Ai Mingxia clutched the now-enchanted Taoyun by her side. When she had tested it extensively an hour prior, it had surprisingly worked as normal and showed no signs of tampering. 

She had received a judgemental look when she had asked for the location of the Layflower, but luckily the man had still told her the address. She had snuck to the cave and managed to chip off a few shards of the rarer sorts of spirit stone without elicting anybody else’s notice, so she hadn’t needed to use any of the weekly allowance of blue spirit stones. A heavy pouch of money hung tied to her waist, enough to help ten courtesans retire and rest for nine lives over. They’d live a life of luxury after this. 

Finally reaching the Layflower, she stared up at the wooden facade. It was tall and well-maintained, a large sign with flowers painted on it advertising their services. 

Hopefully, the courtesans would chalk up Liu Xiuying’s change of character to the passing of time. Swallowing slightly, Ai Mingxia opened the wooden door.

Walking in, she was immediately greeted by a tall, friendly-looking middle-aged lady in orange with a beautifully done face. “A cultivational disciple? You’re usually not the type we get around here…” Her voice trailed off and her eyes widened in surprise. “A-Li?” So Liu Li was Liu Xiuying’s given name.

Ai Mingxia nodded, trying for a smile. “Hello—” She was cut off by a tight hug enveloping her and the sound of the woman’s tinkling laughter.

“Oh, I’ve missed you so! I barely recognized you! I was so worried, but you’ve up and become a cultivational disciple? Oh, I’m so proud of you.” Ai Mingxia felt vaguely suffocated, but it felt … nice. “And I’m so glad you’ve come to visit. Wait here, I’ll call the others. We’ve all missed you, so, so much!” Letting go, she gave Ai Mingxia a bright smile and disappeared upstairs. 

A few seconds later, Ai Mingxia was swarmed by a crowd of ladies, a rainbow of colour, all gushing over her and pinning ornaments into her hair. 

“I’m so glad you’ve come to visit, A-Li! And what a swanky spear and nice robes you’ve gotten,” a yellow-garbed woman greeted admiringly, hands lingering on Ai Mingxia’s blue uniform. “It looks beautiful on you, dear!” Before Ai Mingxia could try for answer, she was interrupted yet again.

“Oh, A-Li, we’re so glad you’ve come back. We missed you so dearly,” a shorter one clad in purple crooned. “After that horrid, horrid man —”

She was shushed by an older-looking lady in red, who looked towards Ai Mingxia and the woman in orange. “Aiya, don’t bring that up! A-Li, Lai Hong, dears, ignore her.”

“No, it’s alright, really,” Ai Mingxia replied, attemping to be reassuring. “Um. I’m here to help you rest and retire. I have money now, a lot of it, and —”

She didn’t get to finish her sentence before the first lady — Lai Hong — squealing in joy, tackled her into a hug. “Oh, A-Li, thank you so much, dearie! You really shouldn’t have.”

Another woman was in tears, clutching at Ai Mingxia’s uniform gratefully. “A-Li, I really thought you had forgotten! Not that I would blame you, of course, considering, well… But thank you so much!” Ai Mingxia had figured Liu Xiuying had just wanted to reward her saviours with early, happy retirement, but it seemed there had been a promise as well.

Each lady thanked Ai Mingxia profusely as she doled out the money equally, enough to buy each their retirement and a wealthy life afterwards. 

Tears at the corner of her eyes, Lai Hong gave Ai Mingxia a wan smile. “Thank you so much, A-Li. Like always, if the cultivation thing doesn’t work out, we’ll always be there for you. We love you, you know?”

Ai Mingxia tried to smile. Instead, she felt queasy. This… the moment should be heartwarming, and it certainly was for the ladies in front of her, but… It wasn’t the one they had been missing standing before them. Ai Mingxia felt nothing, and she so desperately wished she did. She swallowed, lips feeling dry. Why couldn’t have Liu Xiuying done this herself? It wasn’t as though she couldn’t have sacrificed some qi progression in exchange for being able to see the happy looks on the faces of the ladies she held so dearly. “I love all of you too.” Even to her, the words sounded faltering.

“Well, we’ll be packing up our things now! You don’t have to stay, A-Li, I know you’re probably busy doing whatever cultivators do,” the purple-clad lady said, winking. “We’d love it, of course, but we wouldn’t want to impose.”
“But please visit us even if everything is going well!” The red-clad woman cut in, clutching at Ai Mingxia’s hands earnestly again. “It’s been so long, and we’ll always love to listen to you!”

Ai Mingxia wouldn’t. Even if it were to spare their feelings, she didn’t think she could. Still, she summoned the brightest smile she could muster to her face. “I’ll try.”

She left normally. As as soon as she did, she bolted away despite herself and only stopped by almost ramming straight into a wall. That was by far the easiest task she’d ever had to do and the smoothest things had gone since she’d gotten here … Yet why was her heart pounding in her chest? Why was sweat beading on her forehead, cold and clammy?

She sighed. After making sure nobody was paying attention to her, she discreetly pulled her sleeve up to catch a glimpse at her wrist. The rot had grown a surprising amount the last night, even more than the first day. She still hadn’t figured out why the rate of growth was so strange, but it had worried her. Perhaps it was because of the spar? She hadn’t been that much more active that day than other ones, but it was still a possibility.

