The guard in the heavy armor of carved stone wood looked me up and down as he waited for my answer.
“I don’t have any documents,” I said.
He looked me up and down, and his condescending look grew more intense as he took in the state of my disheveled, blood-stained robes.
“If you have no documents, then you must —”
I stepped closer to him, and his eyes widened as he gripped his halberd tighter. Since I didn’t attack, he didn’t retaliate, and I leaned toward his ear as my street rat memories bubbled to the surface.
“I’d appreciate discretion. I’m on a delicate mission.”
He frowned before his eyes slowly widened.
“Special…”
I shook my head slightly, under complete control of the street rat.
“You never know who’s listening.”
I placed my hands behind my back and gave him my best impression of a serious Deng. The guard gave me a weak smile and a low bow.
“I understand,” he said quickly. “If you have any difficulties during your stay…”
“I don’t imagine I will.”
“Of course,” he murmured, taking in my appearance as though it were an artfully crafted disguise, before speaking louder. “Your travel documents are all in order!”
He slammed a fist against the stone gates three times. The deep thumps echoed through the petrified wood, and the gates slowly groaned open.
The sounds of a sleepless city washed over us, and Chen Ai led the way inside. I ignored her frantic glances as we passed through the gates and entered Mountain Root City.
###
I carried the Flawless Blade over my shoulder like a package without an address. A plaza stretched around me, well-lit with a nearby three-story garrison constructed from planks of dark grey wood. On closer look, the wood was petrified like the forest growing on the lower slopes.
Guards watched us as we entered. Many of them tracked me as I carried the Flawless Blade, with looks of puzzlement on their faces. Except for the guard who’d let me in, he just smiled knowingly.
Chen Ai and I agreed not to mention the bridge, and would leave that factoid for the merchants who would take the long way around the chasm. My street rat memories were proud of shirking that responsibility. I just hoped it didn’t come back to bite me.
There was a strong memory of myself returning a doll woven from grass strands after taking it from a friend. The surge of relief that came with honesty…
Chen Ai hurried me away from the gate and into the plaza beyond. There were fountains and statues, and people mingling and carousing from bars that spilled into the street. The city felt lively and sophisticated compared to the rough villages we’d passed through.
I walked to the edge of the plaza.
Poorly lit streets stretched away from me, but there was enough light for me to see the city's namesake.
A huge root of stone divided the streets ahead. It must be at least two stories tall, and as I craned my neck up at the city stretching up the mountain slope, I saw how the roots snaked through the buildings and sectioned off the city like winding walls. Buildings were excavated from the roots or built into them with planks of the lesser trees.
High above stood a stone tree at the mountain’s peak. It must have stood a dozen stories tall if not more. Night and clouds obscured the branches, though the roots trailed down. There was a wilderness between the city and the tree, but lights glowed in the branches like a crown of jewels for the mountain hidden by the night.
The highest steps of the city were filled with palaces, whose spired rooftops brushed the sweeping clouds. Between the high palaces and me lay miles of city, and the farmer in me was positively gobsmacked at the enormity of the sight.
“Though of course,” I murmured to myself. “No place is grander than Shadowlight City.”
“What was that?” Chen Ai asked me.
Not wanting to discuss the fractured impressions of my past, I changed the subject.
“Did you have a place to go in this city?”
“That depends.”
“On what?”
She leaned in close so she could whisper as loudly as possible. The unmistakable scent of grass wafted from her blonde hair.
“Why the hell did you say that to the guard?”
“Say what?” I asked with a raised, yet innocent eyebrow. “The truth?”
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
“Got her,” Cabbagy said with a wheeze, before falling silent.
I shot a concerned look his way, but Chen Ai ignored him.
“I don’t believe you.”
“You met me when I was working with another Special Inspector,” I pointed out. “I was wearing black robes. What else do I need to point out?”
She glared at me.
“You’re really a Special Inspector?”
I shrugged. In truth, I didn’t know why I’d said that. My memories came with instincts, and sometimes instincts take over. For better or for worse.
Nope.
For better.
I had to stay optimistic.
“It was the right thing to say at the time,” I said.
“I don’t know what your plan is,” she said. “But remember that whatever you do, I’m going to get pulled into it.”
“That’s your choice.”
“I have no choice in the matter. Honor demands I resolve my life debt.”
Her defiant glare met my curious gaze, and, after a moment, I blinked.
“Suit yourself. I needed to enter the city. There’s nothing more to my plan.”
She shook her head.
“You’re insane.”
“No,” I said with a frown. “I have it on good authority that I’m not.”
Drippy would have told me, and I doubt Cabbagy would ever let it rest if I were. It was nice having friends who could be honest with you. Maybe I would get there with Chen Ai one day? Unfortunately for now, there was still a need for some secrecy between us.
“Just… fine. Whatever. Can you explain your plan with the Flawless Blade?” she asked.
“Hmmmm…. No…”
“Why not?” she said through clenched teeth.
“Because I planned on him waking up.”
The Flawless Blade had remained unconscious ever since he flailed about and caused the bridge to collapse. I shucked the cultivator from my shoulders and onto the ground. He sprawled out awkwardly, his face annoyingly handsome even in his feverish repose.
