The Black City has faced censure in so many lands for the raids some of its denizens send through its gates, but in the end, the City has remained a staple to the world economy and culture simply by virtue of the sects that inhabit it. The Sects of the Black use their unique position to provide much-needed services that benefit all the nations they touch, not least of which is the Spirit Caller sect who manage the many myriad spirits and shades that plague the lands, protecting countless billions of mortals as they do. -Bu Shixian, in “The Black City, Bastion of a Forgotten Era.”

* * *

“He shouldn’t be in long,” I noted to Chiho. I stood and began following the direction of the fell wind. If all went according to plan, then there would be members of the Spirit Caller Sect waiting for Lin on the other side. They would catch the inebriated cultivator before he reached the Black City proper. The last thing any of us wanted was for a drunk Lin to be faced with all manner of yokai who would be more than happy to end him.

To that end, I kept my ears open. Seven cultivators appearing out of nowhere would certainly make a splash on the local wilderness and disrupt the ambient qi. Once they arrived, I’d be able to track them down.

Minutes stretched on and on as we wandered closer to where Lin had left the mortal realm. Still, nothing changed in the forest around me. The night was eerily quiet, and a light mist clung to the plants around my feet.

Chiho flitted around my head, nuzzling me gently.

“I know. He’s been a while,” I said to the pin. It tucked a loose strand of hair into my ponytail before trilling soothingly in my ear. There was nothing either of us could do but wait.

Minutes turned into an hour, and I began to bite my lip. What if Lin had gotten lost? What if the Spirit Caller Sect hadn’t caught him on the other side? What if he’d been snatched by a hostile yokai instead? I couldn’t go after him. If I stepped foot in the Black City, I wouldn’t be able to come back to Saikan.

“Maybe he just got past us? The gate could have opened closer to town,” I noted. We were only about an hour’s walk from Saikan. One couldn’t get much closer without the city being in sight. Unfortunately, Chiho trilled sadly. Its qi senses were far stronger than mine. If it didn’t sense anything, that meant they hadn’t returned yet.

I began to walk back, retracing my steps back to town. Perhaps I could enlist Pharyx or Pollen’s help. After all, they were at least from the area. Maybe they could get there, find Lin, and get back.

As soon as I resolved to seek aid, though, a brisk wind blew a potent pulse of void qi down the back of my neck. I shivered, resisting the urge to shift into my more monstrous form to defend against the prickling on the back of my neck. It wasn’t hostile nor particularly dangerous, just surprising. Nobody had ever mentioned that the Black City had such a strong void presence.

But, even that made sense after a bit of thinking. The City of Spirits was separated from the rest of reality, held in a small corner of the spiritual realm that could be accessed only by a few very unstable points. It was about as isolated as a city could be without falling apart. With how much void qi poured from the place, I’d be willing to bet that it was as steeped in void as the Moon-Soaked Shore was bathed in lunar qi.

I spun around, searching for the group. Through the trees, I spied several cultivators dressed all in white. They each carried a staff topped with golden rings, and when they walked, the rings clattered together in a soft tinkling. It was quite soothing to the ear.

However, after counting the cultivators, a few were missing. Lin was close behind a grizzled old man who appeared to be the leader, but besides them, there were only four other artists. We’d been expecting seven in total.

Regardless of the reason, I was beyond relieved to see Lin unharmed…even if he was still a bit tipsy. I rushed over to the group, bowing before the master at the head of the group.

“Sect Master, welcome to the Moon-Soaked Shore,” I said, formally.

“You must be this one’s keeper,” he said, gesturing to Lin. “In future, you should know that it is not required that one be drunk to get to the Black City.”

My gaze flicked between him and Lin, then back. Lin was looking very sheepishly at his feet, and I briefly wondered what had happened beyond the veil. However, the grizzled old man didn’t seem to be willing to share, and so it would be impolite to ask until Lin and I were alone.

“Understood, Sect Master. I will remember that for the future. Please, accept my apologies on the Administrator’s behalf for any inconvenience we may have caused. I’d have gone myself, but I’m not native to Saikan,” I explained.

“I see. Are you a wandering artist?”

“Yes, sir. I’m from the Pearlescent Valley.”

He wrinkled his nose. “I see. I am Li Jin, of the Spirit Caller Sect. I understand that two of the Four Spirits of the Shore have been unusually active of late?”

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“Yes, sir. We’ve resolved the conflict with the Flower Maiden. She has retired for the winter,” I explained.

“And the Fury?”

“We’ve not seen it since the attack on the village several months ago.”

To say that we’d defeated the Chain-Bound Fury in a very permanent sense would require explaining too much about my identity. Lin and I had both agreed that it was for the best to keep the news of his defeat to ourselves. After all, what harm could a little shade-suppressing ritual do? It was a small miracle that such a thing had ever worked against the Fury, given that it was not a shade at all but a manifestation of a void spirit.

“I see. Then we shall suppress his sorrows and lay him back to rest. Has everything been prepared?” Sect Master Li asked. I nodded.

“A stage has been prepared at the center of town, per your specifications.”

