They arrived at the trade town Heiwu by early noon, and got a room at the same inn they stayed at last time. The first thing that jumped out to Wan Yu was the drastic temperature change— it was warm enough down here Quan Su put away the cloak she'd been wearing. As she did, though, she also realized something. Turning to Wan Yu, she held up a stone.
"Oh shoot," he said. "Forgot about that. Uh, Ye Xiyang probably wouldn't need it too soon, and if he does, well… Well, he lives in a cold mountain and his sect is rich. I’m sure he’s not going to miss it too much until we get the chance to return it."
They’d established that communications would need to be done in person, with meetings called by sending paper messengers. No different from how Zisu sent that paper bird to him, really. The bit that was different, though, was that the messages sent wouldn’t be notes. Instead, to reduce chance of interception, it’d only include a trace of the location the sender was at. It wasn’t foolproof, but they both figured that if they needed something more secure, they could work that out down the line. As it was, the only other option was for Wan Yu to carry one of Frozen Dragon Sect’s communication jade. Two things about that option: the communication jade answered to Ye Xiyang, and it would reveal Wan Yu’s location to him at all times.
Ye Xiyang was already like a haunting even without that.
“Anyway, since we have the rest of the day, do you have anything you want to get before we set off? It might be some time before we get to see another big town.”
“It’s too bad we went when most of the town was closed,” Quan Su commented. “The smoked thing tasted nice…”
“Oh? You like the taste?” He ought to keep that in mind. Though she could be willful, there were some basic things that Quan Su never talked about. How she ended up in the place she was, for one. There were other things, though, the ones Wan Yu cared about more. What food she liked was up in that list, given that they’d be on the road for quite a while, and he was no cook.
“It just tasted good,” she said, shaking her head. “Anyway, could get anything else. Some cheaper food. You’re spending too much.” With that, she gave him the stink-eye.
“We’re already living it rough on the roads, and we can’t even buy nice food?” he lamented. When she crossed her arms and looked away, he relented, saying, “All right, let’s go see if there’s something nice but cheaper. We’re not quite destitute yet, your gege can still afford food. Gege is a cultivator too, you know, Gege can take up tasks for money and supplies.”
They descended on the streets of Heiwu after lunch, with food being the first on the list. It was slightly more expensive than the norm, but not as outrageous as the prices at Yueyang. Grains, some flour, fist-sized chunks of salt, seasonings, a cake of cheap tea… Non-perishables piled up in their bag. It was enough to last two people over a month. They walked out of that section of the markets a whole shichen and a half later, with Quan Su visibly wilting.
“Why do we need so many things to survive?” They added up…
Wan Yu ruffled her hair. “It’s like this regardless. Anyway, I think I saw a bookstore. I want to grab some things, let’s go there.”
They tracked that bookstore down again. This being the town it was, the store held primarily books relevant to cultivators. They had papers and supplies to make talismans too. Wan Yu browsed what they had, and some of them were things like volumes of the Classics of Mountains and Seas, Baizetu, Nüqing's Demon Statutes, daoist texts. They had Buddhist sutras, too, as well as medical texts and compendiums of materials. They were a good selection, but also far too hard for Quan Su right now.
“Ey, Boss, you got anything easier to read?”
The thirty-something years old man peered at him from round the shelf. “There’s some classics on the leftmost shelf.”
“I saw. My little sister isn’t here to memorize for the imperial examinations though…”
“Sorry, you’ll probably have better luck looking for them in another town. Where are you heading? I might know some places. The bookstores around here hold much the same as we do, truly.”
Wan Yu sighed. “I imagine so. I’ll be heading in the direction of Yezhou. Know any place I can stop by, by any chance?”
“Yezhou, eh?” The man rubbed his chin. “For the conference, huh. Well, the nearest place would be Pinghui, I think. There’s a small bookstore there, run by a scholar who quit the official life a while back. As far as I remember, you can probably stay with… Ah, I forgot the name. It’s a workshop that makes smaller stuff for the study, brush holders and other such things. A widow runs it now, and she usually appreciates travellers who can lend a hand when they stay. Oh! It’s Sun Dongyi. Sun Dongyi’s workshop.”
