Lu Na stood up.

“So, how do we do this spirit?”

“Give me a second,” her spirit said.

The room glowed red. Lu Na looked down at her brother and saw the red phoenix spirit energy glowing within Lu Fengxian’s chest. There looked like a small phoenix resting inside him, spreading its energy throughout his entire body. Slowly, it was turning from red to yellow.

“What’s going on? What is this?” Lu Na asked.

“The phoenix spirit is healing him and converting her own spirit energy into earth spirit energy to feed your brother. After she’s done, your brother’s spirit and his ability will grow by leaps and bounds. It’s impressive your mother can do this.”

“My mother’s phoenix spirit is giving my brother its power,” Lu Na said.

“Can it do that?” Sun Ren asked. “I’ve heard of spirit energy being passed down only with a direct connection. Usually, it’s what the sect leaders do with their heirs in the summoner sects when they’re near the end of their lives. If your mother could do this without being here, then she is a powerful summoner. And if she could do this for others, then she could create her own army.”

“Then there shouldn’t be a problem then,” Lu Fengxian said. “If the spirit feels that it’s done enough to heal me, I don’t need all the energy it’s giving me. Take some and find our mother.”

Lu Na took out her silver phoenix hairpin. It glowed red.

“Are you seeing this?”

“What? I see nothing,” Sun Ren said.

“It’s not glowing red for you?”

Sun Ren shook her head.

“Let’s see if I can transfer a little energy from my brother to this hairpin.” Lu Na took out her spirit wand. This one was made of ivory from a large animal. She had Uncle Chen specifically make one of these for her, as it made her technique easier to use. She was going to use her other device to store the energy and transfer it to the hairpin, but it looked like the hairpin was already prepared to drink it. It would have been a waste.

Lu Na waved the spirit wand over her brother, focusing on the phoenix spirit energy. She drew a little out of it and made a small ball. Once she felt it was dense enough that it wouldn’t float away, she pulled it into the phoenix hairpin. The hairpin glowed red throughout.

“I can never tire of watching that,” Sun Ren said. “I don’t think anyone in my Sun family has that kind of ability.”

Lu Na saw the ball of energy flow through the hairpin and through its channels. She learned the hairpin had different parts of it that contained different techniques. The technique that housed the phoenix spirit originally was now broken so the energy didn’t go there. However, another part of the hairpin drank in the energy greedily, quickly turning black.

“Something’s happening.”

A small map projected from the hairpin, showing the general location of the region. The map was made from spirit energy.

“That’s just like how the Wintersweet showed Elder Hen’s face over the city,” Sun Ren said. “I can’t believe how brilliant your mother is to know how to do this.”

“No, this is not something that she created. It was always a part of the hairpin,” Lu Na’s spirit said.

A glowing red dot started blinking in an area of the map.

“That’s Lujiang,” Sun Ren said. “If I follow this part here, this is Chao Lake. We’re here to the northeast. We can get there in about a week’s travel. Probably more because of the rebels and bandits.”

The map disappeared back into the hairpin, the technique shutting off. The rest of the spirit energy then coalesced into another part of the hairpin close to the silver phoenix’s heart.

“This is not good. We don’t have a lot of time,” Lu Na’s spirit said.

“What do you mean spirit?” Lu Na asked.

“According to the amount of spirit energy in here, it will run out in seventeen days. We only have that time to reach the location on the map and use its key to open the vault. This won’t do.”

“What are you talking about?”

“What’s going on?” Sun Ren asked.

“My spirit is talking about a key and a vault. She’s not making any sense.”

Sun Ren shook her head.

“If only you practiced summoner arts. You might have a better connection with your spirit and she would tell you more.”

“Oh, I don’t need summoner arts,” Lu Na said. “All I have to do is sit in my room, stare off into a wall, and do nothing. She hates that. So, spirit, what will it be? Are we having another marathon day of doing nothing?”

“Oh, quiet Na Na. I was going to tell you anyway,” her spirit said. Lu Na felt a small clawing feeling up her arm. “Don’t think I can’t do something to you.”

Lu Na rubbed her arm. She never felt that before from her spirit. How did she do that? It felt almost as if she had run claws over her arm. There was a little fear there now. If her spirit intended to really harm her, could she?

