The sun had risen above the horizon, bathing the city in its warm and gentle light. Its denizens were slowly starting to go about their daily tasks, most of them totally oblivious to the events that had transpired far below their feet during the last night.

As the suns rays reached through the open window and met a sleeping girl, warming her face and tickling her nose, Qingge’s consciousness slowly returned to the real world. She’d had terrible dreams tonight, of battles and bloodshed, endless tunnels and unbreachable darkness, so she was happy when she awoke wrapped in warm and comfortable sheets, her body rested and healthy. Ready for another day of investigation.

It was only when she pulled back those sheets that she started to wonder: shouldn’t they be blue? Since she’d been given the opportunity to choose, she had specifically picked the ones in her favorite color, a sated cobalt blue. Also, now that she thought about it, she had also specifically chosen the room with a window to the east so that she could admire the sunset after a long day of work. So how was it that she had just been woken up by the sun?

Looking up revealed the obvious answer to her questions: she just wasn’t in her room. But where was she then and how had she gotten here?

As the wonder helped her mind clear from the residue drowsiness, it slowly dawned on her: The mines! The battle! The blood! It was all real!

As the pieces of her memory started slotting back together into a coherent whole, Qingge felt dizziness overcome her. She remembered the poison numbing her movement. The helplessness as she was dragged into the deep. The face of the man she had killed. The fear and paranoia as she had aimlessly wandered through the tunnels.

She unwittingly touched her shoulder, but there was nothing there. No signs of a wound, no crusted blood, not even any leftover pain. It felt just as perfectly normal as the rest of her body. That was right. She had been rescued. She remembered the blinding light. The soothing voice. The endless relief she had felt. The warm sensation spreading through her body.

Qingge took a deep breath. Those memories in place, she already started to feel better again. She’d need some time, or maybe a lot of it to sort out this mount of unresolved feelings she had accumulated in a singular night, but for now she felt ready to start figuring out what was going on.

First things first: Where was she? She looked around the room. It was spacious and clean but, except for a few essentials, mostly empty. As she got up, she noticed her clothes laying neatly folded on a chair next to the bed. Not the ones she had worn yesterday, mind you, – those were probably done for after that adventure – but her sect robes.

After throwing them on, Qingge walked over to the window and took a look outside. A couple of meters below her, the Li Estate’s garden stretched out. So that’s where she was.

Wasting no time, Qingge headed to the door. She was becoming more and more curios what had actually transpired last night. Hopefully everything had gone well…

“Lady Qingge!”

As soon as she had opened the door, Qingge was greeted by the image of Senior Yang shooting up from a chair positioned right next to it he had been sitting on, his expression a mix of excitement and concern.

“Do you feel alright?”

Qingge couldn’t help but grin at the display of the elder cultivator.

“Yeah, I think I’m good.”

His face momentarily shifted to relief before returning to concern.

“I apologize for allowing you to be captured like that. I have failed to fulfill my duty as a bodyguard.”

“What? Don’t be ridiculous, I was the one to push for this approach myself! In hindsight, I have to admit that it might’ve been a little reckless though… But what’s done is done. It turned out okay, didn’t it? Actually, how did it turn out? I know that you guys mounted an attack and since you’re here I assume it went okay, but could you fill me in on the details?”

“I’ll gladly do so, and I’d like to hear your side of the story as well. But in the interest of not having to repeat ourselves to many times, I think we should head downstairs first.”

“Lead the way.”

After a short walk through the building, they stepped outside where a table had been put up in the garden. Seated around a colorful buffet of bread, various fruits and juices as well as other delectables were Elder Wei, Patriarch Li and a middle-aged man with graying hair Qingge didn’t know.

Elder Wei was the first to notice their arrival, greeting them with a warm smile.

“Qingge, I see you’ve awoken. Do you feel better?”

“I… Yes of course, Elder! Thank you for saving me!”

“I was happy to. Come, sit with us. You must be hungry!”

Now that she thought about it, yes; she very much was. As a matter of fact, she felt like she hadn’t eaten anything for three days straight. Qingge followed Elder Wei’s invitation, sat down and dug in. The food tasted amazing, and she felt waves of relief washing through her with every bite she took.

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Only upon finishing the third of the delicious red fruits to her left did it occur to her, that the elder wasn’t the only one present here. Not only had she neglected to greet Patriarch Niung Li, she hadn’t even introduced herself to the other man. With a guilty expression, she looked up from her food. Luckily, the men seemed more amused than offended by her antics.

“I- I’m sorry. I haven’t introduced myself. I’m Qingge, junior member of the Lunar Peaks Sect in service to the Enforcement Hall.”

“I’m honored to make your acquaintance, Lady Qingge. I am Geming Lei, just a lowly scholar from the academy.”

“This,” Elder Wei interjected, “is Professor Geming Lei. Creator of several highly interesting pieces of innovative ethical philosophy and the reason I came to this city. He will accompany us back to the sect.”

“Pleased to meet you, professor.”

“Now that the formalities are out of the way, I think we should start filling each other in on last night’s events. I’ll start, since my role in this was comparatively minor. After I found you and brought you back to the surface, I left you with your companions and went back down.

