The man yanked his hood back over his head and scurried away without saying a word, leaving me standing there.

  "Ke Yin?" Wei Lin's voice seemed to be coming from far away. "Are you okay? You look like you've seen a demonic spirit."

  A demonic spirit. Or something worse. If what I'd seen was real, either I was losing my mind, or there was something seriously, seriously wrong with the world.

  "I'm fine," I said once the guy was gone, although my voice sounded strange to me. “I think I just saw Li Yuan.”

  "Li Yuan?" Wei Lin said carefully. "The cultivator from the Flowing Stream Sect? The one who..." He stopped talking, clearly not wanting to describe the gory scene we'd witnessed.

  "I know how it sounds," I said, still staring where the guy had run off. "But it was him. Same face, same..."

  "It was probably just someone who looked like him," Lin Mei said gently. "We saw what happened. The spiritual flame devoured everything. There was nothing left, no body or soul."

  "Yeah," Wei Lin said, putting a hand on my shoulder. "And you only got a glimpse of Li Yuan once in a really stressful situation. It wouldn't be hard to mistake someone else for him."

  "It happens sometimes, especially for cultivators," Lin Mei said. "The spiritual energy can give people certain... ideal physical characteristics."

  They were being rational, obviously.

  The most logical reason was that I'd seen someone with similar facial features and my brain had filled in the rest.

  Li Yuan's death had struck a chord with me, more than I liked to admit – seeing someone die for the exact same kind of righteous stand I might have made in a previous life had touched a little too close to home. But I couldn't shake the feeling that I'd actually seen what I thought I had.

  "Azure? Did you...?" I asked mentally.

  "I did," he said. "And before you ask — yes, the qi signature was almost identical to the Li Yuan we saw die. Almost, but not quite. It was like a reflection in disturbed water."

  A shiver went down my spine.

  "How is that possible? We watched him die. The Elemental Realm cultivator used spiritual flame to make sure he had no chance of surviving."

  "As much as Elemental Realm cultivators would love to brag that they can kill souls," Azure's tone was thoughtful, "I think that's highly unlikely. Only someone in the Life Realm or higher who has a true understanding of the soul can snuff it out entirely."

  I frowned, mulling that over. "But then how...?"

  "I have theories," Azure said, "but let's talk about them when you're not in the middle of a crowded marketplace."

  He had a point. I took a deep breath and focused on being normal as I turned back to my friends.

  "You're probably right," I told them with what I hoped was a convincing smile. "It was probably someone else. The resemblance just threw me off."

  Wei Lin nodded, clearly relieved I was acting reasonably. "Come on, let's go find some rooms for tonight. It's getting late, and I don't know about you, but I could really use a real bed after all that walking."

  "And a real bath," Lin Mei said, brushing dirt from her robes as if the highway had worn half of it off. "I feel like I'm wearing half the highway."

  Liu Chen suddenly sat up, his eyes lighting up. "Can we get food first? I'm starving!"

  His simple request broke the remaining unease.

  Wei Lin chuckled and tousled Liu Chen's hair, which earned an outraged squawk.

  "Food first," Wei Lin declared. "I think I smell spiced noodles from that corner vendor."

  As we made our way through the crowded marketplace, I glanced around, searching for any hint of the robed figure I'd seen. Whoever, or whatever, I'd seen, it was long gone.

  The vendor Wei Lin had spotted was busy, steaming great vats of noodles as the cook worked.

  The smell alone reminded me how famished I was.

  "Four bowls of the house special," Wei Lin ordered, pulling out spirit stones before I could dig out my own. He waved off my protest. "My treat. Just think of it as payment for not calling me out on how foolish I looked with the jade pendants."

  At the mention of the romantic gift, Lin Mei blushed, her hand reaching up to touch her pendant.

  We grabbed a table at one of the communal tables.

  Liu Chen was practically jumping with excitement as he waited for his food.

  With every jump, I worried his new practice sword would fall out.

  The boy had gotten used to carrying it behind his back.

  And every so often he'd touch the hilt as if reassuring himself that it was still there.

  "You’ll have to show me your forms someday," I said to him, nodding at the practice sword.

  “Really?” Liu Chen's eyes lit up. "I mean... I'm not very good yet, but..."

  "Every cultivator begins somewhere," I said, recalling my own journey with combat since arriving in this world. "What matters is that you build good habits early on."

  Before we could continue, our food arrived.

  The noodles were fantastic.

  They had plenty of soft bits of meat and vegetables scattered throughout.

  Hot and spicy food was exactly what we needed to warm ourselves up from the day's travels.

  No one spoke.

  We all just dug in, too hungry for conversation.

  After we finished eating and began making our way towards the residential area, they all started talking again but I was lost in my own thoughts.

  Had I really seen Li Yuan?

  Or had I confused someone else for him?

