Chapter 57: Sink Into Deep Eyes Of Hatred
- Location
- Low Earth Orbit
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I also have a discord server, where I post memes I make about FSE, and occasionally discuss some plans and worldbuilding details.
As soon as the realization passed through Qian Shanyi's mind, she pretended to stumble, and grabbed Wang Yonghao's hand for support. If they could sense the other cultivators, then they could be sensed in turn, and even a transparent excuse to talk privately was better than simply freezing in public. Wiping her forehead with her other hand, she pulled him away from the tavern entrance.
There was a convenient blind corner nearby, hidden from the windows of the tavern by the geometry of the walls, and from the street by a line of trees. She dropped her bags on the ground, and leaned against the wall, faking exhaustion. Glancing up at Wang Yonghao, she saw a wild look on his face. <Breathe,> she signed, <they aren't here for us.>
Wang Yonghao's eyes snapped to her face. He slowly lowered his own bags. <How do you know?>
She kept her eyes on the parts of the street visible from their blind corner, making sure nobody else could see them. It was late, the street was almost deserted. <They might as well have lit a fire to announce their presence. If the spirit hunters wanted to catch us, they would have waited until midnight, when we would have been asleep.> She shook her head. <On top of that, you can feel where they are, can't you? Our room is in the other wing of the tavern.>
Wang Yonghao breathed out slowly, looking at the wall in the direction of the three cultivators. This habit of his amused her greatly - spiritual energy senses did not rely on sight, and so most inner disciples were taught not to look in the direction of their focus sometime during their first year. <Thank you,> he signed, <I lost my head for a bit there.>
<Why?> She raised an eyebrow at him. <Afraid of missing your date with Chu Lin?>
Wang Yonghao blushed deeply. <It's not - how did you even know we planned anything?>
She didn't - she was only joking, but now that she hit the mark, she wasn't about to reveal her ignorance. <It was obvious,> she signed instead, <don't let me discourage you, it's good that you finally take some charge of your own life. But let's focus on the present. Any ideas?>
<About what to do? Walk away before they notice us.>
She shook her head. Jumping ahead of the cart, as usual. <No. About why they are here.>
She kept her attention on the three cultivators while they talked. At this distance, and through several walls, she couldn't tell much more than their relative position, and it took effort to think of how it related to her mental map of the tavern. They seemed to be sweeping every room adjacent to the corridor, the spirit hunter always taking point.
<I don't want to stick around to find out,> Wang Yonghao signed.
The flows of spiritual energy around the two cultivators behind him felt familiar to her, and one of them was clearly missing a foot. Did the spirit hunter request local assistance, or did Jian Shizhe spot him and offer it first? Both possibilities seemed plausible.
She sighed. <Yonghao, we need to know why they are here so we can decide what to do.>
Wang Yonghao gave her a look as if she asked him why bears shat in the woods. <Why? Because of my luck.>
She nodded. <It does seem likely. But that isn't the point. Even if your luck is involved, there will be a reasonable explanation for why two respectable cultivators and Jian Shizhe are running around looking for a fight.>
They stayed silent until the three cultivators moved out of her range of spiritual energy senses. <Searching for something?> She signed.
<Or someone,> Wang Yonghao agreed, <You think they'd open our room?>
<It would be an incredible intrusion if they did that in our absence,> she signed, frowning. <Even if the room was on fire, I would hesitate to casually walk into another cultivators' space to put it out.> She paused for a moment. <And even if they did, there shouldn't be anything for them to find.> They had prepared for something of this nature, and left their publicly known possessions in their room, exactly in case someone searched it while they were gone. <But I wouldn't bet my life on it. If we were already in the room, we could control the situation much better.>
<And would be more likely to be involved.>
<Exactly,> she signed, before shaking her head. <There are just too many possibilities. Make a decision - are we leaving or heading in?>
Wang Yonghao gave her a baffled look. <Why should I make it?>
<Because I don't yet have a strong intuition for your luck. You do.> she signed, <Now decide quickly. Time does not wait for a cultivator.>
The tavern complex was built as a square ring, with the two-storey house of the innkeeper's family - and a small cafe for the guests - as the gemstone. There were two entrances, on opposite ends of the ring, and a garden in the middle. Thankfully for them, this meant they did not need to cross paths with the three cultivators as they headed to their room.
