Bianca found that as she went further on this path, the trees around her grew dry and lifeless, with fewer and fewer leaves on their branches. It was as if the world around her was dying, though the grass still seemed to be fine.

‘This is… ominous, to say the least, but at least it doesn’t seem like any of this is harming me, and that it isn’t the land as a whole that’s dried up,’ she thought as she felt the urge to touch one of the ghostly flames and see what it would do to her. However, she had enough sense to avoid doing something this insane, as it was likely that even if the ghostflame wasn’t an actual fire – it wasn’t very warm, that was clear – it might have the same effect upon her as it might have had upon the trees, draining her in some way.

Whether it would kill the cells in her body or somehow drain her lifespan, however that would work, she preferred not to find out.

The sun set and the world grew even darker, but the few lights that continued floating all around her revealed the parting of the woods into a large open region, with a large structure at the centre and two smaller ones on either side, all joined by narrow paths to a central plaza to which the path she was walking along led.

She could see no hints of occupancy in any of the structures save for the larger one ahead of her, one that almost resembled a North Antanian temple with its unique architecture and design. North Antania – the original name of which could be translated literally to ‘Moon’, though none used that name any longer – had a particular set of customs relating to temples and prayer, though all Bianca knew about it was that the shrine maiden garb could look quite cute if altered just a little.

‘I feel like someone is watching me… Wait, over in the main building...’

Using the Demonic Tyrant, she directed planar energy to her eyes to clarify her sight a little, and saw a figure sitting at the front of the temple, though perhaps lounging or reclining might be a better term.

This figure – a woman, as far as she could tell – lay on her side, a hand propping up her head, and, as strange as it seemed, two cat or fox-like ears stuck out of her white hair. She was staring right at Bianca, though it felt as if her gaze had been on her from the moment she entered the region with the ghostly flames, which shouldn’t have been possible.

‘Then again, planar energy and spiritual perception seem to lead to nothing more than strange, impossible stuff, so maybe this is normal…’

“You, who has entered my grove. Who are you, and what is your purpose in invading my domain?”

The voice was strangely loud yet subdued, as if the woman was speaking right into her ears despite being such a great distance away. At the same time, it was powerful and intimidating, as if she was being spoken down to by some great being that she could barely comprehend.

It was an unusual feeling, to be sure, but more than anything, it made her question how much of this was just an impression, and how much of it was the result of a technique or skill. If it was the latter, then it might well indicate that she was dealing with someone really, really dangerous. Supposedly, those in the higher realms could devastate entire mountains with little effort, so if she somehow ran into a person like that, she might be one poor judgement away from joining Old Man Song in whatever afterlife this world had.

“I…” she hesitated for a moment, as she had another opportunity to present herself anew.

She could go with her previous strategy of pretending to be an amnesiac – a partial one, now that she knew some more about the world and planar energy – or she could attempt to do something new, like…

‘Ah, fuck it. I don’t have any better option, and if she does ever learn about Xi Village and the… incident, I will clearly become a liar in her eyes…’ Bianca swallowed and took a step forward, “My name is Bianca, and I’m sorry for, uh, invading your home. I didn’t mean to invade anything, I just… I don’t really know the area. In fact, I barely remember anything about my life.”

“Oh? You’re being awfully open to a stranger… Bianca. Interesting pronunciation, too…”

The woman shut her black eyes, seeming to be in deep thought for a while. Despite that, the feeling of her gaze somehow remained on Bianca, preventing her from making any sudden movements just in case she gave off the wrong impression.

“Well, you appear to be harmless for now, so I shall not punish you just yet. Since you have given me your name, I shall give you mine as well, though if your claims are true, you will get little from it,” the woman sat up, crossing her legs and straightening her back, “My name is Xue Yaling, and this is my home.”

Her new position let her loose dress – not entirely unlike the garb of a shrine maiden, now that Bianca gave it another thought – reveal a little more of her figure, most notably her decently sized chest, a snow-white tail that slowly waved back and forth behind her, and the fact that she appeared to be on the shorter side, perhaps around ten centimetres shorter than Bianca. Altogether, she didn’t seem as scary as she seemed at first, though that didn’t mean that she couldn’t be rather dangerous if provoked.

“Hello… You wouldn’t have some spare space around here, would you?”

“Just arrived, and already you beg for aid? Alas, I can guess at your predicament. With energy like that, you cannot be especially popular among the people of the Eastern Continent, especially not near so many righteous sects… Be frank with me, girl. What have you done to force you into exile?”

‘Fuck, she’s awfully close to the truth… But she should just be guessing. There’s a miniscule chance that she actually knows everything about me, so as long as I just remain vaguely calm, she shouldn’t realise anything,’ Bianca was aware that her control over her facial expressions wasn’t especially good, but luckily for her, a display of worry would be expected regardless of the truth.

