Lu Na reunited with Sun Ren and Hen Li while Jie went to confer with her advisors. Only Nugua was missing when they met in a small teahouse in the middle of the village. This time, they were more wary about the location, but since there were other customers already enjoying tea there, it should be safe.

At least that’s what Lu Na thought.

“We should just leave now before they trap us again,” Sun Ren said. “I don’t like that Jie. She’s going to kill us.”

“Amituofo, I think you’re exaggerating,” Hen Li said. “These people are simple and kind. They are also open to learning about the teachings of Buddha.”

“Then you stay here with them while Na Na and I go back out there to find her mother.”

When Sun Ren glanced at her, Lu Na felt shame. She didn’t know how to tell her she would also rather stay here than go back out there. She knew that Sun Ren was only trying to watch out for them, but the marvels here were too great to just leave.

“How about we listen to their proposal before you decide anything?” Hen Li asked.

Sun Ren sipped her tea and nodded.

Jie walked into the teahouse and sauntered over to them. Many of the people greeted her on sight and some bowed low to her. She must have been well respected and loved in the village.

“I’m glad you three are enjoying our little tea shop,” Jie said. “It was quite a coincidence that a monk entered the labyrinth with some tea leaves that allowed us to grow our own. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have the luxury of such a refined taste.”

“Oh, was it a Buddhist monk?” Hen Li asked.

“It was. Sadly, he passed away before my time. He tried to transcribe everything he remembered so that we could study the path of Buddha.” Jie sat down and poured herself a cup of tea. “That’s why I was hoping you might choose the same path and stay to teach us in his place.”

“Amituofo, I would if I could but I’m not a fully ordained monk yet,” Hen Li pushed his palms together and bowed his head. “And I have promised Young Miss Lu to help her find her mother. As a monk, I can’t go back on my promises.”

“It’s a shame then because if you three leave our village, you won’t survive for long out there,” Jie said. “I have reports from my scouts that a large group of people were teleported into the labyrinth. If you go out there now, you’ll only be captured. And then, when it becomes desperate enough, you’ll probably suffer a death worse than anything we could ever do to you.”

“It must be Yang Deli or the Wintersweet Elder,” Sun Ren said. “To think they would enter the labyrinth after us, they must be trying to solve the puzzle, too.”

“Oh, they’re not the first nor will they be the last. Usually, when it’s a small group like you guys, we would give you all a chance to explore and realize the folly of challenging the labyrinth.” Jie took a long sip from her tea. “And then when you all realize how impossible it is and are on the verge of death, we’d invite you to our village. Our village always needs more people to support it.”

“Except your village is dying,” Sun Ren said.

Jie glared at Lu Na.

Had she expected Lu Na to keep it a secret from her companions?

“Now that you know, you’re also in the same boat as your friend then,” Jie said. “If she can’t fix our problem, you all die with her. The only thing I ask is that you don’t spread this news to any of my villagers or I’d be forced to end you all here.”

Sun Ren rolled her eyes.

“This isn’t the first time I’ve dealt with this kind of situation. Just know that if push comes to shove, I’ll make sure my death will be the end of your village as well.”

Lu Na didn’t even want to know what Sun Ren meant by that. Had she gone and planned something in Lu Na’s absence? Either way, she had to turn this around. The last thing she needed was two head strong women trying to show how far each would go in the middle of a dying village.

“How about we talk about how we can help each other instead?” Lu Na said.

No one said anything. Sun Ren glared at Jie who glared back. Hen Li muttered the heart sutra.

“Fine, I’ll start,” Lu Na said. “I can fix your machine but it will take some time. Instead, I propose I stop the leak so that the machine will work better. But it won’t be permanent.”

“In exchange, I can provide you with the best maps we have of the labyrinth that we copied from my ancestor’s time,” Jie said.

“That’s it? Lu Na is going to save your village and all we get are maps?” Sun Ren said.

“As you well know by now, our village doesn’t have much to offer without having someone else go hungry,” Jie said. “This year’s harvests have been dismal. The only thing we can spare is all the water you can carry with you. That’s about it for provisions.”

“Then we’re wasting our time here,” Sun Ren said. “We only have enough food to last us two days. We should leave these people to their own fate while we try to find your mother. We don’t need them.”

Sun Ren got up to leave.

“Wait. While we can’t provide you with any provisions, we can provide you some tools that would help a lot. It’s something that you will desperately need once you get closer to the center of the labyrinth.” Jie took out a small wooden badge that had an ancient script written on it. The word looked like the modern word for water.

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“What does it do?” Lu Na was intrigued. Even without using her technique, she could feel a certain chill coming off it.

“I’m sure you’ve felt it the moment you entered the labyrinth. That cool feeling as if someone was watching you. But no matter how much you look, you can’t seem to find who it is,” Jie said.

It was that exact feeling when they teleported into the labyrinth.

“I know you modern people don’t believe this, but what you were feeling was the presence of ghosts. And this badge will help you with them.” Jie tapped the badge twice and the symbol turned black.

The entire tea shop became empty. The people that were sitting there a moment ago vanished.

“Every one was a ghost?” Lu Na asked.

Jie nodded.

“There’s a special device in the labyrinth that makes these ghosts visible and they act as if they were still alive. The only difference between them and us is that they sometimes forget what they were doing.”

“But I’ve touched one of them,” Sun Ren said. “When I was walking in, one of them bumped me.”

Jie grinned.

“That’s what makes this labyrinth so dangerous. Whatever made these ghosts visible also made them physical. And the ghosts here are gentle as most of them are our village’s former tenants. But out there are some really malicious ghosts. Many of them are the ones that tried to solve the puzzle of the labyrinth just like you, but died. Would you want to face those without a little insurance?”