Qian Shanyi was pleasantly surprised that Wang Yonghao decided to stay - based on how he behaved in Xiaohongshan, she fully expected him to make them flee town entirely, even if it would have meant abandoning everything they had left in their room, as well as all the plans she had for Jian Wei. She mulled over the change as they walked, the corridor around them strangely quiet, with no maids sweeping the floors, or even a single guest heading out towards the gardens. "Still, this Chu Lin," Qian Shanyi said, trying to dispel the ominous mood, "what is she like?"
Wang Yonghao groaned, rubbing his eyes. "Shanyi, is now really the time?"
"When if not now?"
He glared at her, and hefted one of his bags higher on his shoulder to free both of his hands. <When there aren't spirit hunters in this very tavern!> he signed angrily. She was glad he didn't blurt it out loud, at least.
"What of it?" She raised an eyebrow. "I've heard it said that the best time to marry is in the middle of a tribulation."
"That does sound like something one of the old monsters would say."
"Hm." She hummed quietly. She had remembered the saying from a novel that circulated among the sect disciples, but she supposed it did sound about right. "You haven't answered my question."
"She's… nice," Wang Yonghao said, blushing profusely.
"She is 'nice'?" Qian Shanyi deadpanned. "What a deep observation, Yonghao. Perhaps next you will tell me that she has a pair of legs."
Wang Yonghao glared at her, then sighed. "She invited me to a poetry reading two days from now, together with her friends," he said, "I don't know if I should go."
"Did you tell her we'd surely be leaving within a couple weeks?"
"Yeah. I don't think she cared that much."
"Hmm," Qian Shanyi hummed, tapping her cheek. "Perhaps I was off about her."
"In what way?"
She shrugged lightly. "If I was in her position, I would have been after marriage. But just because that is what I would have wanted, it doesn't mean it is what she wants. Perhaps she is simply looking for some escapism in you." She paused for a moment. "Then again, perhaps she thinks she could convince you to stay. In either case, as long as you avoid giving her a kid, you should be fine."
Wang Yonghao blushed hard, and she grinned at him, fishing her key out of her robes. She slid it into the keyhole of their room, turned it twice, and swung the door open -
- and saw an unknown woman standing in the middle of their room, looking out of their window. She turned towards them as the door swung open, and Qian Shanyi's gaze swept over her linen skirts of a maid, shoulder-length black hair, and a young, freckled face.
Qian Shanyi's hand immediately fell on her sword at the same time as she tossed her bag aside. She stepped away from the doorway to give Wang Yonghao more space, and reached out with her spiritual energy senses -
- only to find nothing. Less than nothing, really. Cultivators relied on the circulation of spiritual energy, and could close their pores to hide their presence entirely - but the woman's spiritual energy was not circulating, or beating like that of a spirit or demon beast. This close, Qian Shanyi could feel that the flow was there, but incredibly faint, in and out like the weakest breath - that of an entirely ordinary person. Not something you could fake.
Which meant…
"Do you know what the punishment is for stealing from a cultivator?" Qian Shanyi asked sharply, narrowing her eyes.
She herself had no idea, because scarcely anybody was stupid enough to risk it.
The woman backed up against the window, her face contorting in terror, knuckles going white where they clutched the windowsill. She was breathing fast. It was a perfect picture, and just as fake.
"Please, honorable immortals," the woman begged, falling on her knees. "I am not a thief. I just - "
Her eyes didn't fit. It was subtle, but there was no terror. Just a deep exhaustion.
"Stop scaring her, Shanyi," Wang Yonghao said quietly, stepping into the room and putting down his own bags. "We don't have anything worth stealing in the first place. There's nothing to fight over."
Qian Shanyi glanced at the small table in the room, where her spare sword was simply laying out in the open on top of her chest of chef knives.
The ignorance of riches.
"This remains to be seen," Qian Shanyi said, glancing down the corridor. The three cultivators were still on the other side of the tavern, and she wasn't loud, so her words didn't carry far - but if she shouted, they would surely hear her.
"I just needed a place to hide," the woman said, prostrating herself. "Honorable immortals, I beg of you, do not give me up to that wicked spirit hunter!"
At least she isn't denying it.
What in the netherworld's name did she even do? Run away with an entire sect library? Spirit hunters weren't supposed to deal with ordinary people at all.
Wang Yonghao had an ugly grimace, almost as bad as when she said she was going to face the tribulation. "Yonghao?" she said.
"We can't just give her up," he said quietly.
"We absolutely could."
"I mean that we shouldn't." He glared at her.
"The best thing for her would be a fair trial," Qian Shanyi said.
"You are saying this?" His glare only intensified.
