“This seems dumb. Anyone who recognizes us will know we almost certainly were inside the ward, and they will have questions. And since they probably won’t like the answers, we are going to get murdered by stronger, better equipped experts on our level.” Liren wasn’t being a help.
“Low profile. We will be low profile. You do the lying, I’ll just look lost and helpless.” Tian had switched into his usual drab linens, and chose to hide his white hair under a straw hat like Liren. Picking a cloth to use as a face mask was a little more challenging.
“Oh, missing the obvious choice right there.” Tian pulled out the head wrap he had worn back in the Redstone Wastes.
“Right, sure, great, but you know that’s only going to work on people looking at us with their eyes. We don’t even really know how perception arts work in this realm. Also, you will have to do the lying, because my training with Teacher makes lying very unpleasant.” Liren had her veil hanging around her hat, which worked well enough. Combined with her gloves, she was hidden from head to toe. It took some cajoling from Tian to get her to swap her storage ring for one without the Ancient Crane Monastery stamp, and even more to get her to wear robes other than those provided by the monastery.
He understood her reluctance. He liked simple, sturdy clothes. She didn’t. They had fancy new robes, and she didn’t have the chance to show them off. There was a distinct absence of gaudiness.
Tian grinned under his face wrap. “We don’t know how things look in Mountain Gate City without the sect holding things down. We may actually be standing out by looking so ordinary. A quick clothing change may be needed. Lying by presentation and omission, instead of telling lies.”
“Good thinking!” Liren nodded. “Though… realistically, the sect, or part of the sect, likely still holds the city. Starsieve managed to get a lot of them killed fighting heretics, but I’m not sure how far that really goes. We had the most Heavenly Realm cultivators, the strongest Heavenly Realm cultivators, and a big chunk of the Inner Court didn’t make it inside the ward. Including the Inner Court Elder, and, I am ashamed to say, quite a lot of the disciplinary squad.”
“Any core or direct disciples outside?”
“Core disciples, certainly. I don’t know about direct disciples.” Liren shrugged. “This still seems dumb. I just don’t have a better idea. Let’s go.”
The two walked up the path to the city. “This was packed with carts the last time we were here.” Tian muttered. “Is this a more normal amount?”
“No. This is low.” Liren shook her head. The two weren’t rushing, keeping to a “casual stroll” that would cover forty miles in an hour without any strain. It should have been harder to avoid being seen at that speed, but the Heavenly Realm came with an extension of their instincts. They could feel the shifting awareness of the mortals, almost like a cone of light sweeping outward. Avoiding the edges of that cone was trivial. Eerie. But trivial.
“This is shameful.” Liren groused.
“It’s not shameful.”
“It’s completely shameful. When did you ever see Heavenly Realm experts going around on foot?”
“You could have asked for a flying sword or boat or something.”
“You could have too. And yet, neither of us did.” Liren gave Tian a look.
“You got a spear. Can you fly on the spear?”
“Yes, but no.”
“What does that mean?”
“Yes, I can fly on the spear now that I have bound it. No, I don’t have the qi to actually fly on it. Or an art to stay on top of it, for that matter. I don’t even have the qi to use it properly. I might get one good thrust using it, and that’s it. For now, I’ll stick to the Earthly Realm spear.”
Tian gave Liren a look this time, but it was quite a different sort of look. “It takes qi to use your spear?”
“It’s a bit like how Earthly weapons need vital energy to work properly, but even more so, and it needs qi. More than that, it needs qi delivered the right way. My Fairy Maiden Spear Art meets that need, but I can’t pour enough qi into the spear to make it work the way it should.”
“How should it work?”
“I should be able to throw it dozens of miles, I’d guess. Maybe a few hundred, with practice and the right art.”
Tian had to stop and consider that for a minute. They maneuvered around a caravan, the dozens of hard-eyed guards glaring in every direction. There were Earthly people hidden inside the wagons too. Harder to evade, but not too much harder. They weren’t much more aware than mortals.
“Um. And I’m guessing it should stab through just about anything.”
“Should do, yeah.” Liren nodded. “It’s pretty sharp as it is. It’s also crazy heavy if you don’t run your qi through it, way too stiff, and the balance is weird. Not the worst, but not right. Then you run your qi through it, and… well I didn’t moan with pleasure, like a certain someone, but it is really, really satisfying to hold and use.”
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“I wonder who you are talking about.” Tian looked straight ahead. If he didn’t acknowledge it, it couldn’t be true.
“It’s a mystery.” Liren snickered, but dropped it. “The long and short of it is that I can pick it up and wave it around, maybe make a couple of good thrusts so long as I’m not using an art, but the second I try to use it properly, I run out of qi.”
Tian grunted. He didn’t have that problem with the Heavenly Swallows darts, but there was, ultimately, a question of scale, materials and power. He certainly couldn’t send the darts out dozens of miles. He wasn’t even sure he could send them out a single mile.
“I’m not used to the scale of things in the Heavenly Realm,” he muttered. “This is going to be an adjustment. For some reason, I thought it would all be intuitive.”
“It would be handy if there were seniors to walk us through all this. Maybe teachers. One dedicated elder who could explain all these things and guide us on our path.” The two shared a look, snorted, and turned their eyes forward.
