I sit next to the river, watching as the first flakes of snow fall to the ground. The river flows lazily, the water rippling from the falling flakes. The spirit in the air is dark, an ominous feeling in contrast with the calm of the river.
Shia slithers over to me, and I lay my arm on the floor, giving her a path for her to climb up into my robe.
She wraps herself around my waist. Her presence is a comforting one, reminding me that I’m not alone.
I hum, then sing to the water. Second Song: Flow Of The River.
Water rises with my voice, separating from the flow of the river as it follows my song.
The water dances around me, flowing into a small stream that circles me in a spiral before returning to the river.
The song is soft, barely using my qi to create a path for the water. I sense that I could change the song, give it more power and voice to take the full power of the river.
I enjoy the lazy flow. I even catch sight of tiny fishes in the water around me.
The song slows to a finish, depositing the water back into the river.
I stand up and stretch, snow falling off of my shoulders to the ground. “I don’t like this feeling. The calm before the storm.”
“That is natural, little one.” Shia says, she slithers up my chest and rests her head on my shoulder. “But I suspect that the peace will not last too much longer.”
I nod, and set back off to my home. “I wish Qiu Tai was here.”
The path takes me along the river. It’s helpful for my thoughts to just meander along these paths common all over the sect.
My steps slow as I catch sight of Xia Jing pacing back and forth in front of Elder Qiu Tai’s home. She catches sight of me at the same time as I see her.
She walks over to me, meeting me at the edge of the trail.
I stop to look at her. She’s pinching the edge of her sleeves as she looks behind me, like she’s hoping to see someone else.
She bites her lip when she realizes that I’m alone, then turns her full attention to me. “Have you seen Sister Ming?”
I shake my head. I haven’t seen her since my last fight in the outer sect.
Her face twists into a frown, and she looks in the direction of the outer sect. “She wasn’t with Elder Wu, and I can’t find her in the Inner sect. I’m worried about her.”
My heart sinks at her words. The way Lai Ming had looked when she’d walked off after we ate at the restaurant… It wasn't good. I activate my spatial ring, then pull out the red fox mask. “We’ll look for her together.”
After my Master’s warnings about Elder Fu, I haven’t felt comfortable wandering the sect in my core disciple robes. The anonymity of the Xian Lu persona fits me better, so I pull the red fox mask over my face, then pull out a set of outer disciple robes.
Xia Jing nods, “Let me change. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
She immediately starts walking towards the rooms of the Inner Disciples.
I watch her leave, then sigh before letting out a small laugh. I continue back to the house, then change into my outer disciple robes.
I make my way through the house taking care of the plants. Several of them need watering, or to be moved. I want to keep them healthy while Master Qiu Tai is away. Most of the plants are losing their leaves or darkening for the winter, but I can sense the little bit of spirit inside them that tells me they are still alive.
I’m messing with a temperamental Lunar Orchid when Xia Jing returns. She’s also dressed in the robes of an outer disciple, and her green fox mask is on top of her head.
I set the Lunar Orchid next to the window, and move to follow my sister disciple.
Something has her feeling really nervous, and we don’t talk much as we enter the outer sect.
The snow starts falling down with more intensity and lanterns are lit along the paths of the merchant district. No one had seen Lai Ming, but they had seen an outer disciple wearing a blue fox mask.
A merchant directs us off the main roads, and then a younger disciple sweeping the snow points us to a partially overgrown path that follows one of the smaller rivers.
I pause at the entrance to the path, wrinkling my nose. The faint scent of blood is caught by the wind. Xia Jing looks at me worriedly, but I don’t say anything as my mouth tightens.
“Arm yourself, little one.” Shia’s voice carries a strange tone to it.
I don’t argue, and pull my sword out of my inventory to wrap the sheath around my waist. Xia Jing catches my gaze. She hadn’t brought a weapon, but I feel as her qi circulates within her.
We continue down the path, traveling further and further away from the bustling parts of the sect. The scent of blood grows, and Xia JIng seems to sense the strangeness of the atmosphere, her body growing tense.
There’s a turn in the path and we reach a clearing.
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I stop, frozen in place.
The ground of the clearing is covered in ice, and at the center stands Lai Ming, her blue mask stained with red streaks. In her hand, is her ice sword. She looks up at the snow as it falls around her.
At her feet is Disciple Gao, blood flowing from him in rivulets across the ice. The black wraps that covered his face in ribbons around him. Hanging from ice spikes are two other disciples, Disciple Fu Lan Fen and Disciple Lu Gang. Their bodies white from the freezing cold of the icicles piercing through their chests.
I take a step forward and ice cracks under my feet.
Lai Ming turns to us. Her eyes widen as she takes us in.
Xia Jing stands at the edge of the clearing, frozen. I step forward, the ice cracking with every step.
Lai Ming doesn’t move as I walk over to the three dead disciples, confirming every death. You can’t know for sure with some cultivators.
I look away from Disciple Gao and meet Lai Ming’s eyes.
She looks at me with defiance, but doesn’t say anything.
I let out a breath as I come to a decision. My heart hardens, “You need to leave now. Your qi is too recognizable. The first Elder here will know that you did this.”
“I can cover the bodies.” Xia Jing says, “It’ll delay their search.”
Lai Ming looks back and forth between us with surprise.
“You can use my name with my father or Princess Shi Da.” I say, “They’ll hide you. With the war, you’ll be-”
“I had to.” Lai Ming says.