Feeling downcast, she trailed towards the patrol station. Before she had gone to visit the Layflower, she had told them about the traffickers. Since the presumed only cultivator was now dead, the warehouse shouldn’t be guarded anymore. Because she was a cultivational disciple, they had listened to her blindly, even when she made the frankly ludicrous request for them to bring the captured traffickers to her and into her custody.

But could they even find them?

Who was she kidding? The remaining traffickers had probably done a runner with their ‘wares’ as soon as they had realised that the green-clad cultivator had died to a stab wound, understanding that there was someone who could bypass the array after them. Somebody dangerous. It’d already been four days.

Ai Mingxia had failed. Miserably. She should’ve chopped her arms off, should’ve seen it coming, should’ve dodged, should’ve been better. Perhaps she’d already lost all her chances at survival because the woman had killed herself, and this was all for nothing.

But she’d grasped at chances for an eternity, and even if the world was pushing her back and the rot turning her lungs to dust, she wouldn’t stop. Through raging tempests and scorching drought, through freezing bloodbaths and shaking earth… She’d never stopped trying. 

The guards on duty checked her over before letting her into the patrolling station, suitably wary of her. Sitting herself down, she nodded respectfully. “Have you been able to find them?”

The woman clad in shining armour with a high ponytail answered professionally, “Yes, they’re being held in the holding cells. We must thank you for your help, disciple. We might not have been able to root them out without you. Their victims have already been freed and handed to your sect. To my chagrin, I realise I never learnt your name…?”

“I’d rather not say,” Ai Mingxia replied, keeping the same level tone. “But thank you for your collaboration.” They’d really been able to find the traffickers? She’d believe it when she saw it. If they had captured some random citizens to gain favour with her and thus the rest of Yue Ning Peak … 

The captain nodded. “I respect your wish.” She handed Ai Mingxia a key and stayed silent as Ai Mingxia stood up.

She made sure to keep her ears peeled as she opened the door and walked into the corridor leading to the holding cells, spear at the ready. The captain had been nothing but professional and respectful as far … But it wasn’t good to trust blindly. And everything had been going too smoothly so far and fate never truly favoured her.

The corridor was clean, but the holding cells were dingy. All were empty except for the last: three people slumped against each other, eyes closed. Comatose but still breathing. It was strange… their breaths were peaceful and not laboured as they tended to be after being knocked out. Ai Mingxia narrowed her eyes and focused hard. Faintly, she could sense small whispers of qi. A cultivational spell…! If they had been sent into this state four days before, then that would explain why the guards had managed to catch them.

Perhaps the green-clad woman had done it. But… why?

It didn’t matter. First, she had to make sure these were indeed the correct people. 

The second was shorter, with darker skin, short black hair, and a scar over his right eye. The third was of average height, with no discernable features, and was often referred to as 'Xiao Bai'. The fourth was very tall, though not as tall as the green-clad woman, and had brown, sun-bleached hair.

The descriptions were sparse and not particularly special, the cultivator aside.

The one at the bottom was indeed tall, with long brown hair. However, it wasn’t quite ‘sun-bleached’, but perhaps Liu Xiuying just had a different perception of that. The second did have a scar over his right eye, with an average skin tone. Ai Mingxia hadn’t managed to catch how dark-skinned the green-clad woman had been in the dark of the night, but cultivators did tend to be on the paler side compared to the ordinary folk. He was definitely shorter than she had been. The last was of an average height, but who knew whether he was ‘Xiao Bai’ or not? 

Even though everything confirmable seemed to match up, there was the matter of the scar on the right eye potentially being faked. Ai Mingxia couldn’t shake the feeling that this was a trick. The guards probably hadn’t lied, but the cultivator could’ve left these people behind as insurance. 

Ai Mingxia turned the key in. Even if they weren’t the right people, they couldn’t get the jump on her like this. Perhaps she could manage to wake them up this way. She could tell the qi was but a shadow of its former self, still lingering but not quite as effective anymore. Perhaps they’d wake up soon.

Or maybe she should just kill them anyway and keep on searching. Hope it really was them. It was just three people added to the countless pile behind her she’d sent to their graves. She should. She really should. 

Yet … 

It didn’t matter. This was the best way.

Ai Mingxia fixated her eyes on them, ignoring the memories, ignoring the rattle against ruined throat echoing in her ears. 

She killed them swiftly. Mercifully. They didn’t even twitch.

As she began the long trek back up the mountain, a small boy approached her, ignoring the slight splotch of blood staining her uniform. “Missus, missus, do you have any coins to spare?”

Ai Mingxia turned towards him. He looked unassuming. Ordinary. Poor. Scratches and nicks littered his arms. Scruffy, messy black hair. Like him.

She gave all the remaining coins she had to him. He beamed and waved happily as he ran down the mountain, swinging the pouch in the air. “Thank you, missus!”

Ai Mingxia almost smiled.

No. 

She didn’t deserve to. There was no amount of atonement that could even begin to erase the trail of blood and bones she’d left behind her. She’d tried to be kind before, but in the end, she’d ended up broken so many times she’d decided it wasn’t worth it, and there was no turning back now. 

Ai Mingxia didn’t live for happiness. She was something born of revenge, of frigid vengeance, and nothing would ever change that. 

Everything she’d done proved it.

Well, homegirl's being efficient!