"Whoa," Wan Yu said, "What's this all about?"

The Frozen Dragon Sect disciples remained tight-lipped, standing guard without another word. Wan Yu glanced at the door behind the counter. He had a guess… Did the pharmacist report on them?

But reasoning with these disciples would be of no use. Clearly, they were waiting for something— or someone. 

He glanced at Song Hua, then once again found himself wishing this was the past, where he and Song Hua had a tacit understanding transmitted with just a touch. A tug of the sleeve, the slightest movement of their hands, a soft sigh; but this was not then, and though Wan Yu could understand Song Hua, Song Hua may never know what he meant. And so he turned his head back to the door, where the disciples stood clearly tense, as though waiting for backup.

And sure enough, a distant relieved cry confirmed that.

"Elder Yin Xian, Elder Yu Feng!"

The sounds of slow footsteps stretched time far past its intended elasticity, feeling almost like a deliberate taunt. Then, to Wan Yu's dread, an utterly familiar voice spoke out, "Stand aside."

"Oh, damn it."

Appearing at the doorway, introduced alongside a gust of frigid wind befitting the person was Ru Ge, dressed up in a thick white fur cloak that tickled their cheeks. Behind them was Shi Ma, who had to duck down to be able to enter without hitting her head. Upon seeing Wan Yu, Ru Ge’s eyes narrowed.

"Oh, for heaven's sake, you again."

Wan Yu turned to the disciples in reproach. "This is who you called?"

Ru Ge raised their hand and then moved their fingers; the disciples behind them lowered the drapes and closed the doors. "Don't you dare speak to the disciples of my sect, Wan Rushu."

"My mouth's my mouth, I speak to whoever I want. What are you gonna do, shut me up?"

"Rushu," Song Hua chided. "Let's talk properly…"

Wan Yu stilled; he could hear how nervous Song Hua was. Though somewhat unwilling, he understood why. On top of this being Frozen Dragon Sect territory, these were two elders, and Song Hua had no idea about their past history that dated back barely a week.

Perhaps it was good that he didn't know any of it.

"Whatever," Wan Yu said, waving his hand as if to wave everything in the past off. Taking a step back, he returned to Song Hua’s side. "What's up anyway? Is there something wrong with the prescription?"

Ru Ge only hummed with disinterest as they skimmed over the paper once more, the apathy so strong it came off as theatrics to Wan Yu. Shi Ma leaned over their shoulder. They passed the scrap to her.

"Leave it to you to be fooled into doing a demonic cultivator's errand," they said instead of answering. Behind them, Shi Ma frowned upon reading the prescription, returning it to Wan Yu with a troubled expression.

"Wait, what do you mean?" Wan Yu's eyebrows furrowed as he turned serious. 

"It's reminiscent of one of Three Tenets' many preparation mixtures," Shi Ma answered. "They all do it differently, but I've seen a number. This is how they prepare living bodies."

Prepare living bodies— Wan Yu shuddered at the words. Not simply for the image it invoked, but—

The way it implied even alive, they weren't people.

Shi Ma glanced at Ru Ge, who looked aggressively disinterested, and then at Wan Yu. "It's a false alarm this time. You should go, though. It'll be real cold soon."

Somehow, it only now clicked to Wan Yu that the reason the pharmacist reported them was because he suspected they were affiliated with Three Tenets Sect. If it hadn't been for the fact that Wan Yu knew Ye Xiyang…

They probably would've been dragged off for something worse.

"I…" Wan Yu shook his head. "Wait, what's Three Tenets doing right at your doorstep?"

Ru Ge sent him a sharp, dirty look. "It's sect business. What are you doing, still lingering?"

Wan Yu wisely did not point out the fact that Frozen Dragon Sect disciples themselves were guarding the entrance, not to mention Shi Ma alone being big enough to block the doorway. Ru Ge turned around and shooed Shi Ma to the wall, raising a hand to pull the drape aside, and Wan Yu raised a hand to grab their shoulder too.

It happened almost too fast. Eyes flashing with a killing glint, a reddened hand reached up into elaborately done hair, pulling out a silver hairpin among the many keeping it in place. Wan Yu startled, but then a hand dragged him back, just as Shi Ma leaned forward and reached out to grab Ru Ge's wrist.

The atmosphere congealed. Less than a foot away from Wan Yu, a hairpin exuded a frigid air, sharp end pointing straight at his neck.