"Yes, I am," she snapped. Was he really this easy to blind by a pretty face? "What do you think makes a spirit hunter bring out the talismans? Whatever she did, it's not a trifling matter."
"You said I should make more decisions," he said, crossing his arms on his chest. "Well, I am deciding I won't have her blood on my hands."
Not like this, you idiot.
"Thank you," the mysterious woman breathed out.
Qian Shanyi's eyes flickered between the two. What was the Heavens' plot here? Dangle a young, helpless girl in front of Yonghao until he gets into a fight with a spirit hunter over her? Drive a schism between the two of them? Or was it simpler - to put them into a dangerous situation, and hope she got herself killed off?
Wang Yonghao's lips were pursed, but his eyes were determined, set on their course. Could she convince him? Perhaps… But not fast enough. Forcing the issue wasn't worth sacrificing the trust that was so slow to build between them.
She focused all her senses back on the woman. She was pretty sure she recognised her face, having seen her around the tavern in the morning, and her clothes fit her very well, clearly tailored to her body after long years of use. The soft beat of her spiritual energy didn't change in the slightest - nor could it - and Qian Shanyi didn't feel anything else on her body, no spirit bombs, no talismans, nothing that could be a danger at all. This of course proved little - there were a dozen ways to hide any of them from her senses - but more likely than not, this woman had nothing that could harm either of them.
It was probably safe. In the worst case, they could always call for help later.
Qian Shanyi closed the door.
"Let's set up the damn formations, at least," she said, "if you absolutely insist on harboring a fugitive."
She grabbed the two talisman bags from Wang Yonghao, quickly arranging them in accordance with chalk markings on the floor. While she was busy, Wang Yonghao ignited the fireplace, and put a kettle over the fire to make tea. When she put in the last two talismans, the distant sounds of the town had vanished and the spiritual energy around the three of them began to swirl. Qian Shanyi breathed a bit easier: at least now they won't be heard from the outside.
The mysterious woman huddled close to the bed, still playing at being scared. Her eyes darted around the room - to the window, to Yonghao, to the door - and for just a moment, met Qian Shanyi's, before she glanced away.
"What is your name?" Qian Shanyi said, studying the woman closely.
"Linghui Mei, honorable immortal," she responded.
"Why is the spirit hunter after you?"
Linghui Mei shrunk in on herself. "He is a wicked man," she said quietly, "I do not know what lies he had told about me. You must not believe him."
Qian Shanyi frowned. "That's not what I asked."
"We… have been in love," Linghui Mei said, "but he wanted us to keep it secret. We met after dark, when he passed through town, messages left on my window. He swept me off my feet… Until I found out he had a wife in another town. I tried to talk to him about it, but he - he - "
Linghui Mei squeezed her eyes shut, covering her mouth with one hand. "He turned violent," she continued, "he said he would kill me if I told anyone about us. And I swore I wouldn't, even despite that I loved him - But I told my sister, and he found out."
Linghui Mei sniffled, rocking in place. "He made it look like an accident," she said, "that was two years ago. I have lived in fear ever since. And now - and now he is coming back to finish the job. I beg of you, save me from that man. He will surely accuse me of some heinous crimes, and have my head before the day is over. I am sorry for intruding into your room - but I simply had no choice. He would search every other with impunity."
"See, Shanyi?" Wang Yonghao said, "We can't just give her up!"
Linghui Mei looked at Wang Yonghao with gratitude, and Qian Shanyi narrowed her eyes at her. It was a perfect story. It explained everything - why a spirit hunter would be after an innocent ordinary person, why she needed a place to hide, even why she picked their room specifically - if she really worked in this tavern, she would know where they were staying. Except…
Except that it didn't fit.
Cultivators were the sabers of humanity, and spirit hunters were the sharpest of them all, standing against the demon beasts of the wilds. Qian Shanyi was not so naive as to think this meant they were incorruptible - but even a single spirit hunter who abused his station would sour the trust in them all, and so the empire weeded out those unfit to serve with sword and prejudice. To suggest that one of them outright violated the fourth imperial edict and then planned to do so again did not seem entirely plausible.
But fine. Suppose that a spirit hunter murdered an ordinary person and got away with it. Suppose he planned to kill a second one. Then why did he bring two other cultivators with him? That would simply make his job harder. If he wanted to kill this woman, then his best bet was to once again make it look like an accident - or, failing that, to plant some demonic talisman on her body, so that he could claim he had no other choice. Bringing other cultivators with him meant witnesses, it meant this woman would surely go to trial where she could plead her case - and that was scrutiny that he could ill afford. It simply didn't make sense.
