“Didn’t you hear me?” asked the Saber. “Someone is watching you from the water.”
I played it cool and didn’t turn, but I set the meat down beside the three-legged, six-armed, headless corpse. That had been close. Good thing I hadn’t raised the flesh to my lips or anything. Resisting the urge to lick my fingertips, I peered into the reflection in the blade. I could barely make out anything.
“Who is it?” I asked the saber. “You fought us all, do you or the other sabers know?”
“I can’t see in the dark very well.”
“Neither.”
“I just know that someone is out there, paying attention, and all wet.”
I didn’t like any of that.
Who in the expedition would want to spy on me right now? Better to ask who wouldn’t, and I couldn’t put anyone on that list. Which just went to show that while I’d been worried about the Butcher Bird’s surveillance, I really needed to be acting as though everyone was watching at all times.
As is proper, said my merchant self.
That’s paranoid, said my street rat self, but it might just keep you alive.
Sounds exhausting, added my farmer self.
My weapon self said nothing, but it thrummed with a simple urge.
“I’m not killing everyone,” I whispered to myself. “No matter how easy you think it might make things.”
It's hard to describe how a lipless figment of my past can pout, but it can.
I wanted to leave without the person watching me knowing that I knew it was them, but to do that, I needed to know who they were.
This would be a great time to use qi-powered spirit senses, but for that, you needed qi… which I now had. I couldn’t use the plum blossom stealth technique while observed, because it would give away my ability and my intentions to use it, but that shadowy qi might serve another purpose.
Only, how do you do that? I drew on the shadowy qi, and it flowed from my reservoir and through my body. Instantly, it started arranging itself into the shadowy petals of the stealth technique. I hastily cancelled the technique.
I tried a couple more times, but the qi only moved into the technique like water through a pipe. Even when I tried drawing the qi slowly, it only directed the qi slowly. I knew that I could change the technique; I’d done so when I spread Jian Jiang’s flames over my entire body instead of just my arms, but I couldn’t afford to experiment here.
There was also the demonic qi that sank into my body, but that would be an even more foolish experiment.
Damn.
“I know you’re hiding in the river,” I called out. “Come on up, no need to hide.”
The river rushed in the distance, hiding any sounds of someone moving slowly from the water, and so I finally turned around.
“It’s you.”
The old Shen swordsman hopped down from one of the pillars in the dark river.
“I came back to lead you to our camp. Congratulations on your victory.”
His clothes were dry, but a cultivator had a million ways to avoid getting wet. Unless, of course, someone else was watching me...
Good, said my merchant self. Trust nobody, but make them think you trust them.
I looked him in the eyes and pushed my willpower into Ghost Fang’s technique. Not wanting to give myself away, I used less intensity than I had against Shen Tongtong, but I still felt the flames building in my eyes.
“Did you watch me fight?”
No! Don’t tip your hand so obviously!
Good, said my farmer self. It’s best to be direct.
The old Shen swordsman remained stoic in the face of my accusation.
“I would never do something like that after you so clearly implied that you were going to utilize a secret technique, especially after you were forced to reveal your incredible bloodline. Now, if you’re done here, let's return.”
Was I done here? Not even close, but there was no good reason to stay.
“What do you think of those sabers?”
He walked over and stood beside me, rubbing at his grey goatee.
“Hmm. Do you use the saber?”
“No, but I’ve been meaning to learn a new weapon.”
He shook his head.
“These are far too large for anyone to wield. That monster had freakish strength to swing with such speed, and did you see the way it twisted its spine? Any normal Qi Condensing cultivator would shatter their body trying to fight like that. Maybe in Foundation Establishment, towards the peak, if you dedicated yourself to it, but for what? We were all caught off guard, and we still managed to kill it without any losses. Granted, one-on-one, I doubt any of us but you would stand a chance without a bit of strategy and a lot of luck. Huh! Though that makes me wonder if you might be able to mimic that style. Hmmm…”
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
He really liked to give his opinion, and I could tell from the way he rubbed at his goatee and glanced at me that he wanted me to ask his opinion.
“What is it, elder?”
“No need for that, please, just call me…”
His eyes widened, and he glanced at me with a frown.
“What is it?” I asked.
“How strong are you?”
“There are several ways I can interpret that question, elder.”
His frown deepened, and he stepped back, not yet in a draw stance but closer to one.
“How did you do that?”
“Do what?”
“You keep addressing my name. Everybody else stops after one suggestion, but you keep asking.”
“I’m curious how you’re making other people avoid asking.”
I didn’t entirely understand the process by which I went nameless, but perhaps he could shed some insight.
“It is a Shen clan secret, I cannot say more.”
“Is it related to the heirloom you’re searching for?”
His eyes widened.
“I cannot say more!”
I looked him in the eyes. He was clearly flustered, and Ghost Fang’s fire leaked into his gaze. I took a gamble.
“I already know everything,” I said. “I’m here working for the Shen.”
He looked at me.
“No, you’re not.”
“I was told to assist you with the heirloom search, but lost the chance to speak with you when the Butcher Bird attacked.”
“I don’t know about any of this.”
I shrugged.
“You know how the clan elders are.”
