A child wept before a burning Chaoting, beating the shoulder of a man who had sat beside her.

Their robes of opposing factions.

The man whispered apologies.

The child whispered threats of death.

•••

Traveling with Xue Huayu and Xue Feiyi is something Qing Xiashu finds great pleasure in.

It made him quite happy to ride alongside the two and chatter while they both gave him varying levels of amused and annoyed expressions.

The dark silvery horse he rode was tall and elegant, tossing its head occasionally.

Even the snow filtering down from between the dense evergreens and steam curling from their mouths couldn't bother him.

Hefeng trotted along beside their horses, weaving between them and occasionally wandering off ahead before returning. There had been a time she had fit in the saddle bags, so small that only her head appeared out of the pouch. Now though she was perfectly capable at keeping up on her own legs.

"What's our prey?" Xue Huayu questioned curiously when there had been a significant enough lull in her bickering with Qing Xiashu.

"Empty-stage baihu gui." Xue Feiyi answered, letting Qing Xiashu explain when Xue Huayu inevitably squinted in confusion.

"Baihu gui at their most powerful are basically cultivators with extra powers right? But they're classed as Mei Shou, magical beasts capable of cultivation. Long story short they have to cultivate to get there. Before then they don't control themselves well. Solo baihu gui with no skulk to instruct them usually turn towards flesh eating and become more xiong mo than yaoguai. If we're lucky we'll find a fully developed baihu gui to instruct them, if we aren't then we'll have to execute them."

"Huh. Why don't they all cultivate then?" Xue Huayu asked with a raised brow.

"Who even came up with cultivation?" Qing Xiashu snorted. "You think starved demonic ghost foxes are going to think of that on their own?"

"Alright... good point." It was rare that cultivators without instructors popped up. And even those usually had access to some resources like cultivation manuals.

"Qing Shidi. Explain the empty stage." Xue Feiyi directed.

"Right." Qing Xiashu nodded. "The baihu gui don't really get born so they're already mature when they come into existence. Their energy itself is negative and, without instruction, will begin to deteriorate what's left of their minds. So a sick child who died, who then becomes a mischievous baihu gui, will easily fall into a baihu gui that enjoys recreating the suffering it once experienced. They might do this in a metaphorical way at first, but the more their appetite for the suffering of others grows, the more their mind fades away. In the end they often are so far gone that they don't even care how they make someone suffer. Just that it happens. It's best to catch them before that point." He hummed, comfortably rambling away like the topic was just some book he'd once read.

Hostile baihu gui weren't exactly common beasts. They were usually only found near or in the wilds. A place where they seemed to spawn so it wasn't often anyone needed to learn about them in a curriculum.

"How far can they go before its too late for them?"

"The mischief stage, getting them to a righteous skulk usually still does the trick then."

"Relying on a resident skulk is commonly not a viable option." Xue Feiyi mentioned.

"This is true, but it's important to note the best, least violent option."

Xue Feiyi nodded but fell fully silent as they crossed the threshold of the city, and behind them they left their lovely brother for their icy king. Qing Xiashu couldn't help but frown at their loss.

Out of the corner of Qing Xiashu's eye he saw something very interesting.

A man stood off to the side of the gates, a cultivator by the looks of it, hands out and seemingly trying to placate an enraged woman. The man looked rather normal at first glance.

Surely not deserving of the scolding he was receiving.

Fluffy hair and dressed in white.

None of this was what caught his attention.

No...

What caught his attention was the man's ears. Tall and pinned back to his head like a distressed cat.

Or fox.

"Baihu gui." Qing Xiashu quietly alerted before turning away from their riding formation.

As Qing Xiashu approached, he caught the words being thrown out of the woman's mouth. She seemed to be scolding the man for his peers acting out.

As if this mid level baihu gui cultivator was in control of his insane brethren and instructing them to attack.

"Madam?" Qing Xiashu called out in a polite tone. "The king has arrived to handle the baihu gui. This cultivator is not the cause. Please move along."

Thankfully she was only foolish enough to scold a baihu gui in public, and not foolish enough to miss the soft threat [https://img.wattpad.com/11c0c8ecac666ca1f3853dd6ddf37645e3e8baef/68747470733a2f2f73332e616d617a6f6e6177732e636f6d2f776174747061642d6d656469612d736572766963652f53746f7279496d6167652f6669734370796b664971306369413d3d2d313439373030383036312e313830393436633033356236653332363930393332393438393938372e6a7067?s=fit&w=1280&h=1280]

Thankfully she was only foolish enough to scold a baihu gui in public, and not foolish enough to miss the soft threat.

