The sun's early morning rays were creeping across the roofs of the house. Tiny snakes of light slithered across the streets, lighting up the paths.
The residents of the village were extremely accommodating, giving the three cultivators whatever they asked for, from food and wine, to even willingly giving up their own houses for them to stay in. Wei Ying and the Zhao siblings, however, decided not to bother them too much and stayed at the inn, near the town leader's house.
Wei Ying sat at the table that was placed in the middle of his room, flicking through numerous maps that were sprawled in front of him. The sunlight gently kissed his skin, as if it was trying to heal him with its golden touch.
A knock came from his door.
"Come in," he called, not looking up from the maps.
Zhao Feng and Zhao Meili slid the doors open, bowing to Wei Ying as they entered.
"Good morning, Sect Leader."
"Ah- what did I tell you about bowing? And don't get me on these formalities. There's no need."
"We know, but if we're going to form a sect, then we need to make sure we properly show respect when in public." Zhao Meili put her hands on her hips, and sat opposite, looking at the maps as well. Zhao Feng closed the door and came to stand next to them, his sword folded in his arms.
Wei Ying just sighed. These two were just as strong-headed and stubborn as him. He was surprised they got along well.
Over the past two days, he had learned much about the two siblings. They were the children of a clan leader, not far from Yiling. They were also the descendants of one of his grandmaster's early disciples, the first to leave the Celestial Mountain, Yanling Daoren.
Wei Ying remembered hearing stories about a gifted cultivator, trained by the Immortal herself, who excelled in the cultivation world, and was looked up to by many. However, something switched in him overnight, and he turned against the world, killing others in just a blink of an eye. Yanling Daoren was said to be killed by a thousand cultivators.
Zhao Feng and Zhao Meili also shared that they had been told the stories, despite being his very blood and flesh. They felt there was something more to the story than what was being told, generation to generation, and it was being twisted each time.
"What's with the maps?" Zhao Feng asked, picking up one of the maps, turning it upside down, and then sideways.
"I asked the town leader for a few maps of the lands around here," Wei Ying said, gesturing to the maps that covered the surface, "But he gave all of the ones he had."
"What are we looking for exactly?" Zhao Meili asked.
"A place to base our new sect."
Immediately, the Zhao siblings dove into the pile of maps, diligently searching for the perfect location. They had something in mind, something as beautiful as Cloud Recesses, as practical as Lotus Pier, as mighty as Golden Carp Tower, and as ominous as the Unclean Realm, but also neatly tucked away from the chaos of the world.
Once their ancestry has been uncovered, they came to a came to a final decision to start a sect. It didn't matter if it was big or small, but they would uncover all the secrets of the dark, and maybe accept disciples. What they would teach, they hadn't figured it out yet, but they knew that once established, they would be respected and feared by everyone.
"What about there?" Zhao Feng pointed after a few minutes of silence, "It seems like there aren't many sects close-by. There's a village, forest, and even a lake surrounding it"
"Burial Mounds, Yiling?" Wei Ying nodded, "It's an option."
"Ooh, what about here." Zhao Meili tapped her finger onto a location. "Its secluded, but not too far from the rest of society."
The map read a single word, and unlike the location of the Burial Mounds in Yiling, this place had no drawings that would represent something like a village, or a type of landform.
Wei Ying read it out, "Yuan. . dao?" His eyes narrowed as he stared at the 2 characters on the map. He had been told this place before, but he couldn't put his finger onto when he had heard it. He then looked up to them, "Have you heard of this place before?"
The two shook their heads. They didn't make any connections.
Another knock sounded, and the door slid open again. The inn owner stepped in, holding a tray with a teapot and 3 cups placed on it.
"Excuse my interruption, cultivators." He bowed. "I have brought morning tea. It is the best you'll ever taste!"
He went to set the tray on the table, but stopped, seeing the maps spread out, and looked for somewhere else to set the tray down on.
"Thank you." Wei Ying gestured for him to place the tray on the floor. "Can I ask a question?" he asked, holding the map up to the owner.
"Yes Young Master, go on. I'll try answer as best as I can."
"Have you heard of a place called Yuandao?"