Wan Yu raised his eyebrows. Huh. He was just asking something nonchalantly, but it seemed that he was getting more than he bargained for. Maybe they could see if other places agreed to this man’s words. “All right then.”
“I usually get these inksticks from Pinghui,” the storekeeper explained. “It’s good quality for the price. It’s where Yibi sources their cheaper inksticks, too. As for the sect, well, you can imagine.”
Wan Yu didn’t need to imagine— he had ground one. It had a landscape painted on it with gold, sculpted to make the tree branches pop out just so. When Wan Yu grounded it, the ink was smooth and had a light scent to it, clearly perfumed. The inkstone was its own work of art. Not mentioning the price of such a big stone, it had a dragon statue carved off to the side. It was probably thrice the weight of a regular, nondescript square inkstone, and five times as lethal if thrown. If someone were to be lobbed by an ingot that corresponded to its monetary value, they probably would need a divine doctor to mend all those shattered bones.
In the end, Wan Yu restocked on some papers and little things here and there before thanking the storekeeper and heading back. Pinghui. Well, at least they now have a stop in mind.
____
Half a week had passed, and it oversaw a busy morning in all of Yibi. Seven days after the start of the spring festival was the day to honor the ancestors. At daybreak, Frozen Dragon Sect was buzzing with movement as groups of disciples moved like waves into the ancestral halls, then out of the gates. There, the groups diverged: some headed east of the square, some headed for the mountain cliff road, and some went straight ahead. It was here too that the pattern of flow became clear; people, both the common folk and sect members, were heading to the ancestral halls of the five major families to pay their respects.
By mid-morning, the sect was nearly empty. All 28 that remained were here, at the ancestral hall, illuminated by myriad tiny lights that had warmed the room. Ye Xiyang was at its head. The ceremonies done, they finally dispersed. First, the elders. In the end, Ru Ge and Shi Ma stood behind Ye Xiyang as he gazed up at the portrait of the sect founder, Xue Deng. Placed below the twin gilded statues of their guardian gods, the painting was meticulously done. It was enchanted from the very beginning to be impervious to rot; painted by the first Sect Leader Ye Wanlai himself, it was the only true depiction of the young sect founder. In that face was not pride or aloofness. Instead, in those eyes were warmth and determination, catching on the light of the candles as though that glow was meant to be there all along. This was the first time Ye Xiyang studied the portrait so thoroughly since that time in his childhood. Somehow, he felt like he was seeing it anew.
It was said that the sect founder Xue Deng was a close friend of his ancestor, Ye Wanlai. That while Ye Wanlai grieved the loss of his family, Xue Deng chopped down the wood for their funeral pyres. While Xue Deng looked for a way out of this long winter, Ye Wanlai gave him shelter in the increasingly frozen world. Ye Xiyang had seen this portrait for decades, yet only today did he see the meticulous care paid to depicting kindness in distant eyes.
It made him think about that conversation with Wan Yu. At the same time, must it be that compassion's place in a better world was to be a quick, burning fire, to be a martyr?
“Looking for guidance?”
Ye Xiyang's eyes broke away from the portrait of the sect founder and lingered on the first Sect Leader's. Ye Wanlai's portrait, though drawn with visible skill, was more traditional. He gazed down at them with a cold, hard mien, the picture of a man who held up a society until it could finally stand on its own.
“These will be turbulent times,” Ye Xiyang said after a long silence.
Perhaps there was something in his voice that they caught, or perhaps it was the fact that the past week, all Ru Ge had been working on was the fine details of his agreement with Wan Yu. Standing behind him, their eyes narrowed. “One man’s actions, do you have that much faith in it, Supreme Leader?”
The last two words seemed to be pointed, but Ye Xiyang didn’t appear to notice its edge. He said, “Do you believe that the jianghu of today is at the same equilibrium it was at centuries ago?”
Not long after the jianghu war, inter-sect tensions had dropped as everyone scrambled to rebuild everything that was lost. But as stability returned, so did ambition. This was the case before, and would become the case now.