It wasn’t a long stroll, at the speeds they were moving. What was considerably more interesting, however, was that there was a new town built outside the walls of Mountain Gate City, clinging to the base of the mountain like lichen. Tian remembered that there had been inns and depots with warehouses for the merchants, but not a whole town. In a sense, a town defeated the purpose of Mountain Gate City. It was supposed to be exclusive. Murderously desirable. Now there was fresh plaster everywhere, and buildings popping up like mushrooms after the rain.
“Let’s start with the lower town first. Can you see the gate guards?” Tian suggested.
“Yeah. Wearing blue and white, but they have some headbands on that I don’t recognize.” Liren looked back towards the town. “And I agree. The first thing we need is information, and it doesn’t have to come from a peer. Let’s start with a tea house in the lower town.”
Tian sniffed and subtly wiped a tear away. At long last, Liren’s brain damage had been cured. All it took was intensive cultivation in a supersaturated qi environment, elevation to the Heavenly Realm, and his good influence. “Yes. Let’s start with the tea.”
The lower town was disconcerting. The streets were too narrow, and they didn’t run straight. They were oddly sloped, which he initially thought was simply a product of being on the mountain, but he quickly discarded the thought. The slopes weren’t consistent, and if he was reading the streets right, water would likely flood the houses and shops on the “wrong” side of the street. There often weren’t gutters or drainage ditches either.
He mentioned it to Liren, who gave him an odd look, then frowned. “It’s not built according to the Kingdom’s law.”
“Does it have to be?” Tian asked.
“Strictly speaking, yes. As a practical matter, obviously not. But that’s the only explanation I can think of. The law specifies more than you would think. The roads here aren’t the standard widths, the streets aren’t laid out according to the rules, everything looks off because it’s made by the whim of whoever made it. And there were a lot of someones, working at different times.”
“Which also suggests it isn’t organized by the Sect, or the rump of the sect, though clearly it’s permitted by them.” Tian narrowed his eyes. “I think that’s the tea house. Four stories, octagonal. Do we have enough money?”
“With what V… With what the Medicine Elder gave you? We should have enough for a pot of the cheap stuff and some plain buns. So long as the prices are reasonable.” Tian looked sharply over at Liren, whose face twitched into a microscopic smile. Tian smiled back and slightly nodded as well. Low key. You never knew who was listening. The Dao of the Brokie is the path of safety and peace, but it takes constant practice.
“We should ask for free pickled radishes on the side, as a service for the customer.”
“Don’t you think that would be too much?” Liren asked.
“It’s the service heart, the service heart! Times are hard, can’t they spare some pickled radishes for paying customers?”
“That means times are hard for the teahouse too, you know.” Liren shook her head as they slowly made their way through the crowds.
“Bah! They have a whole four story tea house. We barely have tents! How old are our tents now? And they weren’t anything fancy when we got them. I’m not asking for fried chicken or braised pork. I’m not even asking for stuffed buns. Just a side of pickled radishes. Surely that can’t be too much?” Tian sounded alternately aggrieved and piteous, and even Liren struggled to tell how much of it was sincere.
“They might manage some sauteed greens. Though, maybe not. They usually charge for those.”
“Oh, how wonderful that would be! Honestly, I’m just so ready to eat someone else’s cooking.”
“Ain’t that the truth.” Liren muttered, before walking into the tea house.
“Wecome, welcome! I don’t recognize the honored guests, is this your first time visiting our White Horse Teahouse?” The waiter greeted them at the door, bowing enthusiastically and waving them in.
“It is. A pot of tea, some buns, and what special dishes do you offer?”
“Of course, of course! Before that, may I ask what floor you wish to sit on? The first floor is for wandering Immortals of the younger generation, and so on. The Fourth Floor is by invitation only, I’m afraid, and currently closed. The ground level is for the public. Some things are only available on the higher floors, you see, and naturally, there is a difference in price.”
Tian looked over at Liren, his face still covered but his body radiating hope. Liren sighed. “Second floor, thanks.”
“Ah, honored Immortals, just to confirm-”
Liren flashed a spirit crystal tucked into the palm of her hand.
“Right this way, sorry for the inconvenience, these days frauds and bandits are everywhere.”
“True, true. Mountain Gate City has changed a lot since I was last here. Could you tell me a bit about what’s going on?” Liren slipped the waiter a few silver, which vanished without even the need for a storage ring.
“We are a blessed island of calm in a turbulent ocean, or so it seems. The undercurrents can drown the unwary.” The waiter shook his head and so did Tian, though they did it for very different reasons.
“Fortunately, the Mountain Guarding Heroes of the Ancient Crane Monastery still hold the city, though whispers abound about the Radiant Dawn Sect making plays in the low country. Rumor has it, they are gathering their forces even now. But that’s the big picture stuff. Bandits stalk the countryside, while immortal thieves prowl the rooftops here in the City. Merchant King Long has opened his Four Treasures Pavilion, and they say anything at all can be bought there, for a price. Anything. At. All. A red horse was seen galloping across the plains outside the Vermilion Bird Fortress in the steppes down south, sweating blood. An immortal horse, running over the grassland faster than the wind itself. And speaking of the southlands, it’s said that the King of Hell Hanshen is going to make a trip to Burning Flag City, to clear all the accumulated ghosts and devils on him at the Shrine of the Martyr Venerable.”
The waiter took a deep breath. “Well, that’s the summary of what I’ve heard just this morning. Please have a think about what further questions you might have, as I introduce you to the teas we have on offer, as well as some specialities of the house. I can assure you, the information might not be guaranteed, but the taste is.”