I walk through the hallways with my hand on the hilt of my sword, keeping The Movements of The Silent Monster active. The occasional creaking of floorboards alert me to the passing of mortals, and my qi brushes against the qi of cultivators more than once.
Matu’s unique spirit leads me to a room with faint whispering coming from it.
I knock once, before entering. A woman of the same age and with the same dark skin as Matu stands up, her silk dress flowing with her movement.. A dagger appears in her hand as she stares at me in surprise and her qi fluctuates slightly, revealing her as a cultivator.
Matu turns around a second later, equally surprised by my entrance.
“Jia? What are you doing here?” Matu asks, obviously caught off guard by my presence.
“Do you know where Tun’Lun is?” I ask immediately, not wanting to waste any time. Someone from the caravan is still alive, I can’t leave them to whatever torture Doma might put them through.
“Tun-” Matu stops, looking between the other woman and I before sighing. “Sia Lantu, this is the girl I found on my way here. Jia Lin, this is the first daughter of the Lantu family, Sia Lantu.”
“So you are the girl seeking the protection of my family.” The woman says, her dagger disappearing into her dress.
I put my fist to my palm and bow. “I am Jia Lin, core disciple of the Flowing Rivers Sect.” I reply properly. Etiquette is never to be ignored. “I’m afraid that I no longer desire your protection, seeing as it means so little.” I finish, standing up straight
Sia Lantu frowns, “What do you mean by that?”
“Someone tried to assassinate me in the room I was resting in.” I respond, frustration leaking into my voice.
Sia Lantu looks taken aback, pausing as she considers how to respond to that.
“Matu.” I continue, not waiting for her response. “Do you know where Tun’Lun is?”
Matu glances at Sia, before looking back at me. “It’s best if you don’t try to go there. It would only mean death for you.”
My eyes narrow as a realization comes over me. I see what my life would be If I were to stay here, my life would be in servitude to the Lantu family. Even if I somehow managed to convince them to help my sect, it would likely take years.
I bow to Matu. “Thank you for all the help you’ve given me. But I must leave now.”
I turn around, walking to the door.
“It's an old mining town, a three day ride on horseback back the way you came. It’s in the middle of Doma’s territory.” To my surprise, it’s Sia Lantu that speaks up “I’ll lend you a horse for the trip.”
I turn back around to look at them.
“Sia-” Matu starts, but Sia Lantu holds her hand up stopping him.
“Don’t forget the kindness of the Lantu family when you return to your sect.”
“I won’t.”
Matu leads me to the stable, bringing out one of the horses.
I mount the horse carefully, getting my bearings. The suddenness of my last ride had caught me off guard.
But this time, I give myself a moment to remember all of the lessons from before I joined the sect. My mother was quite the rider, if I remember correctly.
Thankfully, the horse is a docile one, easily responding to my movements and understanding of the small mistakes I make.
“Are you sure about this?” Shia asks, as I set out at a light trot.
I take a moment to respond to Shia, pretending to focus on the road. “If someone is alive, I have to find them. I have nothing to offer the Lantu family for their help, and I know what happens when you put yourself into debt with a noble family.”
“You go towards your own death, little one. You are not strong enough to go against the cultivators that even your master lost to.”
Shia’s words hit me hard. I know them to be true, but I’d been trying not to think too hard about who’s territory I’m walking into.
“My illusions are convincing enough to fool Elder Tai Qiu. As long as they don’t recognize the illusions of death, they won’t escape them.” I speak with more confidence than I feel.
We ride in silence as I ponder my choice, my thoughts in turmoil.
The murderess’s words keep echoing through my mind.
“Do not fear death. Do not fear the sword that brings it. It’s the fear, not the sword, that will truly kill you in the end.”
I speak my thoughts to Shia, the words bringing realization to me as I speak them. They come out with confidence, an expression of my true self. “If I turned back because I feared death. I would lose who I am. I have to continue on, because I can’t let my fear rule me.”
Laughter echoes from Shia, strange in it’s tone. She slithers excitedly around my waist and up my chest. “Now you speak like a predator, and not like a prey.”
Her words ignite a fire in my stomach and I can’t help the small smile that plays at my lips.
The first day passes without incident. On the second day, we start passing the occasional patrol of Doma’s men.
I hum softly, working an illusion to hide myself from their sight. The small suggestion seems to work even on the occasional cultivator that passes with the patrols, although none of them are at the level of the Elders of the sect.
