The atmosphere around Hua Qingzhao and the group of random strangers who came flouncing into Lang Lang's territory was a bit tense to say the least. She could feel multiple eyes on her back, boring more holes into her chest, as she lead them to the town. Despite Zhu'er's insistence that she knew these people and they were mostly decent ("...I don't think I know Ji Ying though," she had said), Hua still felt uneasy with their presence. Especially with the tall one, Liu Xie. Her body still ached from the brief thrashing he had given her and she did not doubt he could do it again. He looked human, but he smelled wrong. There was a whiff of medicine and strange ash. Even glancing at him, regardless of his nice face, made her feel like a cold wind was whistling in her ribs.

The trees thinned a little as they walked. Ahead she could see the wooden walls of the homes on the outskirts. It was mostly the farmers who lived this far from the town proper. The uneven forest ground gradually turned into still somewhat uneven but well trod dirt paths, snaking around fields of frostbitten millet and small yet cozy looking houses. Beyond those they could see the tightly done and utterly disorganized clustering of buildings that made up the town proper.

"Why is there no city wall?" One quiet man, Li Baobao, asked in wary curiosity.

"Lang Lang never felt the need for one to be built, that's what the maze curse is for," Hua Qingzhao answered. "For someone to get here, usually Lang Lang would personally bring them. The maze curse was made to keep unwanted visitors from stumbling in," she glared over her shoulder at the group to make sure they knew they were the unwanted visitors. Besides Zhu'er, who had been brought to the town by Lang Lang in the first place.

"So nobody can leave either, right?" Liu Xie had an irritating way of speaking, she thought. His voice was nice enough, much like his face, but he had no tone to it at all. It was completely neutral, like even sounding vaguely curious was too much effort.

"That's... correct," Hua said through unconsciously gritted teeth. It was true, nobody left Lang Lang's town except for a very select few, and even that was only because they could get through the maze curse. "Lang Lang doesn't see a need for anyone to leave."

"How do people get things then?" Bo, loyally following a step behind Liu Xie, asked.

Hua crossed her arms as she walked, "people make most of what we need in here. Whatever we don't have, Lang Lang goes to get. Sometimes he comes back with more people." The group went around a small enclosure of wood painted with red that was chipping off, the statue of the Black Empress inside a crudely sculpted wooden one dressed in a carefully stitched tiny outfit, a bowl for offerings that stank of alcohol sitting at her feet. Liu Xie had paused at it, "what are you looking at?" Hua asked.

"It's strange to see a shrine this size to the Empress," he said. Then he looked at the little girl in his arms. "Put one of those grasses in the bowl."

"The flower is prettier," she said.

"We need to give the flower to Rui Yifu," Liu Xie shook his head. He bent down so that Zhu'er could carefully place one of the long medicinal grasses into the bowl.

"Some people here have been separated from their ancestors, and since the village moves too much for most earth gods to take notice, at some point people decided to direct their prayers for harvest directly to the Empress herself."

"Hey, bitey sister, do you know if this place has good food?" Bo, who seemed to be partially deaf, spoke loudly.

The yelling woman cultivator, Ji Ying, made a sound that seemed to be between a snort and a disgruntled huff. "Who are you calling a 'bitey sister'?"

"Well not y-"

"You need to be more polite to her! She's way above you!"

"Way above? What does that mean!?"

"Both of you shut up," Liu Xie's voice came through like a knife and Hua Qingzhao was grateful that he stepped in. They had gone past the fields and now entered the town proper, with its crowded buildings. People peered out of the windows or, those going about their day, stopped in their tracks as they noticed the new arrivals. "They're staring at us."

The ghost shrugged, "the only person who brings in new people is Lang Lang. Nobody's seen you before. This is a town that people can come in, but nobody leaves, so I can't very well say that you're just visiting family." Hua straightened up and clasped her long arms behind her back, glancing back at the curious faces. More people started to trickle through the streets, all rather bundled up in the chilly air. She tried to find some sort of statement to encourage everyone to return to their own business but like ducks in a pond with scattered crumbs, dozens of people swept in around them with a hundred questions.

"Who are these people?"

"Did Lang Lang bring them?"

"Why is that tall one holding Zhu'er!? He has a sword! He's dangerous!"

"What are their names?"

"Can you ask them about the Eastern Kingdom? Hey! Hey! Is it true they don't use chairs because they think it's barbaric?"

"Where did they come from?"

"Move," a curt voice spoke, only slightly raising itself above the chatter. The crowd quickly parted to reveal Lin, who had a face of vague concern and yet no surprise at the appearance of the visitors. Hua Qingzhao felt some concern herself seeing Lin's face. Usually his expressions were typically muted, varying between irritation and exhaustion except the times when they shared a room. "Ah, Shayu was right."

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"Who?" Hua asked.

Lin looked up and down the street, still littered with onlookers, "come with me to my clinic. It's better to talk there."

"Why should we trust you?" Ji Ying demanded, "who are you?"

"You don't need to trust me," Lin answered. "I am a doctor. Shayu told me to come find you because he was certain you must have gotten lost." His gaze then turned towards Idony, "how are you feeling Zhu'er?"

"Happy!" She replied, still being held by Liu Xie.

Lin nodded before gesturing for the group to follow him. Hua Qingzhao already had a feeling she knew where he wanted to take him and started walking before everyone else. Ji Ying protested more but eventually relented, bringing up the rear of the group as they quickly moved to the doctor's clinic. But rather than go right inside, Lin dashed ahead to the side of it, reaching a gate that lead straight into the courtyard where its lush silvery green plants covered the walls in their specialized pots and jars, long vines reaching into the very large pond that dominated the courtyard. Near a corner a brazier had been pulled out and was crackling with a lively fire, a strange fishy sweet scent drifting from it.