"Thank you." The cultivator said quietly, ears tipping slowly back into their correct position once the woman had scurried away.

"Not to worry, we could use your help, I'm Qing Xiashu. Head disciple of Chaoting."

"Well met, my name is Yan Hesheng. My skulk resides west of the wilds."

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

"A pleasure, walk with me if you will." Qing Xiashu turned the horse to return to Xue Feiyi's side where he and Xue Huayu were waiting.

"Beifang Dianxia." Yan Hesheng bowed to Xue Feiyi quickly, then to Xue Huayu as well. "Beifang Gongzhu."

Xue Feiyi bobbed his head politely, but didn't bother to look at the baihu gui. "Yan Hesheng, you said you came from the Western Kingdoms right? Did you come here through the mountains?" Qing Xiashu asked, dropping his head to one side.

"Yes, I've been here in the North for around four years."

"How did you hear about the baihu gui here?" The princess asked with a curious side eyed glance.

"Rumors mostly, occasionally I'm sent commissions from town centers, but not this one... I... overheard some washerwomen talking about baihu gui, they saw me earlier that day and were gossiping. People are not fond of me, there's a lot of people with misconceptions of baihu gui." Yan Hesheng murmured, leaning down to pat Hefeng when she approached him.

"Commoners can be foolish, ignore their antics." Xue Huayu scoffed, back as straight as it could be, she and her brother were playing perfect upright royals.

It made Qing Xiashu smile to himself.

"Xue Xiaojie, this is your hunt, how would you like to proceed?" Qing Xiashu questioned, instead of asking Xue Feiyi as he typically would.

Xue Huayu's cheeks colored at being addressed before responding. "Oh right, um, let's get everything settled at the inn and then survey the area."

Xue Feiyi simply nodded and finally continued their path towards the inn.

"This is your first hunt, Beifang Gongzhu?" Yan Hesheng asked, attempting to fill the uncomfortable quiet.

Xue Huayu only nodded.

Qing Xiashu chuckled. "I apologize, my companions are not much for conversation."

What a lie, they only had him do all the talking in public.

"Xue Xiaojie recently received a spirit blade." He explained. "I see that is one as well?" Observing the sword made it obvious that the black steel blade had a blood stained spirit contained within.

"Yes, Xue Mi, yours?"

Blood Seeking. That seemed fitting given the boundless and violent energy permeating off the sword.

"Touming." Qing Xiashu said with a nod.

"Transparent? Why?" Clearly Yan Hesheng absolutely did not expect anyone to question Xue Mi's name.

"It's very light reflective and Shixiong always said I made swords' blades look like they disappear when I used them, so it fits to call it that."

"They disappear? How is that?" Yan Hesheng, despite his reserved appearance, was quite chatty!

"I'll show you sometime." Qing Xiashu chirped.

Maybe he craved praise a bit too much sometimes...

"He's being dramatic, he just has some quick blade work." Xue Huayu cut in, rolling her eyes.

"Interesting." Yan Hesheng said with a nod, rust eyes turning up to watch Xue Huayu and Xue Feiyi for a moment. Despite the way Qing Xiashu spoke with them, they both must seem terribly cold to him.

"But I don't think it was originally about that." Xue Huayu scoffed, leaning back on her horse to look directly at Yan Hesheng. "Er-ge used to have terrible sword grip, he threw his swords all the time when Da-ge started training him. They would just fly out of his hands, and 'disappear'." She whispered as though the other two in the group wouldn't hear.

Xue Feiyi let out an amused huff.

"Heyheyhey! Xue Xiaojie! Don't tell people about that!" Qing Xiashu scolded, but by the time he'd turned to look at her, she was back in her properly princess-like posture.

Yan Hesheng poorly hid his laughter behind one of his sleeves.

On the topic of sleeves. The baihu gui really didn't seem dressed for combat, all of his robes were loose and fluttery. He walked with his arms behind his back or hands tucked into his sleeves and ribbons flicked about behind him from his hair.

Even Xue Huayu didn't have so many loose bits of cloth, and under the cloaks Xue Feiyi wore, he always had a rather simple set of archery robes.

"Do you really fight in all those layers?" Qing Xiashu asked after a few moments.

"The Western Kingdoms are much warmer than this area. I struggle to keep warm even with decent qi and blood circulation. So, yes, I've made it a point to work in such clothing."

Qing Xiashu nodded hesitantly. "I see, and that isn't difficult?"

"I do not find it to be, the sleeves especially are useful in form distortion."

"Form distortion?"

"How can you target vital organs if you can't figure out where exactly they are?"

