wi…” Sizhui ignored Jing Yi’s concern. “Senior Wen, I thought you would stay for a little longer. Do you really have to leave right away?”

“A-Yuan, I promised both Hanguang Jun and Master Wei that I would bring you back to Cloud Recesses. Now I have done that, I better leave now. A-Yuan, this is your sect now, and I can’t stay with you forever. So, I might as well leave now.

…

“So, you left? Just like that?” Wei Wu Xian asked Wen Ning while toying with Chen Qing as they both aimlessly walked around the town.

“I did not want to bother anyone.”

“That’s a given, isn’t it? When have you ever wanted to bother anyone? But I’m going to Cloud recesses anyway. So, you better tag along.” Wei Wu Xian said surprising himself. He couldn’t figure out why he suddenly stopped feeling the restrain he felt earlier. Was it because he had Wen Ning by his side? He didn’t feel like that’s the reason, even though it felt like the most logical one.

“Master Wei…”

“Why, what’s stopping you? Lan Jing Yi spoke well. There’s no reason you shouldn’t enter. If people are scared of you, just because who you are, it’s not your fault, it’s theirs. We never meant them any harm. You said that Hanguang Jun isn’t there, right?” Even though he didn’t show it Wu Xian felt a little disappointed when he heard that Lan Wang Ji was away.

“Well, let’s go and meet up with Zewu Jun then. We can give a heart attack to that old man as well. If he saw both of us together, it will be even more effective. Wonder if his goatee is still as luscious as before.”

Wen Ning tried to protest, but Wu Xian had already walked a few steps ahead, so he followed from behind.

The two disciples who were guarding the door earlier was fond of Lan Sizhui as well. So, they have also followed the group in, to hear his story putting the ward on. Wu Xian thought for a few seconds about not breaking the rules for Wang Ji’s sake, but he really didn’t want to wait till anyone returned, so he just broke the ward and entered.

“Wen Ning, do you know where the kids went. I haven’t seen them in a while. It will be nice to say hello.”

“I don’t know master. They really didn’t mention earlier where they would go. But they would have gone to one of those places that you and the other masters hung out at when you were here for lectures.” (I’m writing this as a sequel to cql. So, Wen Ning also was at Cloud Recesses at that time.)

“Yes. Let’s check there. I need to say hi to Lan Zhan’s bunnies as well.”

But as they were walking in the main paths, they came across disciples that were walking around. At first Wei Wu Xian’s brain didn’t register the odd behaviours of these disciples. They were not that odd to him. Other people stopping and staring at him, walking as far from him as possible, were things he had gotten extremely used to.

When he was young, it was because he was a handsome young man with rich cultivational attires. Afterwards, it was because he was the YiLing Patriarch everyone was scared of but still looked up to.

He only noticed this after seeing how uncomfortable Wen Ning was. Even though he didn’t care about other people’s lame panic, Wen Ning seemed to care a lot. He was trying his best not to be the object of others’ discomfort. He didn’t care how uncomfortable it was making him either.

“Wen Ning, Wen Ning,” he said to himself, “you really need to think about yourself, not others.”

“Ah, Master, what did you say?”

Wu Xian looked at him for a second pitifully. “Let’s go from the back. The pathways seem a little too crowded to my liking at this time of the day.”

Wen Ning was confused as he knew Master Wei didn’t mind crowds, but he felt glad as they left the main paths and walked to an almost non existing one. Wei Wu Xian knew a few secret paths that led to the boarders from the Silent Room. (Where Lan Wang Ji lived.) But as they were trying to find Zewu Jun, he really wasn’t sure how to reach the new house that Lan Xi Chen has chosen for his secluded meditation uphill. When he was alone, Wei Wu Xian always used the main roads to roam inside Cloud Recesses. He only needed secret paths to get away from it.  So, without planning, they came in front of the house of the Grand master Lan Qi Ren.

“Well, well, they say that a path is leading you to not where you desire to go, but where you are destined to be. The old man must be teaching his new victims. It will take him hours to return. Why don’t we look inside and see…”

At this Wen Ning became so scared his voice rose a few decibels high as he exclaimed, “Master. M…M…Master, let’s not do such things.”

“Why not, we are doing an old man a favour. Checking out what else he needs to live in comfort. Tidying things up for him. Shouldn’t we look after the elders?”

Wen Ning was shocked by Wei Wu Xian’s absurd excuse. “Master Wei, don’t act like this. You are not a kid anymore.”

A smile spread on Wu Xian’s face at Wen Ning’s boldness. “See, that’s it, Wen Ning. You should really speak out your mind like that more. Seriously, why haven’t I thought of this when I was a kid. Unlike you, Nie Huai Sang would have agreed to it right away. Even though I wonder how much it would have angered Jiang Cheng. Wonder my mom did the same thing?” He added silently. With that he opened a window and jumped right in.

“MASTER… Ah Master Wei really…. Why would he…” Wen Ning suddenly heard voices coming near and ran around looking for a spot to hide. But there was none that could conceal a huge black bundle against the whiteness of the Cloud Recesses during broad day light. So, all he could do was awkwardly stumble in from the same window.

He got up and peeped outside the window. There was no one to be seen, but he could still feel like someone was out there. He couldn’t shove off that feeling, but Wei Wu Xian was already exploring while talking.

“Even the Grand Mater’s house is as boring as the rest. Even more so. Everything was put away neatly. There’s nothing outside to see. Not even what he was working on last night. He is certainly the Grand Master of Lan.” He pulled out some papers that were stuck in between books.

“Master Wei, put that back.”

“I will, I will Wen Ning. Stop panicking. Let’s see… Demon summoning rituals? You don’t think that our old man Lan is trying to summon a demon to fight with me, do you? Wait what are these… Notes about poisons? Hmm interesting…” He picked a paper and sat on the place behind the desk. Wen Ning came to stand behind him and peeped at the paper as well.

“This is very interesting indeed. Wen Ning, you don’t happen to know anything about summoning dark energy into yourself in order to gain power, do you?”

“Master, isn’t that what you usually do?”

“I don’t. I used the tiger amulet to summon dark spirits. I never summoned dark energy into myself. Even though back then Lan Zhan was so scared that I would accidentally do something like that. You used to stick by my side all the time. How come you don’t know what I did?”

“I never really cared about what you were doing. I was busy taking care of your safety.”

“Wen Ning, are you complaining?”

“Ma… Master… I would nev…”

They both heard a footstep. Immediately they both were still as statues. Next, they heard some distant voices. But they seemed to be coming this way. Wei Wu Xian immediately got up and started walking towards the window.

Wen Ning grabbed at the papers. “Put these back.”

“No. I need those.” Wei Wu Xian exclaimed trying to get them back.

But Wen Ning went and put the papers back between books even though he was sure they were not in the same order as Lan Qi Ren had left them. Before Wu Xian could protest, they heard another footstep, so he decided to leave them and jumped out of the window. Wen Ning was right behind him.

Wei Wu Xian was trying to decide which way they should walk when he heard a voice saying ‘Master Wei.’ Both him and Wen Ning before trying to even take in the situation started to run.

“Running is prohibited in Cloud Recesses.”

They both stopped. The voice was soothing and friendly. Wei Wu Xian turned around with a smile on his face. “Zewu Jun,” he kowtowed.

“I guess, you don’t want me to tell the Grand Master that you were prying into his belongings.”

“Zewu Jun, I would never do such a thing.” He said in a playful way, even though he knew lying to Lan Xi Chen at this point was fruitless.

“Then why did you run as soon as I called you?”

“Zewu Jun called me? I must have not been able to hear the soft voice of sect Leader Lan, for the lack of spiritual energy really dulls one’s senses. And I only ran because Wen Ning ran. Wen Ning, why did you run?”

“Master Wei, I… I… ran because… I… you… because…” Wu Xian meant it as a joke, but it seemed Wen Ning took the question seriously. Seeing his discomfort Lan Xi Chen tried to change the topic.

“Master Wei, it is only after a long time did you return. Didn’t you already meet with my brother?”

Such a careless mistake? Zewu Jun never used to be someone who would make such a careless mistake. It had been months after that incident. Wu Xian expected him to be in better shape by now. Two brothers who were taught to not let their emotions cloud their judgement since birth; but now one had become like this. It was such a small mistake of course. Wu Xian would not have even considered it a mistake if it came from someone else. But from the top ranked of the cultivational world, and someone who was praised again and again for their perfection, this wasn’t even nearly perfect now, was it?

Wu Xian wondered whether the secluded meditation is doing him more damage than good. “I heard that Wang Ji is away, I’m sure you know that Zewu Jun?” His tone became questioning at the end.

“Is he not at… Ah, yes, of course, Wang Ji went to the Lotus Pire a few days ago. He should have returned by now. He will sooner. Master Wei should await his return.”

“Lotus Pire? Why would he go there?” All Wu Xian could think about was what if Jiang Cheng mistreated Lan Zhan again like he did the last time he was there.

“He wanted to look into others’ opinions on the recent murders. Do not worry master Wei. Sect leader Jiang is a prestigious sect leader,” Xi Chen added like he could read Wu Xian’s mind. Deciding to trust his words, Wu Xian let the matter slip.

“What opinions do you have about the recent murders Zewu Jun?”

“Master Wei, Master Wen, why don’t we have some tea while talking about the matter at hand.” Without waiting for their reply, he turned around and led the way.

Wu Xian wondered whether he would lead them all the way to his new home located nearly at the top of the mountain. If so, he wasn’t patient enough to wait till they got there. So, he said, “Zewu Jun, Jin Ling told me about what Hanguang Jun had mentioned in his report. Is there anything new that you found out afterwards?”

“You met Sect Leader Jin?”

“He told me he is not the sect leader.” Was Zewu Jun mistaken again?

“Not officially, not yet I guess. Young master Jin is facing many difficulties it seems. But it was he who took the responsibility after… after the last Sect leader.”

“Then why isn’t he the Sect leader?” Wen Ning suddenly asked. “I think young master Jin would be an excellent Sect leader.”

“So do I, Master Wen. I think people are saying things they shouldn’t be saying and Young Master Jin is taking it to his heart, more than necessary. Jin Clan is a big Clan and there are many elders. But a lot of them are not on Young Master Jin’s side. It would only make it harder for him to secure the position.”

“But Jin Ling is so stubborn. Why would he care about what others say?” Wu Xian spoke while in thought.

“People who pretend not to care sometimes turn out to be the most caring Master Wei. I thought you knew that.” Xi Chen said with a slight smile. “We are already here. Come inside.”

It seemed he led them to Hanshi, the house of the Lan Sect’s leader. Wu Xian was a bit confused. He knew that Wang Ji has took over the responsibilities of the clan leader. Even though Wu Xian was never interested in such matters, he at least knew that much. Had Zewu Jun returned back to his position already? He didn’t seem that eager to take it back, back then.

Seeing the look on his face Lan Xi Chen said, “Wang Ji prefers the silent room. He barely uses the Hanshi. Even though I don’t live here anymore, I visit now and then so it won’t get abandoned. And this place is more suited to treat guests than my house.”

They all sat down and Xi Chen served them good quality tea. But he absent mindedly put too much tea leaves, making the tea too bitter to enjoy. But both Wei Wu Xian and Wen Ning pretended like nothing was wrong.

“Zewu Jun, I didn’t know that the Grand Master was interested in demon energies.” Wei Wu Xian asked surprising both others with his boldness.

“Master Wei, I assume you saw some documents back at my uncle’s desk. They are the documents that we retrieved from the library in order to search about the murders.”

“Tell me if I’m wrong, but I don’t see how possessing demon energies has to do anything with those murders. Plus, those were normal people. Do they even possess such power to even call upon such energies?”

“Young Master Wei seemed to have misinterpreted. We do not think that they died because they summoned such energies themselves. First, we thought that this is a work of a demon. But for a demon who had killed a mass number of humans, it is very unlikely to have such weak energy.”

“My thoughts exactly. So, what Zewu Jun is saying is someone summoned demon energy to kill them. Is it even possible?”

“I was waiting to ask you this. Wouldn’t it be, with an object similar to a Yin Iron or Tiger amulet?”

“If that’s the case, I’ve never heard of such an object. My Tiger amulet was capable of controlling dark energies and commanding creatures who possessed such energies. But never have I heard of an object that helps you possess such energy. And as for the Yin Iron, it was absorbing souls, not demonic energies.”

“But, isn’t it similar to what the Yin Iron did? It possessed energy. It absorbed whatever energy that was around it.”

“What Zewu Jun said is true. Thinking about it, maybe it is possible to use that energy for oneself and gain power to do such things without the need of dark creatures. I never tried such a thing. Maybe the Tiger amulet might not have been able to do such a thing. Maybe someone made such an object or found one that already existing.”

“But who would do such a thing,” Wen Ning asked.

“I can’t think of anyone as of now. No one I know has such a motive. I can’t even interpret their goals,” Wu Xian said.

“As for the motive or the goal, it really is quite unclear. Other than just killing these people, it doesn’t seem like the murderer gained anything else. As for who did it, it is unclear as well. But we learned that enemies are more than capable of hiding in plain sight.” Xi Chen looked quite sad as he said this.

Wu Xian and Wen Ning felt uncomfortable. They didn’t know what to say. They knew quite well that it was not Zewu Jun’s fault for trusting Jin Guang Yao. He seemed to know it himself. But it was not enough to stop him from blaming himself. And he lost two dear friends.

Wanting to change the subject Wu Xian said, “Zewu Jun, I like your interpretation, but you seemed to have missed something.”

“Have I, Master Wei?” His voice was doubtful. His confidence shattered just like that. A person who used to be so confident. Now self-doubt ignited in him just from a few words.

“Zewu Jun, your theory is more likely accurate and I hold it very highly. It’s just a small thing that does not add up. Both the Yin Iron and the Stygian Tiger amulet had very powerful dark energies gathered in them, and after being used they left very strong traces. Yet this energy is so weak, unless I am mistaken. Or the energy left here and where I first investigate are different.”

“You are right, Master Wei, it is very weak. Weak but dense. So, it is very easy for someone to mistake its denseness as it being strong. We also thought it was a very strong energy and only after thorough examinations, did we find that it is not. But, of course, it shouldn’t be a surprise that Master Wei figured it out right away.” It was plainly meant as a compliment, no judgment or sarcasm involved. This was the kind and honest Zewu Jun after all.

“So, couldn’t their death be caused by something else?”

“What other cause are you thinking about Master Wei?”

“When Jin Ling explained about the bodies to me, specifically the boiling, the first thing that came to my mind was a poison. Or a disease that is eating a body from the inside. Since a whole village was killed by the same cause, it could easily be some sickness, but if no other who came to contact caught it, it seems more like a poison.”

“Master Wei, you thought very well, but we also came to the same conclusion and examined the bodies thoroughly. But we couldn’t find any traces of a poison, and if it is a disease, it is something very much unknown to us to the point we can’t even recognise it.”

“May I examine the bodies as well?”

“I would have loved if you could have done that. However, the bodies became so rotten and there was nothing we could do to even slow the process. It started to smell so bad. At last, the only thing we could do was to dispose them.”

“Oh! The smell. I almost forgot about it. It was really so strong. I was surprised that Lan Zhan managed not to faint.” Wu Xian said with a huge grin.

Lan Xi Chen smiled as well. Finally, a genuine smile filled with humour.

Chapter Text

Jin Ling flew straight away to Lanling after parting with Wei Wu Xian, not waiting to return with the rest of his sect. The others seeing this would have definitely counted it as rude and arrogant behaviour. He knew he shouldn’t be doing such things. Especially in a time where others’ favour counted the most. But the scowl on Jin Chan’s face was totally worth it. Jin Ling liked the fact that this way he could avoid Jin Chan and his gang at least until they got back to Lanling. Even though it would be a few hours, that moment of peace was totally worth it.

The moment of peace that he could spend with Fairy jumping all over him. He loved being buried in the furriness of the big dog. This was the real reason he wanted to rush back to Carp Tower. From the day his uncle Jin brought Fairy to Carp tower to the day he passed away, Jin Ling never really went anywhere without Fairy.

And after what happened, the whole Sect had become a mess. They were most definitely no longer the top-ranking Sect in the Cultivational World. So, he had no time to go on night hunting away from Lanling. This was the first time he went away for this long, and he decided to leave Fairy. And boy, did he regret it?

The fact that Jin Chan and the others laughed at him saying he was nothing without his spiritual dog was already annoying. But it was a known fact that Fairy was a gift from the former sect leader who had become the most hated person… well at least at the present. And he didn’t want to be seen with Fairy, for people surely do like to talk and make their own stories about things that they have nothing to do with.

This was not the entire truth. Jin Ling knew he, like a coward, was venting his anger on Fairy. He didn’t know what else to do. He had nobody to blame. Well, at least nobody alive that he could vent his anger on. So, without even realising the stupid thing he was doing, he started to direct his hate towards Fairy, because he was Jin Guang Yao’s gift, and preferred to at least momentarily forget how much of a loving and loyal friend Fairy have always been.

But the few days he spent away from Fairy was more than enough for him to realise his mistake. His heart was immediately heavy with regret. He knew how much Fairy hated being left alone. So, he rushed to his chambers, calling for him. Upon hearing his name, he expected Fairy to immediately bolt towards him with a wagging tail. But even after looking all over his chambers, there was no sign of Fairy. He went out to the gardens and searched them too. When no Fairy was found, he started growing anxious, for Fairy would never leave his house without him.

Something was definitely off. He made sure to leave more than enough food for Fairy, so he didn’t have any reason to search for food elsewhere. He went to check the bowls. They were mostly empty which meant Fairy had been around at least until yesterday. Not even that greedy dog could gulp that much food in a shorter time.

If something happened to Fairy because he was a few hours late, he wouldn’t even bare to forgive himself. It was Wei Wu Xian’s fault that he got a few hours late. During these past few months, he had tried really hard to demolish his hatred towards Wei Wu Xian. So, at least for Wei Ying’s sake Fairy better be alive.

Jin Ling started to run all over the place, at first shouting Fairy’s name, but then he stopped for he noticed that it drew a lot of attention. But his footsteps didn’t slow at all. Not shouting didn’t help that much in drawing less attention, for people had rarely seen a Sect leader, even a potential one running around like a headless chicken.

Finally, when he came near the very back of the Carp Tower, he could hear Fairy barking. Even though he couldn’t see it was Fairy, he immediately knew it was him. He stopped right away, afraid that Fairy might be in trouble and was calling for help. But it was a happy bark. He could not imagine why the hell would Fairy be happy, especially when he wasn’t around to play with him. He started following the sound.

He was already a few feet into the woods that were right behind Carp Tower when he saw Fairy was playing with a girl. She was around his age and was really tall. Probably even an inch taller than him. At first glance anyone could tell her clothes were expensive. She didn’t wear a distinctive colour even though they were cultivational robes for sure. It had light blue and gold and white and her hair was decorated with gold ornaments and pink flowers. But it was obvious she didn’t care much about the wellbeing of her garments, for the hems of the robes were covered in mud. Even the edges of her sleeves were. Jin Ling could not imagine how can someone be careless enough for their clothes to be in such a state.

Other than the few details he absorbed from the first glance, he didn’t pay that much attention to the running and laughing girl, for he was busy being jealous of how happy Fairy was with a total stranger. He started to call Fairy, but he had to raise his voice really high for either of them to notice his presence. When Fairy heard the call, he came bouncing in the direction of Jin Ling wagging his tail barking insanely. Jin Ling’s heart almost filled with joy. Almost, for after a few steps, Fairy went bouncing back towards the girl.

“You named her Fairy? How stupid.”

“It’s not stupid, and Fairy is a boy. How dare you call him a girl?”

“Oh really? I didn’t notice. He’s rather cute, so I thought he is a girl. I’m pretty sure he didn’t mind. And why would you name a boy ‘Fairy’? It’s so… Feminine. I named him Thunder-Blade. That suits him better.

“What sort of a ridiculous name is that. And why would you give Fairy a name? He is not yours.”

“Who’s is he then?.”

“Mine. Obviously. But you are dumb enough not to even figure that out.”

“I’m not dumb. You are the dumb one, calling him yours.”

“He is mine.”

“No, he’s not.” The girl started to walk towards him slowly. “Did you give birth to him?”

“Huh?”

“I meant, are you his parent? Or his husband? I guess not. Are you siblings perhaps. I’m sure not. For fairy looks way better than your silly face. So, tell me how come he is your?”

“He…”

“See, you can’t say he’s yours.” She cut him off. “So silly boy, he is someone independent.”

Silly boy? How dare she? Didn’t she know who he is? If so he’s gonna teach her right away. But the words that came out of his mouth were so different from what he expected to say.

“Who are you?” This came out filled with genuine curiosity. He needed to know. Because while walking towards him the girl had momentarily stood in a spot of sunlight which revealed her face completely, unlike before, for the shadows the leaves created were partially covering her face. Her features were arrogant, so unladylike, but she was cute at the same time. The combination of that made her striking. Not exactly beautiful, but nevertheless striking.

“Qi Xue,” she said just to answer the question. She didn’t elaborate and didn’t seem to care whether Jin Ling knew who she was or not. She didn’t seem to care who Jin Ling was either. Jin Ling felt his face puff up with embarrassment. He didn’t know how to ask any other question. So, it led to an awkward silence.

 The girl didn’t care and started to play with Fairy again. Jin ling was so annoyed with Fairy for choosing someone over him. He ordered him to follow him and Fairy never ignored an order. So, after a sad glance at the girl, he followed. Seeing Fairy’s unwillingness to part with her the girl started to follow as well. Jin Ling acted like he didn’t even notice. But the moment he knew she was going to come with them, he was surprised by his heart fluttering with a wave of joy.

The girl’s shoes left mud everywhere. Unlike Jin Ling who rubbed the dirt off his soles before entering Carp Tower, she didn’t seem to even care. Jin Ling surely couldn’t stop noticing all these small details, and he surely noticed the girl had good posture and was walking in such an elegant way. She sort of reminded him of the well-disciplined disciples of the Lan sect, while walking like that. Well, of course, except for her dirty clothes.

When they came to his house, Jin Ling was momentarily ashamed that he in his haste had left the door open. But when Fairy dashed inside barking, that shame became annoyance. Who dared enter his chambers? Did any of Jin Chan’s minions come around to play tricks on him? Well, bad for them, Fairy will shred them into stripes.

But when he went inside, he could see a silhouette calmly sitting behind his desk completely ignoring Fairies playful actions of affections.

“Uncle!” Jin Ling exclaimed. “Why are you here, I mean, in my chambers?”

“What did you just call me?”

“…Uncle…?”

“Exactly.”

“That doesn’t give you a right to enter my chambers at your will.”

“There were days if I didn’t enter your chambers without your so-called permission, you would have starved to death.”

This made Jin Ling crack with anger. Why the hell his uncle had to bark at him the minute he saw him? He was sure this time he did nothing to arouse his anger. Nothing. So why the hell is his uncle fuming now, and who did he think he was to take it on Jin Ling? “I’m pretty sure even so, the servants would have fed me.”

“Servants?” he left off a humourless sneer, “Where are your precious servants now?”

Of course, there was no one around. The servants had learned that it was better to avoid Young Master Jin at all costs, so they won’t get caught up in one of his sudden tantrums. So, they attended his house whenever he was absent, and if he was there, they tried to be as invisible as possible. So, Jin Ling couldn’t think of anything to say. He also knew that, in the current mood his uncle was, it was best not to say such things and anger him further more.

“What brought you here this time?” He sat on a small stool and indicated to Qi Xue to do the same.

“So, you went night-hunting?”

“Well, you said you were busy. So, I went alone. Well, not exactly alone. Other disciples came as well.”

He thought uncle Jiang would scold him. But he only said, “Mmm.”

All this time Jiang Cheng was looking down, toying with something in his hand. Is that a jade tassel? Jin Ling wondered whether it meant something. He had never seen it before and it looked somewhat cheap. Definitely not like something his uncle would own. Finally, he lifted his head to look at Jin Ling and saw the maiden sitting beside his nephew as well.

“Who is she?”

“Ah, uncle… she is a friend of mine. Her na…”

“Don’t tell me you go around picking up girls like your grandfather.”

“WHAT???”

Jin Ling was quite shocked to hear such a thing. Jiang Cheng also seemed shocked at himself. But of course, it would be the end of the world if Sect Leader Jiang apologised. So instead, he said, “As long as it is not, it’s fine.”

“Well, IT IS NOT. I only met her. And she is a friend of Fairy. We don’t even know each other, and you have no right to say such a thing.”

“Then why is she in your room?”

“I don’t see why this bother you so much. She just wanted to be with Fairy, so I let her come. Maybe if it bothers you, I can ask her to go outside wi…”

Qi Xue didn’t like the way her character was getting portrayed. So, before Jin Ling try to send her off, she got onto her knees and in the manner of the maidens from elegant families, she bowed and introduced herself. “My name is Qi Xue. You must be the well-known sect leader of the Yunmeng Jiang Sect. I have heard many good things about you. It is an honour to meet you.”

 “So, you have heard about me? Then you must be a cultivator.”

“I am. Even though I’m not a huge fan of night-hunting.”

“Why not?” Jin Ling asked surprised. He couldn’t imagine such a cultivator could exist.

“I became a cultivator because my parents told me to. I never really liked it nor hated it.”

“I don’t see you carrying a sword. I would love to see your sword,” Jin Ling said. Being interested in swords was such a common thing especially among young cultivators. So, there was nothing unusual about Jin Ling being interested in her sword. But Jin Ling asked that because he had in just a few minutes of time developed a special interest about anything related to this particular maiden.

“It’s such a bother carrying such a heavy thing around.” Jin Ling was surprised by her answer. He expected her to say something like I’ve stored it in my qiankun pouch or sleeve or for her to tell that she carelessly forgot it.

Jiang Cheng’s face had darkened. Jin Ling knew who else had said such things. So, in order to change the topic, he asked, “Uncle Jiang, why didn’t you accompany me this time? What was you busy with?”

“Night-Hunting.” He shortly replied still glaring at Qi Xue.

“Where? What did you hunt?”

“It’s none of your business.”

“Fine if you want to be the mystery man. But you coming to my sect and sitting inside my chambers without an invitation is my business. So, why did you come?”

“I still didn’t get an invitation for the banquet which is going to be held to celebrate you becoming the sect leader.” He replied sarcastically.

The fact that Jin Ling having trouble within his own sect was bothering Jiang Cheng way more than it did Jin Ling. It felt like Jiang Cheng was ready to start war with the Jin Clan members who were not willing to follow his beloved nephew. Throughout the last few months, he had been visiting Carp tower to help Jin Ling with many problems. Before, because Jin Guang Yao was there to take his side and protect him, he didn’t feel so alone. Now even though there were a few adults who cared about justice and respected his father, were still willing to take his side, there was really no one to protect and shelter him in the Jin Clan anymore. So, he was really grateful for what uncle Jiang did, even though he never said it to his uncle Jiang.

But right now, he really didn’t appreciate Jiang Cheng bringing out his weakness in front of a stranger like this. “If you enjoy banquets so much, why don’t you hold one at Lotus Pire without bothering me.” Jin Ling bashed out.

Jiang Cheng saw that Jin Ling was hurt. But he didn’t have enough energy to comfort a grown baby. He was exhausted himself. And he had his own problems to worry about. So, he stood up saying, “If it’s so unpleasant for you that I am here Young Master Jin, I will take my leave. And I will thank the servants who cared enough to provide me with accommodation and the disciples who welcomed me and invited me to stay the night, so unlike my own nephew.”

He walked to the door. Halfway opening it, he turned back, his hand still holding the door. “I heard you were absent for a few days. Where did you go?”

“I told you I went night-hunting, remember? You didn’t bother to come.”

“So, you’re telling me you just went to roam around abandoning your position at the Clan? Can’t you be more responsible? Do you really want people taking advantage of your absence?”

“I wasn’t roaming. I was night-hunting. Weren’t you the one who told me to level up my cultivation? Can I do that sitting inside my house like a cake? And isn’t night-hunting also a responsibility of a clan leader?”

“Tell that to that old man who was saying that you are always absent and totally irresponsible.”

“Which old man?”

“How could I know. It was someone from your sect. Must be someone from the Clan with a big useless mouth. Well, he seemed to have a lot of followers.” With that he left.

Chapter Text

“Who was dying?”

“A tiger,” Xia Hong Guang replied, shifting her legs from underneath her to a more comfortable position. Dong threw a sharp look at her. But no matter how many times Dong warned her to stay still, she couldn’t hold the same posture for much longer. Especially when they were trying to balance on this uncomfortable wall.

They were sitting on a short wall, spying on the people inside a house. They were well hidden from the people inside because of the darkness and some trees. Therefore, they could also barely see the people inside. Actually, they couldn’t see them at all would be a more accurate description. So, spying is not even a suitable word to describe it. They were just keeping an eye on them.

“A tiger?” Dong asked confused. Hong Guang had been telling her about the stranger she met at the museum.

“It was another painting. There were no wounds in its body, but you can tell from its face that it’s dying. I hated that painting. Seriously, why do people feel the need to capture such sadistic moments? The master said he hated such things as well.”

Dong was someone who lived in the brothel. But she was not like the other women. You can never see her with a man. She mostly sells information, and do other things like what they were doing right now for money. Hong Guang liked her, but she never really bothered to know exactly how Dong lived. Dong didn’t elaborate either.

Even though Xia sisters never really cared about status and would talk and make friends with any nice soul, their other friends never really liked mingling with someone lower than them. And it seemed they were especially scared of Dong. But then, many people were scared of Dong. Mostly because she seemed to know about everything to the point others called her Da Dong (intelligent Dong). Some people even thought that was her name. And there were rumours that she would do anything for money. Hong Guang never believed them.

But, because of this, when she wanted to spend time with Dong, she could never do it while hanging out with her other friends.

Xing Juan never really liked Dong’s personality, but she never stopped her sister from occasionally hanging out with her.

“I shouldn’t have been frightened in the first place. I should have known the moment I heard his voice that he is a gentleman,” Hong Guang added.

“You can’t tell a personality by a voice.”

“I think you can. Voice. Face. They usually go with a personality. And if his voice didn’t confirm it, his face did. His face held obvious kindness. And on top of that, he is good looking too.”

“So says the girl that is going to get completely fooled by a face someday.”

“Are you willing to bet on it?”

“So, you are saying you don’t like that Zhang man because there’s something wrong with his face?”

“I never said that. There’s nothing wrong with Yong Zheng’s face, or voice. It’s just him. He is just wrong. I don’t know. He just makes me cringe so badly every time I see him.”

“The whole village said it was a blessing that Xing Juan found such a man. I did a little research. The Zhang Clan is really not a joke. They are totally well off. It is a very old cultivational sect as well. Well known for their archery skills. I think you are just jealous that you are no longer your sister’s top priority anymore. Grow up kiddo.”

“I’m not,” she protested. But looking at Dong’s serious face, she couldn’t help but second guess herself. “Maybe I am,” Hong Guang said determining to sort out her feelings. She would have complained if anyone else called her kiddo. But Dong was older than her, and telling her not to call her kiddo would have been a complete waste.

Laughter could be heard coming from inside the house. The smell of the liquor was rich. These customers must be a wealthy bunch. The two waiting outside couldn’t hear what they were saying, but a few shouted out phrases drifted out now and then. They could hear a slight accent within them. ‘So, they are from somewhere far. Better.’ Hong Guang thought.

And the richer the liquor is, the sooner they will sleep. Which meant they didn’t have to wait in this cramping position for much longer. This is one-way Dong collected her ‘information’. Waiting till they were asleep. Going through their belongings. If there was something important, she’ll take it out someplace secret, and will either copy or memorise them, and will put them back before dawn. They wouldn’t even notice.  

Dong taught Hong Guang to take jewelleries and other things because she said their designs and emblems would tell a story that words would not.   

Of course, they returned them all back to their original places, except for some times. Those times were decided by Dong’s friends from the brothel. This is why the girls would let her stay there. If someone treated them wrong, Dong would steal money from them as revenge, and the girls would distribute them among themselves. They never kept jewellery or anything specific, that can be easily recognized which will end up getting them caught. Dong wasn’t stupid. It was always money and unrecognizable things.

Hong Guang was never a fan of stealing. But she never protested, because by helping Dong, she also got a chance to look into the ‘borrowed’ possessions. If Dong managed to find something interesting, especially about Demonic cultivation or the YiLing Patriarch, she made sure to share them with the sisters.

“So, this man, you told me he was from a good family. How come?” Dong asked. Of course, it was Dong. She was interested in everything. And this is the first time Hong Guang had specifically talked about a being of the opposite sex with her, which made it even more interesting.

“I could tell right away even before I saw his face. His outfit gave it right away. The fabric is so richly woven with the finest of yarns, I’m sure even my uncle can’t afford a piece of it much less the whole outfit. Oh! I’m so jealous. If only I could afford such an outfit.”

“Why bother over an outfit. They are just to cover your body.”

“Wow, you are so boring. Again, what can I expect from someone who wraps black garbage around her body.”

“This fabric that you call garbage lasts for years. And black is good. It rarely stains.”

“So, you are just lazy to be clean.”

“I’m not a flower bouquet like you are. So cultivational robes, eh?  Do you think he is a foreigner or from the Nie Sect?”

“The Nie Sect sure is rich, but I’ve never seen someone so stylish. My bet is a foreigner.”

“Ah! Let me guess. So, this is why you are interested. You finally found a man who likes clothes as much as you do.”

“I never said I am interested. And it’s not his clothes. He seems really kind, and also a total Brainiac.”

“Well, you told me you talked with him for hours. Didn’t you even ask where he is from?”

“Ah, no, it never occurred to me to ask. And isn’t it impolite to ask such a thing. I mean if he wanted to let me know, he would have shared it. Plus, this is our first-time meeting. He will think I’m rude, if I started prying into his personal stuff.”

“No, it’s not rude. That’s what people do when they meet for the first time.”

“Oh!”

“So, what did you talk about?”

“Mmm, just this and that. We talked a lot about paintings. He is a really great painter. You should see his work. Did I mention the waterfall was one of his works? I’m going to take my sister there sometime. And we talked about the world, and people.”

“People?”

“Yeah, like why do we think people behave in such ways in such situations, why people make some decisions and why is there right and wrong and other things.”

“So, you talked about such deep things with him? Kiddo, you are creeping me out. I am the one who is supposed to be creepy.”

“Why?”

“People don’t talk about things like that.”

“Why not?”

“They just don’t. Especially with total strangers. I hope you wouldn’t see this man again. I don’t think he is a good influence.”

“You are one to talk.” Hong Guang said. She could see Dong’s lips press together as she heard what she said, but she ignored it and looked at the main street to check whether there is any sign of her sister. She had asked Dong to choose a place where they could keep an eye on both the house and the road, so she could give her sister the key to the room when she returned from wherever she went for her little date.

Seeing this, Dong said, “I don’t think they’ll return tonight. It’s way past midnight now. Look at you, buying a room and not even using it. I thought your family is broke.”

“We are not beggars Dong. And even you manage to get by and live in a nice room at the brothel.”

“Those rooms aren’t that nice.”

A few girls came out from the house. They both fell silent. They were some of Dong’s friends from the brothel. They waited to see whether the girls would look for them. They knew that Dong was hiding nearby. She always did when there’s strangers and if the strangers were not that nice, the girls would find Dong and tell her to take revenge for them. But they just exited the house laughing.

Leaning dangerously forward, Dong said, “They are leaving. It must be time. Let’s go.”

They both got down from the wall and started to move slowly towards the house. Hong Guang found it really hard to make no sound when both of her legs have fallen asleep and become stiff. But being extremely careful was unnecessary. The men that were scattered all over the place were dead to the world. Nevertheless, they didn’t make any loud noise or drastic sound. They didn’t want to wake them, nor alert any servant or guard that could be outside.

These people were rich, so it will be a headache if they got caught.

They could find some bags and qiankun pouches here and there, filled with some stuff. But mostly they only had money with them. However, it seemed that day, no ‘revenge by stealing’ was taking part, for Dong indicated Hong Guang not to take any money.

Carrying some bags with them, they were able to slip outside without any problem. They went to a nearby abandoned boutique which Dong had sort of turned into her secret work shop. Some people have started to call it Da Dong’s boutique. Well, at least the people who knew about her secret business.

Hong Guang was going through the bags while lying on her back on the dirty floor, and was exhausted to even think about dust getting on her clothes. After searching for a while Hong Guang said, “There’s nothing in here. Just boring stuff and papers with a lot of words. You can go through them if you want to. I’m done.” Hong Guang threw a bundle of papers to Dong.

Dong caught it and started to go through them. “Here, there are some things about cultivation methods. I think some of them are still learning. You think your sister will be interested?”

“No. But can you copy if there’s something important? For me.”

“If you want it, do it on your own.”

“Ah, never mind. I suddenly feel like I don’t want it.”

She took another bag and started pulling out the content. A heavy object came rolling out and hit her forehead. “Aaaaah damn it. What the hell was that.” She exclaimed clutching her forehead tightly.

Dong jumped forward and grabbed the object. “That’s interesting.”

“What is it?”

“I don’t know.” She grabbed the bag and searched inside. There were more. They looked like normal black rocks with no specific shape, except one side was smoothed out and a character was carved into it.

“Do you know any of these characters?” Dong asked checking one rock at a time.

“No. Never even seen anything similar. Have you?”

“No. Could be foreign characters. I better trace these down. Maybe I’ll be able to find someone who knows.”

…

Hong Guang suddenly opened her eyes, startled by a sound. She had no idea how long she had been sleeping. After they put back the things they took from the travellers, she went to Xiang Qiang to get some sleep. But the empty room didn’t feel cosy at all. So, she went out in order to find someone she knew to kill time with. She couldn’t find any of her friends. At this time of the night, not many people were out. The only one she could find was Dong. So, she spent all morning with Dong going around town meeting people, especially to ask them about the strange symbols they found earlier, after telling herself if her sister returned and couldn’t find her, it was no longer her fault. She waited for her for so long.

She returned to the room a little after noon. There was still no sign of her sister. So, she asked a worker whether she saw her. (A nice little lady. Not the owner.) She said she didn’t see either of them. Even though Hong Guang was starving at this point she didn’t want to eat alone. So, she ordered a little of every sweet and short eat available at the guest house to be delivered to her room and went upstairs.

She must have fallen asleep while eating. There was a half-eaten pastry fallen on the floor and crumbs on the bed. She sat up and looked around. It had already become dark outside. A knocking came from the door. Ah, she must have awakened to that sound.

She still didn’t feel awake enough to walk, so she remained on the bed till her muscles received enough blood to work again. She heard a high-pitched giggle and then whoever knocked before started to bang at the door.

Hong Guang suddenly felt uneasy. “Who is it?” she exclaimed.

“It’s me you idiot. Aren’t you going to open the door?” Her sister’s annoyed voice came through.

Releasing a sigh of relief Hong Guang asked, “What was that noise earlier?”

“What noise?”

“That creepy giggle?”

“It’s a kid.”

“Wha… what? You brought a kid with you?” When Hong Guang heard the word kid, all she could think about was a snotty, drooling, sweaty bundle running all around peeing and screaming in a very annoying high-pitched voice. The last thing Hong Guang expected was for Xing Juan to turn up with a kid. She knew her sister didn’t like kids either, or so she thought. 

“Yes. His mother asked me to look after him for a while.”

“Eeeeeew. Throw it away.”

“It’s a kid for God’s sake.”

“Do I look like I care. Get rid of that thing.”

“Don’t be ridiculous and open the door before I Kill you.”

“No.”

“You are not gonna get any more money to buy clothes if you don’t open the door withing five seconds.”

“Seriously, you are a demon.” Hong Guang went to unwillingly open the door.

“You told me to throw a child away. You are the demon.”

“You don’t like kids either.”

“Yes, but that doesn’t mean I will throw a helpless kid away. NOW OPEN THE DAMN DOOR.”

After she opened the door Hong Guang was relieved to see that the child was older than she expected. At least he won’t drool all over the place.

“Where did you pick this thing from?” Hong Guang asked, suspiciously eyeing the child. The child returned her suspicious look for a while and started playing with Xing Juan’s hair completely forgetting about her.

“Can you not?” Xing Juan shouted back.

“Can I not what?”

“It’s a child. So, stop treating him like an object. Well, should I even be surprised that you didn’t recognise him? I guess not. You won’t be able to recognise any of our neighbours anyway.”

“It’s because I’m really bad with faces.”

“No. It’s because you don’t care. You don’t even talk to them that much. Well, you don’t even come out of the house.”

“I do care and what I say is true. I really have a hard time remembering faces. You won’t understand anyway. So, which neighbour is this one again?”

“The family that sells dry fish, remember them?”

“Of course, I don’t.”

“Well, it’s a young couple, and this is their child. I met his mother a while ago. She had a lot of things to take care of. So, I promised her I’ll look after her son for a few hours.”

“Never knew you liked babysitting.” Hong Guang went and dropped into the bed and picked up a rice cake and started nibbling it.

The child had already started running all over the room pulling and throwing whatever he could. “You know I don’t. But it was just for a few hours and the child’s mother seemed exhausted. So…,” Xing Juan replied with a sigh. She looked at all the food on the table. “So, you decided to waste Yong Zheng’s money after all.”

“I told I would and I did,” Hong Guang said in the manner of stating a fact. “By the way, where is your lovely fiancé?”

“He met some friends. He will stay with them for the night.”

Hong Guang thought this was good news and thought that it was enough to make up for the annoying sounds the child continuously made.

“Hey baby,” Xing Juan called the child. She was just trying to come up with a way to stop the child from running all around giggling. “Do you want to eat something?”

Hong Guang suddenly sat straight up startled. She had seen children eat before. She never liked having a meal within the same room as a child. They were so nasty. Getting food and drool all over the place.

But it was too late. The child had already grabbed food and had sat down to gobble them. Hong Guang couldn’t do anything but look in horror at the child eating in a disgusting way. Seeing the child putting a sweet in his mouth managing to get his drool all over it, and deciding he didn’t want it anymore and putting it back on the plate of food letting the drool get on other food as well. She dropped back to the bed thinking, ‘Oh great, way to make all the food inedible to other people. What a disgusting creature.’

She just twisted and turned on the bed to get rid of her annoyance. After a few minutes, she remembered about the paintings and tried to tell about them to her sister just so she could occupy herself with something. But Xing Juan was really busy playing with the child and talking with him. She didn’t really pay much attention to what her sister had to say.

And even talking about the gentleman wasn’t enough to grab her attention, for unlike Dong, Xing Juan was used to her sister talking about boys with her. She was the one Hong Guang poured her heart out to. Her crushes, her dislikes. There was nothing Xing Juan didn’t know about her.

So, Hong Guang laid on her side with her cheek on her arm and looked at the other two playing. After a while, she found herself wanting to say something that will make the child laugh. She couldn’t think of any, but her sister seemed to have no problem making the child giggle by doing all sorts of silly things. Before she even realised it, she had become jealous of her sister for so easily becoming a favourite person of the child while the child seemed to completely ignore Hong Guang. She just wanted to play with the child too. Really, what was wrong with her? She thought she hated stupid children.

But she couldn’t refuse the urge to poke his chubby cheeks. His cheeks were so chubby, they looked like they were about to burst. She tried to tell herself how gross those cheeks were. There could be sweat, drool, even left-over sugar from the sweets. But nothing worked. She really wanted to poke those cheeks.

She was about to get up and go play with the child when a loud banging stopped her. Seemed like someone was trying to break the door, for the second time that day.

The two sisters looked at each other. The banging came again. Xing Juan looked at the door and looked back at her sister, urging with her eyes for her to go and open the door. But Hong Guang just moaned and hid her face in the pillow.

Xing Juan didn’t really feel like standing up from her comfortable position either. But seeing that urging her sister is in vain and the stranger is in no hurry to stop banging, she got up and went to open the door.

The opened door revealed a petite girl so thin she looked like a teenager. But her face revealed that she was around Xing Juan’s age. But what really caught Hong Guang’s attention was her panicked look. She was covered in sweat and was panting, and her eyes looked like she was about to cry.

“Why did you come so early? I thought you will take more time. If you were worried about him, he’s doing alright.” Xing Juan said pointing at the child.

“Ah! Yes. Thank you.” She went and picked up her child. “My husband said we should return immediately. It’s better if you leave soon too.”

“Why, what’s the hurry? We were planning on staying for a few days. Is the guest house on fire or something?” Xing Juan asked jokingly.

“Lady Xia, it seems like you didn’t hear about the deaths.”

“Deaths? What deaths?”

“People from the Xia mansion had been murdered today. I’m afraid something had happened to our village as well.”

Chapter Text

Before Hong Guang could make sense of what was happening Xing Juan grabbed her hand and they both started running after the mother. Xing Juan’s face had paled and the hand that was grabbing Hong Guang’s slightly trembled. But all Hong Guang could think was how was it possible for that small woman to run while carrying that child.

She definitely heard the words ‘Xia mansion’ and ‘dead’. But it was like those words didn’t carry any meaning. They were words that didn’t make sense.

It seemed that news really travel fast. Because as they came out, Hong Guang could see that people were in an unusual hurry and some people could be seen talking to one another trying to grab as much information as they could. Some people who recognised them even threw anxious and pitiful glances at them.

A well-built, young man came and took the child from the mother. Hong Guang thought it must be the father.

“Lady Xia, I may have to go with my husband, will you be alright?”

“Ye… yeah. Yeah… alright,” Xing Juan said in the most unsure voice Hong Guang had ever heard her use. Just like that, the mother and the child left them.

Hong Guang looked at her sister. Xing Juan was still looking in the direction the parents and the child went in a daze. She really wished that they weren’t alone. She didn’t know what to do or say.

               “A-Juan… A-Juan, you look so pale. Do you want to eat something? You better drink some tea at least.”

               “Do you think that I’m in a mindset to eat. Come on, let’s go. We must hurry.”

               Hong Guang really didn’t feel like going anywhere. She felt exhausted. Her sister didn’t look like she was stable enough to go anywhere either. She just wanted to go back and sleep. Why did this had to happen. She still couldn’t believe that it had actually happened. She felt like it was all in her head. It must be something she had imagined. It seemed like if she stopped imagining, it would go away.

But it didn’t and her sister was already pulling her towards the road that led to the Xia mansion.

Xing Juan really wished that Yong Zheng was there. But she didn’t feel like she had the time to look for him. And Hong Guang was being a burden by running so slowly and letting her drag her as well. She just had to get there. She just had to know what had happened and who was hurt. She felt like she needed to help people. To find people who could be healed. There’s no way they were all dead. It must be just two or three people. Rumours are always exaggerated.

They were almost at the road that led towards the mansion when a man in his early fifties came running at them and suddenly grabbed their hands, stopping their progress. “Oh my God, Oh my God what a relief. Xia ladies, you both were at the town. You aren’t hurt by any chance, are you? Oh my God. What a horrible thing did just happened. Oh my oh my, I’m so sorry. It is really a blessing that you were at the town.”

Hong Guang found the man’s face familiar, but she couldn’t really point out where she had seen it before. He must have been up and about the Xia mansion. Probably someone who worked there.

“Did you come from the Xia mansion? Did you see what happened?” Xing Juan asked.

“Yes, yes, it is drowned in blood. Oh my, Oh my, what wrath had fallen upon it, I do not know.” He said looking at the sky.

“Then we should hurry. Come on, Hong Guang, we should go.” Xing Juan started to pull Hong Guang again.

The man grabbed their hands tightly, “Where are you going. Not to the mansion, right? You shouldn’t go there. You should hide inside the town or flee somewhere further. We don’t know where the killers are. They could be looking for you. You should run as fast as you can, or you should hide.”

Even Hong Guang who longed for her beauty sleep found this remark ridiculous.

“We can’t just flee like that. What if someone need our help? We don’t even know where our parents are. At least we should look for them.” Xing Juan said trying to free her hand from the tight grip.

“Oh, no no no… don’t go back. You shouldn’t go back. And what can you do if you go back. You cannot fight against the killers. What can two young ladies like yourself do. You won’t be any help.”

If the two sisters were not angry before, they were now. “Clearly, a man like you couldn’t do anything either,” snapped Xing Juan while Hong Guang gritted her teeth.

