With the weeks she had already spent in the city, Qingge had believed herself accustomed to its massive crowds. She had been mistaken. Sloshing through the broad streets bathed in the golden light of the afternoon was a veritable sea of people that was unlike anything she had ever seen before. The entire city’s population was out at once and even more people were streaming in from the surrounding settlements.

And it wasn’t just the numbers that were mind-blowing. People were wearing clothes in all kinds of different colors, embroidered with exotic and unique patterns. Many were donning masks in the shape of animals or wondrous, painted faces.

The atmosphere was light and frolicsome. Musicians and showmen were entertaining the crowd at every corner and the alcohol was starting to flow.

But the main attraction of it all were the thousands upon thousands of lanterns that were hanging on and between buildings. They came in all shapes and forms but most notably many of them were hung up in configurations of seven, all painted with different symbols that were consistent between the groups.

Qingge was incredibly fascinated by all of these new impressions. A part of her felt like a giddy child that wanted to run around and explore these new and exciting things. And, perhaps more importantly, escape from the one thing that was currently dampening said fascination and excitement.

“…By the way, these lanterns naturally represent the seven heroes in whose honor the festival is held. That large stands for the legendary founder of our great city. Then we have the general who led us to victory in the famed city-war of the bloody river, the lone warrior who defeated the terrible scourge of the moonlit forest and the admiral who brought down the pirate-king and his fleet. Then we have the messenger who sacrificed his life to inform the city of the approaching relief-force during the nine-year siege and the physician who saved the city from the horrible red plague.

“Finally, there is the prince of the city who is revered as the seventh hero. Not specifically the current prince of course, but whoever is holding the office.

“Anyway, as I was saying, this is the highest celebration of our city. Aside from the day of reverence of course, but that one is held throughout the Lunar Peaks Sect’s territory. We have a lot of festivals specifically because it’s a great way to keep the peasants happy and to drum up public support for the sponsoring noble families. Not to brag, but my family is one of the primer patrons of several of these. This one in particular is jointly hosted by all great families though, as a show of unity.

“On that subject, you might note that…”

Qingge did her best to feign interest as the annoying limpet of a cousin Shun Gao had brought along droned on about the specifics of organizing a parade and his grand personal merits in the matter. No thanks. Qingge had enough headaches organizing actually important stuff, like sect security or an ongoing criminal investigation she was in the process of conducting.

Alas, there was little she could do to escape and all of her polite attempts at signaling the guy that he could maybe, possibly, kindly shut his damn mouth for a while had been either completely ignored or, if she was reading the man correctly, not even noticed in the first place.

Qingge threw a pleading glance at Yang, but her bodyguard could only helplessly shrug as he was currently embroiled in a conversation about the merits of body-cultivation with Shun Gao, who took both of them for practitioners. Not exactly the most riveting topic either, but Qingge would have preferred it a dozen times over her current one. Especially since it was an actual conversation and not a monologue with occasional interruptions to allow for approving nods.

No use though, since Shun was clearly more interested in talking to Yang than her. Or maybe, if Qingge’s sneaking suspicion was accurate, he actually just wanted to pair her up with his cousin for whatever reason. If that was the case, Wencheng Gao, that was the tone-deaf idiot’s name, was very eager to assist him in that desire.

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Actually, now that she thought about it, that gave her an idea. As much as she would have liked to enjoy the festival, she was here to gather intelligence. For that, this whole situation might actually be a blessing in disguise. She just had to start taking the initiative.

Qingge slightly slowed her pace, letting herself fall behind. Wencheng, lost in his own conversation matched her speed without even noticing and the others seemed more than content to let it happen. Soon there was enough space between the pairs that she was certain Shun Gao couldn’t hear what they were saying over the noise of the crowd.

Next, she turned her full attention to Wencheng, taking a moment to consider how blunt she could be without him noticing something was off. It didn’t take her long to come to a conclusion: very blunt.

Taking the next bump in the road as an opportunity, she pretended to trip and let herself fall right in his direction, letting out a surprised yelp as she did. He caught her by reflex.

“Young Lady Cui! What happened? Are you alright?”

Qingge took a moment, pretending to catch her breath and recover from the shock. Then she looked up at him, giving him her best shot at a thankful expression.

“I just tripped. I’m just fine thanks to you.”

Apparently, her questionable acting skills were sufficient, because the man’s face took on a noticeable shade of red. Qingge continued on.

“I’m a little exhausted because of our long walk, but don’t worry about me.”

With that, she separated herself from the flustered man, gave him a little thankful bow and signaled him to continue walking. As they did, he looked at her concerned.

“Should we stop for a while so you can take a rest?”

“I wouldn’t want to bother you and your cousin. It’s clear that both of you are talented young cultivators with plenty of strength to spare.”

Wencheng beamed.

“That’s true, we are. Not to brag, but I’m kind of considered a rising star in the city. A pretty big deal, if I do say so myself. But aren’t you and your brother cultivators yourself?”

Qingge put all the sorrow and worry this whole ordeal had caused her into her tone as she answered.

“We are, but unlike you or him, my talent is meager. I haven’t really been able to make any progress in quite a long time and I’m quite frail by nature.”

“I’m… sorry to hear that. Is there any way I could help you?”

Now she had him right where she wanted.

“You… would do that for me?”

“Well… naturally only if I can afford it… you know… my means are limited… and I have many commitments… but if I can… of course.”

Qingge had to work hard restraining herself from letting out a laugh, watching Wencheng backpaddle. It was clear that while he was very eager to impress her, he was also not very keen on the idea of actually giving up anything significant. Luckily for him, what Qingge wanted wouldn’t personally cost him anything.

“I understand that your talent requires nurturing. I couldn’t possibly ask you to give up any of your resources for me. But you know… my family has plenty of money, there just isn’t anything to spend it on in Brittlestone City. So, if you know of somewhere I could acquire some cultivation-materials myself, I’d be deeply thankful.”

This was dangerous territory. The trade of resources relevant to cultivation was heavily restricted outside of the sects. You couldn’t just walk into a store and buy them; you’d have to go get an explicit permission from one of the sects. That didn’t stop people from privately circulating them anyways, but businesses that sold them commercially to people without permit were actually hot water.

Nonetheless, Wencheng lit up at her suggestion.

“Sure, I know a few people who might be able to help you with that.”

Jackpot.

“Now, they wouldn’t just work with anyone… but with my referral, you need not worry. Like I said, my name holds quite a bit of weight around here!”

Somehow Qingge doubted that this actually was the case, but she was more than happy to let him continue to brag if it meant she got what she wanted out of him.

“Your generosity truly knows no bounds. I’d be deeply indebted to you.”

“I’m a man of honor and virtue! You can count on me. You know what, the sooner the better. I can take you to them right now.”

With that he heightened his place to catch up to the others and called out.

“Cousin! Let’s head to the Blue Lotus Pavilion. Young Lady Cui needs to rest.”

The man in question seemed slightly irritated at first but quickly settled once he had considered it.

“Sure, you can go there. You’ll have to count me out however. The parade of the seventh hero will start shortly and I need to be seen in attendance alongside grandfather. Prince Luo attaches great importance to such matters of ceremony.”

That was even better than Qingge had hoped. With him out of the way, she wouldn’t have to explain herself to someone much more adept. Before Wencheng could consider how that diminished his own position in comparison, Qingge jumped in.

“Then we will have to part ways here. I extend my utmost thanks to you for your hospitality. I hope we will meet again.”

Turning to Wencheng again, she continued.

“Would you lead us to the pavilion?”

After everyone had bid each other farewell, the group of now only three people continued on.