In the moment of quiet, Xue Yaling tilted her head a little, her dark eyes almost seeming to pierce Bianca’s skin with their intensity.

“There was a bit of an… accident. I hurt someone when I didn’t mean to. I fled, and…” she bit her lip and considered the best way to continue, trying to guess what this fox woman might be interested in, “… I doubt anyone there will even remember me by now. Besides, I ran so far…”

She was hoping that Xue Yaling wasn’t too interested in getting her home invaded by someone seeking to claim her head – she didn’t expect anyone aside from Song Ming to be interested in pursuing her, and she was hoping that she wouldn’t waste her energy on that, but explaining it to Xue Yaling would be a tad tedious and unhelpful to her – and so attempted to reassure her that no such force would be coming.

Ideally, she would just present herself as an innocent girl that made a small, insignificant mistake that could be disregarded completely. To have a home in peace and quiet would be nice, and seeing as this woman somehow survived without any other visible inhabitants, she was clearly able to manage food and the like.

“I see. Good to know, Bianca. Provided you speak the truth, you do have leave to remain. See, this place is rather empty most of the time, and I could do with another’s company…” she smiled in a strange manner, as if implying something, but Bianca was reluctant to consider any such implications, “I will say that I wish to study your energy, if you are ignorant of it, for it seems to offer quite a few possibilities. Also, should you show yourself to be an unreliable and suspicious person, I shall have no reluctance in surrendering you to whichever sect shows up pining for your decapitated head.”

“Sects? Do… do they know you’re just sitting around here? Wouldn’t they want to hold these lands?”

“Not at all. The sects only have so many forces and so much strength. Holding on to excess territories would be inefficient and, frankly, wasteful. However, they also do not want the lands to be left untended, such as the lands between the districts in the Western Continent. Truly, that those lands fell apart so quickly say much about the poor management of Yi City… but I digress. It is better to have someone watch the lands than none, and I do exactly that.”

“So, they’ve asked you to do this?”

Xue Yaling sighed and shook her head, “Bianca, are you so silly as to see everything in literal terms only? I reside here, and I will naturally keep the place free of planar beasts and what not. Therefore, this place is free of risk to the surrounding sects, and Long Shiyi’s warband, and they need not waste their time with it. Do you understand?”

“I... I think I do,” she nodded, feeling as if she’d returned to Orbis and was being lectured by her mother, “My presence shouldn’t cause any problems, right?”

“Unless you are a villain that earns their ire, no. I truly hope you are not one such person, as you might implicate me in the process…” the fox woman shrugged and leaned back, looking up at the ceiling, “Well, interesting as your energy is, you are a first realm cultivator, and your body doesn’t seem to have a physique of note… It’s unlikely that you would have earned the attention of any of the sects. Unless you have something to tell me, I shall cease with my meandering chatter and welcome you in.”

‘Welcome me in? What is she…’

The fox woman got up and patted some dust off her knee-high skirt and curtsied with a smile, “Welcome to my grove, the ghostflame forest. I watch over it, and I reside here. If you would take one of the many empty beds, do not expect to be in solitude, and make sure to contribute to my goals… in whatever ways you can.”

Again, there was a change of tone by the end of her last sentence, suggesting a certain interest that Bianca was a little too afraid to entertain. However, it was impossible for her to deny that she did find Xue Yaling rather attractive, even though she could only get a general idea of most of her body.

She had pale skin and a lithe form, though both her breasts and hips were above average, making them rather prominent on her smaller body. Her long white hair was thick, with symmetrical bangs on the front that framed her facial features, while the rest reached her shoulders. From a distance, it seemed a little like fur, blending with the fur on her ears seamlessly. At least her tail was unmistakably furry and fluffy, doubtlessly soft and comfortable to snuggle with after a long day’s work…

‘Wait, stop that! Not only do I still have Song Ming to consider, but this woman might not have any good intentions towards me. If I just let her walk over me – not necessarily figuratively – things might not end well for me,’ Bianca tried to contain herself and her wandering eyes, before she started trying to imagine what lay beneath the fox woman’s clothing.

She was already doing that a little bit though it had yet to reach anything explicit, and it was very, very important that she didn’t start now, as she wouldn’t be able to stop any time soon.

“I will certainly try, Xue Yaling… Can I ask some questions, though?”

“Certainly, though you ought not expect many answers in regards to things I do not wish to speak of.”

“Alright…”

While Bianca tried to think of some decent questions, and on how to word them in the best manner, Xue Yaling moved closer, stepping down from the elevated floor of the temple and striding towards her at a slow pace. Her hips swayed in a rather exaggerated manner, with her fluffy tail swaying even more, providing quite the distractions for Bianca’s mind.

It was only when the fox woman was close enough for an ordinary conversation that she finally had something to say.