"Yuandao?" The man's eyes fogged over, as if he was remembering an old distant memory.
"Yuandao." He muttered again. "They say it's a cursed land. They said it was destroyed hundreds of years ago. My mother used to tell me stories of a prestigious family used to reside there, but no one has gone there in a long time, so I wouldn't know. They were stories after all. She was probably making it up."
The man set down the tray on the ground, and smiled to them. "If you need anything else, please let me know. I will be downstairs."
Zhao Feng saw him out, saying thank you for the man's kindness, closing the door once he left, before turning around with a wide grin on his face.
"What's that look?" Wei Ying groaned.
"Nothing good, probably." Zhao Meili said, under her breath.
"Since we still have three days until we need to be at Qishan, why don't we go check out this Yuandao place? We can see if it is worthy of a place for our sect."
Wei Ying shook his head. "I've had enough adventures these past few months, thank you very much." He then looked to the low sun, "Besides, it's way too early. I would usually still be sleeping at this time."
"Oh come on, Wei Ying." Zhao Feng pleaded, coming to sit beside him and nudged him with his shoulders, "We might have struck gold!" He then turned to try and persuade his sister, "We can go check this place out and then make our way to Qishan. We won't rush or anything. If we leave today...let's say, in an hour or so, we will have ample time."
Zhao Meili and Wei Ying looked thoughtfully to each other before sighing.
"He does have a point. I mean, who knows what's going to happen after the Sunshot Campaign."
"So? What do you say?" Zhao Feng looked at them with wide, hopeful eyes.
"Alright. Alright. We'll go." Wei Ying began collecting up the maps, "Get your things ready, we will leave in an hour."
Zhao Feng and Zhao Meili ran to the door.
"Wait." Wei Ying threw a bag of coins to them, "Give it to the owner, for the troubles of our stay. Oh, and ask him to quickly prepare some food. I want to be on the road in an hour."
"Yes, Sect Leader." The siblings grinned and ran out, before Wei Ying had a chance to scold them.
"I wonder where he got this much gold. I swear he wasn't carrying it on him before." Zhao Feng weighed the heavy bag on his hand, as they walked back to their own rooms, to collect their things.
"He's from YunmengJiang, one of the biggest sects. Of course he's rich."
Wei Ying shook his head, smiling to himself and collected the maps, piling them up in the middle of the table.
Just like the Zhao siblings, he didn't have much to get ready. They each carried only their weapons with them, however, many gifts, such as jade tassels, hairpins and some even gave gold, had been forced upon them by the villagers as tokens of gratitude.
He grabbed the yin iron, wrapped it in a small cloth, and put it back in the pocket of his robes. Though he knew that he was far more powerful than the yin iron, there was still much more he had to learn and keep it guarded from the filthy hands of other cultivators, who he knew, would do just about anything for even the slightest bit of power.
Zhao Meili and Zhao Feng approached the inn owner, their swords slung across their backs. The owner was so preoccupied in filling out some papers on his desk, near the entrance of the inn, that he didn't notice the pair walking towards him.
"Excuse me sir," The siblings bowed to the owner. "Sorry for the troubles"
"No, no. There is no trouble." The inn owner stood up and took their hands in his and shook them, "It's the least we could do. After all, you saved us."
"Could you perhaps prepare some food for us to take?" Zhao Meili asked, politely.
The man looked at them, trying to think of a reason why they would be asking.
"To take? Are you planning to leave today?"
"Yes. We plan to leave in an hour or so."
"Don't worry your pretty little heads," the owner assured, "I'll have lots of the tastiest food ready for you all by then."
Zhao Meili placed the bag of gold on the counter and pushed it towards him.
"What's this?" He eyed the bag. "Oh, no, cultivators, I couldn't keep this." He said, pushing it back to Zhao Meili. Zhao Feng blinked a few times and looked to his sister, who was equally surprised. That was the first time they had seen anyone turn down a bag of gold. The people of this village were truly very humble and even more generous.
She pushed it back towards the owner. "Please sir. See it as a token of gratitude from us, for letting us stay in your inn, and for the kindness the residents of this village have shown us."
