Tang Wei looked rather nice on the eyes when he looked healthier and less scarred by the horrifying events that would've ruined anyone's lives. There was a clear trace of femininity in his features, but more than a quick glance would bring to the forefront the rest of the things that… weren't.

His eyes looked like still and deep waters as he smiled at Wan Yu and moved back, opening the door wider. "Ah, Cultivator Wan. Please, come in."

It wasn't a wide smile, nor was it fully there, but Wan Yu had seen people coping much worse than Tang Wei did. Entering, he glanced around the room; there were two beds, and the occupant of the other was not here. Only a robe was left, haphazard on the bed. Tang Wei noticed his line of sight. "Wang Mo went out to bathe. He's one of the other two survivors. The other one is still comatose."

And the third they'd pulled that night did not make it through. Wan Yu held back the thinning of his lips.

"Call me Wan Yu," he said instead. He rummaged through his bag and pulled out one box of the mung bean cakes. "Right. Got you this to share."

Ye Xiyang shot him a look, as if to say, ah, so you didn't buy it all for yourself. Wan Yu ignored it.

This being an inn rented by Vermilion Sun Sect, the room was spacious and bright, the early afternoon sun playing with the shadows as it peered through the half-lowered blinds. Breeze, too, whisked past at times, bringing with it welcome chill in this heat. Tang Wei gestured for them to sit— oh, there were three? And to that, Tang Wei explained, "Tian-mei and Yun-jie often came, so we had an extra chair brought in."

"That's good," Wan Yu said as he sat down. "How are you guys doing? Did Vermilion Sun offer any further help? What do you plan on doing after this? They might keep you for a while until this blows over. I hope so, at least. It'd be criminally shitty of them if they don't."

“They did,” Tang Wei reassured. He placed the box of cakes to the side, then he sat down, chair dragged a bit closer to the window and away from them. “They said they can relocate us or send us back home once it’s safe. They didn’t say how long, though.”

Wan Yu gave him a small smile. “That’s decent enough. Will you go back, then? It might be better to move away, but going back might not be such a bad idea. They might not sweep through there again. But of course, it’s good to resettle in cities with strong wulin presence.”

It would be a deterrence, at least. Not even the strongest demonic sects would dare risk the entire wulin’s rage for something as… small wasn’t the right word, given that he was talking about human lives and truly depraved atrocities. But they indeed wouldn’t risk it to get human cauldrons. Though Wan Yu thought that the good-evil divide was bullshit given how some wulin sects act, there was a balancing act, a tension that kept the entire jianghu from just combusting into another war.

A single demonic sect going against the wulin would be wiped out and the rest of its faction would rejoice at one less competition. One righteous sect going against the demonic faction would unite the other side, and spark an entire faction war. Though a lot were going under the surface, there was a reason why there hadn’t been a true war for hundreds of years.

"I can't go back." Tang Wei stared at the floor. "I know my parents would be happy to know I'm alive, but…"

Wan Yu could infer the rest, though it would just be a guess; he had changed so much, coming home, it would just break his parents' hearts.

"I think I'll just see the rest," he finished. He looked up at Wan Yu. "I can read and am able-bodied, I'll find something to do."

“Just let them know if you need any help,” Wan Yu said, nodding.

There were times, too, when he wondered what Shifu would think of him now, or in several months when he’d turn 20. Just last year, he came up with all sorts of possible answers he could give his shifu about goodness and why we must do good or what even constituted a good act, but now all his answers felt… pale. They felt shallow, shamefully so— he didn't want to disappoint Shifu even in the Yellow Springs. 

But Wan Yu shook the thoughts away. Not the time.

"Say, I didn't want to remind you of horrible things but… has Vermilion Sun Sect asked you what happened yet?" If they did, then Wan Yu would rather go ask them rather than reopening Tang Wei's wounds.

He shook his head. "Vermilion Sun Sect was only interested in the fact that we were kidnapped for being extreme yin bodies. They said that it must be the work of Celestial Alignment Sect. Your friend Yun Zisu said that she'd ask when you're awake."

Oh. Well.

"I have no idea when Zisu's gonna show up," Wan Yu said, rubbing the back of his neck. "If she wants to know, too, then I don't wanna, yanno. Okay, gimme a bit, I'm gonna look for her?"

