"Don't run away screaming like that. You'll cause misunderstandings."

"You were chasing me like a madman!"

Panting, Mei stared uneasily at the man, who turned out to be Yang Ning.

"I would rather not have rumours spread around town," he said.

He took out his blindfold from his storage bag and took his time putting it on.

Mei paused for a little, before mustering the courage to ask what was on her mind.

"What was that thing behind you earlier?" she asked.

Yang Ning pursed his lips.

"I should be the one asking the questions. How did you even find me here?" he brushed the question aside.

"Soulsense. What else?"

She was surprised he didn't consider that if he didn't want to be found.

"I'm not buying that. You're not trying to tell me your soulsense can stretch all the way here, are you?"

"But it can?"

Yang Ning looked annoyed.

"If you don't want to tell me, that's fine too. But it's not polite to tail people." he scowled at her. "Now scram!"

Huh? Mei wasn't sure why he didn't believe her.

He resumed looking to the grave.

Just like that? He wasn't going to try to silence her or something? A part of her was really tempted to ask him if he really was going to leave her be, but decided against it.

"On second thoughts, I'm not in the mood for this anymore," he said, walking off into the distance.

Did she just stop something big?

She waited until he walked off, before cautiously walking to the gravestone he stared at. On it, the face of a smiling girl was depicted.

Ying Yue

3401-3418

Fleeting as the moon's reflection, yet in no way less beautiful.

May her valour be remembered.

When she returned, Wang Wei was already back. So much for trying to look for him.

It was already fairly late so her friends were already sleeping, including the runaway.

Except for Ning Xing, whom she spotted standing on the roof earlier, staring at the moon. Mei decided to tell her about it, considering how the two seemed to be friends.

"Oh? Can't sleep?" Ning Xing said, seeing Mei walk out of the house.

"I guess you could say that."

"Why not join me here? The moon is rather pretty tonight."

It was indeed pretty, but Mei wasn't interested in that right now.

"Um, actually, I something weird going on with Yang Ning! He was standing around in the graveyard and I saw a ghost behind him! But it disappeared after it saw me."

On the way back, she thought about it more, another possibility popping up in her mind. At first, she thought he could be secretly evil and hatching nefarious plans behind the sect's back. But what if Yang Ning was innocent and a ghost possessed him?

Ning Xing laughed.

"Ghosts don't exist. Don't be silly."

...what.

"You're literally cultivating and see magic all over the place! What's so hard to believe about ghosts?" Mei said.

"Well, I used to believe in them too, until I found out how absolute reincarnation is." Ning Xing sighed.

"Absolute?"

"The moment something dies, its soul will be whisked away into the reincarnation cycle. Otherwise, wouldn't the world be flooded with endless amounts of ghosts?"

True, but there had to be exceptions, weren't there?

"Well, whether you believe me or not, it's is not a ghost. I would tell you more, but it's not something he would want being spread around."

"What else could be then?"

Ning Xing didn't reply.

"You should probably get some sleep," she said, finally.

"Uh-huh..."

Mei returned to the house and laid on the couch. Then, finding it a bit uncomfortable, she laid on the nearest table instead.

For more than an hour, she stared at the ceiling blankly, listening to the crickets chirp. Sleeping after that... easier said than done.

She rolled over, knocking into her bag, which fell to the ground with a loud thud, followed by the sound of the contents rolling out. Ah. Hopefully, she didn't wake anyone up.

Mei wasn't really in the mood to try to sort it and would have waited until tomorrow, but a faint glow caught her attention, the glow of the teleportation token. That itself would not have been enough to grab her attention; it had been glowing the whole time with how she had yet to use her monthly charge. But instead of the usual white, the words 十二, 12 glowed blue on it, replacing the 天 previously there.

She got off the table grumpily and picked it up. Immediately, the sect master's voice entered her mind.

"Attention disciples! I have an important announcement to make tomorrow, during our usual assembly in the hall. Please return to the sect within the hours displayed on the token."

Seriously?

Oh well, she'd have time come morning.

"Mei Xiu! The sect master wants us to return to the sect in 5 hours!"

Wang Wei shook her awake.

"What are you doing sleeping on a table anyway?"

Mei checked the token and confirmed it was as he said.

"I know. I saw the announcement last night."

"Xiuying is making breakfast right now, by the way."

Nodding, Mei followed him there and joined her friends at the table.

Yang Ning was there as well, making her a little uneasy. With the blindfold, it was a little hard to tell what he was thinking.

After eating her fill, she waved goodbye to them before using the token to teleport home.

...

The first time Mei teleported home, she hit her head on the town well and left a small crack.

Under the dim moonlight, it wasn't bright enough for her to see it had been patched up. Not that she would have noticed.

Night? But wasn't it morning seconds ago?

Could it be that despite the teleport feeling instantaneous, a random amount of time would pass?

She checked the token hurriedly but saw that it was displaying 五, 5.

Maybe the token was affected as well, though most likely not. If that was the case, she was sure the sect would have designed it to account for that.

Unable to figure it out, she decided to just not worry about it.