“Anyway, the hairpin was not your mother’s creation. It was made by some inventors thousands of years ago. Your mother just found it one day while exploring the labyrinth near her hometown. She did little with it until she bonded with her phoenix spirit and it told her all the secrets about the labyrinth. There’s a powerful artifact in there that all the spirits fear. She wanted it. That’s where she went.”

Lu Na wasn’t sure to be amazed or upset.

“You’re telling me she abandoned us for this invention inside this labyrinth that is over two thousand years old?”

“She didn’t abandon you. She was pulled away to it. It’s one of those little techniques that people don’t notice until it has a hold over you.”

“And how do you know all this spirit?”

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

“I was there when they made that labyrinth. Spirits back then were much more open about sharing information.”

“What’s going on Lu Na?” Sun Ren asked. “You stopped talking.”

“Apparently, my spirit is over two thousand years old. And…” Lu Na couldn’t continue. It was too ridiculous. “My spirit must be playing a joke on me. She told me this ridiculous tale about my mother, this hairpin, and a labyrinth.”

“Emperor Yu’s labyrinth.”

“You know about this?”

Sun Ren looked between Lu Fengxian and Lu Na. She was biting her lip. This was the first time Lu Na saw her look so undecided. She peered outside of Lu Fengxian’s room and shut the door.

Sun Ren whispered, “What I’m about to tell you has to be kept between us.”

Lu Na nodded.

“Emperor Yu’s labyrinth is a closely guarded secret of the Imperial Government. For many dynasties and generations, it has been passed down that anyone with the key to Emperor Yu’s labyrinth can find the secret to controlling the spirits. But no one has ever discovered how to get in.” Sun Ren glanced at the phoenix hairpin in Lu Na’s hand.

“So you’re saying this might be the key?” Lu Na asked.

“Why else would your mother risk everything? But what I want to know is why she didn’t take the phoenix hairpin with her.”

“It’s because she has her phoenix spirit. It is the key.”

Lu Na repeated what her spirit told her.

“That makes sense. She probably left this hairpin for you to protect you and maybe one day, you could find the labyrinth yourself,” Sun Ren said. “But the Wintersweet Sect somehow found out about it and attacked you before you were prepared. That only goes to show how powerful this sect is.”

“But we have little time to get there. If we don’t make it in seventeen days, the hairpin will lose its power and we won’t be able to get into the labyrinth.”

“What do you mean spirit? I can just take a little more spirit energy from my brother and we will have more time to make it there,” Lu Na said.

“No, you shouldn’t do that. Whatever you’ve taken from your brother has taxed his body. He’s unconscious right now.”

“What?” Lu Na stared down at her brother. His eyes were closed and his breathing was ragged. She grabbed his hand. It was clammy. “I’m so sorry, brother. I shouldn’t have taken the spirit energy.”

“What’s done is done. So how much time do we have to get to the labyrinth?”

“Seventeen days.”

“Let’s discuss this outside.”

Before they left, Lu Fengxian grabbed onto Lu Na’s hand.

“Na Na, wait.”

“Brother, I’m so sorry.” Lu Na reached down and held his hand.

“Just now, I heard mother’s voice when you charged the hairpin. She told me you have to visit Uncle Chen before you go.”

“Yes, brother. Rest now. We’ll be back before you know it,” Lu Na said.

Lu Fengxian had already closed his eyes and gone back to sleep. Whatever little spirit energy Lu Na took was a shock to his system. There was no way she’d risk taking any more even if she’d run out.

“We have to get moving,” Lu Na said.

Lu Na had little to prepare. She knew something like this was coming, so she already had a bag packed and ready to go with many of her inventions and other items to make more. The only challenge now was her father.

“How are we going to get out of here without my father knowing?” Lu Na asked. She was still staying in Sun Ren’s courtyard for as long as possible, using her imminent departure as an excuse.

“I could ask my father to ask for you. But that might take a while as he just came back and is still settling,” Sun Ren said.

“We can’t afford the time.”

“Young Misses, might I make a suggestion?” Sun Ren’s closest and tallest bodyguard said.

“Of course, Ma Yunlu. I always value your opinion,” Sun Ren said.

“Why don’t we leave now, claiming an emergency recall from your father, and then have one of our other junior sisters switch places with Young Miss Lu? In the dark of night, they wouldn’t scrutinize her return too much. And if our junior sister doesn’t leave her room, they wouldn’t know the difference.”