This was their turf, Wan Yu reckoned he'd be able to ask around. At Tang Wei's small nod, he got up and shot Ye Xiyang a fake gentle, reprimanding look. "Ye-xiong, at your best behavior, okay? Be good."

Ye Xiyang, "......"

Xiao Wan, even when I'm at my worst behavior, they're mostly for your eyes only.

"Gege will come back soon," Wan Yu told him, then walked out.

Tang Wei hid his mouth behind his fist.

There was nobody in this hallway, and people were in their rooms on the lower floors, so Wan Yu went straight to the restaurant area. Groups of mostly disciples lingered about, chatting over snacks and trinkets from a shopping spree. Wan Yu gestured at a young teen passing by. "Hey, sorry. Do you know where I can find your Yun-shijie? One of the inner gate disciples. Was part of the supervisors?"

"Right behind you, actually," someone answered. From behind him. Yun Zisu was hand in hand with Tian Ling, a round fan in hand. It was a pale green tea, white lotuses embroidered on it, matching with the soft yellow one on Tian Ling. When Wan Yu turned around, she took a step back and looked at him up and down. "I was looking for you. When did you get a change of clothing? I almost didn't recognize you."

"Nice fan," Wan Yu said. When Yun Zisu offered hers to him in jest, he coquettishly fanned himself while fluttering his eyelashes at Tian Ling before returning it. The young Vermilion Sun Sect disciple he had stopped inched away. "And just a couple hours back.  Listen, I was visiting Tang Wei, actually, and was about to ask him about… yanno. So I wanted to get you so he doesn't have to explain twice."

Yun Zisu and Tian Ling exchanged a look before nodding. “All right, let’s go,” Yun Zisu said.

They made their way up to the top floor. Tang Wei’s door was half open, now, rather than just ajar like he’d left it— maybe the other person came back. Wang Mo, was it? Not a peep from inside, though, just utter silence.

"We're back," Wan Yu announced as he entered. Wang Mo whipped around, vigilant, but Tang Wei nodded at the other man, while Ye Xiyang was as impassive as ever, that annoying small smile on his mouth. "Hope I wasn't long."

Wang Mo calmed down upon seeing the girls. “Are these two men your friends?” he asked.

Yun Zisu gave him a smile. “Yep. This one’s Wan Yu, he took care of the monster mess that came about. He was also the one digging out people with me.”

An awkward expression flitted across Wang Mo’s face, but Wan Yu didn’t give it a chance to settle— he headed further in, swiping at and pulling Ye Xiyang’s sleeve as he passed by, dragging the man off his chair. Everyone was staring, but Wan Yu pretended that everything was natural as he deposited Ye Xiyang on the space by the window, while he himself went to the other end of it. At Ye Xiyang's amused gaze, he shot him an unimpressed one.

Meanwhile, Yun Zisu had ushered Tian Ling into one of the chairs, sitting on the other one. She wasn't about to let Wan Yu's… efforts go in vain.

Tang Wei offered the mung bean cakes to Yun Zisu and Tian Ling, before passing it on to Wang Mo. Wang Mo sat down on his bed.

"All right. Thanks for doing this, guys. You don't have to reply if it gets too bad." Wan Yu exchanged a look with Yun Zisu. At that, she took over.

“Do you mind telling us the story from the beginning?” she asked. “Just as far back as you can remember.”

Tang Wei licked his lips from nervousness, glancing at Wang Mo. The latter stared at the floor. Tang Wei’s eyes then darted to Yun Zisu, looking at her through lowered, fluttering lashes. “I was… Well, when they took me, it was probably early spring. There were only five of us then, I was the sixth. They mostly just… kept us. Herded us along with them, in chains, all over.. I don’t know why. There were only four of them. We always went at night, I guess. During the day, they drugged us to sleep. But even when we moved at night they kept us in hoods.”

He swallowed, eyes glancing at the ceiling. After biting his lower lips for a few seconds, he spoke up again. “What happened that night was… I. They had us drugged. Not enough to be unconscious, but… hard to think. Focus, not think. Like my head’s frazzled. But it was just… Then they had us put in the coffins. The rest, I can’t remember.”

Tian Ling reached out and placed her hand on his, touch light as paper. He jerked— but all this time, his legs were bouncing. Or maybe they were trembling, muscles pulled too taut.

