The following days passed in this manner. Cultivating, practising, learning common and occasionally sparring. On an almost weekly basis, Wuxian completed the refinement of a new meridian.

After another month and a half, he had almost completed Foundation Building. As such, he was technically qualified to begin learning the other Foundation Building mystic arts which had been provided to him by his master.

However, with his current schedule, he had too much on his plate as it stood. Not only did he still have to continue conditioning his body with Natural Spirit Blood with the end being nowhere in sight, but he had to continuously exercise his meridian network on a daily basis.

When cultivating, Wuxian would inevitably end up expending refined qi. Eventually, he decided to leave five percent of his Shen dantian’s storage for unrefined qi, using it specifically to circulate Effortless Flow and Turning Stone frequently, familiarising himself with the meridian pathways.

Not only did he have to become familiar with the meridians, but memorising the properties of each one and their combinations was imperative too, since it wasn’t like he could just consult a meridian chart mid-battle.

Combined with the language lessons and the sparring bouts he often had with Shui Qianyue, Wan Qiushou and Jiang Manyou, which often took several hours out of his day, he was left with little time left for cultivation, let alone learning new techniques.

Speaking of Jiang Manyou. It turned out that he’d gotten sick, most likely something he had contracted from that miss Lian who he visited on the weekly. After the last time they’d collectively visited the Weeping Willow, the symptoms hadn’t been particularly obvious.

A cough here, a sneeze there, it was similar to the common cold that people began to catch and spread during autumn and the coming of winter. Jiang Manyou was able to undertake his usual activities as a result, at least, up until recently. In the last week, he’d been bedridden with a heavy fever.

Even a top-tier martial practitioner such as him was unable to get up. It must be said that due to their healthy and reinforced physiques, martial artists very rarely got sick, let alone this badly. Naturally, something this serious was cause for concern, but at the same time, it was none of the Nightwatch’s business.

Disease and sickness was common amongst mortals. Only when they became a serious threat to the city’s stability and prosperity as a whole would they be taken seriously and according to Wan Qiushou, that was when the Jade Garden’s immortals would step in to help.

And something to note was chief Li. When Wuxian first arrived, the man seemed easily accessible, but in the last two or so months, he’d not been able to catch even a glimpse of the ever-smiling man’s visage. But that was not much of a concern. If anything, the less time spent in his presence, the better.

Exhaling a breath of foggy green air, Wuxian’s eyes slowly opened. He’d just finished conditioning his body for the day and it was already well late into the evening. After washing himself Wuxian ate a fasting pill, internally noting that his stockpile was noticeably decreasing.

‘But there are still enough to last for a long time- I’ll be long gone from here before then.’

As he tucked himself into bed, he heard a knocking on his door. Slipping back out of bed, Wuxian took a hold of the Northern Dark Edge, quickly but quietly making his way over. The person standing behind it was all too familiar.

“We’ve been deployed. Get ready as quickly as possible.”

Wuxian looked at Wan Qiushou with slight confusion, before realising that he was technically a Nightwatcher. A gold badge at that.

‘After all these days, I thought he’d forgotten about me. Looks like I’m going to have to work off my debt after all.’

Unconcerned by Wan Qiushou’s blank gaze, Wuxian quickly stripped down to his inner layers before wearing into his tight-fitting uniform. Making sure his Nightwatcher badge was on his person, he exited the room and closed the door gently.

Without a word, the two left the dorm and began jogging down the winding hallway. Upon exiting the building, Wuxian was met with a few new faces, as well as one he’d been hoping to keep his distance from.

“Hello, Sihai Wuxian.” Came Shui Qianyue’s soft, lark-like voice.

Wuxian briefly nodded in response before turning to inspect the strangers. They all wore black robes- the Nightwatcher standard uniform, though there were slight differences between each individual. For example, one of the male Nightwatchers had sleeveless robes and a pair of brass knuckles on his hands, as well as bandages wrapped around his forearms, while another had long and flowing sleeves and a scabbard at his waist.

At the front of the group were four individuals who wore silver badges. Two were male, while the other two were female. Behind them were a string of bronze badge Nightwatchers as well as a few uniformed city guard.

“Everyone, this is Sihai Wuxian, a visiting cultivator. For now, he’s a gold badge Nightwatcher, so please make sure to treat him with the same respect that you afford us.” Shui Qianyue introduced, one hand slightly raised as she spoke.

In unison, the silver and bronze badges half bowed and cupped their hands. Wuxian returned the gesture, eyes narrowed. While all of the bronze badges looked unfamiliar to him, the pair of silver badges closest to him aroused a strange feeling of familiarity from within, however, it was hard to see clearly, since it was late in the evening and his main source of illumination was the moon’s rays.

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After a few moments of scrutiny when the moon shone particularly brightly, he couldn’t help but exclaim out loud.

“It’s you two!”

The pair of silver badges blushed, averting their gazes. They were the pair that he’d interrupted during his first visit to chief Li, before he’d been ambushed by the white robed man. They had no doubt been getting intimate when Wuxian knocked on the door, prompting them to scramble to put on their clothes.

And also, the man wore a very distinctive pair of glasses, while the woman had a very distinctive pair of… eyes. Yes, eyes. Definitely not anything else.

“A-ahem, it’s nice to see you again.” Wuxian said, indicating that he was not interested in bringing their misconduct to light.

“Ah, yes… it’s a pleasure.” The man responded, quickly recovering. Readjusting his glasses in a scholarly manner, he introduced himself and his partner.

“Previously, we did not have a proper chance to acquaint ourselves. I’m Lan Weifeng. This is my partner, Bai Qinglang.”

Wuxian nodded with a smile. He made a conscious effort not to instantly reply with the words ‘good names’ like he had been doing so often recently.

