“Do you desire revenge?”

Asked Bai Lianfei abruptly.

This wasn’t entirely unfamiliar to Zhanzhan. During their over two-month-long journey north, her master would usually meditate. However, from time to time, she’d come back to reality, and ask all kinds of weird questions all of a sudden.

“Against Wuyun sect, my lady?”

“Correct.”

The day Chenfei was attacked was easily the most traumatic event in catgirl’s otherwise rather easy-going and carefree life. Many good people lost their lives there, and all of that…for….

“Of course I hate them! But I don’t understand why they did that in the first place. What did our small village do to warrant the attack?”

“Probably…” Bai Lianfei started, looking beyond the window of the carriage, gazing upon seemingly never-ending evergreen forests and mountain peaks as far as the horizon “Probably nothing. Sometimes you can live your life to the best of your ability, and misfortune will find you anyway.”

Zhanzhan thought about it for a moment, but it still made no sense to her.

“Villains should be punished! Then they will think twice before doing bad things again.”

Bai Lianfei nodded.
Although as usual, there was not a shadow of emotion on her face, Zhanzhan learned to discern whether she’s approving or disapproving of something from the most subtle hints, such as a twitch of an eyebrow or the size of the pupil. And right now, lady Bai was most certainly fond of the catgirl’s answer.

“And why is that people do evil?”

“It’s because…” Zhanzhan started quickly, but stopped herself mid-sentence, realizing that this question is of higher difficulty than anticipated. However, after pondering the matter for a while, she finally continued.

“I don’t know, to be honest.”

To this, Bai Lianfei responded with a terrible coughing fit, most likely a mediocre attempt to disguise laughter. This was the third, or perhaps the fourth time this happened, and thus it begged a question…

“Miss Bai, why won’t you let yourself laugh?” Asked Zhanzhan, concern painted on her face.

A look of shock, anger…fear?…flashed through her master’s face, before defaulting to the usual neutral expression. This was most surprising because, in Zhanzhan’s mind, such a composed person shouldn’t be afraid of anything. She didn’t show an ounce of fear when fighting in the martial tournament, and she fought during the battle so bravely!

…then why, now?

“I have no reason to smile yet.”

…….

And then, at the end of October 103 of the Changan era, they finally reached their destination.

The town of Yafan. Nothing more than a large village by standards of the lowlands; a huge metropolis from the perspective of the north; it was an ancient settlement, founded many centuries ago, before the age of sects, before even the age of kings and emperors.

Even though the climate of the North is cold and inhospitable, Yafan stood proud all this time and was universally considered a cultural and historic capital of the region. It was also a major stop along the trading route that connected the middle kingdom with faraway western lands, and it profited from the cultural exchange with the foreigners.

All kinds of exotic trade goods, plants, diverse architectural styles, and fashion styles converged in this cultural melting pot. Supposedly, its famous library even had books written in foreign languages!

As their carriage was driving down the busy main street, Zhanzhan noticed a heavily animalized group of sheep-type yaren hanging around one of the cloth stalls.

‘Annu’s relatives, huh’ though the catgirl, and her thoughts drifted to her friends who left Chenfei the day before the faithful battle. It’s been three months since then. Did they reach their destination?
There is no way of knowing….they were decided deceased in the aftermath of the fighting, and Zhanzhan didn’t mention a word about their real whereabouts.

…Mostly because a lot of supplies they took were stolen from the servant’s warehouse, with Zhanzhan’s help, and she would most likely be punished for it if the word about her involvement in that got out. Besides, if Annu and Fengli ever come back, they probably won’t be allowed to become servants ever again anyway, so they might as well be considered deceased.

Still, Annu’s family was probably worried sick. The news of the Incident in Chenfei swept throughout the North like a wildfire. Zhanzhan resolved herself to find the prominent sheepfolk family, and tell them their son is actually fine. Ah, it would be so much easier if yaren were allowed to have proper surnames!

Still, Annu told her, that if she ever saw heavily inbred sheep person in Yafan, it’s almost certainly one of his relatives. Following this trail, finding his parents should be…easy? Hopefully?

The catgirl sighed. But that’s a quest for tomorrow anyway.

Right now, she was on her way to the headquarters of Songshu sect, to meet Yao Erzhan, the local grandmaster. As Bai Lianfei’s official personal attendant, Zhanzhan was supposed to accompany her during all such meetings.

“What’s reincarnation?” asked Bai Lianfei out of the blue.

“Reincarnation is…” Zhanzhan pondered for a while and then finally answered, carefully selecting her words “when a human soul gets reborn in another body after death?”

Bai Lianfei nodded but didn’t say anything else. This was rather uncharacteristic of her, as these questions of hers were usually an invitation to dropping a long educational sermon on her cat-eared attendant.

What could be the matter here?

…….

Finally, they arrived in the inner pavilion of Songshu. A small pond, and a couple of pine trees, and countless conifer shrubs surrounded them. These plants would stay green even in winter, and they were an obvious choice in a cold, northern climate. Even though it was still Autumn, Zhanzhan was told it wasn’t rare for the first snows to appear around this time of the year, and she hoped her pay involved getting warm clothing soon.

Their host awaited them, sitting over a small table, with a tea set and pastry already prepared to treat his guests.

Yao Erzhan was a tall man, seemingly in his mid 30’s, but according to everything Zhanzhan was told about him, he should be at least a decade older than that. His facial features were uncannily symmetrical and unblemished by moles, wrinkles, or even a hint of facial hair. His chestnut hair, a color common to humans of the north, was tied up neatly in a bun, a hairstyle typical for most sect students and officials.