“It’s all right,” Wan Yu said. “We all forget those things. It’s sometimes for the better.”

The other person who might’ve been a cultivator was still a mystery person, then. He might end up a mystery forever. He could’ve been just a random person who was tracking them down, then got taken when he tried to barge in on it. Or he could’ve been another of the Celestial Alignment Sect jackasses who ended up getting his due.

There wasn’t much they could glean from further questions; Wang Mo joined far later, and didn't know more detail than Tang Wei. But they did say that the 10th guy was kidnapped when they were at Yellow Pond, a small town not too far from here— it meant that Celestial Alignment might not be specifically looking at this location, but that it was nearby.

What that meant in the grand scheme of things though, Wan Yu didn't know.

When they left the room, he glanced at Ye Xiyang. “The people that held them…?”

“Celestial Alignment Sect wouldn’t have entrusted such a task to just anyone.” Ye Xiyang tapped his lips with his folded fan. “A question I have is what led them to leave their post?”

Nobody logical would’ve left that formation alone. It had valuable people inside, and if it had crumbled, though the backlash would kill several, there would still be some they could save. Nevermind the fact that it was a landslide-prone area.

Hm. The more Ye Xiyang thought about it, the stranger it became. It must’ve been deliberate sabotage. But then what about the rest?

Maybe Shi Ma knew more of how Celestial Alignment Sect worked. He should go talk to her.

They fell silent after that, not that it was a long walk— they reached the bottom floor in no time, and Wan Yu waved goodbye at the two girls. Yun Zisu tilted her head. “Are you leaving soon?”

“Tomorrow, probably,” Wan Yu said. “You guys are gonna stay back to do clean-up, right?”

"Leave it to us," she said, smiling. "Drop by sometimes, maybe we can go visit Jiejie."

He saluted her, walking away with one last wave. "Okie dokie. I'll see you again tomorrow."

The hall was quiet now, everyone gone to who knows where— didn’t matter, all the better for him. There were several still, though, sitting round a small table tucked to the corner. One of them stood up. Wan Yu ignored them, walking out with Ye Xiyang.

"Cultivator Wan, do you have a moment?” A hand tugged his, bony fingers clasping around his wrist.

Wan Yu yelped— that was his hurty arm! Looking at the bandages, Feng-shigu let go. He hissed as he took a step back, blinking at her. “My apologies. Is it bad? I will call for the healer.”

“No need, no need,” he said, shaking his head. “Is something the matter?”

They were clogging up the front door, just smack dab on the doorway. Ye Xiyang was lucky enough to have gone ahead and be outside, where all the normal people were, while Wan Yu was stuck at the threshold. Feng-shigu either didn’t notice or ignored the longing look he shot at ‘anything but here’. “I just wanted to have a quick chat about… well. I’m doing this on the behalf of her shifu— I see clearly that you and Yun Zisu are very close.”

“...Yeah?”

Oh no. Did she hear about the part where Wan Yu wanted to leave soon?

“Pardon my forwardness, but have you thought about marriage? You must’ve known, the inner gate disciples of our sect are all fine youths, and a good partner in the path of cultivation is invaluable beyond words. You and her have a chemistry most could only dream of. If you’d like, I can propose a match to the sect, in my shijie’s stead.”

Vermilion Sun Sect was, in the end, just like any other. Marriages established power. They didn't force matches based on "benefits", but they’d try if they could get away with it. This was what Zisu told him, at least, back when they traveled together.

The truth was, she had asked him for a bit of… help.

"Zisu’s really important to me, but what's the rush? If fate deems us fit to spend the rest of our lives together, a soulmate won’t go anywhere. There's a lot I need to see and do before I can settle down." Wan Yu gave her a toothy grin that bordered the line of sincere. “I'm kind of a family man, when I settle down I want it to be so that I can live with my 5 children.”

He put on his most uncomfortable-but-holding-it-back face. “Sorry, I’m, oof. I’m kind of feeling the pain back in full force now, I really need to get back. Please excuse me.”

Feng-shigu released him, nodding. A shoddy excuse, that was, but she probably saw his discomfort. Wan Yu rushed straight into the thick of traffic— well, he swerved back to the sides with all other pedestrians when he almost got run over by a carriage. Freedom!

“Problems with matchmakers?”

A voice from behind. Wan Yu groaned. “Go back to your sect so the elders can go matchmake you, Ye-xiong.”

