For now, the goal was to head back to Bei Zangli, and at the moment it was a quiet walk. He kept stealing glances at Tian Han, so happily met his eyes each time he did so, like he was waiting for the subtle cues of acknowledgment.
“Tian Han,” Fu Ran said.
“Hm? What is it?”
“Can you read minds?” Fu Ran asked a very serious question but it was met with laughter.
Tian Han laughed and held his stomach like the idea of such things was too much. Shoulders still shaking in amusement, he asked, “Why would you ask that?”
It wasn’t that silly of a question, Fu Ran huffed. “I find it weird that you not only remembered to order for me, but you also got something alarmingly close to what I wanted. Why do you always know the things that I like?”
“Is it wrong for this one to pay attention to the things his Shizun likes?”
Mischievous. Fu Ran’s thoughts were nothing but annoyed grumbling now. “I guess it isn’t wrong. You have done weirder things, for sure. For example, do you always go around grabbing people in alleys?” As soon as the words left his mouth, he felt a bit guilty at the idea. Why was that the very first thing to come to his mind? He tried to fight off the embarrassment, but it was seeping onto his cheeks.
“No one but Shizun,” Tian Han said blankly.
Huh?! How can you say that without a shred of shame or guilt!? What would you do if this Peak Master misunderstood? Fu Ran’s face turned a bit more sour, despite the touch of flush on his face.
His mind was going to continue bad mouthing Tian Han until it was interrupted.
“If Shizun wants to ask about me, can this one ask something as well? It only feels fair. If so, then I’ll promise more answers in the future.”
Fu Ran decided a simple answer was best. “Sure.”
“Is there anything you want to do? Anything at all?”
Fu Ran looked at him with thought. Well, that could mean a lot of things, he thought.
He wanted to answer like he would have any other day, and say, “I want to collect dust.” However, he thought that phrase might frighten the man like it had done to Shesui Lang. So, he thought on it some more.
Noticing Tian Han’s new look of shock, broke him out of his sincere mulling. Confused for a moment he squinted his eyes, before the color began to drain from his face. He felt mortified. He said that out loud, did he?
“Collect dust?” Tian Han reiterated. He sounded concerned.
Fu Ran didn’t know how to respond. He kind of just laughed nervously. “Hah hah hah! It was a joke.” He finally said, mustering up a half-assed response. Tian Han didn’t seem to buy it, but he also didn’t dare challenge it. Quickly, Fu Ran covered his tracks with a more serious answer: “In truth I don’t know.” This answer, Tian Han seemed to accept.
“Then, can I take that to mean… You are willing to try a lot of things, until you do know?”
Fu Ran shrugged. “Well, that is the normal assumption to make. If one has nothing they wish to do, try things until something comes up. Sure, I guess.”
“Then, that is all I’ll ask for now, though I might have more later.”
“Tian Han is so strange,” Fu Ran said, though his words didn’t seem to bother the other man.
The walk was nearing the entrance of Jinan when Fu Ran felt a small touch to the side of his robes. He cut a glance to look as he has been reminded to pay heed to pick-pocketers when in this area.
Though, he was shocked when he suddenly met with the frightened eyes of Su Biyu.
“What–”
“What are you doing?” Tian Han interrupted Fu Ran’s question with his own, and tugged back the young teenager by the back of her robes. She flailed her arms and tried fighting out of his hold, but Tian Han’s grip was sturdy.
I would know how hard that grip is to escape, Fu Ran thought.
“Tian Han, that’s enough.” Fu Ran waved his companion away from the girl and leaned down with her. The little scene had collected the eyes of his disciples, so he spoke quieter as to keep their ears away. “Is something wrong Su Biyu? Did you try to take something from me? I am not angry.”
Despite his words being offered in a sweet manner, she shuddered. Su Biyu grabbed at her borrowed An Xian Yun Peak robes, and her eyebrows pressed together in guilt. “I…” she started, but it seemed as though she had to think about her words. In the next few minutes, an air of practiced calmness washed over her face. Finally, she said, “I don’t want Shizun getting in trouble for having illegal candied drugs.”
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
Fu Ran stiffened. Had she heard the earlier conversation between him and Tian Han? It was impossible for her to see the candies in the bag, because Tian Han ws quick to cover any view, but he also thought their conversation was much too quiet to hear over the loudness of Lin An and Meng Xiao.
“You don’t need to worry about that, as it is an adult matter. This Shizun can manage himself and any dangers very well.” While he didn’t fully believe his statement, due to his previous history, he did understand the need to keep addictive substances well away from the hands of a child.
Su Biyu seemed more upset to hear this and muttered, “What will you do with it then?”
“I will keep it somewhere safe until we return home, and then give it to someone who knows how to handle dangerous substances back at An Xian Yun Peak. Are my answers sufficient, or are you still nervous?”
“Sufficient,” she mumbled. Though, something was clearly still bothering her. Fu Ran ruffled her hair with a gentle palm, and stood. With his hand, he guided her along to join his disciples.
***
The group had arrived back at the small ghost town village. Fu Ran had fallen farther back, allowing Tian Han to guide the disciples through the city. Meanwhile, he decided to pull out of his bag: a small blue stone inlaid in an intricately carved golden holder. He closed his eyes and focused. He transferred his Spiritual Energy into the call stone.
