As Lily sat down at the noodle shop, she noticed a curious lack of other cultivators. Normally such a place would be filled with boisterous laughter and the occasional fight. But instead, it was fairly calm.

She ordered some soup and took a seat with her back towards the wall. The hostess was cheerful, giddy even. This was the longest they had gone without a cultivator destroying the place.

“Hey, why is it so quiet?” Lily asked, “Normally noodle shops are, well… noodle shops.”

“Nobody knows,” the hostess replied, “A couple of weeks ago, the troublemakers started vanishing. Not that I'm complaining.”

Lily thought about the dark technique she had felt earlier that day. If someone (or something) was picking off cultivators, it might be prudent to keep a low profile. She repressed a shudder at the thought of such power being focused on her.

“Are you alright, miss?” the hostess asked.

“I'm fine. I just wonder if there might be something preying on the cultivators,” Lily said.

The hostess smirked. “I certainly hope there is. It would serve them right to be on the receiving end for once.”

“Maybe you're right,” Lily said with a sigh, “I just hope that, whatever it is, it doesn't go after regular people next.”

The hostess looked like she was going to say something smart, but her face fell. Lily knew the woman had been about to say that the cultivators would protect them. But if they were gone, who would stand up to such beasts?

She dismissed the hostess. “You may go now.”

The woman bowed deeply and departed, leaving Lily to her thoughts. It wasn't lost on her that the disappearances had started around the same time Lord Grasa's son was killed.

She had heard legends of shape changing spirit beasts. That would certainly explain the difference between eyewitness statements and what the sorcerers’ magic had revealed. Chances were, something very nasty had made its den nearby.

It wasn't uncommon for powerful creatures to wander down the mountain from time to time. Nobody knew why it happened, but the devastation they caused could wreck entire cities.

Lily decided to check in with whoever was in charge the next morning. Her desire to keep a low profile had lost out to her sense of self preservation and decency. If something was hunting cultivators, that put her in danger. Lily finished the soup and headed back to her hotel. It was going to be a busy day tomorrow.

***

Daisy stalked the night streets in search of light to consume. Her chosen prey were becoming few and far between. The horse had started varying her diet with muggers and other petty criminals, but they didn't have what she craved. Though, they were fun to play with.

A rustling from an alley caught her attention. She smelled the corruption and filth of a core junkie mixed with elemental ash as a creature shambled towards her. Almost casually, Daisy picked up her pace to get some distance between them.

The emaciated figure took a few steps, then gave up. She examined it with all her senses from a safe distance. There was a throbbing core of corrupted essence inside of what had once been a human.

Daisy didn't like the idea of sharing her prey with a creature such as this. She gathered the shadows around her and sent a lance of pure darkness at the emaciated figure. To her shock, it absorbed the energy instead of taking damage.

The core inside of it began to shine with an eerie red light that made Daisy’s skin crawl. The horse slowly started to back away. Whatever this was, she didn't want to face it alone.

***

The core fiend lived its hollow existence one breath of essence at a time. It had smelled something earlier, but the food had retreated. It continued to wander the streets aimlessly in search of sustenance.

Eventually chance brought a female cultivator across its path. The woman smelled like essence. She smelled like food. Without a sound, the core fiend stalked after her.

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Lily was almost back to the hotel when she sensed the corrupted creature following her. The cultivator dashed forward and leaped into the air to get some space between herself and the attacker.

She barely managed to get clear as grasping hands lunged after her. The creature hadn't made a sound. There was no defiant roar or ear splitting shriek. Only predatory silence.

The cultivator drew a thin double edged sword from her hip and slashed down with it as she landed. Metal hit bone, and failed to penetrate. She winced as her blade chipped, sending tiny fragments of metal flying through the air.

The creature showed no skill or finesse as it advanced. Her blows bounced off its essence enhanced bones like hail as she blocked and countered. But nothing she did seemed to affect the creature.