Wan Yu swallowed. The hand on his arm, the one that tugged him back, pulled once more until he returned to where Song Hua was. It was only then that he realized the two things that stopped everything from going south: Song Hua somehow sensing Ru Ge's reaction and dragging Wan Yu out of the way, and Shi Ma stilling Ru Ge's hand.

"That's a bit much," Shi Ma scolded. "If anything happens, do you dare take responsibility?"

Ru Ge shot her a cold look, pulling their hand out of her grasp. The hairpin returned to its place, but somehow it didn't feel that comforting still. Shi Ma shot Wan Yu and Song Hua an apologetic look, angling her body such that it felt like a partial wall between the two sides.

"Listen. It's just Three Tenets Sect. We'll handle them at some point. Go now ba."

The door opened, the drapes pulled aside, and Ru Ge made the move to leave. After a step, though, they paused. Waving a hand, they said, "In the end, the amount is minute, I permit this purchase."

Despite the words being that of permission, it sounded almost ominous. Perhaps it was. This bastard, permitting it just because it meant that Wan Yu would be acquiescing to the slow murder— and a far worse afterlife— of a child…

He was starting to feel like he was strung along. How could he forget that this was a demonic sect, and just because he spent a few humanizing days being treated well?

"Are you all right?" Song Hua murmured. 

"I… I'm fine." Wan Yu blinked, still feeling a bit out of it. That sudden spike of resentment abated, turning faint as though melting back into the years. As the anger faded, though, Wan Yu felt like he'd been plunged into icy water. Though it was hard to pinpoint exactly, "I don't know why I'm so… shaky right now."

"That was a sudden move, and you've been tired. Let's find someplace to stay first."

It couldn't have been that, but Wan Yu had no better answers. Shaking his head, he stretched out his hand to find Song Hua's, and Song Hua gripped up his arm.

"All right. Let's go…"

 

____

 

The afternoon sun was teasing the leaves and birds in the yard. Sitting in the shade, Quan Su frowned as she played with the paper bird in her hand, mulling over the words it had delivered.

We need to go to another town to get some of the rarer ingredients. It will take a couple days to come back. Take care, and go buy yourself some snacks. That's what the money was for.

It had been a largely boring past few days, with Quan Su spending most of her time split between learning how to read and helping with cooking. Jingjing had been fine, if a bit disappointed, and had spent his time inching closer to her as she tried to study. His mother, though, had been apprehensive. Yesterday morning, as they prepared breakfast, she had confided, "Do you suppose your brother will come back soon? There's only two days left of Jingjing's medicine…"

Uncomfortable, Quan Su could only say, "It took us far longer to arrive here."

The Sun madame frowned at that. That frown did not abate for the rest of the day. Feeling self-conscious, Quan Su avoided her unless it was mealtimes.

Maybe it was because she had gotten used to Wan Yu, but she felt vulnerable now without him around. It felt like he was, subconsciously, a shield. Quan Su had spent a year, maybe two, on her own, but during that time she had largely stayed away from people. The wilderness was terrifying, but people were…

A pit had slowly been forming in Quan Su's gut.

"Xiao Su? Oh, there you are."

An older man showed up, and she startled into standing, moving to put more distance between them. He was one of the workers here, she did recognize that. Wan Yu had spoken with him several times, but even that wasn’t enough for her; Wan Yu talked with most anyone, even those he shouldn’t be. Quan Su never understood that, but at the same time, she did too. He was a cultivator, and not a weak one, and he had a lot of things hidden up his sleeve. Even with Ye Xiyang, it never felt like he was too much at a disadvantage. The world wasn’t too dangerous for him...

But it was for her.

“...Uh?”

The man chuckled. “Your gege did tell me you’d be a bit withdrawn. You can call me Uncle Sun. Before leaving, your gege said that he didn’t want you to just hole up here for days, so he asked that I check up on you. My daughter is here, she’s your age, how about you go to the market with her and get some snacks?”

Quan Su did not want to. Silence fell for a while, with the awkwardness thickening— and becoming more and more like a demand.

Remembering the talismans Wan Yu had placed on her, she tentatively agreed. She kept her distance, and thankfully, he didn't try to act close.