"I see." This time Qing Xiashu really did see. "Does the West commonly specialize in illusionary martial styles?"

"No." Yan Hesheng said with a small headshake. "The Western Kingdoms are very large, they have many methods in each region. Liang Vante alone is home to cultivators, humans who practice small magic, and witches. To say any one method reigns would be relatively inaccurate. Clans and martial sects are small and scattered with many specializations. Cultivation is almost never used on a scale larger than a simple minor sect. That method is my clan's specifically."

"Ah, apologies, it's rare to hear from anyone from west of the wilds. I didn't realize it was so diverse."

"That's because few biologies are suited to make it through the mountains with anything even bordering on safety. And those who do make it aren't always eager to expose themselves either. But my appearance has done me in already, there's little I can hide."

"If you travel to the borderlands you may find some reprieve, people there are a little more accustomed to diversity, the under-city is easily accessible there, many yaoguai come and go regularly without issue." Qing Xiashu mentioned. "Though if you chose to remain in the North we'd be happy to commission you for any missions that may be suited to your abilities."

Yan Hesheng gave him a soft melancholic smile, but only shrugged. "I think the North is more suited to my needs."

"Very well." Qing Xiashu hummed as they finally reached the inn. He hopped from his horse and helped Xue Huayu down before taking all three horses to be tied in front of the inn.

For once Xue Huayu was made to do the talking instead of handing the task off to Qing Xiashu as she typically would, in Xue Feiyi's words. "Are you in charge or is he? Make your demands on your own."

"Does that mean I get to boss him around, Da-ge?"

"Do you usually not?" Qing Xiashu puffed, crossing his arms.

"Children." Xue Feiyi said calmly, causing both to quickly right themselves.

Yan Hesheng simply smiled at the rear of the group, asking for his own room as soon as the siblings had finished their business.

The innkeeper soon after asked if they wanted dinner prepared, to which Yan Hesheng was about to answer.

Xue Huayu beat him to it and said no for all of them. Qing Xiashu and Xue Feiyi weren't at all phased, but Yan Hesheng looked just a little heart broken, ears dropping.

"Er-ge will do the cooking." Xue Huayu informed him relatively quickly when Qing Xiashu turned to leave the group, temporarily kidnapping the inn's kitchen to make them all a meal.

In the kitchen Qing Xiashu was blessed with a little solitary peace, it seemed like the only time he got peace and quiet was when he was cooking and at this point he quite enjoyed it.

This time it was stir-fry and rice, less leftovers the better in this case. When he came back he found an uncomfortably silent trio of socially awkward cultivators. Xue Feiyi was pretending he didn't feel uncomfortable, sipping on some tea he'd made while Yan Hesheng was very intently focused on writing out talismans for future use.

"You three are hopeless." Qing Xiashu sighed as he set down plates and platters of food. "Did any of you speak at all while I was gone?"

Xue Huayu just gave him a scowl before accepting the food.

"The baihu gui in the woods east of here have apparently been stealing the souls and bodies of street children." Yan Hesheng eventually said after a long while of eating in silence.

"Just street kids?" Qing Xiashu asked with a raised brow. "That's odd..."

"I thought so as well, but apparently they keep seeing baihu gui in the area where the children were last spotted."

"Why do the commoners care about the street kids?" Xue Huayu asked, failing to notice the concern in the glance Xue Feiyi sent Qing Xiashu.

"They don't. They moved up to the children of families at the edge of town."

"That truly is strange... Have baihu gui ever cared for the status of prey before?"

Yan Hesheng shook his head. "Empty stage baihu gui don't care for wealth status, age, or size, only opportunity. Because of that they don't tend to come into towns even at night. This could be an issue more similar to an evolved Yao than a common baihu gui."

Qing Xiashu nodded slowly, frowning while he thought. "But people keep seeing foxes?"

"More specifically something that looks like a fox. It's dark and fast and slinks about. Some outright identify it as a fox, some don't."

"This is dumb." Xue Huayu snapped. "Just because there's a creature that could be a fox around the area where this happens, doesn't mean it's responsible. I thought we knew what we were hunting."

"The town center reported a baihu gui." Qing Xiashu said with a small shrug. "Mistaken identity perhaps."

"The idea can't be written off too quickly." Yan Hesheng pointed out. "Baihu gui aren't always predictable, there are common patterns that arise but those aren't always reliable when individuals are taken into consideration."

Xue Feiyi nodded slowly, looking to Xue Huayu. "You should proceed with caution. This is your hunt, but use us as tools, you're not on a solo hunt."

"I know Da-ge, trust me."

•●•