They set out the next day, early afternoon sun strong overhead. Their destination: Shuangxi at the base of a nearby mountain, the largest town within 50 li. At a leisurely pace, it would take 3 shichen at most, but given their departure hour, they walked with slightly more vigor. Wan Yu's energy reserves truly befitted a well-trained cultivator. Right after spending all morning doing errands and chopping wood in record time, he hit the road without missing a beat. Meanwhile, in the heat and the sunlight, Ye Xiyang brought out his paper umbrella, using his fan to conjure cold air with each flap.

After going to the market while Wan Yu did his work, Ye Xiyang had discarded his sect uniform for something more lowkey. They were still the best available light blue silk, but rather than the painstakingly embroidered silver dragon on his leader's robes, these readymade clothes had the more normal decorative waves. He'd shed a layer, too. Where his uniform made the smiling Supreme Leader uphold his image of hidden danger, these new clothes made him look like a learned young master.

It still made for a strange contrast with Wan Yu.

"It's for a haunting case, rich family, probably some shady recent history. I reckon it's a two days, three at most thing. Shouldn't be too bad."

“They sure went out of their way, finding someone in such a remote village,” Ye Xiyang commented.

Wan Yu snorted. “I’m not half bad as a cultivator. They already hired two others before to no avail. They would ask for Vermilion Sun Sect to help them, but they apparently have a waiting list… pretty incredible, if you ask me. There’s so many students enrolling every year, but they still fall short.”

Not half bad was right. Not yet 25 and already slayed a jiao on his own. It was said that the reason Immortal Master Ning Shan took a disciple so late in his life when he had no intentions to do so prior was because Wan Yu's innate potential was too incredible to pass up— a once in a millennium prodigy, some say. Some say it was great, but wasn't that great. Ye Xiyang was getting some new insights, though. He wondered if it was a good root combined with a brilliant mind. It was too bad that the full extent of his potential would never be realized. Where he ought to be focusing solely on cultivation, he instead ran off, using his personal sword to cut logs… No respectable sects would stand for this.

"Vermilion Sun is hardly a sect I would respect," Ye Xiyang said instead. "Numbers don't mean much when they're largely incompetent outer gate gold-bleeders."

"Ouch, yikes," Wan Yu said, sniggering. "Careful, that might cut them and bleed gold everywhere."

It was a joke, but Ye Xiyang wouldn’t be surprised if that would happen. While Frozen Dragon Sect kept most of its wealth in the form of many businesses, Vermilion Sun Sect was rumored to actually have a vault of gold. Its financial branch operated several big stores and a large auction house; these were its main source of revenue, though of course second only to its entrance fees.

"Their strength lies heavily on their much smaller circle of inner gate disciples, but the number disparity leaves their average strength on the lower end of the scale."

"Their inner gate disciples are pretty good," Wan Yu agreed. "They're a solid force. It's just that they're often so sequestered away they're not aware of how the world actually is. Many of them are somewhat naive, I think."

"Most cultivators are naive in regards to worldly affairs if compared to you," Ye Xiyang said. “Hope high and you’ll be disappointed.”

"It's not like I needed special lessons to learn about the world. It's free." Wan Yu sighed. “And where would we go if we don’t have at least a level of expectations ba. Forever middling in mediocrity?”

Ye Xiyang let out an amused huff. “It’s your advantage, then, in this race. What are you complaining about?”

“We live in a society! It’s not a race, we can’t move onwards if it’s just one ind— bah, whatever.” Shaking his head, Wan Yu raised his hands; there were still obvious signs of agitation leaking out, such as his pursed lips, but from his tense shoulders it was clear he was trying to calm down.

Courteously, Ye Xiyang changed the topic. "You know a lot about Vermilion Sun."

His mood visibly improved— despite not liking the sect, he seemed to have thought of something that made him happy.

"I have a good friend there. I listen in when there's news about it, just so I know if anything's happened. Anyhow, it’s not that far from where I lived, so its reach is still felt by me. It’s kind of hard not to tune in to what they’re doing."

Good friend, huh.

Wan Yu glanced at him. "In fact, it's Ye-xiong who seems to know a lot about it. I bet he knows about all major sects, huh. What's your opinion on the others?"

The jianghu had been cleanly divided into the righteous and demonic faction since 600 years ago— a little over a century before the latest upheaval and war between factions. The Frozen Dragon Sect ended up categorized as demonic due to its pragmatic apathy: they didn’t care much how things were done so long as they were. But it certainly leaned far more neutral than the rest of its ilk— for example, Celestial Alignment Sect relied on human cauldrons to produce its top members, and the number of deaths from the practice was estimated to be higher than the casualties of war. It was a powerful sect, too; though it didn’t tread on Frozen Dragon Sect’s toes as much due to the latter’s small numbers, Ye Xiyang kept a close eye on it. They were the biggest culprit for human trafficking and kidnappings.

The Demonic Harmony Sect wasn’t much better. It didn’t rely on dual cultivation, but they were a united group of greedy bastards who liked to tug at any fraying edge they saw. Whenever a demonic faction’s influence in a town or village faltered, they would be the first to try and take over.