Quan Su felt apprehensive as they crossed the house, everyone else nodding as they passed by, but it grew to full-blown anxiety once they left its doors. For a second, she contemplated running, but that would be hard to explain. Now she lived with Wan Yu—

Meanwhile, Uncle Sun was chatting on, "It must be quite a life, travelling with a cultivator. A lot of the cultivators that stopped by tend to be rather aloof, or only stay a night. Only your gege so happily helped the madame fix the house. Cultivator Song had been staying for a while, but you know, he's… He keeps Xiao Jing happy, at least. I heard you and Xiao Jing chatting sometimes. I hope you don't feel too lonely without your gege."

Quan Su wished he would shut up, so she can worry in peace.

She kept a mental note of the route they took, glancing around for location markers and how they were in relation to each other. The path they took didn't really have turns, it being trod dirt that led to houses— still, she took note of the old willow tree with a broken cart wheel leaning against it, one left there for long enough soil had crept up it an inch. After a while, though, even the earlier markers had become muddled in her head…

But they were getting to busier places in the small settlement.

"Dad! What took you so long?"

A girl almost half a head taller than Quan Su was standing in front of a house, hands on her hips. Beside her was a younger girl, but judging from the lack of facial similarities, Quan Su guessed that she was a friend of the girl.

Uncle Sun ignored his daughter's complaints. "Qiqi, this is Xiao Su. Remember Cultivator Wan-ge? She's his little sister. Show her where you usually buy your snacks, won't you?"

Gege had met her before? When? Was it when he did errands? It sometimes felt like Wan Yu knew everyone. Quan Su never understood his outgoingness, especially when he also could be so solemn and melancholic.

"You're really Wan-ge's little sister? Huh. Have you two been travelling a lot then? Where are you from anyway?"

"We travelled here from Qunan," Quan Su said, rolling her eyes inside. It was now that she realized she had no idea where Wan Yu came from, or where she truly was from— the circumstances she was in then had caught her so young, it felt somewhat like a gate permanently closing behind her. She had lived all her life in a small village, until she didn't anymore. The world was so vast, how was she supposed to find that village among the thousands on this land alone?

But that, too, was on the assumption that she would be accepted back.

"Qunan? Where's that? Oh, I forgot. Oops. I'm Qiqi, this is my friend Ah-Chun. Hey, Ah-Chun, say something."

Ah-Chun was a quieter kid, that was for sure. She only gave Quan Su a shy glance before saying, "Hi."

"Hi too."

Though she rolled her eyes, Qiqi was not deterred by the pitiful excuse of an exchange— that, or she didn't really care. Quan Su, lagging a bit behind, studied the two girls. They didn't look much older than her, but Ah-Chun was a bit taller, though her back was hunched as if she was making herself smaller. It was clear that Qiqi was the domineering one; if not intentionally, then by natural development.

She chattered on, like her father, and Quan Su only made some acknowledging noises every now and then. The market in the afternoon wasn't as busy as she'd imagined it would be in the morning, but some people were still selling vegetables in stalls, and an old man passed by with his catch of small games, smelling strongly of blood. The three girls swerved away, Qiqi and Ah-Chun shuddering a bit. Qiqi, after far too short a pause, continued.

"Usually passing travellers stayed at that place, yeah, but they're usually adults. Isn't it boring there? Sun Jing is such a loud kid once he starts whining, you know. Once he cries, it goes on for three days and three nights, and nothing can make it stop."

Quan Su frowned. "So? He hadn't started when I got there. It was fine."

Qiqi rolled her eyes. "You're lucky then. He's like, my distant cousin, so sometimes I have to meet him… and he really hates people. He avoids most of us."

I would, too. But she kept those words to herself, saying instead, "Well, it is what it is."

Qiqi scrunched up her nose, but didn't comment. She switched the topic, saying, "Anyway, you hadn't explained where Qunan is. What kinda place is it? Is it a big town? Why did you stop by such a small village such as this anyway?"

So many questions. "Qunan is a pretty big town I guess. It's near Yueyang. Took us weeks to travel. The town had a lot of cultivators in it, but it's really not that different… just crowded. I guess it has a lot more things… But in the end it's just a town."

They'd mostly stuck to the commoner section, after all, and steered clear of the more lavish areas. Wan Yu had taken her once, to walk the streets and check the stalls, but once the first hour had passed Quan Su was just struck by how vapid it all was— arrogant gaudy carriages demanding space, cultivators on some restaurant using their teacher's and sect's names to win an argument loud enough to be overheard from outside. Wan Yu had gotten her some of the fancier, rarer candies and they went straight back to the inn.