“I followed your trail and found the bandit hideout where I picked up a totally innocent old lady who was locked in a cell as just another victim of the bandits and an equally innocent member of the Bai Family who assured me that he was actually conducting his own investigation into the bandits and had successfully infiltrated them.

“We’ve put the two into house arrest right next door for the time being. I’m sure they’ll be eager to share a lot of interesting information with us. The latter was also considerate enough to leave us with a bunch of written proof.”

So it actually was the Bai family. Qingge had already suspected the involvement of one of the pillar families, but to hear it confirmed like this… She felt her blood start to boil! How could anyone be so devoid of honor? And how could they be amongst the ones in charge of the sect?

“That’s actually about it from my side. Most of the work was done by Yang here and of course your other companions. But to fill in the gaps from me, perhaps it’s better you start by recounting what happened to you?”

Qingge took a moment to think.

“Okay. So it all started after I’d successfully made that exchange. The two men who took the silver told me I should stay at the pavilion for a drink. I think that was just a measure to make be sure I didn’t follow them…”

Qingge spent the next fifteen minutes recounting the events of last night in detail, using the opportunity to properly order everything in her own mind as well. The others were particularly impressed by the way she got rid of the poison, Elder Wei specifically being full of praise for her. After she was done, Yang followed with his story.

“…which actually got the remaining bandits to surrender as well. After that, it was just a matter of securing them all and meeting back up with the rest of the forces. We spent the rest of the night sweeping through the hideout, picking up as many stragglers as we could. There’s still a lot of people down there, properly mapping the place out and securing the stolen goods.”

“Say, Yang, that feeling that you had. Am I right to assume it felt like a sudden, inexplainable urge?”

“Yes, Elder.”

“So if you had to describe an origin, you’d say it came from inside you?”

“I think so. I couldn’t make out any external influence, at least.”

“Thought so. Yang, I believe I know what happened to you. My congratulations, I believe you experienced spontaneous enlightenment.”

“Enlightenment?”

“Spontaneous Enlightenment, yes. Note that the cultivational term has very little to do with the original meaning of the word. It’s a rare phenomenon, – extremely rare actually – where a cultivator in the Dao Attunement Realm experiences a temporary moment of comprehension of the Dao they follow. In other words, what you experienced in that moment was the strength of a Dao Contemplation cultivator.

“It's not well understood what causes the experience, since it occurs in so few people and is always spontaneous and unpredictable. From my personal experience I can tell you, that I tended to have them in moments of strong emotion combined with being in extraordinary situations and a high degree of ambient elemental qi.

“The process is always the same: the cultivator feels a sudden urge to do something that is in some way connected to their understanding of the element in question. If they give in, the urge and an accompanying feeling of satisfaction will build up as they continue, culminating in the sudden moment of connection to the Dao.

“In any case, I can tell you that this bodes extremely well for your future cultivation. Keep the feeling you had in that moment in mind and meditate on it. You will be able to use it as a foundation of your understanding of the Dao once you’ve made it through the Attunement Realm. It’s not by any means a guarantee of a breakthrough, but it massively increases your chances.”

“Thank you for your advice, Elder!”

“I’m happy to help. You’ve proven yourself a loyal guard and a skilled commander. It’s only right that you’re rewarded for your deeds.”

Suddenly, the front gate burst open with a loud bang. Moments later, Prince Bingwen Luo came marching in, flanked by several officials and two long rows of armed men. His head was colored in a bright shade of red, combining with his plump figure to make him look remarkably similar to an angry toddler.

Niung Li had already risen to his feet and now performed a respectful bow.

“My prince. What has led you here?”

“Patriarch Li! What is the meaning behind the sudden mobilization of your troops? I demand an explanation right this instant!”

The man’s high-pitched voice was trembling from anger but was significantly less intimidating than he probably hoped. Qingge, at the very least, wasn’t particularly impressed and from what she could see, Niung Li didn’t seem to be either.

“We were attacking a criminal organization. I apologize for not informing you beforehand, but it was an urgent situation.”

“Urgent situation? Urgent Situation?!? I’ll tell you what an urgent situation is! A sudden large-scale mobilization within my city! That’s an urgent situation! I don’t care what you wanted to do, that kind of behavior without my agreement is unacceptable! I will…”

Elder Wei chose this moment to speak up.

“The Li Family was acting at my explicit request. I apologize for any inconvenience that this might have caused.”

It was quite impressive to witness how quickly all color left the prince’s face.

“I- I- I- Honorable Elder! I… I didn’t know… You… I… There is no need to apologize, no need at all! This- this is just a misunderstanding, that’s all. I- I didn’t want… didn’t mean to disturb you! If you don’t mind, I will excuse myself.”

With that, the prince turned on his heels and fled the scene even less elegantly than he had arrived. His entourage was quick to follow, safe for one of the apparent councilors. The aged man had a sharp look to him and his demeanor was that of a military man.

“Honorable Elder, Uncle Niung, you must forgive the prince’s temperament. He has spent the whole night rolled up in the castle's cellar in fear of a coup d’état.”

After a short moment of silence, the entire group broke into laughter.