He was, in many ways, a model cultivator, but this perfection was so unnatural, it made every single of her cat instincts give her a warning- this man was dangerous, and should not be underestimated!

And, next to him was…

“Wang Shunji!” exclaimed Zhanzhan, and pointed her finger at the teenager sitting Yao Erzhan’s right.

But wait…his hair was uncharacteristically well maintained, and there were no white stands in it. He was wearing Songshu robes, and most importantly, the chair he was resting on was a regular one, not the wheeled variant.

Thus, it was…

“Wrong..?” asked Zhanzhan, and felt color quickly come to her face, then leave her face at an even faster pace, having realized what a blunder she committed.

However, the young man just laughed and bowed gently.

“You must have met my younger brother. We are twins, so I don’t blame you for confusing me for him.” He bowed again and introduced himself “My name is Wang Shunhu, I am his twin brother. I apologize for any inconvenience my sibling might have caused back at Shuangshan…”

Although this last sentence was clearly directed at Bai Lianfei, Zhanzhan couldn’t help but blush, having never been treated in such gentlemanly fashion by a handsome human cultivator of the opposite gender.
Fortunately, no one seemed to mind her, and the leaders of twin hills and pine tree sects quickly moved to discuss the matter at hand.

“….the assembly will begin tomorrow. Your summons were spectacularly successful…all the masters of the north either arrived personally or send their representatives to attend in their name.”

“It’s no wonder…” started Bai Lianfei, a fake smile adorning her face. “The accursed Wuyun sect generated a lot of grief and scorn ever since Bai Zihan became a self-styled ‘Supreme Leader’ three decades ago.”

A scornful expression replaced the fake smile. Did Bai Lianfei really hate Wuyun sect so much?

…makes sense. They killed so many innocent people in Chenfei! Zhanzhan resolved herself to live up to the expectation, and to hate the black cloud even harder than she did already, not to fail the perceived expectations of such a splendid master.

“I know you hate your aunt…But your personal feelings must not get in the way. We must convince the assembly that this is a righteous war, fought not just for emotional reasons, but for the greater good of all the middle kingdom.”

Yao Erzhan’s voice was soft, in stark opposition to Zhanzhan’s own thoughts. Aunt? War? There’s gonna be a war?

“It will also be difficult to convince some of the more orthodox masters of using that…”

“If we can convince them that war is in their best interest, we don’t need to reveal all our ace cards before the time is high to utilize them….”

And so, the cryptic conversation continued, and Zhanzhan was feeling left out, confused, and pretty stupid. This was further accented by the fact that Wang Shunhu seemed to be following everything flawlessly, and nodding every now and again.

Since no one seemed interested in treating themselves to the tea and sweet bread, she took the liberty of pouring herself some and munching on pastry in the meantime.

The leaders talked for almost an hour. When they were finished, Zhanzhan was exhausted both physically and mentally and wished for nothing but to go have a cat nap - especially since they didn’t rest once after their long journey. A bed! A proper bed, that’s what she needed.

…After all, there didn’t seem to be any wide oak branches growing in this town. Apparently, since oaks tend to lose their leaves during winter, they and other trees of their type weren’t welcome around here. They were considered ugly for one-third of the year, and cleaning the fallen leaves was apparently seen as a pointless chore, a well.

“So where to now?” asked Zhanzhan casually, after they left the Songshu pavilion behind.

“You are my personal maid…so you will rest at my personal mansion, located a distance away from the town.”

Personal mansion? She will get to sleep in such a luxurious place?

Zhanzhan couldn’t believe her luck, and jumped up enthusiastically, her tail wagging in anticipation and excitement. Bai Lianfei took note of her enthusiasm, and her eyes sparkled for a split second, before returning to the usual dead fish expression.

“While we’re on our way there, let’s return to the conversation we had before…”

“…?”

“About reincarnation. There is a reason why I asked you about that.”

“….!?!”

“*sigh* Well, what is your opinion about master Yao Erzhan?”

“He’s…uhhh….handsome, but dangerous?” asked Zhanzhan, not sure if she’s not crossing a line here. However, she knew that her master values honesty over superficial politeness.

“That’s right. Dangerous. Capable. Knowledgeable…..Handsome.” Bai Lianfei grimaced uttering that last word and took a short break before continuing. “These are some of the many words and titles that people use to describe him. However, few knew the reason for that…”

Zhanzhan took a wild guess, not at all afraid of sounding stupid, because she was pretty sure everyone considered her an idiot already anyway “….Reincarnation, madam?”

“Yes, exactly that” Bai Lianfei sighed again, and continued “At some point during his teen years, this man gradually regained the memories of his past life. All the knowledge, all the skill of past lifespan…added to his already formidable arsenal…allowed him to climb to the top of his sect quickly, and become one of the most powerful cultivators alive.”

The catgirl didn’t know what to say to that, so she went quiet, and waited for further explanation. However, none came, and thus, she took the initiative and asked:

“Is he an ally or an enemy?”

“The enemy of my enemy is my friend….” Bai Lianfei quoted the famous military maxim “but we should be wary of him and his sect….”

So Wuyun weren’t the only opponents!?

Zhanzhan was grateful for getting to sleep in a mansion, but getting involved in all these political conflicts was slowly but steadily becoming more than her 14-year-old feline brain could possibly handle!