Honghuo and Ju Li followed behind Hei, whose face they had just seen for the first time. He had his fingers interlaced behind his head and was walking with a bounce in his step.
Honghuo had held his tongue for a few minutes now, but he felt it was about time for him to ask a few questions.
“So… Are we not going to talk about that?”
“Talk about what?” Hei answered as he turned around and started walking backwards.
“The clothes. The mask. You.”
“The clothes?” Hei looked down to his custom-made clothes which he believed to be quite stylish. “I’m a member of the Radiant Jade Sect. Their uniform wasn’t doing it for me so I made a few adjustments. It’s cool, no? Besides, I can’t walk around in black all the time. It’s a little morbid.”
“I guess, but I’m really more interested in the mask. You called it Sleepwalker?”
Hei smiled internally. His act seemed to have worked. But on the outside, he let out a sigh.
“It was in my youth when I-”
“In your youth? You look pretty young to me.”
“Will you let me finish, please? This is a harrowing tale filled with twists and tur- You know what? Because of that, I’ll give you the condensed version.”
He took a deep breath before unleashing a stream of words.
“I experienced something that was too much to handle. Sleepwalker swooped in and tried to possess my body. He suppresses my emotions and generally sucks the fun out of life when he’s active. He claims he’s ‘protecting me from the evils of the world’. Even now, I haven’t gotten rid of him, he’s only temporarily dormant.”
He stopped speaking for a moment and then capped it off.
“I told you before. The spirits in these items aren’t always worth the trouble they bring.”
“O… Okay then.”
Honghuo decided to stop that line of questioning. Hei’s story was believable enough. Especially to him, who knew that these spirits were capable of taking over someone’s body. His own teacher had done so on occasion to help him out when his enemies were just too strong.
But there was still the elephant in the room.
“How old are you?”
“10, 22 or 32 depending on how you count it.”
“… Right… So you’re how old?”
“I was born in this world 10 years ago.”
“So, you’re 10.”
“One could say that and it wouldn’t be completely erroneous.”
“… 10 it is.”
Ju Li asked her own question.
“Was it you or the mask who helped us?”
“A bit of both. Though, I would give the credit to the mask if I were you. Had it been me,” he chuckled, “things would have probably gone a lot differently.”
“How so?”
“You see, the mask moved with efficiency in mind. He wanted to get the job done within a reasonable amount of time, but also thoroughly. He came to you guys before the Merchant Guild’s people came.” Hei paused with a grin before continuing. “If it had been me, I would have waited for the moment where the Merchant Guild’s people were about to take you into their custody, removing you from the now-familiar environment of the Crimson Moon Sect’s underground cells, causing you to worry about your futures. In that moment, where all hope seemed lost, a ray of light would shine down and you would hear the hero’s voice. ‘I’m afraid these ladies aren’t for sale.’ You would all look around for the source of the voice in the darkness, and it wouldn’t take you long to find it. From that ray of light, the valiant hero would float down like an emissary sent from the Heavens. His feet would touch the ground and you would all find yourselves invigorated with new strength. Strength enough to escape the shackles that bound you. In your state of wonder, you would see the dashingly handsome her-”
“Dashingly handsome?”
“… That’s where you took issue? I’m… I’m moderately… somewhat… above… I’m not ugly, okay? People have told me so.”
Ju Li kept her mouth shut. She could see that she had touched a nerve.
“Forget it. Just forget it. You siblings just love to ruin a story, don’t you?”
Hei turned around and continued on his way to the sword mountain.
“I’ll tell my brother instead. I bet he’ll listen.”
He took a few more steps and suddenly had a nagging thought in his mind.
‘Is it just me, or would Tianlan have said the same thing?’
***
Hei, Honghuo and Ju Li arrived in front of the Shimmering Sword Sect’s main entrance, and to Hei’s surprise, the was a line of people there. Oddly enough, the line wasn’t growing at all, and it didn’t seem anyone was heading over to join it either. Yet, Honghuo joined it, which further surprised Hei.
“You have to wait in line to get into your own sect?”