He flinched at those words, but after taking a moment to look around, he smiled.
“I know how they are.”
“So?”
“Can you prove this?”
“Of course, I didn’t bring any proof in here."
“Of course, let me show you the amulet.”
He produced a chain from inside his robe with a small cast-iron face for a talisman. A slit represents the mouth, and two horns whorled from the eyes. There was a sinister coldness to the item, even without me touching it.
“Can I take a closer look?”
He held it up.
“I hope you understand that I cannot let you touch it.”
“Of course, what is it?”
“Part of the set. It will tell me when I near the lost Shen heirloom.”
“How?”
“I don’t know,” he said as he grew excited. “I thought it might have been telling me that these sabers were the lost heirlooms, but their poor craftsmanship is proof enough.”
“Objection!” shouted the middle saber.
The old Shen swordsman ignored the saber as though it were trash.
“The talisman is probably just responding to the presence of the heirloom within the valley. To be honest, this talisman is old. We don’t even understand how it influences people, only that it affects everyone… equal… how are you avoiding the effects?”
“I wish I knew,” I said with a shrug.
He frowned at me for a long time before he shook the talisman in my face.
“It’s one of the greatest treasures of the Shen clan, so you should show some appreciation!”
I bowed.
“Thank you for showing me! This is truly incredible!”
“It really is. The elders might have sticks up their asses, but the clan is something truly great.”
“I couldn’t agree more.”
“What is your plan with the talisman?”
He tucked it away as he answered.
“I only know that the heirloom was lost near the northern swamp, and that the talisman will tell me when it is near. I don’t even know what the heirloom is, only that it’s invaluable. You have to help me retrieve it, expedition leader.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll help you, senior.”
He bowed.
“Thank you, and please, do not mention this to anyone. Not even Shen Tongtong knows about the talisman.”
“I understand completely.”
He led me across the pillars sticking out from the water, and through the ferns and undergrowth up into the pale forest to the campsite they’d found. After speaking with him, I was less convinced he was treacherous, though he was certainly still suspicious. While I followed behind, I planned how to steal his talisman. An artifact like that seemed to important for me to pass up.
We got back as Song Shuai and Ran Yaliu were leaving.
“Expedition leader,” Ran Yaliu greeted. “The young master’s list contained some nocturnal poisonous herbs. We are going out to gather them.”
“You’re gathering?” I asked Song Shuai.
“I’m a man of many talents.”
“How long will you be gone?”
“Two hours.”
“Be safe and be quiet, please.”
Song Shuai sighed.
“I can be discreet.”
They moved on, leaping into the trees and racing silently into the distance.
“You keep a loose hold on this expedition,” the old Shen swordsman commented.
“I trust these people.”
Ah, you idiot! Trust nobody!
“Noble, idealistic, and very young, but you should be more discerning with your trust. After all, you have two Ran in your expedition: anything could happen. Now, please excuse me, expedition leader, but I must cultivate.”
“You’ll have a shift of watch.”
“Of course I will. Like I was saying, anything could happen; we must be vigilant.”
The intensity that came over his face before he turned away made me wonder if I should still be suspicious of him.
Of course you should be!
There were eight small tents set up with a fire pit already glowing. Chen Ai, Shen Tongtong, and Shen Botao sat and listened as Ran Qin played a lively melody. I approached as Chen Ai waved me over.
She glanced at me and her eyes seemed to ask: what about that old guy?
I shook my head slightly: whatever suspicions we have, can't be sure.
She nodded and patted a spot beside her on a recently felled log. The other cultivators sat on stools summoned from storage rings, but I happily joined Chen Ai on the rougher surface.
Fish were roasting on skewers and dripping in sauce. Some skewers were already finished, and Chen Ai delicately picked the flesh off of one.
“Where did you get the fish?” I asked her.
“The river.”
“And you trust fish from the river?”
“Of course,” she said as she took another mouthful. “It’s only… Nah, of course not! Don’t be stupid, senior brother.”
“It’s me!” Shen Tongtong said with a giggle. “I have a storage ring full of meat.”
My eyebrows raised.
That would have been a good thing to know. Judging by the liquor bottle in her hand — the one Chen Ai was carefully taking for herself — she also had a storage ring full of alcohol.
“I need to find out what everyone possesses. A full inventory will be essential for effective planning.”
“You’re pretty good at plans,” Chen Ai said encouragingly. “But let’s rest a moment, this song is one of my favorites.”
It was a popular ballad about the moon falling in love with a man, and he loved her back and even climbed up the tallest mountain just so he could get close to her, but when she tried to come closer to him, there was a fierce explosion as she crashed into the land.
I’d heard it before, in my three past lives, several times in each. It was an old, old song, and though Ran Qin played it faster than I was used to, and she certainly took liberties with the lyrics, the same story was there, repeating itself, like my body renewing itself again and again…
I sat back, stunned.
I remembered standing on a mountain and watching a colossal stone twist down from the heavens, with fire exploding from below…
It wasn’t my memory, but it was the first one I found inside a shard of grey stone when I first escaped my cell in the facility. I’d always thought this song was just a legend, but it could be another clue to my origins.
Ran Qin starts playing Wonderwall.
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