"How are you feeling now?"

Zhou Cheng stretches slowly, arms above his head - then side to side, legs extending. "Mh! I feel much better now!" My spare robes are still far too baggy on him, but it's nothing an improvised sash can't fix.

"Good. Don't do something like that again."

He rolls his eyes like the little shit he is, and turns to the other two. "Tian Mingfei, Kong Meiling - how are both of you?"

Kong Meiling snaps a fan open, giving it a few gentle waves. "As well as one can be in this place." Her eyes shift over to me carefully. "My gratitude is yours, Hei Lian."

"Brother Hei has learned a lot!" Tian Mingfei adds, grinning brightly, "I feel like a brand new woman!"

"Your words are too kind, Seniors." I give them a polite bow in return, but I don't think anyone is particularly hung up on face right now.

"Then if we're all recovered, we should continue hunting."

"Perhaps not straight away," I interject, drawing his curious gaze. "If we're going into a potential battle…" Ideally, we're not going to hunt anything dangerous but you can never tell. And who knows? Cai Xiaoren might attack. "Then we ought to do it with full stomachs, shouldn't we?"

He perks up immediately. Greedy. "Well if it means we get to enjoy Hei Lian's cooking…"

"Is there anything you'd like me to make?"

"Something with meat!" Tian Mingfei declares immediately, even though I was directing that question at Zhou Cheng, "We killed some Mirror Hares earlier - they were tricky things, but they should be good!"

I rarely get to cook with rabbits - although hares aren't really rabbits, are they? They're part of the same family though, so I guess it doesn't really matter that much.

For some reason, Zhou Cheng made a little face - maybe he doesn't like them? - but then he brightens again. "Can you make that pie you made again?"

Oh? "Probably not. I need apples for the exact pie, but if you have any fruit, it can still work-"

Without waiting for me to finish, he starts to empty his pouch of… glass-like apples.

… Zhou Cheng, what the fuck?

"We found them earlier, so I thought I'd get some," he declares cheerfully.

I blink. "And the illusion?"

He stares. "The illusion?"

The… did he not-how is that even… I carefully reach out, gently taking an apple up. I half expect to find myself waking up in bed again, like last time, but no. Nothing happens. I give it a sniff. It smells… familiar. It's been a while, and we only ate them the once, so it's not like I'm an expert on them or anything but it smells right, I think.

I split it open with my hands, ignoring the intent stares of everyone else. It even has the same translucent flesh. Slowly, I extend my tongue to one of the halves.

"... Zhou Cheng. You haven't eaten any of these, have you?"

"No. I was saving it for a moment like now." He tilts his head to the side, giving me a curious look. "Why?"

I reach into my pocket for one of my spare antidotes. "Because it's poison." I'm… disturbingly used to regulating my system to deal with something like this now. Hell, I can practically recognise what it's doing. Hallucinogenic properties - that's fun. Up until the neurotoxins start working. I can already feel my tongue tingling unpleasantly.

It's a shame. From what I tasted, it was actually pretty good - it'd make a lovely pie. But it'd be wasted on the kind of person who'd eat it.

"... Oh," is all Zhou Cheng says, frowning at me as I swallow the pill. Eugh. One day I'll figure out how to make medicine taste good… "Well, I guess we can throw them away."

"Let's not be hasty." Far be it for me to use what I learned from that asshole, but well. Waste not, want not, right?

Zhou Cheng frowns a little more, but he doesn't say anything as I gather the apples. Or whatever they are. I'm calling them apples.

"If you have any other fruit, I'll make you some pie."

"I think I found some edible berries," Kong Meiling suggests demurely, holding several bunches of some pale blue berries.

Moonberries. That I can work with.

I set the pots out, preparing my little kitchen space. Cooking rice is practically automatic for me by now, so there's no real need to think about that at all, so I start with the hares.