Inside the pond a large creature swam in slow circles. The pond, built with much smaller fishes in mind, was only big enough for the eel-like large fish to swim in slow circles, its snout nearly touching its tail. Its flesh was a mottled brownish color with silvery stripes, and its gill slits looked mutilated, barely surviving frilly flesh parts still clinging on. "Who is this, Lin?" Hua asked, leaning over slightly to better observe the unsightly beast in the water.

Bo nudged past Hua to look into the water, "oh... wow, Rui is that you?"

"A Shayu," Lin answered.

"That doesn't tell me anything."

"It doesn't need to tell you anything," Lin turned away from her. "I was told that the rest of you have experience with strange white flowers."

"Like this one?" Zhu'er pulled the flower from her basket and held it out to Lin, who snatched it from her hand so fast one of the petals was ripped off. "Oh-!"

Lin turned around and went to the brazier, tossing the flower into it where it rapidly shriveled up and caught flame, adding to the potency of the sweet smell. "Yes, like that one." He looked back over at the group. "Hua, that immortal you ate was infected by a malignant being."

Hua trusted Lin, even if she would occasionally stab at him with her words. So an immediate revulsion built up in her cold stomach.

"However, I don't believe you ate any part of him that was infected," Lin continued. "From what the Shayu told me however, is that you-" he gestured at the group of strangers, "-experienced an altercation with flesh soldiers created using syrup distill from these flowers and corpses."

"That is... correct," Liu Xie agreed, "although calling it an altercation is like calling a war a bar fight."

"It cannot be coincidental that the immortal was infected as well as an entire production facility was standing in a Free City," Lin explained. "As Shayu explained, the source of the facility was a man named Lu Gongqi, who had lost his family to the regular strife that plagues those cities. He had been working under suggestions of a fortune teller. Lang Lang also had a fortune teller visit after the immortal showed up and offered to have him join her."

Liu Xie gently set Zhu'er down on the ground, but still held her small hand in hers. Had Liu Xie not beaten her earlier, she might have found it somewhat endearing. Instead she felt somewhat worried for the child. Such a violent being was unlikely to be a good parent, she thought.

"I found Lu Gongqi," Liu Xie said, "or what's left of him. Those flowers had devoured him, he's nothing but bones by the river."

Lin's red-rimmed eyes widened slightly, "how close to the town? We'll need to burn those quickly before someone stumbles on them. Shayu said he suspects a man named Wang Hu-"

"Wait!" Bo held up one arm to get everyone's attention, then he splashed the pond water. "Hey, you too Rui!"

The eel-like shark lunged briefly up at Bo, splattering water everywhere before submerging again. Idony ran to the side of the pond too, getting on her hands and knees to peer into the water. The shark swam in another circle before its head poked from the water again, moving so that its snout bumped against her forehead. Idony sat back, rubbing the wet spot on her head now and looking very confused. "Why is Uncle Rui a fish?" She asked.

"He's a fish," Bo replied simply, "a very ugly one." With all attention on him, Hua Qingzhao watched as the young man set his face into what she assumed he believed to be an authoritative set with a pursed frown and furrowed brows. "So, here's what I want to say. Li Baobao and I saw Wang Huaqing again!" The shark behind him stopped its slow cyclical movement. "But he wasn't alone." He paused and Hua Qingzhao could smell the abrupt tang of sweat and fear from him. His eyes seemed to lose their focus for a moment, viewing something else before he took a shuddering breath and continued. "There was... I don't even know how to describe it. Something in the river. It looked like a person, but it was shedding skin like it was a damn cicada... it... there was a lot of blood and-"

"It was a pale person," Li Baobao whispered softly. "As pale as moonlight."

"Sounds like an albino," Hua Qingzhao was not sure why an albino would be enough to freak anyone out so much. In fact, she distinctly remembered that some men would pay extra for the experience of being intensely close to one.

"No," Li Baobao muttered. "It was not an albino. It... it was not."

"Li is right, and its eyes. Those weren't human eyes in its skull," Bo whispered, shuddering. "All around it were pieces of flesh falling into the water."

Liu Xie was silent, but there was a touch of worry in his expression. Hua Qingzhao looked back down at Zhu'er who seemed more fascinated with petting the eel shark thing in the water. Moments of silence ticked by, Lin's face locked into one of deep thought as he digested the new information. Hua Qingzhao moved close to him and gently pressed her cold hand against his, glancing over at him.

"...This place is very lovely," Li Baobao broke the silence with his soft voice. "Misfortune has been following us a lot. I think we should leave soon."

"So long as the book brought with him stays, I see nothing wrong with that," Lin said, gesturing to the shark.

Hua Qingzhao shook her head, "leave? Nobody leaves Lang Lang's town. Besides, Zhu'er is a little girl. None of you look particularly capable-" it was a lie, she knew Liu Xie was very capable but did not want to risk the girl's tenuous life. "-and if there's some strange demonic entity shedding its flesh in rivers and making cursed flowers, why should we let you take her along? Lin! You can't just agree with them."

"Sister Hua is right! Why leave this place? It's safe here," the cheery voice had an edge of irritation to it and Hua Qingzhao moved a few steps away from its direction in an obsequious display. Sitting atop the slanted roof of the clinic was Lang Lang, his eyes gold like the sun as it bored down upon the group. His smile widened to display sharp teeth as he leapt downwards, opening up his arms in welcome. "You're welcome to stay, of course! All of you..." then he pointed at Liu Xie, "except you."