The whole situation stunk like high Heaven. It didn't escape Qian Shanyi's notice that this story was impossible to confirm either way - this supposed sister was dead, and Linghui Mei's relationship with the spirit hunter remained private.
Qian Shanyi glanced at the window, and saw that the hair she tied around the blinds was still there - they were never opened. And the door was locked when they entered.
So how did Linghui Mei get in?
Door, window - that left only one possibility, yet there was no soot on her feet or hands, nor around the fireplace. After Qian Shanyi's experience, she was sure that no acrobat could manage to descend down the chimney while remaining clean. If the woman was a cultivator, she would have suspected a cleaning technique - but she was just an ordinary person.
"How did you get into our room?" Qian Shanyi asked bluntly.
The sudden question startled Linghui Mei. "What?"
"It's a simple question," Qian Shanyi continued, "how did you get into our room?"
"What does it matter, Shanyi?" Wang Yonghao asked, "we should come up with a plan for how to deal with the spirit hunter."
"It matters because I think she is lying," Qian Shanyi said, frowning.
Linghui Mei shrunk back, shaking her head. "Please, honorable immortal, I wouldn't dare -"
"Then how did you get in? The door was locked."
"I've used a spare key." Linghui Mei bowed her head. "Our tavern keeps one for each room, in case the guests lose theirs."
Qian Shanyi's frown deepened. "Show me the key."
Wang Yonghao sighed. "Shanyi, is now really the time? For once I think you really are being too paranoid."
Qian Shanyi's lips twitched in anger. "Then you truly have eyes, yet cannot see Mount Tai. When we got this room I asked the innkeeper for all the keys that they had, including the spares. I did so specifically so that nobody could easily enter our room without our knowledge. Either the innkeeper lied to me, or she did just now - so show me the key."
Something snapped behind Linghui Mei's appearance, and she glared at Qian Shanyi, drawing herself up as if ready to spring at her. Did she actually have some weapon? But she wasn't reaching for anything, her hands were wide at her sides. Qian Shanyi's hand dropped on the handle of her sword, her spiritual shield strengthening a fraction, before Wang Yonghao stepped in between them. "What does it matter if she has the key or not?" he said, glaring at Qian Shanyi in turn. "Maybe she picked the lock. So what?"
At least Linghui Mei seemed just as baffled by this change as Qian Shanyi was. "Because if she lies about this, she may be lying about anything," Qian Shanyi responded, crossing her arms on her chest. "She claims innocence, but words of a liar have no weight."
"So what if she is not innocent?" he said, still glaring at her. "Does that mean she should die?"
She gave him a look. "Depending on what she did, yes."
"You are not so innocent either. Neither am I," Wang Yonghao said, "does that mean someone should get to kill us on the spot? Because that's what that spirit hunter will do - you don't pack that many talismans if you want to ask questions. Maybe she did something wrong, practiced the wrong technique, joined a bad sect, or stole the wrong artifact - but this doesn't mean she should just die."
"That is exactly why I want her to stop lying so that we could judge better!"
"Like you did when you met me? Will you make me stop lying too?"
Qian Shanyi held Wang Yonghao's stare for a while, before nodding in acceptance. She thought he threw his caution to the wind, but maybe he just didn't want to state his concerns out loud. There was long-nursed hurt in his tone, and on reflection, perhaps this entire situation struck a bit too close to home for him.
Linghui Mei stepped back to the wall, looking a bit confused at their exchange. Qian Shanyi leaned to the side, to look her in the eyes without Wang Yonghao in the way. "Did you ever kill an ordinary person?" she asked.
Linghui Mei snarled, with a spark of such sudden fury in her eyes that it made Qian Shanyi raise both eyebrows. "Since when does a cultivator care about people?" Linghui Mei spat out, hatred so plain in her voice that even Wang Yonghao turned back to face her.
"Answer the question, fugitive," Qian Shanyi said calmly.
"No," Linghui Mei said sharply. There was no hesitation in her tone. Either she became a much better actor over the last minute, or she was telling the truth.
"Very well. We'll help you," Qian Shanyi said, before stepping out of the sound muffling formation for a moment and reaching out with her spiritual energy senses. She heard the three cultivators knocking on the door just a bit further down the corridor. "We don't have much time," she said, stepping back in, though staying just on the edge. Not hearing herself speak in one ear was a strange sensation, but she wanted to keep track of the other cultivators. "Hide under the bed. It's not visible from the door - I'll talk to the spirit hunter and distract him, until we can figure this mess out."