Frozen Dragon Sect was no exception; a mere three generations of Supreme Leaders after Ye Wanlai, the originally perfunctory business division grew as they started to mine more of the mountain’s iron and sell swords, weapons. Another four generations and the eighth Supreme Leader ordered for the statues of their gods to be gilded with the purest gold. A mere six years later, war broke out. As it turned out, when even a tiny sect secluded up in a freezing mountain could amass wealth and power so fast, so could sects in fairer plains. And they had, long before Frozen Dragon Sect even found its footing.
The wulin nowadays blamed the surge of demonic and unorthodox weapons, techniques for the rising tension that led to the war. The demonic faction pointed out that such an accusation was often an excuse for a power grab by the righteous sects. It was both, in varying amounts. Demonic sects did like to create useful monstrosities. The details of it all comprised a year of Ye Xiyang's studies. He remembered those days. Just as he knew the answer to his own question, he knew Ru Ge knew. In those days of his childhood, it was they who sat with him and answered his questions, explained passages of the books. It was Ru Ge who taught him this.
"He is a catalyst," Ye Xiyang continued, "and not more. All he does is bring things out to the light. The ingredients, they’ve been there for centuries."
"...Let us talk outside," Ru Ge said.
They left the innermost ancestral hall, only for them to spot Elder Xianfang at the gathering hall. The smell of incense was still thick even here, but with the air circulating in the courtyards, it was less choking.
"Elder Xianfang," Ye Xiyang greeted.
"Supreme Leader," she said with a nod. "I'd like to talk with you, if you will."
Ye Xiyang turned his head to Ru Ge. “Let’s talk after this.”
With a terse nod, Ru Ge watched Ye Xiyang go with Elder Xianfang to his study. Shi Ma, silent all this time, walked up to them and finally opened her mouth. “What are you so worried about?”
They shot her a scathing glance. “Other than the war we’ll be accelerating?”
Skirmishes and tension between demonic sects was nothing new, and for the most part, Frozen Dragon Sect had adapted after centuries of it. But wars were different. This time, rather than scathing remarks during rare meetings and border heckling, there would be active sabotage of important trade routes, burning of fields, invasion of towns. For all the division between the secular and the martial, large scale conflicts shared similar patterns. For a small sect like Frozen Dragon, a stranglehold round the mountain would make quick work of them. They could withstand a siege, their terrain was made for it, but enough numbers and Yibi would be bathed in blood.
“‘s not the part you’re most worried about,” she commented. “It’s not entirely unexpected. Sure, Elder Xue Liu thinks it’s unlikely, but over half of them thought this peace was a farce anyway. Everyone’s getting too big to not step on each other’s toes. It’s only years until Demonic Harmony pisses the government enough it turns to the wulin.”
The citizens they were heckling were still citizens of the country. Demonic Harmony Sect's actions were making an impact on the grain taxes the government was getting for its troops.
“I know that,” Ru Ge snapped. “Who do you think gathered that intel?”
“You did. So what is it? That Xi— Supreme Leader is too new to his position to do this?”
Four years… hardly even five. In such a short time, he was already away for weeks. Moreso than that, Ru Ge was worried about how the other elders would take this. Some were already making passive-aggressive remarks after Ye Xiyang came back, though he didn’t seem to mind them that much. That was another thing, though. Ru Ge had expected him to be a bit more apologetic, more ashamed, but he seemed to be taking this in stride. Not dismissive, but not as severely as they were expecting him to.
“He might be able to do it, now. I really don’t know what exactly he got up to when he hung out with the fish kid, but from what I see, it looked to be pretty good. At least now he’s gotten a bit less…” Shi Ma looked for words, “high-strung. Last year, he’s all but digging into records to handle every single detail. It’s from having peers who don’t treat you as just a sect leader, I tell you. Maybe now he’s got a more well rounded view on things. Get more reassured of his place in the world."
It wasn’t wrong, or at least her assessment on the change wasn’t. Everything else, though...
"That much change just from meeting one person? Are you a government official petitioning on the behalf of a sponsor? How much did he pay you?" Ru Ge shot her a sideways glance. "I don't buy it.”
Shi Ma shrugged. “I don’t know, I think it’s plausible. This Wan Yu kid is irreverent, but he’s not an airhead. He could very well have opened new viewpoints and doors. You gotta admit, Supreme Leader’s pretty damn fond of him. Some of the things I’ve seen Supreme Leader tolerate were pretty wild.”