Thousand Edges School were made up of weapons-fanatic— they were always trying to make the most powerful weapon by merge-smithing. Merge-smithing was a technique that could transfer the properties or abilities of a magical weapon into another; if it was a cultivator’s personal sword, then it would forcefully nail its sword spirit into that other weapon. This had led to disaster before— someone tried to merge the sword of a righteous Sword Saint into a demonic Sect Leader’s, and the souls fought each other so hard it blew the place into a crater and almost cracked the sky overhead. The current Thousand Edges School was no longer as powerful, thanks to its new head, but Ye Xiyang always watched out for assassination attempts from their ranked members.

Fire and Water Sect and Heavenly Cycle School led the righteous faction, having been the first to establish the rules of the wulin. Vermilion Sun Sect was big, but it only emerged after the war, and didn’t have as deep a root as the top three. Before Ye Xiyang went back in time, it was the 6th most influential wulin sect. It was hard, though, to know its position 17 years ago. The issue with Wan Yu stirred quite a wave within the righteous faction— he leaked many dirty secrets. Before the scandal it might’ve been the 5th most influential, or the 4th.

“Fire and Water Sect has a habit of being hypocrites, and Heavenly Cycle School didn’t even blink when a massacre happened in their territory,” Ye Xiyang said. "Vermilion Sun Sect is very, very rich."

Wan Yu laughed. "So succinct."

"Saying any more would just repeat the same few words."

An amused huff. Wan Yu paused in his steps and took off his outermost, dark blue robe, tying them around his waist. Good, really— Ye Xiyang felt like he was sweltering under this sun just watching him. Wan Yu didn't seem to mind the garish heat, though he sweated in it; with just that, they resumed walking.

"So what do you want from this humble Wan Yu? It's not for everyone that someone falls through the trees so gracefully."

Ye Xiyang raised an eyebrow. "It can't be for the superb company?"

"I'm foolish, but I'm not stupid," Wan Yu said, smiling. "You know, being forthcoming and communicating what you want can help a lot in achieving your goals."

Ye Xiyang shot him a genial smile. Wan Yu bared the slightest flash of his teeth.

"I was just thrown here, you must understand," Ye Xiyang said, hands spread out in resignation. "I admit I have no idea where I am, and chanced upon a reliable someone."

'Bullshit' sat at the tip of Wan Yu's tongue, but he ended up swallowing it back down. Ah, whatever. He wasn’t here to drive the man away to roam free and cause shenanigans where he couldn’t see it.

They arrived at Shuangxi at nightfall, and immediately found a restaurant. Dinner, it really was first order of business.

"What will they say if they find out they're less important than food?" Ye Xiyang asked. Wan Yu, playing with a stalk of reed he'd picked off the side of the road, looked up. His hands continued to fiddle with them, knotting it several times.

"What business of theirs is my dinner? We're all human ah, if that's a problem then they can go ask, hmm, Three Tenets Sect. Don't they refine human puppets? Yeah, ask them."

"Three Tenets Sect is dead," Ye Xiyang said. He wiped it off the map when it started setting its eyes on the towns under Frozen Dragon Sect's control, trying to convince Demonic Harmony Sect that they're a valuable ally. The effects of kidnapping and fears surrounding it on locals' trust on Frozen Dragon Sect would've been massive, so he had Shi Ma kill the leader and top stratum, before leading the weeding out of its lower ranks from his cities himself. The sect merely had several hundred members; it truly was an effortless decision to make. Several hundreds, for the peace of thousands. It was—

Ye Xiyang paused.

"What are you talking about?" Wan Yu said, eyebrows raised. "They're hale and hearty. Just the other month I found two of them in the village, trying to grab several teens. Gave 'em the scare of their lives, mostly because now they're dead."

That was when he was thirty. That wouldn't happen for 5 years yet. It was also a move that cemented to everyone else his position as the sect leader; the final nail that shut the mouths of the most devout of his shifu's followers.

"Wishful thinking," Ye Xiyang said, shaking his head. "They weren't appearing where I lived, so I honestly forgot they had a wider net than just there. My apologies."

Wan Yu nodded in understanding. Ye Xiyang had only now known that a nod could be sarcastic. His words, however, continued the conversation straight ahead. "Sometimes when you thought the world was better than you imagined, it strove to prove you wrong. I was hoping a sect or something would come wipe them out, but I doubt the righteous ones would, unless Three Tenets did something huge… which would be far too late, if you ask me. It's probably more likely for them to get killed off because they pissed off some other demonic faction sects."

"Agreed," Ye Xiyang said. "Easier for them to tread upon a fellow demonic sect's territory than a righteous one."

The dishes were delivered. They ate, chatting about the food and the state of the jianghu; it was a good, productive conversation, if Ye Xiyang considered knowing more about Immortal Chen Xi to be a productive activity. The young man had a rather large gap in his knowledge of most sects outside of rumors that entered his ears, but he knew a lot about Vermilion Sun Sect and several smaller sects and schools in the northern region. Ye Xiyang wasn’t sure where he could’ve known this, but he guessed it was an acquaintance; Immortal Master Ning Shan was known to live in Mt. Cangshi, which was decidedly not in the northern ranges. It was about 120 li from this one.