“An Xian Yun Peak.” A voice spoke out harshly and seriously. Fu Ran knew the identity of this tone without having to ask.
“It’s Peak Master Fu, Shixiong.” He heard an excited little, “ah,” over the phone and immediately the next words spoken were a bit more chipper. Shesui Lang went back to a more casual way of speaking with him.
“So, how is the mission, princess? Enjoy working yet?” Shesui Lang’s words and intonation almost painted a perfect picture of his body language. Fu Ran thought he was probably sitting at his desk propping up on his elbows; he would be swaying back and forth like the little female disciples do when they sneak uses of call stones to talk to each other. Right now he must have been twirling his fingers with dumb grin on his face.
“The mission is going fine. There have been a few complications, but nothing needing aid. This is merely a report.” Fu Ran forced down his grin, as he didn’t want his images to leave the sound of a smile on his words.
“Oh?” That word usually preceded a long wind of teasing words. So Shesui Lang’s teasing came at no surprise, “Then have you gotten homesick, already? Want me to call Zhi Lao to come baby you, or perhaps you were really missing me—”
Fu Ran rolled his eyes. “Not at all.” He coughed before his Shixiong could get going again. “I want to talk about a new disciple.”
“Did you actually find someone in that backwater town? Someone that actually has some talent? Or are you just playing “the child taking in strays,” again?” Shesui Lang’s voice sounded no different, but his words aggravated the teacher.
Fu Ran’s brows lowered, and his back harshly pressed up against the gates of Bei Zangli. “I did find someone I was considering bringing back, should she choose it. Can you just make the arrangements needed?”
“Yes, yes.” Shesui Lang must have been waving his hand in a dismissive motion due to Fu Ran’s insistence. “Do you know how much trouble it is to get Yi Yang to approve a disciple NOT present during the entrance exam?” Shesui Lang was fumbling around his office, the sounds of moving papers and heavy thumps — most likely his books — onto his desk.
Finally, Shesui Lang sighed and said, “Okay, I’ll send that off, anything else?”
“One more thing,” Fu Ran stopped him before he got too trigger-happy on ending the call. Shesui Lang gave a, “Mhm,” while waiting for Fu Ran to keep speaking. “Have you ever heard of a spirit vessel moving around? And coming back each night?”
“No, but there could just be a person involved. Maybe it’s being carried? It's unusual, but not impossible. How bad is the situation?”
Fu Ran tapped his food, and came up with a simple explanation: “The entire city is overrun with the dead of — maybe generations worth of people. They wake up every night, and Ghost Lanterns keep them awake till morning.”
There was silence over the call stone, before a heavier thud hit the wood of Shesui Lang’s desk. This one even shook the call stone on the desk, and it could be heard raffling. The sound of papers flipping through a good filled his ears along with gentle breathing and thoughtful humming.
“So, it seems Bei Zangli hasn’t had any known cases of unplanned walking corpses, or wandering spirits, in about five decades.” Shesui Lang had taken on a more serious tone, and was fully back into work mode. “You might be dealing with someone who decided to wake them all up at once. Have there been any strange individuals in the city? Or any demonic presences? If the mission goes on too long, this could be out of the spec range for newbies.”
Fu Ran let out a deep breath. He knew that was true, because it was already out of the spec range for newbies with the introduction of his copy-cat. Telling his Shixiong about that also seemed like a bad idea, because both Shesui Lang and Zhi Lao were known to blow things way out of proportion.
If someone wanted to wake all the dead at once, while probable, Fu Ran could see no motivation for it. It could take ages for wandering corpses to do any major damage to a huge place like The Faceless City, and what vendetta could be held against a ghost town like Bei Zangli?
“Oh right,” Shesui Lang said, pulling Fu Ran from his thoughts. “How long has this been going on?”
That’s the part Fu Ran didn’t want to say. Judging from the information on the letter he received when he first received his mission. It had been about three weeks, and that was almost the cusp of how long wandering spirits could stay sane when surrounded by daily demonic qi. “Three weeks,” Fu Ran said reluctantly.
He suddenly heard a groan of, “Shit!” over the call stone, and Shesui Lang screamed, “Three weeks?!” The blue stone was vibrating in Fu Ran’s hand as Shesui Lang screamed out yells of frustration. “Waagh! We will never hear the end of it, if dozens of wandering spirits turn evil and start tearing apart THE Faceless City.”
The sound of panicked shuffling suddenly grew worse, and Shesui Lang’s thumping around his room came and vanished almost rhythmically. Fu Ran wished he could have been amused.
“Can you handle this??” Shesui Lang’s voice was a touch distant, but audible enough. He must have left the call stone on his desk again.
“I believe that I can.”
“Then please do. Really. Sorry I should have researched the mission more, but I’ll send back up the minute you need me. Later!” Shesui Lang sounded like he hung up in a hurry, as he doesn’t usually leave a conversation that quickly.
Fu Ran grit his teeth and dug his fingers into the sides of his robes. Time was running a bit short, so something had to come of the investigations, soon.