“Not me. You and Ju Li. I have to register her as my attendant so she can live with me in the sect. And you need to register as a guest.”
“Is that what all of these peop… women are doing here?”
“Haha. That’s because the ladies love a swordsman. There’s something about the sharp aura you get from training in the sword that seems to be irresistible to them. That, and the sect does offer a few lectures for the general public who have an interest in swords.”
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“That’s why you joined the Shimmering Sword Sect, isn’t it? For the ladies?”
“N-”
“Yes.”
Ju Li caught her brother’s intent to lie and gave the answer in his place.
“There’s no shame in it, Honghuo. It’s just…” Hei walked up to the young lady in front of them and hesitated for a moment before tapping her shoulder.
“Excuse me, big sis.”
“Hm?”
The young lady turned around to face Hei. He awkwardly presented Honghuo and asked her, “My friend here is thinking about joining the sect. Do you think he’ll fit in with the others?”
The young lady placed a hand on her chin and leaned in to inspect Honghuo’s face a little closer.
“He would probably be average. Maybe a little above.” She straightened up. “This sect has some really handsome men, especially the Sword Child. That’s who I’m here to see- I mean, I hope to be able to exchange some comprehension of the sword with him… I’ve attended a few lectures already, but he wasn’t there. I guess someone as talented as him doesn’t need the public lectures.”
“The Sword Child?”
“Mm. He comprehended sword intent before the age of 20. He’s a once-in-a-thousand-years talent.”
“Sword intent? Cool. Maybe I could learn that too.”
Hei swung two fingers around as if they were a sword. He had seen weapon intents, and specifically spear and sword intents in many of the stories he had read. It was practically mandatory to learn them if one wanted to reach the pinnacle of cool.
The young lady smiled. “Then maybe we’ll have another sword child in a few years.”
Hei didn’t expect her to say that. He was just speaking to himself and had every intention to end the conversation there. But haring her words caused him to smile.
“Oh? You’re a nice girl. I like you. What’s your name?”
“Me? I’m Xu Fei. But you can call me Feifei. What’s yours?”
“I’m Shao Hei. You can just call me Hei. It’s nice to meet you.”
Hei extended his hand out her.
“Nice to meet you.”
Feifei took Hei’s hand and shook it.
“...”
Honghuo watched with a blank expression as the two hit it off. In his mind, he could only hear the word average looping over and over again.
Ju Li patted his back, trying in vain to console her brother.
***
“So, what brings you here, Hei? Are you here to support your friend?”
“No, no. He’s already a member of the sect. I was just asking your opinion of how he looks. I’m here to visit my brother.”
Feifei frowned.
“Is this your first time here?”
“Mm. Why?”
“They usually say you have to arrange personal visits in advance. They might tell you to come back in a few days.”
Hei turned to face Honghuo, who had neglected to inform him of this.
Honghuo scratched his head with an awkward smile.
“I’ve never had a visitor, and I’ve never been one either, so I didn’t know about that.”
Hei turned back to Feifei.
“It shouldn’t be too bad. If worst comes to worst, I can just call out to him.”
The corners of Feifei’s mouth twitched.
“The sect is pretty large, you know? I’m not sure your voice would reach your brother from here.”
“Waiting a few days isn’t too terrible either.”
“Oh. It looks like it’s my turn. See you later.” Feifei headed to the receptionist’s desk which was separated from the line.
“See you later.” Hei waved her goodbye. “Good luck meeting the Sword Child!”
***
“State your name and purpose,” said the receptionist, who didn’t even bother to look at Hei.
“I’m Shao Hei and I’m here to visit my brother. He should be a new disciple from the last batch.”
“Shao Hei, Shao Hei.” The receptionist flipped through the visitors' list a few times before sighing. “Visitations must be arranged 48 hours prior. Your choices are to either go home or to schedule a visit and come back after 48 hours.”
“Can’t you make an exception? I’ve travelled a long way to get here and I just want to talk to my brother for a little bit.”
“There aren’t any exceptions. If we allowed people to visit willy-nilly, how would our disciples practice their cultivation? The 48-hour window is already pushing it.”