The man was so surprised for a few seconds he couldn’t even comprehend what was said was an insult. The man opened his mouth, but before he could say anything a concerned but lovely voice cut him off.

“A-Juan, A-Guang, I’m so glad you are safe. I looked for you everywhere.” Young Zheng ran over and hugged both sisters with his long arms. Hong Guang wriggled out of the embrace with a disgusted face. But she had to admit even she was glad to see a familiar face after the few minutes of chaos.

“Ah, this must be the young master everyone was speaking about lately,” said the man. “Young master, why don’t you take these two young ladies somewhere safe and protect them very well. I see you have a sword with you as well. I can show you a safe place on the further side of the town where you can lay low for some time.”

“Thank you for your concern, but I will take the matter to my hand now that I am here. You may take your leave. A gentleman like you must have a lot of work at hand.” Young Zheng said trying his best to get rid of the man. He could tell at first glance that both girls have taken a disliking towards him.

The stranger stood there wanting to say that he had nothing important to do, but finally decided against it. “Yes, you are indeed a fine man taking the matters to your own hand.” With that he finally walked away.

“Are you seriously going to drag us somewhere and lock us in a dark house? Don’t you dare even think about it. I want to go back to our house.” Xing Juan said strictly.

“I assumed that much. And do you think I can drag you two anywhere against your will? You can become vicious like crazy monkeys when you get angry. I just said that to get rid of that man. Even though he had good intensions, he was annoying.”

“If we are crazy monkeys, you are worse than a loris,” Hong Guang said ready to come up with more insults if needed.

“Can you two keep your lesson on animals for later? We have to go.” Xing Juan started walking without waiting for the others.

Unlike their journey towards town yesterday, Xing Juan willingly led the way that evening. If she walked a little faster than she did, she would have ended up running. Her anxiety seemed to drive her without letting any fatigue win. Hong Guang tried her best to keep up with her sister ignoring the growing pain on her soles and knees. Yong Zheng seemed to lag a step or two behind Hong Guang. For some reason he seemed way more tired than herself, and she couldn’t understand why.

As they were walking, Hong Guang started to comprehend the situation. They were walking into a crime scene. A murder scene to be exact. They will end up seeing a lot of dead bodies. And on top of that they were people they knew. Some were family. They still had hope that their parents were safe for there was no news of any murders there. And the village was far off and she could not think of any reason why the murderers would go there.

But it still was a guess. There was no solid confirmation that their parents were safe. And they could get killed too. Now that the annoyance towards that stranger they met had died down, the reality of his words was becoming clearer. The murderers could still be there. They were probably hiding waiting for them. Even though Hong Guang could not think any reason of why they would.

               The only explanation she could give for the murders was that someone wanted to rob the mansion. Even then, so many people getting killed for that didn’t make any sense. She couldn’t even think of anyone who had any grudge against the Xia clan to commit such murder.

               But despite all that, what she couldn’t believe even more was her own feelings. She wasn’t afraid. Nor was she sad. She was feeling a little anxious and reluctant. She felt like she’d rather be elsewhere than face a bunch of dead bodies at the moment. But other than that, she felt completely fine.

               When Hong Guang finally came out of her mind, they were already at the Xia mansion. Her sister was standing still, a few feet ahead of them. Young Zheng suddenly startled her by gripping her hand. She was confused and tried to rescue her hand but Yong Zheng’s grip tightened. So, without complaining she walked with him towards her sister.

               When they got closer, she could see why Yong Zheng gripped her hand. Right before her sister, there, lying on the ground was a dead body. It was twisted in some weird way. She thought it was weird even for a dead body, though she had never seen one that had been murdered before. After looking at it for a minute, she realised it must have been because the body had been lying face down, but her sister had twisted it, probably trying to get a better look at it. Of course, it must be heavy, so she could only twist it just a little making it look even weirder and scarier.

               She had had enough of staring at the dead body. That person had clearly been dead for several hours and was definitely beyond their help. So, instead, she turned to look at her sister. Her fists were clenched and there was blood on her right hand. But she was staring into the distance with eyes filled with tears.

“Do you want to check inside the mansion?” Young Zheng asked. But it was clear to all of them that when they could find people who were not even inside the mansion to be dead, clearly everyone inside should also be. Neither of them felt like going inside just to find the dead scattered around in most disrespectful and gruesome ways imaginable, so neither said anything.

As her sister was not showing any sign of moving or doing anything, and Yong Zheng was not leaving her side, Hong Guang slowly walked along the road. She could see a guard lying by the door. His throat was half cut and she could see inside his neck. There was blood pooling around his head and his hair was drenched in it. But what made Hong Guang feel sick was when she recognised the face.

She remembered the day he came to meet his uncle asking for a job. Hong Guang was lying on her stomach reading a book on the floor of her uncle’s study. Her mother always scolded her saying it was very unladylike. When the man entered, she suddenly got up and sat properly out of embarrassment. But the guard gave her a warm smile that made her easily feel at ease. But now, he will never smile so warmly to anyone else again.

She could see a young girl lying a little way away. A basket of vegetables was scattered by her side and a red blossom could be seen on her torso. Her frame was so small, so she could have been younger than Hong Guang. But Hong Guang didn’t look closely for the last thing she wanted was to recognise another face.

She didn’t even look through the front doors of the mansion. She felt like she had no energy left to face the inside, so she looked into the small forest in front of the mansion and saw another man lying on his stomach. His leg was missing and a huge gash could be seen on his back.

She suddenly heard Yong Zheng call her sister’s name and turned to look. Her sister, who was still as a statue a second ago had started running like crazy. She jumped in front of her and grabbed her arms.

“What in the hell are you doing?”

Xing Juan looked at her with a blank stare. Her eyes were burning. “The village…  Mom… Dad…” She panted in a whisper. Then she pushed Hong Guang away and started running.

Hong Guang only waited a second before following her. She only wanted a second to comprehend what her sister said. If the mansion was at this state there was no guarantee the village was safe. This was not just a mere robbery. If this was done to avenge the Xia clan, especially by someone who knew them well, they will surely seek the village as well. Especially their parents.

Hong Guang remembered in the old days her mother telling both of them again and again that they were the ones who had the cleanest Xia blood. Even though she told this to them when she was scolding and wanted to point out that their behaviour and image was going to make or break the clan’s name in the future, their mother couldn’t hide the pride she took in it.

The more she thought about how much possibility there was in the murderer’s reaching the village, the more numb she became. Her legs might have been screaming with pain after walking for so long and her body should have been tired with lack of rest. But thankfully the numbness helped her to keep going. She could vaguely hear Yong Zheng cursing, but he also started to follow them nonetheless.

Xing Juan didn’t even spend a second to look whether the others were following her. She didn’t care about anything else. She just wanted to know. She wanted to know that her parents were safe. She couldn’t wait. She wanted to know right now. If she didn’t get her answer right then she felt like she would just burst into a million pieces. But the village was just so far. Even though how fast she ran the village didn’t seem to get any nearer.

Hong Guang looked sorrowfully at her sister running a few steps ahead of her, willing her to stop. But Xing Juan didn’t even show any sign of slowing down. She couldn’t even hear Yong Zheng’s footsteps anymore. He must have been far behind. But she didn’t want to fall back. She didn’t want her sister to go alone, nor did she wanted her sister to think that she didn’t care.

Some people thought that she really didn’t care much about their parents. She often fought with them and was not ready to give up her dreams to make her parents happy. Some even called her selfish for that. But unlike her, her sister was willing to do anything for their parents. She was ready to put aside anything to make their parents happy.

But her sister never called her selfish for doing what she liked, nor did she ever told Hong Guang that she didn’t love her parents as much as she should, and Hong Guang was not ready to leave any room for her to think otherwise now. So, she willed her exhausted legs forward. They felt like they didn’t have any bones at all and is ready to bend in any direction if she slightly stretched it the wrong way.

She felt dizzy with exhaustion. So, she looked down right at her feet and concentrated on the little stones and pebbles and the random blades of grasses that seemed to run in the other direction right beneath her feet. Even though it made it hard for her to run faster, the concentration helped her to forget her screaming limbs. She was running like this for a while, her eyes were almost trying to shut down and bring her into a deep slumber right there on her feet when she suddenly realised she passed her sister.

She stopped and looked back. She thought Xing Juan had stopped because she was exhausted. But her sister was looking ahead with a face twisted into a mask full of sorrow. She followed her gaze, but could not realise what made her sister stop.

“What are you looking at?”

“There are no lights.”

She didn’t get what her sister meant. She looked back in that direction. “What do you mea…” The meaning of Xing Juan’s words came to her. They were almost at the village. She could barely make out the silhouette of the first house among the trees. Even though night had fallen the house was in complete darkness. Nor could any light be seen beyond that.

One thing was clear. Something had definitely happened. Hong Guang took a few steps towards the village, but realising her sister wasn’t following, she stopped again. She looked at her sister and waited her to follow. But she didn’t seem like she was going to do anything other than stand there like a statue.

“Do you want to go back?”

Xing Juan didn’t answer. Her whole body was shivering and she felt so cold. She just wanted to disappear. Just wanted to be gone. Gone from this world, relieved from this reality. Her heart felt like someone was tearing it apart. Tissue by tissue. Cell by cell. She willed her brain to stop thinking, but it brought on gruesome thoughts. ‘The villagers, were they terrified? Did they scream? Begged for their lives? Was it painful? Did they die immediately or did they suffer? Did they have to watch their own bodies bleed to death while lying there helplessly as the life left their bodies?’

She didn’t even want to think that their parents were there. So, she tried to at least not think about them.

“Come on. Let’s at least go and check it out. We can’t just leave.” Hong Guang said after feeling like her sister will end up becoming a statue in the position she wa,s if she didn’t interrupt. But Xing Juan didn’t even blink.

“What do you want to do? You ran all the way here so let’s at least take a look. Or, if you really don’t want to, at least let’s find somewhere to sit. My legs are killing me.”

“Okay,” her sister replied and walked towards a nearby rock and sat on it. At that time Zhang Yong Zheng also arrived panting and sweating like a wild horse that ran across a desert.

“What are you guys doing here? Are you that exhausted? The village is only a few feet away. Come on let’s go there and rest.”

“I don’t want to.” Xing Juan lifted two tear filled eyes to meet Yong Zheng’s. “I don’t want to look anymore. How can anyone cut people like they are just turnips? I don’t want to see them like that. I just… can’t…” her voice broke.

Hong Guang immediately understood. Her sister is someone who will cry over a cockroach’s death. She never liked seeing any living creature getting harmed. She’s someone who would never eat meat. Someone that kind hearted would not be able to handle something like this. She will not be able to look at her family, neighbours and friends slashed and stabbed to death.

“But we can’t just leave,” Yong Zheng said. “Come, let’s get a little closer. It might even not be as worse as we imagine. Maybe they will be alright.”

Hong Guang was annoyed by this. “All right? There’s not even a single light. How the hell are they all right?”

“Maybe they decided not to light any lamps tonight after hearing what happened at the Xia mansion. Maybe they have decided to hide.”

Even though Hong Guang hated it, she had to admit that it made sense. “Come on. Let’s go and see.” She pulled at her sister’s sleeve.

All three of them walked slowly. There was no other sound to be heard than the animal noises and the wind on the leaves. The sky had become completely dark while they waited, so they could barely make out the houses. They were almost near the first house when Xing Juan turned around and closed her eyes tight saying, “I can’t.”

“Why, what’s wrong?” Yong Zheng asked putting an arm around her shoulder. Xing Juan pointed towards the road ahead without turning back. After looking at where she pointed for a few seconds Hong Guang and Yong Zheng could make out a female body lying on the road. The slightest hope that Hong Guang had in her vanished immediately.

“Let’s go back.” Xing Juan said pulling both of them.

“We can’t go back. I want to go and see,” Hong Guang said harshly.

“A-Guang’s right. We can’t leave like this. And we can’t go back to the town tonight. We’ll have to find a place to spend the night. It’s better not to stay in the village in case any murderer returned. But we don’t have anything with us. So, it seems we have to at least get some supplies for tonight.”

“Is it just tonight?” Hong Guang asked getting concerned. “Can we ever return again? I mean we have to at least go away for a while. Where shall we go?”

“Yeah, it seems like we have to leave, at least for a while,” Yong Zheng replied. “So, let’s go check the situations and then gather up what we will need. We won’t be able to go far tonight. We’ll have to stay in the forest. But let’s get to the town tomorrow and see what we are going to do next. Come, let’s hurry.”

“I don’t want to go. You guys go ahead. I’ll just wait here for you.”

“But we can’t leave you alone. It’s dangerous,” said Yong Zheng. “There could still be people hiding around. And people had been killed. The energy here is evil. You shouldn’t be alone.”

“Okay, you two stay. I’ll go and bring as much stuff as I can. We can come back in the morning to gather more if needed.” Even though Hong Guang didn’t want to walk into a village filled with dead, she put up a brave front, for all she wanted then was to get it over with. She didn’t want to see her family lying dead either. But she told herself now that they are already dead, seeing it with her eyes are not going to make any difference.

“The same goes to you A-Guang, you shouldn’t be alo…”

“What’s that.” Hong Guang suddenly exclaimed.

“What’s what?” Xing Juan asked with a sigh. It looked like she was pushed to her brim and even though the sky fell she would take it without being concerned.

“I saw a face in that window.” Hong Guang said pointing to a nearby house.

“A-Guang, it’s dark and we are all scared. Maybe it was a trick of the light. You might have seen something similar to a face for a split second.” Yong Zheng replied.

“But it wasn’t for a split second. If it was, I also would have thought it was a trick of the light. I saw it before. It was very vague, so I thought in the dark something that was behind the window was taking the shape of a face, and then after a few seconds I looked again. It was still there but it suddenly moved out of the window frame. So, it has to be a living thing. I’m going to go and check.”

“A-Guang, don’t. I’m sure it’s nothing. I’m sure there’s no one alive.” Yong Zheng’s voice sounded concerned. “If it moved it could be some foul creature. You have not seen much darkness. It could even be a ghost.”

Hong Guang became annoyed. Why don’t this annoying Mr. Perfect believe her. She knew what she saw. “How great it would be if it is a ghost. Then I can have my first ever ghost encounter.”

She walked straight to the house without looking back. She felt like Yong Zheng started to follow her, but she couldn’t be sure. Until she walked a few steps into the house it felt like walking into a normal house without any light. She loved to roam around the Xia mansion at night with the little light the sky provided. She found the almost darkness very soothing. This felt the same until it hit her mind that there could be dead bodies lying around and also someone alive. Or it could be a ghost like Yong Zheng predicted. Or even worse, the murderer.

As soon as she realised that, she also realised how stupid she was to walk into this dark house, with no weapon or light. She was completely exposed to whatever danger there was. Her heartbeat started to raise, but it suddenly froze as she heard a creek near the main door. She tried to comfort herself by saying that it could be Yong Zheng or even her sister when she heard a loud bang from the next room.

Chapter Text

Jin Ling wished he could just disappear from the conference hall. This discussion or meeting or whatever they wanted to call it didn’t seem to end for years. He wished he could wonder off to the wood again and play with Fairy. He might even get to meet that girl again.

He really thought nobody could be worse than those two disciples who were fighting for the sect leader position and his distant aunt, who is claiming that the position of the sect leader should be offered to her dumb ass son, just because he is ten years older than Jin Ling. The two disciples were claiming that they would do a better job than himself as sect leader because their cultivation level was higher.

His distant cousin, the aunt’s son, had a lot of followers, and the elders who were unwilling to bow to him because he was also young, was willing to support either one of the two disciples.

But alas, he had completely forgotten that he had a distant uncle as well. He knew that Jin Chan was distantly related to him somehow. But he never imagined his family was a well off and well-known family and his father is even worse than his aunt. Jin Chan’s father entered the hall like he already owned the place and was spouting about how he is fit for the role because he is wealthy in money, cultivation and family and was hinting how poor Jin Ling is, when it came to supporters as well as wisdom.

Even though Jin Ling swore to himself that he has a bigger brain than that decaying man, he was getting angrier by the minute because he couldn’t really argue with the rest of his claims.

After a heavy attempt, he managed to calm down his anger at least to return to the present and listen to what else he was lacking.

His aunt was speaking, “… there used to be a lot of banquets. All the sect leaders of the well-known clans were waiting to receive their invitations to our banquets, and all the other events that we arranged. And the ones who did not get invited would feel sorry for themselves. Everyone was well aware of our prosperity. Well, those banquets never let anyone doubt our prosperity. I’m afraid lately, the lack of governing has brought us into a situation where others think that we have completely lost our colours. How shameful.” She made a face like she was really troubled by it.

Jin Ling thought what was shameful was her own words. And as for the magnificent banquets and events that she talked about, it seemed everyone in the hall had forgotten or were very happy to behave like they were not the hard work of their latest Clan leader.

Jin Ling turned around to glance at the empty seat of the Jin clan’s leader. He dared not yet sit on it. He also wished that that seat was not empty. He wished that his uncle Jin was there handling all this ridiculous nonsense, so he could just sit at a seat near the back and just walk into his dreamland, letting others think that he was there because he was so interested in the politics.

He suddenly realised Jin Chan’s father was staring right at him. He then looked at his aunt. “Madam Jin, I’m sure all this was to blame on that son of a prostitute. Our Clan would not have come to meet this shame, if it wasn’t for him. But I’m afraid his death was not the end of it.” The whole crowd fell silent and strained their ears. They were either genuinely scared or was eager for some new gossip. “Hasn’t this kid been under his wings as he grew up,” he said fearlessly pointing at Jin Ling.  “A shame that his parents weren’t present.”

A slight crackling noise came from the far corner of the hall. Jiang Cheng was sitting at one of the far seats. Jin Ling hadn’t even noticed that he was there until that moment. Either Jin Ling had been too drowned in this mess to notice or Jiang Cheng had secretly entered after the meeting had started. He was sitting very straight with his hands crossed in front of him. He was looking straight ahead, his face expressionless, like a sculpture carved from ice. But his right hand was gleaming with purple flashes from Zidian.

He knew exactly how his uncle felt, for he was also boiling inside. Maybe even three-fold. How dare that man say that he was anything like Jin Guang Yao. And he even made it sound like it was his parents’ fault that they weren’t around. But the last thing he wanted was for them to say anything bad about his uncle Jiang as well. So, he spoke with a cheerful voice before anyone else could say anything.

“Aunt, I thought that you already received an invitation. But it seems that you haven’t. Therefore, let me inform you about the banquet that I arranged to be held on next Wednesday evening. You are all invited.”

To be honest, he had only intended it as a meeting of clan leaders around Lanling, so they could discuss about the recent events and what they were planning to do if the disturbances that occurred in Gusu reached Lanling as well. Even though Jin Ling begrudged every moment he had to spend with these old hags of his sect, and didn’t want to invite any of them to the meeting itself, converting the small meeting into a grand banquet at such short notice was not going to be a problem. Jin Clan was yet not that far gone, at least not yet.

After the meeting, Jin Ling went straight to find the people in charge of the Wednesday meeting to inform about the change of plans. After that, he was planning on going back to his chambers to loosen his headache by playing with Fairy, but he overheard a group of people talking. When his uncle Jin was still there, Jin Ling would do everything to bypass any of those adult conversations. He couldn’t remember when he developed an interest in them. But even before he realised, he was already eavesdropping.

“…thinks his stupid Sect is mightier than ours.”

“It doesn’t have to be. This is why I keep telling you that you shouldn’t let that kid become the Clan leader. This is all his plan. To make the weak kid the Clan leader and brainwash him until he subsides to the Jiang sect.”

This was, no doubt, the voice of the younger disciple who was trying to claim his place. Jin Ling gritted his teeth. Now these people were even talking shit about his uncle Jiang. He couldn’t believe it. And if anyone believes he is not a weak kid, it was his uncle.

“…outside, past midnight.” It was that disciple again.

“What? What was he doing?”

“I don’t know. I felt it was quite suspicious too. So, my friend here and I secretly followed him. It is indeed quite hard to follow someone with such a high cultivational level without being noticed, for their senses are very keen. It needs its own skillset.”

“He doesn’t deserve that level of cultivation. It is all because he has that YiLing Patriarch’s golden core. Otherwise, he will be a nobody with no power.”

“So, what did he do? Did he do anything bad?”

“I can’t really tell. He just roamed throughout the Carp Tower for many hours. It really was strange. He was just walking, looking around. But trust me, it wasn’t any late-night stroll. That roaming was anything but relaxing. It looked like he was looking for something, or someone.”

“My friend, you totally forgot to mention how he lingered a lot near the chambers of the late Jin ZiXuan and his wife’s. It was even stranger.”

 “But, isn’t that where their son is living now? Maybe he was looking for the kid.”

“Yes and no. That Jin Ling does live in the same house, but he has mostly left the side where his parents lived untouched.”

“I heard that Jiang Cheng came alone this time. Isn’t it weird? He always brings some disciples with him.”

“Of course, he is planning something. In fact, he had been planning since a long time ago. Look at this. Why would he try to look after a kid of the Jin sect anyway?”

“But Jin Ling is his sister’s son.”

“That is why it is even more strange.”

“How come?”

“I heard that both Jiang Cheng and Wei Ying was against that marriage. Back in the days, they even fought with Jin ZiXuan because they were so against it. Then why did he all of a sudden was willing to take in Jin ZiXuan’s child?”

“I also heard that they shamelessly fought with Jin ZiXuan at the Cloud Recesses. Sect leader Jin had to travel all the way there to bring his son back, because he was scared that his son would be hurt, or worse.”

“It is all because he wanted to win that child’s favour. He spent every possible second with the child. Whenever the child was not under the Jin Sect’s care, he would find a way to accompany him. He went with Jin Ling for his every single night hunt and pampered him. Now the child practically think he is God.”

Jin Ling could not take these outrageous remarks anymore. How people twist words so well to suit their liking. He had to find his uncle. He had to find his uncle and warn him.

But he had no idea where uncle Jiang was. He left the hall in such a hurry to even notice which direction Jiang Cheng went. So, he thought about going back to his house to get Fairy. Fairy will be able to find uncle Jiang for him.

When he went there, the door was open and Fairy dashed out from within to greet him. He quickly petted Fairy’s head and got inside to see whether it was Jin Chan or one of his minions, for he was sure he locked the doors when he left.

But when he got inside, all the concern he had for his uncle turned into anger, for there was Jiang Cheng, sitting so comfortably like it’s his own chambers.

“Why the hell are you in my chambers?”

“Can’t you even figure that out you useless idiot? I wanted to meet you.”

“Then you could have stayed outside until I arrive. I’m a grown man. You need to value my privacy.”

“Grown, my butt. If you are grown you won’t need any adult to look after you. Yet here you are, not even capable of handling your own Clan. Stop bickering and sit down. We need to work out something. Can’t let those old hags have their way now, can we?”

Oh no, he had to tell his uncle that if he kept on doing this, people will make all sorts of rumours. He knew his uncle was doing this out of love and was expecting nothing in return. But people had started to say that he had been brainwashed by Jiang Cheng. So, if he didn’t act up and stop such rumours from spreading now, his words would mean nothing later because they would say he was saying those things because he was brainwashed into saying so.  

But what can he say? He really didn’t want to sound like he was concerned about uncle Jiang. If uncle Jiang realised that he was concerned about him, that would be really shameful. He couldn’t let him know that he cared so much to even be wavered by mere rumours. Uncle Jiang might even laugh at him. But how else can he stop uncle Jiang?

“Maybe you just assume that I need your help. I told you that I’m an adult and yes, that means I can live without you. I don’t need your help.”

“A-Ling, you can’t solve this on your own. You need as much help as you can get.”

“No, I don’t. And yes, I know that you are this prestigious clan leader who built his own sect from scratch when you were a teenager. And I clearly haven’t done anything even close to that. But, who knows, maybe it’s because you never let me do anything on my own. Why can’t you leave me alone to handle my own problems?”

“A-Ling, that doesn’t mean you have to do it all on your own. And who said that I did all that myself? I had your mother and your unc… Wei Wu Xian by my side.”

“Well, maybe I want to do it on my own. And why do you want to help so much? Do you have any ulterior motive?” Even before he said it, Jin Ling knew he shouldn’t say such a thing. But what other choice did he have? He needed to make uncle Jiang leave Carp Tower. If the only way to do it was to make his uncle hate him forever, so be it. He thought it would be better than Jiang Cheng’s reputation getting destroyed by these ruthless people.

“What ulterior motive? A-Ling what do you mean?”

“Everyone in the cultivation world knows that you are not so selfless. You want to be the best and that’s all you care about. So, I’ve been wondering why you are devoting your precious time in helping an orphan? What’s in it for you sect leader Jiang?” Even though he meant to make his uncle angry, he didn’t expect to be this harsh. He just wished his uncle would leave without pushing him to say such ruthless things.

“Have I ever asked for anything in return? Why are you talking like this? What made you say such a thing? Did something happen? A-Ling? Jin Ling?” Jiang Cheng reached to touch his shoulder, but Jin Ling turned away.

“Whatever, I just… I just don’t want your help, okay.” Tears started to roll down his cheeks. Thankfully his back was turned towards his uncle. He struggled to keep his voice straight. “You can go back to your sect. I’ll take care of my own sect. Thanks for what you had done so far, but I don’t need your help anymore.”

Without another word, Jiang Cheng dashed out of his room. But it wasn’t before Jin Ling spotted the wrenching sadness on his face.

Jin Ling stood where he was without moving until Fairy started to whimper next to him. His head was aching so bad, and despite his words of bravado, he felt very small. Small and helpless. If his uncle was not there to help him, who else was? He felt like he lost the last person that was on his side. He felt so alone. And he didn’t even want to think about how much his words had hurt his uncle.

He started feeling suffocated, so he went outside and started to walk aimlessly. Fairy followed, at times head down and whimpering, at times jumping around Jin Ling barking in order to cheer him up. Jin Ling wanted to cry and weep, crawling on the floor. But he willed himself not to. He didn’t even want to think about what’s going to happen to his sect. Oh! Right, it wasn’t his sect yet. He just wished there was someone else to take care of it. He wished his dad was there. He missed him so much. He longed for his company, his protection.

But for the first time ever in his life he also wished that he was born to another family. A family in a small village that has nothing to do with cultivation and dying by evil energies. A small happy family with no responsibility. No clan to look after. No reputation to live up to. Where he can just grow up and work in a paddy field. Okay, maybe not a paddy field. They are completely covered in mud. How gross.

But it’s got to be better than being trapped in this huge place alone. Here he had no one. “Well, I at least have you, don’t I Fairy? …  Fairy? FAIRY??? Okay where have this damn dog run off to, now? Traitor!!!” Jin Ling quickened his steps looking all around for Fairy.

“Young Master Jin? Oh! It is you? How are you, young master Jin? After a long time.”

Jin Ling turned around at the cheerful voice of Ouyang Zi Zhen. His friend’s beaming smile made him forget about his struggles for a minute.

“Zi Xiong, what are you doing here.”

“Oh, I came for the banquet. You invited my father and I whined and whined in front of our disciples until he got so ashamed and agreed to let me come. I was so looking forward to it.”

“Why make a fool of yourself. It’s just a banquet and it’s not even that great. It’s more likely going to be a boring meeting. You have already been to many.”

“Yes, I have. But they are all organised by some old man. I have never been to one that is organised by one of my own friends. That’s why I wanted to come so bad. These are my friends from my sect. I was going to bring Ze Jin. You remember him, right? He went to Yi City with us. But the poor thing got a bad stomach.”

“Ah, is that so? Well, I have never seen these disciples that you bought with you before. So, I assume it is their first time at Carp Tower. Either way, as the acting clan leader of the Lanling Jin Sect, let me welcome you all to Carp Tower.”

There was a chorus of ‘Thank you, young master Jin.’

“By the way Jin Xiong, you look so down. Is something wrong?” Zi Zhen asked, getting concerned because of Jin ling’s dark face.

“No, nothing’s wrong. I just fought with my uncle.”

“Oh really, that’s sad. But isn’t your uncle dead?”

Jin Ling glared at him. “Not that uncle.”

“Oh, the other one. Wait, which one?”

Jin Ling rolled his eyes. (Like uncle, like nephew ;D)

“Oh, you mean Sect leader Jiang? You fought with him? Are you crazy? Wait, how are you still alive?”

“Why won’t I be alive?”

“If you fought with Sect leader Jiang, you are surely going to end up dead.”

“Young master Ouyang, I’m really grateful for your vote of confidence.”

“Okay, never mind. Let’s break into the liquor store and forget about all our struggles.”

“Okay.”

“Okay lead the way then.”

Jin Ling waited to be led to the liquor store, but no one moved. He looked around and everyone was looking at him. “Wait, you want me to lead the way?”

“Yes.”

“But I don’t know where the liquor store is.”

The crowd was immediately disappointed. “Young master Jin, isn’t this where you live?” Zi Zhen asked sarcastically.

“Yes, but that doesn’t mean I should know where the liquor store is. Why should I when I can ask the servants to bring as many liquor jars as I like right into my room.”

“Now Jin Xiong, where’s the fun in that. The liquor always tastes better when you drink it secretly. Please tell me you at least know where the kitchen is.” Zi Zhen put his arm around Jin Ling’s shoulders and urged him to lead the way.

Jin Ling first thought of going to the main kitchen. But the fact that they were going to sneak into that kitchen always buzzing with workers didn’t feel right. So, instead he led to a smaller one nearby. He barely had seen any servants working in there after dinner time. And the colour of the sky told him it was way past that.

But as they came near, they could hear voices coming from inside. The small group immediately stopped to listen, and a few seconds later a loud bark broke out.

“Jin Xiong, that sounds a lot like Fairy. Do you usually use him to steal food?” Zi Zhen asked somewhat jokingly.

One of the other kids exclaimed, “That’s so cool.”

Jin Ling was about to deny the claims. He never ever in his life felt the need to steal food. But if these kids were going to think he’s cool, he’s not gonna stop them. Although, he was really curious about how Fairy ended up inside a kitchen. So, he hurried in.

The kitchen was barely lit by two candles and he could hear a female giggle. As soon as he stepped in Fairy came bouncing to greet him. As he was petting Fairy, Zi Zhen went to see who else was there.

He came around a table and asked, “Who are you?”

“I’m Fairy’s friend, even though I think the person who named him that was an absolute idiot.”

Despite the insult, as soon as Jin Ling heard that voice, his heart brightened up. The fight with his uncle already forgotten. After Qi Xue left that afternoon, even though Jin Ling desperately wished to see her as soon as possible, he couldn’t even glimpse her anywhere. He thought he would never see her again, and yet here she was.

“Lady Qi Xue, I see that you are playing with Fairy again.”

“Why? Are you going to complain? I told you he’s an independent individual. He’s not your proper…”

“I know. I just stated a fact. If I didn’t want you to play with Fairy, I wouldn’t have let you tag along that day.”

“Jin Xiong, is she your cousin? She’s so pretty. Set me up with her, will you?” Zi Zhen asked, already falling for the lady’s beauty.

Jin Ling was wondering how Zi Zhen had come to the conclusion that she was one of his cousin’s when he noticed that the girl was wearing white, but with gold trimmings. Anyone wearing robes like that in Carp Tower could easily be mistaken for a Jin Sect member. And her robes were very expensive. A normal disciple could barely afford such fine clothes for a special occasion and definitely not for everyday wear. Jin Ling was getting really curious about Qi Xue’s family background himself, when one of the Ouyang disciples spoke up.

“Lady, we are so sorry, but you have to leave.”

“And why is that?”

 Jin Ling thought he should have warned his new friends about Qi Xue’s crudity.

“We are going to do something only a group of men do.” Another disciple answered.

“And pray tell what is this super masculine thing that you are going to do that cannot be spoilt by my femininity?”

“Lady, please do not be offended.” Zi Zhen spoke up, not wanting to hurt her feelings. “What my friend was trying to say is that we are going to drink. We might get really drunk and it will be a total mess. Not a place for a beautiful lady now, is it?”

“Why not? I want to join in too.”

Chapter Text

A bunched of surprised remarks came out of the group.

“Do you drink? Have you ever gotten drunk before?” Jin Ling asked. He couldn’t sort out his feelings. He thought Qi Xue was an elegant lady from a good family despite her rude remarks. He was ready to overlook her rudeness. But now this?

“No, I haven’t. My brother would never let me even get close to a liquor jar when I was little. But when he left, I thought my time has come. But then my grandma started to make me behave like a ‘prestigious lady’, whatever that is. That’s why I want to do it now. What better time for me to start? And on the other hand, I was here first. You guys have no right to kick me out.”

“The Jin Sect’s leader is with us. I think he have the right to kick anyone out any time he likes.” Another disciple spoke up.

“Oh, you mean young master Jin? But he hasn’t become the sect leader yet now, has he? And if you guys try to argue with me any further, I’m going to set Fairy on you?”

“Hey Fairy is on my side,” Jin Ling said angrily. “He is not going to harm me. He is a friend of Young Master Ouyang as well.”

“Are you sure about that?”

Something about her tone made him hesitate for a bit. The truth was Fairy looked really fond of her, so Jin Ling was no longer so sure. This made him feel like absolute betrayal. The others didn’t seem so please at the thought of having to fight the big dog either. So, Jin Ling finally gave up.

“Fine. You can stay and get as drunk as you wish. But if you got in any sort of trouble, don’t blame it on us.”

“But I thought that our nice Sect leader would get me out of any trouble.”

“Didn’t you just say that I’m not the sect leader?”

“Aren’t you? Then who else is the sect leader? Tell me. I should go meet him. I don’t like talking to a bunch of nobodies.”

Jin Ling panicked, imagining this beautiful girl flirting with those useless disciples that go around claiming that the sect should be theirs. “Okay, okay I will get you out of trouble.”

“Fine let’s drink then.” With that she sat on the floor dragging Fairy to her lap.

Thankfully they found a small stack of liquor jars in a cabinet and went right into business. Even though the boys did try to play drinking games and tried to find who could hold their liquor better, Qi Xue was easily the centre of attention. Because it was very rare for a girl to join a drinking party, everyone was interested in her.

At first, Jin Ling was determined to measure how much Qi Xue drank, so that he could stop her before she drank too much, but he lost count very soon. He really shouldn’t be blamed though, for it was really hard to keep track of anything in the middle of all that crazy talk and laughter. And Qi Xue had a lot of funny stories to share about the stupid boys in her neighbourhood. Even though her words were somewhat degrading to their gender in general, Jin Ling laughed so loud relieved that he was not the subject of her mockery.

At some point they all decided to go out because the kitchen felt so stuffy and hot. The kitchen was more thankful that they left, for if they stayed a little longer nobody could have predicted what disaster could have occurred. Three of the disciples excused themselves saying they really needed to go and sleep, but the others felt like they could go without sleep for eternity.

“Jin Xiong, Jin Xiong,” Zi Zhen gestured to Jin Ling to come closer and leaned in with one hand covering his mouth as to whisper a secret. Then he shouted at the top of his lung, “which way is the Ouyang mansion?” making Jin Ling almost deaf.

A disciple came and pointed towards southeast, even though it was doubtable he knew which direction that was, “I think it’s over there Yong Master Ouyang.”

“That’s where our house is. Your house can’t be there.” Qi Xue said pouting.

“How do you know that’s where your house is. I can’t see your house.” Zi Zhen said jumping up in an attempt of seeing over the tall houses of the Carp tower.

“I like that direction. So, our house is in that direction.”

“I like that direction too. So, our mansion is in that direction.”

“No, you don’t have any space left there so go away.” Qi Xue started to push Zi Zhen.

“Our mansion is bigger than your house. So, I’m going to put our mansion on top of your house. Your house is going to be crushed into pieces.”

“How do you know that your mansion is bigger? We are really rich. Rich people have bigger houses.”

“We are rich too. We have stones that glitter like stars at night in our front yard.”

Qi Xue stopped fighting Zi Zhen at once. “Really. Do they glitter a lot? I want to see. I can’t see because of these things.”  She said pointing at the surrounding walls. She went to the nearest wall and started to kick it.

“You can see if you go there.” A disciple pointed to the roof. “Come, let’s go. I’ll show you the whole Ouyang sect.”

Jin Ling was horrified. He suddenly grabbed Qi Xue’s arm. “I will take you there. I can show you the biiiig Carp Tower as well.”

“Where is the big Warp Tower?”

Jin Ling was taken aback by the question. He suddenly looked around confused. “I don’t know. We need to find it. My house is there. I need to find it to go sleep on my bed. Come let’s look for it from over there.” His drunk brain clearly couldn’t comprehend that they were at the Carp Tower.

He put Qi Xue on his back like he was giving her a piggy back ride and walked over to the wall. He grabbed a pillar and tried to climb it. At this point, he had completely forgotten about their ability to fly on their swords as well. But he went off balance and with loud screams they both fell on their backs. Jin Ling on top of Qi Xue.

Zi Zhen came running and tried to pull Jin Ling up as fast as he could. “You are hurting that pretty lady you big gibbon.” But he only succeeded in delaying Jin Ling more.

The others had gathered around as well. After Jin Ling won his struggle of getting up, they all bent down and looked at Qi Xue. She laid there without motion.

“Is she dead?” one disciple asked.

Zi Zhen suddenly started sobbing. “Why did you kill the beautiful lady. I knew you were always bad, but why did you kill her.”

Jin Ling was not happy to hear someone say he’s bad, but he was scared too. He didn’t want Qi Xue to die either. “I didn’t. She died on her own.”

“Oh,” one of the disciples exclaimed. “Why did she die on her own?” He started to shake Qi Xue. “Hey lady, why did you die on your own? Was your life that sad? If you said so, I would have made your life happier.”

“Why would you make her happy. I’m the one who make her happy.” Jin Ling burst out with anger.

“Shut up you two.” Zi Zhen shouted. “If you are going to fight at her funeral, she is going to be sad.”

“But Young Master Ouyang, didn’t she die because she was sad?” the disciple next to him asked.

Zi Zhen slapped the boy on his head. “She is going to be sadder. Can’t you even figure that out idiot?”

Jin Ling grabbed Zi Zhen’s hand. “Zi Xiong, please tell me how to make her happy. We should make her happy. She shouldn’t be sad.”

“You should give her money. She will be happy with a lot of money. Come, let’s burn some paper money. The pretty lady should be able to buy a lot of pretty things. Let’s burn a lot of paper money.”

“But Young Master Ouyang, shouldn’t she be buried first?” a disciple asked.

“Oh, right. Let’s dig up a place. Where should we dig up?”

Jin Ling spoke. “She is pretty so let’s burry her somewhere pretty. What about there. Let’s bury her among the flowers like gentlemen. She deserves it.” He pointed towards a well-tended sparks-amidst-snow bed.

 They all ran there and started ‘digging.’ Some used their hands to clear away the bushes and scratch up some soil. Some kicked at the soil with their feet while others used their swords to scratch soil and hack at the bushes.

A high-pitched scream came from behind and thankfully for the flower bed, they all stopped and looked back. But the destruction was already done for the bed was completely destroyed. Qi Xue was screaming and hitting the floor with both her legs and arms.

“It looks like she is in a lot of pain.” Zi Zhen said really worried. They had all forgotten that she was supposedly ‘dead.’ They all ran back to her and asked her what’s wrong.

“I hate her. I really hate her. Make her go away. Make her go away,” She screamed looking straight up.

“Lady Qi Xue, who hurt you?” Jin Ling asked determined to take revenge from whomever it was.

Qi Xue pointed towards the sky. “She says she’s pretty. I’m the prettiest. Make her go away.” They all looked up. The moon was shining really bright and it seemed bigger than usual.

“Oh my, oh my, who gave her permission to shine so bright. I’m going to kill it. It harmed my pretty lady. It should die.” Jin Ling climbed on his sword and started to fly upward. But Qi Xue pulled him by the leg and he fell with a loud thud for the second time that night.

“I’m going to do it on my own.” Qi Xue said and pulled out a sword from a qiankun pouch. She jumped up pointing the sword towards the moon. But because of the liquor she couldn’t concentrate on her power. So, after she went about three feet, she fell to the ground again.

“Come on pretty lady, I will help you take revenge.” Zi Zhen said kindly, holding Qi Xue’s hand.

“Lady Qi Xue, I am a better fighter. Come with me.” Jin Ling said while grabbing her other hand.

Chapter Text

“Are you alright?” After hearing Yong Zheng’s voice in the other room, Hong Guang found it easy to breath normally again. So, he followed her after all.

“M… Ma… Master. You are Master Zhang, right?” It was a female voice. So weak and high pitched with terror. Hong Guang’s curiosity got the better of her and she ran into the other room.

It was a young girl. Probably her sister’s age or a year or two older. She was staring at Yong Zheng and was trembling head to bottom.

“Please… please don’t hurt me. I don’t know anything. Please,” the girl pleaded. Yong Zheng reached out his hand towards her and she shrank away from it screeching, “PLEASE.”

Hong Guang ran forward and kneeled in front of her. “Hey, we won’t hurt you, don’t be scared. I promise.”

The girl looked at her for a few seconds looking puzzled. Then she grabbed her hand, “Oh my God, lady Xia, you are alive as well. You have no idea how much I’m thankful to see you.”

Hong Guang was immediately ashamed. This terrified girl knew who she was, but she had no idea who the girl was. “Ah, I’m thankful that you are safe as well. Can you tell us what happened? Where are the others. What about your family.”

At the mention of her family, a look of horror crossed her face and it turned into sorrow immediately after. “I… ah… my…”

Suddenly a sound came from near the window which startled them all. Yong Zheng squatted next to them. “Hey, can you stand up? Can you walk? I’d rather get out of this house. If anyone came, this house is not going to be much of a protection. So, I’d rather have an open field if I had to fight. And I don’t want to leave Xing Juan alone for that long either. We should go back to where she is.”

They both took hold of an arm each and helped the girl to walk with them. She looked really relieved to get out of that house as well. As they went near where they left Xing Juan, she came running to great them. “Oh, maiden Wang, is that you? Are you all right?”

“Lady Xia, Lady Xia, I…” and she broke down. Tears came down like streams from her eyes. Hong Guang had never seen someone sob so loudly. She was thankful that her sister seemed to know who the girl was. It would be a comfort to this girl to have someone she was familiar with.

They all waited patiently until she calmed down. After her sobbing stopped and her tears slowed down, she started to talk.

“I wasn’t home when this happened. My mother told me that we were running a little short on money. That it would be best if we could manage a meal or two without having to buy anything. So, I went to the river to catch some fish. The current was strong, and it took me a while to catch any.

When I came back, the whole village was silent. It felt so wrong, so I came to the edge of the forest and hid myself in the bushes. I couldn’t see anyone walking by or even talking. It was so silent. I saw something in the middle of the road. At first, I couldn’t make out what it was. How could I have even imagined such a thing in my wildest dreams. I didn’t even dream that it would have been dead bodies that I was seeing.

Only my curiosity did give me the courage to leave the forest behind. And only when I came near that I saw what was lying on the road. I can’t even remember whether I screamed. I couldn’t have. I might have been too scared to even scream. Thankfully so, because if I did, they would have heard me.”

“Who would have heard you?” Hong Guang could not stop but press her for information. She was getting angrier by the minute.

“I didn’t see at first. I ran straight to my house not even caring to look at the other bodies I passed. I just wanted to know where my family was or whether they were okay.” Her crying increased.

“Chun Hua, did you find them?” Xing Juan asked caringly, softly stroking her shoulders to calm her down.

“Only my dad. I found him… I… he was… he was in the kitchen. …dead.” They had to wait till she calmed down again.

“What about the rest of your family? Do you know where they are?” Yong Zheng asked.

“No. When I couldn’t find them in the house, I went outside to look for them. I went to some neighbouring houses as well. But they weren’t there. In fact, it seems a lot of the villagers are gone as well. I found some of my neighbours… lying dead. But most of them were gone. I didn’t get to search the whole village. But I assume that a lot of them are gone.

Or maybe they could be inside other houses. I don’t know. I was going to search, but they came back. Or they never left.”

“Who came back?” Hong Guang asked.

“The killers.”

“How do you know they are the killers?” Yong Zheng asked not too kindly.

“They have to be. I’ve never seen them before. And they were all men. Dressed in black and dark red. Almost the colour of blood. And they carried swords with them. I have never seen anyone carry swords in this village. Except for you Master Zhang, that is. So, who else could that be?”

“How did you escape them?” Xing Juan asked getting concerned.

While at the same time Hong Guang asked, “Where are they now?” looking around anxiously, expecting to see a man with a sword suddenly appear from among the trees.

“I think they are long gone Lady Xia, no need to worry. They were talking so loudly. Very careless if you ask me. But I guess they didn’t expect that there would be anyone alive. It worked for the best. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have known until their swords fell on my neck. But I heard them from far away. So, it gave me time to run back to my house and hide. I hid behind the screen hoping they won’t come inside to search, and thankfully they didn’t.

It had started to get dark, when I finally couldn’t hear them. But I was so scared to go out. I thought the roads would be haunted by vengeful ghosts.” She visibly shivered. “And then I heard voices again. I was so terrified. I thought they had returned, or they never left. But it was only you. Oh, how relieved I am.”

“Did you see anything else related to the killers? Like something that will help us to identify them?” Hong Guang asked. She just wanted to find them and squeeze their necks until they explain why in hell they want to kill her family.

“Yes, did you?” Yong Zheng asked. He looked worried.

“No. Just that they were young men. There were about six of them. I heard some of their conversations, but nothing important. I mean, I was so scared to even pay that much attention. All I cared about was not getting caught.”

“It’s okay. It wasn’t your fault.” Xing Juan said with a sigh, but not unkindly. “But I really wish we have more to go with than their age and the colour of cloths they wore. But what I’m more concerned about is that they might return any minute. There doesn’t seem a reason why, but you can never tell. So, it’s better that we leave as soon as we can.”

“We can’t just leave. We have to see what happened to our parents. And we would need things from home.”

“All right, all right. I heard you the first time you said that. But I just can’t deal with all that right now. I just want to get away from all this. Why don’t you go with Yong Zheng? And please be an angel and bring my things as well. Let’s stay at the town for a few weeks. I just don’t want to come back here. We might have to nevertheless, but I want to avoid it if possible.”

“Lady Wang, do you want to accompany us?” Hong Guang asked.

“No, second lady Xia, I’d rather stay with Lady Xia. I think I had had enough for one day.”

Hong Guang and Yong Zheng slowly walked towards their house. A leaf falling was able to stop them and make them look around cautiously. Hong Guang imagined every bump in the road ahead to be a body, but thankfully a lot of them turned to be rocks or things that were thrown or dropped on the road in the middle of chaos.

But when they saw a body Hong Guang tried not to look hoping that Yong Zheng would go and search. But he didn’t make any move to go near the corpses either. Hong Guang figured; he would be as upset as they were, even though he acted strong. Really, who wants to look at a dead body? Especially at one that was killed in such a gruesome way.

As they neared their house, Hong Guang felt like her legs were becoming heavier. She dreaded what she might find inside. Her previous bravery had all vanquished. She also started feeling like she’d rather not know what happened to her parents. What if she found her parents lying dead? The thought made her tremble. She felt so weak. She realised if she had to witness that, she would never be okay again.  Tears filled her eyes almost blinding her. She wanted to wish that her parents would be alright. But she thought it was a stupid thing to do. If they were already dead, it’s not like a wish could bring them back to life.

She wanted to turn around and run away. But she really didn’t want to appear weak in front of Yong Zheng. So, she led the way in.

It was almost entirely dark inside. They could see nothing. But they could assume the state of the house for they kept on stepping on things that was thrown to the floor every few steps they took. Clothes, food, furniture, you name it, they were everywhere. Hong Guang stepped on something squishy. At first, she thought it was a cucumber or something. But it was so big to be a vegetable.

She screamed and jumped away from it. As she jumped, she stepped on something else and fell to the floor losing her footing. She just sat there shivering and whimpering until Yong Zheng went to where they kept torches, lit one and brought it over.

Suddenly the illuminated light confirmed her fears. It was a dead body. She didn’t know who she expected it to be. But she was so relieved that it was her aunt and not her parents. She felt like she should be ashamed to be relieved, but she didn’t feel ashamed at all. Nor could she generate a stronger feeling towards the aunt that she lived with for only few weeks, and only occasionally saw her before they moved to the village. If anything, she felt sorry for the poor soul. But that was it. Whoever she was, she didn’t deserve to die in such a way.

