Three days after THE BETRAYAL, the Huogehuazi Sect was experiencing what Elder Deng diplomatically called "a minor spiritual disturbance." The dining hall ghosts had organized a protest against bland food, the library was experiencing spontaneous outbreaks of ge-de poetry materializing in orthodox cultivation manuals, and all the spirit stones had turned black and started playing sad music when touched.

"This is getting out of hand," Ha Li declared during an emergency meeting of the Orthodox Cultivation Appreciation Society. His jade ornaments were now wrapped in protective talismans after three of them had cracked from exposure to excessive angst. "She's spreading her unorthodox influence throughout the entire sect!"

But Ai Baoni didn't care about their boring opinions. She sat alone in her meditation chamber, which she'd redecorated to reflect her increased tragic circumstances. The walls were now draped with black silk imbued with tears of pure sorrow, and she'd replaced all her candles with special ones that burned with dark fire and occasionally whispered poetry about betrayal.

Shadows-Upon-Shadows-Darknight-Void perched nearby, all seven of its heads still wearing mourning veils. The raven had only died twice today, both times from excessive emotional distress.

"At least YOU understand me," Ai Baoni whispered to her faithful companion. "Unlike SOME PEOPLE who pretend to share your destiny but then go off to practice orthodox cultivation with orthodoxy cultivation princesses!"

The raven cawed sympathetically before dying again, this time from secondhand heartbreak.

But as Ai Baoni wallowed in her perfectly cultivated despair, something strange began to happen. The forbidden scrolls she'd stolen from the library started to glow with an eerie light, and whispers filled the air.

"Chosen of the Dark Phoenix..." the voices hissed. "The time draws near..."

"Hello?" Ai Baoni perked up immediately. Finally, something appropriately ge-de was happening! "Are you tragic spirits coming to teach me forbidden techniques?"

"Seek the Chamber of Midnight Tears," the whispers continued. "Where the Dark Phoenix shed its last tear before being sealed away by the Orthodox Cultivation Alliance ten thousand years ago..."

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

"That sounds perfectly tragic!" Ai Baoni declared. "But where is this chamber? And why hasn't anyone mentioned it before in a way that would have been narratively convenient?"

"Follow the trail of darkness..." The whispers were getting fainter. "Also, check behind the dining hall. There's a secret passage behind the third dumpster from the left. We put it there because nobody would expect something to be hidden there."

Just then, there was a knock at her door. Ai Baoni quickly tried to hide the glowing scrolls and silence the ghostly whispers, but she need not have bothered. It was Elder Deng, and his beard was doing that shimmery thing again.

"Ai Baoni," he said, his voice serious. "I must speak with you about the prophecy."

"If this is about Ma Fen and his BETRAYAL," Ai Baoni began, but Elder Deng cut her off.

"Things are not what they seem," he said cryptically. "The mark on Ma Fen's arm... the changes you saw... there's more to this story."

Ai Baoni's ever-changing birthmark began to pulse with dark energy. "What do you mean?"

But before Elder Deng could answer, Ha Li burst into the room, his perfect posture somehow even more perfect than usual.

"Elder Deng!" he exclaimed. "The sect master requests your presence. Something about an unprecedented gathering of orthodox cultivation leaders to discuss the rising tide of... nonstandard cultivation accessories."

Elder Deng's beard twitched with what might have been frustration. "We'll speak later," he told Ai Baoni. "But remember - sometimes the darkest path leads to the brightest truth. Also, that third dumpster does need to be checked."

After they left, Ai Baoni sat in thoughtful silence, broken only by the sound of her raven dramatically resurrecting with what appeared to be tiny ghost headphones on each of its heads.

The whispers had mentioned the Dark Phoenix's tear... and now Elder Deng was dropping cryptic hints about Ma Fen's mark. Could everything be connected? And more importantly, why did she feel like the ghostly voices had been speaking with a strangely familiar crimson accent?

"There's only one way to find out," she declared, standing up so quickly her black robes created a small vortex of dramatic wind. "To the dumpsters!"

Her raven cawed in agreement before dying one final time for the day, resurrecting with all seven heads now sporting tiny black detective hats.

"YOU'RE ALL COURTING DEATH!" she announced to her empty room out of habit, but her heart wasn't really in it. She had a secret chamber to find, ghostly whispers to investigate, and possibly a tragic destiny to fulfill.

Also, she needed to stop by her room and get more black nail polish. One couldn't investigate ancient mysteries without the proper aesthetic preparation.

To be continued with some dumpster investigation...