Again, the owner pushed it back, simply refusing to accept such a great sum of money from children that were probably half his age.
"Young miss, we were trapped in hell for two years. It's not only me, but everyone feels as though, what we have done to show out joy and gratefulness, still isn't enough to come to par with what you have—"
Zhao Feng picked up the bag and shoved it into the hands of the owner, forcefully closing the man's fingers around it. Reluctantly, the inn owner gave up and kept the money, but still mumbled reasons against it.
Another pair of footsteps could be heard coming down the stairs. Zhao Feng and Zhao Meili turned around to bow to Wei Ying. The inn owner, confused on what to do, copied them, and also bowed to him.
"How are the preparations going?" Wei Ying asked.
"We have requested food to be made for our journey." Zhao Meili replied.
"The food will be ready for you in an hour, Young Master." The inn owner said. "In the meantime, feel free explore the market."
"Thank you sir," Wei Ying said to him, "Do you know where the village leader would be? I need to give back these maps."
"Ah . . . have you tried checking his house, Young Master?"
"Come on, let's go. We can go to the market while we wait." He said to the siblings, and then raised his hands and folded them one in front of the other, to the inn owner "Once again, thank you for all your help."
The owner bowed to the group as they left, and hurried towards the kitchen.
"Make our finest food for the go." He called out to the chef, who immediately got up to his feet, and began preparing his ingredients.
The village leader's house was a five minute walk from the inn. It was by far the tallest and grandest house in the village, looking a little odd and out of place next to the other, simpler and uniform houses.
Wei Ying knocked on the door, and was greeted by the village leader's wife, who hurried them in, and served some snacks. Zhao Feng's eyes lit up seeing the assortment of food set before them.
"No need, Ma'am." Wei Ying politely refused. Zhao Feng sighed and .... "We have come to return the maps. We will be leaving shortly."
The woman's face fell when she heard their saviours were going to leave their village earlier than they hoped.
"No, please stay for a few more days. I insist." The booming voice of the village leader, came from their right.
The leader bowed to the group, who returned his respect. Wei Ying walked over and handed him the stack of maps.
"We are leaving soon. Thank you for being so munificent and hospitable."
"No, no. It's the least we could have done. Because of you, we have been finally liberated."
An hour had passed and it was time for the group to begin their journey. The entire village came to see them off at the gates.
"We will visit again." Wei Ying reassured the tearful villagers.
"I wish you all the best on your endeavors, cultivators."
With that being said, they waved back to the residents and walked in the direction the map had pointed, towards the forgotten land of Yuandao.
They had been travelling for half a day. The glowing sun was at it's highest in the vast azure sky above them. They had trekked non-stop through forests, and plains, getting closer to their destination with every step... (While journeying, Wei Ying blessed their ears with his flute)... Now, the only thing left that stood in their way was a mountain range.
These summits reached into the clouds, making it impossible to see the tops. Lush greenery painted the mountain faces and trees cloaked the mountain ground. As the group got closer, the trees grew larger, towering over them, engulfing them in their cool shadows.
"Looks like what we're looking for sits on the other side." Wei Ying tucked his flute back into his belt and crossed his arms, looking at the sky-high mountains. There was just absolutely no way they would be able to scale that.
Zhao Meili seemed to have known what he was thinking. "What if there is another way around the mountain? So we don't need to climb over it."
"Right." Zhao Feng nodded. "We can walk around the mountain and find a passage."
"Alright then." Wei Ying said, sitting down under one of the trees. "You guys go look, I'll rest here."
The two bowed and quickly walked off in opposite directions.
"Come and get me if you find anything!" He called behind them, stretching out his legs, and leaned on the tree, his eyes closed.
With his golden core gone, his stamina wasn't the same as it was before. While the siblings were still full of energy, he felt shattered. He smiled to himself. A sad smile. Even if he went back in time, he still wouldn't change anything. He wouldn't have it any other way. His mind also wandered to Wen Qing and Wen Ning. He wondered what they were up to and how they were doing. He hadn't seen them since, and deep down, he hoped they wouldn't be present for the Sunshot Campaign. After all that they had risked to save both Jiang Cheng and him, death wasn't something they deserved. He knew they were far different from the real tyrants.
