The thought was insane. I was insane. Clearly, the Young Master had succeeded in knocking something out of my body, if not my soul then at least my ability to think clearly and avoid walking towards my very literal death. Was it not enough that I’d already died and came back to life? Any other person would count their blessings and return to their mortal existence with a fervour. Even a cultivator would take the narrow brush with doom with at least some measure of caution.

But, I reasoned, I’ve survived Death once. Going by precedent, I should have nothing to worry about, right?

Something was definitely wrong with me, but with the lack of information to be found in the library, and the strange desperation I felt wrapping around my heart, I moved decisively. I gathered up all the books and scrolls that I had collected, which had grown into a fairly large pile, and returned them all to their appropriate resting spots. Once the last scroll was safely tucked away in its niche I left the Library behind, for once able to ignore the heavy weight of Yun’s gaze that followed me out through the doors.

It even seemed that the Heavens themselves favoured my purposeful steps. In the day that must have passed since I’d entered the Library, the sun had risen once again, seeing fit to banish the usual mist that sat over the Seven Falls, leaving me to be graced with warmth and light. It was the sort of day where even the most hardworking disciples would allow themselves an hour or two to find a nice patch of grass on one of the cliffs and simply bask in the bright rays and enjoy what it meant to be human.

I’d never been one of those, I realised, as I passed by several groups that had chosen to take the time away from cultivating or training to instead pass around a bottle of spirit wine. For one, the Second Son Vinyard Imperial Blend was 4,950 yuan a bottle, an expense so ludicrously extravagant that their mere presence was enough to make me feel queasy; secondly, in the time it would have taken to choke the red poison down I would’ve lost something far more valuable: that precious time that I needed every single second of to grow stronger.

And, of course, in the years since, I’d spent far more time stocking those same bottles in the marketplace, and it didn’t take more than finding one broken bottle with a rat that had somehow managed to crawl inside to question just what was in that Blend the vinyard so proudly touted. At least I was able to gain some pleasure from selling a crate of the stuff to the same group of disciples that had been so eager to humble me after my stagnation.

But the indolence of the rest of the Sect had granted me an opportunity which I didn’t hesitate to take advantage of. Hopping up the silver filigree of one of the bridges, I was able to jump over to grab onto the gutters of a pavilion, pulling myself up onto the shingles with barely a sound. From there, I made my way along the rooftops over the heads of gossiping disciples, going from building to building as I approached the very centre of the Falls, where silvery walls ringed the Main Compound.

While the rest of the Sect often had a fair number of guests and visitors, be it merchants or labourers or even just tourists, the collection of buildings that sat at the very middle of the Burial Fault was entirely off-limits to any who did not wear the Sect’s robes. Not even Outer Disciples could enter through the jade gates under normal circumstances, but considering the general attitude of powerful cultivators towards their lessers, this was just seen as good sense. As it was, if you did not have at least a silver trim or symbolic token, signifying that you had some favour with the Elders of the Outer Sect, then your path would be barred.

Fortunately, the intimidating nature of the Compound worked in my favour. The guards posted at the gates were rarely ever approached by any who did not bear the blues and golds of the Inner or Core, and in the absence of those colours they were far more keen to focus on the blacks and reds of the playing cards they had surreptitiously laid out on a table hidden from view from the main bridge. Their intent to keep their game hidden from the watchful eye of a passing Elder also served to distract them from properly manning their stations; I only had to wait until their game erupted in muffled laughs and frustrated whispers of promised comeuppance for a chance to simply stroll on through.

The real obstacle to entry presented itself the second I stepped beyond the gates. Where the sun had been able to burn away the fog that usually hung around the waterfalls of the Sect, it hung thick in the air here. The mist was brimming with qi, a heady aura of potency from the cultivators who called this Compound their domain. I wasn’t even at the villas at the very centre of the Compound where the Core Disciples resided, but I could already feel the energy in the air looming over me, watching, judging. You don’t belong here, it seemed to whisper.

But an ill-advised trip into the Compound years ago had prepared me for this excursion with the perfect technique for avoiding notice. I huddled slightly, rolling my shoulders forward, and put upon the best harried expression I could as I moved forth, fingering the edges of my robes. It was the perfect image of some worthless disciple, reduced to nothing more but a courier for those more powerful than him, and soon enough the invisible gaze pulled away, deciding I wasn’t worth its time.

And with that, I was through, the gates left behind me as I moved deeper into the Compound and disappeared into the crowds of Inner Disciples. The potent mist seemed to match the attitudes of the blue-robed disciples themselves, who never gave me more than a glance as I hurried along the paths of pleasant courtyards, even taking care to move out of my own way as I passed them by. If it wouldn’t have disrupted the disguise, I would’ve laughed at the sight. Where was this purposeful ignorance the first time I’d accidentally bumped into one of their kind?