Yong Zheng stared at the body for a few seconds without any remark, then handed the torch over to Hong Guang and went to light another one for himself. It was so dangerous to light a torch under a hay roof, and Hong Guang wondered why Yong Zheng was not lighting a lantern instead. But a quick look around showed two lanterns lying on the floor, broken. Guess they had to be careful with the torches then.

Having lost all her courage after seeing her aunt like that, Hong Guang let Yong Zheng check the other rooms first. He came back and announced that he didn’t find anyone else.

Hong Guang let out a sigh, “But what about outside?” She didn’t expect her voice to shake so much.

“What about outside?” Yong Zheng asked without realising what she meant.

“They could be outside. We saw bodies outside. So, they could be as well.” Her eyes teared up even more, but she managed to keep her voice steady this time.

“I’ll go and check if you want me to. I don’t think they are there. There were lesser bodies scattered near this edge of the village. Seems like the killers came that way and it gave enough time for villagers in this area to run away.”

“Yeah, okay, makes sense. But can’t you go and check. Just in case. I want to be sure”

“Fine. Then you go ahead and gather up some clothes, we’ll see what else we are going to take when I get back.” With that Yong Zheng went out and Hong Guang went to her shared room with her sister and opened the cupboard that contained their clothes.

But it was really hard to deal with clothes while holding a torch on one hand so she had to put it on the floor hoping it won’t go out. She got a big sheet and put some items that she didn’t want to leave behind. Some heirlooms and some jewellery that they still had. They weren’t that expensive. But she thought they could still make some money out of it. Then she put some clothes as well. For the first time in her life, she didn’t care about matching outfits. She started to tie it up and saw that the other items that she took were protruding from the bundle showing their shape through the fabric.

That wasn’t good. She was hoping to hide them well. That was the main reason she packed them into the same bundles as her clothes. If they came across a thief, that thief surely will be interested about this bundle. Also, she wanted to keep some items that she took to herself. She didn’t mind telling Xing Juan. She might laugh at her saying she was stupid and way too sentimental to care about such things at such a time. But there were two outsiders and she didn’t want them to pry on their family heirlooms. Yes, she still saw Yong Zheng as an outsider.

 So, she decided to put more clothes in it. You can never go wrong with more clothes. When she managed to hide everything she wanted, and make it look like a soft cloth bundle, it was almost as big as herself. She heard Yong Zheng come back and ran out of the room hugging the bundle.

“So…?”

“I couldn’t find anyone I know.”

Hong Guang almost fell to the floor out of relief. “Okay, I got clothes. What else?”

“Yeah and what else did you get?”

“Huh, nothing. You told me to get clothes and wait till you come back to pack others. So…?”

“YOU ARE NOT TELLING ME THAT WHOLE BUNDDLE IS JUST CLOTHES, ARE YOU?”

“What else. It’s both our clothes, so it’s big.”

“What about blankets? And pillows?”

Hong Guang realised that because of her fear and her need to hide the items from Yong Zheng before he came, she didn’t think of anything else and made a huge mistake. She could have packed blankets without an unnecessary amount of clothes to achieve her goal. Now she had to act like a fool to not make Yong Zheng suspicious.

“I thought we are going to sleep on the ground tonight. If you put blankets on the ground it’s going to get dirty.” It was too late when she realised that sentence was too dumb even for someone like her, who had never in their life slept outside before.

“Then you go ahead and keep your blankets nicely checked inside a cupboard. But I’d rather at least have one to cover myself up during the night. Go and put back some clothes, you don’t need that much. Let’s pack some blankets instead.”

Hong Guang panicked. The last thing she wanted was to open the bundle in front of Yong Zheng. “No. If you want you can pack them into a different bundle. I’m not leaving any clothes behind. A guy like you won’t understand. But I’m not going to walk around with ugly outfits looking like a homeless person.”

“Well my dear, hate to break it to you, but if you are going to leave this house, you are a homeless person.”

Those words hit hard. When they had to leave Xia mansion, she thought that they had hit rock bottom. She didn’t think that anything worse could happen. Such words thrown at her scraped her heart like ruthless thorns. But she didn’t have any energy to hit Yong Zheng back with a smart retort.

Yong Zheng decided to give up on her bundle and went on packing some utensils and food and anything else he thought they would need. But he made sure to pack the bare minimum, unlike Hong Guang.

She silently went back to the room to pack another bundle with blankets. But she realised she could pack a few big blankets around her bundle and it would help secure the bundle as well as hide the things inside more.

They have put all they packed near the door. Hong Guang looked at the pile. For two people it was a lot to carry. They were going to have a difficult time carrying all that. But distributed among four, it was going to be quite manageable. She secretly appreciated Yong Zheng’s skills of packing and only taking the essentials. “So, this is it, right? We have packed everything, haven’t we?” Hong Guang asked feeling a bit proud of their work.

“I don’t know, have we? I was going to tell you to pack anything valuable. At this point any amount of wealth would be welcome.”

“Yeah, I packed what we have. No need for you to worry.”

Yong Zheng looked at the packs. “Anything valuable, don’t leave them behind. Burglars may come when we are not around. Anything that has sentimental value, like family heirlooms, it’s better to take them with us. You know, for safety.”

Even though Hong Guang knew what he said made sense, and it was not out of the ordinary for a thoughtful and caring person to worry about such things, the word ‘heirlooms’ got her concerned. “I told you, whatever we have, I’ve packed already. Like I said, no need for you to worry.”

“Yeah, but I do worry about you. Especially about your sister. I don’t want her to lose something for no reason. So, is there something else you would like to pack. Anything, anything of value. Now it has fallen upon your shoulders, you two need to take care of the name of the Xia family. So, any heirloom or anything…”

“You see the size of this house dude? There isn’t anything in it except for a few silver coins and a passed down ring or two. So, let’s gather the essentials and go.”

She grabbed her big pack and a few others. It was really hard. The heaviness was throwing her off balance and she had to tilt her head and look sideways for the bundles were covering her view. She tried to turn around to look at Yong Zheng, but was met with the cold, lifeless eyes of her aunt. She immediately dropped all the bundles. “We can’t leave her like this. We can’t leave any of them like this. We are ought to bury them.”

“You want to bury them?”

“I don’t want to, but no one else is there to do it. I don’t think we have a choice.”

“We can just let the bodies be.”

“What? How can you even say that? We can’t just let them to rot lying all across the ground.”

“I’m surprised you want to bury them. You could barely even look at them. Don’t look at me like that Hong Guang. I have eyes and I noticed how much of an effort you put in to not look at the corpses all the way here. See, even now you are totally avoiding looking at your aunt. So, how can you bury them, huh?”

Hong Guang was so ashamed that Yong Zheng saw right through her weakness. She felt so wretched she could barely hold herself from crying. “So, I guess Mr. black-heart doesn’t care at all and is going to leave the dead to be rotten on the ground like wild animals, huh?”

Yong Zheng heaved a heavy sigh. “I didn’t mean that. Look A-Guang, don’t be mad. What I meant is that it’s pretty late and it’s really dangerous for us to be here now that this place has a lot of negative energy. And we both are drop dead tired. Only two people can’t bury all these bodies alone. Even if we could, I don’t think we can right now. So, let’s just hurry back to the others and find a good place to rest. Even though it’s not nice, the bodies have to wait.”

He picked up a lot of bundles leaving only a few small ones except for that big bundle Hong Guang packed herself. Even Hong Guang knew that they couldn’t do anything about the bodies that night. She misinterpreted what Yong Zheng said, thinking that he meant not to care about the bodies at all. She was ashamed that she couldn’t see what he actually meant. Maybe she should really stop looking at Yong Zheng in such a bad perspective.

So, she followed him silently. It was really hard to carry all that even though Yong Zheng had picked up the majority, and she started to feel short of breath. She didn’t know whether it was because she was walking with her head turned to one side, but she felt dizzy as well. Her head started to hurt. Without realising, she was drifting off while walking. Now it was really hard to breath and the air felt so thick. She was forcing her lungs to expand more when a harsh smell made her head spin even more.

She stopped at once. Even though she could still hardly breath, she’s totally alert now. Yong Zheng was a few steps ahead of her, walking calmly like nothing was off. “Hey, do you smell that?” she called out.

“Smell what?” He was also huffing a little bit.

“Something smells like garbage and poison. It’s so strong. How can you not notice?”

“Ah, that. It’s the corpses. There’s a lot. So, the smell is strong.”

“No, it’s not. It’s not the smell of the dead.”

“Then what do you think it is?”

“It smells like dark energy. Like traces of dark magic. You are a cultivator. How can you not know what that smells like?” She glared at Yong Zheng.

“Yes, I’m a cultivator. So, listen to me. Don’t be scared. I can assure you it’s just the bad smell of the corpses, nothing else. It’s night and easy to get scared of little things.”

Hong Guang was angry. “I know what rotten dark energy smells like. I might not be able to feel it like you ‘great’ cultivators. But our dad taught us how to recognise them by the poisonous smell.”

“I thought your family hate cultivation and all things to do with it.” Yong Zheng said with a small smile.

“We don’t hate it. We just prefer to stay out of it, and all the dark dark things you guys like tackling. But in order to stay away, one need to recognise what to stay away from. So, yes, when there’s dark energy around, I know,”

“Fine. It seems there’s no need to lie to you. Sorry I did. I just thought you will get scared.”

“What? Am I a baby?”

“No. But hence there’s dark energy, I think we should…”

“Investigate.”

“No. Get out of here as fast as we can. Surely a bunch of corpses with malice is scattered all around the ground. It is obvious that it attracts dark energy. So, let’s go before we are attacked by dark spirits.”

“So, you are sure there’s nothing unusual? We shouldn’t check what is causing the dark energy or anything?”

“I told you what’s causing it. No need to linger here for no reason.”

Suddenly, they felt the ground shaking. The vibration running through their legs, all the way up their spines. It was a loud growl coming from the forest, so deep, that at first they didn’t even register it as a sound and only felt its vibration.

Both their heads snapped in the direction it came from. Their faces carved with absolute horror.

“HURRY. RUN.” Yong Zheng shouted.

Chapter Text

“I guess coming home safely after a night hunt is just too much to ask for, after all.” Jiang Yong Liang sighed and turned to his side. He wasn’t sure whether he would be able to sleep that night. But he was determined to try.

He felt so exhausted and worn out. Sect leader Jiang had not yet returned. He hadn’t even heard a word from him after he left, where to, he had not the slightest idea. ‘Keep it a secret’ was his last words before he departed, and Yong Liang had done everything in his power just to do that. He was angry. He thought that Jiang Wan Yin was the angry one and he would be the one there to calm his anger. Bring him back to normal. So, it was surprising to him, that he was wishing that their Sect leader will come back and somehow will vanquish his anger instead.

That night at the tavern at Qiongqi path was also a night of restlessness to Yong Liang. He couldn’t get the Sect leader’s glass look out of his mind. His scary calm was so disturbing. But the next day was actually peaceful. The disciples after getting a good night’s sleep seemed to be in a good mood, which stopped them from talking rubbish about their Sect leader. Nobody really bothered Yong Liang saying that they think their Sect leader is crazy and hiding something from them, or this night hunt didn’t make any sense.

That night they went to night hunt. There were a lot of spirits. Dark and neutral alike. Yong Liang could never bring himself to think that a spirit can ever be good. But given the history of the place, it was no surprise. That night was cheerful as well. They drank their hearts fill to celebrate their achievements and slept late the next day. They thought that because they have already night hunted for one night, and didn’t seem there was any reason for them to linger, they would be heading back or heading to another location that day. But for some unknown reason, their Sect leader had decided to stay at Qiongqi path for another night and night hunt again.

The disciples asked Yong Liang whether he knew why, and he pretended to know why and acted like what their sect leader doing was sensible. He wished he didn’t. What if he questioned their sect leader that night? What if he let the disciples question their sect leader? Would Jiang Wan Yin have decided to leave Qiongqi path? Could what happened have been avoided? These were answers he would never find.

That night, when they started the night hunt, nothing was out of the ordinary. They even found two strong spirits that were full of rage which gave them some real sport. But when the midnight neared, Yong Liang could feel his limbs getting tired. He could see the other disciples were not as energetic as they were supposed to be either. They shouldn’t be feeling this tired this soon. Yong Liang could feel his heart becoming heavy as well. He felt so defeated, but he couldn’t point out exactly why. Everything in his world started getting negative. He was so done with the other disciples. He hated their sect leader as well. He was so done with the position he had. He was just going to give a piece of his mind to Jiang Wan Yin and leave the night hunt, when he heard someone’s raised voice.

It was no other than their Sect leader. He was shouting at a disciple for something. Apparently, the disciple had night hunted in a wrong way. Yong Liang couldn’t imagine how that’s even possible. Well, their sect leader never really needed a legit reason to scream at anyone, but it took Yong Liang by surprise, because he hadn’t seen their sect leader losing his temper for a while.

Yong Liang heaved a sigh and prepared himself to go and talk to the sect leader and make him calm down and let him know that whatever the disciple had done, was not bad enough to get whipped by lightning, just in case he was itching to use Zidian. But in contrast to what he should have done, all he felt like doing was, giving him a piece of his mind, telling sect leader Jiang how shitty his behaviour was, how much tiring it was to work for him and so on.

But before he could even lift a foot, he heard a scream tear the silent night. Just as he turned his head to look who it was, another scream teared from the opposite direction. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Two disciples were screaming in pure agony as their skin tore open from their necks and the slit ran all the way down their chest. As Yong Liang was looking it ran down the torso as well. The skin took its time tearing all the way down their bodies. Their clothes got torn in the middle as well. But there was no weapon or a creature to be seen. It all happened on its own. Their guts were spilling out. Some disciples ran to try and help their fellow disciples, but most of them including Yong Liang and Jiang Cheng was locked in place by astonishment and terror. It felt like the two disciples took forever to die, screaming for help from man and deity alike.

Finally, Yong Liang snapped out of it and ran towards the nearest disciple. The man’s eyes were already lifeless. Yong Liang was thankful for that, for he could not imagine how a person could withstand that much pain. He bent to examine the wound. He could not imagine, invisible or not, what weapon could have created it.

It was not a clean cut. So, it could not be a sword or a dagger. If it was, it has to be the bluntest weapon in the world, for the wound looked like someone got hold of the skin and tore it in half by pulling it apart in the most gruesome way possible.

The other disciples that were gathered around had started to ask questions. They were all so clearly terrified. Yong Liang barely heard them. He needed answers too. He needed to talk to Jiang Wan Yin. He slowly got up. His legs were trembling as well. He turned around to look for their Sect leader as in a dream, slowly turning in order to not lose his balance. From the way his legs were trembling, it felt like if he slightly tilted the wrong way, he would go off balance and fall to the ground. Finally, his eyes landed on their sect leader, who was crouching next to the other disciple who was unfortunate enough to suffer this bad omen.

He started to slowly put one foot in front of the other towards that direction. As he got closer, he could see even though sect leader Jiang was crouched next to the deceased disciple, his attention was not on him. His gaze was lingering somewhere beyond the small group, his eyes slightly turned upwards like he was gazing at the hill tops lying miles away. It was like he could not hear the disciples gathered around desperately calling for him, longing for advice, at all.

As Yong Liang neared, Jiang Cheng slowly got to his feet and started walking towards the direction he was glaring at, seconds ago. Seeing his sect leader’s feet slowly gaining speed, Yong Liang ran and caught him by his arm not caring about the consequences. But, if Yong Liang was ready for any sort of outcome, it wasn’t the one where his sect leader glared at him like he could not even recognize him.

Jiang Cheng looked at his tightly gripped arm and then back at Yong Liang’s face and finally seem to recognize Yong Liang, and the fact that he was gripping his arm.

“Let go,” he said with the most enfeebled voice Yong Liang had heard him use.

“Sect leader, where are you going? We need to do something about them.” Yong Liang said willing his sect leader not to walk away.

Jiang Cheng glanced at the deceased disciple for a few seconds and met Yong Liang’s eyes again. “Keep it a secret,” and with that, releasing his arm from the grip he sprinted away.

And that’s exactly what Yong Liang did. He had no context to go by. Therefore, he had no idea how much of it that sect leader Jiang wanted to keep as a secret. The whole night hunt? But their entire sect already knew about it. And hiding about the deaths would be of no good. They had to tell the others sooner or later, and hiding it will only arouse suspicion.

By next morning, the anger and the feeling of utmost hopelessness had left him, and he was feeling a little better in comparison, but he didn’t see how he could be entirely alright after what happened last night. But he felt sorry for being so angry with his sect leader, and he had even started to blame Jiang Wan Yin like the other disciples. How disgusting. He couldn’t believe he had thoughts like that the previous night. He planned to apologized to their sect leader for his behaviour, for if he was this upset about what happened himself, he was sure his sect leader was having worse.

So, finally, Yong Liang gathered up the disciples. “As a few of you might have heard, the sect leader wants to keep this a secret. And I…”

“Where is he? Where’s Jiang Wan Yin?”

It was their 4^th disciple. He was older than Yong Liang himself, but thankfully he had a lower cultivation level. Yong Liang never really liked him. He is someone very condescending.

“ShiXiong, you better give the proper respect our sect leader deserves. And if he decided to go somewhere it is none of your business.”

“None of my business? His irresponsibility is going to be the Jiang sect’s doom. As a sect leader he should be here with his deceased disciples. If he was weak enough to let them die like that, the least he could have done is taking the bodies back to the Lotus Pier as soon as possible, and give them a proper funeral, not run away like a coward.”

Yong Liang wished that he hadn’t involved the 4^th disciple on this night hunt. If he knew this was going to happen, he wouldn’t have even dreamt of letting the 4^th disciple come with them. But back then, he thought it was going to be a normal night hunt. Just the usual. And instead of letting the 4^th disciple stay at the Lotus Pier spreading weird rumours and staining others’ minds, he had thought it would be better to take him with them, where he could keep an eye on him. Oh, how wrong he was.

“ShiXiong, you better watch your mouth unless you want to get kicked out of the sect.” Yong Liang’s eyes had no mercy. He was fed up with this disciple. He had always hated him. He looked at the others as well and continued with the same tone.

“You would listen to me and do exactly what I say, unless you have already grown tired of the Jiang sect and are wishing for a free departure pass, because you definitely will be getting one.”

Everyone fell silent. Their eyes were filled with barely concealed disgust. Yong Liang hated threatening his own sect members. This is not what they do. Jiang sect always appreciated free will, or so he heard it used to, but he couldn’t see any other way to make these disciples follow his words.

“We are going to bury our fallen brothers here.” Slight protests started to immerge from the gathered disciples. But a glare from Yong Liang cut off the murmur. “We are going to go back and let the others know of their passing. But, we are not going to spill a word about how it happened. Instead, we are going to tell them that they singlehandedly defeated a malicious ghoul, but were extremely wounded at the end, beyond healing. But they feared the other dark energies that were around would follow their bodies home and would curse their loved ones as revenge, so they wished to be buried in the place their victory took place instead. And that we honoured their final wishes.”

“So, you are going to just come up with a lie to cover all this up instead? I can’t believe you are going to bury them in this accursed land instead of taking them home.” It was one of the youngest shidies from the group. His eyes were shining with unshed tears.  Yong Liang could remember how close he was to one of the disciples that passed away. He felt like his heart was threatening to be torn apart. But instead, he turned the coldest look he could manage, towards his shidi.

“Do you want to let their families know that their torsos were torn apart by some unknown demon while they screamed in pain so helplessly instead? If we take the bodies back, there is no way of hiding what happened from their loved ones. The truth will tear them apart. And also, will bring a huge fear to the hearts of the others. I don’t want them to shiver every night thinking such a terror exists unless I’m sure that it really will be a continuous threat instead of a onetime occurrence.”

No one felt like arguing with that. They didn’t want to make their loved ones miserable, if it could be helped either. So, they agreed to do what Yong Liang asked them to do without complaining. Yong Liang was also glad that he could make the others think that there was more to what they were doing other than following their sect leader’s words that was spoken before he dashed off towards the unknown.

…

Walking down the narrow road that led to the river from the Carp Tower, Jiang Cheng wished he had someone to blame all this on. Thinking about it, he realised he had gotten used to blaming everything on his brother, whether it was his fault or not. Well, most of the time, Wei Wu Xian actually was to blame. But even when he’s not, he wouldn’t have complained much, because he knew it was Jiang Cheng’s way to get the frustration out of his brain. He knew that Jiang Cheng never really meant the harsh words he said.

At least, back then he did. Jiang Cheng was not so sure what Wei Wu Xian thought anymore. Maybe he really hates him now. Seemed like the whole world just hated him. All his life, all he did was to be approved by everyone. To hear that he did well. He couldn’t figure out what he did so wrong for everyone to hate him so much now, instead.

To be honest, he wasn’t as oblivious to what some of the Jiang disciples whispered when his back was turned, as he led them to believe. He heard some words of his disciples here and there throughout the night hunt. And it was the very reason that kept him from flying on his sword to the Lotus Pier now. He had to return to the Lotus Pier sooner or later, for he had nowhere else to go. But he thought walking to the river and taking a boat would give him just a little more time. Time away from all his trouble. The river right now seemed like the blissful paradise of void between the two hellish dimensions, the Carp Tower and the Lotus Pier.

“First the father, now the son.” He sighed and looked ahead. He was already at the dock. It was busy enough, but not busy as the Yunmeng dock. But he couldn’t see any boat that he could hire right away, and he didn’t feel like searching. So, he sat on a small chair put there by a vendor.

He still couldn’t comprehend the meaning of Jin Ling’s outburst. Jin Ling’s words really took him by surprise. Jiang Cheng was not willing to admit even to himself that they hurt like hell, as well. He thought the kid was really happy to receive his help any time he provided it, to the point even he was getting worried that he was starting to spoil him. But Jiang Cheng could never resist. To be honest, Jin Ling was his only family. It’s true that Wei Wu Xian was back, but he wasn’t sure where they stood, not anymore.

Probably Jin Ling met that monster. He probably told Jin Ling to stay away from him. It was the most likely reason. Even though Jin ZiXuan was his brother-in-law, Jiang Cheng did not regret calling him a monster anymore. That thing that came out that night, that thing that did that to his disciples, is nothing but a ruthless monster.

Whether it used to be Jin Ling’s father or not, if it took his A-Ling away from him, Jiang Cheng would make sure it regrets every second it roamed the earth after its death. He could not get the screams from that night, out of his head either. The looks of agony of his disciples as their skin got torn, for no reason other than they were Jiang disciples.

He could still see the smug look he saw on Jin ZiXuan’s face as he looked up and saw him standing there. He couldn’t believe it. His brother-in-law used to be a conceited brat when he was younger. But he was never heartless. The way he protected his sister, how he always put her happiness in front of everything. How lovingly he looked at their new born son.

But looking at his face now, all that dissolved in Jiang Cheng’s mind. No kind person or even a spirit can do that to a harmless human and be smug about it. He wanted to crush him then and there. Brother-in-law or not, nobody was going to get away from doing that to his disciples. He stood up, determined to catch this foul creature no matter what it took or how long it took and tear it apart to a thousand pieces. But as he started running, something pulled him back. Something was gripping his arm. He looked at it with absolute disgust. How dare it stop him from pursuing that foul creature and tearing it inch by inch.

It was a hand. It was human all right. He looked up to scold at the idiot who was hindering him. But the concern pouring out of the eyes looking at him, made him snap out of his anger. It was Jiang Yong Liang. He looked terrified and so vulnerable. And in that vulnerability, he looked so young, reminding Jiang Cheng, even though Yong Liang was a very capable man, he was indeed still young. Jiang Chneg was overwhelmed by a sudden urge to protect him. Put him somewhere safe and shelter him from any harm. Him and all his disciples. He also felt so weak. How can he protect a whole sect alone?

Even as these thoughts rushed into his mind, Jiang Cheng knew they were useless. Locking his disciples up somewhere safe is never going to work. The only thing he could do right now was to find that foul creature and kill it himself. And if it was this capable, he had to do it fast. He wasn’t sure what it was. If it was Jin Zi Xuan, a wrathful ghost would be the most possible explanation. But he wasn’t sure whether this was some other creature that could take shape of another. He still refused to believe it was A-Ling’s father. And whatever it was, he didn’t want anyone else to know. Thank god only he could see this creature, for if word got out, it could be turned against Jin Ling. He already had to deal with the fact that the YiLing Patriarch was his uncle and then that Jin Guang Yao. And Jiang Cheng knew people said bad things about him as well.

Most of them were scared of Jiang Cheng and even Wei Wu Xian, which prevented them from saying anything bad right into his nephew’s face. But it hadn’t stopped them from whispering when they think nobody could hear them. The last thing Jiang Cheng wanted was for people to use Jin Ling’s father, to come at Jin Ling as well.

He squeezed Yong Liang’s hand and put every ounce of will and pleading he could muster into his words, willing Yong Liang to understand and follow his words. “Keep it a secret.” And with that he pulled his hand free and ran towards the foul creature.

Jin Zi Xuan, or whatever it was didn’t look affected by the fact that Jiang Cheng was running towards it. Zidian had started to crack with small lightning strokes. But it stood there, looking very calm, the smug smile carved to its face. Just as Jiang Cheng got near and was ready to slash with Zidian, Jin ZiXuan turned and walked away. Just walked, very calmly, but he was getting further than he would have if he had run.

Jiang Cheng didn’t even spend a moment to think and ran after him. Somehow, like one knows all the weird rules in a dream no matter how illogical they are, he knew no matter how fast he ran, unless the creature would let him, he won’t be able to catch up. But he was determined not to give up. Not this time. No matter how tired he got, he was going to chase it until it finally stopped.

Just like the last time the creature led him a long way, appearing at a corner and disappearing just as Jiang Cheng was closing up. Finally, Jiang Cheng could see it, Jin ZiXuan standing in a corner, his back against a large rock, and he didn’t seem to have any intention of running any further. Jiang Cheng looked around and found that he was led to a lonely valley, farther from where his disciples were.

He soon crossed the distance between them and stood a few feet in front of it. Even though as visuals went, it looked exactly like his brother in law, with his strikingly handsome features and the glowing complexion complimented by the expensive golden attire, something about the way he leaned against the rock, with his hands crossed and one foot crossing the other making one foot hold all his weight, struck as wrong to Jiang Cheng.

“I thought you were more skilled than this, Sect leader Jiang, but it took you so long to find me, didn’t it?” The way it talked was not the graceful, classy, speech that was mixed with extreme pride that usually flowed out of Jin Zi Xuan.

“So, you can talk?” Jiang Cheng put all the malice and disgust to his sarcastic tone. But the creature went on talking like it didn’t hear him at all.

“Then again, you were never good enough. Back then, it was only thanks to Wei Ying that the Jiang sect could keep its name. What a shame.”

“I know you are not him. You can wear his face all you want, but you will never be able to mimic him. He was too good for a foul creature like you.”

Jin Zi Xuan looked at him for a few seconds like he was annoying him with unnecessary questions. “Ah, you mean that I would speak and act in a very classy manner. But, you see, class, elegance, it’s all so… tiring. Come on brother-in-law, someone like you ought to know that we all fake it. Nobody is born to be that elegant and keeping appearances is tiring. It is needed to be done. Otherwise, those peasants forget their level. So, the appearance is a constant reminder to them that they are lower than us. Of course, I did it back then, maybe way better than any of you did. I had to, because our sect was better than yours. I had to keep its name. And putting people in their rightful place is joy in itself.

Jiang Cheng knew it wasn’t entirely true, but he could not say its false either. He realised that even only if subconsciously, he had also acted like a classy gentleman in an ordinary crowd to convey to others that he come from a well-off family.

The creature kept on talking. “As I don’t have a sect to protect anymore and a family name to uphold, and it’s just you who can see me, why keep the appearance. I can just relax and be myself. Tell whatever I yearned to say back then but held back due to many reasons.

Jiang Cheng was getting angrier by the minute. He scoffed and with a smirk, said, “Fine, let’s say the garbage you are spouting makes sense, but did I forgot to mention? The Jin Zi Xuan I knew at least had a heart. He might appear arrogant, but I saw through it eventually. It was just his pride showing. But deep inside, he never wished anyone ill. He would have never done that to my disciples, especially my disciples. He was my friend.”

“My… my…! You considered me as a friend? Do not get ahead of yourself. You had no friend. You never wanted any either. And as for my kindness…,” he snickered, “it is something that never came your way. Don’t misunderstand me. I tolerated you because of Yan Li. You, and that bastard that Yan Li could not stop speaking about. ‘I wonder whether A-Xian ate properly. I wish the cold is tolerable at burial mounds.’ What a weak woman. My mistake, falling in love with someone like that. I had to end up tolerating all that and all your nonsense because of it.”

Zidian was crackling so hard, it was almost deafening. Jiang Cheng gritted his teeth, but he controlled his voice. “I still don’t believe you. Then tell me how someone that received so much soul calming ended up being a ghost?”

“I am not surprised. Ones that find it hard to believe are usually the ones who are unwise. And as for why I came, I came for my son. I cannot tolerate you ruining his life anymore. You can’t even bring up a child properly. As for how the Jiang sect has not yet fallen, it is a miracle, even though now it’s just a matter of time. Such an incapable person leading a great sect, I almost feel sorry for the late sect leader Jiang.”

“I had done nothing to disappoint my father.” Jiang Cheng roared.

“You and your anger. I have almost forgotten. See, this is one of the many reasons why I can’t leave my son under your wings. Nobody ever knows when you will let your anger ride you and eventually bring you into disaster. When that happens, I don’t want my son to suffer along.”

“I have never let anything happen to Jin Ling and I never will.”

“Yes, Jin Ling is safe for now, but it is really bold of you to assume that it is your doing. As for who kept Jin Ling safe, I would bet on my useless half-brother. Useless as he is, he was clever and careful when dealing with people. He would never let a stupid anger overpower his decisions. And as for you, you couldn’t even assure the safety of your sister. She died right in front of you. So, what guarantee do I have in you taking care of my son?”

He broke off because Zidian came flashing his way. But he didn’t even flinch and the sizzling whip went right through him without doing a single damage.

Jiang Cheng stood frozen with surprise. Even a great cultivator could only even barely withstand the force of Zidian. He later found out when his mother said to Wang Ling Jiao, that after getting whipped by Zidian, Wei Wu Xian won’t be able to even stand up for months, she wasn’t entirely lying. The reason Wei Wu Xian could stand and run afterwards was because she had only used a fraction of its power on him. But how in hell did this monster stand the full force of Zidian including his own spiritual energy he poured into it, without even a single scratch?

“You are talking about a murderer,” he screamed, shivering with anger. “Do you even know that he is the one who murdered you and your wife?”

“Me and my wife? So you finally believe?” he chuckled. Jiang Cheng was about to disagree when he continued. “You see, when you are a father, you start caring about your child and stop caring about the daggers coming your way. But I’m afraid that is something you will never get to experience and understand…”

“Master, would you like some lotus pods? Master, MASTER?”

Jiang Cheng realised that he was gripping Sandu so hard, and if the voice hadn’t brought him back to the present, he would have unsheathed Sandu and probably would have given an innocent bystander a heart attack. He looked up to a young delicate face screwed up with concern.

“You look pale as well,” and before he could reply the girl turned her back and walked away.

Jiang Cheng felt sweat in his clenched fists and beads of sweat were also forming on his forehead. And just like that, he scared away a beautiful maiden. Maybe he really is a good for nothing pathetic looser. That night he fought Jin ZiXuan for hours. When he launched at him with Sandu, to his surprise, the monster actually dodged. But whether Sandu have a real impact on it, Jiang Cheng didn’t know, for however much he tried, he couldn’t even grace the monster with his sword. Nor was he able to knock off that smug smile from its face while he spat more poisonous words making Jiang Cheng boil with anger.

“Here, I think this tea would do some good to you.”

Jiang Cheng jumped. The girl from before was sitting next to him holding a cup of tea in front of his face. He felt ashamed that being the high-level cultivator he was, he was so unaware of his surrounding and let a commoner sneak up to him.

As much as Jiang Cheng felt like rejecting the tea, he also felt like he needed it. So, with a small thank, he took the cup.

“You are from the Jiang sect, aren’t you? I’m also from Yunmeng.” The girl said matter of factly.

“Then what are you doing here?” Jiang Cheng asked without being able to conjure much interest.

“Business, what else? I sell things that are made out of lotus. So, in Yunmeng, one can only sell them for cheap prices. But here, lotus ponds are scarce, and you get to make good money.”

“So, you travel all the way to Lanling just for business? Isn’t it tiring and expensive?”

“My family owns a boat, so it’s not expensive. But it is tiring. But I’d at least earn a lot of money if I can’t follow my dream.”

“What’s your dream?” Jiang Cheng couldn’t believe he asked that. He clearly wasn’t interested in a random maiden’s dream, even though she was slightly beautiful. But it would be better to talk nonsense rather than think about his problems, he thought.

“To become a cultivator. When I first asked permission from my father, he told me I was too young to be sent away from home. Poor ignorant me thought he was right. So, I waited. But now I’ve realised they recruit disciples from a very young age, and I’m too old now. It doesn’t matter anyway. My family is not a very rich or well-known one. So even if I want to, I have to end up in a very small unknown sect. I’m sure the large sects don’t care to recruit people like us.”

Now Jiang Cheng was actually interested in the conversation. Being born to one of the largest sects as non-other than their future sect leader, Jiang Cheng never had to think about what it’s like for an outsider to join a sect, and what they thought about sects. “I’m pretty sure the small sects are good too. But if you want to join a large sect, I don’t know about others, but I can assure you the Yunmeng Jiang sect do not care much about a person’s background. They care about the personality and potential.”

“What? Are you serious? You are not lying, are you?” She searched his face for a while. “Maybe you are being bias because it is your sect. We outsiders are not as ignorant about your sect’s business as you think, you know. We have heard about its sect leader. How very like a monster he is himself. I’ve heard even looking at him can make someone’s heart stop with fear. I really can’t understand how Jiang disciples bear to be with him. Master, tell me your secret for living with such a scary person.”

Jiang Cheng couldn’t help but secretly laugh at this. He was genuinely surprised how he didn’t get angry at such a remark. It was unfair to get angry at someone’s ignorance anyway. “He might stop your heart. You know how? With his stunning handsome looks.” As soon as those words left his mouth, he cringed so badly. Did he just flirt? Who did he think he was? Wei Ying? Why can’t he learn any actual skill from Wei Wu Xian, but his bad traits always seek him when he least expects it.

He heaved a sigh. “Maiden, I am sure he is not who you think he is. Why don’t you come to the Lotus Pier and ask for me? I will help you to get recruited.”

“Really!! You will?” Her whole face lit up. “What shall I tell them when I get there?”

“Tell them you were invited by Jiang Wan Yin.”

Chapter Text

“Okay, you can stop looking at me like that now.” Hong Guang said to her sister.

“Like what?” Xing Juan replied like she was talking to a baby.

“If you want to look at someone like they are out of their mind, look at your fiancé. He was the one who started running first.” Hong Guang was so annoyed.

“No, I’m not. I’m just looking at you like you are an idiot.”

“You decided to marry him. You are the idiot.”

“You are a little bitch.” Xing Juan spat and walked towards Yong Zheng who had already started to prepare dinner for them.

Both the sisters were impressed how Yong Zheng managed to find a safe spot and make camp in such a short time. They were even more grateful that he used a fire talisman instead of rubbing stones for hours to make a fire. This was the first time he had used any sort of power in front of them. They have never even seen him unsheathe his sword.

After Hong Guang and Yong Zheng heard the noise, they both started running like crazy. It was so hard with all the bundles they were carrying. But when they got near to the other two, they were looking at them running, like they were crazy. Hong Guang knew they looked crazy and even drunk, but how could the other two girls be so calm after that noise?

Just a few seconds of conversations brought her the answers. They hadn’t heard a thing. It wasn’t possible. Both Hong Guang and Yong Zheng were puzzled. How can that even make sense? That noise was so loud. They felt the whole ground shake with it.

But no matter how much they told that the noise was real and scary, Xing Juan dismissed it, saying that they must have been scared and had imagined it. She looked like she was in a better mood, or she was faking it so well. Some colour had returned to her face, so Hong Guang thought it was better than nothing.

Yong Zheng told her about their aunt and that their parents were missing. But he didn’t say anything about anything else. As exhausted as Hong Guang was, she didn’t care to elaborate either.

Hong Guang looked to her left and saw the other girl sitting on a rock, hunched and her hands were wrapped around herself. She felt so sad just by looking at her. At least she had her sister, and if she was willing to accept it, she had Yong Zheng as well. But this girl was all alone in the middle of this crisis.

She went and sat near her. “Hi…” She was about to ask whether she was okay, but she clearly wasn’t. So she changed her question. “So, we got our things, but what about yours.”

“I will get them in the morning second lady Xia, before we leave to the town.”

“Are we gonna leave to the town right away?”

“Yes, I think so. Your sister seems like she wants to get away from here. And she doesn’t seem so pleased to live under the trees.”

“Oh, why am I not surprised? I was so surprised that she didn’t whine about it. Seemed like she did her whining while we were gone then. She despises nature.” They both laughed at this.

“How come? Nature is so beautiful. I really loved walking in the forest with my father.” But at the mention of her father, the girl’s face darkened again.

Hong Guang remembered the walks she took inside the forest with her own family. She and her father laughing and joking about things, looking all around them to absorb their surroundings. Their mother a few steps behind, complaining how tired she was. But Xing Juan a few steps ahead, wanting to get away from the sun and bugs and go home as fast as she could.

Sometimes their father took them to small openings inside forests to teach them little fighting techniques as well. Despite Xing Juan’s objection to where these classes took place, she never missed any. But their mother was very opposing, saying that fighting is not something young ladies should be doing. So, despite their willingness, they only got to learn a little.

Wanting to snap the other girl out of her sorrow, Hong Guang said, “I don’t think we have met before. I heard my sister mention your name earlier. But it has slipped my mind already. Can you please tell me what it is again? Ah before that, please keep in mind that I might end up asking your name for five six times at least before I remember it. I’m quite forgetful. Names of people and places are the worse. So don’t be offended if I forgot. It’s an ‘it’s not you, it’s me’ situation.” She included a nervous laughter to dilute the awkwardness.

“Second lady Xia, I think you have trouble remembering faces as well. We have actually met before. Once your mother introduced us to you and after a few days your aunt did the same. But you still didn’t remember.”

“Ahhh…” Hong Guang was so baffled and ashamed; she couldn’t even come up with anything to say.

“You don’t have to feel sorry,” the other girl replied with an assuring smile. “Everybody has different interests and our brains work differently. So, it is natural that one might find it difficult to remember such things while one can remember everything they hear. My name is Wang Chun Hua, and if you forget it, you can ask me again as many times as you like second lady Xia. I’m not going to get offended by it.”

Hong Guang immediately decided that she liked this girl a lot. And it was really nice to find a person with such an open mind. “Okay, then lady Wang, let’s see how long it will take me to remember your name then.”

“Second lady Xia,” Chun Hua exclaimed, “You really shouldn’t call me a lady. I’m not a lady. Just call me by my name. It is more than enough.”

“Then you should call me by my name as well. When you call me second lady, it puts a distance between us. I don’t like it. Let’s be friends. So, call me Hong Guang. You can call my sister by her name too. I’m sure she won’t mind either. Considering what we went through together, what are honorifics after all.”

Hong Guang felt like she really shouldn’t have said that, because now they both got into a bad mood. “Aaarh, I don’t even know what we are going to do now. We have to do something with the bodies. It is going to take us days to bury them. Forget my sister, even I don’t want to live in the forest for that long.”

“Second lady Xia, I mean Hong Guang, I think we will set out to the town early tomorrow. Your sister wants to reach Yueyang as soon as possible.”

“Yueyang? Why?”

“We were talking about what we are going to do while you went back to your aunt’s place, and your sister told me she wants to bring this matter to the Qinghe Nie sect and ask for their help. And she said the sooner we can do it the better. Yueyang is the nearest town to the Unclean Realm, so we will head there as soon as possible.”

Like Chun Hua said, the next morning Hong Guang was awakened by the sound of others packing. Xing Juan came to her and offered her a bowl of roasted meat that were looking quite dry.

“Why didn’t you wake me up when you did?” Hong Guang asked feeling a little ashamed for oversleeping.

“Thought you would be more tired. You had to carry a heavy load last night, not to mention you ran like crazy.” She added with a smirk.

Hong Guang wanted to say something back, but she just woke up and her brain wasn’t fully functioning yet. So instead, she asked, “Isn’t there anything except meat. I love meat, but a whole bowl for breakfast with nothing else doesn’t sound very appealing.”

“Ah, sorry. There were only few fruits left, so I had them, leaving you meat. You know I don’t eat animal corpses. I thought you won’t mind.”

“Animal corpses!!? Nice. Right before I was going to eat. Thanks for that.” Hong Guang made a face.

“Just eat it without complaining. If you don’t want to, throw it away. You won’t die by skipping a meal anyway. This is one of the reasons we need to go to a town. Can’t even find food in these damn forests anyway.”

It took them a week to get to Yueyang. With all the complaining that came, especially from Xing Juan, it was a miracle that a week was enough. But in Yueyang, Yong Zheng found a nice tavern that lifted their spirits again.

Throughout the whole week neither Xia Xing Juan nor Zhang Yong Zheng talked anything about the murders. So, the other two following their lead, didn’t bring the topic up either.

But on their way here, when they were back at their town, Hong Guang managed to slip away and find Dong. Even though Yong Zheng said that smell of the dark power was nothing, Hong Guang couldn’t stop thinking about it. She had never heard of a ghost or a ghoul leaving such traces. Her father had told her that only a foul magic would leave such scents sometimes.

She told Dong about this. Dong thought it was weird as well. But she couldn’t tell what it was. She hadn’t noticed anyone suspicious either. Well, it’s not like murderers carry banners saying who they are now, is it?

But now that she was in Yueyang, she wanted to forget about it and have a peaceful time. She saw this as their time away from what happened back home. That morning, her sister announced that only she and Yong Zheng would go to the Unclean Realm. As soon as Hong Guang heard this, a burst of anger rushed through her. She was looking forward to go to the Unclean Realm. Even though she had witnessed first handed how some cultivators treated the normal folks, she had always wanted to see the grand fortress of the Unclean Realm. She had always dreamt about walking inside it, feeling like a warrior. But she couldn’t bring herself to argue in fear, if she said the wrong thing, her sister will break down then and there.

Actually, she was so surprised how all of them managed to hold up without even crying. Especially her sister and Wang Chun Hua. She knew Xing Juan was really sensitive, and for her, Chun Hua struck as the sensitive type as well. Well, Yong Zheng is Yong Zheng and she herself was really good at concealing her feelings, if she chose to. She could bring herself not to care sometimes and right now it was proving to be really fruitful. And she didn’t want to do anything that would break that.

Hong Guang went to the room that she decided to share with Wang Chun Hua, giving the couple their privacy. A week ago, she would have been mad if her sister chose to spend more time with her fiancé than with her. But within only one week, she had gotten so close to Chun Hua to the point she didn’t care anymore.

She also learned that her first impression of Chun Hua being a weak, oversensitive girl was completely wrong. Throughout their journey, Chun Hua told her about the cool things she had done, to the point Hong Guang even became jealous. She felt like even though Chun Hua lived in that small village her entire life, she had had way more adventures than Hong Guang ever thought possible. She thought living in a village was boring. Now she had to disagree with her own assumptions.

After they all had breakfast, Hong Guang left the others and went upstairs to her shared room. She barely heard Chun Hua say something like taking a stroll to get some fresh air. She couldn’t care less. And the longer Chun Hua was gone the better, for she yearned for a much-needed alone time to jump onto that soft bed and take a nap. She always liked to take small naps during daytime to cover up for all the hours she enjoyed staying up the previous night. Seriously who came out with the rule that they need to keep awake during day and sleep during the night. And she also yearned for a soft bed after so long.

But right when she was about to lay down, a knock came from the door and her sister entered the room. She also looked at the bed yearningly, but soon composed herself and sat on the mat laid next to the table.

“Were you going to sleep?” She asked hoping she didn’t annoy her sister by disturbing.

“Well, let’s just say that you at least remembered to knock this time.” Hong Guang said jokingly.

Seeing that her sister was in a good mood, Xing Juan smiled as well. “Okay, so, we need to talk.”

“Oh, do we? I thought the person you needed to do all the talking with, is Yong Zheng.”

“What a jealous old lady. Okay, but seriously, I need your opinion as well. Yong Zheng is bae and all…”

“Oh, shut up. I’ve had enough of you talking about your love life.”

“Will you just shut up for a sec and hear me through? What I was going to say is, he’s not the one missing his family. So, I wanted to know what you are thinking as well. Like, what are we going to do next?”

“I thought you were going to meet with the Nie sect.”

“I am, I asked what we are going to do after that.”

“Like what?”

“Like where are we going to live and all. And what are we going to do about our parents. We have to find them.”

“Well, of course. But I thought you two are going to discuss that with the Nie clan.”

“I will try. But there is a chance they might not help with finding our parents. It is sort of their job to find out about the murders, and also to cleanse the place of bad energies. But finding missing people is not up to them. I won’t bother either if I was them. So, I think we’ll end up having to do it on our own.”

“Well, there is a chance that they would have returned to the village by the time we go back already.” Hong Guang added hopefully.

“I hope so too,” Xing Juan let out a sigh.

“I think they would. They must have hidden inside the forest. Where else could they have run off to anyway. There aren’t even any village nearby, is there?”

“That could be it.”

“You don’t seem to think so,” Hong Guang added, puzzled.

“It’s just, I wish we had searched the forest before we left. It was my fault. All I could think about was getting away from that place.”

“We all wanted to get away, honestly. You worded it before us, so we didn’t have to.”

“That doesn’t matter now. And to be honest, I wish they didn’t hide inside the forest.”

“Why?” Hong Guang was getting even more confused.

“The forest isn’t that big A-Guang. And don’t you remember that lady Wang mentioned the murderers were carrying swords. So, they must be cultivators.”

“First off, Chun Hua told me she doesn’t like to be called lady Wang. And I really don’t get why our parents shouldn’t have stayed inside the forest just because the murderers are possibly cultivators. And I’m sure cultivators are not the only ones that own swords.”

“Do you know how expensive swords are? Do you think ordinary people can afford them?”

“I’m pretty sure there are cheap swords as well”

“Didn’t you see the wounds they have made?”

She had, and they were clean cuts. Too clean to be caused by cheap weapons. “Okay, you have a point. But I still don’t see what you are getting at.”

“What I’m getting at is that the forest is not that big. So, if those cultivators decided to look for them there, I’m sure that forest isn’t much of a cover. It won’t be enough to conceal them”

Hong Guang’s blood turned cold. It was true. She knew that a lot of cultivators knew how to fly using their swords, and if they did that, covering the small forest surely wasn’t a problem. Maybe if it was only one or two people, they could have hidden somewhere. But how can a group of people stay hidden. It seemed impossible.

“So, are you saying that they are dead?”

“I don’t know. That could be possible, but if they hid somewhere else…”

“But where? Where could they go? Another village? We really should have waited for them. Let’s go back soon.”

“They could have gone to another village. I don’t think they would be stupid enough to linger in the forest and get caught, unless they were caught before they could get away.”

“Is there a village nearby? If so, I think they would have already returned. Oh wait, it would be better if they didn’t though, wouldn’t it?” Hong Guang said, realising how stupid she was before to hope their parents would have returned to their village.

“Why?”

“No, I mean, the killers seemed like they purposefully sought out our family. So, if they really wanted to kill them, won’t they wait for them to return to the village?”

“Yes, they might. In that case, I really wish they won’t return. I don’t think they would. Father went with them, and he would not let anything happen to them.” Xing Juan replied hoping they were more than just words.

“Yes, he would do his best, but would that be enough? Oh, and you didn’t tell me whether there are any nearby villages. I’ve never heard of any, but then again, geography is not my strong point.”

“I haven’t heard either. There might be some hidden ones, but I also think it’s unlikely. But I might have an idea where they would have gone.”

“WHERE!!!”

“Haven’t you heard about father talking about a village called Baizun?”