“How rude. Someone had just given me your medications, aren’t you going to thank and apologize to me for the fact that people started to think I’m your caretaker?” They resumed walking, and Ye Xiong threw the pill bottle at him. Wan Yu opened to peer inside— okay, they smell pretty bitter. Herby bitter.

“Your own damn fault for following me,” he grumbled, popping out one to swallow dry. “You never had to.”

Ye Xiyang chuckled. They walked back to the inn in silence.

The pill acted pretty fast; within minutes of him taking it, Wan Yu felt a weight settle on him, like tangible exhaustion wrapping around him. He yawned when he got to his room. Kicking his shoes off, Wan Yu climbed onto his bed and nuzzled the bedcovers, one hand reaching up to tug off his ponytail. His arm throbbed, but the pulsating sensation had faded into something more normal, if a bit weird. Still a thrum, still sort of painful, but not too bad.

He yawned again.

Then he rolled to his side. Sticking his hand into his qiankun sleeve, he pulled out a jade ring, holding it up to the ray of light streaming through the windows. The soft, veined green stone glowed a warm yellow. Sighing, he reached into its space and took out Storming Soul and Pacifying Stream, then a small porcelain bottle.

A long exhale. Shifting around to find a more comfortable position, Wan Yu curled into a ball around the sword and the bottle, the metal on the hilt digging into the soft of his cheek. Sleep tugged at his eyes; he closed them. Mm, maybe he could take a nap before dinner… yeah. “Shifu… why is the world so complicated?”

______________

 

A tall, built woman hopped in from the window. Ye Xiyang looked up from his tea and nodded when she saluted him, then gestured at her to sit down. Without a word, she watched as he poured her a cup and drank it with slightly more grace than Ye Xiyang remembered about his Shi Ma..

It was still strange, seeing her young again. Well, she wasn't too young— thirty might not count as young. But while the silence and deadly efficiency was already baked into her movements, she was a lot less… rigid. Thinking about it, it might be Ye Xiyang's fault.

On the journey from being a young Supreme Leader to someone with much fewer gaping vulnerabilities, he had changed quite a bit. Look less serious, act more flippant— ‘Don’t let them know how to hurt you’, as his shifu put it. At some point, she probably realized that he had grown distant.

On the other hand, though, Shi Ma and Ru Ge had changed too. Shi Ma had her own wife and her affection splintered for one more person, while Ru Ge went ever more frigid and developed one of the most poisonous mouths Ye Xiyang had ever known. He supposed that the three of them had grown ever-colder...

He’d never thought about this before. It was rather disquieting, the idea.

“You returned rather fast,” Ye Xiyang commented, inwardly shaking his head. “Where’d Ru Ge settle, this time?”

“Not that far,” Shi Ma said. “You know how they are, worrier and all. They’re like, a town over. But I told them about the array, and they said that it was a standard double-trapping kind. Expressed confusion at the location, though. Said that it would’ve killed the cauldrons and created resentful ghosts instead. Maybe they didn’t know details about extreme yin bodies? But Ru Ge said it would’ve been stupid, this was for the next Yang Candidate, they wouldn’t have chosen just anyone. This Yang Candidate has been giving them a lot of trouble, being a cut-sleeve.”

Celestial Alignment Sect was a… strange one, in some ways. They were co-led by a pair of man and woman, both chosen through a thorough vetting process, one which might or might not involve bizarre dual cultivation rituals. When they finally rose to the top, they were then to ascend to the leadership together, as to keep the balance of yin and yang. This ascension required harvesting energy from a large number of human cauldrons.

It was also common knowledge in the demonic faction that the male candidate, a cold man named Linghu Yao, was a cut-sleeve. Though rumors were mixed on whether he could perform with a woman, his preferences definitely lied on men. And while in the past life Ye Xiyang didn't know the exact details on why the Celestial Alignment Sect's Ascension Ceremony was postponed, he did know that it had been postponed for over five years.

Shi Ma sighed; Ye Xiyang glanced at her in askance, refilling her cup. She waved her hand. “No, it was just, yanno. Bothered Ru Ge a lot. You know how they are about Celestial Alignment. They said that they’re ready to help with this one. Just that the price is that they get to personally torture the Celestial Alignment suckers we capture. They always wanted to pipa-play someone to insanity.”

