Making it back to the Vermillion Ibex without further incident, we sat in a booth in the gloomy and quiet drinking area. Innkeeper Bu was preoccupied with his wine, so we discussed the fight without worrying about eavesdropping. I set Cabbagy on the table and checked him for any extra damage.

  “I’m fine, kid. Stop your fussing.”

  He did seem fine, but there were still plenty of flies to wave away. I was more set than ever on taking him back to Doctor Wu.

  “Thank you for helping me,” I said to Chen Ai and my disciple.

  “Of course, master.”

  “Consider that one life debt wiped away,” Chen Ai said with a cheeky smile.

  Cabbagy seemed fine, but I was worried about my other two companions.

  “Are either of you hurt?”

  “Of course, master. No honorable cultivator would openly take money from one stranger to fight another.”

  “Really?”

  “Have you so little faith in people, master?”

  “No, it’s just… I’m pretty sure that Song guy was trying to kill me.”

  “Those Winter Heart bitches weren’t playing nice either,” Chen Ai added.

  Most of her body was covered in bruises, and she was pouring drinks for all of us, but mostly herself.

  “She probably wants a massage,” Cabbagy whispered to me loud enough for everyone to hear.

  We ignored him, but I noticed Chen Ai taking an extra-large gulp of her drink. I changed the topic.

  “Disciple, you killed those people in the boring robes,” I pointed out.

  My disciple scoffed.

  “Those assassins were stupid enough to think they could try and kill me, so I cut them down, but the ice women weren’t trying to kill. Events like that have a certain expected sportsmanship. It’s the same as when I would restrict my cultivation during duels. A match of skills is the most appealing aspect, and the silver would have been just a bonus.”

  “Sounds like none of them will get their silver,” Chen Ai added between sips.

  “Truly a disgrace,” my disciple said with a shake of his head. “Though, master, I’m surprised at your question. You presented a stellar example by letting Song Shuia live.”

  “Of course,” I said, sweating profusely. “That's why he got away.”

  Chen Ai sent me a disbelieving glance before downing her drink. With a deep sigh, she placed her jian on the table between us.

  “I want to return this,” she said.

  “You haven’t stopped bragging about taking it from me,” my disciple said. “Now you want to return it? I don’t understand.”

  She shot him a look.

  “The jian is no longer part of my path.”

  His eyes widened slightly, but he nodded.

  “Understood, my apologies.”

  “No, I think this has been coming for a while. Recent events opened my eyes.”

  My disciple said nothing, but took the returned sword from the table.

  “Do you want to talk about it?” I asked Chen Ai.

  She downed another drink and refilled her cup.

  “I want to drink and see what gifts you received from the nobles.”

  We all took up our cups, clinked them together, and drank. The wine was cheap, but it added a cheer to the dim atmosphere, and I couldn’t help but smile. This was the first time in my life that I’d ever fought beside other people. It was a good feeling, and I was relieved that they were both alright.

  My disciple refilled our cups as Chen Ai placed the three noble gifts on the table.

  “Open them,” she said. “And don’t forget you would have nothing if I hadn’t insisted you take the bribes.”

  “I remember,” I said. “It was only this morning.”

  Chen Ai leaned back until her horns stabbed into the seat.

  “A long day indeed,” she said with a yawn.

  “Hey, you!” shouted Innkeeper Bu. “Don’t damage the establishment!”

  She scowled, but leaned forward.

  “Sorry,” she muttered, before pointing at me. “Stop stalling.”

  Since we’d just been discussing swords, the first gift I opened was the gift from the Shen Clan.

  The sheathe was dark black and glossy, and I couldn’t tell if it was wood, stone, or the common hybrid of the mountain. Besides the natural grain polished to a shine, there were no ornamentations on the sheath. When I drew the jian, the blade flashed with light and drove back the gloom of the Vermillion Ibex’s drinking area. I turned it this way and that to inspect the craftsmanship.

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  When I pressed my thumb against the blade, it cut into my skin without effort. I sealed the wound on my finger and turned the blade again.

