The road to the Shrouded Peaks Sect and the Shrouded Peaks was lined with well-maintained formation stones, so there was little risk of running across spirits or beasts. What few travelers he came across were friendly enough, and He Yu was glad for the company while he had it. Rice paddies lined the road on either side, hills dotted the horizon, and always to the west lay the Shrouded Peaks.
As he grew closer to his destination, the road became better maintained, the towns larger, and the people conspicuously wealthier. By now it was clear the roads were patrolled not just by the sect, but also by the town garrisons, keeping them free from spirits and bandits alike. The formation stones served little purpose here other than peace of mind, since the surrounding fields, villages, and large towns had little fear of attack. It wasn’t until He Yu left the main road to hike the foothills of the Shrouded Peaks that he found himself once again in terrain where the formation stones provided any real benefit.
Finally, he came to a town called Xu Xiang. Nestled into a hollow at the base of the mist-cloaked mountains, it was small by the standards of the towns he’d passed along the way, but none the poorer for it. He Yu arrived just before the sun moved behind the mountains, and the small central square still bustled with people. Many of them wore outfits similar to what Zhang Lifen had worn. Rather than her pale blue, theirs were all the same ash grey in color. Uniforms of the Shrouded Peaks Sect’s lowest ranked students, he learned after asking a passerby who’d also directed him to an inn.
The inn wasn’t too crowded, with only a few other patrons sitting and talking to one another. Traders and merchants, by the look of them. He Yu presented his token to the proprietor, received a curt nod and an indication that he’d have food brought to him in a moment, and took a seat to himself. A short distance away he caught sight of a girl about his own age staring at him. When he looked up at her to say something, her eyes grew wide in alarm, and she quickly ducked her head, looking away.
When his food came a short time later, he caught her looking at him again. Meeting her eyes a second time, she reacted in much the same way as the first. The whole time he ate, he caught her casting furtive glances his way. By the time he finished his meal, he’d finally had enough.
“Is there something I can help with?” he asked when he caught her looking his way again.
“What?” She glanced around, looking anywhere but at him as a blush colored her cheeks. “Oh, nothing. I—um—you have a token.” The last bit came out in a rush, and she heaved a sigh once she’d finished speaking.
“This?” he asked, holding up the sect token.
The girl nodded vigorously before producing her own token, identical to his own. “Are you headed up the mountain in the morning?” She asked, apprehension clear in her words.
“I was planning on it.”
In an instant, she was out of her chair and sitting in the one opposite him. “Can I go with you?” she blurted out, her flush deepening. She paused for a moment, took a deep breath, and then continued. “I didn’t want to go alone, but nobody with a token would let me go with them. I’ve been down here for weeks. I can’t go back home, at least I don’t think so, but I don’t want to go up the mountain alone either, but I don’t want to give up—”
She clearly wasn’t done talking, but she’d run out of breath, giving He Yu just enough of a pause to jump in. “Sure, I guess, but who are you?”
“Oh, I’m Chen Fei,” she said, cupping her fist in greeting. She heaved another sigh and seemed to become immediately more at ease. “I’m supposed to join the sect, too.”
“So you’ve just arrived too?” he asked.
“What? Oh, no. I just didn’t want to go up alone, like I said.” Chen Fei looked away, a sheepish expression crossing her face.
“Right,” He Yu said. “But why not?”
She turned back again, eyes wide once more. “It’s dangerous,” she answered in hushed tones.
“And you’re scared?”
“I’m not scared,” she said, but the protest was halting and half-hearted. The blush had returned to her cheeks, too.
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He Yu took a moment to look her over. She was sturdy, and easily taller than he was. Her clothing was of a strange fashion, with more fur and leather and felt than he’d ever seen anyone wear. About her neck hung a pendant inscribed with a protective formation script. Given that she had a token, she had to be a cultivator herself.
“So how dangerous is it?” He Yu asked, trying his best to steer things away from points she was embarrassed about.
“Not super dangerous,” Chen Fei answered, perking up a bit. “The inner disciples mostly keep the area free of beasts and spirits, but not everything. Anything weak enough that it would run away from an inner disciple is allowed to stick around. The path is supposed to be a challenge. Makes sure that only those who are strong enough make it up the mountain. Less than half the prospects that head up the mountain ever come back.”