Finally she lost her footing, creating an opening that the creature exploited. Red hot pain stitched across her ribs as the core fiend tore into her with its claws. She could feel the corruption spreading through her body, shutting down her abilities.

Lily tried to run, but her legs gave out. All she could do was raise her chipped and damaged sword defiantly as the creature advanced. Then, something strange happened. It lost interest in her.

She watched through the haze of pain as a figure in a red robe appeared behind the core fiend. They wore a red dragon mask and held a spear with a glittering rainbow blade. It was the rogue cultivator her sect was looking for.

An overpowering aura of essence radiated through the plaza, then the core fiend started to come apart. At first she thought it was crumbling under the force of the man's presence. Then she realized it was being cut to pieces.

The figure in red’s spear moved too quickly to see as it glided between bones, severing joints and limbs. A wave of essence escaped from the core fiend as it died, essence that the figure in red absorbed.

Lily called out to the rogue cultivator for help as they turned and walked away. The figure either didn't hear, or chose to ignore her. They were singularly focused on the extermination of the core fiends.

What an asshole, she thought as the darkness claimed her.

***

Lily woke up to the smell of frying bacon. A woman with finger length pink hair was looking at her with a mix of distrust and concern. The cultivator reached for her weapon, but it was gone. Her clothes were also missing, and only a white robe preserved her modesty.

She looked down at the place where the fiend had cut into her side. The wound was still there, but it showed no signs of corruption. Neat stitches held the wound closed. “I take it this is your handiwork?” Lily asked the woman.

Pinky shook her head. “No, Zane was the one who found you and did the stitching. I held pressure when it was needed and washed the wound afterwards. You were in pretty rough shape.”

“Thank you,” Lily said as she looked around and tried to get her bearings, “Where am I?”

“You're in our restaurant, on the south side of the city. It was late and we couldn't find any healers, so we did the best we could.” Pinky poured a cup of juice for her guest.

Lily greedily drank down the sacred herb infused strawberry juice. She felt a wave of essence flow through her body, replenishing her reserves. The cultivator looked at her empty mug. She wanted more, but such treasures were surely precious. To ask would be rude.

Pinky refilled the mug. “Drink up. You need fluids to replace the blood you lost.”

The cultivator wanted to protest. But she knew her body needed it. Lily drank down the second mug, but refused a third. She had already intruded on their hospitality enough.

A man appeared with a bowl of bacon and egg fried rice. “I wasn't sure if you preferred sticks or forks, so I brought both.”

“Thank you,” Lily said before she tore into the meal. It was similarly infused with essence, more than she usually saw in an entire year back home. “Are you cultivators?” she asked.

Zane shrugged noncommittally. “I prefer to think of myself as a chef, first and foremost.”

“And I'm a business woman,” Pinky looked the woman over as she spoke, “What brings you to the mountains?”

Lily wasn't sure what to tell them. She felt that her hosts deserved the truth, but knowledge of who she was might put them in danger. Either from her sect, or the rogue cultivator in red. She decided to be vague, but honest.

“I ran away from my sect, and I decided to stay here for a bit while I got acclimated to the mountain.”

Zane frowned, “That would be the rocky mountain oyster sect?”

The woman almost corrected him, then she realized Zane had gotten it wrong on purpose. He wanted to see her reaction. She figured there was no harm in confirming what he already seemed to know. “Yes, I left early to beat the rush.”

Zane seemed to get a kick out of that. “Well, we're not big on sects around here. But, I figure what's past is past. After brunch either Pinky or I will walk you back to your hotel.”

“What do I owe you?” Lily asked. She was almost afraid to hear the number, but her honor dictated that all debts be paid.

Zane totalled up the cost in his head. “We usually charge a silver per cup for the juice, fried rice is another silver, call it four silver in total.”

Lily blinked at him in surprise. “You only charge four silver, for all of this?”

“Yeah,” Zane said as he scratched his head, “Do you think we should charge more?”