They have an annoyingly glossy fur coat, and the hair feels a little like glass needles, but it's easy to slide a knife in and begin dressing them. Set the organs aside for later - could always use them for something. The fur might be useful as well, which leaves me the meat and bones.

For rabbit… roasting is always good, isn't it? I'll carve it up in some decent pieces, leave the bones in, and get a fire going.

Add some vegetables - is it weird that I never go anywhere without them? - and set them aside, so I can start on dessert.

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

"If you're going to keep watching," I drawl, glancing up at my audience, "Then you might as well help out." I offer Zhou Cheng the bowel of plucked Moonberries. "Here. Mash them up, please."

He looks a little embarrassed at first, but he takes the bowl and does as I ask, mashing dutifully and steadily. He does it with more seriousness than the task really warrants as well, as though he's afraid to fail at mashing berries of all things.

"Senior Tian, please turn the meat so it doesn't burn."

She turns to her assigned task with a level of seriousness it really doesn't merit as well, but at least one can fail at turning the meat.

… I'm pretty sure she's going to steal a piece or two, but whatever. There's enough. "Senior Kong," I begin, turning to the last member of our merry band.

Kong Meiling meets my gaze calmly, fanning herself with an expectant look.

"Would you like some tea?"

The fan snaps shut. "I would love some, Junior."

----------------------------------------

"Inner Disciple Zhou Cheng. You have returned." The vaguely familiar form of Elder Lei is waiting for us when we emerge from the edge of the Forest. He'd dined at Lei Ming's manor once or twice.

Those had not been good times. Whatever relationship he had with Lei Ming, I doubted it was a good one. Lei Ming certainly never seemed happy about it.

"Thank you for receiving us, Honoured Elder," Zhou Cheng replies, and the three of them bow. I'd bow with them, but technically I'm not with them.

Elder Lei's gaze rests on them for a moment or two more before turning to regard me. "Outer Disciple Hei Lian. You have returned."

"Thank you for receiving me, Honoured Elder."

We stand there, waiting for him to say anything. Do something.

Finally, after what feels like forever, he does. "There is still one day before the Hunt concludes. If you return now, you will not be allowed to continue."

"Our Hunt has concluded, Honoured Elder." Zhou Cheng straightens up and meets the Elder's gaze. "Core Disciple Lei Ming has died in the Forest."

Elder Lei doesn't respond at first. His gaze merely slides over to me, expectant.

Does he know? Can he sense it? The Curse left its mark on me. It's not something I'd expect someone to be able to feel from my Qi alone, but… well. He is an Elder. "Inner Disciple Zhou Cheng speaks the truth, Honoured Elder. I have retrieved his Spatial Ring, to confirm his demise." I bow again, holding it out in my palm.

I could've looted it, of course. Emptied it out of everything inside of it. But frankly, I don't want anything to do with that bastard's leftovers, and I don't want accusations of betrayal or such.

Take it and fuck off, you old bastard. Maybe if you'd raised him right, none of this would've happened.

Elder Lei takes the ring. "I see. A great tragedy, but such is the way of things," is all he says about the death of his grandson. It might be hypocritical of me, as the one who killed the fucker with zero regrets, but couldn't he at least pretend to be a little saddened by this?

He sounds like I just told him we were out of milk. I don't think I'll ever understand these people, and frankly, I don't want to.

Lei Ming was a bastard and I refuse to regret killing him, but I can't help but look at someone like Elder Lei and think this is exactly why he turned out like this. If it weren't so patently suicidal, I might've even said something, just to see if he cared at all - if he even fucking knew how desperate his grandson had been to prove himself worthy.

"Then I declare this Hunt over - and with it, I name Inner Disciple Zhou Cheng as the victor."

Not even going to wait? I suppose the ring is confirmation enough that Lei Ming is dead. A cursory examination of its contents would make that clear enough, and anyone who knew him would know he wouldn't just give that to me. Or maybe he had a Life Tablet or something like it, but that would presume he gave a shit about his grandson.