As his tense muscles relaxed and his thoughts gradually became quieter, he drifted off to sleep under the calming, cool shade of the tree.
"How long do these mountains go on for? I swear it's been at least an hour." Zhao Feng stopped, these mountains formed a complete barrier that protected whatever lay inside. There was no crack on the mountain front, no passage, no way to get in. Surely, he thought, if I continue to walk, I'd end up where I started. Not wanting to waste a whole day, Zhao Feng made the smart decision to walk back to Wei Ying.
Wei Ying had been sound asleep, completely disconnected from his surroundings for a while. A male figure cautiously approached him from the depths of the trees behind him, curious to who had decided to visit this abandoned place after so many years. He had unruly black hair and wore purple robes with a familiar purple crest. He stopped at Wei Ying's head and looked down on him. His eyes softened and he gestured for another figure to join him. She also emerged from the same place, coming over to stand beside him. Her hair was tied up, adorned with a few simple yet elegant hairpins. Her robes were white and had silver embroidery on the hems and the arms. The two smiled to each other as they gazed at Wei Ying's sleeping face. The woman knelt down and tried to brush the stray hair out of his face, but her hand just went through. She took a sharp breath, slowly crumbling down into tears, The man quickly knelt down and took her in his arms, whispering sweet words in her ear.
"Master Wei!" Zhao Meili called as she approached their starting point. She spotted him still asleep under the tree and tip-toed towards him. She crouched beside him and nudged shook him.
"Sect Leader Wei? Wei Ying, wake up."
It was no use. He was still deep asleep. Hearing footsteps behind her, she swiftly turned around, pulling out her sword.
"Chill. It's only me." Zhao Feng stopped walking and held his hands up. He glanced over to Wei Ying, about to say something but was stopped by a faint glow that came from Wei Ying's head. His eyes followed it as it led from Wei Ying's sleeping body and into the dense trees. He walked up to Wei Ying and shouted, "Wei Ying wake up! We're back!"
Wei Ying flinched. "Aiya." He said, rubbing the sleep out from his eyes. "You're back already? I didn't even sleep for that long." He got up, stretching his arms. "So? Did you find anything?"
"There's nothing if we walk that way." Zhao Meili nodded to the direction she had explored.
"I think I found a way."
"OK, that's great. Lead us to it." Wei Ying said, with a cheerful smile on his face.
"Actually, I should say that you found a way."
"Huh?" Wei Ying looked at Zhao Feng's face trying to figure out the answer to whatever riddle he had come up with, but his face was as serious as ever, there was not a glimpse of mischief in his eyes.
"Turn around."
Wei Ying did as he said and turned around, immediately noticing the faint silver glow of what seemed to be footsteps on the ground.
"Either this wasn't here before," Meili muttered, "Or we're blind."
"Be careful," Wei Ying warned, pulling out his dizi from his belt, "Stay behind me. We don't know what lurks here."
The two nodded, pulling out their swords.
They cautiously followed the silver footsteps into the forest. With every stride, Wei Ying felt a sense of familiarity crash into him like the waves of restless seas. He had definitely been here before. He knew something happened in this forest, but why couldn't he remember it?
"Wait a second." Wei Ying abruptly came to a stop.
"What wrong?" Zhao Feng asked, rubbing his head, after he walked into Wei Ying's back.
"Aren't we on a mountain?"
Zhao Feng raised his eyebrows and tilted his head slightly. "Yes, we are?"
"Why is the ground so . . . flat? Shouldn't it get steeper the more we walk?"
They all looked behind them. He was right. The ground didn't slope down as it should've the more they walked, had they been on a proper mountain. Instead, the ground was relatively flat.
A strong breeze tugged at them, as though it wanted them to continue following the marks.
"Maybe we should go back." Zhao Meili shuddered, her grip tightening on her sword. "Maybe it is a cursed land, just like the inn owner had warned. There's probably a reason why nobody has been here in years."
"Something happened here." Wei Ying said. "I can feel it . . ." He looked back at her, and smiled at her, giving her some reassurance.
