The next day, Liu Xueli was back on the roof, reclining with her feet up as she waited for the two elders Tu Weiping contacted to show up. Having just reclined back, Xueli managed to summon ten snow-white koi before the first person arrived: Xiao Feng.
“How’s the kid? Han Youhong, if I recall correctly,” Xueli called out as Xiao Feng floated down onto the roof next to her. “I assume that’s why you’re still in the city.”
“Yeah, Youhong’s fine, don’t worry about him,” Xiao Feng shrugged, raising his eyebrows as he watched the cloud of koi meander their way through the air above Xueli. “What’s with the koi? Is it just something to do?”
“It’s how I have fun!” Xueli defended, snapping another koi into existence. “You know, you have to pass the time somehow. I just have my koi and read the newspaper!”
“Have... have you ever heard of video games...?” Xiao Feng asked, pulling out his terminal to pull up a certain bricklaying game. “Like this one?”
“Tell me later, tell me later, we have a job to do,” Xueli waved off as Xiao Feng could only murmur “how old” to himself. “Who’s the other person coming? Is it Wang Taigang’s master? Elder Yuan?”
“Yeah, it’s Elder Yuan,” Xiao Feng nodded, crossing his arms as he leaned against the side of the building, looking down on the street far below. “If it’s Elder Yuan, why don’t I get called Elder Xiao then? Why is it ‘stinky Feng’? What’s with this difference in respect?”
“Because you’re literally a baby,” Xueli retorted, pushing herself up into a more presentable and formal position as she sensed another presence flying over.
“We’re over here!” Xiao Feng called out, pushing his messy black hair back as a white-haired, tired but clear-eyed elder landed on the roof. “Greetings, greetings. It’s nice to see you again.”
“Nice to see you too, Feng, still haven’t grown any taller I see,” the elder poked with a hint of a smile. “And it’s nice to see you again, Elder Liu. Congrats on the breakthrough recently.”
“Ahh, that? That was a few months ago, Elder Yuan,” Xueli laughed, shaking the old lady’s hand. “And how many times do I need to tell you, just call me Xueli, there’s no need to treat me with that much respect.”
“You’re not in the sect, it’s only natural I treat you with this much respect. I’m an old lady past her prime so just call me by my name, Muyun. You’re still young and full of potential, look, your hair’s still black!” Yuan Muyun reassured, patting Xueli on the back.
Massaging the bridge of his nose, Xiao Feng couldn’t hold it back any longer and interrupted. “Just... just get on with it. You both respect each other, we’re all clear on it. We can all call each other by our first names. It’s not too hard.”
With two hesitant “okay”’s Xiao Feng clapped his hands before giving the floor back to Xueli. “Why are we here? Sect Leader Tu gave us some information, investigation, right?”
“Indeed, is there something amiss within the city?” Yuan Muyun inquired, lacing her fingers together behind her back.
“Yeah, I’m just a little suspicious of the people in power. There’s been rumors of certain people colluding with a mysterious faction that offers power through... non-standard means. I want to spend a couple days just scanning over the entire plateau, wilderness and city to just make sure there isn’t anything demon-related around. If there is, I hope you two can join me for a longer investigation, but if not, I understand as well.” Xueli explained, cupping her hands together and doing a light bow.
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
“Of course,” Yuan Muyun agreed, “My cultivation has come close to stagnation. I won’t lose anything from being in Westriver. I was on the frontlines during the demonic wars, it’s a given I’d step up now once more.”
Coughing, Xiao Feng looked away. “I was still a disciple when the demonic wars happened so I can’t comment in the same way. Had it gone on for another few years I would’ve been sent to the frontlines though. Anyway, I can help out, I made a small breakthrough a few weeks ago, so I’m just digesting the gains. If it comes down to it and it’s a long, drawn-out investigation, I’ll just come to and from Westriver, I can be a messenger boy for the more important things that need to be said in person. How’s that?”
“Sure. We’ll need all the hands we can get if it comes down to it.” Yuan Muyun murmured, tapping her fingers against the low wall Xiao Feng was half-sitting, half-leaning on. Shall we then? If we start right now, we could probably get a preliminary scan of the wilderness done by sunset.”
Getting murmurs of agreement from Xueli and Xiao Feng, Yuan Muyun was stopped by Xiao Feng. “I need to get some stretches in, can you two elders wait for a second?”
“How do you sound older than me, Feng?” Xueli asked, amazed as Xiao Feng seemed to melt onto the ground while starting a stretching routine. “At this rate, you’re going to lose all your fangirls and fanboys to the new generation. Are you sure you don’t need to be checked into a retirement home?”
“It’s called taking care of my body, otherwise I'll actually end up like you.” Xiao Feng retorted from the ground as he changed positions. “If I do this, I won’t lose my fans. I’m doing my part, taking care of my handsome face and well-toned body.”
“Oh shut up you two, just get on with it.” Yuan Muyun sighed, sitting back down as Xiao Feng changed to another contortionist-like position.
-----
Out in the wilderness, the three elders had changed into some less conspicuous clothing—which meant anything other than their sect robes—before they flew out, dodging the checkpoints and lockdowns surrounding the city.
“Constant vigilance, you got it?” Yuan Muyun lectured, giving Xiao Feng a pointed stare before pulling out a handful of forearm-length needles. “If it ends up dangerous, we don’t need one of us getting hurt. I don’t care if it’s Westriver where everyone is leagues weaker than you.”
With all three of them sending out subtle Qi pulses at regular intervals, Xiao Feng nodded, acknowledging Yuan Muyun’s advice before focusing back on the task at hand.
The plan was to first fly to the far side of the plateau, split up and take three different routes back to Westriver to get a preliminary wide-scale map. Then, the three were planning on combing through all the notable locations as a trio.
Yet, not even three-quarters of the way to their starting point, the three descended, sensing a huge crowd of blank-eyed animals, each lined up single-file, throwing themselves into a pile before getting their vitality drained.
“Well, that was fast.” Xiao Feng broke the silence as the three elders came to a stop above the pit. “I want to say we’re fortunate that our ‘investigation’ bore results so quickly, but I have to say it’s much more likely that we’re just unlucky buffoons.”
Superheating a needle until it was white hot, Yuan Muyun agreed before tensing her body and launching the needle downward.
Nothing.
Only a moment later did a gaping hole open up, seared through the bodies of every animal in the pit, revealing an underground cavern below.
Pulling out his sword, Xiao Feng gave a pained laugh as he looked towards the others. “Predictions on how many of these we’re going to clean out today? I’ll make an overnight run back to the Pavilion and from there we can let all the major sect leaders know.”
“Good on you to volunteer yourself...” Yuan Muyun trailed off, focusing on the task at hand. “I don’t have a guess.”
“I guess five,” Xueli murmured, a similar serious tone beginning to blanket itself over the trio as they slipped through the hole down into the cavern.