Well, whatever. It's over.

"Welcome back to the Sect, Disciples." With that dismissal, he turns around and floats away on a small round disc I didn't even realise he was standing on.

Everyone waits until he's gone before talking. "I, for one, am long overdue for a bath," Kong Meiling declares haughtily, striding off without a second glance at any of us. I get it. She has an image to maintain.

"Honestly, I think a bath would do all of us good," I add, glancing over to Zhou Cheng. "Shall we?"

His response was a vigorous nod. I'm glad. We both reek.

----------------------------------------

The Sect has bathhouses for washing, but Lei Ming's manor had a private bath. Now, were we strictly allowed to head up there to his house, given he was dead - and so incapable of inviting Zhou Cheng?

Probably.

Did anyone stop us?

No.

And if anyone asks, I'm just packing my things before I have to move out. Zhou Cheng is here to graciously help me.

By the time we do make it up there, the other servants seem to have already vacated - they might just be out, taking the opportunity for a break from working because Lei Ming wasn't due back for another day. They might've already been informed he was dead and fucked off.

Regardless of why, we had the run of the place. Zhou Cheng didn't seem all that comfortable, and frankly, he didn't have to come but he'd gotten so clingy lately. I hadn't actually expected him to follow me, but he did.

I didn't mind. I was only using the private baths because I didn't want anyone to see the Curse Marks - the veins on my chest were still black. They were fading bit by bit, but until then, the less people who knew, the better. And obviously, Zhou Cheng had already seen them, so it wasn't like it was a surprise.

The bath is a ridiculously oversized thing, carved into the rock like a natural spring, with enough space to fit twelve people with elbow room to spare. I don't actually know what keeps it heated - some kind of formation, a treasure, an Outer Disciple shoveling coal (well, probably not that last one) - but it was always full and always steaming.

Not that I got to use it much, but Lei Ming liked having some snacks in the bath. The fucking weirdo.

Both of us sink into the water, leaning against the edge of the stone to just soak up the water and let it soothe our muscles.

After a moment, I realise Zhou Cheng is staring at me. Specifically, I think he's staring at my chest. At the spiderweb of black. "It'll fade," I offer lightly.

He looks like he wants to say something - maybe ask me something uncomfortable, but whatever it is, it's too uncomfortable for him to actually voice. "Lian-er," he says instead, "I'm going to leave the Sect."

"You've mentioned that." Well. Technically what he said was 'Why should we return?', but you know, reading between the lines it's pretty clear. "Where Senior Brother goes, I will follow."

"I know that," he says petulantly, splashing me with a little water like the… literal child he still sort of is. He's a teenager, I guess now, but still. "I just… don't know where to go."

"Do we need to go somewhere, Senior Brother? Is it not enough to go anywhere?"

He seems to consider that for a little bit. "Maybe…"

I lean back against the stone again, tilting my head back to rest it more properly. It's not like I know much about the world, honestly. There's still so many places and things… in the end, I'm just a frog in the well, aren't I? What would I know of the world?

"... Although, I suppose if Senior Brother-"

"Cheng-ge."

I blink.

"Call me Cheng-ge, Lian-er." He's making this adorable, determined face at me right now, like this is the most important question he's ever asked and if I answer wrongly, it'll mean the end of the world as we know it.

It's cute. "Cheng-ge, then." Although the way his face lights up at that is cuter. So excitable, despite everything. "If Cheng-ge is asking for a suggestion, why not Azure Harbour City?"

"I don't think I've heard of it." He tilts his head slightly. "Why do you suggest it, Lian-er?"

"Well, it's my hometown," I explain lightly, "It'd be nice to see my parents again, I think - I haven't been able to write as much as I'd like. I hope they don't think I've died."

"Lian-er's parents…" he mumbles, like the idea is mystifying in some way. They're just merchants. "Let's do it then!"