“What… what are you, exactly?”

Xue Yaling’s tail and ears perked up in shock, “Is that what I get for welcoming you into my domain? Am I being spoken to as if I am some unknown beast? Is there reason for you to keep proclaiming your ignorance, unless… would you truly have me believe that you have lost your memory?”

“I mean, that is what happened. I woke up a month ago, no memories of the world or even of my own name. I’m still not sure if the name I gave you was my own, or if I just made it up,” she replied.

That made her expression – and tail and ears, of course – calm down, though there was still the obvious hint of distrust within her eyes. It was still more pleasant than Lin Shuming’s typical behaviour, and she was meeting this woman for the first time, so there was still a chance for things to go better than they had at Xi Village. That much was enough for Bianca to have some hope and not just seek the fastest way out of the ghostflame grove.

“My dear, I am a kitsune. We have existed for as long as the ancient beasts of old, the dragons and phoenixes… and those qilins, of course. I’m glad that none of them have any prominence in this age,” she said something strange to herself, then focused her attention back on Bianca, “We have a certain superiority over the average human, but we still use cultivation techniques, and though our lifespan is greater, it isn’t eternal. There isn’t much more to say, really, unless you wish to hear the full intricacies of our mating season.”

“Your what?”

“A simple joke – an ancient one, at that. Never mind it,” Xue Yaling shook her head, “Did you have much more to say, or should we move on?”

“It’s, uh, rather hard to think here, actually… What about these ghost flames of yours? What are they?”

“A simple manifestation of my energy, stabilised with the vitality of the forest. They give me additional vision over the land, among other things. It’s naught to concern yourself with, especially if your words are all true.”

‘So, security cameras all over the place? Okay… I wasn’t planning on doing anything odd anyway, but I should make sure I don’t accidentally say anything to myself out loud,’ Bianca nodded, “I would also like to know exactly what you want me to be doing, but… some rest might be in order.”

“Before rest…” the kitsune sniffed, then took a step closer, leaned forward and sniffed again, “You are in need of a good bath. What, did you climb down from the tallest peak in the Dragon’s Fangs in one go? The scent of sweat around you couldn’t be any stronger even if you hadn’t washed since your birth… which doesn’t seem to be the case.”

“I did do some exercise prior to this, so I’d appreciate a bath,” she agreed, trying to disregard the smell that she only now noticed.

Given that there had been nobody else to bring it up, she managed to forget about her own lack of cleanliness – fortunately, the scent of blood did not appear to linger after the baths she had been able to get – but now this fox just had to bring it to mind and suggest the solution in one go.

If she allowed her modern preferences and biases to get in the way, she wouldn’t really see any of the baths she’d taken up to this point as actual baths. Each one was just a quick dip in river water, cold river at that, and she always lacked something to clean herself with, not to mention the fact that the last few days had forced her to go without even changing clothes, which might have brought about some sense of decency and normalcy.

Provided Xue Yaling had something nicer to offer her, she was tempted to accept regardless of potential consequences.

“Come with me. There are also some spare clothes for you to wear, if you have naught but… that.”

She glanced down, following the kitsune’s gaze, and was even happier for the offer. Even before she set out on the journey out of Xi Village, she had already damaged her things, and now that she had to improvise washing her things in some random, cold river she followed to the south, the simple garb was beginning to fall apart. Clearly, it wasn’t made of the sturdiest stuff.

“I don’t, unfortunately…” Bianca confirmed, and that was enough for the kitsune to begin walking away, forcing her to follow.

From the shrine, Xue Yaling headed to the second building on the right (or the first building on the left from Bianca’s angle of approach) and opened the sliding door with a simple click of her fingers. Perhaps it involved some manipulation of planar energy or something of the sort, but all that Bianca saw was the click before she was greeted with a wave of warmth from inside the building. It was quite moist as well, suggesting a certain origin.

However, the kitsune didn’t stop to explain, and instead led her into a room to the side, rather than through the door on the front, from which steam trickled out. The side room looked much like the typical changing room, with room for clothes, benches on which to change, and some towels.

Those towels caught her attention because they were just as soft and fluffy as Xue Yaling’s tail, which indicated them to be far superior to anything she had seen back in Xi Village, and even in most Antanian stores. It was as if someone had quickly jumped into the most expensive and prestigious shop on Orbis, plucked out some towels, and hanged them on a rack before her eyes.

‘How bath and towel-deprived am I to focus on things like this? Goodness, I really need that bath, I guess…’

“Has something caught your attention, Bianca?” the kitsune almost purred her name, a sly smile on her face as she briefly turned her head, “Please undress as quickly as you can. Your current garments ought to be burned before they rot away and ruin the ambiance of my pleasant grove.”