“But-”
“If you aren’t interested in scheduling a visit, then could you step aside? There are other people waiting in line.”
“If you could just-”
The receptionist sighed.
“Security.”
“You’re calling for security? Isn’t that uncalled for?”
“Sorry. I’m having a bad day.”
“Then…”
Before Hei could finish his sentence, two young men dressed in white robes walked up to the receptionist table. They both had swords on their backs.
“What’s the problem, Jang?”
Jang moved his hands in a shooing motion and said, “Take him away.”
The two grabbed Hei by the arms and dragged him away.
“Hey! Usually, when people admit that they’re having a bad day, they become more lenient!”
Hei found himself arching through the air and landing outside of the main entrance. Just behind where the line began.
Even up until this point, no one else had joined the line, so, with Honghuo and Ju Li at the receptionist’s desk, the line was empty.
It didn’t take Honghuo and Ju Li long to settle their matters. They returned to where Hei was after Ju Li had received a token.
“What are you going to do now? Will you arrange a visit?”
“Nah. Since they want to play hardball, I’ll join them.”
Hei raised his hands to his mouth and took a deep breath before letting out a qi-amplified yell.
“GET OUT HERE TIANLAN! RIGHT THIS INSTANT!”
Honghuo covered Ju Li’s ears with a protective layer of qi and stumbled as the ground underneath his feet trembled.
Hei released a dense aura, causing the nearby buildings to reveal the glows of their defensive formations. He stood there with his eyes closed and arms crossed, intentionally giving off a provocative air.
***
Just as planned, Hei’s actions caused a stir in the sect. Several elders stood up and turned in his direction. Some of the more senior disciples smiled as they turned towards the entrance. The sect had gotten pretty active lately. There were those who had looks of schadenfreude as they nursed their injuries and those who looked toward the entrance with malicious intent.
All in all, there were quite a few reactions, but one was notably different.
In a stunning white abode with neatly trimmed hedges and a finely maintained lawn, there was a young man seated cross-legged on the ground who raised his hand to cover his face.
He couldn’t help smiling at the ridiculousness of it all.
***
Hei stood outside the sect, completely relaxed. He was like an immovable object which cared not for the forces gathering against it.
There were outer sect disciples, inner sect disciples, core disciples, and even elders standing watch. But none of them triggered any change in the boy.
A group of women in plain white robes walked out of the front gate. They were twenty-four in number and were arranged in four rows of six. All of them had swords on their backs. And for some reason, they were all looking at Hei with open hostility. Even more so than the other people gathered there.
Honghuo had observed something about that group of women, but before he could say anything, they parted, splitting into two groups of twelve, turning to face each other as they removed their swords from their backs and held them vertically on the ground, resting their palms on the hilts.
They had created an opening, and on the other side of it, a young man could be seen walking slowly and steadily.
He had long, flowing hair and was dressed in royal blue robes accented with golden trimmings. Similar to Hei’s, the young man’s outerwear was in the style of a long coat, which he left open and allowed to flow in the wind.
He walked past the sword maidens and paused just outside of the gate. When he did, he saw Hei’s eyes open, and in response, his own blue eyes shone brightly.
“Hei.”
“Tianlan.”
Tianlan took a step and began walking forwards. Hei did the same.
“Hei.”
“Tianlan.”
Tianlan upped his speed and Hei followed suit.
“Hei.”
“Tianlan.”
The two suddenly accelerated, moving at speeds too fast for most of the spectators to see.
“Heeeeeeeeeeeei!”
“Tiaaanlaaaaaan!”
The two caused a shockwave when they collided with locked hands and furious expressions. The earth beneath them buckled under the pressure of them pushing against each other, and the people around them were forced to protect themselves against the turbulent qi. They all watched in shock as the two both tried to assert their dominance over the other.
“Hei!”
“Tianlan!”
“Heeei!”
“Tianlaan!”
Both of their hands slipped, and their forward momentum meant it was too late for either to retreat. Their only choice was to squeeze the other to death.
The onlookers were surprised when all of the turbulent qi vanished. And even more so when the two let go of each other and bumped fists with smiles on their faces.
““It’s good to see you, man.””