“Good. Then take the administrator and guide us to Saikan. We will hold the Shattered Moon Festival tomorrow.”

I bowed before shuffling past him to pull Lin’s arm over my shoulder. He didn’t meet my eye.

“Are you alright?” I murmured just loud enough for him to hear. He nodded.

“Just…lost my balance,” he answered. His words were weary and slurred, but he bore no obvious signs of injury.

I took the lead, not looking to see if the sect cultivators were following. This Li Jin fellow might have appeared to be the oldest and wisest in the group, but that was only because I’d worked so hard to maintain my appearance over a timespan longer than his parents’ parents’ parents had lived. I didn’t like the way he looked at me and Lin with disgust, like we were filth from the backwaters of the world. He clearly didn’t want to be here any more than I wanted him here.

Also, his ignorance was obvious. The scorn he showed in stating that it was not required for Lin to get drunk was enough to curl my lip in disgust. Of course it wasn’t required. But, what was required was to get disoriented and lost. Having lived in these lands his whole life, disorienting Lin enough to get lost would be exceptionally difficult, and certainly not doable in a timely manner. Li Jin spoke like a sheltered sect disciple who’d only been beyond the walls of their monastery for official business. People like that neither knew nor cared for anything about the real world.

“The sooner this festival ends, the better,” I whispered to Lin. He just nodded and we trudged onward.

* * *

Luckily for us, once the cultivators of the Spirit Caller Sect were settled into their inn rooms, they said they would take care of everything concerning the remainder of their preparations. Lin and I were left to catch some much-needed sleep. When the midday sun finally shone in the kitchen windows, spurring Xinya to wake us both, I rose wearily to prepare some lunch.

“Are we going to go to the festival together?” Xinya asked excitedly. “Jaili said that the sect cultivators came in last night! That means the festivities are tonight, yes?”

“Yes, they came in last night,” I confirmed, filling a bowl with rice. Lin trudged out from the back room and slumped at the table. I set the bowl in front of him alongside a bowl of fried egg that was slightly burned. Lin didn’t seem to notice as he silently ate the food.

“I heard they’re all mysterious and secretive! Is it true that they won’t even speak to anyone until after the ritual is done?”

I shrugged. “They spoke to me, and I almost wish they hadn’t. They’re a bunch of prissy know-it-alls.”

“Especially after you accidentally run into them after being chased by a flock of Fengmori right out of the gates,” Lin muttered. His voice was soft, and I didn’t envy the pounding headache he must have felt, given the miserable way he held his shoulders.

“Is that what happened?”

He nodded. “I stumbled through the gates, ran into a flock of Fengmori, and they proceeded to terrorize me as I tried to find the sect. That master guy shoo’ed them off and gave me the most scathing lecture for showing up drunk.”

“You’re not even that bad of a drunk,” I noted, my opinion of the sect cultivators falling even further. Lin was a shy drunk. He got extra quiet, becoming almost completely reclusive unless someone he knew was near. To those he was familiar with, he would open up, to the point of almost becoming clingy. That personality was the only reason we’d been okay with him going drunk and alone in the first place.

Xinya bit her knuckle, clearly thinking hard. Then, she seemed to come to a conclusion. “They don’t seem very nice. I want to see the performance, but we could spend some time with Pollen and Master Kansi, too, right?”

“An interesting choice of partner,” I noted. “I didn’t think you had spent much time with Kansi.”

“She checked in on me while you both were gone in search of the Spirit Callers,” Xinya admitted. “She seems nice enough. You should see her fight! I think she and Pollen and Pharyx are going to do an exhibition fight during the festival! We should definitely go see that!”

“That does seem more enjoyable than the dour cultivators, doesn’t it?”

“My bet is on Pharyx, though.” Xinya suddenly leapt from her seat. “Kansi might be a good swordsman, but did you see Pharyx fighting the Spider Matriarch!”

“I did. I was also in that fight, if you’ll recall.” But she wasn’t listening.

“When he swung his stinger at just the right time! You two gutted her from both sides! IT WAS SO COOL!” Xinya shouted, making Lin flinch.

I couldn’t help but laugh. “I remember, I was there. Kansi is Silver, though. He’ll have his work cut out for him if he wants to take her down.”

“Yeah, but his strength is just so…so…” she frowned, trying to find the right word to describe the hornet queen. “Determined?”

“Well, we’ll have to see the fight, then,” I said. “What else would you like to do?” My disciple had experienced so much loss in the last few months and weeks. First, her father was killed before her eyes, then her adopted aunt died in the same fire that nearly took her life. The way I saw it, she deserved a bit of fun.

Xinya chewed thoughtfully on her knuckle before deciding. “We should go through the markets, too. All the food and candy being prepared looks delicious.”

“Of course.”

Lin frowned, finally joining the conversation. “Xinya, isn’t your birthday soon? I seem to remember seeing that at work.”

“Yes!” she nodded enthusiastically. “It’s actually a week from tomorrow.”

“Well, then we should get something for the occasion!” I said, lifting her by her arms and settling her on my hip. “What do you say we leave Lin to recover and go fetch our festival clothes, hmm? We have a big night ahead of us!”