They walked in silence, their eyes were sharp, studying each inch of their visible surroundings, and their ears tuned to pick up even the slightest sound.
Eventually, they came to a clearing. They stood in the centre of the ring of mountains. The mountains had somehow become flat for them. Looking back, Wei Ying saw that it was a tunnel they had walked though, which had been dug through the mountain, and somehow they had accessed it.
"Welcome to Yuandao" Wei Ying read the sign. So this was Yuandao. No wonder nobody knew how to map it. Nobody could access it. To the ordinary eye, it would just be a range of mountains, a natural formation, but Wei Ying knew better. There was something here, waiting to be found.
"Wow" Zhao Meili's voice trailed off.
The view was mesmerising. The mountains sloped down and merged with the , creating a massive crater the size of at least two or three cities. The soft light from the sun lit it up, revealing the secrets the summits were guarding.
A majestic fort stood in the centre of the ring. It commanded the respect of everything around it. It was make from the deepest black stone and the sun shone off it like the stars.
Zhao Feng nudged the two beside him, a smug grin on his face, "Told you it would be worth it."
Zhao Meili rolled her eyes and pointed. "Look, there's a lake. And oh my, those flowers," She pointed to the patch of red and blue flowers near the fort, "They're beautiful."
"Why don't we get a better look?" Wei Ying suggested, as he started to climb down from the ledge.
"Right behind you." Zhao Feng said, and hurried behind Wei Ying.
The ground was soft under them, padded by the moss that seemed to have conquered everything. Not sensing any danger nearby, Wei Ying felt at ease, knowing they could explore every nook and cranny of this place.
"It's peaceful." he stated. "Lan Zhan would like this place."
"You know Lan Zhan? As in Lan Wangji? As in THE Hanguang-jun?" Zhao Feng was taken back. Wei Ying had very good connections indeed.
"Is there any other Lan Zhan? We studied together for about year when we were fifteen," he then scratched his neck and laughed, "if you don't count the times I got kicked out from the old man's class. But even then, my punishments were overseen by that fuddy-duddy himself."
He stopped in front of the flowers, kneeling down in front of them and snickered to himself. "Oh and these blue flowers, I'll pick some for him. Imagine his face when I give them to him. What do you reckon he'll say?" Wei Ying continued talking to himself as he picked a few flowers, "Shameless. Pathetic."
Wei Ying broke into a fit of laughter, impressed on what he thought was a close imitation to what he would respond with
Seeing this side of their senior, Zhao Feng and Meili looked to each other, a knowing smirk on their lips.
"Senior Wei. Do you perhaps . . . like Hanguang-jun?" Zhao Meili asked, a small suggestive smile toyed at her lips.
Wei Ying was taken by surprise. What on earth could have given them such a wrong impression?
"What! No! He's such a boring person." he inspected the bouquet he had handpicked, "It's just funny to see how annoyed he gets when I provoke him."
"Right." Zhao Feng smirked.
"I'm serious." he hit the younger with the flowers. "It's nothing like that you're thinking. At best, he's just a friend." he rambled on, trying to deter them off the preposterous line of thought.
"I didn't say anything!" Zhao Feng put his hands up and mumbled under his breath, "Doesn't explain why you're blushing though."
"You—my complexion is always like this, you just haven't paid enough attention to notice it."
Zhao Meili giggled.
"Alright, alright we believe you." she said, "Let's continue looking around."
Zhao Feng stuck his tongue out at Wei Ying and ran off into the fort, not giving the latter any time to respond.
The fortress seemed to be much bigger on the interior. The ornate stone walls featured elaborate gold accents of flowers and swirls travelled across them, leading into a hall.
As they ventured further into the building, they noticed the harsh black stone was replaced for wood.
Wei Ying knocked on one of the walls.
"Hmm, sounds solid. The stone is probably behind the walls." He muttered.
The more they explored, the more spacious the building was. They had looked through countless rooms, all having the same sets of furniture, a bed, cupboard and drawers, and a table. Time was slowly slipping and they had only seen the tip of the iceberg. There was many more rooms still to be discovered. Wei Ying proposed for them to split up and look around on their own.