“No, I don’t know, I don’t remember.” Hong Guang said hopelessly trying to recall any related memory.

“Well, that’s not really a surprise now, is it?”

“Okay stop being rude and tell me where it is.”

“I don’t know.”

“Oh. Wow. Really? I thought you would remember everything. Just a name is not that much help now, is it, especially when it is just a village? Anyway, what made you think that they went there?”

“It is the only place I could think of. Father had told us that is the only other place that he had relatives. He never told me where the village is. But I think if we are going to search for them anywhere, that village could be a good place to start.”

“Yes, I think so too. But what if they went to another village? I’m sure other people have relatives in other villages too. So that village might not be that good of a lead.”

“What village?” Yong Zheng was standing in the doorway.

“Nothing,” Hong Guang replied with a scowl before her sister could say anything.

“A-Juan, if we are planning on reaching the Unclean Realm before nightfall we better get going. I will wait for you in the front then.”

“Okay, give me a few minutes.”

Yong Zheng left and Xing Juan also got up to leave.

“A-Juan, you just told me that the murderers are most likely to be cultivators. The Unclean Realm, the Nie sect, they are cultivators too. Are you sure about this?”

“I don’t think we have any choice. I don’t think it’s them. Do you?”

“How can we know? Chun Hua said their clothes were black and red, but they could have used clothes to disguise their identities.”

“Well, if it’s them, I think this is the best way to find out.”

Hong Guang felt really proud of her sister’s bravery, but she still felt troubled.

Xing Juan ran down the steps to where Yong Zheng was and grabbed his hand. He was beaming at her.

“There is a little bit of a distance to the Unclean Realm. Would you mind. You didn’t even get a proper rest after we arrived.” Yong Zheng asked.

“No. I think I can manage it. Just want to get it over with. Hong Guang thinks it’s better if we hurry back.”

“What do you think?”

“It’s better if we can find our parents soon.”

“I would rather if we rest today and set off tomorrow, but you are insisting on hurrying, so at least let me fly us on my sword.”

Xing Juan was taken by surprise. She really wanted to fly on a sword. She thought she’d never get an opportunity. She didn’t know that two people can fly on one sword together. If she knew that, she would have asked Yong Zheng a long time ago. But she made sure to not show her surprise and longing on her face.

“Is it safe for two people to fly like that?”

“Are you doubting my spiritual energy? It’s not that long of a distance if we fly. I’m sure I can manage that.”

Even though Xing Juan didn’t like hiking, she loved looking down from a high place. It looks magical to see so much at the same time. But flying made it even better. She didn’t want it to end. As soon as she laid her eyes on the Unclean Realm, she recognized it. She hadn’t seen anything like it before. It’s way bigger than she expected, and looked so overpowering.

“That looks so scary.”

Yong Zheng tilted his head to meet Xing Juan’s eyes. He expected to see fear, but was met with excitement. Of course, it was Xing Juan. It was normal for her to be excited about such a scary looking place.

“You like it, don’t you?”

“Not exactly, it’s so… Gray, and dull. But it looks like a place from horror stories. Maybe we might even find some ghosts. I’ve heard there has been many fights in here as well. So… maybe people who died from those battles are still there.”

“It’s the Nie sect’s abode we are talking about. If there were any ghosts, I’m sure they have gotten rid of them.”

“How boring. This is why I don’t like cultivators.”

“You won’t say such things if you have ever faced a malicious spirit.”

They got down from the sword a little further away and walked down to the gate. The guards who were guarding the gates did not look friendly, nor did they seem like they enjoyed getting visitors. But when they mentioned their names, they were allowed inside. One guard offered to lead the way, but he didn’t talk to them at all. He left them in a small yard asking them to stay there until someone arrived.

Neither Yong Zheng nor Xing Juan was impressed by their warmless welcome. But Xing Juan could not stop herself from being excited about the architecture of the place. She didn’t expect a place so gray to be this beautiful. The patterns and the decoration and the grandeur of the design is making up for its lack of colour. 

They didn’t have to wait long to see a Nie disciple coming to greet them with a big smile on his face. From the way he was dressed, they could tell right away that he had a way higher rank than the guard that they met at the gate.

“You must be lady Xia, I’m so sorry to keep you waiting here. And I’m so sorry for your loss. Only two days ago did the news reach the Unclean Realm. We are really sad to see such a prestigious clan in Qinghe meet such a disaster.

I heard this Master is from the Zhang clan. A well respected cultivational sect that has a beautiful history indeed. I welcome you both to the Unclean Realm. I asked some servants to prepare rooms for you. Please let me take you there.”

Xing Juan almost laughed at how he used such flattering words. But after feeling like a weak clan that could be dragged down to the point they were only capable of praying for God’s mercy, such flattering words actually helped. But they clearly didn’t manage to get her purpose out of her head.

“Master, won’t we be able to meet the sect leader today?”

“Lady Xia, you can call me deputy general.” Xing Juan was again flattered by the fact that they were greeted by such a high-ranking disciple. But her happiness didn’t take long to be met by annoyance as the next words of the deputy general reached her ears. “Our sect Leader is away as of now. We will arrange a meeting with him as soon as he come back. I am really sorry for the inconvenience.”

Xing Juan really felt like shouting back at him, but his apology prevented her from doing so. So, she followed him to their rooms.

They have set two different rooms even though they clearly didn’t have to. The rooms were so nice and there was really comfortable furniture there. Xing Juan thought that one room could fit a house twice as big as their house in the village. And seeing the size of the soft looking bed, she felt really sorry for leaving Hong Guang behind.

Yong Zheng asked for both their meals to be sent into one room and was really surprised at how much food they provided them. But he also knew that it wasn’t enough to completely get rid of Xing Juan’s frustration in having to wait for the sect leaders return, which only gods knew when will happen.

…

 After a long nap, Hong Guang actually felt glad that she was left behind. She thought if she ever got to see the Unclean Realm, she’d rather it be when she had a peaceful mind. And she really didn’t feel like debating with some cultivators about what they were going to do with their dead family. Probably for the first time ever, she felt glad that her sister had Zhang Yong Zheng to accompany her.

Hong Guang looked for Chun Hua, but not being able to find her, she decided to take a stroll to see the town. It was a nice day and it was turning into a more beautiful evening, and she liked that nobody recognised her.

Even though Hong Guang liked their town so much, she liked that she was in a different place and there were a lot of new things to see. The only thing she was beginning to dislike is that there were a lot of well-dressed people making her clothes look so ordinary. She decided she would ask her dad to buy her something nice when she went back home. Dad, oh no, that thought came out so naturally she didn’t even realise until a split second later that she had no home to return to. At least not one with her family waiting for her return. It was like someone pulled back her raising heart.

She definitely won’t be able to ask her father for money to buy new cloths when they got back. “So what? It’s not like it’s gonna kill me. I can wear rags and not give a damn about what others say.” She said in a voice low enough, only she could hear it.

No, she won’t let herself think about unwanted things. She won’t let herself think about what actually could have happened to her parents. Not today, not here, not when she’s in the middle of this busy street. So, she looked around and spotted a boutique that had beautiful fabric.

But on her way there, something stopped her. It was a piece of cloth. Well, to be more precise, it was a part of an outfit. Anyone can tell it was very expensive at first glance, and it looked so similar in colour to the robes the cultivator she met back at her town wore. He was walking in the same direction that she was, so she quickened her steps. The more of him she saw, the surer she got, that it was him. The outfit was not just expensive, it was very stylish, and his hair was styled in a beautiful way as well.

Hong Guang ran to him and jumped in front of him grabbing his arm. “Oh, so it is you. I knew it. I knew it’s you.” She couldn’t stop grinning like crazy. Thankfully, after the initial shock, the cultivator smiled as well, recognition displaying on his face. Only then that Hong Guang realised how awkward it would have been if it was someone else, or even if the cultivator didn’t recognise her.

“Museum? Tiger painting?” he asked.

“Yeah, but I’d rather if you remember me by a more cheerful painting. Maybe one of your own.” She suddenly remembered what Dong said about them not exchanging information like their names. Now that those words were in her head, Hong Guang couldn’t stop but think it was weird that this cultivator didn’t ask for her name either. It looked like he didn’t, because he was reluctant to give his to her. She really should be wary of someone who didn’t want to provide information. But looking at his kind face, she didn’t feel like she should be.

“My name is Xia Hong Guang, I’m from the Xia clan.” Even though it’s momentary, Hong Guang saw him looking at her like he had a question when she said her clan’s name. But she decided to let it go. “Master, are you from Qinghe or are you travelling?”

“I am from Qinghe.”

“Huh! The gray robes you wear is very close to the colour of the robes Nie disciples wear, but…”

“Yes, I am from the Nie sect. You are smart to figure it out. But you seemed unsure. Why?”

“No, it just, the Nie disciple’s looove to brag about their sect. So, it was a surprise to find someone who doesn’t go to every person they see and let them know which sect they are from?”

“That bad?”

The cultivator seemed troubled by her words, so she quickly said, “No, no, I did some exaggerations. But they definitely won’t hide it. You seemed reluctant to tell me which sect you are from.”

He gave her a very gentle but beautiful smile, “personal preference I think.”

“Hmm…” Hong Guang could not think of anything else to say. She didn’t want it to be an awkward silence, but she was never good with coming up with topics to talk. That day, there were at least paintings to talk about. She started to rub the tip of her boot in the soil contemplating whether asking why he was there is rude.

“Lady Xia, why don’t we go into that tavern and have a chat? It is very famous in Yueyang. It would be a pity if you didn’t visit it.” Without even waiting for an answer, he led the way. Hong Guang also followed without hesitating. She was really looking forward to do something. Having a lot of free time didn’t feel that good right now.

The tavern was not that big, but from the smell of the food she could right away see that the cultivator didn’t lie to her about its fame. She willingly went to the corner table the cultivator chose and was about to drop on the mat when she remembered she didn’t have any money. She had purposefully ventured out without any money to prevent herself from buying anything that she sees, and never thought she would be in a situation she would need money.

“Ah! Master, this sounds ridiculous, but I don’t have any money with me. It’s okay, if you are hungry you can order, I’m not that hungry any… well, I mean I would be okay.”

“Oh, come on, that would be a real shame if you didn’t have anything. And I wouldn’t be considered a gentleman if I object on paying for a pretty lady and let her starve. I was going to pay in the first place anyway. I asked you to come here, it wouldn’t be nice to let you pay.”

“So, you are saying that if I’m ugly you won’t pay?”

“What? No, I… I’m not that cheap okay.”

“Wow, I didn’t think you would take it seriously, I was just joking.”

“Good to know that you are in a good mood to joke around.”

“What does that supposed to mean.”

A worried look crossed his face, but instead of answering, he said, “What would you order? You can order as much as you like okay. I’m going to get some vine jars; would you like one?”

“Yes, of course.”

“What!?? Haha, you actually said yes. I didn’t expect you to. You have such an interesting personality. I never have met a maiden who would drink in front of a stranger. I thought they are scared to get drunk, because they might end up saying or doing something embarrassing.”

“Who said I wanted to get drunk? I won’t even get drunk in front of someone I know. I just wanted to taste wine from Yueyang.”

“So, you also are afraid to get drunk? I think it would be fun if ladies also would be carefree and would be willing to have some fun.”

“I always like to have fun, but that doesn’t mean I need alcohol to do it. I don’t get drunk because I love myself so much to get lost to alcohol. And what’s the purpose of having fun if you are going to forget about it anyway.”

“Okay, okay, if you say so. You are one tough lady. In that case, I’m sorry it’s not as good as emperor’s smile from Gusu. But our wine has its own unique taste as well.”

They ended up ordering a lot and their table was filled with so much food, they knew they could barely manage to eat half of it. Each dish was delicious and Hong Guang really enjoyed the wine as well. She was trying to force more food into her stomach when the cultivator spoke again.

“Lady Xia, the reason I asked you to come here is because, even though I feigned ignorance, I actually heard the news about the Xia clan. I’m so happy that you are okay. As for the misfortune, I’m sorry for your part, but I would be lying if I say I’m sorry for the others, whom I don’t even know about.”

“Master, it’s fine. I’m glad you didn’t lie in order to show some fake concern. I’m also glad that I’m okay.”

“So, I guess it’s needless to ask whether this is the reason why you are in Yueyang.”

“Yeah, my sister and her fiancé went to the Unclean Realm to talk with the Sect about this matter. Well, I guess I can call it your sect now.”

“It is, but what would they ask for? We can provide you protection of course, and cleanse any evil energy that caused the murders, if it was that which caused it.”

“I don’t think my sister would ask for protection. I don’t know, maybe she will. But what kind of protection can they give us anyway? A place for us to stay?”

“If you want it.”

“I don’t think so. And as for the cause of death, I don’t think it was any evil energy.”

“Then what has caused it?”

“I think it was actual human beings. Like a gang of murderers. Well, there is this girl, and she even saw them. My sister thinks that they are cultivators. So, I guess my sister is hoping to get some insight on it, and also ask the Nie sect to cleanse the bad energies the occurrence has left behind.”

“Of course, we will cleanse the energy, but as for who could have done it, I have no idea. Even if it was a ghost or a demon or whatever, sometimes they have a motive. But if it was humans like you said, they clearly should have a motive to murder a whole clan. Can you think of anyone who had a grudge against your clan?”

“That’s the thing. My sister nor I could think of anyone. We have been a peaceful clan for decades. Master, can you think of another reason that a group of people would want to kill us?”

“I still don’t think it’s humans. Some ghosts could look very human to the untrained eyes. And I really don’t see why one would kill a whole clan, especially when they are not even cultivators. But something really strikes to me as déjà vu. There have been murders in other villages. Mass murders, as in no one survived.”

“Oh really! I didn’t know about that. But what about people who escaped?”

“No one escaped. I don’t think anyone stood a chance against whatever it was.”

“But some of our villagers have escaped. Our parents too. They must have. We didn’t find their bodies.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, well, I don’t know whether they are alive, but we couldn’t find their bodies in the village. Considering how the bodies were scattered, it seemed the murderers had come from one side alarming the villagers on the other side, giving them time to escape.”

“Hmm, this of course is different. I never went to the said villages, but I heard a thing or two. People are saying it looks like they were murdered at the same time by a very powerful demon who could do that.”

“A very powerful demon? Isn’t that something to be worried about?”

“It is. It is better if the main clans find a way to deal with it as soon as possible.”

“Master, it is when you talked about demons that I remembered, there was a really bad toxic like smell in the air. My father had taught me that if such a smell is around, it means that some bad magic took place.”

“Not necessarily, but it’s possible. Some dark magic could leave some traces like that, but it is not that common. You said they were killed by humans, didn’t you? Either way, I think it is the dead bodies.”

“But that smell was not of dead bodies, unless human bodies smell so different from animals.”

“They usually don’t. But a main thing reported about these murders were the strong rotting smell coming from the dead bodies.”

“But that smell wasn’t coming from the bodies.”

“Are you sure?”

…

Xing Juan yawned, silently cursing whomever was knocking on their door. She could see by the sunlight it was almost noon, or it could even be past noon. She also loved to stay awake at night and sleep into the day just like her sister. But she was the eldest of the family and liked listening to her parents, unlike Hong Guang. But now, being relieved from all the responsibilities for a bit, she risked sleeping at her own accords.

Zhang Yong Zheng went and opened the door. It was the deputy general. Xing Juan got out of the bed immediately. She had expected it to be a servant bringing in a meal or some tea. She knew that if she lived a few days here, she’ll end up becoming a spoilt lazy bum. The Nie sect was really treating them as they were royalty or something.

“Master Zhang and lady Xia, I’m so sorry to keep you waiting. But our sect leader is back and you can finally meet him.”

“Right now?” Xing Juan suddenly became worried. The last thing she wanted was to present herself to the sect leader looking like a total bum.

“Sect leader Nie said he would meet you whenever you are ready.”

“Ah! okay then, give us an hour.” And without even intending, she slammed the door in the deputy general’s face and ran to make herself presentable.

“A-Juan, what do you need a whole hour for? You don’t have to doll yourself up. It’s not like you are going to meet your future husband. Please tell me you are not trying to look so beautiful in front of another man. You are making me concerned.”

“You don’t understand. Right now, I’m representing the whole Xia clan. I have to look decent in order not to bring down the clan’s name.”

“Well, right now, I’m representing the Zhang clan and you don’t see me fussing about my looks now, do you?”

Xing Juan huffed at him but didn’t make any remark.

They both followed a disciple to the main hall. The training sounds of the Nie disciples that they have already gotten used to during their short stay, could clearly be heard from there. When they came to the main hall, the deputy general welcomed them in front of the door and invited them inside.

Xing Juan was so excited to see the main hall of the Uncleaned Realm and also the prestigious Nie sect’s leader. The hall was grand indeed, and she could see a man with a good built was standing next to the main seat. She assumed that it was the general. But when her eyes laid upon the one who was sitting in the seat of the sect leader, she was baffled. He looked so small and crunched and was hiding behind a large fan. She didn’t exactly dislike him. In other circumstances she might even find him cute, but when she thought that is the ‘mighty’ sect leader that was supposed to help them get through this crisis, she couldn’t help but cringe.

But she quickly hid her disappointment. Looks certainly aren’t everything. Maybe he had a lot of spiritual energy despite the way he looked. So, they both walked up to the small person and kowtowed.

“Master Zhang and lady Xia, please take a seat.” The voice was really deep, Xing Juan was shocked until she realised it was actually the man who had stood next to the sect leader, was the one who had spoken.

They took a seat and immediately more tea and sweets were served. Xing Juan was about to remark that they had had enough to eat and really didn’t want to eat right now, but thought better of it and thanked the maidens who brought the tea.

Yong Zheng lifted his tea cup and even though Xing Juan really didn’t want to put anything into her stomach, she also followed suit. They sipped their tea, or at least pretended to, waiting for the sect leader to talk. But he took his time looking down at the floor, fanning himself, playing with his fan and also throwing secret glances at them. When they felt like he would never say a word, he finally spoke up.

“Ah… Ah… Master Zhang and la… lady Xia, … welcome to the Nie sect. Ah… I… I am really sorry for what happened to the Xia clan. I really don’t know what to do…”

“HUH!!!” Xing Juan almost stood up. “What do you mean you don’t know?”

Yong Zheng held her hand to calm her down. “Sect leader Nie, we really need your help. I’m sure you are kind enough to…”

“M…me, ah master Zhang, what can I do.”

Yong Zheng’s hand wasn’t enough to calm Xing Juan down this time. “Aren’t you supposed to look into it as the main sect of Qinghe?”

“Ah… lady Xia, please calm down. I didn’t mean to offend you. But what can we really do? I don’t know. Seems like you have to settle it with whomever that wanted to kill you.”

“WHAT! If I knew whomever that wanted to kill us, I think we would have solved this problem before it came to this.”

“Ah… Ah… I see. I… I’m really sorry. General, maybe we could give them some money. It would help them, wouldn’t it?”

This really made Yong Zheng stand, “Money? Just because you are a bit richer than us do you think that we are beggars? Nie sect leader, I just wasted all this time coming to your sect because I thought that you have taken responsibility on this area, and I didn’t want to disrespect that by bringing my own sect here to figure things out ignoring your existence. I have heard many great things about this clan and I’ve heard the Nie sect was a huge part in the Sun-shot campaign. And I was really glad that your disciples treated us with respect. But I have to say, I’m really disappointed in you. And you dare treat us as beggars! Come on A-Juan, let’s go to the Zhang clan.”

The moment he looked at Xing Juan he realised what she was planning to do. She was also standing up holding her teacup in her hand. He knew about her arrogant temper and even though they were far enough for her to throw tea at the sect leader, if she decided to throw the whole tea cup, it would be a problem. Even though how disgusted he was right now with the Nie sect leader, Yong Zheng really didn’t want to do something so disrespectful and anger him. Despite the fact that he himself didn’t deserve any respect; he was still a sect leader of a well-known sect.

He gently took the tea cup from Xing Juan’s hand and placed it back on the table, and then holding her hand guided her out of the hall.

“I am really sorry that I could be of no help.”

From the way Xing Juan’s hand tightened around his, Yong Zheng knew the chance of them making a normal exit was over. Oh, this sect leader really couldn’t keep his mouth shut, could he?

Xing Juan went back to her table and picked up a plate with some sticky sweets, and even ignoring the warning of the general, went right to where the sect leader was seated, and dumped the sweats on his head. It was a look to withstand. Sect leader Nie with his terrified face, and sweets sticking all over his hair and cloths. It would take a good while for him to clean that all up. Xing Juan couldn’t help but smirk.

Chapter Text

The first thing that came to Jin Ling’s mind as he woke up was the grief-stricken face of his uncle. He couldn’t believe that somehow, he was able to forget about that, last evening. His heart suddenly clenched so hard it hurt.

But Jin Ling realised his heart was not the only thing that was hurting. His back was hurting as well. So was his head. He most definitely wasn’t in his bed. Instead, he was lying on cold granite somewhere outside.

A little turn of his neck brought him the answers. He was lying on the steps to his house. One door was halfway open. There was another young man lying on the steps wearing red. Oh, he remembered. He was one of the Ouyang disciples. He stood up to go inside, and his head started to pound. His door was half open and there were three boys all tangled up on his bed. One was obviously drooling, and Jin Ling had to restrain himself from pulling him out of his bed. Two others were lying on the floor; one was half naked and Fairy was also lying on his stomach, sleeping like a log. He turned around scanning the room.

“She must have left.” Zi Zhen greeted him with a smile and put his arm around his shoulders. “I woke up an hour ago, and didn’t even see a sign of her.”

“Why would I care? She wasn’t invited anyway. She’s the one who forced us to let her stay.”

“Yes, yes, what you say is true. Ah the things I dreamt last night… Oh I really hope those are just dreams. Otherwise, it would be so embarrassing. Do you remember any of it?”

“Of course, why wouldn’t I?” This was a total lie, and Jin Ling was not that good of an actor to hide his worry from Zi Zhen as he would have liked.

Anyway, Zi Zhen thought it would be best not to upset Young Mistress Jin, so he said, “Jin Xiong, why don’t we ask your servants to bring some breakfast, I’m starving. And some hangover medicine as well. Looks like a lot of us can use it including myself.

The ones who were still asleep didn’t look like they were planning on waking up anytime soon. So, they asked the servants to set a table outside in the garden. This was clearly Zi Zhen’s idea. Jin Ling had never felt the need to have a meal out in the open. But that morning was really nice and he felt like his headache was already drifting away.

“Jin Xiong, you really like that lady, don’t you?”

Jin Ling suddenly turned into a tomato, “What lady? I don’t like any ladies.”

Zi Zhen tightened his lips to hold himself back from laughing. “Is it because I was drunk, I think her name has slipped my mind. But you clearly know which lady I’m talking about. The one who drank with us last night.”

“Ah Qi Xue? She just likes Fairy.”

“Yes, and I think you like her.”

“How many times do I have to tell you; I don’t like her. And what about you. Aren’t you the one who like her? You were the one who was running around trying to grab her attention by calling her pretty lady and all.”

“Okay, okay, I won’t lie, I think she’s very beautiful.” Zi Zhen said. Jin Ling turned even redder. “But if you like her, I won’t come in between.”

“Who won’t you come in between, young master?” Two of the Ouyang disciples came and joined them at the table.

Zi Zhen knew it would have been better if he could have talked about this with Jin Ling in private. But because the situation turned out this way, he decided to play it cool and light-heartedly. “Ah, we were just talking about Jin Xiong and that beautiful lady.”

Jin Ling hit him on the ankle with his foot but Zi Zhen continued as nothing has happened. “Since our young master Jin like her very much, don’t you guys think that we should help him to get the lady?”

“Of course, we should,” said one disciple, and “We are at your service,” said the other.

“WHO SAID I LIKE HER?” Jin Ling stood up and turned to go away, but two hands grabbed his shoulders and sat him back on his seat. It seemed another disciple had woken up and had walked up to the table.

“Young master Jin, why are you running away while there’s still food on the table? But let me tell you, if you run into the lady at least half as fast as you started running right now, she might even completely fall for you.” He had clearly heard their conversation.

Jin Ling didn’t expect these disciples to be as cheeky as Zi Zhen himself. But it seemed there’s really no running away now. So, he asked, “Okay, fine, if you really want me to get Qi Xue, I challenge you to come up with methods. Let’s see whether she’ll fall for any of them.”

“Okay Jin Xiong, don’t worry, I will make sure you get your lady,” said Zi Zhen. “You have my full support. All you have to do is follow my lead.”

…

Papers. More papers. Seriously, when will the papers end. Jin Ling shoved the table away with his foot and threw the brush on the floor and laid down spread eagle. Even though he could burden the servants with all the decorations and other preparations, he had to deal with the political matters on his own. He wished his uncle Jin was there to help him, or at least his uncle Jiang. Well, if he was there, they surely would be fighting, not doing any actual work. But fighting felt way more appealing right now than arranging the main topics that should be discussed during the meeting.

Jin Ling was about to scream out of frustration when a sweet smell drifted into his nostrils, and made his mouth water. He most definitely wasn’t hungry after that huge breakfast. But he couldn’t resist the smell, so he followed it.

He was about to go out when he saw the Ouyang disciples coming towards his house. Taken by surprise, and not knowing what to do, he hid himself behind his door. After breakfast Zi Zhen had told him he would go out with the disciples leaving Jin Ling to do his own work. He had promised that they would only come back in the evening in order not to disturb Jin Ling. So why were they already back? And why the hell did he hide? It wasn’t like he was doing something wrong. But Zi Zhen had already stepped inside his door so he remained where he was.

“Young master Jin? Jin Xiong? Seems like he’s not here.” Seeing the kicked off table Zi Zhen said, “See, I knew he would already be bored and boredom sure would make our maiden Jin angry.”

Jin Ling had enough. He jumped out from behind the door and head locked Zi Zhen. “Who are you calling a maiden?”

“Okay, okay, fine Jin Xiong, I’m sorry, let me go, pretty please, let me go!!!” Zi Zhen choked.  “I even brought you some sweets, pretty please.”

“Fine, only because I’m feeling hungry.” He let Zi Zhen go.

“Yes, yes, come and have some. Don’t be so angered and hide behind doors… like a little maiden.”

Zi Zhen dodged the scroll that came flying his way and ran out. Picking up Suihua sword, Jin Ling started to chase him. The others also joined in to cheer the two who were fighting.

After running around for a while, Jin Ling finally managed to tackle him to the ground, and they started a full-on wrestling match. Zi Zhen trying to get up and Jin Ling trying to keep him pinned to the ground. But they were both laughing so hard. Jin Ling couldn’t remember the last time when he had this much fun. This must be what it was like to have friends.

Losing his breath, Jin Ling collapsed to the ground next to Zi Zhen and panted on. The others came and sat around as well. One handed them some water and later the sweets were also distributed, and they kept on munching them.

“Young master Ouyang, these taste really good. Where did you get them from? I would like to order some for the banquet.”

“Jin Xiong, I don’t think there’s anything special with these sweets. I’m pretty sure the Jin sect’s cooks can do a way better job. It’s just that we are eating this together, with our friends, that they taste better.”

“Wei Wu Xian is right. You really are a sentimental one.”

“Whatever you say. But Jin Xiong, isn’t he your uncle too? How come you never call him that?”

Jin Ling looked down. He didn’t know what to say. He didn’t want to say that he didn’t want Wei Wu Xian to be his uncle, because he knew it would hurt Wei Wu Xian so much. But he didn’t want to admit that he cared about him either.

Seeing his discomfort, Zi Zhen changed the subject, “What’s with these murders anyway. Isn’t this why you are holding the meeting? To talk about them? Why is this a big deal for you to even gather the sects?”

“Would you consider it a big deal if I told you even Hanguang Jun can’t figure it out?”

“What! I didn’t expect it to be that bad.”

“I heard that whole villages were murdered without even a single survivor,” a disciple said. “Young master Jin, what are you planning on doing about this matter?”

“I don’t know. That’s why I’m discussing it with other clan leaders.”

“We should go on a night hunt to see whether we can catch whomever doing it,” another Ouyang disciple suggested.

“Yes, Jin xiong, that seems like a good idea,” Zi Zhen added. “Ah! While we are at it, why don’t we invite that pretty lady as well. It would be a good opportunity for you to get to know her. You can even show her some of your fighting skills to win her over.”

“Wow, Zi Zhen, you really are good at this, aren’t you?” Jin Ling said, suddenly very interested in the subject. “So, how are we going to invite her? Would you ask her to come?”

“Jin Ling, it’s something you have to do yourself. If someone else invited her, how would she know that you are the one who wanted her to be there? So, man up and do it yourself.”

They heard a laugh and turned their heads to see Jin Chan approaching with his squad. “If Young Master Jin here had such guts, our sect would be better off than this. Oh, by the way, don’t let me stop you. It would be quite fun to watch you coming back totally defeated by a maiden with your tail in between your legs”

Jin Ling stood up throwing away the piece of sweet he was holding. “You seem very confident that I would be defeated.”

“Of course, who would want to be with a sissy like you? And girls don’t like dandy guys either. And with that face that makes anyone want to vomit, if a girl likes you, she should be totally insane”

The only reason Jin Ling didn’t already launch at him was because Zi Zhen gripped his arm so tight. Everyone was on their feet and was ready to draw weapons if needed.

Zi Zhen spoke up, “Jin Chan, you shouldn’t say such nonsense. Jin Ling is quite attractive. Any lady is lucky to have his attention.”

Jin Chan’s eyes were completely locked in Jin Ling’s. He didn’t even look towards Zi Zhen to acknowledge the fact that he spoke. “Look at you Jin, surrounded by a minor sect. Obviously because no one from your own sect would side with your pathetic ass. You are an enemy to your own sect. Spending time with others like this, how dare you even ask to become the sect leader without any shame? Alas, you should be banned from the sect.”

“Who said hanging out with someone from a different sect is a bad thing? Maybe you should set aside your prejudice and try talking to someone from a different sect. Even my uncle set out with Hanguang Jun in search of the Yin iron pieces. They were from the Yunmeng Jiang sect and the Gusu Lan sect, and even to this date it is considered a noble mission.”

“Your uncle? Are you talking about that Wei Wu Xian? It is the YiLing Patriarch you are talking about, and you calling him uncle, just shows that you are in the same level. If you have some dignity, you would despise that he once resided at the Lotus Pier itself. And noble my ass, it is needless to say how rotten everything he does is.”

“Hey Jin Chan,” Zi Zhen’s face was as red as Jin Ling’s, “what do you mean rotten? Don’t forget you are only alive because of him. If he didn’t sacrifice himself at the burial mounds, we would all be dead.”

“Yes, I remember what a show off he was. Trying to look like a total brainiac figuring it all out. I won’t get fooled by…”

Both Jin Ling and Ouyang Zi Zhen were upon him in a matter of seconds. But Jin Chan also had some buff disciples with him, and both sides would have ended up being severely wounded if not for Fairy coming, running like a hellhound carrying the wrath of hell itself, scaring Jin Chan and his gang away.

Jin Ling just wanted to go back to bed and roll in his cosy blanket. His stomach felt so bad. He didn’t even know where the nervousness was coming from. His uncle Jin made it all look so easy. Seriously how did he host all those banquets. And no matter how many times he adjusted his robes and hair in front of the mirror, he couldn’t stop himself from thinking that something was off.

The banquet was still one hour away, but Jin Ling really didn’t want to be late and let something go wrong in the last minute. But he couldn’t bring himself to step outside his door. He heard someone approach. That was bad. If anyone decide to approach his chambers, it must be because something was terribly wrong. Jin Ling rushed out to see what had gone wrong and was met with a pleasant surprise.

Fairy ran past him and jumped at Qi Xue. “Lady Qi Xue, what are you doing here this early?”

“Oh, I just missed Fairy so much. He’s such a cutie,” she replied scratching his head and giving him little pecks all over his snout.

“Fairy won’t appreciate if you call him cutie. He is a gentleman… okay, gentledog. So, he has his own pride.”

“So, what? Why should that bother him at all. And why are you dressed like that? Ah! Oh, I almost forgot. That’s the other thing I came for. I wanted to wish you well on your first banquet.”

Jin Ling’s heart did a flip. He didn’t think Qi Xue would care about his work at all. But his thank you was hindered by the Ouyang disciples who came running to greet him.

“Oh Jin Xiong, look at you! You look like a thousand gold coins. If I didn’t know any better, I would think it’s your wedding day or something.”

Jin Ling turned red. “If you only come here to mock me, wait for your dishes to be as spicy and disgusting as that congee Wei Wu Xian made.”

Zi Zhen put his arm around Jin Ling’s shoulders. Jin Ling had gotten used to this action so much within these few days, he knew when Zi Zhen went back, he is going to miss it. “Alright, alright. Don’t get mad. We just came here to take you to the banquet hall. Come, let’s go.”

“Wait.” Qi Xue said suddenly. “I came here for another reason as well. I heard you guys are going on a night-hunt together. If it’s not going to bother you, may I join? I mean, my cultivation is not that high, but if I just stayed back because of that, how can I ever level up?”

Jin Ling and Zi Zhen couldn’t help but secretly glance at each other with smirks. Jin Ling’s eyes were gleaming with a cunning excitement. All this time he was contemplating whether his request would get rejected, and now he didn’t even have to make a request to get what he wanted.

“Lady Qi Xue, we weren’t planning on bringing anyone else. Zi Xiong and I have night hunted together before, and we know each other’s strengths and weaknesses. And these are the Ouyang disciples and Zi Xiong knows everything about them. So, it was not a problem. But if you really insist, we really shouldn’t deny, should we? It is not nice to say no to a beautiful lady.”

Qi Xue’s face was gleaming with excitement. “Ooooh, thank you, thank you, thank you,” she said bouncing on her heels. “You are going soon right? Then I guess I should hurry and get ready. Don’t you dare forget your promise. If you leave me behind, it’s going to be your funeral.” With that she ran off.

“Wow, young master Jin, you really are a hypocrite, aren’t you?” Zi Zhen said with excited eyes. “’We were not planning on bringing anyone else’? With such a big lie, you really should go to hell.”

Ouyang Zi Zhen had to keep telling Jin Ling that everything is going to be okay. Everything is already perfect, and nothing would go wrong. When people started coming in, Jin Ling really missed his uncle. He was never that good at conversing with people, and hosting and entertaining guests was something he really wasn’t born to do. He tried his best, but no matter what, he couldn’t stop but feel awkward.

The two disciples who were running for the sect leader’s position entered the hall together. Maybe they have come to the conclusion that they were not strong enough to fight this battle by themselves, and had decided to join hands together. Jin Ling promised himself that he won’t get wavered by this matter. At least not today, not until the banquet was over.

His aunt was already there complaining about how poor the banquet was arranged, even though for Jin Ling it looked quite similar to a grand banquet his uncle have thrown.

“Jin Xiong,” Zi Zhen came running back to where he was, after getting scolded by his father for not staying in his seat, ruining the Ouyang clan’s reputation for several times now.

“Zi Xiong, I appreciate your help. But you are going to boil your old man’s blood, if you keep leaving your seat like this. Don’t worry, I think I got this.”

“That’s not why I’m here. I just wanted to ask you when you got enough guts to invite Lady Qi Xue to the banquet?”

“I didn’t.” Jin Ling was too excited to even be mad at having an uninvited guest at his banquet. He turned around trying his best to spot her. Maybe she just came for the food. If so, this is a good opportunity for him to lure her with the wealth of the Jin clan.

“Ah, is that so?” Zi Zhen’s face was shadowed and Jin Ling couldn’t even figure why. “Then you definitely won’t like it when I tell you that she is standing next to that Jin Chan kid.”

“Wh…What?!” Jin Ling turned to where he last spotted Jin Chan’s family and without any doubt, there she was. “Wait, are they holding hands?”

“Oh my god, Jin Xiong, I didn’t even notice. Isn’t that Jin Chan’s mother? Why the hell is she smoothing the pretty lady’s hair. Now they are smiling at each other. What is going on?”

Jin Ling thought he would go and find out what’s going on right away. But he could only take a few steps towards them when a disciple -one from the few who were willing to follow him- who was in charge of the banquet came and told him that it was high time for him to start the banquet. But before he turned to head towards his seat, his heart froze and a chill ran through him when Qi Xue gave him a beautiful, wide smile like nothing was wrong.

Jin Ling’s heart was pounding in his ears, making it hard for him to hear the others and his hands were trembling, but he was really grateful for his voice for not trembling and giving away how nervous he was. While he was talking about the matters at hand, he didn’t even have time to think about Qi Xue, and what was going on.

He was also hoping that the inner matters of the sect won’t be brought out in the middle of this banquet. He thought these people would have enough braincells not to bring out the ugly side of the sect in front of the others. But he got to know it was only wishful thinking, when Jin Chan’s father finally opened his mouth.

“As the main sect of Lanling, it is so shameful that we haven’t yet figured out how to solve this problem. Indeed, not enough night hunts were arranged, nor any other measures were taken to solve this matter. I think I should apologise for this. But I think you will understand that it is very hard to be done, when the sect doesn’t have a proper leader to guide it, and is relying on someone so young and incompetent.”

“Who are you calling incompetent?” Even though Jin Ling appreciated Ouyang Zi Zhen’s bold vote of confidence, he wished he hadn’t spoken up.

“If he is not incompetent, he won’t be hanging out with a looser like you.” That was obviously Jin Chan who got a deadly scowl from his father right afterwards. At least the old man seems to have enough braincells to realise, insulting other sects is not going to do any good.

“If I can govern the sect in the meantime, I will have enough time to teach my children how to be better sect leaders in the future. And the sect will really be in good hands while they learn.”

Children? Did he say children? Jin Ling couldn’t believe that he had more than one evil spawn. “Master Jin,” Jin Ling really didn’t want to call him uncle at all, “how can you guarantee that your children would learn better than me?” Even though Jin Ling knew losing his temper is not going to do any good, he couldn’t help himself.

“Who do you have to teach you? It is a pity your parents aren’t here to do that, but they just aren’t here, are they?” This was Jin Chan’s mother and her voice sounded angry and like she was crying at the same time.

It was the same thing every day. Weren’t these people fed up with repeating the same thing every day. He felt like his parents’ death is something that is known worldwide. But these people keep on talking about it, like it’s hot news. He had heard about it so many times, to the point it didn’t even disturb him anymore. Just frustrated that they won’t stop it. So, he managed to keep his mouth shut while bracing himself for the next insult.

Jin Chan’s mother opened her mouth like she was going to say something, but Qi Xue gently touched her knee making her calm down. That touch was so family-like, Jin Ling was surprised. There’s no way she is… How? Is she?”

Even though it stopped Jin Chan’s mother, his father very eagerly took her place and as time went on, others joined. And to Jin Ling’s disappointment, he found out the leaders of the other sect’s also had their own opinions, even though it was none of their business. But Jin Ling could not concentrate on those words anymore and kept on glaring at Qi Xue for the rest of the meeting.

Even though Qi Xue did a great job at pretending young master Jin’s glares didn’t bother her at all, she was feeling so down as she walked in an isolated corridor, too eager to get away from the crowd. She felt like those people were made out of mould, and felt disgusted to be near them. But someone grabbed her hand so hard she nearly screamed in pain and shock.

She wasn’t even a single bit surprised to see Jin Ling, but when she saw the anger in his eyes her heart sank even deeper.

“Was it fun?” His voice sounded so cold.

“Was what fun?”

“What you did all this time. Making me such a fool must have been fun.”

“I didn’t make you a fool. Why would I, when you do it so well yourself.”

“Haha, so funny. Anyway, what did I expect? Why did you want to go on the night hunt with us? Were you being in the kitchen that night even a coincidence? Why did you follow me all the way to my room?”

“What are you getting at young master Jin? You pretty well know why I followed you that evening, and I clearly told you why I wanted to go on the night hunt. Wait, do you think that I am spying on you?”

“Were you?” Jin Ling knew there was no other reason why she would want to talk to him. But he still didn’t want to believe it.

“Now, why the hell would I do that?”

“Because you hate me!” Jin Ling wanted it to sound like a scolding, but it sounded more like weeping. Yikes, he can’t believe that he is this heartbroken over such a small thing.

“Why do you think that I hate you?” Qi Xue’s voice rose an octave.

“Because you are Jin Chan’s sister.” Jin Ling’s voice had become so loud. Way louder than he expected it to be, that he was sure everyone in the vicinity heard it.

“So that’s the freaking reason for your anger? My family?” Qi Xue had already figured out even while they were in the banquet hall, that Jin Ling hated her family and within good reason too. But she didn’t get why she should be bashed because of her family’s behaviour. She’s not her parents nor her brother. “Didn’t know you were that scared of my family. Anyway, it’s good to see that your pea-brain could figure out that I’m ‘Jin Chan’s sister.’”

“You don’t have to mock me. It’s obvious how good of a liar you are. You’ve got Zi Zhen, the others and me completely fooled.”

“Liar? I didn’t lie about anything.”

“Then why didn’t you tell that your name is JIN Qi Xue? Is your name even Qi Xue?”

“It is. I didn’t lie. I just like when people call me Qi Xue rather than Jin Qi Xue. That’s why I didn’t care about telling you that.”

“Yeah, nice try. But so sorry I won’t be so easily fooled by you anymore. And it was so low of you to use Fairy like that.”

Qi Xue’s eyes went wide. “Use Fairy? Use Fairy for what?”

“Oh, don’t pretend. Wasn’t it your awesome plan to get close to me? I can’t believe you used Fairy for such a dirty deed.”

Qi Xue had never felt like this before. She willed her heart to stop burning, but it wouldn’t. Jin Ling thinking that she spied for her brother was one thing. ut Jin Ling thinking she used Fairy only as an excuse to get close to him; she just couldn’t live with that. She saw the disgust in Jin Ling’s eyes, but most importantly she saw how much he was hurt. Was that pain for Fairy, or was he actually hurt because he thought he lost a friend?

Either way, it was too much. From the moment she saw Fairy, she knew they were both in love with each other. How can anyone not love Fairy, he is an absolute darling. But from the moment she saw that stupid boy in the forest, she liked him too. She wanted to be his friend and teach him lessons till his stupid pride was gone. She was a bit taken aback when she learned that he was the Jin Ling her brother had told her about. But it was clear to see this boy wasn’t even as half bad as her brother had led her on to believe. So ,ever since, she never gave it that much thought.

She had assumed that because it didn’t bother her, it wouldn’t bother Jin Ling either. That their friendship is beyond that. Oh, but how wrong she was!

She heard someone walking into the room and willed her river of tears to stop, but it seemed that the emotional dam was overflowing and is not capable of stopping any time soon.

Jin Chan definitely wasn’t one who would console his sister. But looking at her, he knew this was no light matter. He had seen his sister cry so many times, but never like this. He tried his best to come up with something to say. Something that would comfort her. But his mind was completely blank.

“What are you crying for this time?”

Qi Xue wanted to scream for him to go away, but she also knew her stubborn brother won’t budge. Not unless he really wanted to go away. So, instead she said, “I just won’t be able to play with Fairy anymore. Anyway, why do you care?”

“YOU ARE PLAYING WITH THAT BEAST?”

“Oh, shut up. He’s not a beast and if you are a nice enough human, he would treat you as such.”

“Mom told you, you couldn’t have a pet and you go ahead and play with a hell hound? And for the record, I don’t want to be a nice human. What had being nice had ever done to you? And do you know whose dog that is?”

“Yes, young master Jin’s.”

“So, you even know it’s that Jin Ling’s, and yet you dare go and play with it?”

“’That Jin Ling is not as bad as you think he is. He’s just a poor kid. Do you really have to talk about him like that?”

“You and your pity. Are women really this dumb?”

“Say that again and I’m going to cut off your tongue.” Qi Xue’s eyes blazed with anger. She knew her brother is an annoying brat, but he never really said such things to her.

Jin Chan also regretted the words as soon as they came out of his mouth. This was his little sister and if anyone had a brain, she did. But right now, she was really annoying him taking the side of that son of a bitch. “Is this how you are going to help father? He has done so much for this sect. He deserves this position. You know that more than anyone, and you are his only daughter. Yet you dare take that Jin Ling’s side?”

“I didn’t mean that. I’m just saying that father have real supporters. People like him, because he had helped them a lot. So, aren’t we confident we can win through fair fight? Why do we have to drag down a poor kid? He doesn’t have his parents, and think how wrong it is for us to use that against him?”

Jin Chan heaved a heavy sigh. How can he make her understand? “Listen, I agree with you that we shouldn’t bully a poor child. But Jin Ling is far from that. Because he is Jin Guang Shan’s grandson, people think he is the rightful heir to the position. That is in itself a huge blow for us, not to mention his crappy personality.”

“He is not bad.”

“What do you know? Haven’t you heard me tell you countless times how rude that brat is? He has sect leader Jiang’s temper, and on top of that he thinks he’s better than us just because he is Jin Zi Xuan’s son. He never cares about his own sect. Didn’t you see how he was hanging out with those Ouyang disciples? And you have no idea how many times he had threatened me and my friends, and how many times he had fought us. Are you telling me that it is better if someone like him becomes our sect leader? Didn’t you see what his uncle did? With such power, he is a threat to the whole world.”

“But he isn’t like that. You are the one who is not listening. How many times do I have to tell you that he is not a bad person?”

“How can you say that when you haven’t even met him?”

“But I have.”

“What? When. What are you talking about?”

Qi Xue knew she was making her brother angry and she should stop. But she was angry herself. And Jin Ling really shouldn’t have accused her just because she was her brother’s sister. She was really mad at Jin Ling at this point she couldn’t understand why she was protecting him, except that she was even more angry at her brother for making Jin Ling hate her.

“You are so dumb. If not, you would have already realised when I hung out with Fairy Jin Ling was there as well. So yes, I hung out with him a few times, and I know him. And I’m telling you he is…”

“Why the hell would you do that? Do you really want to see our family get ruined by that brat? Otherwise, why would you even talk to him, unless… Wait a minute, you don’t like him by any chance, do you?”

Qi Xue was also taken aback by his question. She knew she liked Jin Ling as a person, but she knew that her brother meant more than that. She herself had not given it much thought. But why couldn’t she say no? She didn’t want to say yes either. How can she say yes? He is just a stupid boy. Definitely not up to her standard. There’s no way she would fall for someone like that now, would she?

“You do like him, don’t you?” Jin Chan’s eyes were filled with anger, but Qi Xue saw something else there as well. Is that fear? Why though? What is he scared of? Is he scared that his sister would really fall in love with his enemy?

Chapter Text

Xia Xing Juan dragged Zhang Yong Zheng and hurried out of the Unclean Realm, and didn’t even acknowledge the deputy general who rushed to them to ask if anything was amiss. Now, as she walked her way to Yueyang, she almost felt guilty. It wasn’t the fault of the kind-hearted deputy general. But, oh well, it was too late to do anything anyway. And soon other thoughts were able to occupy her mind.

Yong Zheng also seeing how deep in thought Xing Juan was, didn’t think it was best to bother her, even to remind her they could fly back to the town instead of walking. So, he also followed her silently.

Only her aching legs were able to snap her back into the present. She stopped suddenly and looked around. “Where are we?”

“You tell me. You were the one who led us all the way here. I thought you knew where you were going.” Yong Zheng’s joke earned him a slap, which he dodged very skilfully. “Don’t worry. This is the way back to the town. Anyway, what were you thinking so hard about? We have come more than halfway already. I was wondering when you are going to start complaining about your legs.”

“Why didn’t you stop me? We could have flown to the town like we got here.”

“I didn’t want to disturb your thoughts. And you were in such a temper, I was scared that you would lash out if I disturbed you. And now I’m too exhausted to use my spiritual energy to haul us both on my sword.”

“Yeah, right. Like you would be threatened by me lashing out for a second,” Xing Juan said scowling. “Anyway, I was thinking about what we should do next. I really didn’t expect this visit to end up like this. I thought that there would be a slight chance of them refusing to help us find our parents. But I thought that they would surely help us to settle things back home, and also to track down the culprits. How the hell does such a great sect has such a poor leader? He is a complete idiot. He didn’t even bother to protect his face and displayed his idiocy head on.