Ye Xiyang, “......” How could he forget how violent Ru Ge is inside?

Made sense, though. Though the Celestial Alignment Sect had both male and female leaders, the respect for the Yin Leader was for the position, not the person. The Yin Leader had to be feminine, gentle and passive— rather bullshit, Ye Xiyang thought, given that there was nothing gentle about that sect and lifestyle. To be a woman in that sect was a gamble, in terms of wellbeing— if they were lucky enough to have talent or raw power, they might be on even footing with the men; otherwise, they were walking on a tightrope. The sect never had respect for extreme yin people especially. The view that they were weaker and more fragile than others was pervasive, and while to a degree true, it was also limited and one-track. For one, Ru Ge could kill someone with a pipa.

“Tell them they can postpone the Seven-Petal Moonlotus matter a bit. Let them vent on Celestial Alignment.”

Shi Ma nodded. “They’ve always wanted to castrate that one guy. You know, the martial nephew of the big guy.”

Or castrate. Ru Ge could do that too.

“But yes. The array itself was okay, but the other stuff was weird. Ru Ge said maybe someone messed with it; I’ll have someone help Ru Ge out with gathering info later. This entire thing will postpone the Ascension Ceremony for a while, though. Dunno how quick they can find some more extreme yin men, for one. Or make ‘em.”

 "Let’s not make it easier for them. Keep these ones safe," Ye Xiyang said. "Ru Lian would be a fine choice. Vermilion Sun might keep them safe for a while longer, this entire thing was a spectacle enough to be noticeable and they love the optics too much to let it go too soon."

Ru Lian was one of the older people in the Wolf Guard, a distant uncle of Ru Ge. Though he only had one eye now, he was skilled in hiding and keeping watch. Having the experiences he did, he was also good at gauging his own strength and would never have reservations about calling for reinforcement. Shi Ma nodded. “Will do.”

Ah, and there was another thing, too. "What was Shi Ze doing?" Ye Xiyang asked.

"Oh. I told him to go from one end of the country to the other without stopping at any towns in two weeks. He failed, though. Once we head back, I’ll have him fight the entire wolf pack as punishment. I can’t let him slack off like this.”

“Tell him to stop giving his name away,” he said. “He gave his name to Immortal Master Ning Shan’s disciple without a second thought.”

At that, Shi Ma gave him a confused look. “Huh? What’s wrong with that?”

Ye Xiyang, “......” Do I really need to explain? Really?

There was a small staring match for a few moments— his gaze unimpressed, hers baffled. After a while, she acquiesced. “Okay. I’ll tell him.”

How was that something that needed acquiescence?! Keeping his identity safe ought to be the first thing he learned before leaving the mountain! Shi Ma didn’t seem to notice his barely-twitching expression, though, as she stared at one of the walls, lips pursed.

"Oh, Supreme Leader. Will you be going with this Wan Yu some more?"

Ye Xiyang blinked, eyebrows furrowing. "Why?"

"You looked like you enjoyed this morning," she said, nodding in approval. Her eyes were bright, as was her face. It was… not what he was expecting. "You shouldn't worry too much about what's happening at home. They can't and won't try to overthrow you, and Ru Ge and I are still by your side. You should take some time to enjoy yourself. Even if it means disappearing suddenly for several days."

A pause. "Ah, no, you must tell. But you should go! Spend more time with friends." She nodded some more, thoroughly convinced by her own words.

Ye Xiyang, "......"

What?

He had to admit, there wasn't really an excuse he could make here. He's… that he was here was an indulgence, chasing his own curiosity. Even as far as going back in time… But the future had Ru Song. He had been trained by Ye Xiyang since the boy was 12; when Ye Xiyang left, he was 26 and more than ready to be the Supreme Leader. He would have his uncle Ru Ge, too, and Shi Ma, and Shi Ze and Xue Ying.

But here Shi Ma was, inadvertently reminding Ye Xiyang of what an insane impulse decision this was. And he didn't know what to think of that.

Her next words were whispered. "And I didn't mean to, but I saw what you were doing in that room. Go get him, Supreme Leader, if you need help wooing him I'm sure Ru Ge can help! As for wedding gi—"

"Shi Ma?"

"Yes?"

Ye Xiyang tapped on the table. "Go get Ru Lian here and get back to work."