Hmm. Immortal Chen Xi had left quite a ways away from home.

After asking for directions from the waiter, the two of them hit the street, leisurely walking off their meal. It wasn’t hard to find, so the waiter said; the Du family was one of the most affluent families in town, and from new money too. Though built anew over fifteen years ago, it looked about brand new from frequent expansion and renovations. Not that it’d really show in the dark… Wan Yu would’ve commented on that unhelpful description, but he would give the waiter a pass. It wasn’t as if he was necessarily wrong.

From what Wan Yu gathered asking around before taking the job, the Du family only came to their wealth around 20 years ago. The Du Patriarch was a wood craftsman, and worked his way to having a workshop and employing several others. Then, through a deal or some other, he ended up employing almost forty people, exporting premium goods and getting commissions from wealthy families in the capital.

It wouldn’t be weird if Wan Yu didn’t also know that the ‘well-connected individual’ cited to have helped the Du Patriarch was someone from the Seven-Petal Moonlotus Sect. This wasn’t new to him— he’d stumbled upon a similar case back when he was 16 and travelling. Tiny demonic sect, but very rich— Wan Yu never investigated the source of their wealth, but that was because he was with company and the two of them weren’t powerful enough for a confrontation.

He was older now, and stronger. Perhaps he could give it a try… But then again, he had Xiao Mian and Grandma to think about. He needed the money from this case first and foremost. Maybe when he left he could pass by here again… Ah, he’ll see how life unfolded later.

They arrived. The Du family house was more like a manor. It was brightly lit, with enough illumination Wan Yu could see the engraved seven-petalled flowers on the doorway; subtle, but wow. He wasn’t expecting the Du Patriarch to be so grateful to the sect as to do this to his own house. Upon closer inspection, the light from the lanterns weren’t from flames but night pearls.

Wan Yu whistled. “Fancy.”

Footsteps. Whoops. Somebody came up and opened the doors, poking her head out. She paused for a second upon seeing Wan Yu, before withdrawing to properly open the doors for them.

"Are you Cultivator Wan Yu?" the servant asked, bowing. "Thank you for coming so promptly. Please, follow me. The sire has been waiting for your arrival, we've prepared a room… no, two."

It was clear that Ye Xiyang's presence threw them off their calculations, but Wan Yu didn't stop her.

“Thank you very much,” he said instead, flashing her a bright smile. “I’m sorry for the abrupt addition.”

She shook her head, keeping it low. “It is no problem, Immortal Wan. Do not worry about anything.”

Her voice was small. It might even have faltered, but it was hard to tell due to the volume. Were they this scared of the hauntings that supposedly took place? Or maybe she was just reserved… She avoided looking at Wan Yu, in a way that he could only assume was because he had a ghost hanging behind him, looking over his shoulder.

Maybe it was Ye-xiong.

The servant led them to the main house, where they were seated in a large, well-decorated hall. “Immortals, please wait here, the first young master will be here in a moment.”

After stealing another glance at Wan Yu, she scurried away.

“Real fancy,” Wan Yu commented as he scanned the room. There was a delicately carved guqin up for display, its surface layered with mother of pearl— a lantern was placed just so to showcase its lustre. The tea table they sat around had a pane of glass sitting atop it; underneath it was a tapestry of carved garden, with blooming chrysanthemums, camellias and cranes all emerging from the dark, sturdy wood. If this family wasn’t one of wood craftsmen, Wan Yu would think they were a whole lot richer than they claimed. He really should ask for more than proper compensation for his time— they sure wouldn’t miss a gold nugget or two.

Ye Xiyang didn’t even bother looking. The servants came back in with tea and refreshments; he busied himself with tea. Wan Yu glanced at the food. He was full, but eh, they had light snacks… fragrant floral jellies, delicate looking desserts… Tempting. If only he could bring them home for Xiao Mian and Grandma Ji. Maybe he could get the ingredients or something, but the taste would probably be different. Might still work, though, better than nothing after all.

When the servants left, Ye Xiyang spoke up. "So what's the case, Wandering Cultivator Wan?"

"Dunno the exact details either. Probably related to the wealth the patriarch amassed," Wan Yu answered, leaning back on his arms. "Sometimes wealth can come upon a person honestly, but let's be real."

Sipping his tea, Ye Xiyang raised an eyebrow. "I thought as a good man you shouldn't presume guilt."

"Innocent until proven guilty, but suspicion isn't a verdict ba," Wan Yu said. Idle, he started snacking on the small dishes laid out. Okay, these were good. Why couldn’t he cook? If he could make these jellies himself, he definitely would be a satisfied man no matter where he was. "Most importantly, you have to be open to the reality of the situation and be ready to accept truths that don't conform to your first impressions. But if you don't have at least some degree of skepticism, you'd be sold off across the country in no time flat."

“This immortal speaks honest truths,” a voice said from the doorway. Wan Yu turned his head— a man in his early thirties walked in, a genial smile on his face. “Apologies for keeping these two immortals waiting. I am Du Yu’an, the one who called for these immortals’ help, here on behalf of my father. Thank you for arriving so promptly.”