"We'll meet back at the entrance." he told them.
The younger two gave a firm nod and separated. Zhao Feng went to check the rooms at the back of the fortress and the basement. Zhao Meili and Wei Ying walked to the foot of the stairs leading to the first floor. The stairs were black like the exterior walls, gilded with gold swirls and a red rug ran up the steps. At both the top and bottom of the stairs, there were small statues of flowers on each side made from the same material as the rest of the fortress, polished black stone.
"I'll look through these rooms." Zhao Meili informed Wei Ying as they came closer to the landing of the first floor. He gave a quick nod and ran up the stairs to the top floor.
Wei Ying had turned the corner, exploring the floor above her. Zhao Meili noticed a flash of light from the hallway at the top of the flight of stairs. She quietly edged closer to the landing, noticing a pair of silver footsteps, similar to the ones that guided them through the mountain.
There was no way Wei Ying just ran up without noticing them, so they have to be fresh, like really fresh, she thought. Judging from the previous encounter, it has to lead to something.
"It must be something important and urgent. Or why else would they create a trail?" she muttered to herself.
She briefly analysed them, observing the imprints were smaller in size, as if it was of a woman's. The steps began as though the person was walking, but as the steps spanned across the hallway, they became further apart, as if the person was rushing.
She wavered for a second and crossed her arms, contemplating whether to go back to get her brother and Senior Wei.
"It shouldn't be something I can't handle," she told herself, nodding her head, trying to encourage herself to check it out. "I'll just tell them if I discover anything."
Cautiously, she crept onto the landing, her steps tracing over the ones that ran down the hallway. She glanced into each room as she went past, trying to spot anything out of the ordinary. She could feel her heart beating faster, the more steps she took. Her palms became sweaty, making her change her grip on her sword ever so often.
As she came closer to the end of the hall, the footsteps came to an abrupt stop in front of the open window. Zhao Meili leaned over the ledge, stretching her neck, looking at the ground outside. Her eyes moved from the the green ground and up the mountain side. Nothing was there.
Her eyes flickered as she sensed something moving in a room on her left. She gingerly turned to face the open door of the room and hesitated to go in. Plucking up enough courage and sharply sucked in some air, holding her breath, trying to steady her racing heart and irregular breathing.
Unlike the other rooms, this particular one was bare and dimly lit by the few rays that managed to come through the window.
Two figures, a man and a woman, stood against the wall next to the window, watching her. They gave her a welcoming smile.
Zhao Meili stared at them, taking in every detail she could see.
Milk white robes decorated with silver embroidery hung from the woman's shoulders, snugly hugging her body. Her hair was put up, held together with a gold hairpin with the body of a dragon, and another with a little red gem hanging off it. She held herself highly, as if she were the empress of the world.
Zhao Meili noticed the woman's skin was pale but perfectly clear. Her pink lips were small but plump. But the most striking feature were her silver eyes.
The man was stood next to her. Meili noticed the purple lotus motif of the Jiang sect on the shoulder of his black robes. His thick unruly hair was tied up with a red ribbon, but a few strands fell onto the edges of his face.
This face, she whispered, seems awfully familiar.
The more Meili stared, the more she felt reminded of someone, but she couldn't put her finger on who. Since birth, she and her brother were restricted to the walls of Yeying and Qinghe. She had never truly seen the other cities and met other people. Maybe it was someone she saw passing by on the street.
"Who—who are you? Do you live here?" she asked.
The two just looked at her, completely silent. The woman took a step forwards standing in the light coming from the window.
Zhao Meili gasped. Against the wood, they looked like real people, but in fact, they were spirits. They had most likely died nearby. Without an instrument, communicating with them would be near impossible. She didn't even know if they could hear what she was saying.
The woman realised that she couldn't communicate with the cultivator. She looked around and walked towards Meili. The spirit stopped in front of her and scribbled something into the dust-covered floor with her sheathed sword. She stepped back, allowing the cultivator to read it.
"Cangse Sanren?" Meili looked at the woman, "That's a really pretty name." She then glanced at the male spirit. "I take it that he's your husband?"