  Yep.

  It was certainly a sword.

  Which was about the extent of my knowledge.

  “Master?” my disciple said. “May I?”

  I handed over the jian, and he took it with as much care as though it were a newborn baby. He flicked the blade and placed his ear against the humming metal. Bringing the cutting edge up to his nose, he sniffed before delicately probing with his tongue.

  “Gross,” Chen Ai said.

  I kind of agreed, but held off judgment. I’d certainly done my fair share of gross things in the past.

  “This is a four-star jian,” he said. “The materials are exceptional, with iron untouched by sunlight until the time of its crafting. If the smith were more enlightened, this could be a fifth-star blade.”

  Chen Ai whistled.

  “And that’s just a bribe?”

  I blinked slowly.

  “Four stars is good?”

  Chen Ai scoffed, but my disciple hurried to explain.

  “While I’m sure it means nothing to one of your talents, a four-star blade is strong enough that a Core Formation cultivator can wield it without worrying about the blade breaking. The sword I dueled you with…”

  He looked embarrassed about bringing up our fight, and I couldn’t help but tease him.

  “You said most fights between cultivators weren’t to the death,” I said. “But you tried to kill me from the first strike.”

  My disciple stiffened.

  “I might have tried, but I failed.”

  “Perhaps your attitude was what led to your failure,” Chen Ai added.

  “Perhaps. My heart was too easily aggravated, and I thank my master for showing me that flaw. To conclude my point, my own jian is only rated a three-star.”

  “Understood.”

  I opened the small box gifted to me by the Ran Clan. Inside lay a single bright red pill on a black velvet cushion. A smell like iron-rich mud radiated out into the inn.

  Innkeeper Bu sniffed loudly.

  “You put that away!” he said. “Damned honored guests always breaking and stinking up the place.”

  I hurriedly closed the box.

  “My apologies, Innkeeper Bu.”

  The deep earth scent vanished. Glancing at my companions, I saw that their breath was short and their faces flushed. It seemed the medicine had quite an effect. They took drinks to wash away the effects, and I joined them. This time, I filled up their glasses.

  “I’m not familiar with this pill,” I said.

  I glanced at Cabbagy, but he shrugged.

  “It’s a Garnet Meridian Expansion Pill,” Chen Ai said.

  “You know it?”

  “It says on the side of the box.”

  “Oh.”

  “I imagine that it expands meridians.”

  “One would assume so,” my disciple said with a nod. “Probably strengthens them and makes them more aligned with channeling earth qi.”

  “Makes sense,” Chen Ai said as she examined the box. “A nice enough gift, though it seems to be a bit narrow in utility compared to the jian.”

  “One’s cultivation is always the true weapon.”

  “Very true.”

  Though I was pretending to be one, I felt quite out of place as these two cultivators conversed in front of me. They continued discussing the merits of the pill versus the sword, while I wondered what good either gift would be for me.

  I’d never used a sword, and I didn’t know what good a cultivation pill would do for me since I wasn’t a cultivator. I might have used a qi technique while fighting in the park, but I could feel that the qi I’d stolen from Jiang Jian had almost run dry.

  Did I even have meridians to strengthen?

  Even after fighting with these two, I wasn’t sure I trusted them enough to discuss my secret.

  “What do you think?” I asked Cabbagy.

  “It probably won’t kill you,” he said.

  While true, that was less than helpful. Was it a waste to just swallow it and hope it did something when I knew it could be helpful for my companions?

  “We should get the pill verified,” Chen Ai said.

  “I agree,” my disciple said.

  “Would either of you want it?”

  “It's only three stars, so it's useless for me, master.”

  “I'll take it,” Chen Ai said with a smile.

  She nodded her thanks to me, and I responded in kind.

  I glanced at my disciple. His qi was unstable, but he could still gather the strength of a Core Formation cultivator, and as such, a four-star jian would serve him much better than me. I still remembered the power of his strikes, and I doubted that I could match anything like that anytime soon. A three-star jian would be fine for me for now.