Bianca removed her – Min Yu’s – knife first, placing it on one of the benches, but Xue Yaling didn’t seem to pay it any mind. As she removed the rest of her clothes, however, the kitsune’s attention moved to her body, staring at her in a rather obvious manner, examining the shape of her body and spending a non-insignificant amount of time looking at her boobs. She wasn’t sure how to feel about such blatant staring, but at least the one doing it wasn’t a guy, so it was forgivable.

She took a towel and covered up after undressing fully, though it was mostly to preserve her warmth in between the changing room and the bath itself. The kitsune had already seen plenty of her.

“Now, head inside. I’ve got some ideas for how to ensure you get the most from the bath…”

 

“I had not interacted with her much. All I saw was that she and Song Ming were being attacked by Lin Shuming, so I stepped in that time,” Kong Xi stated, with Qi Ping nodding and committing his account to memory, “Then, when Song Ming and I were out to hunt a Treading Earth, I confirmed that they were in a close relationship.”

“How close?”

“I didn’t pry, but they clearly cared for one another beyond a simple friendship,” the hunter replied.

‘He’s not telling me something… but I am not here to learn about the affairs of the villagers. If my current hypothesis about Bianca’s innocence is partially or fully accurate, her choosing to bed a village girl would only go to show that she isn’t a heartless beast,’ Qi Ping thought for a moment, then gestured to the hunter, “What about the last day?”

“Song Ming rushed ahead when she felt something was wrong, and I chose to bring the results of our hunt to a storage place. However, the wound inflicted to Song Ling was clearly done with the knife Bianca took, and it was aided by a powerful first realm skill.”

“Indeed, the mere remnant aura of her energy confirmed that… From your observation, did it seem like Bianca deliberately cultivated her technique?”

“Deliberately?” he raised an eyebrow, then shrugged, “She wanted to cultivate, I could tell that much. However, she did not seem happy with the energy she obtained, though it was mostly the treatment that she received. That is all that I know, as she did not often go to speak with me. It seemed like she wasn’t very fond of me, though she never explained it.”

“Oh? That’s… interesting. Did you do something to her?”

“Song Ling had mentioned she neared my residence, then chose to speak with me later. She never did, by the way.”

“…” Qi Ping remained puzzled for quite a while, until a random thought came to mind, “Do you bathe often?”

“No.”

‘That might be why… If she had a sensitive nose, perhaps refined through some form of cultivation from before her supposed loss of memory, then she might have found this man’s residence rather unpleasant… and given that she appeared to prefer women, that might go some way to confirming this,’ she chose not to bring the matter up to the hunter, seeing no reason to irritate him when he was cooperating with her investigation, and moved on to the more important point, “Have you any notion of the technique she was using?”

“No,” Kong Xi shook his head again, “I don’t know much about other cultivation techniques, and the disciples of the Calm Skies Sect didn’t see to recognise it either. Xi Wu Lin is the only one that might have some idea.”

“Xi Wu Lin?”

 

“Heavens, this place is dustier than Li Shen’s room… what an accomplishment,” Qi Ping muttered, manifesting a thin layer of flame around her mouth and nose to burn away at least some of the dust, “Xi Wu Lin, might I speak with you?”

She had hoped to get the home’s inhabitant out of there, as it would prevent her from suffocating and wasting all of her energy on filtering out the dust, but even when she repeated herself, there was no response from within the home. It seemed a little disrespectful, but given what she had heard from Kong Xi and a man named Xi Shen on the way here, it was apparently normal for him to behave in this manner towards everyone.

Hence, although she preferred to have the respect of common villagers – given her position and status, such a thing should have been natural – she knew that she needed to step inside herself and find him.

It felt like it took a few decades, but given the size of the building, it shouldn’t have been more than a few minutes of stumbling about until she emerged into the space where the owner of the home resided. He sat in place and stared at the pages of a book illuminated only by a faint ray of light from a hole in the wall – and wall of books – somewhere.

“Don’t shout. You’re interfering with my reading.”

Qi Ping chose to ignore the tone of his comment and focus on her own matters, “Are you familiar with Bianca? She appeared not far from the village some time back-”

“Of course I know. She came to me on her first day, and visited a few times since. Unfortunately, though she seemed thirsty for knowledge, she hadn’t spent as much time as she could have,” he spoke quietly, turning a page as he did so, “Haven’t seen her in a while.”

“She killed Song Ling and fled the village. Now, a number of my sect’s disciples are looking for her.”

He glanced at her for a moment, “Red Daoist robes, white threads… Blazing Skies. Has the separation from the Storm Skies Sect done your sect much good?”

“You’re familiar with our history?” Qi Ping was surprised, given that the event took place around 81,000 years in the past, far too long for most to still live and for most ordinary records to survive, “I cannot comment on such things, and I would rather focus on Bianca’s technique. Are you aware of any techniques that are similar to her own?”

“No.”

“… Oh.”