“That’s not a bad idea,” Sun Ren said.

“But won’t they notice I haven’t left the room in a while?” Lu Na asked.

“Begging your pardon Young Miss Lu, but there are days where you don’t leave when you’re in the middle of something. Most of my junior sisters are always taking bets on when you’d leave. I think the longest stretch was eight days,” Ma Yunlu said.

“Na Na, she’s right. Other than those earlier attempts to run from your room, your father has stopped putting too many guards in front of your room anymore,” Sun Ren said.

“You mean stopped caring. But I’m okay with that. I think that’s the best plan we have,” Lu Na said.

“Then we need to find a junior sister that is about the same size as you,” Ma Yunlu said.

“Once we leave from the Lu compound, we’ll have to also quickly leave the city. We can’t let the Wintersweet Sect realize we figured out the hairpin.” Lu Na couldn’t believe that she was already leaving her home again not long after running away from that sect’s attack. Her room wasn’t even fixed yet.

“I have an idea for that,” Sun Ren said. “Junior sister Ma, send a message to Zhou Gongjin and ask him to meet us at the western gate.”

Ma Yunlu clasped her hands and bowed.

“Right away, senior Sun.” The tall woman walked away briskly.

“Should we also tell Hen Li?” Lu Na asked.

“I’m not sure if we should have any more people with us. This is a very sensitive situation. The fewer people that know, the better,” Sun Ren said.

“That or she can keep the information for herself,” Lu Na’s spirit said.

Lu Na didn’t know why her spirit thought that. There was something going on with her and Lu Na was going to find out later. Whatever the reason, she needed Sun Ren more than ever. Without her expertise and resources, there was no way Lu Na was going to pull this off.

“Amituofo, might I join you ladies tonight?” Hen Li called from the courtyard entrance.

“There’s no way he heard us, right?” Lu Na said.

Sun Ren frowned. It was such an odd sight, as she still wore her butterfly dress. She quickly went from carefree Young Miss to a strategy master planning her next move.

“No, but let’s see what he wants. Let him in.”

Hen Li strode into the courtyard. His tattered gray robe was replaced with one of the Lu servant’s black tunics and pants. He had his prayer beads around his neck and his white hair tied up into a ponytail.

“Greetings monk, we were about to have dinner. Can we help you with something?” Sun Ren said.

“Amituofo,” Hen Li pushed his hands together and bowed in the traditional Buddhist greeting. “I came because I saw the phoenix’s spirit energy. Has there been a change in the situation?”

“How did you see it?” Lu Na asked. It should have been impossible. She was within her brother’s room and far away from Hen Li’s guest room.

“Amituofo. I didn’t see it as much as felt the pulse of spirit energy. The phoenix is a mythical spirit of the world and their spirit energy is the most unique of all spirits. Any higher stage summoner would have been able to feel that pulse from many li away.”

“What? Then that means the Wintersweet Sect felt it too. Their compound is not that far from Jianye,” Lu Na said.

Hen Li nodded.

“Elder Hen and all his Elders should have felt the pulse and will most likely be preparing to come here in force to investigate.”

“Then we have to leave now,” Sun Ren said. “I’ll have to change out of this silly dress and get my juniors to prepare for our departure. Lu Na, go change your clothes with one of my juniors. We leave in half an hour.”

“Amituofo. Might I accompany you?” Hen Li asked.

“I’m not sure if you should. You just came out of jail. You can stay as a guest here until we return,” Lu Na said. She still felt guilty about leaving him in jail for so long.

“No, I am fine. You’ll need my help to deal with the Wintersweet Sect. Sun Ren is strong, but she would be no match for any of the senior disciples, let alone an elder.”

Lu Na looked to Sun Ren.

“I’ll leave that decision up to you,” Sun Ren said. “This is your quest to find your mother. I am not against having someone as strong as him following us, but there are other things we have to consider. Let me know.”

Sun Ren hurried away, lifting her dress to walk faster.

“It would be an honor for you to accompany us,” Lu Na said. She bowed.

“Amituofo, I look forward to this. And we will have plenty of time to talk about your spirit and the summoner arts. Maybe I can train you after all.”

“Oh, you still remember that?”

“Amituofo, I forget little.”

“Thank you, Hen Li. I’m going to go prepare my stuff before we have to leave.”