"No." Linghui Mei shook her head. She breathed out, a bit of tension leaving her body. Her demeanor changed, the mask of a terrified maid quickly melting away. "The spirit hunter has a dog. It will smell me as soon as the door is open." She motioned to the window. "He has a partner on the roof. I can't leave alone, but if you fight him off and carry me to the edge of town, I can flee on my own." She paused, and then added, her tone strangely flat. "I would be forever in your debt."
"Ridiculous," Qian Shanyi snorted. "We are not fighting with the spirit hunters based on your say-so."
"I could… Do it on my own." Wang Yonghao said, ruffling through his hair. "If you don't want to help."
She glared at him. "No. Use your head, Yonghao. She doesn't deserve to die if - if - an over-eager spirit hunter is out for her blood. But neither does she deserve to have you jump in front of the sword of justice aimed at her heart. For all you know, she sold poisoned candy to children."
Linghui Mei snarled at her again, but Qian Shanyi ignored her. "We need to talk to the spirit hunter before committing, one way or another," she said, "anything else would be too stupid to even contemplate."
"Then what do you suggest?" Wang Yonghao said.
"There's two options," Qian Shanyi said calmly, raising two fingers. The three cultivators were now in the next room over. "One, we tell the spirit hunter she is under our protection, and talk to them openly. If she really is innocent, I'd be the first to raise my sword for her. Of course, if she is not, then we would lose any element of surprise."
"No," Linghui Mei shook her head, "absolutely not. You would abandon me right away - I am better off risking my luck out this window."
"Could you please tell us what happened?" Wang Yonghao cupped his hands, pleading to her. "Shanyi is right. We wouldn't judge you."
Linghui Mei glared at him. "No."
"Then the second option - you hide her," Qian Shanyi said calmly.
"Hide her - how?"
"You know how," she said, staring Wang Yonghao in the eyes. "If you really trust her enough to fight the spirit hunters for her, surely it'd be but a trifle? I think this would be stupid as well - but much less so. At least she would have a reason to keep her mouth shut."
Wang Yonghao stepped back, his face twisting as if he bit into a lemon. He glanced between Qian Shanyi and Linghui Mei, and squeezed his eyes closed.
"They are knocking on our door," Qian Shanyi announced. "Make your choice now."
Wang Yonghao cursed, and finally stepped over to the maid, offering her a hand. Linghui Mei took it with a puzzled look. "Please hold on," Wang Yonghao said, and opened the entrance to his inner world beneath their feet. Linghui Mei's panicked scream was quickly cut off as she vanished through the boundary of his inner world, and the entrance closed a mere moment after.
The second option, then.
Qian Shanyi sighed, and casually stepped over to the fireplace, taking the kettle off the fire. That brought her out of the sound muffling formation entirely, and she called out to the cultivators at the door, pretending she only just heard them. "Coming! Wait but a moment."
She slowly put the kettle down on a nearby table, took her hair comb and hair sticks out of her hair, and ruffled it until it looked completely unkempt. Pulling her sword off her belt, she tossed it on the bed, took off her sandals, and re-tied her robes, so that they'd seem like they were put on in a hurry. A quick sweep of her hand over her face smudged her makeup, and she headed to the door, looking for all the world as if she was in the middle of some very vigorous competition of beliefs.
When she reached the door, she glanced back. Where was Yonghao? It should have only taken him what, perhaps twenty seconds to descend down to the ground, and another twenty to rise back up? By all rights, he should have been out already. She needed him to be in the apartment before she let anyone look inside, lest they arouse more suspicions.
Perhaps he decided to waste some time calming the other woman down. Well, she could waste time just as easily.
"How may I help you?" Qian Shanyi said, cranking the door open a fraction, just enough for her to look out. Outside, she saw an unfamiliar, young cultivator in bright green robes. His eyes, strangely emotionless, were concealed behind a pair of circular glasses. A dozen talismans hovered around his body, tied down by long tassels on his robes, sending out sparks from his spiritual shield. Jian Shizhe and Rui Bao stood a short step behind him, and each gave her a warm stare - though for different reasons. As her glance swept downwards, she noted that Jian Shizhe's foot was already replaced with one of sharp, thorny wood - impressively fast, for a living prosthetic of this complexity.
At their feet was a small brown dog, barely a foot long. As soon as the door was opened, it snarled, and started to bark.
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