Cangse Sanren nodded, scribbling his name too.
"Wei Changze?" Her eyes widened and raised her eyebrows. "Wei Wuxian! He's your son!"
Cangse Sanren nodded eagerly, a wide grin on her face. Then it hit her. No wonder the her eyes and his hair was familiar. Wei Wuxian had the same face and hair as his father and the same eyes and grin of his mother. The more she stared, the more similarities she found, and the more it became obvious.
She then spoke quietly, knowing that she was touching on what could be a sensitive topic. "Please don't mind me asking, but did you die here?"
Cangse Sanren bit her lip and nodded.
"Do you know about all this?" Zhao Meili waved her arms, gesturing to the cavity in the mountains.
The spirit tilted her head and then copied Meili's action, waving her arms above her head.
"Yes. This whole place." She tapped the floor of the fortress and then pointed outside the window.
Cangse Sanren frantically shook her head and then used her sword to write using the layered dust again.
'Don't know. We didn't know a thing about this place. We came for a night hunt on these mountains. That was our first night here.'
She looked grimly at Zhao Meili.
"You're last night, wasn't it?"
She didn't respond nor did she look up to Meili, but continued to write on the floor.
'What's your name, sweet girl?'
"Ah, sorry. My name is Zhao Meili, courtesy name Suyin, of YeyingZhao." She bowed to her senior's parents. "I'm guessing you've probably seen my brother, Zhao Feng, courtesy name Zhanshin."
'You two are very strong cultivators, and you look so young too!' Cangse Sanren smiled at her.
Reading that, Meili became tear-eyed.
"No one has ever said that about us before, thank you."
The truth was, both Meili and Feng had grown up with the judgmental and hard-to-please eyes of their cold aunt. No matter what they did, nothing was good enough to let them off. She sometimes felt that any hate her aunt had towards her parents, it was directed at them, as her parents were long presumed dead.
"Master Wei would be very happy when I tell him I met you."
Cangse Sanren's eyes widened, looking alarmed, and she shook her head again.
'Please don't tell him, he was so young. He has too much on his shoulders right now. Telling him would bring back terrible memories. I'm afraid it might destroy him.'
Zhao Meili inhaled sharply. "He was with you that night, wasn't he?"
Cangse Sanren looked at the ground and clenched her fists. Wei Changze came over, immediately taking her into his arms. He used his sword to write a message to the cultivator.
'Apologies Miss Zhao, but my wife still continues to blame herself for what happened. I think it would be best to meet again some other time.'
"Oh that's quite alright. I apologies for not thinking before saying something sensitive." She bowed to the couple, "Please take care."
Wei Changze smiled and gave her a nod and disappeared with his wife in his embrace.
Wei Wuxian walked through the rooms, his flute twirling between his fingers. He clicked his tongue as he checked another room.
"There's nothing magical about this place." he sighed, "The people who lived her probably just relocated . . . or were killed."
He continued strolling until he came across a set of double doors. He tilted his head and pushed the doors open.
Light flooded in, illuminating the room, revealing what secrets it had kept hidden.
"Ooh, a library. How boring." Wei Ying crossed his arms and dragged himself to the nearest shelf. He looked through the ledges at the other shelves.
"Oh, an empty library. How useful"
It was clear that whoever inhabited the building had relocated. Or whoever murdered them had either burnt the books or taken them. But just to be sure, Wei Ying continued to search through each shelf of the desolate room, careful not to miss anything. Even the smallest detail could be their biggest clue to what happened here.
"All that's left is downstairs," Zhao Feng spoke to himself, as he descended down a set of black stone stairs, "then we can rest."
So far, everything seemed somewhat normal. The rooms were uniform, and depending on how the room was designed, the appropriate furniture was included. There was no major setback that didn't have a solution, he thought, this would be the perfect location for their base.
Upon reaching the bottom, he reached for a talisman from his robes. He channelled some spiritual power, lighting up the paper. Warily he crept around the large room, sticking close to the walls.
"Found one."
He lit up a torch that was placed on the wall. One by one, he lit up all the torches that surrounded the basement. Now he would be able to investigate properly.