I pause. In her eyes I see the defiance turn to something else, watering and on the verge of tears.
I share a look with Xia Jing.
“We know.” I say. “But…”
“You killed two core disciples. Elder Wu can’t protect you.” Xia Jing finishes. “Sister Jia is right, you need to leave now.”
Lai Ming doesn’t respond, her gaze moving to the dead disciples.
The clearing descends into silence, the snow slowly accumulating on top of the bodies.
I wasn’t expecting this. Not so close to home.
I hate this.
“Someone is coming.” Shia says.
Her words knock me out of my spiraling mind and I curse. I pull my flute out of a pocket in my robe. “Get us out of here.” I say to Xia Jing.
She catches my meaning and rushes to me. Her arm wraps around me as I put my flute to my mouth under the mask.
The Sixth Requiem: The Tomb
A long note plays out of my flute, and darkness unfolds from me, covering us and wrapping around the approaching presence.
Immediately, a powerful force pushes against my illusion, and I know it to be a Master of the sect in Early Core Formation. I call on every ounce of my qi to hold out against the Master for the few seconds we need as Xia Jing’s other arm wraps around Lai Ming.
Xia Jing’s qi folds us into the earth, and we leave the scene of icy death behind.
I hold my illusion for another second before it is shattered by the sheer power of the Master.
I cough blood onto my flute and my vision goes blurry. I have enough of my mind left to know to stash my flute in my robe, then I black out for a few seconds.
My vision comes back to me as Xia Jing steps into a copse of trees.
She sets us both down, her breath heavy.
“I’m sorry, I-” Lai Ming starts.
Xia Jing holds up her hand. “It doesn’t matter, we’re all in this together now.”
Lai Ming shakes her head, “You both can still leave. I’m the one at fault.”
“It’s too late for that.” Xia Jing looks over to me, “The sect knows who uses their qi through their music, and I’m not letting you two face this alone. We’re in this one together.”
Lai Ming looks at me as I lift my hand to wipe the blood off of my lips. My throat hurts too much to speak, so I just nod in agreement with Sister Xia.
The hint of smile appears on her lips before it disappears. She nods. “How do we get out of here?”
“I might know a way.” Xia Jing says, “But you need to change first, you’re covered in blood.”
Lai Ming pulls a robe out of her own spatial ring, then immediately starts disrobing. I turn around to let her change.
My mind is still a bit of a mess. Everything had happened so fast, and I’d never expected to see Lai Ming like that. I trust that Lai Ming had good reasons for what she did, but… was death necessary? Was there no other way?
I touch the flute in my pocket, my finger feeling the smooth wood that had accompanied me for so many years. It gives me comfort, and my thoughts calm. I hum the Third Song: Tranquil Lake, and my mind focuses. What matters now is that we get out of the sect. Two dead core disciples and a dead inner disciple is not something easily forgiven or escaped, not to mention one of those disciples is the granddaughter of an Elder. It doesn’t matter how good a reason Lai Ming has, Elder Wu Li Mei won’t be enough to stop the wrath of the other elders. Wherever we go, we’ll have to move quietly.
So how do we escape the sect? We’ll have angry masters and elders on our heels soon. That means we need to get outside of sect territory as fast as possible. There’s two things that come to mind; the portals, and the technique Elder Zhu had used to bring me here after I dropped off Ai.
“I’m done.” Lai MIng says, and I turn around. She’s wearing a purple mortal robe without any markings on it. “I have to leave a message for one of the outer sect Masters, then we can leave.”
Xia Jing looks back the direction we came from. “I don’t know how much time we have…”
“I don’t have any proof, but I have to warn Elder Wu.” Lai Ming starts walking and we follow behind her.
“Proof of what?” I ask.
Lai Ming stops, forcing Xia Jing and I to pause.
She turns to us, “Proof that Elder Fu and Elder Song have betrayed the sect.” She takes a deep breath, “The master who betrayed you and let the Four Armed Swordsman into the palace. He wasn’t working alone.” She turns around and continues walking. “I saw the signs, but no one believed me, except for Elder Wu. I still don’t have proof, but with what happened… I know Elder Fu and Elder Song are working for the Shan Mountain Sect.”
Xia Jing and I exchange a glance while Lai Ming keeps walking.
We hurry after her. I tighten my mask, taking a deep breath.
When we arrive to the merchant’s district, it’s in chaos. Disciples run back and forth while Core Formation Cultivators fly through the air. In the distance I see an two Elders, their qi searching the paths.
Xia Jing grabs both of our hands, and her qi wraps around us. She makes us look like the earth to the searching qi of the Elders.
Lai Ming leads us to a small run down building. An older man leans against the building, a pipe in his mouth that he smokes as we approach.
He tilts his head as Lai Ming approaches him, then his qi wraps around us, hiding us further from the search.
Lai Ming walks up to him, and shows him a small butterfly pin, then hands him a piece of parchment. He opens it, then lets out a long sigh before speaking.
“I see. Come inside.”
He walks into his house and Lai Ming follows him without question. I’m a step behind her, with Xia Jing trailing.
The old man moves a rug, revealing a trap door. “They will meet you at the end of the tunnel.” He opens the door to darkness.
Lai Ming hesitates, then bows fist to palm. She rises from her bow and jumps into the darkness.
I hear her feet land, then walk up to the hatch. I bow to the master as well. I don’t know him, but his spirit is warm and ancient, reminding me of a tree.
I rise from my bow, then jump into the darkness after Lai Ming.