That didn’t sound encouraging. “Maybe they don’t see any reason to come back down?” he offered. He didn’t honestly think that the sect would allow half their prospective recruits to die on the final leg of their journey—especially after taking on the expense of getting them to this point in the first place.
“Maybe not. But then again, Xu Xiang is here only because of the sect,” she mused. “Disciples come down here all the time to buy and sell things. I’ve heard enough talk while I’ve been here, most of the traders all say this is their best stop.”
At least that explained most of what he’d seen from the town up until this point. Bringing the conversation back around to the point, He Yu asked, “So what do you actually know about the trail?”
“Only that it’s dangerous, but I’m sure we can do it together.”
“Right,” he said. It was clear he wasn’t going to get much more out of her about the path up the mountain than that. Still, if she’d been here for weeks, she had to have learned something useful. “So is there anything you can tell me about the Shrouded Peaks Sect itself?”
“You mean you don’t know?” she asked.
Come to think of it, he didn’t. He didn’t even know what exactly it was he didn’t know—or what he was supposed to. Growing sheepish in his turn, he said, “I’d never heard of them until Zhang Lifen showed up at my home town looking for recruits.”
“Oh wow, I’d thought I came from far away. It must have taken you forever to get here. I mean, nothing wrong with that. If there’s no reason for the sect to ever show up, I guess you wouldn’t know about them, right?”
“Well, we had formation stones around to keep the worst threats at bay. Oh, we also had a cultivator who ran a school of his own.” The southern forest wasn’t exactly what He Yu would consider safe, but Shulin itself was safe enough a place to live.
“Your town had its own school?” she asked. “So you’re not under the protection of the Shrouded Peaks Sect? And they sent a disciple to collect recruits in another school’s territory?”
“I’m not sure what you mean,” He Yu said.
“Huh, weird.” Chen Fei shook her head. “So the schools and sects and clans and whatever else sort of divide territory amongst themselves. They keep rogue cultivators from causing too much trouble and protect the people living in their territory from spirits and awakened beasts. Unless there’s some sort of conflict between them, they stay out of each other’s way. So if your town had its own school, there shouldn’t be a reason for a disciple from another sect to show up. That sort of trespass could lead to a pretty serious fight. Never mind the fact that the sect poached a possible student. That’s enough to start a war if you ask me.”
He Yu thought back to how easily Zhang Lifen had cowed Dong Wei. At least he now had some answers for the conversation between the two of them after the tournament. “I don’t think the school at Shulin is up to the task of fighting the Shrouded Peaks Sect. I’m pretty sure the sect considers us a part of their territory.”
“That makes sense,” she said.
“Guess they’re desperate or something,” He Yu said without thinking.
“Yeah, that seems about right,” she said, looking down and away. It seemed she’d a story that was more similar to his own than he would have thought.
“Well,” he said, trying to sound encouraging, “I guess it’s just up to us to prove our worth to them, isn’t it?”
“I guess,” she muttered.
“Come on, I’m sure once we make it up the mountain we’ll do fine.” He couldn’t have said why exactly it had suddenly become so important that he tried and cheer her up, but it had.
She looked back up at him, a little bit excited and a little bit surprised. “You mean we can go together?”
“Well, yeah,” He Yu said. “I already said as much, didn’t I?”
Without warning she launched herself across the table and wrapped her arms around his neck in a half hug, half tackle. “Thank you! You won’t regret it!” Then, as if she’d realized what she’d done, she disentangled herself from him, looking sheepish once again. After a moment’s pause, she looked up and said, “You never told me your name.”
“Um, He Yu,” he answered, still a bit thrown from her sudden attack.
“Right, He Yu. Well, we should set off early tomorrow. It’ll take us most of the day to climb the path, and we need to reach the school before dark or they won’t let us in. Night!”
Chen Fei stood and disappeared up the stairs leading to the inn’s second floor and the guest rooms. That left He Yu to try and piece together what exactly had just happened. The girl seemed nice enough, and—if he were honest—it would be a welcome change to have someone to share the ascent with after all this time on the road by himself. It wasn’t as though he wasn’t used to being on his own. He’d never had any real friends to speak of back home. Well, he could sort all that out later if need be. The important part was that he’d finally arrived.