By the third day, the patrols get to common and I decide to leave the horse. It happily wanders back down the road towards the city where Matu and the Lantu family are.
I continue on foot. Shia is able to give me some warning before I meet the patrols of men and The Movements of The Silent Monster combined with the small illusion created by my humming keep them from noticing the lone girl walking towards their camp.
On the evening of the third day, I crest over a hill and look upon a military outpost surrounding a mining village. Wooden palisades surround the village, with sentries stationed along their length. A ten meter length around the palisades has been cleared of forest to allow the sentries view of anyone approaching. A rider gallops out of the village, leaving through a wooden gate that is opened specifically for him.
I study it for a moment longer, noticing the strange spirit coming from the village.
I step forward.
“Wait.” Shia stops me in my tracks as I hold still, my body tense.
She slithers down my arm, lifting her head above my hand to study the village.
“A barrier surrounds the town, meant to detect cultivators not attuned to it. Match your qi to mine so that we can pass through.”
“How’d you see it?” I ask, as I feel the change in her qi and match mine to it.
“There’s a reason that no one we’ve met has been able to sense me, little one.”
I realize that she avoided the question, but let it go in favor of walking forward towards the village.
The sensation of the barrier passing over me is strange, almost like a liquid flowing over my skin.
I shiver once I reach the other side.
“I realized something, Shia.” I say as I approach the village, the world slowly getting darker with the end of the day. “I have no idea what I should do next.”
“Hmm. Took you long enough to realize it.”
“Maybe a distraction would work. I could sneak through the gate while they’re distracted with an illusion.” I say, stopping just before the ten meters of cleared area in front of the palisades.
“As soon as they realize you use illusions, you lose your advantage.”
A man travels along the edges of the palisade, lighting torches.
I pull my flute from its pocket in my robe. “If- if I let them capture me, could you rescue me?”
A snake tail flies out, hitting me on the head. I touch the spot, more from annoyance than pain.
“Of course not. We have no idea what kind of cultivators are protecting their prisoners. Trust in your abilities, little one. Use illusions in such a way that they never even realize they were tricked.”
I take a deep breath as I stare out at the distance separating myself from the gate and the palisade.
I put the flute to my mouth, hoping that something will come to me.
As I play, a man in red appears in front of me, and soldiers surround me. The men that I killed with the sixth requiem and the cultivator in red that broke free.
To my surprise, the cultivator in red’s appearance changes slightly, taking on the form of the warrior from the First Requiem.
I nearly stop my music at the sight of him. Instead I just put my flute back into my robe and start humming to hold the illusion together. Notes come to me as I hum, the song taking on a life of its own as the warrior of the First Requiem smiles and the illusionary soldiers tie my wrists with rope.
We walk out of the forest towards the gate, the warrior of the First Requiem walking calmly in his red robes to the gate of the village as I hum as softly as I can, trying to hide the qi I am using for the illusion.
“Who goes there?” The sentry calls out to our group.
“I have urgent business.” The First Requiem warrior’s voice is rough and filled with irritation. He leaks an aura that makes me pale with the qi it takes from me to hold it together. Thankfully, he only leaks his aura for a moment. “Don’t irritate me right now.”
I didn’t make him do any of those things. He spoke on his own and used my qi on his own. I have the ability to stop him if I truly want to, but I decide to let him act on his own.
“O-of course.” The sentries voice stutters with fear from the brief showing of aura. The gate slowly opens and we enter.
We walk through, only to be greeted by the lone sentry. “I-I can get the commander, sir cultivator-”
“That won’t be needed. Return to your post.” The First Requiem warrior’s voice allows no argument.
The sentry hurries back to his spot looking over the gate.
The soldiers and the Requiem warrior lead me towards the village. As soon as we’re out of sight of the sentry I stop the illusion. The warrior lingers for a moment, smiling at me before he disappears.
I hurry behind a building, sliding against a wall as I focus on regaining my qi.
“Shia.” I call to her as she leaves my robes to slither across the ground. “Can you find whoever it is that they are keeping here? You’ll be able to search the camp easier than I can.”
“I will search. Keep in mind, little one, we only have so long before that man questions where the strange cultivator and his men went. “
I nod. “Hurry, please.”
I watch Shia for as long as I can before she disappears from sight.
It seems that all the men and women of my illusions are more than they seem. When all of this is over, I’ll have to speak to Teng Zhu about it.
I close my eyes, meditating, settling my qi and cultivation in preparation for whatever is coming next.