I didn’t tell you this before because there seemed no point in shoving problems into your brain when there is nothing to be done. But laying in that bed having nothing to do, my brain was running every which way. I couldn’t help but think that going back really wasn’t an option. I know I told my sister that it would be better for us to go back as soon as possible, so we could search for our parents. But now, that seems like a stupid idea. They are a whole village. At least half of a whole village, and if they can’t look after themselves, what can we do? We are just a group of four, and we only have one guy and only you know how to fight a little.”

Yong Zheng wanted to comment on ‘fight a little’ and say that he can actually fight very well. But he decided this was not a time to argue on such a trivial thing. And he knew what Xing Juan meant. It’s hard for him alone to fight with many and protect three maidens at the same time. So, his skills might as well end up being pretty useless.

“The Xia clan were no cultivators,” Xing Juan continued. “But they had very skilled swordsmen back at Xia mansion, and they were all slain. So, if the murderers come back, we might not stand any chance against them. It sounds like absolute stupidity to return like this. I was thinking at least some Nie disciples would go back with us. But seeing that, that is not going to happen, I don’t know what to do. I don’t want to abandon our parents. I really want to go and find them, but…” her voice trailed off.

Yong Zheng wrapped his arms around her, and gave an assuring kiss on her forehead. “I know how you feel, and I was thinking about the same thing. I was also going to tell you that it would be dangerous to return. But if you really want to go back as soon as possible, I would do everything I can to protect you, might we ever come across danger. But I think it would be best to go to the Zhang clan right now. The Nie clan might be a bunch of cowards, but I can assure you that the Zhang clan is surely going to provide any help you need. If we go there, I can gather my friends and we can go back to the village together. That way, nobody will be able to harm us.

And if you don’t want to return to the village until this problem is solved, the Zhang clan would be more than glad to welcome your family to our beautiful guest house.”

“I don’t know. I feel like a beggar right now. This is way too much to ask.”

“A-Juan, when it comes to you, nothing is ever too much.”

…

Hong Guang’s head was hurting to the point she felt like she couldn’t sleep anymore. Waiting for the couple had started wearying her off. She had no idea how many hours she had slept through the past few days. But now it felt like she would actually become sick if she slept another wink. But she didn’t want to stay in that lonely room either. That nice room had started to look so gloomy as days passed by.

She won’t call, walking around a town without any money to spend on the things she longed to buy, fun either. But right now, not having sleep as an option, it felt like the only other thing she could do. So, she put on a nice outfit and stepped out to the fresh air. It was so fresh and sweet, it drew away her headache immediately.

By this time, she had confirmed that she hated being alone in public. It made her so self-conscious. Maybe this is why she stayed in the room most of the time. She did go out to find a place to have dinner for a cheap price with Chun Hua, but other than that, she had barely seen the other girl. She was always away. Even today, she vaguely remembered the other girl telling her that she was going out while Hong Guang was halfway passed out on the bed.

She really yearned to make some new friends. But they will be away soon enough, so what was the point anyway. And even though she made friends, she doubted whether she could even tell them her name without earning some pity. It was a long way to Yueyang from home, but a murder of a whole clan is big news.

She noticed two men glaring at her and wished that she would meet someone she knew. Maybe that handsome cultivator. She was halfway through her prayers that the cultivator would be there when she saw Chun Hua a little further away. Her lips suddenly turned into a huge grin and she ran towards her friend. But when she got near, something was so off she stopped on her steps. She was thinking that they could have some fun and grab some dinner, but Chun Hua’s bent shoulders told her otherwise.

All this time Chun Hua had gone out, Hong Guang had imagined that she was having fun and meeting new people perhaps. And considering how often she was out, Hong Guang had thought maybe she had found someone she was interested in. The last thing she expected was, for her to strode the streets like a newly widowed wife, with her shoulders shrunk and her head hanging as there was no more hope left.

Feeling helpless, she followed her to an isolated edge of the town. A forest was there only a few paces away and Hong Guang wished her friend wouldn’t enter the forest as it would soon turn dark, and thankfully she just slopped down next to one of the trees marking the edge of the forest. Then came the sobs and soon she was crying so hard, Hong Guang could barely keep herself from crying as well.

She realised how stupid she was for thinking her friend was doing okay. But she pretended so well that she was okay to the point Hong Guang could even forget her own misery, and think that everything was going to be okay. But it wasn’t, was it? It’s not like people would come back from death. It’s not like she could enter the Xia mansion and see her little cousins playing or fighting with each other over some stupid toy or something, nor would her aunt beckon her with her warm smile asking her to come and have a cup of tea ever again. She was holding on to the hope that there was a chance that her parents were alive, but Chun Hua saw her father lying dead. She couldn’t even hope to see her father ever again.

Hong Guang wanted to go and hug her, but she didn’t know whether it was the right thing to do. Even if she went there, what would she say? What could she say? Is there even anything to say? So, she stepped back slowly till she’s further away to catch her friend’s attention, and turned and ran away towards the town.

After wrapping herself in the blanket, Hong Guang couldn’t help not clench and unclench her fists out of nervousness. It had turned dark sooner than she expected, and Hong Guang wished she had lighted some candles before she sat herself in the very corner of the bed. But now she just didn’t feel like getting up to do so. So, she embraced the gloomy darkness. She felt like her sister couldn’t get there any sooner and dreaded the thought of seeing Chun Hua at the same time.

What was she going to do when Chun Hua returned? Is she going to tell her that she saw her? Should she pretend like nothing happened, because she was sure as hell that Chun Hua was going to. She started to pray to every God, Lord and all the other powers she knew, that her sister would be back sooner. She felt like every second they wasted, her parents were drifting away. She just didn’t want to undergo the same sorrow that she saw her friend in. She rather run miles towards her parents than knowing no matter how far you ran, you would never see them again. ‘A-Juan please come back, we need to go and find them.’

When the door started opening, she braced herself to face Chun Hua with a smile, telling herself even though she hated pretending, she was quite good at it. But a real smile spread on her face as she saw her sister’s face. She was barely aware that Chun Hua had come with them as well, as she threw herself on her sister, so relieved to see that she wasn’t alone anymore. They must have met Chun Hua on their way here, but suddenly eager to know what happened at the Unclean Realm, she pushed the thoughts of her friend to the back of her mind.

Yong Zheng lit the candles and they were soon sitting around discussing what had happened.

“What do you mean they wouldn’t help?” Hong Guang was so baffled, she didn’t even know what to think. “They can’t just refuse like that.”

“They did and they even got ready to throw money at our faces.” Xing Juan was breathing heavily with anger.

But Hong Guang’s face lightened up. “How much? That’s incredible. We got money. Well, the trip wasn’t a complete failure then. It better be a lot though.”

“A-Guang, are you serious right now? How do you expect us to accept that money? Do you want us to look like beggars?” Yong Zheng asked with a surprised face.

“Why not?”

“WHY NOT? ARE YOU STUPID?” Xing Juan screamed.

“No. You are the ones who are stupid. If I was there, I would ask for a lot of money because they refused to help. It’d be their punishment for not helping. I know it is a rich sect, but I would ask for a loooot of money.”

“If you wanted revenge for that, rest assured, your sister took revenge by dumping a whole bowl of sweets on the head of their clan leader.” Yong Zheng said, proudly looking at his girl.

“Okay, guess we have to settle with that then, even though money would have been nicer. But I still can’t believe they refused to help us. That Nie cultivator promised that they would help, and it really looked like he meant it.”

“What Nie cultivator?” Xing Juan asked getting curious.

“I already tried to tell you about him before, but that day you just didn’t care to listen. I met a Nie cultivator back at our town when we three went there that day. He is such a gentleman and a very talented artist as well. I was going to show you his drawings, but things happened before I could find time for that. What a pity, they were really beautiful.

Okay, never mind about that now. But the day you went to the Unclean Realm, I met him again, and he promised me that the Nie sect will help. He also told me about some similar murders happening at other villages too.”

“Similar murders?” Xing Juan asked frowning.

“Well, no, not exactly. Actually, they are not that similar except whole villages had been murdered. But that cultivator promised that…”

Xing Juan cut her sister off, “If the sect leader disagreed, the words of a disciple won’t matter. There is no need to linger on his words anymore. Let’s do what we have to do next, without looking for help that will not arrive.”

“Yes, true. The sooner we go back to the village the better. I was actually going to scold you for being at the Unclean Realm for so long. Let’s head back first thing tomorrow.” Hong Guang said.

“Ah, about that, baby, I think it’s better for us to not go back to the village. At least not like this.” Xing Juan said taking her sister’s hand in hers and bracing herself for the fit that’s going to come.

“WHAT? What do you mean we are not going back? You can’t be serious. We have to go back.”

“Okay, just listen, will you? I didn’t say that we are never going back. It’s just, we think that going back like this is dangerous, and maybe even useless.”

“What do you mean useless?”

“Hong Guang, don’t make me regret that I told you about that village. It’s a common enough name and it could be anywhere. How can we find it? You said so yourself, remember?  And we don’t even know whether our parents are there. And what if we come across the murderers? You are not expecting Yong Zheng to fight with all of them, are you? So, what I’m saying is, let’s go to the Zhang clan and ask for their help. With their help, it will be more safe and easier to find our parents.”

“Yeah, your plan is awesome except it’s going to waste a lot of time. Aren’t you the one who said we should have looked for our parents before we came here? Now we already wasted time in coming here and it would take another week or so to go back. It might already be too late. I don’t want to waste any more time.” She almost said that she really didn’t want her parents to meet the same fate as Chun Hua’s father. But thankfully she remembered that Chun Hua was also in the room with them on time. She looked at the other girl and saw that she was huddled up in the corner of the bed just like Hong Guang was minutes before, and was staring at a candle lost in her own thoughts.

“I know that Hong Guang, but didn’t you hear me say that it’s not safe? We need the help of the Zhang clan. So, it’s like a necessary evil.”

“But every second we waste could be dangerous to our parents. Yes, if we encounter the murderers and they got to know who we are, it could be dangerous. But what are the chances of us four encountering the murderers and them knowing who we are? We could avoid that. It’s a chance we have to take. And what makes you so sure that the Zhang clan would help? Is it because you are their future daughter-in-law? We don’t even know whether they would approve this marriage. What if they turned us down just like the Nie sect?”

“A-Guang, our clan is nothing like the Nie sect.” Yong Zheng’s eyes were gleaming with anger to the point Hong Guang wished she didn’t say such a thing.

She had never before seen him getting angry, and never thought that she would be so scared of him. But she was angry herself, and was not planning on lowering her head anytime soon either.

“Maybe it’s not. Maybe your clan won’t neglect their responsibilities like cowards. But we are not their responsibility.  They could easily say that and turn us down. Can we even complain?”

“The clan leader is my grandmother, and she would never do that. And my friends won’t decline if I asked for their help either. A-Juan is my fiancé and I assure you that I won’t let them treat her any less than she deserves. You too A-Guan, you are my family as well.”

“Hong Guang,” her sister spoke still holding her hand. “You said we have already wasted so much time, so why don’t we stop this argument and go without wasting anymore?” Xing Juan was exhausted from their long journey. But she was willing to do anything to help her sister feel better about this.

But, hearing her sister’s coaxing, Hong Guang felt so angry, she became so near to bursting into tears. And it wasn’t kindness she needed right now, for their kind words brought more tears to her eyes. She looked away at the wall scared that they would fall. “You can go if you want to. I’m going back to the village.”

“Hong Guang, don’t be stupid. You can’t go alone. Where are you even going to stay. Come with us, please.”

“No. You run to your going to be in-laws if you want to. I’m not going anywhere near the Zhang mansion. And don’t think you can change my mind. If you really care about our parents, go as soon as you can and bring any help you can. And tell your fiancé if he could bring actual help, then I would consider his family worthy.”

Xing Juan helplessly stared at her sister. If anyone knew how stubborn she was, she did. She wanted to stay and convince her sister. She really didn’t want to leave her behind, but she wasn’t that down to earth of a person to admit that either. If Hong Guang is not going to let her pride down, she won’t either. She got up and looked at Chun Hua. She didn’t show any sign of wanting to go with them either. She was secretly glad, because if Chun Hua stayed, her sister won’t be alone. So, she indicated Yong Zheng to follow and left the room.

Every step she took towards the village, Chun Hua felt her heart growing heavier. It was one thing to cry over what had happened back at the village, while they were miles away, and another to actually be there. And what if they actually came across the murderers? What second lady Xia said was true. They might not even know they were from the village, but what if they did?

But Chun Hua knew that if she was given the chance to go to the Zhang mansion again, she would decline. She felt like she was a burden all this time, so how can she even dare to ask the Zhang family to take her in, even for a few days? It’s not right. She was an outsider. And she had gotten to like Hong Guang very much and really didn’t want the younger girl to be alone either. Otherwise, she would have stayed at Yueyang very happily without following her here.

At first Hong Guang was been hasty on their journey back, but soon enough the weight of the journey and the unwillingness of Chun Hua discouraged her as well. Both girls were feeling like they would never get back to their village, and was wondering how they managed to go to Yueyang within a week when they finally came to a stream that was only a little way away from their town. Hong Guang just slopped down in the middle of the road amazing Chun Hua with how she couldn’t care less about her image as a lady.

“My dear sister might already be on a luxurious divan getting pampered by her in laws.”

Chun Hua seeing nothing proper to sit on, decided that her legs were way too tired for her to worry about her image either, and sat next to Hong Guang. She could see even though Hong Guang put on an angry front when she was talking about her sister, in actuality, she was really sad that Xing Juan wasn’t there.

“Hong Guang, what are we to do…” her voice trailed off as she spotted the approaching black clad figure. Isn’t it that woman from the town that everyone was wary of? Chun Hua had only seen her from a distance and always tried to avoid her as her mother and friends had advised.

Hong Guang also followed her eyes. But to Chun Hua’s dismay, when she saw the woman, she jumped to her feet and ran towards her.

“Hey, Dong, what are you doing here?”

“Oh kiddo, it really is you. I thought it must be. But I couldn’t be sure and I came here to check. Well, you know how the daughter of the owner of the brothel is crazy about herbs. She dragged me here saying she wants to pick some that grow near the stream. Where is your sister by the way?”

“Oh, she went to the Zhang clan to ask for help. Who knew that the Nie sect is full of selfish bitches who’d look the other way when someone asked for their help?”

“Huh? Then who are those young gentlemen that came to help burying the bodies and all that?”

“Gentlemen? You mean the Nie clan came to help?”

“I don’t know who they are. But knowing that you went to the Nie sect for help, I thought it was them. But then again, they very well could be someone else, for they didn’t wear the grey of the Nie sect nor do they look anything like disciples from a rich clan.”

“Are they at the village? I’m at least really thankful that there’s someone to help with the burying. I was wondering how we two were going to deal with all those dead bodies.”

“Well kiddo, you really didn’t think that nobody would help, did you? The whole town was busy burying the bodies at the Xia mansion the last few days, but there was a lot of work to do, we could only tend to the village starting yesterday.”

Remembering who these ‘bodies’ at the mansion belonged to, Hong Guang’s face turned grey. But of course, she won’t break down in the middle of the road, so she tightened her jaws to keep herself from sobbing.

“We kept the bodies of the Xia family so you could be there to send them away. But by the sixth day, they started smelling so bad even their tightly closed caskets couldn’t keep anyone who went near from gaging. Knowing you would take longer to return, people decided to bury them.”

“I’m more than thankful for what they did. Chun Hua, now that we are here, come, let’s go to the village and include ourselves in this process.”

The village was buzzing with people running around helping with the burial, which surprised both girls. But at the same time, they were very grateful. It didn’t take more than a few hours after their return to the village, for Hong Guang to realise that she is even more useless than Chun Hua when it came to manual labour. Even though she could keep herself from fainting at the sight and smell of the already halfway rotten corpses, she could barely help with taking them to the deep pits the people who had come to help had already dug, for she realised she had no practice in carrying heavy loads any more than doing any other chore at hand.

And even though she was not terrible at cooking, she never showed any interest on learning how to. Now she also realised her lack of knowledge limited her when it came to providing food for the workers as well. By the end of the day, Hong Guang was sitting out of everyone’s way and was glaring at Chun Hua with eyes that dripped jealousy, while Chun Hua had taken the lead in the food distribution centre; if the small temporary kitchenet built near the edge of the forest could even be considered a centre.

Hong Guang noticed that two old ladies who were chopping vegetables, secretly eyeing her. She knew that they were angry that she was sitting in a corner doing mostly nothing when they were contributing to ‘her’ village, so much themselves. Hong Guang just wanted to shout at them that she earlier tried to chop some vegetables, and another grandma had shoved her away saying she didn’t do it properly and is ruining the vegetables. She had wanted to shout at that grandma saying she was doing it the exact way she had seen her mother do it, and that grandma was the one who was doing it wrong. But she felt like it would only be a disadvantage to herself, if these people decided to leave without helping. So, hard as it was, she kept her mouth shut.

Now she couldn’t wait until this whole thing ended. She felt like she could contribute more when they were searching for their parents. She wanted to do something. She hated being this useless. And also hated that they had to put the search aside, until they settled things here. It wasn’t really nice to leave these people to deal with this alone. Even when she couldn’t do anything other than small small tasks, the least she could do right now, was to be there.

She was also angry at her sister for still not being there. What is taking her so long? Can’t the Zhang clan fly their way here? They clearly should be there by now. Well, unless she was right, and the Zhang clan refused to help. But even then, those two could have come back themselves.

That night, Hong Guang met up with Dong and asked her whether she had any information about her parents’ whereabouts. Sadly, Dong told her that she had no real information, but gave her directions to a certain town nearby, and said that she had heard some disturbances being happening nearby. So, it would be in her best interest to check it out.

But no matter how many times she asked Dong to come with her, she declined saying her business is in this town. And when Hong Guang promised to give her some money, she laughed it off saying she was way more expensive than that. Hong Guang returned to the village with a heavier heart. She knew she had no courage to go on her own, but she didn’t know whether even Chun Hua would go with her when her own sister refused to. But Chun Hua would, wouldn’t she? There is a chance that the rest of her family would be with her parents as well, right?

When she woke up the next morning, she was surprised by one of the workers telling her that they were almost done. It was one of the strangers that had come to help. She still didn’t know who they were, and when she asked, all they told was that they were passing by and came to help when they saw that help was needed. They won’t say anything more. She had noticed three of them, though she thought there could be more. All three of them were young men with strong builds. The very first time Hong Guang saw them, she clutched Chun Hua’s arm and secretly asked her whether she thought they could be the murderers. Chun Hua also shivered at her words and said that they very well could be. But both girls didn’t see anything they could do even if they were the murderers, than pretending that they didn’t notice anything.

So, Hong Guang actually relieved a sigh knowing not only that she could get away from this mess soon enough, but also that these people would leave. Even if they didn’t, Hong Guang and Chun Hua could finally leave themselves. And she was almost happy seeing how soon everyone got ready to leave as well. Guess everyone couldn’t wait to leave the ill-fated village.

But Hong Guang’s small happy bubble soon filled with disgust when people came to thank her for her contribution, and share their condolences. Some even told that the only reason everything went well was because, she took the lead and planned everything out very well. But no one even thought about thanking Chun Hua for her contribution like they should have, because she knew that it was obvious to everyone that Chun Hua worked way more than she did.

What made her even more disgusted is that Chun Hua acted like nothing was out of place. She even joined in the praising of the others.

When people finally left, and the village was isolated to the most part, Hong Guang dragged Chun Hua to the side, “Why are you doing this?”

“Doing what?” Chun Hua seemed genuinely surprised.

“Why are you praising me when I did almost next to nothing?”

“Don’t say that. You did a lot.”

“Stop that okay. I know what I did, and that clearly wasn’t a lot. And how are you okay with nobody praising you? They didn’t even share their condolences with you. Yet you are the one who saw your father lying dead.”

“Hong Guang, you are the second lady of the Xia clan. It is expected that people would want to share their condolences with you. I’m just a village girl, and I doubt that any of those town people even know me.”

“You must hate that. Especially when you worked really hard.”

“No. Why would I be?”

It had to be a lie. Hong Guang couldn’t come up with any other explanation for her friend’s words. Deep down she must really hate her. “Don’t tell me you are okay with getting treated like you don’t even exist.”

“I am. It’s just who I am. I was born into this village family, and I’m quite happy with it. Well at least I was, until… Never mind. Let’s not talk about that. Well, it is like this. When you meet one of the clan members from the top four clans, you surely wouldn’t mind not being cared about as much as they would be now, would you?”

“You know what, actually I would. I won’t ever stand getting treated like rubbish just because I wasn’t born into one of those clans. Never ever. And I won’t bow to any of them just because they are from a great clan, unless they show me that they are truly worthy of my respect. And you shouldn’t either.”

Chapter Text

Looking at the teenagers play, shouting so loud, carefreely, Wei Wu Xian regretted not meeting with Lan Sizhui, or the other juniors before leaving Cloud Recesses. That evening, while they were having tea with Zewu Jun, a disciple presented Lan Xi Chen a message from Wang Ji, which only said that he will be visiting Qinghe.

After hearing this, Wu Xian blurted a stupid excuse to Lan Xi Chen and dragged Wen Ning out of Cloud Recesses. Only after leaving the Cloud Recesses did Wen Ning dared to fight back by refusing to move. And only after Wen Ning stopped moving did Wu Xian realised that he was only dragging Wen Ning, because he let him to. Of course, this was Wen Ning, the Ghost General, and he was stupid to think that he could drag Wen Ning even a step. Wen Ning was so strong. Probably stronger than Wu Xian could ever be.

“Master, what do you think you are doing? And rushing out like that was so rude, might I add.”

“Wen Ning, you have really learned to complain now, haven’t you? We have to go to Qinghe.”

“We?”

“Oh! Oh, right. Only if you want to. You are not obliged to follow me or anything.”

Wen Ning thought for a moment, his head down. “Okay, I will come. But Master, what do you think you are doing? Is it because you want to meet Hanguang Jun? Wouldn’t it be better to wait for him here? He would be back in a few days anyway.”

Only then did Wu Xian realised he really hadn’t been thinking. As soon as he heard that Lan Wang Ji was in Qinghe, all he wanted to do was to go to Qinghe. He didn’t even take a moment to consider whether his decision was rational, and even dragged poor Wen Ning all the way out of Cloud Recesses. He was surprised that Wen Ning didn’t fight back when they were inside Cloud Recesses, but was also grateful that he didn’t.

But he was sure they will meet Lan Zhan if they went to Qinghe. It won’t be too hard. If they were lucky, they would find him right inside the Unclean Realm. It is more likely Lan Wang Ji went to meet Nie Huai Sang to talk about the murders. “No, Wen Ning, you know I hate waiting. Plus, I don’t want to eat bland food and abide by the Lan Clan’s rules more than necessary.”

“Master, we can stay at Caiyi town.”

“You really think highly of my personal wealth, don’t you? Wen Ning, I don’t have money for that.”

“If that is the case, we won’t have enough money for travelling either.”

Seeing Wen Ning nagging like this, for a second Wu Xian wondered whether he was possessed by the spirit of his sister, Wen Qing. But he was in no mood to answer Wen Ning’s questions. “We’ll make do.” He started walking without giving Wen Ning any room for another question.

Having a travelling partner, even though it was just Wen Ning, the long journey was more bearable. And what’s more was that Wen Ning knew many short cuts as well. Wu Xian didn’t ask how he knew all that, but eagerly followed. Even with that, and Wen Ning’s non-fading strength that made Wu Xian motivated to keep going even though he was exhausted himself, it took them more days to get to Qinghe than Wu Xian expected. And by the time they neared Yueyang, Wu Xian had started to see the stupidity of his plan. He realised that Lan Wang Ji could as well be on his way back to Cloud Recesses. But he didn’t word his concerns.

Finally sleeping like a dead black bear for hours in a small guest house in Yueyang, which the sixteen-year-old Wu Xian wouldn’t even have considered liveable, he woke up. Seeing Wen Ning was nowhere to be found, he went out to the streets to look around. This is where he saw a kid that resembled one of A-Yuan’s friends, and was suddenly reminded how he didn’t even meet him back at Cloud Recesses. Which of them did this kid resembled? Ahh right, was it the one wearing red? He couldn’t even remember his name, but it is the sentimental one, isn’t it? He wasn’t even from the Lan sect.

After a few minutes, Wen Ning came back and sat down beside him.

“Ah, Wen Ning, so you decided to return. I thought you had had enough of me and ran away. What made you change your mind? Couldn’t you find a friend as charming as I am?”

“Master Wei, I… I just went to find some food that we could afford.” Wen Ning said offering him a steamed bun. “Ah… Master, let’s go to the Unclean realm as… as soon as possible. Otherwise, we are going to run out of money. And hopefully… Hanguang Jun would be there, because if not, you’ll have to end up asking for money from sect leader Nie.”

Wu Xian was silent for some minutes. Why did he feel this nervous? Isn’t this what he wanted? He wanted to meet Lan Wang Ji as soon as possible. But right now, he felt like he would rather stay in this tumbling down guest house, than going to the Unclean Realm. ‘Whatever. Just sitting here and worrying about it is not going to do any good.’ He grabbed one bun from Wen Ning and stood up.

“In that case Wen Ning, let’s eat as we walk. There really is no need to dally.”

Wen Ning was tailing his master, and was watching him pick at his steamed bun, not having that much appetite when Wu Xian suddenly stopped in front of a young man.

With a bright smile Wu Xian said, “Master, by any chance, do you know whether Hanguang Jun is in the Unclean Realm?”

Looking at his robes, Wen Ning realised that this was indeed a Nie disciple.

“Master, Hanguang Jun never came to the Unclean Realm.”

“Wh... What? Why? Where is he?” All the things that could have happened went through Wu Xian’s head and he broke a sweat.

“Ah, we don’t know either. He is surely in Qinghe and is travelling from place to place. Places where the chaos is, being true to his name. Our sect leader, getting to know that he came to Qinghe even prepared to welcome him. But he never once visited the Unclean Realm.”

“Ah, that is why.” Wu Xian visibly heaved a sigh, making Wen Nig hide a smile. “By the way, do you have any idea where Hanguang Jun might be at the moment?” he asked eagerly.

“No master. Hanguang Jun travels alone and unannounced, so it is quite hard to know where he is. But we heard about some disturbance near the south end of Qinghe. There is a chance you might find him there. But it is only my guess. No guarantee.”

Wu Xian got the directions to the mentioned place from the disciple. “Come, Wen Ning, I’m in no mood to ask for money from Nie Huai Sang. So, the sooner we meet Lan Zhan, the better right?”

 “Master Wei, you… you don’t have to give any fake excuses for wanting to meet Hanguang Jun. But there still is a chance that Hanguang Jun could be in the opposite end of Qinghe from where we are headed. So, if you are looking for money, sect leader Nie is still your best option.”

“Wen Ning, do you think I’m only going all the way there to get money from Hanguang Jun? I want to check out the disturbances. It is our duty to check them out, isn’t it?”

“But master Wei…”

“Wen Ning, say no more. You seriously aren’t thinking about neglecting your duties, are you?”

…

“Maiden, I’m telling you, you surely will find a clue there.”

Xia Hong Guang was still not convinced by the words of the middle-aged man, and despite her ‘humbleness’ was still salty for getting called maiden instead of lady. She told herself that it was because back home, she was used to being called a lady by everyone who was not family.

She had come to the town that Dong had mentioned. To her relief Wang Chun Hua had come with her so willingly, she hadn’t even had to say a single word to convince her before she agreed. And thanks to spending some time with Dong, Hong Guang knew which sort of people to look for, to get information.

She had been right about this guy. He had been willing to pour a mountain for a single piece of silver. From him, she learned that there was a nearby village that was murdered. And this guy was betting that it was the same murderer that killed her village, and was telling her she is definitely going to find some clues if she went there. But thanks to the information given to her by that Nie cultivator, she knew better. These murders were done by ghosts or demons while her village was murdered by humans.

But no matter how many times she asked him whether he has seen or heard any information about a group of people that even remotely resembled their villagers, he skilfully changed the subject. Finally, Hong Guang decided that there wasn’t anything else she could get from him.

“So ,Chun Hua, what do you think about going to this village?”

“I don’t think it will hurt us in any way to check it out. We don’t have a lead, so that is the best we can do for now. Who knows? That guy could be right. We might find some clues.”

“So, it seems we both agree on checking it out.”

The village was way further than they had anticipated. The only thing that they had to hold onto in order to assure themselves that they weren’t lost, is that there was no dividing that they noticed in the road they took. They had set right after they had talked to that man to get to the village before they lost daylight. Even though both girls were in a good mood and high spirited, (especially Hong Guang who felt like they were off to an adventure) deep down they knew they were approaching a murder scene, and it is probably even more dangerous than their village was. They have never encountered a demon or seen the work of a demon or any ferocious ghosts. But everyone they asked from about this village told them that it had to be the work of a demon.

The sky started getting darker. It was getting late, but it was also because the sky was filled with heavy clouds. The surroundings became eerie, and both the girls suddenly felt disheartened. They were contemplating on going back when a strong smell hit them. It was so bad, they both gagged.

“I think we are near,” said Hong Guang while at the same time Chun Hua said, “I think we should really go back.”

“Go back? No way. I know it is getting late, but we already walked a long way to get here. Let’s get a quick glimpse. Then we don’t have to come back.”

“But what is this smell. Can you bare it? Do you even have a nose?”

“I have a nose okay. I’m pretty sure I’m someone who’s really sensitive to smells. But don’t you remember? That Nie cultivator said that the corpses smelled so bad. I don’t think this smell is going to get any better tomorrow. It’s more likely to get worse.”

“But it’s about to rain. I have to say that rain and mud with a village filled with dead bodies is surely not going to be my cup of tea.”

“Oh, come on! If anyone is going to be the posh one here, it has to be me. It won’t rain right away. We can take a quick…” Hong Guang suddenly stopped and signalled Chun Hua to be silent as well, because a melody drifted by them. It was so faint, but as they concentrated, they could hear it properly. It sounded like a flute.

“Chun Hua, didn’t that man from earlier told us that this village is so isolated and no one else is nearby? And I’m pretty sure he said everyone in the village was killed. I don’t know about you, but I have never heard that ghosts play any instruments.”

“Hong Guang it’s not funny. It’s creepy as hell. So, stop joking. And it sounds like a flute. I don’t like flutes. They sound so eerie. Hey STOP. Where the hell are you going?”

“Oh, come on. We need to check who would play music in such a place, whether it’s a flute or not.” Hong Guang started walking towards the sound.

Chun Hua hurriedly grabbed her arm. “What are you going to do? Barge in? We have no idea who that is. If you are not going to go back to the town without checking out this village, the least you could do is, be careful about it.”

“What could possibly happen? At the worst that could be a cultivator.”

“A cultivator? How can you tell?”

“I don’t know. I’ve just heard that they play music to ghosts. Maybe they like throwing ghost banquets or something.” Nonetheless she slowed down and took every step thereafter with caution.

Chun Hua on the other hand felt chills running through her body after hearing about ghost banquets. She really hoped that this isn’t the case. She felt like she would rather meet a group of human murderers than a ghost. But she really couldn’t let the younger girl go alone now, could she? So, she reluctantly followed as well.

Before long, they could see a black wall through the trees. At first, they thought it has to be a big house, possibly the one that belonged to the chief. But they soon found out that this wall actually ran around the whole village. This was something they have never seen before. Any of the few villages that they have visited hadn’t had a wall surrounding it. It was not that tall as they had anticipated before. It probably came up to their height. They could see the top of the houses within.

Wei Wu Xian suddenly froze. He has thought the faint footsteps he had been hearing was Wen Ning’s. It was about time that Wen Ning returned from his trip to seek food. But the footsteps sounded completely different. He lowered Chen Qing and listened. There were two people, and they were approaching like cats who slowly approach their pray. He concentrated more. When he had his golden core, it was easy to sense things, even emotions. Now the human emotions were trampled by all the mourning and anger of the dead.

He realised that they were closer than he thought. So, how come their footsteps were so soft? Have they learned the art of silent walking? But they were definitely not pros, for he could still here them. Suddenly a smile of relief came to his face. He had spotted the two approaching. He actually thought it was quite strange for two maidens to be in a place like this, especially at this hour. But it explained the fact why their footsteps were light. And he could see that they posed him no threat. He could hear their voices as well. He thought it would be fun to see what business they had here, so he settled to listen in.

“Why did the music stop?” Chun Hua asked gripping Hong Guang’s hand.

“Maybe they saw us.” Hong Guang replied with a grin. But after seeing Chun Hua’s expression, the depth of what she just said hit her and the grin faded away. “Oh, come on, there’s no way they saw us. We are well hidden from the trees. And if anyone could see us, we should be able to see them as well, unless they are invisible.” Hong Guang’s words were mostly for the benefit of comforting herself and to make sure she won’t lose her guts, rather than stating a fact. She knew that they haven’t been observant enough, and if the flute player was well concealed, there was a chance that they wouldn’t see him.

Wu Xian who was playing with the tassel on Chen Qing made a mind note to inform the two maidens that someone with spiritual energy could see and hear better than a normal human being. He could see the two maidens moving from tree to tree. They were doing almost a good job at hiding. If he was a normal human being and if he didn’t have this high vantage point, he doubted whether he would have spotted them.

“I don’t like this village. I usually don’t like villages, but this one is a total no no.” Hong Guang said looking around. “This has such a weird structure.”

“Yes. It’s like this place is built to make sure that something evil would happen.” Chun Hua regretted opening her mouth to speak, as she was forced to gulp some foul air carrying the unbearable stench.

They could see some dead bodies far away. It looked like someone had dragged them up to one place. They weren’t scattered everywhere. Both girls thought it was weird that someone bothered to drag them to one place but nobody had bothered to bury them. Even though both girls hated it, they couldn’t help themselves from approaching the dead bodies. They felt like they would regret it, but their curiosity won over.

Crunch. That sound was so loud they both froze. Chun Hua was about to ask Hong Guang what that noise was, when she saw her friend was slowly lowering her head towards the ground. She followed suit. What she saw made bile rise to her mouth. Under Hong Guang’s leg was an arm, broken into three pieces. No, not broken. Cracked. She had to bite her fist to keep herself from screaming. Her friend seemed to have turned to stone.

Hong Guang wanted to close her eyes and look away, for she knew what she would find if she looked around on the ground. But she felt like she had to see. So, she averted her eyes a little further. There, lying a little further away, hidden under a bush was the rest of the body. She felt her stomach turn as she saw it, but when she looked at the face, she couldn’t help but get near in order to get a better look. She heard her friend’s protests, but she brushed it away.

It was a body of a young girl. No, she realised that it could even be a boy. She cannot tell by looking at the face, and the body was only covered with inner garments. She realised when she thought the person was really thin, almost skinny, she was mistaken. There was no way to actually assume whether that person was fat or thin, nor was there any facial features that were recognisable, for the whole body was completely parched. It reminded her of dried fish, but it was worse. She could see the skeleton protruding from under the skin. The two eyeballs seemed to be lidless as the eyelids had also shrunken. At some places, she saw other shapes which she thought should be muscles. This dead body was nothing like she had seen before.

Chun Hua tucked at her sleeves, and Hong Guang found her friend looking away in the other direction. “How can you look at it so intensely. I’m done. Let’s go. This has nothing to do with our village or the Xia mansion. We shouldn’t have come here. Thankfully, we only saw a single body. If we went all the way there,” she pointed at where the bodies lay, “I think I would have died from fright. Come on, let’s leave. Even without the murders, this village is strange to begin with. Look at that structure, what even is that?”

Hong Guang looked at where Chun Hua pointed. She was about to say that it wasn’t strange at all, for it looked to her like a half-built structure of a two-floor building. Nonetheless, at that hour, that giant structure seemed creepy enough. She was about to follow her friend, when she saw something there, that stopped her and made her stop her friend as well.

She pointed at the dark figure she could see. “Look over there, what do you think that is?”

“Hong Guang, it could be anything, it’s probably just a piece of cloth. It’s hard to see.”

“Do you think it’s our flute guy?”

“Our? Stop possessing creepy things, will you?”

“All right, all right, I just want to know. Come, if we manage to go over there, to that cluster of trees, we would be able to take a proper look.” Knowing that Chun Hua wouldn’t agree to it, Hong Guang went ahead not letting her to say anything.

Wu Xian kept his eyes on the two girls. He was impressed at how they didn’t run away screaming, the moment they saw that body. But he was more interested about what they said about their village. Or more about what they didn’t say. Why did they thought that they will find something related to their village in here?

The girls finally got to the trees that they were aiming for. He was sure that they could see him more clearly from there, even though they were still a considerable distance away. He was wondering about how much a normal human could see in this dim light. They will be able to see his silhouette, but he was sure they won’t be able to see his face. Would they risk coming nearer? He felt like the shorter one would at least try.

“It is a person. Hong Guang, let’s go before he sees us.”

Wu Xian could not help but smirk at this.

“Wait, just a sec, I want to see clearly. It’s dark, he won’t see us. Is that a flute or a stick in his hand?”

Wu Xian thought it was his job to release the young maiden from her dilemma. So, he put Cheng Qing to his lips and started to play.

There was a silence from the girls’ part for a considerable amount of time. They were clearly shocked to silence. Both girls were thinking the same thing. ‘Could he hear us? Is that why he started playing right as we were talking about the flute?’

Hong Guang thought that it was impossible. They spoke so softly, and the man was far away. But either way, she decided that she didn’t like it. “Okay, we saw enough. Let’s go.”

This time it was Chun Hua who grabbed her. “The colours,” she whispered. It took a second for Hong Guang to realize that she was talking about his robes. Red and Black! Red and black exactly like how Chun Hua said the colours of the robes of the group of murderers were.

“Do you think it’s one of them?” Hong Guang asked forgetting her fear. A gleam of anger had come across her eyes.

“I don’t know. It couldn’t be, right?”

“Let’s go and see.”

“No. No way. We must go back. Please let’s go back.” Chun Hua’s face was filled with pleading.

“No. I want to take a look. None of us have seen them. So, if this is one of them, I want to at least get an idea of what he looks like. If you don’t want to go near, stay here. I’ll take a quick glance and come back. See that over there?” She pointed to a ladder like structure. It wasn’t exactly a ladder and the ‘rungs’ were not even parallel. But it was her best choice, if she wanted to get to that higher level the flute player was. “His back is turned towards that direction. So, if I climbed slowly, he wouldn’t even notice.”

“Are you sure you can climb that? That doesn’t look safe. Have you climbed something like that before?”

“No. But I guess I have no choice.”

She started to slowly approach the structure, making sure every step she took was as soundless as possible. Wu Xian turned his face away from her, because he really didn’t want the girl to get startled and go back. He liked to know more about what they were talking about. Which “one of them” was the two girls assuming that he was part of? Were they really excited to see a cultivator? Is that what they meant? But something told him that wasn’t the case. So, he kept as still as possible and played the flute steadily, letting the girl approach.

Looking up from the foot of the “ladder”, Hong Guang realised the rungs were far off than she anticipated, and the building was so high. If she fell from one of the top rungs, she would be lucky if she only broke a limb. She really wished she could go back, but how can she just go back and tell Chun Hua she was too scared to do it? That was not the only thing that was keeping her from turning back. This was the only lead that they had gotten since they came back to their town. She cannot just let it slip away, just because she was frightened to climb a mere ladder. She took a heavy breath and started to climb.

She realised that the rungs were too far for her to only use her feet to climb it. The few ladders she had climbed in her life were small, and her feet were enough to haul her up, allowing her hands to secure herself on the ladder. But now she had to use her hands to hoist herself up as well. Her weak arms started to tremble with all the weight they had to carry, and some rungs were made out of bamboo making them slippery. Halfway up, she had to stop to catch her breath. But now she was so close to the flute player, she didn’t dare to breath very heavily. Her only assurance was the sound of the flute. She was hoping that the melody would conceal all the sounds she and the ladder was making.

Wu Xian really wanted to pop from the side and scream ‘got ya’ at the girl. But he feared that it will make her lose her grip and fall. So, he lowered the flute and waited patiently. No sound? Is she resting again? She was so high up, he thought she wouldn’t stop. But he waited patiently for the girl to start climbing again. A considerable amount of seconds passed by, but the girl didn’t move. Why wasn’t she moving? What was she waiting for?

Hong Guang’s hands were aching so badly. When would the flute player start playing again? Why did he stop in the first place? Did he hear her? Was he waiting for her to make a sound? Hong Guang felt her eyes tear up from the pain her arms were going through. If she couldn’t shift her position soon, she’d surely lose her grip. ‘Please play that flute again, pretty please, so I can actually move.’ She silently begged and prayed hoping her hands wouldn’t get numb and make her loose her grip.

“HEY, WHO IS THERE?”

That’s it. It shocked her to death. That scream. She didn’t even know where it came from. But before she knew, she was falling.

Chapter Text

Wei Wu Xian was so focused on the girl; he didn’t even hear the group of people that approached. until it was too late. When he finally felt them and turned his head, they have already seen him.

“HEY, WHO IS THERE?”

He stood up and opened his mouth to answer, but he was immediately stopped by a scream. Without even having to guess, he knew it was the girl. She must have gotten shocked and let go of the ladder. He braced himself for the crash, but it didn’t come. He ran to the edge and saw that thankfully the girl had managed to grip another beam on the side. But there was nothing below for her to use as a foothold. He knew she won’t be able to hang in there for much long.  

Some of the people from the group came running to see what’s going on as well. They must be cultivators who have decided to night-hunt together. He could see one or two Jin’s and were those grey ones from the Nie sect? But nobody seemed to be willing to fly up and get the maiden back to the ground. He thought of jumping and catching the maiden midway and lowering her to the ground. As romantic as it sounded, he knew that it could go very wrong, and it might end up hurting them both badly. Wu Xian extended his hand. “Maiden, hold my hand. I can pull you up.”

Hong Guang still couldn’t believe that she managed to grip a beam. She thought she would fall all the way down. She had her eyes shut tight, but somehow, she could feel what was happening in her surroundings. She could tell that people were gathered underneath. And she also felt gravity like she never had before. Her hands were already slipping.

“Who is that person? Isn’t he the one who’s responsible for the murders?” It was one of the people gathered below. Hearing this, Hong Guang tensed. Could he really be a murderer? It is quite possible, isn’t it?

“Who is that lady? Is she with him?”

“No, I think he pushed her.”

“Me too.”

“But isn’t that him? I think it’s him.”

“Yes, it is. What is he doing here?”

“Maiden, come on. Don’t be afraid. Grab my hand.” It was a more desperate voice. Was it coming from above?

Hong Guang knew that she won’t last long like this. She had to open her eyes. She couldn’t do anything with her eyes closed. But doesn’t everyone tell that when you are in a high place, never to look down? She had heard that, it is quite scary to do so. But seeing no other option, she counted to three and forced herself to open her eyes.

At first, she felt very disoriented. But as she adjusted, she felt like looking at the ground wasn’t that scary. Even though she was higher than the gatherers’ heads, she felt like she was not that far from the ground.

“Come on, hurry.”

She followed the voice turning her head up, and was met with a young face. Wow, he is handsome!

“Do you think he summoned demons to kill all these ghosts?” Another from below questioned.

The thought of him killing all these people. Was he the one who killed her aunt? That was it. What is even handsome? It lost its meaning. Hong Guang’s mind was a whirlwind of anger and disgust. And that outstretched hand. She wished that she could get a blade and tear it apart. There’s no way she’s going to hold it. She’d rather die.

Well, there was only one thing to do, if she is not going to grab that hand. The ground didn’t even look that further away. Again, she mentally counted to three and let go.

There was a rush of wind and many screams, and sooner than she expected, her feet hit the ground so hard. The shock ran all the way to her head and she was momentarily blinded. The impact forced her forward and she fell to her knees and hands, scratching both her hands and cutting one knee.

She could here others murmur, but two girls ran towards her. One got to her knees as well.

“Hey, are you all right? If your hands were slipping, you should have grabbed that master’s hand. Are you all right? Can you stand up?”

Now Hong Guang saw that she was stupid to just let go of the beam like that. Her head was still hurting from the impact, not to even mention her soles. But how could she grab that hand? Even they think that he is a murderer. How can they expect her to do that?

But she realised it was better on both ends if she let the others think ‘her hands slipped.’ “I am fine. Don’t worry.” She stood up and was really grateful for the other girl’s support. But with the movement, her head started throbbing even more.

She looked at the girls that helped her. She was planning to say thank you, but was caught off guard by their looks. They were both very beautiful. They were tall as well. This is the kind of beauty that people usually call sexy, or even noble. The one near her wore light gold robes. She could tell they were cultivators. The other wore light purple and black. It was a weird colour combination, but somehow, they were weirdly beautiful.

She knew that cultivators wear the colours of their sects, and she wondered which sect would come up with such colours.

But interrupting her thoughts, the young man jumped from the top floor and landed very smoothly next to her.

She could see some people backing up. But they all looked like cultivators. So why is a group of cultivators scared of just one person?

“What are you doing here all alone? What happened in here? Why would you be in such a place?”

One of the corners of the man’s mouth lifted. “My dear fellow, I have the same questions for you.” He said very calmly.

“We are night-hunting. Are you dumb not to figure that out?”

“So, let me ask you, as a fellow cultivator, what do you assume that I am doing.”

“You are not a fellow cultivator. And as far as I know, this could very well be your doings.”

Hong Guang could hear a bunch of murmured yeses.

“I can assure you, “not-fellow-cultivator”, I wasn’t that bored.”

“Then what were you doing here? Prove that you aren’t the murderer.”

“I was just gathering evidence just like you came here to do. And what if I pointed my finger at you and accused you of murder? Can you prove that you didn’t do it? Anyway, these bodies are a few days old. The murderer could have killed, went away and came with your little group. Can anyone prove otherwise?”

Everyone fell silent. It seemed like the accusation didn’t sit well with them. Of course, the murderer won’t confess so easily, and on top of that, Hong Guang could tell right away that this one was smart and cunning as well.

The others might not have any evidence. But she knew about the colour of the robes. She knew it wasn’t enough to prove anyone guilty. But she couldn’t let this one just slip away.

“He was playing the flute.” The words were out of her mouth before she realised it. But she didn’t say anything wrong. He WAS playing the flute. And she knew some instruments could be used as weapons. Is this the effect of a flute? This gruesome death?

“Oh, so you were using your tricks then? Why else would you play the flute? We caught you red handed.”

“My dear fellow, if anyone was in the vicinity when I was using my ‘tricks’, they would clearly have felt its effect. And as you can see, this maiden is just fine.”

He threw a scowl at Hong Guang. But did she care? Hell no. He could scowl at her all he wanted, and she would gladly scowl at him in return.

“So, as you can see,” the man continued, “I was just playing my flute to kill time. And if that was a crime, I think thousands should be punished. It is none of your business what I was doing here. But I was in a good mood. So, I will relieve your minds by saying that I was just waiting for Hanguang Jun. Now, would I recklessly kill a bunch of villagers as I was waiting for the righteous Hanguang Jun?” With that he slowly walked through the crowd.

Hong Guang’s jaw fell open. Are they really letting him get away like that? They even parted making him a way to retreat. Why are they doing that? She could feel the power of the name that he used as an excuse. It seemed everyone respected it, or at least they were scared of it. Hong Guang couldn’t figure out why. Who the hell is this Hanguang Jun?

The man soon blended with the darkness and Hong Guang could no longer see him. It seemed like all the other cultivators didn’t even dare to make a move. Except for a few hushed out conversations here and there, they were all standing where they were.

“Doesn’t that hurt? You are bleeding.” The girl in black and light purple asked, pointing at her knee. Hong Guang glanced at it, and being true to her words, there was a patch of red on her trousers. Even she was surprised. She felt the little burning of the cut, but she didn’t expect it to bleed this much.

“Li Mei Mei, I think it’s better if we go back to that tavern. Lady, why don’t you come with us. I have some medicine with me, but I left my bag at the tavern. Sooner we go there, the better. It looks like it’s going to rain.”

Hong Guang was pleased that they didn’t ignore her. But she also felt guilty. She felt like she would end up being a burden. “Thank you so much, but I will only come if it won’t bother you.”

“Ah no, not at all. My medicine would be good against infections. It would be better if you put some on. Come, let’s go.”

“Ah… I… Can you wait for me for a minute?” Hong Guang started to walk towards the trees where she left Chun Hua.