  “Then you take the sword.”

  “Master!”

  “It will serve you better than me,” I said without explaining why. “Give me your old sword.”

  He placed the sword that Chen Ai had just returned back on the table. Tears welled in his eyes.

  “Are you sure, master?” he said.

  “I’m sure.”

  “To think you would gift such a valuable jian, and carry the blade that I attacked you with as a reminder of the debt between us… I am not worthy of someone like you!"

  “See, kid? That’s how a disciple should act.”

  “Stop it,” I said to both of them, but I was gentle. “This is best for all of us. I ask only that you teach me what you know about the jian. Both of you,” I said as I gestured to Chen Ai.

  She shrugged.

  “I won’t use a jian, but I’ll show you what I know.”

  “I would be honored, master, to compare what I know with you.”

  He still had it in his head that I was some kind of enlightened sage, but I wasn’t sure what to do about that. Eventually, I would need to talk to both of them. If they were to accompany me on the expedition, and perhaps afterward, then I didn’t want to have secrets.

  On the other hand…

  If they teamed up and tried to capture me, I wasn’t sure if I could escape.

  Walking such a razor’s edge of truth wasn’t exactly comforting, and so I moved on and picked up the final gift.

  The sealed envelope was from the City Lord. I tore it open, and a blue flame flashed into the air. It didn’t burn me, and quickly faded.

  “What was that?”

  “A qi signature,” Chen Ai said. “That envelope was a talisman. Whoever sent that letter now knows it’s been opened.”

  There was a small letter inside.

  “What’s it say, senior brother?”

  “It’s an invitation to meet with the City Lord. It says to come as soon as possible.”

  “The City Lord?” Innkeeper Bu said.

  We glanced over at him. Had he always been sitting so close to our table? He raised an eyebrow over his glass of wine.

  “Sorry, I couldn’t help but eavesdrop,” he said. “If you received a letter from the City Lord, then you should go see him as soon as possible. His reputation is… let’s just say that he isn’t forgiving, patient, or reasonable.”

  “I’ve actually heard the same,” Chen Ai said.

  “I’ve never paid attention to politics,” my disciple added.

  “You should probably go see the City Lord, senior brother.”

  “Nope,” I said as I picked up Cabbagy. “I need to take him to the doctor.”

  They all stared at me.

  “That’s…” Innkeeper Bu trailed off as he finished his wine, slipped off his stool, and walked away.

  My disciple looked at me proudly.

  “Never waver,” he murmured to himself. “Thank you for the lesson, master.”

  “You’re crazy,” Chen Ai said. “The City Lord won’t take kindly to you snubbing him, especially since he knows you opened the letter.”

  “That’s fine,” I said as I formed a plan.

  “Truly, master is undaunted by any threat.”

  “You two are going to meet the lord while I go to the doctor.”

  They blinked.

  “Huh?”

  “What was that, master?”

  “He probably wants to discuss the upcoming expedition to Howling Blossom Valley.”

  “But we don’t know anything about that!”

  That was true, and I didn’t want to dump this on them unfairly.

  “We’ll be leaving in six days. The valley only allows groups of nine to enter, so, besides the three of us, six other people will be joining our team. That’s what the Shen Clan and Ran Clan were trying to bribe me about. They want to join the expedition, probably for the prestige.”

  “It sounds like you should be the one to discuss this with the lord.”

  “Honestly, you know as much about it as I do now.”

  “Let me put it like this,” Chen Ai said awkwardly. “I don’t want to do this.”

  “Master? I also… I will do this if you want me to. If you order me to. I will definitely do this if you believe there is no other path forward.”

  They were understandably uncomfortable, but meeting the City Lord while I was trying to avoid anyone knowing about my secret sounded like a bad idea. I was sorry, and I swore to myself that I would make it up to them.

  “I trust you both,” I said as I tucked Cabbagy under my arm and strode toward the door. “See you later!”

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