CHAPTER

9

Differences in Worth

I

As Hao Zhen walked down the corridor, a couple of steps behind Tian Jin and Duo Lan, he did his best to calm his nerves. Unfortunately, that was something easier said than done. Nerves weren’t really something you could just calm on command as you got closer and closer to whatever was giving you them in the first place.

At the end of the corridor was a stairway leading to the second floor. Hao Zhen had never been to the second floor of the Mission Hall before, and had it been up to him, he never would have had any reason to. The building clearly wasn’t new, but it was well-maintained. None of the floorboards creaked, and the only sounds he could hear were that of the steps caused by four pairs of boots and the drumming of his heart. A faint haze hung in the air, and he could detect the sweet but subtle scent of burning incense. On the walls were white jade lanterns hanging from hooks, providing even lighting.

After climbing the stairway and stepping onto the second floor, Hao Zhen found himself facing another long corridor, with multiple doors on both sides. The female disciple led them all the way to the end of the corridor, toward the last door, then knocked. Moments later, the door opened by itself, and she stepped aside, motioning for them to enter.

Without hesitation, Tian Jin and Duo Lan walked inside the room, and Hao Zhen forced himself to do the same. If he had nothing to hide, then he had no reason to hesitate. Don’t act suspicious, he reminded himself. Unfortunately, that was also something easier said than done.

The smoke of incense was thicker inside the room, the smell sweeter and more pronounced. The room was large, but bare for the most part. On the far end of the room, a middle-aged man in robes, whom he assumed was an elder, sat cross-legged on top of a cushion. There were only three lanterns in the room, so unlike the brightly lit corridor, it was dim inside, with only just enough lighting to see each other’s faces with clarity.

Hao Zhen heard a very subtle creak, and glancing back, he saw that the door behind them had closed, the female disciple who had brought them here nowhere to be seen. He then returned his attention to the middle-aged man just in time to see him opening his eyes.

The elder’s gaze first fell on Tian Jin, then on Duo Lan, and finally on Hao Zhen. The man stared at them in silence a few moments longer before sighing.

“Tell me what happened during the mission.”

Tian Jin took a step forward, back straight. “After arriving at our destination, we started searching for the requested magical plants,” he said, his voice even. He held the elder’s gaze unflinchingly. “Between the four of us, we managed to quickly meet the quota for the mission, but we decided to keep looking until nightfall. Just as we were about to head back to the sect, a radiant sun tiger appeared.” At that, Tian Jin’s expression turned troubled, as if he was recalling something unpleasant, and Hao Zhen realized that the boy was much better at acting than he originally assumed. “Before any of us could react, it bit into Senior Brother Ke, then swallowed him whole. Then, moments later, the monster exploded.” Tian Jin paused for a moment, then added, “We believe that after being swallowed, while inside the monster’s stomach, Senior Brother Ke used an explosion talisman, sacrificing himself to kill the evil beast.”

As Tian Jin gave his report, carrying himself with a level of ease and confidence Hao Zhen doubted he would ever have, the elder’s expression remained unchanging. He only reacted after Tian Jin was finished with his recounting of the events, his gaze shifting to Duo Lan, and then to Hao Zhen. As the elder’s eyes fell on him, Hao Zhen gritted his teeth and stared straight ahead so as not to give anything away. The elder’s attention didn’t linger on him, quickly returning to Tian Jin.

“Do you have proof?”

“Yes,” Tian Jin said.

Tian Jin then nodded toward Duo Lan, who stepped forward. Her spatial ring flashed, and in her hands, the horn of a radiant sun tiger appeared. She held it for the elder to see, who stared at it for a few moments before giving her a nod.

“And what of Ke Li’s spatial ring?”

“It’s… It’s with me,” Hao Zhen said, showing the elder the ring, regretting not having handed it to Tian Jin before arriving here and letting the other boy do this. He really didn’t want to be subjected to any more attention than necessary.

The elder turned to look at him, remaining expressionless. The spatial ring then floated out of his hand toward the man, who took it and closed his eyes. Hao Zhen assumed he was going through its contents. After a few seconds, the elder opened his eyes, and the spatial ring in his hands then floated over to Tian Jin, who briefly stared at it in confusion before grabbing it out of the air and placing it in the side pocket of his robe.

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Hao Zhen had absolutely no idea what was going on.

“Since Ke Li didn’t have any family members in the sect, as the ones he sacrificed himself to save, you may keep his spatial ring,” the elder said. “Everything appears to be in order. Ke Li’s death is unfortunate, but misfortune strikes every once in a while. You may leave.” The door behind them opened.

Tian Jin and Duo Lan both gave the elder a small bow before turning around. Hao Zhen, on the other hand, stood there dumbly for a moment, before finally regaining his wits, managing a quick bow that he hoped wasn’t too bad, and following after Tian Jin and Duo Lan. The three of them left the Mission Hall in silence.