“Hong Guang, I’m here.” She turned back to see Chun Hua walking towards her from the group of people.

“I thought you said that you would stay behind the trees. Didn’t expect you to come out.”

“How can I not? I saw you fall from up there. I thought you would end up breaking both your legs.”

“Trust me, it felt like I did. By the way, this lady invited me to go to a tavern with her.”

“Yes, I heard. It is for the better. And I’m really thankful that there is a group of people, and we don’t have to walk that long road all alone at this hour.”

Hong Guang felt the same. It definitely was much safer. Especially when the murderer was still roaming around. So, they set out with the two girls. A lot of people had decided to go back as well. Only a few remained. Some of them even flew away, making Hong Guang feel guilty, thinking that there is a chance that the two girls had only decided to walk because of them.

Nonetheless, not willing to lose the chance at hand, she asked, “You said that you are night-hunting. What are you night-hunting for? And did you find anything so far?”

“Lady, seems like you know about cultivators. Are you a cultivator too? If so, I’m sorry I mistook you for a mundane human. I am Qi Xue. Well, Jin Qi Xue to be exact, because someone was so mad at me for not telling him my surname. But I would prefer if you just call me Qi Xue. And this is Li Mei Mei. We became friends through this hunt.”

“Ah, nice to meet you. I am Xia Hong Guang and this is Wang Chun Hua. I would prefer if you call me Hong Guang too. But you are not mistaken lady, well… Qi Xue, I’m not a cultivator. And why did you apologise? Being a non-cultivator isn’t a bad thing.”

“Oh, yes, that’s so true. But I have seen some cultivators getting so mad, when they get mistaken for normal people. I guess I have become so used to saying sorry just to stop them being annoyed at me. Anyway, as for the questions you asked, to be honest, even we don’t know what we are hunting. Actually, my father asked us to look into these murders, and as we had no idea where to begin, when we met this group, we joined them. But it seems like they have no idea what they are looking for either.”

“I really wanna go home,” she continued. “But somehow my brother is obsessed with finding a solution.”

“A little too obsessed if you ask me.” Mei Mei said with a little laugh. “By the way, where is he?”

“Oh, I saw him flying on his swords with the others.” Qi Xue rolled her eyes. “I’m pretty sure that spoilt brat didn’t feel like walking. Anyway Hong Guang, what is your story?”

“Ah, nothing much, except for my whole clan was murdered, including half the village that we lived in, and the other half is missing and the cherry on top is we have no clue where to even begin searching for them.” Hong Guang definitely didn’t feel like unwinding her burden on these two girls and look like she’s begging for comfort. This way it’s simple and better. Though Chung Hua could not help but cringe at her description that lacked even a slight bit of emotion.

“Wow, sounds pretty fun to me.” Qi Xue replied with the same tone.

“So, let me guess, you are here looking for them?” Mei Mei asked. “Why did you think that this village will help you? Is your village murdered the same way?”

“Definitely not.” Chun Hua replied. “And seeing those bodies, well I only saw one up close, but that was more than enough to make me realise how thankful I am that my father didn’t meet such a gruesome end. Do you think it hurt?”

“Some of the Lan sect disciples had witnessed a murder happening, and we got a report that the victims screamed so loudly until they finally died. Dying is one thing, but dying while screaming in agony… I really wish that someone would find a solution soon.”

Hong Guang’s knee was hurting and she didn’t feel like hearing about gruesome murders anymore. But one word managed to prick her ears up. “Lan sect? You mean that famous sect from Gusu? Do all cultivators get reports from famous sects?”

“No, definitely not. And sects usually don’t report to others unless there is a huge threat like this one. Even then I don’t think Lan sect would have sent any report to smaller sects. But because we are from the Lanling Jin sect, yes, we got a report.”

“Oooooh! Oh my god. You are actually from the Jin sect. You said your surname was Jin. But I didn’t expect you to actually be from THE Jin sect. Wait, if your name is Jin, then does that mean you are a clan member? That’s so damn cool. I have heard about that sect, but this is my first-time meeting one. I’ve heard your sect is so rich. Oh, I’m so jealous.”

Qi Xue let out a nervous laugh. She didn’t know what to take out of the other girls’ words. And she had never met someone who admits that they were jealous so easily. “I can’t imagine why you are so surprised, and excited to know that I’m from the Jin sect, when you accused the YiLing Patriarch so easily before.”

“But you are from the Jin sect. Oh, and that good for nothing murderer. I’m sure he is up to no good. And the colours of his…”

Wait, Yi… YiLing what now? Did the other girl just say… No… There’s no freaking way. There’s got to be some mistake. She must have heard it wrong. Or maybe, maybe there is another one that goes by that name. Because there is no way in hell that that was the YiLing Patriarch Wei Wu Xian!!! (It was at this moment, that she knew, she f***ed up ;D)

“Wait did you just say…” But before Hong Guang could finish her question, a heavy rain fell off the sky.

Qi Xue grabbed Hong Guang’s hand, “come on, we are almost there. Let’s hurry.”

All four girls were panting when they finally managed to get under the tavern’s roof’s protection. All of them were soaking wet. But Hong Guang was glad for the rain droplets on her face, for she was sure some tears fell along the way, because running just made it feel like the skin was ripping apart on her cut knee.

The tavern was almost full, mostly with the cultivators that visited the village. Thankfully, they were able to find a table in a corner, and Hong Guang collapsed into a cushion heaving a sigh of relief. Soon they realised why that table was vacant. There was a cold draft drifting across it, that made their soaked selves shiver. Realising that they were making pools around them, Chun Hua looked around in worry. But it seemed the workers were too busy to even care.

Qi Xue ordered many dishes that sounded tasty and expensive at the same time, and she also demanded that hot tea to be served to their table immediately. Hong Guang knew that she and Chun Hua couldn’t afford to waste such money for a single meal, and therefor they won’t be able to contribute to the bill. But she was too tired to care about being equal and not relying on other people and all that nonsense at the moment. So, as soon as a tea cup was placed in front of her, she gulped the whole thing down in one go.

But as she set the cup down and looked up, her eyes fell on a young man around their age, staring at their table with an angry scowl, which made her shrink back a bit. The fact that his hands were on his hips didn’t help either. She immediately turned to Qi Xue to warn her just in case the guy was angry enough to come to their table and scold them or throw a whole tantrum. But she found that Qi Xue, surprisingly had become very interested about a nearby pillar, and was intensely examining it. Maybe she had noticed the guy already, and had concluded that the best way to avoid trouble was by not taking any notice of that person at all.

But as Hong Guang looked at the guy again, to her relief, she saw him turn around and walk away.

“Lady, are you positive that that was the YiLing Patriarch?”

Qi Xue laid down her chopsticks. “Chun Hua, right? Girl, you don’t have to call me lady. I told you my name already, so there is no need at all. And as for the question you asked, yes I’m sure.”

“So, have you seen him before? Isn’t he so scary? I would be terrified to meet him.” Chun Hua asked, and from her voice, they could tell that she was really concerned.

“I can’t exactly say that I’ve met him. Well, to be honest, I haven’t. But my brother had. But I don’t think he is that scary. I mean, he’s right there and he’s just calmly sitting there, and doesn’t seem like in a hurry to kill anyone now, is he?”

They all looked at the direction she had pointed, and just as she said, the man they saw in the village was sitting at a table in the far corner. Hong Guang’s stomach turned. Was he really the YiLing patriarch? Well, this other girl is from the Lanling Jin sect, and she would know him, right? But then again, she just said that she had never met him. Hong Guang really wished she was mistaken. She didn’t know whether she was starstruck or was really scared, but she knew one thing for sure. She’d rather that that wasn’t the first encounter of her and the legendary Wei Wu Xian.

Suddenly, the person who was staring at them earlier slopped next to Qi Xue, and dropped a bundle on their table, making Hong Guang scream out of shock.

“What the hell do you think you are doing? You sacred my friends.” Qi Xue was so annoyed at her brother. She had tried her best to convey to him that she didn’t want to deal with his ‘nonsense’ when her friends were around, by doing her best to ignore him. But the dummy clearly hadn’t received the message.

“Here, dry yourselves up.” Jin Chan handed over the towels. “I don’t want to pay extra because you drip all over the floor. And if you feel sick, don’t expect me to pet you.”

“Pamper you.” Qi Xue corrected.

“Huh?”

“Nothing.” But looking at how her new friends were hesitating without taking the towels to dry themselves off she said, “This is my brother. The one who didn’t wait for us. His name is Jin Chan if any of you are interested, that is.”

“Little sister, you don’t want to fight with me. Trust me, this is not the time to make your friends into enemies.”

“Why not? And just in case you have forgotten, we are just related, not friends. There is a difference.”

“Blabber your smart ass off. I don’t care. But you better protect yourself against the YiLing Patriarch.  Don’t want to go and tell our dad you died from his hand, because you wouldn’t let me protect you.”

“Protect me? My sword skills are way better than yours. So, I wondered who would end up protecting whom?”

Jin Chan was so humiliated, he felt anger bubbling inside him. How dare she say such a thing in front of others. Especially women. He wanted to shake her till she apologised, but he was stopped by Chun Hua’s concerned voice.

“Is he that bad?” Chun Hua asked casting worried glances at Wei Wu Xian’s direction. “I don’t want to be here anymore.”

“Oh, don’t worry girl, my brother is exaggerating. And we can’t leave yet. We didn’t treat Hong Guang’s wounds yet. Brother, why don’t you stop frightening my friend, and go upstairs and grab my herbs bag for me?”

Even Qi Xue was surprised when Jin Chan left without a complain.

“Qi Xue, do you learn about medicine? Are you a doctor?” Mei Mei asked.

“No. But my mother made our family doctor teach us a few essential herbs, that we would need in an emergency situation, and my mother is a total brainiac for doing so. See how useful that is.”

Hong Guang wasn’t interested about her new friend’s herbal knowledge at all. She had seen a totally different view about the YiLing Patriarch. She and her sister had grown up thinking Wei Wu Xian is so cool. There weren’t that many people to tell them otherwise. She knew her parents wasn’t fond of their obsession about dark things, but they never bothered to stop them either. But then again, they would have never dreamt that one of their daughters would end up meeting Wei Wu Xian in real life.

“Qi Xue, is the YiLing Patriarch really a bad person? There were rumours about him killing five thousand people by summoning the death. But I thought it was all fake. Who would kill five thousand people?” Hong Guang risked a small glance at Wu Xian, and she couldn’t even believe someone so handsome is capable of such a thing.

“Three thousand,” Qi Xue said.

“Huh?”

“Three thousand, not five, but that’s also more or less fake. I also believed that he was a killer once, but not anymore. He ended up saving people including my brother. And many of these people were the ones who accused him for killing years ago. If it was me, I would have just left them to die. And that makes me sure he is not a bad person. And later on, they found who the real killer was. This is sort of a secret. Not everyone knows about this. So, don’t ask me who the killer was.

“Ah I knew it,” Hong Guang wasn’t able to hide her smile, “He can’t be that bad. And he is sooo handsome. There’s no way such a handsome person would do such a thing. My sister likes him even more than I do. What a pity that she is not here right now. She would have been so euphoric.”

“But he is still someone who raise the dead, isn’t he?” Chun Hua asked. “No matter what, I would rather keep my distance. And Hong Guang, if you are going to judge someone’s innocence by how handsome he is, you are so stupid.”

“I don’t judge innocence by how handsome they are. But Wu Xian doesn’t look like he is a bad person. He actually looks so innocent. And no, it’s not because he is handsome. He is handsome because he is innocent, not the other way around.”

“Who is handsome?” They looked up to see three guys grinning at them, and behind them stood Jin Chan. “Well ladies, if you are looking for a handsome…”

But before the speaker could finish, he received a hit on the head by Jin Chan. “This is my sister you idiot.”

But all the girls looked in annoyance at how Jin Chan didn’t stop the three from sitting at their table.

“Oh my, you ladies should have seen what a psycho that person is.” The guy who spoke was way older than them. Maybe in his late thirties. And by his clothes they could tell, that even though he was a cultivator, he was not from a very rich sect. “No wonder people are scared of him.”

“Yes, you are right,” the second guy said, “I think the sooner we leave here the better.”

Jin Chan looked at them annoyingly. “Why should we leave because of that Wei? And why are you frightened? He is nothing but another cultivator. On top of that, a cultivator who follows a crooked path. And I’m pretty sure without Hanguang Jun by his side, he is nothing better than us. So, why should we be scared?”

“You say that because you are an idiot who has no braincells to reason with, and had become a puppet to whatever father says,” Qi Xue said. “We should not be scared of him. But it’s not because we can take him down. I’m pretty sure we won’t be able to, at least not without suffering losses.”

“Your sister is right, master Jin,” the first man spoke up, “we should not underestimate him. But lady Jin, I have to say, I completely disagree with him being harmless. I’m pretty sure your naïve heart would think so. All females are like this. But you didn’t hear what he said.”

“Well, what did he say?” Not being able to contain her curiosity, Hong Guang burst out.

“Nothing much,” Jin Chan replied disappointing Hong Guang. Qi Xue got her herbs out and started to apply some on her wounds.

“Just some nonsense about manipulating demon energies or whatsoever. That is when he is willing to talk. You should have seen how he ignored us. What a pompous bastard. And why is he talking about demon energy manipulation like it’s something really foreign to him? Let me tell you, he is tangled with this somehow.”

“Well, you already knew what he is like. If you think he is a pompous person, why would you go and talk to him?” Qi Xue said tying up her herbs bundle.

“You might not want to succeed in finding the problem, but I do. And I’m willing to sacrifice my pride for that.”

At this, Qi Xue rolled her eyes, making sure her brother won’t notice.

“Ladies,” the third man spoke up, “let me tell you, you are going to get the fright of your life when the ghost general shows up.”

“The ghost general? Is he real?” This is also something that Hong Guang had thought was just a rumour.

“Oh, he is real, and mark my words. Even now, he is somewhere near, looming in the darkness. Ready to strike at his masters bidding.”

“I have seen him too.” Jin Chan said crinkling his face in disgust. “He is the most terrifying being I’ve ever seen. His grey skin and those black marks. Completely hideous. Only someone like Wei Wu Xian could tolerate him. It’s because they are the same inside.”

When the first man spoke again, his voice was so wobbly, everyone could see that he was not faking his terror. “Ma… Master Jin…, D… Do you think that… Do you think that those people were killed to be eaten by the ghost general? Oh… my… god…”

Hong Guang was vaguely aware that Jin Chan replied to this. But she was in no mood to listen anymore. She really didn’t like the direction this conversation was going.  The longer the conversation stretched, the more uncomfortable she got. Qi Xue’s comforting words that Wei Wu Xian is not a bad person, is covered by many other opinions to the point it didn’t matter anymore.

She didn’t want to believe that Wei Wu Xian is a bad person. But right now, she is feeling a lot of negative things directed at Wei Wu Xian, her group of friends and herself as well. And she didn’t like the sound of this ghost general at all. She had heard about this unkillable corpse that was brought back to life by Wei Wu Xian. Even back when she thought it was just a bedtime story, she didn’t like the sound of it. She had always believed resurrecting the dead was a bad thing, and she didn’t want Wei Wu Xuan to be a person who does such things. But now, people are telling her that there is such a scary being called the ghost general, and he was resurrected by Wei Wu Xian. The Wei Wu Xian that they thought was really awesome, and wished they could meet someday.

She couldn’t bare it any longer. So, she excused herself saying that she needed fresh air, and went out to walk along the streets. It took her a few minutes before she realised that it had stopped raining. She kept on walking trying to get this negativity out of her mind.

She had no idea how long she had been walking, when she suddenly stopped because of the sound of raised voices. She had come to a village like area, with a bunch of small houses. Out of curiosity, she walked up to the group of people.

Chapter Text

Even all the shouting wasn’t enough to prepare her to the scene that unfolded. What she first noticed was a man sitting on the ground clutching his head on the right side of his temple. Even though she couldn’t see that well, because of the darkness, she could tell by the way he was clutching his head, he was badly hurt, even bleeding. There was a mother and a daughter a little way away from the man. They both looked helpless, and the little girl was silently sobbing. Her face was a swollen disaster, which made Hong Guang think maybe the child was crying hysterically moments ago, and now was silenced either because she had no more energy to cry or was scared into silence.

There were three men, and not so surprisingly, one was holding a big club. The men were scolding with raised voices. By the look of it, the father owed them something. Money? Crops? She couldn’t really tell.

“WILL IT KILL YOU TO GIVE US A LITTLE MORE TIME?” It seemed the mother had had enough, and finally burst out. Her scream was high pitched, and Hong Guang was sure the three men can never compete with that loudness. But it was also clear that it wasn’t strength that fed that voice but fear.

The man with the club raised it. “This wench really doesn’t know her place now, does she? I will teach you how you should treat gentlemen like us.”

The woman was shocked into stillness. It was obvious that she couldn’t do anything to dodge the club. If it landed, it might even kill her on the spot.

“Don’t you dare!” Uh, oh. Oh no. It was clearly too late when Hong Guang realised that by shouting, the only thing she was doing was adding another head to the beating. This wasn’t a story that someone was telling her, while they were seated next to a warm fire. This was real, and getting involved means putting yourself in danger as well. But it was too late to back out now. She realised that this is why no one else is around. They didn’t want to get hurt by helping these people. But what else can she do? Run? She was sure they could catch her.

‘Okay Hong Guang, since there’s no escape, while you are at it, why don’t you do your best to teach these heartless monsters a lesson?’

“Are you really this weak, to the point you have to beat a woman to show how strong you are? I thought that “gentlemen” usually have a lot of patience. But this could only mean one of these two things. Either the rest of the world is wrong with their definition of gentlemen, or you are some good for nothing fakes.”

“I was going to let this go, but you really wanted to teach us a lesson, didn’t you? Well, tell you what girl. We are gentlemen and as gentlemen, we always pay back for anything we receive. So, it’s only fair if we teach you a lesson too.” The speaker took the club from the one who was holding it, and walked towards Hong Guang.

But, for once, Hong Guang had no fear in her mind, for it was filled with anger and disgust. “Oh, is your pride that badly hurt that you have to beat someone to restore it?”

The blow came, but Hong Guang managed to stop it by gripping the man’s wrist. She saw that the man was surprised. He clearly hadn’t expected her to fight back. But the small victory she felt soon vanished as the man gripped her wrist with his other hand and yanked it away. He didn’t let go, and no matter how hard Hong Guang tried to release it, she couldn’t. She realised with a bolt of fear, that she cannot compete with the man’s strength. Her strength was nowhere near it.

With the grip on her wrist, the man threw her to the ground. She knew she was doomed. There’s nothing she could do to fend any blow this time.

But the last person she expected would be able to help her, came to her rescue. Well Hong Guang wasn’t really sure why the child started to cry so loud at that moment, but it definitely drew the man’s attention away from her. But again, to what end? Now the man was going towards the child.

“Will you shut up?” But it seemed like this time, the child was so scared; she couldn’t stop her crying even if she wanted to. “If you don’t shut your mouth now, I’m going to sell you off to pay your father’s debts.”

The child’s mother hugged her tightly. But it wasn’t enough, for the man was going to succeed in pulling her away any minute. Seeing this, Hong Guang got to her feet. So, did the child’s father. But seeing that his injury was slowing him down, Hong Guang ran forward to help the mother.

She was almost there when one of the remaining two men were in front of her. Then she saw something black dropping from above. Hong Guang screamed, and threw her hand up to protect herself from whatever it was.

But when she dropped her hands, she saw that it was a man and not an animal like she assumed. The man gripped the one grabbing the child from his neck, and with inhuman strength, threw him a few feet away. The black clad man turning in their direction was enough for the man who was coming at Hong Guang to run away. Hong Guang was so confused, and was debating whether she should start running as well, when the man turned towards the little girl, and put his hand on her shoulder asking, “Are you all right,” in the most concerned way.

Seeing that there was no immediate danger anymore,e Hong Guang also decided to stay. The father came near her.

“You are a stupid child. You shouldn’t have done that. What if they hurt you?” He was silent for a while. Then relieving a sigh, he added, “Thank you for helping us. But don’t run into danger like that next time.” Then he trod towards the other man. “Master, thank you for your help as well. I am so grateful for what you did.”

“Ah… Ah it’s nothing. Is there anything else you need? Ah, you are bleeding. Shall I find a doctor?”

“No, please. We can take care of this. There is no need to bother. You did more than enough.” It was the mother. “Lady, thank you too. By any chance are you hurt?”

“No, not at all. I’m completely fine.” Hong Guang put her arms in front of her, showing that they are not hurt.

“I should take my husband to the doctor. It is getting really late. You should go home. A young girl shouldn’t stay out at night all alone.”

“Okay, don’t worry, I’ll go.” She waved her hand in farewell and turned to go. The black clad man also started walking in the same direction Hong Guang did. Hong Guang was going to talk to him. But he kept his head down and passed her with longer strides. Hong Guang wondered who he was. He wasn’t wearing cultivational robes, nor did he carry a sword. But he had a kind face, and seemed rather shy, making Hong Guang want to know who he was.

She was walking for a while when she felt like she had no idea where she was. On her way here, she made sure not to take any turns, knowing very well how bad she was at navigating. Even though she knew that this had to be the right path, she couldn’t shake off the unfamiliarity. She started to feel nervous and wished that she wasn’t alone. What can she do? She didn’t feel like going back to the village. The only human that she could see was that black clad master. She felt a little shy, but really not wanting to be alone, summoning up her courage, ran to catch up with him.

“Master, Master, is this the road to the town?”

“Ah… Wh… What town?”

“The…” wait, what was its name again? Damn did she really had to forget its name as well? Seriously her brain is really something. “Ah, well, the nearest town. I heard there’s only one nearby. So, it had to be that town.”

“If so, yes… Ah… I’m going there as well. Lady, if you want, you can come with me. I mean only if you want to.”

“Oh, Master, thank you. Actually, I was going to ask you to lead the way. So, I’m really grateful you offered.”

“Ah… it’s really nothing.”

After that, they kept on walking for a few minutes in silence. It wasn’t an awkward silence. It was quite peaceful. With her newfound ‘friend’ by her side, Hong Guang felt quite safe, and was finally able to enjoy her late-night stroll. There was something really exciting about taking a stroll this time of the day.

“I was feeling really down earlier. Now I’m feeling much better.” Hong Guang said out loud. The man didn’t say anything in return, but it clearly wasn’t because he was ignoring her, or was annoyed by her talking. Seeing this, Hong Guang asked, “Master, do you think first impressions matter?”

“Ah… Ah…” He was totally taken aback by her question. He seemed rather surprised that she even asked him one, and was really struggling with how to answer.

Hong Guang felt guilty that she put him in such a situation. She should have seen it coming, considering how it was obvious that this gentleman was really shy. She was about to say something that would excuse him from answering her question, when he spoke up.

“I think it does to a certain degree. That is just my opinion. Of course, I could be wrong. But I also think that impressions change as people get to know each other more.”

“Oh, you think so? I really wish that’s the case. Well, the thing is, I met this person that I always wanted to meet. But I never thought that I would even get a chance to. Alas, I think I just blew the whole thing up. And I’m pretty sure he hates me now.” She didn’t know why she blurted out to a total stranger. But this person seemed like he is the least judgmental stranger ever. And blurting out even a fraction of what was burdening her heart, really felt so good.

“Lady, I’m pretty sure that person will understand. If you were looking forward to meet that person, I’m sure it has to be someone good and understanding. So, this person will not judge you unless they get to know you.”

“Hmm…” Hong Guang thought for a while. “He really would be a good person, wouldn’t he? Everyone else seem to think he is bad. But he couldn’t be, could he? Okay, you know what, I’m not going to let anyone else’s opinion get in my way. Unless I really see evidence that that person is bad, I’m not gonna believe what others say. But here’s the thing, I don’t think I’ll ever get a chance to talk to him again. I just only met him by accident. But do you want to know what’s funnier? That this should be the least of my concerns right now. But I can’t help pondering on it.” This time though, Hong Guang felt awkward after blurting all that out. Even though this person is not a judgemental one, he must find her to be really weird after hearing that. She decided it’s best to change the subject.

“Master, you seem like a good fighter. Are you by any chance a cultivator?”

“Ah… I… Um… I guess I’m not.”

“Ah it’s totally fine. I just asked. You look like you are sorry that you are not. Why? You don’t have to be. Anyway, back in that village, you fought way better than any cultivator I have ever seen. So, what if you are not one? In my opinion, you are better. But I really wished that there’s something we could have done. Those people might cause that family more trouble now that they are angered. Maybe we shouldn’t have fought them.” She just thought out loud, wishing no more harm would come to them.

The man stopped in fright. He looked back towards the village ,and seemed to be contemplating on going back. “Ah… Ah… What can I do? I… I… I really didn’t mean to do anything bad.”

He looked so frightened that Hong Guang almost laughed. “Master, we both did whatever we could do to help at that moment. Maybe if we didn’t interfere, they could have faced worse. At least, this would give them more time to prepare for whatever comes next. Anyway, there was nothing to be done to get rid of those men forever, unless we could pay off their debts for them. I don’t have that kind of money. Do you?”

“Ah… no.”

“Then that can’t be helped now, can it?” They walked in silence for a while again. And after much consideration, Hong Guang asked, “Anyway, what I really wanted to ask was, by any chance, do you know a way to find missing people when you have no clue about their whereabout?” Hong Guang knew he’d find this sudden question to be so peculiar. But she thought she better test her luck. This person is not the everyday person you’d meet on the streets. What if he knew something that could help them?

“Ah… Um… I don’t really know. I… um… lady… if… if you don’t mind me asking, who are you looking for?”

“My parents, and the whole village in general. Or whoever is alive from them. The thing is, my clan was murdered, and so is the village nearby that I lived in. But somehow it seems half the village escaped. And this friend of mine and I have been searching for them for a while now. But we don’t even have a clue where to begin.”

“Oh. I am really sorry.” And it looked like he really meant it. His eyes were suddenly masked with sadness and Hong Guang wondered how he could be so sad because of something that happened to her. Was he missing his family as well? But Hong Guang decided it’s best not to ask.

So, it seemed they were back to silence again. But before long, the man spoke surprising Hong Guang.

“Ah… Well… the dead would know. Ah… lady... it’s because you said you don’t know who to ask. You can ask the dead.”

“Wh… what? How? You mean, like talk to ghosts?”

“Yes.”

“Can people do that?” Hong Guang knew people try from time to time talking to ghosts. But she thought it was just a silly thing people did. She never thought it was possible to have a real conversation with ghosts.

“Ah… no… not really.” Then he hung his head like he was feeling guilty. Hong Guang wanted to reassure him, but she was feeling disappointed herself, so she couldn’t bother. “Well… I mean… what I tried to say was, yes.”

“WAIT, PEOPLE CAN ACTUALLY DO THAT?”

“Ah… lady… um… well… yes, people can talk to ghosts if they are willing to talk. But ghosts, especially ghosts with a lot of hatred can… can decide not to talk or even lie. So… one should know how to make sure that they can’t lie. But that… that takes a lot of practice. Only high-level cultivators can do that. Ah… if A-Yuan was with us, he would surely help. I can ask master Wei for help, but… but… he is in a hurry to… to meet someone.”

“Wow, master seems like you know a lot of high-level cultivators then. Thank you for your help. But, well, here’s the thing. I was really excited when you told me that I could ask the dead. But now I’m wondering maybe even they might not know. As in, the only way they would know where the villagers went is, only if someone shouted their destination before running away, right? Or if the dead had overheard it or whatsoever. But in the middle of such chaos, such a thing happening is very unlikely. So, I don’t want you guys to be bothered by it, if you are really busy. But it is good to know that such a thing can be done. There are other answers that I’m seeking for, and it would be awesome if that could be done. But I guess I don’t need those answers in a hurry. So, I really don’t want to bother you if you are busy. Ah, that’s my friend over there.”

It seemed like Chun Hua had come out to seek for her.

“Master, thank you so much for your help. I wish we would meet again. Well, farewell until then, then.” Without even waiting for him to reply, Hong Guang ran towards her friend.

Chapter Text

“Hong Guang, where did you go? I was scared that something happened to you.”

“Well, something did happen to me.” Hong Guang replied grinning at Chun Hua’s expression. “Okay, sorry, I know I got carried away. I won’t leave you like that next time.”

“You better not. Oh, come inside. It’s so cold here. That lady, Qi Xue, she was also worried about you. Come let’s go and tell them you are back.”

“Oh! There you are,” seeing Hong Guang, Qi Xue came to greet her. “I thought you got lost or something.”

“Or got eaten by a ghoul.” That was Jin Chan. Qi Xue scowled at her brother and led the two girls to the table.

“Okay, Hong Guang, what happened? You said that something happened.” Chun Hua asked, not being able to mask her curiosity.

“Well, nothing much. It’s just that, I didn’t even think that I walked for that long, but I ended up in a village. There I saw three men scolding a family for some reason. Maybe they owed them some money. I have no idea. But okay, saying that they were just scolding them is really undermining the situation. They had hit the father on the head, and he was bleeding, and there was only the mother, and a little girl. And they even threatened to take that little child away.”

“How brutal,” Mei Mei remarked.

“Yeah, and I tried to help, but there were three grown men, and they even had a huge club. Well thankfully, this master came and scared them away. And he even led me here. There really are kind hearted people in the world as well.”

“Yes, that’s true.” Qi Xue said. “I always lose hope about man-kind, but then there would be that rare, kind person that makes me doubt my own doubts towards it.” She chuckled.

But before Hong Guang could say any more good things about the man, one of Jin Chan’s friends from earlier, came running to their table. “The ghost general, oh my god, he’s here. Master Jin, what are we going to do?”

“What else, mind our own business.” He seemed to be doing exactly that, sipping a cup of tea, but the bravado in his voice was gone. He seemed to be trying immensely to mask his fear.

Chun Hua looked at Hong Guang, not knowing what to do, and saw the other girl’s eyes were covered in fear as well. “Do you think something will happen?” Chun Hua whispered.

“I don’t know. Maybe not. I have forgotten all about Wei Wu Xian. But here’s the thing. I don’t think he is a bad person.” Hong Guang cast a secret look at where Wei Wu Xian was before, and sure enough, he was still sitting at that table.

But somehow, Hong Guang thought he looked quite sad, just looking at the floor with a wine jar in one hand. Seeming to be oblivious to the ruckus caused by the fear of the arrival of his bodyguard.

“Oh, I didn’t think he would come in. He came in.” The man continued.

Hong Guang looked towards the door, expecting to see the most gruesome sight she had ever seen. She expected to see a half rotten body of a well-built man with piercing eyes, and if he still had lips, a wicked smile, and braced herself so she wouldn’t end up screaming. But not seeing anything that even remotely fitting to her description, she asked, “Where is he?”

“That one,” Jin Chan answered. “The one that went there and sat next to Wu Xian.”

“Oh him?” Hong Guang only seeing him from the corner of her eyes, had dismissed the sight thinking it was an ordinary man. Now, even though his back was turned towards her, she could thankfully say that, at least the ghost general’s body wasn’t a half rotten corpse.

But why is it so familiar? Those black robes, they looked a lot like what the Master she met was wearing. No, they are the exact same. Being someone who loved garments, she even subconsciously paid more attention to their details. And she was sure it’s going to be very rare that that master, and the ghost general was wearing the same exact robes. They are not even from the same place. That is, unless, they are the same person.

“Hong Guang, what are you doing?” Chun Hua’s worried whisper came. The other girl was gripping her arms, stopping her from rising from her seat. Hong Guang hadn’t even realised she had attempted to rise from her seat. But she had, wanting to take a better look at this man’s face. She also realised everyone from her table was looking at her as well, for she had leaned across it in a ridiculous way in order to get a better look.

Seeing that whispering is not going to achieve anything, she said out loud, “Are you sure that that’s the ghost general? It can’t be. He looks a lot like the master I met.”

“What? What do you mean?” Chun Hua was in the process of turning into white paper.

“Do you think that I can’t recognise the ghost general? I’ve seen him, up close, in more than one occasion.” This was Jin Chan, getting annoyed at this village girl for her audacity to question his judgment. “Let me tell you, that is the ghost general Wen Ning, and you better not have anything to do with him. Either you are with them, doing all sort of dark things, or you are running away from them, because you are actually human.”

“Hong Guang, don’t listen to my brother. Yes, it’s best to be warry of him. He is the ghost general. But I don’t think just because you talk to him, you are a killer.” Qi Xue said reassuringly.

Wen Ning turned his head, finally allowing Hong Guang to see it, and she almost laughed, because ghost general or not, his face was the kind face that she saw earlier that evening. But now with the light of the tavern, she could see two things that she hadn’t really noticed in the darkness. His skin was a greyish tone and there were black lines running up from his neck all the way to his face. Before, she had thought that it was some dirt or something. But now, she could even at a distance tell that they were not. Even with that, his face was still kind and handsome.

“Yes, I’m sure that, that is the master I met before. And if he is really the ghost general, the ghost general is not even half as scary as you led me to believe.”

“Hong Guang, don’t say such things, okay.” Chun Hua begged.

“It’s stupid of you to say that. Non cultivators won’t understand such things.” Jin Chan’s conceited voice cut through her. Hong Guang had never felt any less for not being a cultivator. But at that moment, she just wanted to punch Jin Chan’s face.

“If he is a bad person, then why would he help those people? He didn’t even have to help. He could have just looked the other way, but he didn’t. And he did it without expecting anything.”

“Hong Guang, don’t be mad,” Qi Xue said holding the other girl’s hand.  “I’m surprised that the master you met is the ghost general, as well. Even I didn’t expect the ghost general to be someone who would offer random help. But I know as a fact, that Wei Wu Xian and the ghost general are not as bad as people would love to believe.”

“But my brother’s hobby is disgracing people that are even slightly related to Jin Ling. My parents also always taught us that the YiLing Patriarch is a bad person. Even a monster. I understand them having such a view on him, given what had happened during their time. Whether it was Wei Wu Xian’s intention or not, he ended up killing so much people. And people who actually lived in fear of him will really have a hard time forgiving him. But my brother is something else. He has reasons to believe that the YiLing Patriarch is not a bad person. He was saved by him like I mentioned earlier. But the thing is, he thinks our father is God. So, he blindly follows everything he says. Seriously, I’m fed up waiting for him to finally use his brain.”

“You are the one who’s not using…”

Not feeling like hearing the Jin sibling’s fight, Hong Guang got up. “I wanna go over and talk to him.” The reassuring words of Wen Ning were playing in her mind. Maybe Wu Xian would give her another chance to make a better impression.

“Hong Guang, no!” That, of course, was Chun Hua.

“Why not? Don’t tell me you are still scared of him because of the rumours. You cannot make rumours control you this much. And even if he kills people, I never gave him any reason to kill me. He might even be able to help us. That master told me that his friend, Master Wei would be able to help us. It’s just, I didn’t know the Master Wei he was referring to is actually Wei Wu Xian. Now that I know, and they are here, it is only nice to ask him for help myself.

Okay, you know what? I have always wanted to meet him. So, do I even need another reason? And, now I finally got the chance, I’m not gonna miss it.” Despite saying all that, she actually felt quite nervous, to the point she found it was really hard to even lift her legs.

Finally, she was able to muster the courage to take a step. But at the same time both Wei Wu Xian and Wen Ning got up from their seats. Hong Guang could only look in wain as those two left the tavern.

Hong Guang flopped back to her seat, feeling really disappointed. She didn’t have courage to run after them. She even feared if she did so, her second chance would be ruined as well. Wei Wu Xian didn’t strike to her as someone that appreciated clingy people.

“Hong Guang, don’t look so down. Maybe it is for the best. I really don’t see what good can come out of talking to them. We are not in the same level anyway. He might even completely ignore you.”

“Chun Hua, don’t say that.” Qi Xue said. “If you think that cultivators will ignore you just because you are not cultivators, I can assure you they won’t. Yes, there’s going to be some brainless ones that’s going to be pompous.” She added casting a sideway scowl at her brother. “But you can’t judge all of us like that.”

She turned to Hong Guang, “And girl, if you really want to meet Wei Wu Xian, join us. Who knows, if he was telling the truth earlier about investigating this matter, then you will get another chance. I would love if both of you came with us.”

“Okay little sister, don’t be ridiculous. You can act all you want that they are not different from us. But the truth is, they are. They can’t even protect themselves if anything happens.”

“Qi Xue, I’m with your brother on this one,” said Mei Mei. “This is a really hard hunt for us. We can’t afford to look after others. Sorry girls, no offense, but I think your lack of fighting ability can end up being a burden.”

“Li Mei Mei, don’t say that. We didn’t even face a single ghost yet. It might not be that dangerous. And if we think it will be dangerous, we can leave them in a safe place. So, girls, what do you say? Would you join us?”

“Ah I don’t know,” Chun Hua replied. “We don’t really have any place to go. I have never even seen anyone night-hunt before. I would love to join you and learn more about cultivation. I have never given it any thought before, because I never have thought I would actually get a chance to even talk to a cultivator. But now, I kind of think it will be really interesting. What do you think Hong Guang?”

“Yeah, it will be interesting. Thank you, Qi Xue for offering us the choice. But Chun Hua, have you already forgotten about our village? If you really want to join them, I’m not going to stop you. But I can’t just forget about it, just like that. I know we are not making any progress. But I’m not yet ready to give up.”

Chapter Text

Lan Jing Yi was shivering all the way to their room from the small pond near their house. All his friends had already gotten ready, and was waiting for him. Well, all of his friends except Lan Sizhui. Where the hell was he? He was supposed to wake him up as well. Now Jing Yi was late because Sizhui didn’t wake him up, and Sizhui was late himself. Sizhui should thank the Gods that they don’t have an adult coming with them. Otherwise, they would clearly be punished for their tardiness.

Lan Sizhui pressed the pillow to his ears. Seriously, why is Jing Yi’s voice so loud? Will he never shut up? Sizhui knew that it was the day that they were supposed to set off to night hunt, with their classmates. But he felt so tired to even get up. He also knew that the others included him in the hunt, because he promised them that he was feeling completely fine. That wasn’t a total lie. He had felt like sleeping in his own bed had succeeded in getting rid of all that fatigue he felt throughout the journey.

But he had also noticed that it had become somewhat harder for him to wake up at 5 am. He swore that it was because throughout his journey, he had to alter his sleeping schedule from time to time to suit their travelling.

But why in the world won’t Jing Yi shut up, and let him stay in bed for just five more minutes. It really can’t be late to the point he couldn’t afford five more minutes.

“Sizhui, I’m so annoyed right now, I’m gonna break in and don’t even care whether you are naked.” And with that, he really opened the door and barged in.

The opened doorway gave Sizhui the reason for Jing Yi’s panic. It was totally bright outside, which meant he was way late than he had even dared imagine.

“Sizhui xiong, I’m totally disappointed in you. You were supposed to wake me up as well. Not the other way around.”

“Jing Yi, I’m sorry.”

“No, no, there’s no time to feel sorry now. Hurry up and get ready. Otherwise, the others would be annoyed. I will get you some breakfast.”

Sizhui opened his mouth to stop Jing Yi. But considering the situation, he had to trust Jing Yi to get his breakfast and hope for the best. He really had no time to waste, so he bolted out to take a bath.

Jing Yi was super happy with the accomplishment they made. Within only a few minutes, they were raising down the stairs. But he suddenly felt Sizhui stop, and he stopped to see why.

“Si Xiong, come on, we are already late. What are you stopping for?” Noticing that they were in front of the silent room, and Sizhui was looking at it somewhat troubled, Jing Yi sighed. “Sizhui, I know you haven’t met Hanguang Jun in a long time. But he’s not here yet. I really don’t know what’s taking him this long to return.”

“It’s fine Jing Yi. It can’t be helped. So, let’s get going.” Even though he said that, he found it a little harder to turn away from the house. He missed Hanguang Jun immensely, but that was not the only reason he regretted not meeting him.

Sizhui had hoped that he would get a chance to meet Hanguang Jun before they set out on this night-hunt, so he could have told him about his little sickness, and get his advice before setting out again. He was concerned about the melody he played as well. Now that he knew how much damage a melody can cause if they were not played correctly, he felt like he would rather not risk it before he made sure that he did nothing wrong. But now it was too late. Hanguang Jun was still away.

He knew that, if he wanted to, he could have turned to Zewu Jun, or even the Grand Master for help. But he was scared of the Grand Master, and even after a lot of thinking, he couldn’t make himself to ask Zewu Jun either. He knew Zewu Jun would have helped him in an instance. But he didn’t feel like asking him, no matter what.

Others would have preferred to go to Zewu Jun with their problems, for almost everyone agreed that Hanguang Jun was ‘scary’. Sizhui never understood this. For him, Hanguang Jun was one of the warmest people he had ever met.

Sizhui felt like it was really hard to understand people and their actions. He had seen really rude people, and the bad things they had done. But this situation in particular felt even more weird. Jing Yi was seated next to him nodding vigorously to whatever the middle-aged lady was saying. But Sizhui was sure his attention was long dissolved.

Sizhui wished he could make the lady understand that there’s nothing they could do about her clan’s situation. But, given what has happened, Sizhui thought he could at least listen to the lady one more time, if it’s going to be of any help.

The others were also either distracted, or was really fed up with this lady as well. But nobody dared to leave nor show any sign of boredom or annoyance, making sure to follow the rules of Lan sect.

“Maybe you should have made them two necklaces.” Jing Yi said astonishing everyone present. Sizhui knew that Jing Yi would most likely say something like that. But he had hoped that his friend would keep it for later and not say it in front of the lady.

“Young master, you would not dare blame me for this. And pray tell me why should I have, when they used to share things ever since they have been very young. They never complained. So why should I make two exact same necklaces, when I can use that money to make another one for them that is a different style or a colour?”

With this, the lady started repeating the story for maybe the 10^th time. Sizhui was more intrigued by the fact, how the same story could be told in many different ways, for the lady changed it every time she said it. The bottom line was still the same, but what she said always contrasted with the previous. Every time different points will be exaggerated or added or left out.

Sizhui went back to think about the bottom line again, for he also agreed with the lady that it did not exactly make sense.

They had been travelling around, looking for any information they could gather that they thought could help them solve the recent murders. They indeed stopped here and there to tackle with cases that will help them to level up their cultivation, for that was the main goal of their night-hunt.

When they heard that the young lady of this clan was possessed by a ghost, they had decided it would be nice to help, as well as benefit them in levelling up their cultivation.

So, they went and told the clan leader, that they would like to see into their problem. The clan leader and his wife, who was the lady that kept repeating the story without letting them leave, had been very glad.

They have asked them to see their younger daughter in her room, which had stricken to the Lan disciples as very odd, and they had felt reluctant. Seeing this, the mother had explained to them that their daughter won’t leave her chambers for anything. So, the only way for them to see her is to enter her room.

The first thing that struck them as soon as the maiden’s room’s doors were opened, was the smell. It had smelled like someone who hadn’t cleaned themselves for years were living in there. The next thing was the state of the room. First, Sizhui had thought it hadn’t been cleaned up for a long time, but he realised that the things had been thrown around.

And Jing Yi had dared to say to the parents, “Maybe the ghost would have left if you got someone to clean this room.”

Thankfully, the couple had seen it more like advice than insult. But Jing Yi had received warning scowls from his friends, including Sizhui.

The maiden looked like, she had completely gone crazy, possessed or not. It was a gruesome sight to withhold. Even though her servants had dressed her up to present her to the cultivators, her garments were already disarrayed. There were cuts all over her skin, and even her hair was so dishevelled. There was hair in her hand, like she had pulled a handful out of her head. 

“You didn’t come this morning. Did you go to see her? Were you playing with her?” The girl pulled her mother’s hand sobbing. “YOU NEVER LOVED ME. IT WAS ALWAYS HER.”

They all jumped at the change of her tone. She started to shake her mother and her father and two disciples were needed to pull her away from her. It wasn’t easy to keep her in one place in order to examine her. Every few minutes, she threw a tantrum. The girl radiated extreme sadness and anger at the same time that the disciples were so surprised.

But no matter how hard they examined her; they couldn’t sense any other presence. They even checked the whole chamber, but nothing. No sight of possession or any other ghost activity.

They told this to her parents, but they refused to believe. Then the lady asked them to contact the spirit of her elder daughter that was murdered a few days ago by their youngest. At this, the father interrupted and said, “Why are you saying that? Our daughter had told you so many times, that she wasn’t the one that killed her sister.”

“Well, it was either her or some malicious spirit made her do it. We will find exactly what happened when we talk to our daughter.”

So, Sizhui was forced to perform inquiry. But there was no spirit there for him to contact. First, he had tried his best to find the daughter. But not getting any answer, he had directed his answers in a way any spirit could answer. But no answer came through.

This failure had made the mother somewhat angry. Sizhui had told her if he knew what exactly had occurred, it could help.

This is when the lady had started to recite her story. The two daughters had gotten along very well ever since they were young. Even if there were a few disagreements, they had made up pretty fast. So, when one morning, two days ago, a small fight broke out about a necklace, nobody had thought anything about it.

The younger sister had seen her sister wearing a necklace, and had asked her to lend it to her for the day, saying it goes with her outfit best. But the older sister had refused, saying that she wanted to wear it that day. But after only a few minutes, screams had come out from the room, surprising everyone, and when they rushed in, the older sister had been lying dead bleeding from wounds all over her body.

The younger sister had been crying, and had blamed her parents for not loving her enough. But when accused of murdering her sister, she had said that she was not the one who did it. But she wouldn’t tell who did it either, making the parents really confused.

Ever since then, the younger daughter had not been herself, crying and screaming and throwing tantrums every now and then.

It was obvious that the whole clan was baffled by this behaviour. Sizhui also thought that it was so strange. He didn’t blame the parents for thinking their younger daughter was possessed, for he himself would have assumed that, if he didn’t know any better. The story just didn’t add up. How can someone murder their sibling over something so small, especially when they used to get along so well together.

Sizhui really wished he could help, but there really was nothing else to do. The lady was still repeating her story, indirectly begging them to do something. She still refused to believe that there was no ghost to get rid of, nor that there was any spirit for them to contact.

Not finding any spirits there, struck as weird to Sizhui as much as the sister’s behaviour. Yes, sometimes the spirits leave this world as soon as they were dead. This was something that they learned when they were so young. But this usually was not the case when a person was murdered. When a person was murdered, they either linger, not realising that they were dead - This usually happens when the murdering was done very suddenly and secretly not giving room for the victim to realise that they were murdered - Or they would stay behind to get revenge or ask the living to pay for the injustice that had been done to them. It was only a very rare occurrence where a murdered spirit leaves this world immediately.

Well, even assuming that this was one of those rare occurrences, why were there no others ghosts to be found? Even places humans assume are not haunted, have at least one or two harmless spirits lingering around. To not find a single spirit in the vicinity was something Si Zhui could not shake off by any logical reasoning.

But nonetheless, seeing that there really wasn’t anything they could have done, they left the angry and disappointed parents to find another task.

“Si Xiong, you really seem disappointed. It seemed like you really wanted to help.” One of their friends said.

“Yes, I wish there was something we could have done to help them. But I’m more confused than disappointed. And tired too.” Sizhui added.

“Why? What are you confused about?” the disciple asked.

“Do you really have to know that right now?” Before Sizhui could reply, Jing Yi scolded crossing his arms.

“No… No, I guess…” The disciple replied baffled by Jing Yi’s outburst.

“Then why did you ask that? Didn’t you hear Lan Sizhui saying he is tired? Is your question more important than letting him rest?”

“Ah, Jing Yi, don’t scold him. I’m not that tired. He just asked a question.” Sizhui said feeling guilty and sorry towards his friend.

“You heard me. We are going to do nothing until Sizhui is feeling better again. He did more work than any of us. He even performed inquiry. Come, let’s go to that restaurant and have something to eat.”

Nobody protested to this, for they were all feeling hungry. So, they neatly walked towards the tavern in two rows. But as they got near, they stopped, doubt in their faces.

From within came raised voices;

“You really don’t expect me to eat this, do you? This is disgusting. Has no flavour to it. And what are these buns? They are dry as parchment.”

“Ah, but… I’m really hungry.”

“No. We don’t have time to waste. So, I clearly won’t waste any on such bland food. If you wanted to eat, you should have picked a proper place to do so.”