The room was completely barren. No items of furniture, no books and no supplies. The only thing that was in the room was mounted on the far wall and covered with a cloth. Zhao Feng approached the item and pulled off the cloth. He waved his hand in front of his face, trying to get rod off the dust that had flown everywhere and squinted his eyes.
"Wel, well, well. What do we have here?"
It was a painting, A mutilated one, to be exact. Slash marks cut the painting and streaks of red decorated it. He pushed back one of the portions on the left that was hanging off, revealing the face of a child. His eyes widened, quickly narrowing, as he reached for another hanging piece on the right, pushing it back to reveal another face of another child. He then took a few steps back, trying to get a better look of the painting as a whole.
It was a family portrait. But why were all the faces cut and splashed with red? Was the red even paint? Or was it blood?
Feeling it was better to get the others he ran across the basement and up the stairs, standing right at the bottom of the stairs on the ground floor.
"Meili! Wuxian! I found something!" He cupped his hands around his mouth, and shouted.
Two heads popped out from the two different floors a few seconds later. Zhao Meili and Wei Ying looked at him, trying to judge how important it was.
"Hurry up!" Zhao Feng crossed his arms and tapped his foot impatiently.
Hearing the urgency in his voice, Wei Ying jumped from the railing on the second floor, landing behind Zhao Feng. Zhao Meili hurried down the stairs, careful not to slip on the smooth stone.
"What is it? What happened?"
"Follow me."
They closely followed Zhao Feng into the foundations of the fortress, their eyes immediately resting on the torn painting.
"Notice anything?"
"A mangled painting the size of the whole wall? Hard to miss." Wei Ying walked up to the painting, examining the damage, slowly tracing his flute over the rips and the stains.
He took out a few pieces of paper and wrote a quick talisman on it, and stuck it to the painting. Gradually, the rips started sealing back up and connecting back to the body of the artwork. He took a few steps back, joining the siblings.
It was a indeed family portrait. A father, a mother, and their little girl and little boy, both looked around the ages of six. Though the painting was partially restored, the red streaks and scars of where the slashes were, still remained.
Wei Ying placed a finger on his lips, resting his head on his hand. His eyes flickered across the painting, looking for any clues about the people it depicted, or how old it was.
Zhao Meili furrowed her brows. Her eyes traced over every detail of the family's face, trying to pry a secret off them.
"Look, up there. Some of the paint is peeling off." Zhao Feng pointed to the top of the painting. The colour had started to fade away. Cracks had formed over the years and were slowly crawling down.
"It has to be a few decades old," he continued.
"Could be," Wei Ying nodded, "But remember, this place hasn't been visited for quite some time. It could be hundreds of years old, for all we know." There was no hard and fast way of telling when exactly this family portrait was issued.
"Do you think they were murdered?" Zhao Meili whispered, her eyes fixated on the young children's faces. "The whole family."
"I mean, that would be a reasonable explanation. I don't think people destroy family portraits just for the fun of it."
Zhao Feng tried coming up with a more acceptable reason. "Maybe there was just some family drama . . ."
"And they were all killed." Wei Ying finished off for him. No matter what way they put it, the four people in the painting were dead. Possibly even murdered.
The day quickly passed in exploring the rest of the cavity in the mountain. Every thing was normal, just like any other mountain.
The sun was now falling, and the night was taking over. The trio made their way back up to the ledge and through the tunnel. Due to their lack in resources, they could not be on the way to Nightless City.
"Let's go find a village nearby. We can spend the night and ask for directions." Wei Ying instructed.
The two siblings nodded and followed his lead.
Zhao Meili looked back at the mountain and caught a glimpse of the two spirits watching them as they left, big smiles on their faces. A sense of security embraced her. She looked down and smiled to herself. There was someone watching over them now, someone waiting for them.
"Do we have any food left over?" Meili was grounded back to the presence upon hearing her brother's voice. They had only begun their journey, and Zhao Feng was already hungry.
"Well we would have, if you didn't eat it all." Wei Ying grumbled.
"Hey! I was starving then."
"Well, I'm starving now."