"Huh, I never would have guessed," she said, bemused. "Do you mean those books I saw you reading in the archive last year? Why would they have a cipher leading to a place here?"
"In the days before the Great Sects, the author resided here, when not voyaging himself," She could detect a hint of excitement in the boys tone as he began to speak on the subject. "This one sought out the placement in this Sect for that purpose."
"So you figured out the cipher before you ever came here?" She asked curiously. She supposed that he really was a smart guy.
"...Yes, though the goal remained shrouded, the path of course intrigued this one," Xuan Shi agreed, perhaps a bit too quickly.
"Your a bad liar mister," Hanyi said, emerging from the trees behind Ling Qi. She then shot Ling Qi a dirty look. "Big Sister is mean, walking so fast on her stupid long legs."
Ling Qi shot her a cheeky grin, which earned her a frustrated huff, but in her head Zhengui responded suspiciously. "Yeah, why is he lying? Big Sister, you should be careful."
Ling Qi rather doubted it was a dangerous lie, and she really did need to look into why Zhengui always seemed so… snappish around Xuan Shi. However, Hanyi wasn't wrong. She gave Xuan Shi an expectant look all the same.
He sighed. "This one merely wished to read the final two volumes, which were archived within the Sect alone."
Well that was kind of silly, but it was hardly the worst thing ever. Even if it was weird to imagine caring so much about a book as to travel all the way across the empire to get at it.