  Luckily for me, I didn’t have to drive myself crazy trying to figure it out, I had Azure to help me.

  "Master," he said, "I analyzed the qi signature we detected."

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  “And what did you find?”

  "The signature wasn't simply similar to Li Yuan's; it shared the fundamental base pattern, but with modifications. As if someone had taken his original spiritual matrix and... altered it."

  I almost stopped walking. "Altered how?"

  "That's what worries me. The modifications weren't arbitrary. They were deliberate, intentional. Someone possessing an exceptionally advanced grasp of soul anatomy would have needed to create those specific changes."

  "Similar to whoever created Wei Ye?"

  "Exactly," Azure said grimly. "We might be dealing with the same person, or at least someone with similar capabilities."

  That was a lot to wrap my head around. A master manipulator of souls, capable of modifying or recreating spiritual matrices, operating within this general vicinity. And there appeared to be some sort of evidence that they might be... recycling the souls of dead cultivators?

  "We should be careful," Azure continued. "Someone able to collect and alter souls is likely to seek out unique spiritual patterns."

  He didn’t need to say it.

  He was talking about me, about my soul.

  Not only was I a transmigrator, but with my unusual inner world, I’d be the perfect lab rat.

  And whoever this mysterious person was, they probably far surpassed the Qi Condensation Realm.

  "Should we leave?" I asked. "We could come up with some excuse...?"

  "No," Azure replied after a moment. "Doing that might attract more attention. For now, we should carry ourselves as usual while gathering more information. But we should prepare for... complications."

  I was about to ask what sort of preparation could possibly protect me against a threat that could resurrect the dead when Wei Lin's voice interrupted my train of thought.

  "Ke Yin," he waved a hand in front of my face. "You with us? We’re trying to decide on room arrangements.”

  I blinked, realizing we'd entered the residential district while I was lost in conversation with Azure.

  The clerk was waiting for a decision.

  "Sorry," I apologized. "Just exhausted from traveling. Whatever works for you."

  Wei Lin gave me a concerned glance but returned to the clerk.

  "Okay, two rooms. Liu Chen stays with Ke Yin and me, and Lin Mei has her own room."

  When we arrived at our rooms, we found that they were similar to what we'd had the last time we stayed here – plain but clean with the basic necessities.

  Wei Lin was already pulling items from his storage ring: clean clothes, cleaning supplies, and whatever else he thought he needed.

  While he was doing that, Liu Chen immediately claimed one of the beds and plopped down with his new sword still slung over his back. The wooden practice sword bounced against the mattress which caused him to flinch slightly.

  "You might want to remove that before you go to sleep," I suggested, suppressing my laughter at his enthusiasm. "Sleeping with a sword is not as heroic as it sounds."

  "Can you show me some moves before I sleep?" Liu Chen asked, leaping up from the bed. "I know some basics, but..."

  I thought for a second about the layout of the room. It was a decent size, but we'd need to open it up. "Help me push these beds against the walls," I suggested, already pushing one. "We'll need a clear space to practice properly."

  Together, we shoved the furniture to the sides of the room and cleared the center. I pulled out some chalk from my storage ring (originally bought for practicing formations) and drew a loose circle on the floor.

  "Boundary for training," I said at Liu Chen's curious look. "Helps increase your awareness of your space. When you're in a real fight, you need to know exactly how much room you have to work with."

  It wasn't much, but it was one of the few useful things I'd learned during the sect's basic sword training lessons. Most of my focus had been on cultivating and building my inner world – weapon arts hadn't even been considered secondary at the time. But I did have some practical experience as Tomas in the Two Suns World.

  "First, show me your basic forms," I said. "Then I can—"

  A knock at the door interrupted us.

  I opened it to find Lin Mei stood there, her cheeks flushed pink as she nervously fidgeted with her sleeve.

  "Wei Lin," she started. "I was thinking... maybe there are some nice cultivation supplies in the market... if you'd like to take a look..."

  Wei Lin nearly dropped the meditation pad he was holding.

  "Oh! Yeah, that sounds... we absolutely should... investigate the supplies."

  I bit back a laugh as they both tried very hard not to look at us.

  "I can watch Liu Chen," I offered, not caring how obvious my teasing was. "You know, while you're... examining the supplies."

  Wei Lin turned bright red. "Shut up, Ke Yin."

  "He'll be back by midnight," Lin Mei added quickly, though she struggled to hide her own smile.

  "Take your time," I called after them. "I'm sure there are plenty of... supplies... to examine!"

  Wei Lin made a rude gesture before closing the door, but I caught his grin.

  As soon as I turned around Liu Chen had moved into what he likely assumed was a suitable posture. He held the sword fairly well, but his feet were completely wrong.

  "Okay," I said, moving to correct his position. "First off — your back foot has to be at an angle. Like so," I moved into a demonstration. "This gives better balance and makes it more difficult for someone to kick your leg out."