“What does the badge do?” Lu Na asked. She picked it up and it was very cold to the touch. It was the complete opposite of her ward bracelet. Maybe she could work that in somehow.

“It disables the device that shows you the ghosts.” Jie took the device back and tapped it twice again. The ghosts reappeared, as they were before.

“She’s trying to trap us again,” Sun Ren said. She unsheathed a dagger and pointed it at Jie.

Lu Na gasped at how fast Sun Ren pulled the dagger out. She had never seen her friend so jumpy before. She had always been the calm one no matter the situation.

“Are you okay Sun Ren? You’re scaring me. Jie is only trying to help us,” Lu Na said. “She will not hurt us.”

“Tell that to all the ghosts she has at her command. She could kill us all right here. She keeps bringing us into traps like this. The next one might just kill us and I don’t want to die like a dog. I’d rather take her with me now.”

Lu Na slowly reached for Sun Ren’s hand and lowered the dagger. Her hand was trembling.

“What’s going on? You’re not usually like this.” Lu Na tugged the dagger, but Sun Ren clung to it. “Come on Sun Ren, you can trust me.”

Sun Ren turned toward Lu Na. Her eyes were bloodshot.

“What did you do to her?” Lu Na asked.

“I did nothing. I’m surprised it took this long before the symptoms showed on her. Your monk friend has been feeling it ever since he entered the labyrinth.” Jie nodded toward Hen Li. “These two are going through spirit withdrawal. It only affects stage two or higher summoners.”

“This is nothing.” Sun Ren handed the dagger to Lu Na before pulling out another dagger. “I’ve been under worse conditions. You can’t trick me. Even if I’m not feeling well, I can tell that you don’t care what happens to us as long as Lu Na fixes your machine.”

Jie leaned back, her whole body relaxed.

“On the contrary. I care about you three. And if you three would join my village, I would care about you even more, since you three have skills that none of my villagers have.”

“Drink some tea.” Lu Na lifted the cup to Sun Ren’s mouth. Her friend took a large gulp, her lips trembling. “What can I do to help her?”

Jie folded her hands and placed them on her lap.

“What do I get out of this?”

“I’ll give you anything you want. I’ll fix your machine. Just help them.” Lu Na wrapped her arm around Sun Ren who was shivering all over.

“That won’t be necessary,” came a woman’s voice. A tall woman dressed in a white flowing robe with wide sleeves that draped down toward her torso. There were golden silk garments wrapped around the robe, depicting different people stitched into them. “I came to help you all.”

When the woman lowered her arms, nine tails sprang up behind her, creating a fan.

“Baihu,” Sun Ren said. “You came back.”

“Of course, my dear Sun Ren. I would never abandon you.” Baihu walked over and embraced Sun Ren. “You’re safe now. I’m here.”

At those simple words, Sun Ren slumped over against the woman’s chest. The woman smiled, showing off two very sharp fangs.

“Oh, mortals are always so trusting, so easy to fool,” Baihu said. “I could rip her throat out and drink her blood right now. She would walk the yellow springs road in the underworld, thanking me all the way.”

Lu Na reached into her chest pocket and pulled out a spirit ward. She would not allow Sun Ren’s spirit to kill her. But before she could activate it, one of Baihu’s tails flicked at her and knocked the ward to the ground.

“Oh little Lu Na, don’t do something silly like that,” Baihu said. “I will not hurt her. I still need her a while longer. So you can relax.”

Lu Na couldn’t even see her tail move. How could she relax when a dangerous spirit like that could rip her throat out? She inched away from the spirit.

“You’re finally getting smarter. But no matter, I’m here to negotiate with this spirit,” Baihu said.

“She’s a spirit?” Lu Na asked.

Baihu nodded.

“Oh no, I’ve been discovered.” Jie rolled her eyes. “Yes, I’m the guardian spirit of the village here. It has taken me centuries to perfect this form, but other spirits can see right through me. I’m surprised your spirit didn’t tell you when we first met.”

“Wait, where’s Nugua?”

“Oh, you’re only worrying about me now?” Nugua said. She walked out from behind the tea shop’s counter. For the first time, she had legs. Her smile no longer had a mouth full of fangs. She also wore a simple tunic like the one Lu Na had packed. If Lu Na hadn’t recognized that voice, she wouldn’t have recognized her spirit.

“Where were you?” Lu Na asked.

“I was hiding back there. Jie told me she would teach me techniques to hide my spirit self to look more human for not interfering with the negotiations. Not like I would have bothered with it, anyway.”

“You abandoned me for beauty tips?” Lu Na wanted to say she was surprised, but it was hard when she had known Nugua for so many years. If there was a way for her to look more attractive to men, she would take it.

Nugua laughed.

“Child, you keep forgetting the relationship here. I will outlast you and so these beauty tips will live forever while you rot in the ground. But don’t worry, I wouldn’t have let Jie hurt you. She promised to let you go no matter what you decided, isn’t that right?”

Jie frowned.

“I’m sorry Nugua, but I’ve changed my mind. With the appearance of Baihu, the terms have changed.”

Jie waved her hand in a circle. Large metal sheets slammed down all around the teahouse, blocking out all light from outside. They were all plunged into darkness.

Lu Na reached into her chest pocket and pulled out her light wards. With a flick of her wrist, she turned on the three of them and dropped them around her.

Jie had disappeared.

The ghosts didn’t. They all turned their heads toward Lu Na.