“Carrying him around is a bit of a chore,” I said. “But I feel like we can’t just leave him in the middle of the street.”
“You could, actually,” Chen Ai pointed out.
“Hmm, I suppose you’re right.”
I tucked Cabbagy under my arm. The poor vegetable was getting a little ripe after all his time in the sun. Getting frequently splattered with blood probably hadn’t helped any either. I figured he was asleep again, which he’d been doing a lot of in his old age, and it was almost too quiet not having him voice his opinion loudly and insistently.
The Flawless Blade…
I’d been indecisive, not particularly wanting to kill him out of hand, but I didn’t want to just carry him around. I guess when I picked him up, I hadn’t really been thinking about what I wanted to do with him, and I hadn’t given it much more thought as I carried him, and I still didn’t really have any good ideas…
I looked up from where he slept to Chen Ai.
“I’m done carrying him around,” I said. “If we can find an inn, I’ll leave him there. Then I want to get onto finding my flower.”
Chen Ai hesitated, clearly struggling with something.
“If you don’t mind…?”
“What is it?”
“Before we get your flower, do you mind if we take a couple of days in the city? I want to sell the parts from the snake, and there’s some business I need to take care of for my bloodline.”
It wasn’t ideal, but I supposed I’d already lost a few days, so what were a couple more?
“That’s fine, you guided me up the mountain after all. And… I know how bloodlines can be.”
She nodded at my statement, clearly looking relieved.
“Thank you, senior brother,” she said with a smile.
“That’s quite alright,” I said as I sank deeper into my lie. “But I’d like to leave in three days at the latest.”
“That works for me.”
“Great! Now, on to an inn… Do you know an inn I can take him to?”
She sighed.
“Not around here. This is the Phoenix Gate District. It sounds fancy, but the south of the city is the poorest area. To the west is the Merchant District, and we should find plenty of inns there.
“Sounds great,” I said as I scooped the Flawless Blade back onto my shoulder. “I’m just happy to get away from the guards before they ask me any questions.”
“You said you were telling the truth?”
I gestured to the street ahead with a smile.
“Lead the way, Chen Ai.”
###
Chen Ai tried to figure out what was going through her senior brother’s mind as she led him through the winding streets of Mountain Root City. Part of her thought he was just making everything up as he went, but nobody who could face the Flawless Blade without flinching could be so irreverent.
Right?
She glanced back, and he smiled at her before returning his wondering gaze to the city around them. He almost seemed like he’d never been in a city before, but he moved through the crowds with the practiced ease of someone who’d been born in a city’s shade. Another one of his seemingly endless incongruities.
She’d spent enough time in Mountain Root City for the initial charm to wear off, but she had to admit it was still a wondrous place for such a remote region as the northern reaches of the Black Tiger Kingdom. For centuries, this city had been the county’s capital, and it showed.
Most of the buildings on either side of the street were two stories tall or higher. The roots of rock trailing down from the tree at the mountaintop informed the city's shape, and while some tunnels were carved through, streets would go around for the most part as though the thoroughfares were rivers around mountains. The buildings possessed a level of ornamentation and layered elegance that could only come from generations of craftsmen adding onto each other.
Lanterns were hung about, casting soft light into the street, with the moonlight bouncing off the paler roots giving more illumination. Many small parks or courtyards used the taller roots as a wall, and people gathered here, drinking, carousing, or simply idling away the night.
Chen Ai wondered when the last time she’d done that was… there’d been the opportunity with the women from the Yun clan, but she was glad she’d avoided that. Those noble types always rubbed her the wrong way.
It took a couple of hours, with the streets still somewhat busy even as the night wore on, for them to make it to a strip of inns on the edge of the Merchant District.
The first inn they came to had no rooms available, and neither did the next three. The fifth was well out of their price range as well as being fully booked, and so they walked another block and tried again.
And again.
And again.
The Vermillion Ibex Inn wasn’t high on her list, but it was the last option unless they wanted to travel all the way over to the other side of the city — which didn’t even guarantee they’d find a room. She’d simply never seen Mountain Root City this busy.
The inn itself was a smaller building, only three stories, where some of the other inns had as many as five, and the red highlights on the exterior gave an impression of yawning lips around the open mouth of a door.
“Well,” her senior brother said as he glanced at that cabbage he insisted on carrying around. “They say the fourteenth time is the charm.”
Once more, she wasn’t sure if he was acting like this on purpose or not. It didn’t matter, though, since she was stuck with him until she cleared her life debt. Twice.
“You’ve said that for every other inn,” she pointed out in well-hidden exasperation.
“No,” he said with a frown of deep thought. “I said first time’s the charm, then second time’s the charm, then third time’s, then fourth —”
“I get it,” Chen Ai said with a smile despite herself. “Let’s just go inside.”
Her senior brother nodded and led the way, the Flawless Blade’s hands hanging limply down his back and swaying with every step. The sight was so ridiculous she almost forgot how dangerous they both were.
Almost.
How did she end up in a situation like this? On a quest to the Howling Blossom Valley of all places? She shook her head.
“Such is the life of a wandering cultivator,” Chen Ai murmured to herself as she followed her senior brother into the inn.
At least nothing could go wrong while they were looking for a room.
said I was a Special Inspector.
Patreon is now 23 chapters ahead :)