  We spent the next few minutes just going over basic postures.

  I wasn't a master myself, but Liu Chen didn’t need a master swordsman, he just needed someone to help with the fundamentals.

  "Alright," I said after he had settled into what seemed to be a stable posture, "now, do whatever you know. Basic forms only, nothing crazy."

  Liu Chen nodded seriously and went through a series of basic cuts and blocks. His movements were unpolished, but it was clear that someone had shown him the basics at the very least.

  "That's good," I said, making minor adjustments to his grip. "But you’re gripping the sword too tightly. It should be an extension of your arm, not a heavy object you’re forcing to move."

  I demonstrated using my practice sword although I had to concentrate on every movement since the forms weren’t really second nature to me yet, but I could at least show the proper method of transitioning from one strike to another.

  "Can you see how the weight transfers?" I said as I performed a low-to-high cut. "You aren't just swinging the sword, you’re leading it. Every movement should flow naturally into the next."

  Liu Chen furrowed his brow as he tried to mimic the movement.

  At first, his attempts were stiff but eventually, he started to understand.

  "That’s a good start," I complimented as he finished a fluid sequence of movements. "You definitely have had some training before, right?”

  The boy tensed slightly.

  "A little," he said quietly. "Before... Rocky."

  I intentionally avoided asking questions about his past.

  Whatever had happened, he clearly wasn't ready to discuss it.

  "Well," I said instead, "you're doing great now. Are you ready to try something a bit more complicated?"

  His eyes lit up once again.

  "Yes!"

  It was at that moment that Wei Lin opened the door and stepped inside, hair still wet from the showers and looking a lot more relaxed than when he had left. A faint hint of a grin appeared on his face which he couldn't quite hide.

  "Enjoy yourself while inspecting the ‘supplies’?" I asked, unable to resist.

  Wei Lin's face instantly flushed. "I will end you," he threatened, tossing his towel at my head.

  I dodged the towel with ease, smiling.

  "The shower facilities here are actually pretty good," he mumbled, though his cheeks remained bright red. "You should use them. You smell like a training ground. And stop corrupting little Liu Chen with your horrible sense of humor!"

  Liu Chen watched our exchange with a cheeky smile, though I noticed he was carefully staying out of towel-throwing range. Smart kid.

  "Alright, alright," I said, gathering my clean clothes. "Liu Chen, we’ll continue our training tomorrow. Work on those transition stances we practiced today."

  The boy didn’t waste any time.

  He was already practising the first stance as I left.

  When I arrived at the washroom, I found that Wei Lin was right.

  The facilities here were pretty decent.

  Even though the warm water relieved the tension in my muscles, it didn’t do much for the anxious thoughts about Li Yuan which were swirling around in my mind.

  An hour later, I returned to our room.

  I found Liu Chen peacefully sleeping with his new sword wrapped protectively around himself.

  As for Wei Lin, he was sitting on his bed, clearly lost in thought as he turned his jade pendant between his fingers.

  "He’s a good kid," Wei Lin said softly, glancing down at Liu Chen's sleeping form. "Whatever his story might be."

  "Yeah," I agreed, sitting down onto my bed. "But I can’t help but wonder what he’s hiding."

  "We all have our secrets," Wei Lin replied with a slight smile. "Just as long as his secret doesn't get us killed, I’m happy to let him hold onto it."

  He was right.

  We all did have our own secrets.

  Me more than most.

  "Try to get some rest," Wei Lin suggested, turning off the light. "Whatever is bothering you will still be there in the morning."

  He had no idea how much I hoped he was wrong about that.

  Somehow, I slept remarkably well considering everything I had on my mind. It could have been due to the physical fatigue from the trip or simply having friends nearby to feel safe. Whatever the reason, I fell asleep quickly.

  It felt like I had just closed my eyes when the shouting and running footsteps in the hallway jolted me awake. Wei Lin was already up and heading for the door. Liu Chen sat up in bed, wide-eyed, clutching his sword to his chest.

  "Wait here," Wei Lin told us, peering out into the hallway.

  "Way station lockdown!" a guard yelled as he ran by. "No one leaves until further notice!"

  Wei Lin shut the door and turned to us, his expression somber.

  "What’s happening?" Liu Chen asked in a small voice.

  "If they’re locking the place down," Wei Lin replied, “then it must be pretty bad.”

  Before he could continue, there was a knock on the door.

  We all froze.

  But then the knock continued in a specific sequence we had previously agreed on.

  It was Lin Mei.

  With a sigh of relief, Wei Lin let her in and quickly locked the door again.

  "Did you hear?" Lin Mei asked, her face was pale, and I noticed her lower lip trembling.

  "We only know we’re under lockdown," I replied. "What happened?"

  "It’s Young Master Xiao Feng," she swallowed hard. "He’s… he’s dead.