"Qunan on a normal day really isn't that exciting, sorry Xiao Su," Wan Yu had said then.

New Year was nicer, but they'd spent it inside, helping Aunt Wang cook. There was, she supposed, Yibi… Yibi was more… interesting, in some sense, but honestly Quan Su was still disappointed by how flat everything felt.

"No way. It's gotta be more interesting than here, come on!" Qiqi shot her a side glance, a pout forming. "What did you see there?"

"A dead body falling from a sword in the sky," Quan Su answered dryly. "They had to close the streets because the blood and body parts got everywhere."

She wasn't there to see that part, but it was retold to her with an appropriate amount of drama and shock by Li Yang. The street was reopened by the afternoon of the next day, but most people avoided it for a week after, and businesses there suffered.

Qiqi, "......"

"Let's not talk about this…" Ah-Chun said, shooting Quan Su a glance. Quan Su rolled her eyes. She didn't want to talk about it either, but if pressed for excitement, what was she to say?

There was an awkward silence, but thankfully they were there: a small place at the corner with sticks of candied fruits, haw flakes and rice crackers. The lady there recognized Qiqi and Ah-Chun, but tilted her head seeing Quan Su. But they get their snacks— Quan Su paying, she didn't want to owe this stranger Qiqi— and stood there, a stick of candied fruit in hand each, looking at each other.

"Wanna play after we eat this?" Qiqi asked. Quan Su furrowed her eyebrows, but said nothing.

"Play what…" Ah-Chun looked up.

"Let's play cook," Qiqi replied. "We can go forage for herbs deeper into the forest now, I think, the adults are too busy these days to stop us."

"I'm not playing," Quan Su cut in. "Sorry. Have to get back to help out with dinner."

Qiqi's eyebrows furrowed as she opened her mouth, but closed it again into a scowl. She really seemed like she wanted to say something, but after a syllable, she swallowed her words down again.

"Right. I'll show you the way back. Wouldn't want my dad asking."

"Thanks."

Quan Su would be lying if she couldn't feel how the atmosphere had soured, or if she said that it didn't make her uncomfortable. But she wasn’t the sort to prolong it out of politeness. She couldn’t act anyway. So the small group, one eager to leave and the other eager to ditch, quickly returned to the workshop. When the large willow tree with the old wheel came into view, Qiqi turned to Quan Su.

“You know the way back from here, right?”

“Yeah. Thanks.”

It hadn’t even been an hour, maybe a little over half, and she’d already returned. Most people seemed busy, and the ones that saw her pass by didn’t comment, so she sneaked in without problems. She slipped into the kitchen and placed the small portion of haw flakes for the madame, before going to the courtyard again.

The residence wasn't big. Alone, Quan Su found herself at odd corners looking for entertainment. There was a looming old tree that she hadn't glanced at, and she made her way there, thinking about scraping bark.

Quan Su had spent at least two summers out there that she could remember clearly— she was used to being tired, hungry, and bored out of her mind while at the same time brimming with anxiety. Back then, she’d… Quan Su looked up and stared at the sky for a while. She didn’t like remembering this. She hadn’t thought about it as much until today, it felt; living with Wan Yu had been a good distraction. But what she still liked, anyway, was poking at and scraping tree trunks, peeling off the chunks of bark and leaving indents on the exposed soft wood.

Circling the tree, she looked around for a nice spot to sit down or lean against the tree for the next stick of incense. What she found, though, was something that made her tilt her head.

"Huh." Nailed on the tree at her eye-level, half hidden by age and how dirtied it had been, was a scrap of paper. It had strange markings on it, some that could've been words and some that looked too odd to be. Quan Su wanted to reach up and rip it from the nail, but intuition told her against it.

Instead, she pulled out the note Wan Yu sent and a stick of charcoal they'd made on the road, and she quickly copied the patterns the best she could.

When she was done, she hurried to put it away. Silence. She moved to the other tree, pretending that she'd done nothing of any kind near the other one. After some time, too long, it felt, Sun madame showed up around the corner, heading to Jingjing's room.

"Ah, Xiao Su, you’d returned earlier than I thought. How was playing with the girls?"

Quan Su brought up her best, awkward smile. "It was okay. Should I put water to boil now?"