II

“That went well,” Tian Jin said, breaking the silence once they were a good distance away from the Mission Hall, having come to a stop beside a small grove near the central square. The location was deserted, with nobody around safe for them. A cluster of clouds hung in the sky above directly before the sun, softening its glare. The day felt cool, almost chilly, and he could hear the soft chirping of cicadas coming from trees.

“I’m sorry,” Hao Zhen said, incredulous, “but what in the world just happened?” He glanced back and forth between Tian Jin and Duo Lan, who gave him puzzled looks in return.

“What do you mean?” Tian Jin asked.

“I mean—that’s it?” Hao Zhen waved his hands in the air. “An inner disciple just died, and that’s all that happens? Three questions, and we’re let off?”

At that, Tian Jin and Duo Lan shared a glance. Looking at them, Hao Zhen realized that over the last few days, Duo Lan had gotten considerably less aggressive and hostile, particularly toward Tian Jin, whom she had been unwilling to even look at in the beginning.

“Well, yes?” Duo Lan said, shrugging. “Ke Li was an inner disciple, but he was unapprenticed. If he had a master, it’d have been a different story, as his master would have likely wanted to question us, but since that’s not the case…”

Hao Zhen frowned. “But—”

“There’s also the fact that, as far as I know, while Ke Li was an inner disciple, he was about as average as they come,” she continued, cutting him off with a glare. “Tian Jin and I might be outer disciples right now, but everyone knows we’ll become inner disciples eventually, and even in the Inner Court we’d be outstanding, so it only makes sense for the sect to value us more.” She shrugged again. “Most likely, the elder suspected that we weren’t being entirely honest but didn’t say anything precisely because, to the sect, we are worth much more than Ke Li.”

“What about the ring?” Hao Zhen asked, motioning toward Tian Jin. “I thought that the sect would keep it.”

At that, as if being reminded of it, Tian Jin took the spatial ring out of his pocket. “I’m not sure about that myself,” he admitted, looking slightly confused.

“That’s normally the case, yes,” Duo Lan said, “but in this case, the elder probably handed it back to us as a favor of sorts. As I already said, Tian Jin and I are important to the sect. Why do you think he returned it to Tian Jin, even though it was with you, originally?”

“I…” Hao Zhen closed his eyes for a moment, then sighed. “So all that preparation we did”—all that stress and worrying—“was for nothing?”

“No,” Tian Jin said, shaking his head. “We only had an easy time because, as far as I can tell, Du Qing didn’t intervene. Had he wanted to, I believe he could’ve made things much harder for us. In that case, our preparations would have certainly been put to use. It’s just that it didn’t come to that. Thankfully.”

Crossing his arms, Hao Zhen leaned against a nearby tree, going over Duo Lan’s and Tian Jin’s words. The more he thought about it, the more what they had said made sense. He had grossly overestimated Ke Li’s worth to the sect and underestimated Tian Jin’s and Duo Lan’s.

The situation felt… anticlimactic, in a way. Assuming his theory about events of the world following the plot of a cultivation novel was correct, he wondered if that was because they had deviated from the intended course of the events, which as far as he could tell, would have been Tian Jin returning to the sect and directly confronting Du Qing, demanding justice.

Still, he wasn’t complaining. He doubted that things could have gone any better. It was just that he couldn’t help but feel rather silly, embarrassed by the way he had overreacted, though he took some comfort in what Tian Jin had said at the end. And that reminded him—there was still the whole Du Qing business to take care of.

A breeze blew by, softly rustling the leaves on the ground.

“Well.” Hao Zhen took in a deep breath, finishing organizing his thoughts. “Since that’s over and done with, I think we should start thinking about our next moves.”

Their primary concern up to this point had been figuring out what they’d do immediately after their return to the sect. Since that had turned out to be a non-issue, now it was time to make more detailed plans beyond simply buying Tian Jin and Duo Lan enough time to become strong enough to directly take care of Du Qing.

He also would have to come up with some sort of excuse, some sort of explanation, to stay by Tian Jin’s side, at least for the foreseeable future. Besides the matter with Du Qing, Hao Zhen wanted—needed—to know the reason behind his transmigration and why the world was the way it was, and as far as he could tell, following Tian Jin around was his best bet.

“Well, I don’t know about you two,” Duo Lan said, “but what I really need right now is a bath and a change of clothes, so we can either meet up later or continue this at my place.”

Judging by her expression, she wouldn’t accept any other option. Hao Zhen had to admit he really could use a bath right now—it had been almost a week since his last one, after all, and he was starting to get rather uncomfortable—but he felt that discussing their plans was more of a priority. Still, he wasn’t about to antagonize Duo Lan over something like this and decided that it wouldn’t matter much if they waited a little bit more to talk. After considering his options for a moment, he said, “I guess we can go to your place.”

Beside him, Tian Jin nodded his head.

“Good. Let’s get going, then.”

With that, Duo Lan turned around and started marching away. Tian Jin and Hao Zhen followed her.