“No, stop. Listen. We are not going to achieve anything by being the first group to search that place. Will you…”

The group of Lan disciples watched with surprise as Jin Ling barged out of the restaurant followed by Ouyang Zi Zhen.

“Oh, are the food not up to our maiden Jin’s satisfaction?” Jing Yi asked with a smug smile.

“Jing Yi!” Sizhui exclaimed, but he completely ignored it.

“Hey Lan, consider your legs broken.” With that Jin Ling tried to launch at Jing Yi, but thankfully Zi Zhen grabbed him and stopped him.

“Young master Jin, now this really isn’t nice. We met our friends after months, and the first thing you are trying to do is fight? Stop it! And hi Sizhui Xiong, hi Jing Yi Xiong, it’s really good to see you again. Don’t mind our young master Jin. He is not in a good mood right now.”

“Is there a problem?” Sizhui asked out of sincere concern.

“Ah, no.” said Zi Zhen. “But we heard that a clan was murdered in a similar manner to those gruesome deaths. But what’s surprising is that, they are cultivators.”

“Oh, that is a first. I thought we were safe,” said Jing Yi getting goosebumps all over.

“Apparently, we are not. And we are wasting time without investigating.” Jin Ling said with a scowl.

“Okay, okay Jin Xiong, I’m really hungry, but if you insist, let’s go.” Zi Zhen replied with a sigh. “Oh, by the way, would the Lan disciple like to join us?”

“Ah, we would love to.” Sizhui replied thinking that this is a good opportunity for his little group to harness their abilities as well.

“Yes, that would be great.” Jing Yi replied. “But we are not going anywhere until you rest. So, young master Jin, if you really are in a hurry, you may leave. Just tell us where this place is. We will follow after we took some rest.”

Zi Zhen opened his mouth to tell the Lan disciple where the said clan’s mansion was. But feeling reluctant to part with his friends, Jin Ling spoke before him, “Well, you are all hungry. So, I guess even if we went there, you would be complaining all the way. Whatever. It would be really bothersome, and might even be a distraction to the night-hunting. So, go ahead and have a meal and take your rest.

Jin Ling couldn’t figure out whether to be thankful that his friends completely ignored his rumbling belly, or to be mad that they didn’t ask him to join them. Jin Ling’s hunger got to a point where he decided his pride didn’t even matter anymore. He was about to reach for a dumpling, when Sizhui saved him by asking very innocently, “Young master Jin, these foods are not so bad. Please try them. You would like them.” And when Jin Ling didn’t make any move he added, “Young master Jin, it would be a waste if you didn’t have any. There is plenty of food, and we won’t be able to finish them. It would go to waste. Hanguang Jun always told me…”

“Fine. Fine Sizhui Xiong,” Jin Ling replied. “You didn’t have to bring Hanguang Jun into this. If you really hate that a bowl or two of food is going to be thrown away, I’ll eat it.”

“Ah, I mean, you don’t have to eat if you cannot eat at all. It will make you sick.”

“What are you saying Sizhui?” Jing Yi asked. “Didn’t you hear his stomach rumbling all this time? He clearly can finish more than two bowls. If anything is going to make him sick, it is going to be running on an empty stomach.”

Seeing that Jin Ling was going to throw his chopsticks away, and dash out of the restaurant again, Zi Zhen jumped into the rescue. “Lan Jing Yi, don’t say such a thing. I’m pretty sure Jin Ling is responsible and won’t neglect his health like that. But, Jin Xiong, since Sizhui Xiong is really reluctant to waste any food, we shouldn’t let down our friend like that now, should we?”

And as they neared the destination, Jin Ling was really thankful for what Zi Zhen did, for he was sure if he didn’t eat, he might have even fainted at that point. But he never would tell Zi Zhen that out loud.

Alas, that gratitude didn’t last too long after that, as the smell hit their nostrils and made them gag. Except for two or three Ouyang disciples, the whole group looked like they were going to be sick any minute. But nobody really said anything.

Sizhui took off a fabric stripe securing his cuffs and tied it around his head, covering his nose.

“Ah, Sizhui, what are you doing? You look ridiculous.” Jing Yi said, hoping there’s nothing wrong with Sizhui’s brain.

“Hanguang Jun taught me to do this if there is a bad smell.”

And hearing that it was something Hanguang Jun had taught, other’s followed suit and was very relieved to see how it covered the smell.

It was a small cultivational sect, but their mansion was a considerably big one. They stepped carefully making sure not to step on any body or anything else on the floor, for this time, some parts of the skin had dripped down from the bodies like it had been melted.

“Oh my God, what is this?” Zi Zhen exclaimed.

“Young master Jin, even when you told us that these deaths were so gruesome, I still didn’t expect it to be like this.” Said one of the Ouyang disciples, trying his best not to faint at the horrible sight.

“Not many of them carry swords.” Zi Zhen said. “So, I guess we can assume that their cultivation wasn’t that high, or they didn’t practice cultivation at all.”

“Yes, maybe that is why these creatures could attack them. Their spiritual energies must have been scarce for them to fight back,” Jin Ling said, more to reassure himself than being sure that that was the case.

“There are no other wounds like cuts or punches either,” Sizhui observed.

“Ah, there are some people over there.” Jing Yi pointed next to a further house. They could see two or three people seated on a bench outside it. “They must be other cultivators that came to night-hunt. Let’s go and ask them what they have found.

 Jin Ling was about to say that he had no intention in seeking aid from other cultivators, but the Lan disciples were already walking towards that direction in single file.

As they neared, they could see that there’s two girls and a man. They had their backs turned towards them. They were all wearing cultivation robes, but the man didn’t have a sword with him. He was talking to the girls. But it seemed both the girls were ignoring him as best as they could. One even had her arms crossed. She was wearing light, white and pink robes while the other girl was wearing black and light purple.

Sizhui got there first and making sure to keep an appropriate distance, he kowtowed and introduced themselves. The Lan disciples kowtowed as well. And as soon as Jin Ling and the Ouyang disciples came, he introduced them as well, and waited for them to kowtow as well. But instead, the group was looking at the girl in white and pink robes like they had seen a ghost.

Sizhui was almost feeling uncomfortable with the awkward silence, and was going to ask his friends what they were doing, when Jin Ling managed to finally open his mouth. “What are you doing here?”

Hearing this, Jing Yi crossed his arms, “Young master Jin, that was so impolite.”

But, surprising all the Lan disciples, the girl replied, “Spying on you, what else?” And she rolled her eyes.

“Spying on us?” Sizhui asked getting concerned. Why in the world would this maiden spy on them?

“Ah, Qi Xue, this might be the young master you told me about.” Li Mei Mei stated.

Jin Ling was surprised to hear this. “You spoke about me?”

“No, I didn’t.” Qi Xue spat, but with a sigh she continued, “Well, yes, I did. I told my friend what an ungrateful prat you are.”

Sizhui and Jing Yi looked in amazement, how their usually short-tempered friend didn’t say anything back, but instead hung his head.

“Lady Qi Xue,” not liking where the conversation was headed Zi Zhen spoke up, “you are scaring our friends from the Lan sect here. Let me introduce you to them, for some of them already know your brother. Friends, this is Jin Chan’s sister, Jin Qi Xue. We were actually supposed to night-hunt together. But because of a small misunderstanding, Lady Jin, ah I mean Lady Qi Xue,” he changed seeing the dagger eyes Qi Xue threw his way, “went ahead with her brother.”

“And yet here you are.” Qi Xue spat with annoyance and continued to scowl at Jin Ling.

“Oh, I see,” Si Zhui said feeling sorry. “Lady, if you do not want to talk to us, we would leave you alone. Sorry to bother you in the first place.”

“No, I’m okay. I’m not so narrow minded to take my revenge on a group of friends of the person who called me a criminal for no reason.”

“I didn’t call you a criminal!” Jin Ling felt like he got slapped.

“You really are dumb, aren’t you? You called me a spy, so that is basically the same thing.”

“He called you what? Is this why you were crying that day?”

Jin Ling subconsciously knew that it was Jin Chan, and he should be prepared to fight with him, for he was clearly angry at him. But all he could think about was his words. Did he just say that Qi Xue cried? Why did she cry? Is it because Jin Ling scolded her? But she didn’t strike to him as a girl who would cry just because someone scolded her. Was she sad because Jin Ling was angry at her? But why would she be? Why would she even care?

Jin Ling was pulled by his collar, “How dare you? I won’t let you live. If I knew this back then, I would have shredded you into pieces before I left.”

Jin Ling knew that he won’t get hit, for Zi Zhen and another Ouyang disciple was trying their best to pull Jin Chan away. But Jin Chan was really angry to the point Jin Ling doubted whether only two people would be enough to do that.

“Brother, will you stop?” Qi Xue stood up and came to pull him off Jin Ling as well.

“Don’t tell me you are going to still choose this bastard’s side.”

“I’m not. I’m choosing yours. You are acting in a really inelegant way. You are shaming yourself. Stop this stupidness before you lose your face.”

“This is how men deal with problems.” However, Jin Chan let go of Jin Ling’s collar.

“No. This is how ignorant brats deal with problems. So, stop shaming yourself by stooping down to their level.” Seeing that it was high time to change the topic, Qi Xue looked around. Seeing Si Zhui, she thought that he looked sensible enough, and thankfully at least the Lan disciples seemed to follow his lead. She asked, “Young Master Lan, I believe you had some questions to ask us?”

“Ah, lady, yes. I’m really hoping that I’m not bothering you. What I wanted to ask was that, whether you have made any discoveries in this place.”

“Well, I can tell you what we have seen so far, even though I’m not sure they will be of any help.”

“No. Don’t you dare.” Jin Chan said, now getting angry at his sister. “Don’t help them. If they want to know, let them find on their own. Why should we share our hard-earned work with them for free? We came here first. We are ahead of them, which means this night-hunt is ours.”

“Young master Jin, I don’t think this is a time for us to be selfish like this.” Surprising everyone, Mei Mei spoke up.

Jin Chan was taken aback by her boldness as well. She was a cultivator from a small sect, yet she dared to oppose him? He wanted to show her that she had no right to talk to him in such a manner, but he couldn’t find any words.

Having no interruption, Mei Mei continued. “Qi Xue told me that the first sect to witness these murders were the Gusu Lan sect. And if lady Qi Xue was aware of these murders, I can assume that the acting sect leader of the Jin sect and his friends know about them as well. So, let me tell you that this murder is very similar as far as we can tell. Except that this is not a village, but a mansion of a cultivational clan. I think it’s quite obvious nevertheless. But other than that, we couldn’t find any other clue or information. If only we could speak to the dead.” She heaved a sigh.

“Then let’s do it. Our Si Zhui Xiong is an expert in performing inquiry.” Jing Yi said grinning.

“What? That’s a thing? That could be done?” Mei Mei asked quite surprised.

“Yes, I heard young master Lan performing inquiry at Yi City very well.” This short comment from Jin Chan left everyone else in the group surprised as well.

“But this is a cultivational sect. Wouldn’t that mean their souls would have passed away without lingering?” Jin Ling asked. “I mean we cultivators perform soul calming rituals that help our souls to pass to the next realm without having any barriers.”

“Not necessarily,” Si Zhui replied. “Even though this is a cultivational sect, that doesn’t mean they all had soul calming performed on them. Even though it’s low, it needs a certain level of spiritual energy. So, there could be cultivators who had just begun their cultivation, that hadn’t reached this level of spiritual energy to undergo soul calming, and there could be servants and others that didn’t cultivate at all. If we could contact one of them, maybe they could tell us what happened.”

“That’s awesome!” Qi Xue was so excited, “What are we waiting for then?”

“Not here,” Si Zhui said looking around. “There are too many people. Let’s find somewhere quite.”

They went around the mansion and was able to find a really small courtyard. The enclosed walls made the space darker, and there were dried leaves scattered around making it more eerie.

Si Zhui went to the middle and sat cross legged taking his guqin out of its pouch. The others also chose a place to sit. Some sat around Si Zhui, but others went to the small edges the surrounding walls provided. The one who sat nearest to Si Zhui was Qi Xue. She was so busy being excited that it didn’t even cross her mind that her seating place of choice made her brother concerned and made Jin Ling scowl with jealousy.

Si Zhui put his fingers on the guqin strings and noticed that they were slightly trembling. Is this what his friends talked about? His friends had told him that their hands tremble every time they play their guqin in front of Hanguang Jun. But for Si Zhui, it had always been a peaceful experience. And he had always loved it when Hanguang Jun played his guqin alongside with him. But right now, he realised he was slightly nervous.

Being embarrassed by his own weakness, he played his first question, “Is anyone here?”

They all waited. It seemed like no one even dared to breath in fear of missing the answer. They could here faint voices from around the mansion, but their courtyard was dead silent.

Jing Yi finally spoke up startling everyone. “We gave them enough time to reply. But why didn’t they do so?”

“Jing Yi, you know that I still don’t possess Hanguang Jun’s ability to compel the spirits into replying. I can make sure they are speaking the truth and wouldn’t lie, but that is only if they are willing to answer.” Si Zhui replied feeling sorry he couldn’t contribute more. But he could not help but feel there’s something unusual. First at that manner, and now here. Why weren’t there any spirits that are willing to answer?

“It’s okay Si Zhui Xiong, why don’t you ask the question again? Maybe no ghost heard it when you ask that question.” Zi Zhen said willing to gather more hope.

“If there are any ghosts in the vicinity, there’s no way they didn’t hear it. When Hanguang Jun asked me questions in the tomb, I heard very loud and clearly.” Jin Ling said crossing his arms.

“Hanguang Jun asked you questions through inquiry?” Jing Yi asked baffled, reminding Jing Ling that this incident was something he wanted to hide from his friends, knowing very well getting trapped in the Nie tomb was not a highlight of his life. So, not wanting to reply to that question, he threw a deadly scowl at Jing Yi.

Seeing Jing Yi is going to spat something in return, Si Zhui hurriedly spoke up. “I will ask that question again.” He repeated the few notes and everyone fell silent again.

Again, they waited for a while, but no answer came. “Maybe they really don’t want to answer. Maybe there are no spirits nearby like young master Jin predicted.” Si Zhui finally said with a sigh.

“But there has to be.” The one who reply was the maiden who was sitting next to Jin Chan’s sister. Si Zhui couldn’t exactly remember her name. Was it Mei Mei? “We cannot just give up. More people will die if we can’t figure out what’s going on. We have to try more.”

For some reason, Si Zhui knew that this is not going to work. He didn’t know how he knew. Two questions were not enough to prove that it’s a failure, but it was like a hunch. But looking at this maiden’s eyes, for some reason, he felt like he couldn’t give up. He didn’t want to disappoint this maid… well, his friends. So, he closed his eyes, determined to make this work somehow and repeated his question. When there was no answer, he tried out other questions.

“What is your name?... Are you a male or a female?... Did you die recently?... Is there a reason why you are not willing to talk to us?...”

But just like he expected, none of his questions were answered.  He slowly opened his eyes. The courtyard had become even darker. He wondered why. It couldn’t be that late, could it? Nonetheless he brought his fingers to his guqin strings again. He thought that maybe the spirits were sacred after what happened. He thought that he should reassure them by saying that they were not there to hurt them, and if they needed anything, he and his friends are willing to try and help.

But he couldn’t remember what to say. What are the notes to the word… to the word… what is the word? Why is he feeling so sleepy? He felt hot and cold at the same time. He felt like crying even though he couldn’t figure out why. Why was he feeling so sad?

He could remember the notes to the first question he played. He started to play it out only to realise his fingers were shaking immensely. He wasn’t nervous anymore. He could swear that he wasn’t nervous anymore. And what is that? Those eyes… Is that a face? No, it’s not. Why did he think those two uneven plates were eyes? Who is tugging him? It hurt. Who is shaking him? What is that noise? What’s happening. What’s Sioooouuueee? What’s Sichaaaai? Who’s saying this meaningless thing? What did SiZhaaaai mean? IS it Si Zhui? What is Si Zhui? Wait, is that…?

Finally, Si Zhui opened his eyes to be met with the worried face of his best friend. “Oh my god, Si Zhui Xiong, why did you give us all a heart attack? Why didn’t you wake up? I was calling for you for so long.”

Si Zhui could see that every person from their group was gathered around and was looking at him worriedly. He felt guilty for making them worried like that. “Ah, nothing. I’m fine. I was thinking about the notes and got so immersed in my own thoughts. Sorry for making you worry.”

“What do you mean you are fine? You are as white as your robes. Oh my God Si Zhui, you are burning like fire.” Jing Yi said pressing his palms and squishing Si Zhui’s cheeks. “This won’t do. I told you, you have to rest earlier. But as soon as you heard about this mansion you had to rush here, didn’t you?”

“Shixiong, you are the one who was most excited about this place, and you completely forgot about Si Zhui Xiong being tired as well. But Si Zhui Xiong listened to you when you told him to have some food.” This was the youngest Lan disciple from the group.

“What do you think you are doing? Aren’t you talking back to a senior? You surely should be punished.” Jing Yi scolded him, ashamed of his Shidi’s behaviour.

“I… uh…” the young disciple looked down, his cheeks turning red ashamed and scared he broke one of his sect’s rules.

“But Jing Yi Xiong,” Zi Zhen asked, “aren’t you being a hypocrite? You are someone who always talk back.”

 “Just because a senior jumped off a cliff, would you do that too? And why are we wasting time? We need to get Si Zhui to a place where he can get proper rest.”

Even though Zi Zhen very much liked to say something back, seeing the state his friend was in, he bit back his remark and helped Jing Yi to pull Si Zhui up. After telling the rest of the Ouyang disciples to search the mansion furthermore, he joined the group that was going back to the town.

“Oh Zi Xiong, that is a wise choice. We all don’t need to go back,” Jing Yi turned towards the rest of the Lan disciples. “Why don’t you guys join the Ouyang disciples. When Si Zhui Xiong gets better, we will come back.”

Not wanting to be parted with his friends, Jin Ling also decided to go to the town. Much to his disappointment Jin Chan decided to go with them as well. Qi Xue seemed to follow her brother, and her friend came as well. Jin Ling didn’t even realise he was staring at Qi Xue until she confronted him.

“You don’t have to make it obvious that you don’t want me here by glaring at me. I already know that.”

Jin Ling was taken aback. He wanted to tell Qi Xue that he didn’t mind her being there. It was her brother he wished he could get rid of. And Jin Ling also felt that there was something else that he wanted to tell Qi Xue, but he couldn’t figure out what it was.

But before he could say anything, Qi Xue continued. “I only came because I know a little about herbs. I thought maybe I can help. I will leave as soon as young master Lan gets better. I don’t want to spend time with you either. Why would I? You didn’t even bring Fairy.”

Jin Ling felt like he wanted to tell Qi Xue that Fairy was in the town. He didn’t know why he wanted to say it so badly. But as soon as Qi Xue said that, she hurried her steps and went to walk alongside her brother.

Si Zhui knew that walking was the best option. Considering how tired and sleepy he was, he clearly couldn’t ride his sword, and there was no one who could carry two people on their sword in their small group. For the umptieth time, he wished that Hanguang Jun was there. By the time they reached a guesthouse, Si Zhui could barely stand straight.

He was vaguely aware of his friends dragging him to a room, and he slumped on the bed thankfully. But his friends didn’t leave him alone and continued to fuss around him. He was aware of a female voice saying that he had no fever anymore, and no other symptoms, so she had no idea how to treat him.

He heard voices again and opened his eyes to realise that somehow, he had fallen asleep. He didn’t have any idea of what time it was nor for how long he was sleeping. But thankfully, he felt better and more energized, and was in a state where he could connect the dots and realise that his sickness was more likely something related to the guqin. But he couldn’t even imagine how it could be possible.

He slowly sat and looked around. A nearby table was filled with small bottles, and his friends were gathered around it. Are those medicine? He got up and went to the table.

“Ah! Si Zhui, you really shouldn’t be walking around. Go back to bed.” Jing Yi got up and started to help him back to bed.

“Jing Yi, I’m feeling way better now. I don’t want to stay in bed anymore. So, at least let me sit here with you guys.” Seeing Jing Yi’s concerned look he added, “I told you I’m really fine. I don’t feel sick anymore.” He sat down on a cushion with his friends’ help. “Are these all medicine? Don’t tell me you spent all your money in buying these. I’m not that sick. I clearly don’t need this much medicine.”

“Si Zhui, we need to go night-hunting again. So, you really need to get well. And if you drink all these, you might get well soon.” Jing Yi said like he was scolding his little brother.

Si Zhui felt a warmth, seeing how much his friend cared about his wellbeing. He picked up one bottle and read the label. His eyebrows immediately flew up. “Jing Yiii, this one is for upset stomachs. My stomach is really fine.”

“So what? Who knows? You can never be too safe.” Jing Yi said totally unfazed.

Zi Zhen was also reading a label. “Jing Yi Xiong, this one says it is for pregnant women.”

At this though, Jing Yi’s face turned completely red. He hurriedly snatched the bottle from Zi Zhen’s hand. “Well… well… I guess Si Zhui won’t be needing that one.”

“Why did you buy all these medicine in the first place?” Jin Chan said rolling his eyes, “You guys are fretting around him like he is a little maiden.”

Before he even realised whom he was agreeing with, Jin Ling spoke up. “Right? Really, who likes being pampered like that?”

Hearing this, everyone glanced at Jin Ling with their eyebrows raised.

“WHAT?” Jin Ling asked sincerely confused. 

Everyone was suddenly busy with something. Most of them thought it was a good time to check out all the medicine bottles and Zi Zhen looked away trying to hide the little smirk from Jin Ling.

Suddenly Qi Xue got up dragging Mei Mei with her. “Since your friend is well now,” she said to Jing Yi, “my friend and I would like to go to that other tavern we saw earlier.

“But lady Qi Xue, you can book a room here. We can do something fun to kill time.” Zi Zhen said looking at Jin Ling. “We can play some game with Fairy.”

“He’s here? I thought you left Fairy at Carp Tower.” Her eyes suddenly lit up.

“No, no.” Jin Ling blurted out. “I found someone who grooms dogs, and left Fairy with him to be well groomed. It’s time to pick him up now. When he come back, his coat will be really soft.”

“Only someone like you would spend money on something so meaningless like that.” Jin Chan looked really disgusted. “You are stupid enough not to see that those people are just ripping off money. And who would even think about grooming a stupid dog like that.”

Jin Ling was about to get up and grab Jin Chan’s throat, but Zi Zhen gripped his arm, and from his eyes, pointed at Qi Xue. Jin Ling understood what he meant. If he wanted to win Qi Xue’s favour, he might have to put up with Jin Chan as well.

But he didn’t understand why he wanted to win her favour, even after knowing who she was. He knew there was a chance that this girl will use him to help her father to take over the clan. Even at this moment, she could be plotting something with her brother. But what about the glare she threw at Jin Chan when he called Fairy stupid? And looking at her eyes now, Jin Ling really felt like nothing about her background really mattered.

But, alas, before he could say anything, Qi Xue said with a sigh, “Young master Ouyang, thank you for your invitation. But I have to decline, for I am feeling really tired.” And she left the room dragging her friend behind her.

Chapter Text

Fan Liu Ya slowly stepped towards the main door of the Lotus Pier. She was really second guessing her choice. Her father definitely wasn’t pleased when he heard that she was going to the Jiang sect to become a disciple.  She knew her father would be more relieved if she chose another sect. But none of the other sects in Yunmeng has the same reputation as the Jiang sect. And on top of that, she really wanted to see Jiang Wan Yin again.

She wondered what sort of a person he was. He was well dressed, which meant that he had to have a high position in the sect. But was it high enough to the point he could protect her from that monstrous sect leader if needed? No matter how eager and excited she was about joining the Jiang sect, she couldn’t stop thinking about what it would be like to be under such a leader.

The sound of training drifted to her ears, and she stopped on her steps. She and her brother had snuck up to the walls of the Lotus Pier, and had climbed to nearby trees to see the disciples train, when they were young. But right now, she felt so scared to even go near. But she had to. She couldn’t just give up on her life-long dream just because she was scared. She pictured the handsome face of Jiang Wan Yin, and took a deep breath and started walking forward. And who knows? If she was lucky, Jiang Wan Yin can turn out to be pretty rich and powerful too. If so, she would have such an awesome friend.

She was finally there. She was finally in front of the main doorway. She had always dreamt of stepping through it, and here she was finally about to do it. She felt like her whole body was shivering. There were two or three disciples scattered in the front yard, but they didn’t seem like they could be bothered by a random maiden standing on their doorway. She decided they won’t try to kill her if she entered either. So, she took another deep breath and stepped inside.

Yong Liang was so glad that no one else was looking. But he couldn’t understand why the two male disciples in the side of the front yard was not glaring at this maiden. She was so breath-taking. She looked very fragile with her soft features. But the arrogant set to her mouth showed that she was anything but.

She was standing there in the front yard looking every which way. Yong Liang walked up to her. His heartbeat was raising, but he didn’t stop, for he didn’t want anyone else to approach her. “Maiden, is there anything I can help you with?” But the girl just started to stare at him without answering the question. He started feeling awkward and self-conscious. Wanting to end the awkward silence he decided to ask a second question. “Maiden, is there anyone that you are looking for?”

Only after hearing the second question did Liu Ya realised that she didn’t yet answer the first question. When this master asked her that question, she knew she had to answer it. Eventually she was going to. But she was too busy admiring him, she didn’t realise a considerable time had passed by. “Ah, mmm, yes, I actually… well…”

“Don’t be nervous. Speak up. I would do my best to help you with what you want.”

“Ah, it’s just…” But how can she say that she came here to become a disciple? She felt like if she told this master the other master’s name, he would accuse her of lying about knowing him. And if she asked to be a disciple, he might even laugh at her saying someone as low as her is not acceptable. She knew that she didn’t deserve to hear any of that. But for some reason, she knew that if this master laughed at her, it would break her heart. But why? She wouldn’t let herself be, if she fell in love with someone so easily. But had she?

“Maiden, don’t be nervous.”

Yes, he said that. But how can she not, not be nervous when he was smiling at her like that? Was he really expecting her to think straight when he was smiling at her like that? But, no. She’s not going to be this person who melts in front of a handsome guy. So, she gathered her wits and spoke up. “I came here to be a disciple.”

“Ah, ummm, uh…” It was Yong Liang’s turn to be at a loss for words. It was the last thing he expected to come through this maiden’s lips. He knew that he should be happy because, if she became a disciple, that meant he get to see her again, and more often. So, why was he feeling so nervous? “Oh, okay, then. I mean, you have to go through an initial training and prove that you have potential to be a disciple, to our sect leader. And if you get chosen, you can start your training and cultivation from then on. But first off, you should get approved by the sect leader to get assigned to a training. I will lead you to the main hall, so you can meet him.”

“Ah… Him? You mean the sect leader? I have to meet him?” Up till now Liu Ya had sworn to herself that she would do anything and everything to avoid the sect leader. The last thing she expected was that she had to meet with him right when she arrived at the Lotus Pier. “Umm, isn’t there anyone else that can assign me to the training?”

“Assigning you to the training is nothing. But accepting a new disciple to a sect is a huge thing. So, you should meet the sect leader, and get his approval and blessing.”

Liu Ya so badly wanted to say that she will be better off without that sect leader’s blessings, but she restrained herself from saying so. “So, you are saying that I must meet with the sect leader?”

“Yes,” Yong Liang couldn’t stop but smile at how scared this maiden was. “I see that you have heard the rumours about our sect leader. But trust me, they are way over exaggerated. Our sect leader is a bit short tempered, but that’s nothing to be concerned about. I’m pretty sure he won’t scold a new disciple.”

She wished that this master would stop sugar coating. She knew rumours can be wrong, but how can they be wrong to such an extent. Alas, she saw that she could not avoid seeing the sect leader by any chance. So, she decided she would at least have someone by her side who looked more capable than this disciple in protecting her from the sect leader. Looking at their clothes, she was sure that other master was in a higher position than this one. “Okay then, before we meet up with the sect leader, I want to meet up with master Jiang Wan Yin.”

She was not ready for the surprise that displayed on this master’s face. For a split second, she thought that that other master had deceived her by giving a fake name. But there was recognition on this master’s eyes.  So, it couldn’t be that. Was he surprised that she knew that master’s name?

“You don’t want to see the sect leader but you want to meet with… meet with Jiang Wan Yin?”

“Yes, he was the one who invited me to the Lotus Pier, and told me to become a Jiang disciple.”

“He was?” Liu Ya could see how surprised this master was by this, but she could also see disappointment. She couldn’t comprehend why. “Well then, follow me. I will lead you to Jiang Wan Yin.”

Yong Liang could not believe that their sect leader himself invited someone to become a disciple. ‘Why? Why was he interested in this particular maiden? And he hadn’t even told her who he was?’ For Yong Liang, this was beyond confusing.

Fan Liu Ya was so amazed about how grand the hall this master led her to. And oh, it’s that other master sitting. As soon as she saw him, she couldn’t stop beaming. Seeing her, master Jiang also smiled a small smile and nodded in acknowledgment. This master stopped a few paces away from the grand chair master Jiang was sitting on, and indicated her to stand in front of master Jiang. “Maiden, I assume this is who you wished to see. Jiang Wan Yin, our sect leader.”

“WHAT?”

Liu Ya realised she was stupid not to figure it out the moment she saw the beautiful hall and the grand chair he was sitting on. But how can he be the sect leader? She expected someone so scary, and she couldn’t even figure out why people would end up calling this person scary. Maybe the other master was right. Maybe the rumours were really over exaggerated.

Jiang Wan Yin, well, Liu Ya figured that she should start seeing him as sect leader Jiang, was throwing a mischievous glance at her. So, he had been waiting to see the surprise on her face after all.

“Maiden, I told you the sect leader will make your heart stop.” Why did he say such a thing? And why can’t he get rid of this goofy smile? Jiang Cheng could not figure out what was wrong with himself. But looking around, he saw Yong Liang looking at him like he had never seen him before. Yong Liang’s expression managed to do the trick to get rid of that cringy goofy smile. Suddenly Jiang Cheng found himself throwing a scowl at Yong Liang.

“Well, not the way I expected, sect leader Jiang. By the way, you already know why I’m here. This master here told me that in order to become a disciple, I have to get the approval of the sect leader. So, he led me here.”

“Considering I’m the one who invited you to be a Jiang disciple, you already have my approval. Yong Liang, ask a female disciple to show this maiden around, and also prepare her a place to stay. You can start your training from tomorrow. We, Jiang disciples train so hard and give everything to our cultivation, and the sect is our family. And we are a sect that values every individual’s personal energy and free will. So, let me welcome you as our newest family member. I hope that you would become an excellent cultivator and bring pride to the Jiang sect of Yunmeng. So, may I know the name of our newest family member?”

“Ah, sect leader, please forgive my rudeness in not introducing myself. My name is Fan Liu Ya.”

Yong Liang could not help but think that even her name sounded so beautiful. But why did sect leader Jiang smile as well? It was so unlike their sect leader.

“Sect leader Jiang, since you said that you value free will, I really hope that you won’t mind me speaking my mind right now. As you can see, even though I am the newest disciple, I certainly am not the youngest. I already stated my concerns about being too old to become a cultivator. Therefore, I do not want to lag behind. I want to train so hard and build my cultivation as fast as I can. And I would like to be assigned to the most skilful trainer in the sect.”

“We usually call it levelling up the cultivation.” Yong Liang whispered next to her.

“I didn’t ask you to teach me the proper terms.” Liu Ya said ashamed and annoyed that this handsome master pointed out her shameful mistake.

Stopping their mini riot, Jiang Cheng spoke up. “Well Fan Liu Ya, if you say so, I will assign you to the most skilful trainer: my second in command Jiang Yong Liang.”

“Okay, I will ask the female disciple to introduce me to your second in command then. I will take…”

“You don’t need to. He is the man standing right next to you.” It was Yong Liang’s turn to flirt, with the beautiful maiden.

“Huuuh! You mean you are? But you are so young?” Liu Ya wished that he would stop grinning like that. She felt like she would melt any minute. She already thought that he was sooo handsome. But now he is saying that he is in such a high position as well? ‘You better stop right there master, for your own good. You just became waaayyy too sexy to handle.’

Chapter Text

Wei Wu Xian was startled out of his thoughts when Wen Ning pulled him to the side of the road. To be honest, that night at the tavern he had pretended not to notice the maiden when they left. He hadn’t seen her when they got up from their seats. But he could clearly see the maiden who climbed the structure that night, staring at them as they left. She looked like she wanted to tell him something. But at the moment he didn’t feel like talking, so he pretended not to notice and just left.

“Master, what are you thinking about so deeply? You almost bumped into that other master by accident.” Wen Ning said giving an apologetic look to the passer by.

“Ah, it’s just that maiden and her village. I can’t seem to get it out of my head.”

They had been walking around aimlessly for a while. Wu Xian had given up his thoughts on meeting Lan Wang Ji in Qinghe. Maybe they should have never come here. Maybe he should have listened to Wen Ning and waited in Gusu.

“I also feel sorry for her. But master, what about it that troubles you so deeply that you even forgot to look where you were going?”

“Yeah, well… what happened to her is really sad, but that’s not what’s bothering me. Seeing that she misinterpreted me to be one of the murderers, and the fact that she was in that village that evening, I can’t shove off this feeling that somehow those two are connected. It doesn’t make any sense. You said that her villagers were killed by swords. But I feel like there is a connection somehow.”

“Master, should we go to that village and check?”

“It would be nice if it’s possible, but do you know where the village is?”

“Ah… no.” Wen Ning hung his head feeling guilty for not having the information his master needed.

“What about that maiden’s name?”

“Ah… I didn’t ask that either.” He replied still looking down.

“Wen Ning, raise your head, will you? Why are you looking down like that? You didn’t do anything wrong even though… sentimental?”

“Ah, master, I am not that sentimental.”

“No, not you. But isn’t that the sentimental one?”

Zi Zhen saw from the corner of his eyes, someone waving at him from far away. Looking towards that direction a huge smile appeared on his face. Where is this Jin Ling? He had lost him somewhere a few minutes ago. “Jin Ling,” he shouted, “come meet an old friend of yours.” With that he walked towards Wei Wu Xian.

“Ah… senior Wei? What? Why are you running away? It’s just me? You waved at me earlier, so why are you running away now?” Zi Zhen started to run after him but someone grabbed his arm.

It was Jin Ling and he was panting. “Zi Xiong, did you see Fairy by any chance? Fairy ran off earlier and I ran after him, but I lost him and can’t find him anywhere.”

“Ah!...” A smile appeared on Zi Zhen’s face. “I think I have a vague idea where Fairy went. Seriously Jin Ling, you should teach your dog not to chase your friends away.”

“Fairy chased a friend?”

“Yes, I saw senior Wei earlier from over there.” He pointed to where he saw Wei Wu Xian. “He even waved at me, but then he started running. Now I can guess why.”

“Wei Wu Xian is not my friend.”

“Then, is he your enemy? If you are not willing to call him your uncle, what else are you going to call him?”

“Whatever,” Jin Ling scowled and started to walk towards the direction they assumed Fairy went. “It is not my fault that he’s terrified of harmless beings.”

“Jin Xiong, you cannot exactly call Fairy harmless.”

When they finally found Fairy, he was barking at a shivering Wu Xian that had managed to climb on to Wen Ning’s back somehow. He was on the verge of tears and Wen Ning was trying his best to fend Fairy off as well as not drop his master on the ground.

Jin Ling rolled his eyes and called Fairy to his side. Even so, Wu Xian refused to get down from Wen Ning, and Wen Ning and Zi Zhen had to do some coaxing.

After Wu Xian got down, Wen Ning asked, “Young master Jin, young master Ouyang, are you night hunting together?”

“Not right now. We were. But Si Zhui Xiong got sick. So, we took a break.” Zi Zhen replied.

“A-Yuan got sick?” “Si Zhui is sick?” They both asked at the same time.

“Senior Wen, senior Wei, don’t be worried. He is better now. We met Hanguang Jun yesterday, and he looked into Si Zhui’s sickness. He is much better now.”

“YOU MET HANGUANGJUN?” For a moment, Wu Xian even forgot that Si Zhui was sick.

But Wen Ning mumbled, “Is it the same sickness? Did he never get better?”

“What do you mean Wen Ning?” Wu Xian asked confused.

“Ah, master, I… I forgot to tell you. Ah… A-Yuan… he… he was sick on our journey back to Gusu. But… but if Hanguang Jun is there with him… he would treat him, wouldn’t he?”

“Of course, you don’t have to worry about that.” Jin Ling said still holding Fairies collar. “Are you coming with us or not? I’m hungry. So, I’m going back to the tavern we stay in. I can’t wait for anyone.”

“Ah, Jin Ling, don’t act so arrogant. Ah okay, okay, we are coming.” Despite the fact that Wu Xian sounded reluctant to go with them, he couldn’t help but feel like the rest of the party was walking very slow. Why can’t they speed up their steps a little? Didn’t Jin Ling say he was hungry? Then shouldn’t he hurry back to the tavern? The only reason that kept Wei Wu Xian from mouthing his annoyance was Fairy. He didn’t want to talk and grab the big dog’s attention.

Wang Ji heard him coming before he saw him. He seemed changed. A bit more behaved than he usually was. A little smile spread from the corner of his mouth, when he saw Fairy with them. He immediately knew that was the reason why Wei Ying was not his usual loud self. But he had to admit that he felt proud at how brave Wu Xian was to even walk so close to that big dog.

Wu Xian raised his eyes and saw his friend after what felt like millions of years. He couldn’t stop beaming. And by his side… is that… is that? Oh dear God… he never thought that it was possible. Is it really… How can it be…?

Wang Ji could tell the moment Wu Xian forgot about Fairy and everyone else. He started running towards him with the largest smile on his face. Wang Ji knew that Wu Xian is going to hug him. So, he braced himself for the huge hug coming, telling him not to push his friend away out of instinct. He was never one to like hugs or that sort of physical contact, so he felt nervous that his body would end up pushing Wu Xian away out of habit. No, it wouldn’t. He wouldn’t let it.

 Wu Xian was so near now, and Wang Ji couldn’t stop but smile as well. How could he not? Wei Ying’s smile was so contagious. Wang Ji was about to raise his arms to accept the hug, but Wu Xian turned slightly to his right, and went towards the one who was standing next to him.

“Ooooh little apple!!! I thought I’d never see you again!!!” Wu Xian went and gave his donkey a big hug, and couldn’t stop petting him. “Are you all right? You are not angry at me, are you? Oh my god, how did you even get here? Ah, Lan Zhan, by any chance, were you the one who found little apple?”

‘Ah, now you remember me.’ Wang Ji thought angrily. He silently walked towards the tavern.

“Ah, Lan Zhan, where are you going? Lan Zhan… Wait for me. We met after so long. Where are you going even without saying hi to me?”

But Wang Ji didn’t even show any sign of hearing him. Jing Yi came out to see the commotion and Wu Xian grabbed him by his hand. “Ah, Jing Yi, did something happen to your Hanguang Jun?”

“WHAT? What are you saying? Do you want to get killed?”

“Arrrhhh, this kid. That’s not what I meant. Did Lan Zhan lose his memory or something by any chance?”

“You really want to die, don’t you? Hanguang Jun has the best memory. So, if…”

“Okay, okay. I know Lan Zhan’s memory is exceptional. But he was ignoring me like I’m a stranger. That’s why I asked.”

At this Jing Yi was also confused. Even he assumed that Hanguang Jun would be happy to see senior Wei.

Wanting to solve this soon, Wu Xian left Jing Yi and ran behind Wang Ji into the tavern. He saw that Jin Ling and Zi Zhen was already eating. And thankfully Fairy was by Jin Ling’s side gobbling something. It seemed for the time being, the big dog won’t have time to pay attention to anything else except his food.

Seeing Wang Ji sitting at a table in the other side of the tavern, Wu Xian ran there and sat on the cushion next to him with a huge smile, but Lan Wang Ji continued to keep his eyes focused on the table.

“Ah, Lan Zhan, why are you doing this? Don’t you think that you are being too rude? This feels like we went back to when we were still teens.”

Wang Ji glanced at Wei Ying, but he averted his eyes at the table again.

Somehow it made Wu Xian feel like he was ought to feel guilty, but he couldn’t figure out what for. “Okay, okay, Lan Zhan, then let’s have something to eat.”

Silence.

Jing Yi sat on the other side of the table. “Hanguang Jun, I’m quite hungry. Let’s order some food.”

“You order. Not hungry.”

“Ah, Ah, okay, okay. Jing Yi, let’s order some then.”

But throughout their meal Wang Ji sat there silently looking at the table. It was so awkward. Finally, not being able to bare the uncomfortableness, Wu Xian spoke up. “Ah, Lan Zhan, second master Lan, why don’t you buy me a jar of wine?”

But not even giving a chance for Wang Ji to react, Jing Yi spoke. “Why are you asking Hanguang Jun to buy you alcohol? If you are going to drink alcohol at this hour, at least buy it yourself.”

“Jing Yi, I just asked that because I don’t have any money to buy it.” He looked at Wang Ji hopefully. But still there was no reaction. Feeling so disheartened he continued to nibble at his food.

“Ah, Hanguang Jun,” After a while Jing Yi spoke up, startling Wu Xian. “I’ve been meaning to ask you, young master Ouyang said that they found this beautiful field filled with flowers the other day, when they went to play with Fairy. As our Si Zhui hadn’t been able to go outside, and you announced that he is finally well enough to do so, shall we go there this evening?”

“Mmm. Jing Yi, you thought well.” And with that Wang Ji got up and left the two to their food.

The field was filled with white and other light-coloured flowers, making it look like it was covered with snow. As soon as he saw it, Jing Yi grabbed Si Zhui’s hand and ran into the field completely forgetting that they weren’t allowed to run. Wang Ji also followed his students in his slow equal stride and finally catching up to them he said, “Don’t get too tired,” and continued to slowly walk on the soft grass.

“Ah, Lan Zhan, it’s best to take your boots off and walk barefoot in a place like this.” Wu Xian said taking off his own boots and carelessly throwing them aside.

But Wang Ji didn’t even show any sign of acknowledgment. For all that mattered, Wu Xian could have been an invisible ghost. “Lan Zhaaan, why are you ignoring me? Is it because of little apple? I forgot to thank you before, but I’m really grateful. I missed him a lot.” He smiled a very mischievously cute smile, hoping to get rid of his friend’s anger, but it didn’t work.

“Lan Zhan, are you angry at me for selling little apple? I’m really sorry. I was really drunk when I did it. I wouldn’t have done it otherwise. And I would have bought him back, but the next day I didn’t have any money. Ah… Lan Zhaan, can you stop walking for a second and talk with me.”

For a split-second Wu Xian thought that Wang Ji finally stopped, but he must have imagined it, for Wang Ji was walking again. He heaved a sigh in disappointment. “Fine, fine Lan Zhan, I won’t bother you anymore.” With that, he turned around and went away feeling utterly defeated.

Wang Ji watched his friend’s retrieving back from the corner of his eyes. A scowl drawn on his face, but it slowly turned into disappointment.

Wu Xian looked around hoping to find something that would distract him from his sad heart and saw Jin Ling sitting away from his friends completely ignoring them. ‘Ah, what’s with this kid now? He really isn’t mad at us, because we told him to leave Fairy back at the tavern, is he?’ Wu Xian walked towards him shaking his head and sat next to him.

“Okay, before you fume up like a little mistress and scream at me to go away, I promise I won’t bother you. I just wanted some place to sit.”

“You have a whole field to do that. So, why are you sitting next to me? And what did you do to Hanguang Jun?”

“I didn’t do anything to him. I promise. But hey, why are you taking his side over mine? I’m your uncle. Aren’t you supposed to take mine?”

“It is because I don’t want to get in any trouble just because I’m related to you.”

“Hmm, what did I even expect. By the way, where is Jiang Cheng? Doesn’t he usually go with you whenever you go night-hunting?”

“He won’t anymore.”

“Why!!!?” Wu Xian couldn’t think of any reason that justified Jiang Cheng not going with Jin Ling in order to protect him. He had assumed that Jin Ling secretly came to night-hunt on his own, wanting to get away from his short-tempered uncle. But it seemed like Jiang Cheng decided not to go with Jin Ling after all. But why would he do that? Wasn’t he the one who always scolded Jin Ling for secretly sneaking out?

“It’s nothing. We had a fight.”

“But you always fight.” Wu Xian just said it matter of factly, but seeing Jin Ling’s face, he saw that it wasn’t one of their everyday fights. “Jin Ling, what happened?”

“Why do you care?”

“I always care. I care about both you and Jiang Cheng.”

“But why? I thought you care about Hanguang Jun and Lan Si Zhui.”

“Yes, I do. But that doesn’t mean I don’t care about you. You are my family. And I don’t want you to fight.”

“You are the one who fought with your family and left them.”

‘Okay, this kid knows how to hit right where it hurt.’ “And now I know how stupid I was to do so. So, don’t fight with your uncle.”

“But I had to.” Jin Ling said with a sigh.

“Why?”

Jin Ling looked down. He wanted to pour out his heart so badly, it terrified him. Why was it so easy to talk to Wei Wu Xian? Was it one of his tricks? But deep down he knew it wasn’t. Deep down he knew this is why his mother loved Wei Wu Xian so much. But he couldn’t shake off these negative feelings. He braced himself and decided this is his best option for help.

“I don’t want him to follow me anymore.”

“Oh! Understandable. It is kind of annoying when he is there all the time. But he is doing that, because he is overprotective. He might act like he doesn’t care, but he is doing that because he’s scared something might happen to you. Once Lan Zhan and I set on this mission. Well, it was Lan Zhan’s mission and I joined him secretly without telling anyone. But Jiang Cheng followed us, because he was scared something might happen to us. So, even though it’s annoying, try to understand him a bit, okay?”

“Are you talking about the mission to find Yin iron pieces?”

Wu Xian was taken aback. He really didn’t expect Jin Ling to know. How did he know? He was sure Jiang Cheng wouldn’t have taught Jin Ling about anything related to him, or did he?

“It’s not that.” Jin Ling continued. “It is annoying, but I wanted him to come with me.”

“Then?”

“I’m scared that people will tell things.”

“Things? What sort of things. Well, if they are telling you that you are a spoilt brat, it is because you are.”

“I’m not spoilt. Well, anyway, that’s not it. It’s my sect. They are saying that uncle Jiang is using me to take over the Lanling Jin sect.”

“What!!! He would never…” Wu Xian almost stood up. “Hmh” he scowled, calming himself, “I can imagine. Are these the people that are up against you for the sect leader position?”

“How did you know?”

“It’s not hard to guess. These people would build up lies for their own benefit, and go around chanting them till they end up believing in them themselves. This can actually be a problem. But Jin Ling, don’t push your uncle away because of that. It could be scary, but if I learned anything from that Jin Guang Yao, it is that you would be stronger together no matter what. Even if it looks like it’s going to be a disaster. Those people would want you to break up and by doing so, you are playing right into their hands. And as for Jiang Cheng, don’t push him away. for he only has you.”

“But didn’t you say that you care about uncle Jiang? Doesn’t that mean he has you too?”

“He does. But he is too proud to accept that.”

“He could live way better if he learns how to get rid of his pride.”

“Jin Ling…” Wu Xian said leaning back on his elbows, a smile spreading across his lips.

“What?”

“It seems you actually have matured a little bit.”

Even though Jin Ling hated that Wu Xian’s complement mattered to him, he couldn’t hide the smile that spread across his lips. ”Ah, whatever. You know how to say stupid things.”

Before Wu Xian could say anything more, Zi Zhen came running towards them with a huge flower bouquet.

“Jin Xiong, come on, don’t just sit there and join us. You are going to miss all the fun. Next time, let’s make senior Wei stay in the tavern and bring Fairy with us. But since we are already here, don’t just sit there. Senior Wei, you too.” He said pulling Wu Xian’s hand.

‘This kid has become really brave, hasn’t he? He even pulls the hand of the YiLing Patriarch now!’ “Young master Ouyang,” what was the name of this kid again? He was thankful that, at least he could remember his surname, “I don’t know whether you noticed this or not…”

“Hurry up, we are making flower garlands for Si Zhui Xiong.” He pulled Wu Xian’s hand again.