Ye Xiyang following this kid around was one thing. Despite how he was now, the training Ye Xiyang’s shifu put him through after he got his sword was not pretty; he had had his fair share of living rough. Rolling along with being given Wan Yu’s medicine, though, and working the land just because he got dragged to… Shi Ma had to admit, this kid was pretty potent. Part of her was horrified, but the rest was impressed.
“Your insinuations… Watch your words more carefully, Shi Ma."
This time, it was her who shot them a glance. "What insinuations? Oh, you mean that? Eh. I don't know. I had time to think about it. I think it's got nothing to do with falling in love at first sight, bewitched, whatever the word. We had lots of Supreme Leaders who fell in love with foreign women and not do what the previous one did, yanno? And what, you're expecting him to exactly be like the man who almost killed him?"
Ru Ge's expression hardened, and they started walking out of the gathering hall and left the ancestral halls proper. Shi Ma trailed along behind them as the two made their way down to the center level. The ancestral hall was located on the second-highest tier, right there with the elders' living spaces. One flight of stairs down, they took the turn to walk towards Ye Xiyang's study. "Do you seriously think he can afford to take chances?"
"Afford what?" Shi Ma asked, baffled. "Chances of what? Liking someone? Or become like his shifu?"
This level of the sect was still empty. Most of the elders had gone back to their residences, it seemed, and the servants would only return before the midday meal. Ru Ge changed course from the study to the small kitchen not far from there. Ye Xiyang would want tea.
"This conversation is a waste of time. We'll talk later."
"You're so testy since Qunan, and only to everyone other than Supreme Leader too," Shi Ma said, clicking her tongue. "Let him like someone. He's never had, and he's twenty six. Better this Wan Yu kid than Linghu Yao."
"You really don't think before words are unceremoniously expelled out of your mouth, do you? Linghu Yao. If Ye Xiyang doesn't disembowel him I'd do it myself."
If Ye Xiyang liked someone such as Linghu Yao, Yang Candidate of Celestial Alignment Sect, Ru Ge themselves would go jump from the sacrificial platform. Not only because they'd feel responsible for this great shame, but also from how offended they'd be at this wretched taste in men.
Wan Yu was a slight improvement. The young man, however, had ample time to slip straight to the bottom.
____
Ye Xiyang lit up another lamp in the study before sitting down, gesturing at Elder Xianfang to do so as well. She did, with a haste and firmness characteristic to her— were it on a younger woman, it might look like a petulant huff. But she was not a younger woman. His shifu’s peer and a grandmother to eight, she was an opinionated elder who was not afraid to throw her considerable weight around, and she’d done so years ago to support him. She was not his grandparent, but her elder brother was. The respect Ye Xiyang paid to her had different facets to it.
“Elder Xianfang wanted to talk to me?”
“Yes, thank you for the time. Considering the day, I simply thought of our ancestors, and inevitably it wandered to our present.”
Ye Xiyang hummed in understanding. “It is indeed a time to contemplate our past and future. In the coming years are changes, and if caught unawares, we would indeed be in dire straits.”
“En.” Nonchalant and not quite looking at him, she continued, “I’m sure my brother would have been happy to see you growing into your role. Very good that you’ve stopped being so passive and fixated on internal matters. The things of the yesteryear… they cannot be erased, but we must look forward. I don’t doubt it is monumental for you, but such is the nature of leadership. Here we must look to our ancestors. The first sect leader had lost much in the long winter, but still, he put his feet down and focused instead on ensuring that those who survived would have a better life ahead of them.”
“I understand. Though the mantle he left was one that is hard to live up to, I will look to him for guidance still.”
Ye Xiyang was surprised, honestly, by how little this conversation rippled in his heart. When she started talking about the ‘matters of yesteryear’, he was expecting apprehension to grip him. It didn’t. Was this, perhaps, the same feeling Wan Yu felt when he faced that sickroom and was thus freed of its phantom? Ye Xiyang remembered the feeling of soreness in his heart after that fireside talk. After Wan Yu had fallen asleep that day, his eyes had even grown bloodshot, though Ye Xiyang didn't think he shed a tear. Still, that simple conversation… After over twenty years, how strange that it took one confession to a near stranger.