At this moment, the other two silver badges introduced themselves as well. This time, the woman spoke for the two of them.

“It’s good to see that everyone’s already somewhat familiar with one another. I’m Fu Yumao. My partner here is called Jin Anjing- he doesn’t speak very much.” She said, brushing her brown hair to the side as she did so.

Wuxian nodded again, cupping his hands. Seeing this, Shui Qianyue cleared her throat to gather everyone’s attention.

“Alright. Now that everyone’s gathered, it’s about time I explain why we’ve been deployed. In the last few weeks, there have been a few sporadic murders here and there in the lower class district. Usually, that’s the city guard’s job to investigate mundane cases like these.”

“But it’s come to our attention that it’s highly likely that these murders were due to the instigation of mystical techniques. Each murder was carried out by ordinary citizens against friends, family or random passersby. After some witness reports and statements given by loved ones, the city guard have found that every single murderer had visited the red light district within a fortnight of their respective incidents.”

She paused for a moment for dramatic effect.

“They each visited a variety of establishments, but the one single place in common between all murderers was the Weeping Willow.”

Instantly, Wuxian couldn’t help but feel alert. Hearing the name of that whorehouse, he couldn’t help but think back to that green-haired and androgynous cultivator with whom he’d chatted with some time ago.

He glanced to his right at Wan Qiushou, only to find that the latter did the same, albeit with a lazy and uninterested expression.

‘Qiushou was extremely drunk that night. It’s unlikely he remembers seeing the green-haired man, especially since they never even faced each other directly, nor did they speak. Although, it’s not a particularly big deal to me if the green haired man is related to or the instigator of the murders, it would be problematic if I ended up being associated with him.’

Wuxian didn’t make a fuss, directly returning his gaze to Shui Qianyue’s graceful figure, as if the name of Weeping Willow was completely foreign to him.

“As you can guess, our job is to perform a brief preliminary investigation of the establishment tonight. Bronze badges, you’ll each be under the control of a single silver badge. Your main job is to secure the perimeter, making sure that after the cordon is set up nobody enters or exits until we’re done.”

The bronze badges saluted in unison, their sleeves and ribbons producing a sharp flapping sound as they did so. “Aye.”

Shui Qianyue turned to face Lan Weifeng and the other three.

“You know the drill. Pick out nine bronze badges each and link up. You have one joss stick’s worth of time- go now.”

“Aye.”

The four silver badges turned and began calling out names, their Nightwatcher badges raised. In a practised manner, they linked up with their subordinates, touching their badges together, almost the same way one would touch glasses at a drinks bar.

Shui Qianyue then looked at Wuxian and Qiushou.

“Brother Jiang is sick and chief Li is too busy to handle these sorts of things. That leaves just us three in charge.” She grinned.

Wuxian pointed a finger at himself, a strange expression on his face. “Should I really have any sort of commanding power?”

“You’re just the muscle.” She responded, giving him a pat on the chest.

Suddenly, Wan Qiushou spoke up.

“What about me?”

Shui Qianyue touched her lower lip with her index in mock thought.

“Morale support.” She answered, head tilted to the side.

Before Wan Qiushou could say anything, she clapped her hands together loudly.

“Alright, time’s up. Team Lan and team Bai, you two lead the way. Take the Undertunnels.”

Wuxian directed a puzzled look in Wan Qiushou’s direction. The man responded with a blank stare, unsure as to what Wuxian was confused about.

“What are the Undertunnels?” Wuxian asked.

“Sewers.” Qiushou responded simply.

“What are sewers?”

“You’ll see.”

———

In the open air beneath the bright moon, a lone individual sat. Shadows cast down by tall willow trees cloaked the area, causing the moonlight that filtered through to adopt strange and esoteric shapes, casting their forms onto the pond and the boulders which surrounded it.

He sat on the largest boulder, long green hair flowing in the wind. His right hand was placed down on the rock to help support his body, while he held a cup of hot tea in his left hand. His left arm was raised, resting on his knee.

After taking a few sips, he let out a sigh.

“In the end, we were not fated.” He muttered, concealing the half-full teacup within his white sleeves.

In this picturesque location, his effeminate beauty added to the overall serenity of the scene. But as his hand began to tremble and his eyes turned red, the atmosphere of the area changed, becoming sinister and dark.

“That was your last opportunity.” The green haired man said, though there was nobody else around to hear his words.

His body shuddered slightly, returning to his usual peaceful state, though he was covered in sweat, hairs raised, goosebumps peppering his skin.

“I know.”

As he spoke, he produced a longsword from out of thin air, placing it gently on his shoulder, its blade against his neck. He shook, as if resisting an indescribable and formless force.

With a final look up at the moon, he raised both hands, holding the sword’s hilt high.

“Oh cruel Heavens, oh cruel world.” He lamented, a pear shaped tear sitting on his cheek.

His eyes shut in preparation for the decisive moment. Taking in a deep breath, he channelled qi into the blade. As it sat on his neck, it caused the air to distort unnaturally. After a few moments, as if a barrier had been worn down, his skin began to erode, as if being eaten away by acid.

But the green haired seemed to care little about the pain. His face barely shifted, as if he couldn’t feel it. With one final breath, he began to cleave downwards.

Suddenly, the sounds of commotion broke out in the distance. With his cultivator’s enhanced senses, he couldn’t help but be momentarily distracted. At the same time, due to the area’s natural quietness, any disturbances sounded louder than they actually were.

And that lapse of focus and resolution was all that was necessary. The longsword clattered to the ground, rebounding off the boulder twice before sinking down into the river with a quiet plop.

That sinister aura began emanating from his body again. He stood up and glanced backwards for a brief moment, before heaps of green mist wafted out of his body and he vanished into the dark sky.