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

I was thankful for their consideration, if nothing else. Considering my objective tonight, I had no time to deal with some other Inner Disciple that wanted to create a problem for me. After all, I had a solid objective in mind, because while the circumstances surrounding my death were a mystery, I knew exactly how I was going to figure it out.

By killing myself again, of course.

But how I did so mattered. Fundamentally, my best chances were by repeating the same events that had led to my first meeting with Death. It was an approach inspired by Doctor Lei, who had never hesitated to talk through his process of research and experimentation, and alongside the millions of other things that I’d much rather forget he’d made one salient point:

“Variables?” I repeated, confused.

“Yes. Heavy emphasis on the plural, pass the bone saw,” the Doctor muttered, not even looking up as I wordlessly handed him the gruesome implement which he applied to the cadaver in front of him. “Variables are a fact of life. They are as innumerable as the stars in the sky, and don’t even have the decency to glimmer when you try to find them. But you need to, because why?”

“Because you can’t perform an experiment if you don’t know them all?” I hazarded a guess.

The Doctor just laughed. “How utopic! That’s a sign of a theorist, expecting that it is possible to know the world without ever stepping out into it. Pliers, quickly.”

I offered out the tool, taking the blood-soaked saw back in return. “But if we don’t know all the variables, how can we properly do an experiment?”

“Therein is the secret, young Ryan!” The Doctor looked up and grinned. “You hold the variables you know closely, and see what new stars appear when you pull.”

Death had appeared to me after the duel with that one Disciple, the Young Master. While I was sure my chest was utterly agnostic as to who crushed it in particular, I needed to be thorough. With the goal of being able to meet Death once more and figure out the answers to my questions, I couldn’t accept any form of substitute. And so without any further clue as to what had caused her appearance, the best place to start was with him.

Even though my head was bowed forward, my eyes scanned back and forth constantly, watching the passing faces of the Inner Disciples as they went about their days, trying to match them to the Young Master who had killed me the first time. And while I didn’t spot his face, I did have a chance to read the expressions of the Disciples who passed me by. Some were serious, some were smirking, others chatted back and forth with their own coterie who always knew how to laugh at exactly the right time. It would have been a wonderful image of normality, if it weren’t for the fact that any of them could kill me in a heartbeat.

I was reminded that these cultivators weren’t merely people, like the Outer Disciples were. I could see it in the way they moved, careful and controlled, suppressing their own strength. I could feel the power rolling off of them, leaking into the air and adding to that suffocating haze that pressed down on my shoulders. They didn’t need to brag or boast, like some Alleyway hooligan who wanted to claim the nicest door for themselves. After all, what reason did they have to oppress others when their sheer presence was enough to make you crawl?

At least, that’s what it felt like to me as a mere Outer Disciple. My harried state became much more sincere as I staggered past one of those cultivators, whose eyes didn’t even glance to the side as they easily sidestepped my own path. To such a person, I really was nothing more than an ant, not worth the time to crush underneath their feet. But even the mightiest of creatures could not ignore an insect so determined on making their life a nuisance. I had been stepped on once already; what more could my betters threaten to do? So I continued to seek out the one who’d first put me in place to see Death-

And bumped against someone’s shoulders.

“Apologies, didn’t see you there,” I muttered automatically, stepping back and to the side as I bowed slightly. The Disciple I’d bumped into didn’t even seem to notice or hear my excuse, so lost in thought as to not even have the blessing of the automatic pathing that his peers had. He simply continued on, frown etched upon his face-

That’s him, I realised as I stared at his back. It was the Young Master who’d killed me. The same frown had adorned his expression when I’d first apologised. I instantly scanned the area around me. If that woman was also here, I wouldn’t even need an excuse to summon his attention; she would already be sniffing blood and cheering at the opportunity to enact her petty cruelty upon her lessers. For once I was even happy for the fact, knowing that I wouldn’t have to say a word before she encouraged the other to ‘put me in my place’.

But she wasn’t to be found. The Young Master was totally on his own, now five paces past me. I could follow him, perhaps, and wait for such an opportunity to strike, but no matter my luck in going unnoticed so far inside the Compound there was no chance I’d make it to the living quarters for the Inner Disciples without being apprehended, and then I’d have to wait yet more time that I just couldn’t spare.

“Oi, you!"

…

Ah, I faintly realised, as the Young Master jerked slightly and slowly turned around, that was my own voice.