"It had taken me some time to understand that, and so I apologize," Ye Xiyang said. He idly tapped the table. "Going outside had cleared my head, however. I'm aware the suddenness leaves something to be desired, but thankfully everything is now dealt with."
He sighed as he remembered the mountain of paperwork and accounts he had to go through after returning. The exacts might not have been that complicated, but reading through so much was taxing. Some of it required further supervision, too, like that one about the creation of another Slumbering Dragon weapon to be auctioned. He continued, "In looking to the future, I believe there will be great changes. I'm aware that the current actions I'm taking might look impulsive, but they are not made in total darkness."
"This Wan Yu child?"
Ah. She must have gotten the details from Ru Ge's people, if not Ru Ge themselves.
"Wan Rushu, yes," Ye Xiyang admitted. Might as well be clear about it now that their agreement was written down. "He's the sole disciple of Immortal Master Ning Shan. He has, through his own means, found that the wulin has skeletons he can't accept exist. He plans to bring them to light. Knowing some of his hunches, I don't think the wulin will be the same after his revelations. My worry is that once the wulin destabilizes, demonic sects will try to expand their powers. If that happens, I'm afraid we might have more problems down the line."
Elder Xianfang hummed. "It will become a mess. Celestial Alignment Sect is currently facing a minor crisis of leadership, and those bugs from Demonic Harmony are already trying to poach some of the people dissatisfied with Linghu Yao. They'll find themselves too big soon enough." She clicked her tongue. "Their center cannot hold, I promise you that."
He made a noise of agreement.
In the future, things did not quite go that far. Though Linghu Yao had a rocky start as the Yang leader of the Celestial Alignment Sect, he was cold and firm. After taking over, he tested those who originally went against his candidacy. Those who failed, he eliminated. Demonic Harmony Sect, however, did show signs of faltering. It hadn't happened yet though when he left. But with Wan Yu… gone, Ye Xiyang had no doubt it would wobble even more. The murky water of jianghu politics would ensure that. With public enemy number one gone, everyone else returned to their status as free game.
"How did a disciple of Immortal Master Ning Shan end up like this, though?" Elder Xianfang asked, shooting him a glance. "Making deals with our sect like this."
"Immortal Master Ning Shan was never truly part of wulin, a proof that the orthodox faction is not a prerequisite for righteousness." Ye Xiyang smiled. "The same can be said for his disciple."
"Well, I hope you handle things properly. The first sect leader is proof that tender feelings are not necessarily damning, so if you turn to him as an example, I think you will be fine. However, remember your duties still."
...It took far too long for him to realize why she brought up their ancestor. Ye Xiyang lowered his gaze. "Rest assured, I will."
"Expect more questions when you start getting things ready," she said as she rose. "Get Ru Ge off the wulin, focus more on the demonic factions now. If Shi Ma is staying here a few more weeks, let her train the seedlings as well. If we can't have them roaming too far now, at least let them have a good thrashing."
"I will," Ye Xiyang promised. "I will first focus on stockpile. The matters of training I will do after I get more of Ru Ge's reports and have Shi Ma survey the situation in the demonic faction. I have a meeting with the mayor within the week. We ought to still have some time."
Training for possible war would change the atmosphere of the sect, and he would only do so when he had the reports backing him up. In the future, they had to scramble a bit with training at the start; they only realized how bad things would become after Wan Yu surfaced with Vermilion Sun Sect's dirty secrets. This time, though, they were over a decade ahead and could ramp it up in a more natural way. Even if Wan Yu accelerated things, they could still better control the pace.
Perhaps, in a way, this return to the past gave chances to more than just Wan Yu.
"I will take my leave then," Elder Xianfang said, sighing. "You were going to talk with Ru Ge?"
He gave a noncommittal hum. With that, she left. Not a moment later, footsteps returned, and this time, it was Ru Ge. The scent of their perfumed sachet mixed with incense was just as distinct as the light clinks of their hairpieces bumping into each other. When Ye Xiyang looked up, they were carrying a tray with tea. Putting it down and pouring a cup for him, they then sat in silence with him for a while as the two of them savored the light taste.
"So," Ye Xiyang started. "You were worried about my attachment to Wan Rushu?"