To Wu Xian’s surprise, Jin Ling was already standing. “Well, I don’t know whether you noticed, but Hanguang Jun doesn’t seem like he wants me here. So, I will just sit in this corner.” Wu Xian said, hoping to be left alone.

“But, the one who love you the most is Si Zhui. He would be really sad if you didn’t make him a garland as well. And as for Hanguang Jun, he already made a beautiful flower crown for Si Zhui’s head.”

“Hanguang Jun did what?” Both Wu Xian and Jin Ling asked simultaneously.

“Yes, Jin Xiong, even I was surprised. Jing Yi Xiong kept on pestering him to make a flower crown, but he didn’t budge. But then Jing Yi Xiong said that if Hanguang Jun made one, Si Zhui xiong would be really happy. Hanguang Jun said ‘Mm’ and went away. We were terrified that Jing Yi Xiong finally managed to anger him to the brim. But then he returned with the most beautiful flower crown I have ever seen.”

Wu Xian suddenly felt a heavy urge to see the flower crown Lan Wang Ji had made. So, he let Zi Zhen pull him up and with Jin Ling, eagerly followed him to where Jing Yi was fussing around his friend. The flower crown really was pretty, and was woven with such skill only someone with much patience as Lan Wang Ji possessed. And Si Zhui already had two flower garlands around his neck. Not as neat, but together they managed to make him look like a prince.

. “Ah, Jing Ling, senior Wei, why don’t you make two bracelets to complete the look?” Seeing them Jing Yi asked.

“Jing Yi, don’t bother them. Senior Wei must be tired. It’s okay, you don’t have to do it. Jing Yi was way too worried when I wasn’t even that sick. And I have enough flowers on me. If I wear any more, people will think I’m a girl.”

“Why would flowers make you a girl?” Jing Yi asked scowling. “We made these, because you deserve it. If senior Wei is tired, I’ll do it.”

“Ah, Jing Yi, it’s fine.” Not wanting to just stand back without making something for Si Zhui, Wu Xian hurried to search for lovely flowers. He was vaguely aware of Jin Ling saying that wearing flowers would make anyone look like a girl and starting a whole argument with Jing Yi without picking any flowers. Nonetheless, it was too much to think that with Jin Ling’s pride he would pick flowers for anyone else.

While half bent over a flower bush, Wu Xian saw some movement from the corner of his eyes, and stood up to see Lan Wang Ji a little further away, gently picking flowers. His back turned towards Wu Xian. Seeing him, Wu Xian could not stop but imagine how pretty it would be to see Lan Wang Ji’s beautiful hair decorated with flowers.

He must have stood there for a while, because sensing him, Wang Ji turned towards him. No emotions. A blank stare on his face.

Wu Xian couldn’t bear it any longer. He thought to himself, ‘whatever, I don’t care about the consequences.’ He looked at the flower collection in his hand and picked up a branch that contained the most beautiful flowers. Without even leaving any time for Wang Ji to guess what he was doing, he ran to him beaming with the brightest smile, pressed the flower branch to his hand and said, “for you” while giggling, and ran back as fast as he could.

But before he could go more than a few steps, Wang Ji’s solemn “Wei Ying,” stopped him in place. ‘Oh no, he must be angrier than I thought he would be.’ Hoping to reduce Hanguang Jun’s wrath, he turned towards him with the most innocent and vulnerable face, with the sweetest smile he could muster.

Wang Ji slowly strode to him, still with the blank expression, making Wu Xian’s heart sink deeper with every step he took. Then, standing right in front of him he plucked a flower from the branch Wu Xian gave him. The little hope he had disappeared with it.

“Lan Zhan, if you were just going to destroy the flowers… ah…. What are you doing? Did you just…?” He touched his head and there it was. He could feel the soft petals where Wang Ji had pinned the flower in his hair. A bright smile returned to his face. “Lan Zhan, does this mean that you are not angry with me anymore?” But Wang Ji continued to stare at him with the blank expression.

“Ah, Lan Zhan… say something will you?” Wu Xian grabbed his friend’s hand and started shaking it. “Lan Zhan don’t be silent like this.”

But Wang Ji freed his arm from Wu Xian’s grip, maintaining his blank expression. “Pretty.” And with that he walked away before Wu Xian could grab his hand again.

Wu Xian’s eyes were wide. “Second master Lan, did you just… What did you say? I couldn’t here you. LAN WANG JI, COME BACK…”

Chapter Text

Xia Hong Guang felt like she was on the verge of tears. Wang Chun Hua was slopping next to her, with her head in her hands. Hong Guang wished the other girl wouldn’t blame her for making such a rash decision. If they joined the group of cultivators, there’s no chance that they would have found their parents. But right now, it didn’t seem like they were making any progress either. The other girl didn’t even show any sign of anger, but Hong Guang knew that deep inside, she wished that they had joined the cultivators.

They were in a shop that sold food. One can’t even call it a restaurant. They were soon going to run out of money to even buy anything edible. But it seemed both the girls couldn’t even stomach the two small bowls of food they spent their precious money on.

It definitely wasn’t because they weren’t hungry. They felt so tired to the point, they barely had any energy left. Throughout the whole morning, they were talking to as many people as they could, to gather any information that could help them. At first, Hong Guang didn’t feel like it was that much of a challenge, because some men were really willing to talk to a pretty young lady, who could be flirtatious when she wanted to. But later, when they realised that they weren’t getting anything more out of it, they became more resistant. And both the girls didn’t have money to exchange for any information either.

It was really tiring to force anything useful out of anyone. No one was willing to spare even a minute to talk to a total stranger for free. And so far, they hadn’t found anything that was even slightly useful.

“Chun Hua, let’s hurry up and go back to that guesthouse. Who knows, we might have better luck in the afternoon.”

“You don’t really believe that, do you?” Chun Hua asked, heaving a sigh. “Maybe we should give up.” Seeing the other girl starting to protest she added, “at least for today. I’m tired. But that’s only physically. I’m mentally exhausted and emotionally drained.”

This made Hong Guang chuckle. “I didn’t expect you to be so dramatic.”

“I wasn’t being dramatic. You really have a thick skin to not be discouraged after how we’ve been treated.”

“I don’t have thick skin okay. But we don’t have a choice. We are doing this for our family. You can’t give up like this.”

“We can start tomorrow. Let’s get some rest now.”

“HELL NO. What if we missed a person who knew about something? We can’t risk that. We already wasted too much time. If you are not going, I’m going alone.”

Chun Hua wanted to tell her friend, that even if they did this all day long without taking any breaks, there’s still a huge chance of missing a person who could provide them and willing to provide them with the information they needed. But her heart didn’t allow her to stop the other girl from getting back to roam the streets. She knew that it wasn’t courage that was fuelling the other girl, but fear. Even though Hong Guang hid it, she could see how scared and hopeless the other girl felt. She had also noticed how Hong Guang hopefully looked at passers-by that even remotely resembled her sister or her fiancé.

 Reluctantly, Chun Hua also got to her feet. Right off the bat, she got some annoyed glares from two strangers. The reason that they chose here was that, this was a really big town with a famous guest house. But Chun Hua wondered how long they could stay around the guest house before they were chased away. She hurried to tell Hong Guang not to get too close to it, but alas, she saw her friend disappear inside before she could catch up to her.

With a sigh, Chun Hua also followed inside. Hong Guang was already conversing with a couple. She seemed to have no problem with starting conversations with people when she was determined to do so. Chun Hua looked around to find someone that she could strike a conversation with. But people either looked too busy, or they looked like they would ignore her like she’s an annoying fly. She saw a young girl looking at her, and she smiled at her only to be rewarded with a scowl.

She sighed and decided to sit in a corner, and wait until she saw someone she could strike a conversation with. Two men with wine jars came and sat in a nearby table.

“Oh my god, how annoying. You can’t go anywhere without these pathetic beggars bothering you. Why can’t the owner make sure that they won’t get inside?”

“So bothersome. I only spoke to her because she is beautiful. Seemed like she thought I was willing to spend my precious time for nothing. Asking about her dead relatives. What a joke.”

“Let me tell you, that family thing was all a lie. I think she’s trying to rob our money after making us pity her. These people are getting more cunning by the day. Must have been born on the streets.”

Every word made Chun Hua’s blood turn cold. Even though Hong Guang’s pretty robes have become slightly dirty, it was clear that they were way more expensive than what the two men were wearing, and yet they dared call her a beggar. She jumped to her feet, determined to take her friend away from here before anything bad could happen, but it was already too late.

The owner was dragging an angry Hong Guang who was trashing out trying to get free. ”I told you beggars not to come inside my guesthouse. You never listen. Always bothering my guests and making them unsatisfied with your pathetic faces.”

Chun Hua ran after the owner. To her dismay, many had decided that this is going to be a fun event in their otherwise dull lives, and had begun to gather around as well. At the door, the owner grabbed Hong Guang by both her arms and threw her outside. She hit the ground with a heavy thud, for a second Chun Hua thought she would cry. But without even bothering to get up, Hong Guang turned to face the owner, and threw daggers from her eyes. She could see the owner’s arms were bleeding from a few cuts Hong Guang had managed to make.

“How dare you? Is this how you treat people that visit your guest house?”

“Well, you crazy bitch, you are right. If you poor beggars come to bother my guests, I make sure to get rid of them as fast as I can. Look at this wench looking at me with those crazy eyes. How dare you look at me like that? Isn’t there anyone to get rid of this lunatic?”

A helpless smile appeared on Hong Guang’s face. Anyone seeing her would surely think she was crazy. But she somehow managed to calm her emotions and get rid of the fire behind her eyes. But Chun Hua could see that her eyes were filled with tears. She prayed for her friend’s sake they won’t fall, because she knew Hong Guang would hate to appear weak in front of these people.

Using a cold emotionless tone Hong Guang asked, “Why do you say that I bother you? Why do you call me a lunatic? My family is missing. So, do you really think that my behaviour is outrageous? Are you saying that I shouldn’t look for my family? Will you be able to turn a blind eye and not care at all, if it’s your family that is missing? So, are you saying that me asking for a few minutes of your time to answer my questions is too much to ask for?”

The owner snickered, “So, you are saying that we should bother about your stupid family? We have better things to do. Don’t bother these gentlemen with your stupid problems and go away. They have important matters to attend to. If you dare step inside my guest house again, don’t blame my men for beating you into a pulp.” With that, he turned around and went inside without even another glance.

Many who gathered around, either shouted some hurtful words at Hong Guang or went their own way laughing at the poor girl on the floor. A few who felt sorry lingered a little longer. But eventually they also decided to slowly depart looking back at the girl who had lost all her desires to even get up.

Chun Hua felt like punching the guest house owner right on the nose, but she was terrified to the point she couldn’t even glance in the general direction in fear he would notice and bark at her as well. Instead, she walked to her friend.

“Hong Guang, get up. Let’s leave.” But even when she tried to help her up, Hong Guang remained seated.

“Chun Hua, I don’t…”

“What is it.”

“Nothing.” She got up on her own and started to walk away.

“Hong Guang, wait for me. Where are you going?” Chun Hua hurried to catch up with her friend. But Hong Guang didn’t even look like she cared whether Chun Hua followed.

To Chun Hua’s relief, Hong Guang ended up heading to the small room they managed to rent for two days. The floor was dusty, but she had to be lying if she said that she was surprised to see Hong Guang drop on the floor without a care. But the sobs and the nonstop tears that dropped afterwards definitely caught her by surprise.

“Hong Guang, whatever that dirty man said, don’t take it to your heart. Please stop crying.”

But Hong Guang didn’t show any sign of wanting to stop. It felt like she couldn’t. Every feeling that was trapped inside throughout all those days kept pouring out helplessly. All the frustration, all the helplessness trying to leave her body at once through her eyes, like they have been cramped up all this time, and couldn’t wait to be released. She missed her parents, she missed her sister, her family, her home. But most of all… she was scared…

Finally, after hours, Chun Hua woke up to a complete silence. She had fallen asleep after waiting for Hong Guang to stop crying. Darkness had lowered into their little room already. She found Hong Guang exactly where she was, before she fell asleep. But now, she was completely still. Seemed like she had finally run out of tears. Chun Hua went to her friend and squatted next to her.

“Do you want to stop?”

“Huh?” Chun Hua asked without being able to figure out what her friend was talking about.

“No, I just asked because you even seemed eager to join that night-hunt, and I was the one who dragged you all the way here.”

“Hong Guang, that’s okay. We have to look for our villagers.”

“But do we? Can we? Even my sister knew that this is not going to work. They are not even here now. I guess it would be kind of hard for them to find us, because they also have no idea where we are. But I thought they would just arrive at the village a few days after us, and they didn’t. I don’t know why they didn’t. Maybe they changed their minds after arriving at the Zhang mansion. I think that’s the most likely reason. But there’s a chance something happened to them as well.

If so, are we supposed to look for them as well? Can we? I’m fed up with this. I know that a person shouldn’t give up on family, but what am I supposed to do? And the parents and older siblings are supposed to protect you, not the other way around. I’m so freaking tired. I…”

Seeing that the other girl is about to cry again, Chun Hua went and hugged her. “Hong Guang, it’s okay. You tried your best. It’s not your fault that we couldn’t even find a clue. I want to find my family too. I’m always praying that when I wake up, they will be there. But that’s not gonna happen now, is it? We both are tired. I think at least we deserve a break. Why don’t you stop thinking about it and get some sleep?”

Somehow, Chun Hua managed to coax Hong Guang to go to bed, but she also found it really hard to fall asleep herself.

Chun Hua was delighted, well astonished would be a proper word, to find a prepared meal that she could afford. She was planning on buying some vegetables early in the morning so she could cook something by the time Hong Guang woke up. Now, having more time, she slowly stepped in the direction of their rented house, which gave her some time to think about all that happened yesterday, as well as the woman she met that morning. That woman was completely normal. So, why is she not that happy about what she found out? She decided not to tell Hong Guang until she’s sure nothing bad will come out of it.

But to her surprise, when she entered their little room, Hong Guang was already up and dressed.

“Oh, Chun Hua, you didn’t have to go and find food all by yourself. I could have come with you.” She said greedily looking at the food. That stew didn’t even look that good. If she wasn’t feeling this hungry, she wouldn’t even want to eat it.

“I know you are hungry. I am too, but don’t eat too fast. You’ll feel sick. We have to plan what we are going to do afterwards as well. To be honest, we don’t even have a place to stay anymore, that is unless we return to our village. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to do that.”

“What do you mean return to our village? We haven’t found our parents yet.”

This took Chun Hua by surprise. “But… but I thought you wanted to give up on that.”

“Yeah, I wanted to. To be honest, I still kind of want to. But, how can I? How can we? Okay, let’s just say that we gave up. Then what are we going to do? I don’t want to go to the village either. Well, no offense, but I never really liked the village, even before all this. And let’s just say that we gave up. Will we even be able to sleep at night peacefully, without even feeling guilty.”

“I was trying not to think about how we would feel afterwards.” Chun Hua let out a nervous chuckle. “Yes, I don’t want to give up on my family either. But I have to warn you, it’s not going to get any easier.”

“It’s not like I didn’t know that. But somehow, roaming around looking for clues that we might never find doesn’t sound as bad as spending another night at that village.”

“Well, in that case, there’s something I have to tell you.”

“What?”

“Well. I wasn’t really planning on telling you that, mostly because I thought you wanted to give up, and also because I don’t know why, but I don’t feel so good about it.”

“What? Come on, don’t beat around the bush. You are really trying out my patience here.”

“Girl, calm down. Okay, so, this morning by accident, I heard two women talking about a group of villagers.”

“A GROUP OF VILLAGERS?”

“Yeah, well, to be exact, they were talking about whether or not they had arrived at their destination safely. I couldn’t not ask for more information. One woman was willing to tell me about it. Actually, a little bit too willing.”

“Well, that’s great. What did she say?”

“I don’t know whether it’s great or not, but the woman said that a few days ago, the tavern that she works at, was filled to the brim by a group of people. She had been curious and had asked about them. They had told her that their village had been attacked, and they were on their way to a safer place.”

“WHAT? That really could be…”

“Yes, it could be.”

“So, by any chance, did she know where they were heading?”

“Surprisingly, she did.”

“So where is it?... Chun Hua… Chun Hua…?”

Despite Hong Guang’s impatience, Chun Hua took her time to think whether she should tell her friend the place or not. But she realised she had no chance of turning back now, for even if she didn’t want to tell her friend about it, Hong Guang will not give up until she got her answer.

“Okay, Hong Guang, I’ll tell you. But just keep in mind that this whole thing is fishy.”

“Fishy? As in?”

“I don’t know. I can’t really point it out, but the fact that that lady was talking about it just as I was walking by, and she was really willing to give me all the information without even hesitating…”

“I don’t see why it’s that fishy. Yes, there’s such a slim chance of such a thing happening. But maybe it’s our lucky day. And you are not saying that that woman purposefully talked about it when she saw you walking by, are you? That’s even more impossible. She’s not even someone that knows you, is it? And even if she did that on purpose, what’s in it for her?”

“Yeah, I guess it’s impossible. But the thing is, I really didn’t like the location she gave me.”

“What’s the location? What’s wrong with it?”

“Well, it’s not exactly the location, but the path that leads to it. Okay, so, listen. Here’s what she told me. She said if we followed this road,” Chun Hua said pointing to the road in front of their guest house, “towards north, eventually we will see the road divide and the left will lead into a rocky tunnel. She said a village lies in the other end, and that’s where they went.”

“That’s it?” Hong Guang asked surprised. “I can’t believe we are so near? Let’s go now.” she said jumping up.

“Hong Guang, wait.” Chun Hua pulled her back down.

“Why?”

“Listen first, will you? This lady told me that nobody really goes into that tunnel.”

“Why not?”

“They say that there’s some kind of crazy woman. Anyone who sees her would lose their minds.”

“What? That’s just ridiculous. How can a woman make someone lose their mind? Even if it’s possible, why would the villagers take such a dangerous road?”

“I also thought it was kind of weird. So, I asked the woman that I bought food from, about the path. She said such a cave does exist, and if we value our lives, we should not even go near it. She said it’s not just a mad woman, it’s a monster. Then I asked whether there is another path that will lead us to that village. She said even though some people believe there is a village at the other end of the tunnel, no one really has seen it nor has anyone met a person living in such a village.”

“That is weird,” Hong Guang said frowning thoughtfully. “If it’s such a dangerous place, why would anyone go there? Especially a group of people who are running away from danger?”

“My thoughts exactly. This is why I think that woman lied to me in the first place. Would someone freely give a stranger some information so willingly?”

“Well, whether she told you that or not, it doesn’t matter to her, for it is not anything related to her. Well, I guess we have to find out ourselves how much of it is true then.”

“Wha… What? You are not planning on going there, are you?”

“We have to. Until now, we didn’t have any information to rely on. Now that we have something, we can’t completely ignore it and look the other way. And I just think that people were trying to scare their children to make them stop going into that cave, and they themselves started to believe in their own stories.”

“Or, they could be the children that eventually grew up. That cave must have been there for a long time.” Chun Hua said digesting her friend’s theory.

“Exactly!”

“That doesn’t mean I agree with you on going there.”

“So, you are saying that you won’t come?”

“Well, I can’t just sit here while you go to investigate it all by yourself now, can I? Well, in that case, let’s leave without any more delay so, at least when we search the cave, we will still have daylight.”

They were able to leave without wasting any time, for they didn’t even have anything to take with them. There wasn’t even any leftover food, because they have hungrily gobbled everything Chun Hua had bought that morning. But Hong Guang pulled out two knives from the big bundle she always carried around even surprising Chun Hua and handed one to her.

“Well, I don’t know whether they are useful against any monster,” she said. “But if we are lucky, it will only be a mad woman.”

“You always carried that with you? I didn’t even know you had knives in that bundle. And please tell me that you are not going to stab that woman with these, are you?”

“Well, if she is even slightly sane, she’ll know to stay away from knives. We won’t have to end up stabbing anyone. And I packed them here because these are from a set my mom cherished, for they had some sentimental value. I just took them with me because I didn’t want anyone to steal them. I didn’t expect that we’ll come across a situation where we’d have to use them in such a manner. Well, I guess it can’t be helped.”

Before long, they were in a middle of a forest. It was such a surprise how civilization disappeared just so little away from that busy town. But the road was still very broad.

“Hong Guang, isn’t that it?” Chun Hua asking pointing to their left a little way ahead.

“Is it?” Hong Guang asked doubtfully. Chun Hua’s finger was pointed at a small cave entrance, so small that even Chun Hua would have to bend her head if she wanted to enter it. “That can’t be, right? I expected it to be bigger. Well, from the stories you heard, it sounded big and scary. But this doesn’t seem like it even leads anywhere. Maybe it’s just a small hollow in the side of that rock. It’s a small rock to begin with.”

“Yes, but they said we would only have to walk a little way before we find it. It can’t be much further and I don’t see any other cave in the visible distance.”

“Well, if you think this could be the one, we could check it out. I’m sure as soon as we get in, we’ll be able to see the other end.”

They both walked towards it. Despite Hong Guang’s words, she seemed to be very cautious. They were both surprised to see the cave went on further in, to the point they couldn’t even see the other end, when they went to the entrance and poked their heads in.

“I didn’t expect it to go for a long way. But I’m still sure the back wall is hidden in the darkness, which is going to be a problem. No matter whatever monster came, one thing is certain. We definitely aren’t gonna see it.”

“Well, you are not the only one who has a surprise up your sleeve.” Chun Hua pulled out two candles from the small pouch she carried. “I got them from a tavern. Well, don’t look at me like that. They were just lying on the floor okay. I didn’t steal them. Well, maybe I did.”

“Did I say anything?” Hong Guang grabbed one. “These are not gonna last too long. But it will be enough for us to investigate a cave.”

They lit them up and stepped inside. As they went deeper, one thing became certain. The candle light definitely wasn’t enough to illuminate the whole cave. They could barely see in front of them. They kept going, and to both their surprise, the cave went on.

“Chun Hua, I’m not sure whether you have noticed, but we can no longer see the roof with this light.”

“So, it eventually became higher?”

“Or we are getting lower and lower, which seems more likely. If the roof was getting higher, we would have been able to see a tall ridge from the outside. We didn’t.”

“I don’t like it. I don’t want to go underground.”

“We are under a damn big rock. So, what difference can going a little underground can do, huh?”

Chun Hua suddenly grabbed Hong Guang’s hand. “Why, what is it?” Hong Guang asked panicking a little.

“Ah, no, it’s just… no it’s nothing. Forget it. By the way, have you noticed? We can’t see the side walls either.”

Hong Guang stretched her arm and brought the candle as nearest to her side of the cave as possible without leaving her position next to Chun Hua’s side, but she still couldn’t see the sides. “I don’t like this either. And I also noticed that the slight echo we heard before, is gone as well. But this place can’t be that big now, can it?”

“Hong Guang, let’s not go in too deep. I really didn’t expect this cave to just span out. If so, I wouldn’t even have entered.”

“But we did, so let’s at least go in a little further. We can’t just quit like this. And there’s no mad woman, so all is good.”

They slowly stepped forward making sure not to get further from each other. Hong Guang could swear that she felt Chun Hua shudder from time to time. But she could not bring herself to even ask her friend why. It felt like more than a psychological restrain. The air felt so stuffy and her throat felt like it was somehow squeezed shut.

Suddenly, she felt something brush the hand that held the candle. She thought it has to be roots hanging from above, or maybe a fabric piece that somehow found its way there, but she could not shake off the feeling that it felt more like the brush of human hair. She felt herself shudder as well and was even more amazed that even though her hand was illuminated by the candle, she didn’t see whatever that brushed it. She felt an urge to turn back and investigate, but at the same time she felt so scared to look back.

Chun Hua suddenly stopped and squeezed her eyes shut for a moment. After heaving a sigh, she slowly opened her eyes. Hong Guang threw a questioning glance towards her friend, not wanting to break the silence with words. But Chun Hua shook her head and started to walk again.

They kept on walking and Hong Guang was surprised that Chun Hua didn’t yet suggest that they should turn back, despite their decision to turn back after only going a little bit further. It was clear that they had no idea where they were going, for the cave was vast and their candle light wasn’t enough to illuminate anything significant. As they continued, Hong Guang could not shake off the feeling that someone was watching them. And for some reason, she was sure that this was the mad woman the people from the town talked about. She did not know how she knew it, nor could she bring herself to stop or turn back. Somehow, she felt like if they did that, they were doomed. As in the only thing that was keeping them from danger was going forward, into the deep dark cave.

Suddenly Chun Hua gripped her hand stopping her on her track. “It’s her, isn’t it?”

Hong Guang was surprised to see her cheeks covered in tears.

“I know it’s her, and I know that you know that too. We have to go back.”

“Chun Hua, maybe it’s our brain. We expected to face a mad woman, and this place is dark and eerie, so our brains are…”

“Don’t be ridiculous. It’s not our brains. We never should have come. Didn’t you see her. I saw her many times, standing in the darkness. There’s no way you didn’t.”

At this, Hong Guang also felt like crying. She knew she saw a dark figure. A woman’s figure. Just glimpses of it every now and then. But she had reassured herself saying that it’s the darkness forming shapes and nothing else. But Chun Hua saying that out loud made it clear that she had been lying to herself.

“Okay, maybe I did. So, what are we going to do? Turn back?”

“Yes, we should. We should have turned back sooner.”

Despite their words, both girls remained there without turning back. It looked like something was keeping them from doing so.

“Come on Hong Guang, let’s go.” But before Chun Hua could even turn halfway, a wave of heat hit them and the whole cave became illuminated.

The cave was even bigger than they had expected. Hong Guang could see smaller tunnels running out from it here and there as well. The roof was not made out of granite as she expected, but was completely covered with soil. Which made it clear that they were definitely underground.

Not able to restrain herself any longer, she turned to face the source that illuminated the cave. Even though it definitely was not what she expected, she couldn’t say that she was completely surprised by it.

Whatever it was, it was huge, almost reaching the top of the cave. It reminded her of a nasty bug that had curly grey hair all over it. There was fire coming out of cracks in its body, which was why the cave was illuminated.

But at the same time, the monster reminded her of a woman. In between its large eyes there was something weird. At first Hong Guang thought it was its nose, but now she could see that it was shaped more like the face of a woman. Without knowing how she even knew about it, she knew that this was the woman that they both saw in the darkness. Somehow within a second that woman had turned into this hideous creature.

Chun Hua grabbed Hong Guang with both her hands. Her candle was already lying on the floor. Maybe she had decided she didn’t need it anymore with all this light around, or it had subconsciously dropped from her hand. Hong Guang also really wanted to return Chun Hua’s gesture, but she still wasn’t ready to let her candle go. So, she grabbed Chun Hua’s elbow with her free hand.

The ground shook. It only took a moment for Hong Guang to realise that it was the effect of the monster’s footsteps. It took another lazy step towards them. But Both girls just huddled there, without being able to move at all, mesmerized by the approaching creature.

Only after the third step could Chun Hua finally make her petrified legs move shoving Hong Guang in front of her. They both ran not even caring where they were going. But no matter how fast they ran, the monster kept getting closer and closer. Hong Guang was so ashamed that deep down she was glad that she was not the one who was closer to the monster. But she felt really protected knowing Chun Hua was behind her.

Suddenly, a scream broke and Hong Guang turned back to find Chun Hua on the ground, only a few feet away from the monster. It had grabbed her with one of the hairy arms and had pulled her back. It lifted its arm again and Hong Guang looked around to find something to throw at the monster. There wasn’t even a stone that is hard enough. Not finding anything, and not having any more time to waste, Hong Guang lifted her candle and realised that it had been blown out. But it wouldn’t have mattered. This is not a monster that could be destroyed by fire anyway. So, she threw it at the outstretched arm.

It barely hit the target and was too light of a weight to do any damage. But the monster got distracted for a second, which gave Chun Hua enough time to pull out the knife and stab at the arm. The monster withdrew its limb for a second and Hong Guang was surprised as well as impressed of how Chun Hua used that time to stand up and run again.

But when she got up, to her dismay Hong Guang saw that she was bleeding from a huge gash from her temple, and her belt and part of her robe near the waste was burnt out from the fire. Hong Guang could only hope that her skin hasn’t burnt. She stretched her hand and urged her friend to hurry her footsteps, and grab it so they could start running again.

But it felt like Chun Hua was taking forever to reach her. The monster started to approach them again, and sensing this, Chun Hua shouted at her. “Hong Guang… run… or it will catch you too.”

Hong Guang thought her friend was being ridiculous. How can she ask her to leave her? “Come on, you have to…” but she couldn’t get anything more out of her mouth. The monster was so near she felt her throat squeeze in terror. Without even realising she had started to back up. ‘Even if I stayed, what can I do? I can’t fight this monster. It’s going to kill me too. If I ran, there is a chance the monster won’t chase me thinking one human would be enough.’

Before she even ended her thought, she was running, without even looking back. She felt like the monster was not following her, and felt relief for a moment, before a scream broke stopping her in her tracks. ‘So what? What if I escaped? I don’t want to be alone. I don’t want to live knowing my friend died. I’m the one who brought her here in the first place. Fine, that monster want to kill us. I’ll just show it how freaking hard it’s going to be. I’m not a nobody. And I might not be able to get the sword right now, but I have a knife. If that monster is going to kill us, I’ll make sure it will pay for it too.’

She pulled out her knife, and ran back to see Chun Hua on the ground, trying to back up from the monster.

“Hey ugly creature.” Hong Guang said grabbing the creature’s attention. “If you wanted to kill us, the least you could have done is look pretty. But it seems like no matter what, you couldn’t afford to look at least decent. Let’s see whether I can at least help you a little with it. If I cut a limb or two, you might at least look presentable. But you are too hideous for me to make any promises though.” Seeing what she’s about to do, Chun Hua screamed her name as a warning, but ignoring it, Hong Guang ran straight at the monster. But before she could get any closer, she felt heat engulfing her leg, and the monster lifted her from her leg and threw her far to the side.

There were dark circles in her vision and she thought for a split second that she lost her ability to breath, for no air would go inside her lungs. When she could finally breath, her lungs started to burn. Then the other pains kicked in as well. Her ribs hurt every time she breathed, and her left arm which she hit first when landing was throbbing with so much pain making it impossible for her to move it. It hurt too much, she felt like she won’t be able to move at all.

Thankfully, every new throb of pain was getting bearable than the prior. But she didn’t have time to wait till it was gone, for another arm came straight at her. The small fighting lessons her father taught kicked in, and she was able to barely miss it by twisting to the side. She lifted the knife in her right hand and hacked at it. But sadly, she realised the monster’s skin was so thick, the small knife wasn’t sharp or strong enough to do any real damage. But without wasting time she lifted the knife again and stabbed at the arm pinning it to the ground. Even though it wasn’t cutting through, it at least had to be painful.

The monster withdrew its arm so fast making Hong Guang fall on her back, off balanced. She looked up and saw the arm approaching her again. This time even though Hong Guang tried to twist away, she wasn’t fast enough to avoid it. It grabbed her by her right arm and dragged her so fast across the ground. Wwhen it finally let go, she skidded even further and hit her head straight on the side of the cave.

Even though it felt like it would kill her to open her eyes, she forced her eyelids up as soon as she could, knowing the longer she kept the eyes closed, it would be even more dangerous. She had no idea how long they were closed for, but when she opened it up, everything was dark blue and white. She tried to get up, only to realise she couldn’t move. She had no idea where Chun Hua was or what happened to her. She desperately looked around to find her friend and finally spotted a human figure in her negative vision.

There were more than one. She couldn’t even recognise whether they were men or women. She started to hear some shouting as well, which made her realise, up until then she couldn’t hear anything except for a slight annoying ringing noise.

“Hong Guang, are you okay?” Someone grabbed her and helped her sit.

She focused on the man’s face through blazing pain, until her vision came back to normal. “Yong Zheng?”

“Yeah, are you all right?”

“Where’s Chun Hua? She was here. You have to find her.” She tried to shove him a bit encouraging him to go and find Chun Hua, which was a mistake for the ringing returned.

“Don’t worry. She’s over there. My friend is guarding her.”

“Guarding?” Hong Guang looked around to find Chun Hua, and realised that the monster was still there and a group of men were fighting it. One thing that struck as weird to her was that they were all wearing robes in the same colours. A beautiful blue green and white. She looked back at Yong Zheng and he was wearing the same colours. “Is this the Zhang clan?”

“These are my friends, and yes they are the disciples of the Zhang clan, not the whole Zhang clan.”

Hong Guang knew that Yong Zheng kind of mocked her, and she should be mad and be shouting something back at him, but her head still hurt, so she decided to keep the talking to the minimum not wanting the headache to become worse.

“This is an old and powerful ghoul, and it’s really hard to kill. So, come on. Let’s leave here. My friends will bring lady Wang outside as well.”

Ignoring her protests of pain, Yong Zheng dragged her to her feet and together they started to move towards the entrance. But suddenly, Hong Guang’s arm was wrapped in heat and she felt herself getting pulled to the side and she hit the side wall with a thud. Ignoring the pain, she immediately turned to look at the monster, knowing very well the arm would come back again.

But thankfully, Yong Zheng’s sword was way sharper and stronger than their small knives and it cut right through that tentacle like arm made out of hair and fire. But another arm was soon there to replace it. Now that the monster was fighting with so many people, it seemed that it had sprouted as many arms as is enough to deal with all those people. But Yong Zheng didn’t seem discouraged, and for a while Hong Guang just sat there open mouthed, appreciating the way he brought his sword around.

But another disciple was by her side, “Second lady Xia, let me help you. We must get out.”

A loud clatter sounded nearby and Hong Guang saw to her dismay that Yong Zheng’s sword had left his hand. She tried to twist in that direction hoping to throw it back to Yong Zheng, but a burning hairy arm was on her way. She vaguely heard Yong Zheng shouting at his friend, telling him to take her out of there.

The disciple pulled her towards the entrance. “But… but… the sword…”

“Master can call it back if he wants to. And it will be too heavy even for me to lift anyway.” He was pulling her so hard, Hong Guang decided to not fight back seeing that would only be in vain. Letting the disciple guide her, she turned her head back to look at Yong Zheng. He had pulled out a bow that she hadn’t even noticed he was carrying, and stuck an arrow to its string. He released it and the arrow flew. It flew all the way to the nearby wall and stuck straight in it missing the monster’s head by inches.

Another arrow was already taking its place on the bow, and just as they took a turn and the view was covered by a great soil wall, Hong Guang saw it get struck in what could be assumed as the monster’s shoulder.

Chapter Text

“Again. Again. Again. Again.”

Liu Ya felt like she will end up eating Jiang Yong Liang’s head, if she heard him say that word again. They had been practicing for way too long, but it seemed like their second in command is still not satisfied. And somehow, everyone else looked like they could still carry on without crumpling to the ground.

She knew she was one of the three people that kept pissing off Yong Liang which made him make them practice the same moves again and again. And up until now, Liu Ya clearly hadn’t realised how heavy a sword could be. She was thinking about just dashing out of there without looking back at all. Anyway, didn’t their sect leader tell them Jiang sect appreciated free spirited people?

But thankfully, Yong Liang finally gave them a break and Liu Ya ran to the shade under the tree and lied down. “Please tell me that I have someone to partner with in tonight’s mission of murdering our second in command.”

She heard a chuckle and turned her head to see the person who was practicing next to her. She was sure that this man was clearly in his late thirties if not early forties. But still, he was in the beginners’ class for outer disciples. Was he someone who joined recently? He clearly can’t be someone who kept on failing, for Liu Ya could tell he had some skills by the look of it.

“Why? Is it so funny? Probably someone like you would think so. But as for me, I’m just scared that my soul would leave my body before I even get to see the sunset.”

“Oh, I’m sure it isn’t that bad.”

“It is. I’m pretty sure my legs are bleeding rivers of blood from the bruises.”

“Okay, I thought you were serious, at least a little bit. But now I’m convinced you are not.”

“I am serious!” Liu Ya sat up and pulled one of her boots off determined to prove her point.

“Oh, there are calluses and a bit of bruising. But it’s normal. Fan Liu Ya, you would get used to it pretty soon.”

Even Liu Ya could not believe that only bruising could hurt that much. She was sure she was bleeding. “Okay, fine, I’m not bleeding. But it still hurts. Would it have killed him to give us a break earlier? If the disciples had bruised all over, how can they even fight in a real battle? This is more like torture. I never knew sects bully their own disciples. If I knew, I wouldn’t have ever even wished to join one. I wish I can switch to another teacher. Someone who actually have a heart.”

“Fan Liu Ya, I know that in the Jiang sect, they are really serious about teaching their disciples how to fight. But I heard that it was implemented by sect leader Jiang after the Sunshot campaign, to make sure that the Jiang sect will be ready to take on any further massacre without such damage again.”

“And don’t wish to change your master, junior sister,” another disciple chipped in. “I have been here for a while now, and I’ve seen and heard a thing or two. Second in command Jiang is actually a very respectable person. His fighting skills are so good and you should be proud to be his student. Even sect leader Jiang seems to respect him.”

Liu Ya hated to admit, upon hearing that, her heart did a little flip. But she managed to keep her cool. “Of course, sect leader Jiang would respect him. He is his disciple and he is the second in command. What’s so important about that?”

“You don’t understand. Seems like you still don’t know our sect leader that well,” he continued. “But he is someone really proud and cold, and not someone who cares to respect another person. So, being respected by someone like him really is a big deal.”

“He’s not that cold…”

But before the other disciple could say anything, Yong Liang was in front of them. “Get up and go to the field. Your break is over.”

“Wh… What?” Liu Ya really wished that she imagined what he just said. “You really can’t expect us to practice again. I don’t even think I can get up for another hour or so.”

“You still have your two legs attached, so put your boots on and get on the field.”

“No. Don’t you have eyes? Can’t you see everyone here is tired. It’s enough practice for today.”

“Says who?”

“Me, of course.”

“And what power do you think you have to decide that?”

“Come on Liu Ya,” the disciple who practiced next to her held out his hand, ready to help her up. “Let’s get to the field. The practice will be over even before you know it.”

“I’m not sure whether you heard it,” Liu Ya said scowling. “I told you I’m exhausted. I can’t practice anymore.”

“Oh really,” Yong Liang scowled in return. “And yet I thought you wanted to become a top-level cultivator as soon as you can. Guess they are just meaningless words after all.”

“No. I meant what I said. You are the one who is getting it confused, Master Jiang. I said I want to become a great cultivator as fast as I can, not I want to die out of exhaustion.” She picked up her boots and strode away, trying to ignore the bursting waves of pain that came every time her soles contacted the ground.

She didn’t know what punishment she would receive for leaving practice like that. She had thought, after their sect leader said that the Jiang sect valued freedom and individuality, they won’t be forced into anything they didn’t want to do. But it seemed that wasn’t the case. But what could she have done? She couldn’t continue practicing with her feet like this, and her whole body aching like it was beaten to a pulp.

She was planning on going to her room and slopping on her bed, but she realised she couldn’t walk for that long. So, she sat on the side of the platform and let her feet fall into the water among the lotus leaves and lied her back across the wood, letting her eyes fall shut. This corridor is not one that was used that much. So, if she got lucky, she could sleep for even an hour or two without being disturbed by a passer-by.

She was almost near the gates of the sweet sweet oblivion of sleep, when she heard someone approaching. She groaned, but even though reluctantly, got up not wanting to hinder anyone from wherever they were going.

“You shouldn’t soak your bruised legs in lake water.”

Even before she turned her head, Liu Ya could tell it was their second in command, Jiang Yong Liang. “Why do you care? I thought the more pain we are in, more pleasing it is for you.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Huh?” Liu Ya couldn’t believe what she heard was right. He apologized? And so easily?

Yong Liang sat next to her crossing his legs. “I shouldn’t have forced you to practice more, when you were exhausted.”

“Yeah. I thought that’s common knowledge. Apparently, it’s not.”

“I see that you are mad.”

“And you dare to complain?”

“No. No, I didn’t complain. I was just stating a fact. I know the first few days are kind of hard. You are going to be easily exhausted until your body gets used to it. But the only way to make your body get used to it is through practice. And I usually make my group practice harder on Fridays. I just forgot you only started your practicing two days ago. I’ll go easy on you until you are capable of going through it.”

“Ah… well…” Liu Ya could barely hear him through her beating heart. She wanted to hate him for what he did before. But her heart just won’t listen. And how can she be mad when he is talking like that. This man deserved to go to hell for being so charming. “I’ll try my best. I did say that I want to be a great cultivator as fast as I can. Don’t be inconsiderate, but as my Master, make sure I won’t lag behind either.”

Yong Liang let off a nervous chuckle. “I’ll try my best on that. I guess our sect leader is not the only one who has a temper. But, If I am to make sure that you won’t lag behind, I can’t let those bruises get sore now, can I? Come, give me your feet.”

“What?”

“Ah, I brought some medicine. Let’s apply it.”

Before Liu Ya could even protest, Yong Liang grabbed her left leg and rested it on his lap. This was too much contact and they were way too close for Liu Ya’s liking. But she didn’t want to protest in case it would come out as rude.

Even without knowing why she was feeling that, she knew she didn’t want Yong Liang to dislike her. It’s not like she was expecting anything else. But she knew if Yong Liang disliked her, she won’t be able to bare it. She realised that even though out of anger and frustration, she walked out of the training field before, she had been worried that Yong Liang would end up thinking she was lazy and someone who had no virtue. Realising that Yong Liang seeking her just to apologize and to apply some ointments meant he didn’t dislike her; she couldn’t stop a smile from spreading across her lips.

“What is it?” Yong Liang asked seeing her smile.

“What is what?”

“You smiled.”

“No, nothing. Just one question though. Do you apply ointments on all your students?”

“No, why?”

“Nothing.” Liu Ya tried to hide her smirk by turning her head away.

“Don’t read too much into it, lady Fan. I was feeling sorry for scolding you before. That’s all.”

The moment she started walking, she realised she shouldn’t have put on her boots with so much ointment on her feet. It felt so grossly squishy and squeaky. But it’s too late now, and she couldn’t waste any time taking her boots off either. She had to find water that’s drinkable as soon as possible.

She swore out of annoyance. Couldn’t Yong Liang have warned her the medicine he gave her, to help regain her energy and vanquish her exhaustion, was so damn bitter. It’s not that she wasn’t thankful, but why does water seem so far away when you need it?

She rounded up a corner so fast that she almost bumped into someone.

“Lady Fan?”

“Ah! Jiang Wan Yin. I mean, sect leader Jiang.” Liu Ya slapped her lips with her hand for making such a mistake. She really should start seeing this man as her sect leader.

“I see that you are in a hurry, but be careful. It’s not like we like having someone who bumps into us in the hallways in this household.”

‘Ah, so this is what everyone was talking about. Him getting angry at the smallest things. But it isn’t that bad.’ Liu Ya didn’t even feel offended. But she grabbed her sect leader’s arm before he could walk away, which made him turn his face toward her, with an annoyed scowl of course.

Jiang Cheng tried to free his arm, but Liu Ya held onto it tight, examining his face. She had been right. He looked really pale, almost like he was sick.

She tried to lay her hand on his forehead to feel his temperature, but he shoved her hand away. “What do you think you are doing?”

“Caring about your well-being.” Liu Ya replied coolly and grabbed Jiang Cheng’s hand, but again he pulled it free.

“Let me ask you once again,” he growled. “What do you think you are doing? Do you even realise who I am?”

“I’m doing this exactly because I realise who you are. I’m going to get you some medicine. Do you want to protest? If so, when something happened to this sect because the sect leader was too sick, will you take responsibility? Will you be able to compensate your disciples for the damage they will face?”

Liu Ya was surprised to see how vulnerable Jiang Wan Yin looked at that moment. She must have said something that really hit him straight in the heart. But thankfully she realised he would come with her without complaining now.

The sect leader’s chamber was really beautiful and luxurious. She went on gawking around it until she realised that Jiang Wan Yin, well sect leader Jiang was still standing on the doorway with his arms crossed in front of his heaving chest. He was scowling too. Liu Ya didn’t feel scared, but she didn’t like it either, for it made his face look really ugly and matured.

“Come and take a seat. You don’t look like you have enough energy to keep standing.”

“I’m completely fine.”

“No, you completely are not.”

“Yes, you are right. I’m very troubled by some stranger barging into my room. Trust me, you would wanna leave before I…”

“Before you what? Break my legs? You see, I have heard a thing or two from some disciples, and they told me that’s what you always tell your nephew. By the way, how old is he? I’m really looking forward to meet him.”

“You won’t.”

“Why not?”

“At least not here.” Losing the rest of his energy. Jiang Cheng flopped onto a nearby chair.

“Sect leader, why are you this sick? Anyway, I’ll go and fetch some warm water. What other things should I bring? Any specific medicine? Does it hurt anywhere?”

“No, it doesn’t.”

“That can’t be possible. You look really sick. If you don’t want to tell me, I can bring someone else.”

“I’m not sick, I’m just really tired. Because you are making a huge fuss of it, I’ll take some rest. There’s no need for anything else.” For a moment, Jiang Cheng felt like he could pour his heart out for this young lady. Was it the concern in her eyes? He couldn’t really tell. He had been yearning to talk to someone, but how can he talk to a total stranger?. And what good could come out of talking to this girl? It’s not like she could help him with what’s going on.

“Fine, if you insist. But you better not look so sick the next time I see you. Ah, here take these. They are supposed to give you some energy. Oh, wait, don’t eat it straight away.” Liu Ya poured him some water. “Gulp it down with some water. Otherwise, it’s going to be really bitter.”

Yong Liang was really thankful for the cluster of curtains that was near sect leader Jiang’s door, for otherwise he would have surely been discovered by lady Fan as she came out from there. Even after she left, Yong Liang felt like snatching the pill bottle away from sect leader Jiang’s hand. He didn’t even know why he felt like that. It’s not like he wanted his sect leader to be sick. He would rather that someone is there to take care of their sect leader. But why did it have to be her? And on top of that, it was the pill bottle that he gave to her. He felt special when handing lady Fan those pills, but it definitely seemed that the feeling wasn’t mutual.

And why would it be? When she could go after sect leader Jiang, why would she even bother about a nobody like him? And it really did seem like sect leader Jiang really appreciated her presence as well. He had barely even let Yong Liang enter his personal chamber. Even then, it had only been on official business. And then there was lady Fan strolling around his room like it was her own.

He felt so defeated, but at the same time he felt this huge urge to win. He couldn’t even comprehend why he felt like that. It wasn’t even a competition, but for sure he could not shake off that urge.

Early next morning, Jiang Cheng summoned his second in command to the main hall. “Is there anything specific you have to report to me?”

“No, sect leader.”

“Seems like it has a vague chance of being a bearable day then.”

Yong Liang smiled at that. It’s really amusing to Jiang Cheng how this kid found his remarks funny, while everyone else seemed to get offended by them. “I’m pretty sure it will be at least slightly better than bearable.”

“Hmm. It will be if you can find some place for our disciples to night-hunt. We didn’t arrange any major night-hunt recently. I would like to join as well.”

“There had been a violence of ghouls in the boarders of Gusu, but considering the Lan clan’s reputation, I bet it’s already taken care of.”

“You mean that Lan Wang Ji’s reputation?”

“Sect leader, I’m sure they are just minor ghouls. I’m pretty sure these other two places are better than that. We got a report about some disturbances in this minor sect’s mansion in Yunmeng. I was going to send some disciples there. You can join as well. But there is this beast that had appeared in the mountain range of Lanling, which had been attacking the nearby villages from time to time. I heard many sects are going to try and hunt down the beast. There is a chance that young master Jin would be there as well.”

Jiang Cheng was happy and angry at the same time to hear Jin Ling’s name. It had been a minute since he last met A-Ling. But remembering what happened when he met him for the last time, his heart started to clench. Nonetheless, how could this ungrateful child go on night-hunting all around the country without even informing him where he was going?

“Ah, well if you already selected a group to go night-hunt in that Yunmeng sect’s mansion, there’s no need for me to interfere with that. And why would I bother about Gusu when Hanguang Jun is there? Guess only Lanling remains then.”

Jiang Cheng saw Yong Laing’s knowing smirk, which he tried to hide in vain. “Sect leader Jiang, then I will arrange a night-hunt to Lanling.”