Qian Shanyi spoke to Wang Tingting for well over two hours.

  Now that she had put her request on the table, she felt no tension about spending a little more time here. Wang Tingting’s voice was pleasant to listen to, like the quiet chime of a forest spring, and the soft smell of flowers put Qian Shanyi at ease. Tea flowed freely and minutes passed without notice, as each of the women sought to see into the soul of the other - all to divine the truth from jokes and fiction.

  They spoke about the surrounding area, and about Wang Tingting’s position as an imperator. They spoke about the earth dragons, ones who made that unfortunate nest beneath the old parlor. And Qian Shanyi spoke about her sect, her origins, and her fellow disciples.

  All lies, of course - but plausible ones, built out of partial truth. Ones that Qian Shanyi did not expect to be called out on. She retold the same story Wang Yonghao told her about the Sky Void Island Temple sect - a sect living around a world tear, learning to harvest its wind to fly - only in her tale, the sect was not completely wiped out. Some people survived, and set off to rebuild it. She herself only joined them later, long after they migrated to the empire - and was now trusted enough by her reclusive Elder to handle most sect affairs.

  They had no compound, nor a base of operations. Nothing that would catch imperial attention, at least. All they had were some disciples scattered all around the place, doing odd work and searching for useful rumors - some of whom very much needed some seals made.

  Of course, it couldn’t be as simple as making a request. Wang Tingting was more than willing to help Qian Shanyi - but as an imperator, she would be lending her own credibility to every seal made. It was entirely understandable that she couldn’t simply agree to do it on Qian Shanyi’s word alone, sect recognition certificate or not - after all, Wang Tingting had never even heard of this sect before. Some formalities had to be observed.

  Wang Tingting wanted to meet the disciples personally before making their seals.

  Disciples that did not actually exist - but Qian Shanyi would have been a shame to swindlers everywhere if she let mere reality interfere with her lies. And she even had a trusty assistant to help her along.

  Qian Shanyi looked over Linghui Mei from head to toe, circling around, looking for things out of place. Sure enough, the way the belt was tied down was a little askew - and Qian Shanyi knelt down next to the jiuweihu to re-tie it properly.

  They stopped only a couple streets away from the Censorate, just to make sure everything was in order, and circled around the district once - but neither of them spotted anything suspicious. They’ve already discussed everything in advance. All that was left was to make sure Linghui Mei would present a good image.

  Unfortunately, she was still not used to wearing proper cultivator robes. Most days, it mattered little - they both wore civilian clothes, so as to better blend in.

  While Qian Shanyi made her adjustments, the jiuweihu was shyly looking down at her feet, blushing slightly. No doubt embarrassed to be treated like a child, but if she didn’t want to be treated like one, she should have learned how to do her belt. It really wasn’t all that complicated.

  Her hands were politely clasped together in front of her, making her look for all the world like the humblest servant - even if Qian Shanyi could tell she was quite tense. There was that little stiffness in her shoulders, in the shape of her lips - subtle enough that if they hadn’t spent weeks together, she might have missed it at first glance.

  “You are nervous,” Qian Shanyi stated what they both already knew.

  “I am fine.”

  There was a bit of dirt on one of Linghui Mei’s shoes, and Qian Shanyi spit on her finger to rub it off, flicking the loose dirt away with a small burst of spiritual energy. “If you do not want to do it, you do not have to,” Qian Shanyi said.

  We could skip town again, she left unsaid. Best not to say suspicious things like that this close to the Censorate.

  “It is fine, master,” Linghui Mei said tersely. “I will not let my worries interfere.”

  Qian Shanyi raised an eyebrow, looking up to meet Linghui Mei’s eyes - but the jiuweihu looked away instead. Those worries of hers were hardly groundless. The Censorate may not have had that many cultivators - most who had the mindset for it joined the spirit hunters instead - but it was still an imperial ministry. While they circled around the district, she sensed no less than seven other cultivators, and there must be more still inside the building itself - as well as Wang Tingting and Xia Mengshan, of course.

  To get their seals, Linghui Mei had to walk into the lair of her mortal enemies. If she was discovered, she could only pray to escape with her life.

  Really, Qian Shanyi was quite surprised that Linghui Mei agreed to her little plan at all. They’d been rehearsing their stories while traveling on the road ever since they parted with Wang Yonghao. But now that it was time to play their parts, it seemed the doubts had crept back in.

  “I have only rarely spoken to cultivators before, master,” Linghui Mei said curtly, chewing on her lip for a bit. “Aside from you and our… cousin, never for more than a minute.”

  Qian Shanyi nodded. For all that Linghui Mei had killed eleven cultivators before, she had done so in their sleep, or by catching them off guard. Talking to one over tea, and keeping her composure throughout - that was something else entirely.

  “I doubt Wang Tingting will grill you that much,” Qian Shanyi said, mostly repeating what they already discussed before - hoping it would bring a bit of calm and structure back to Linghui Mei’s mind. “Just focus on your story, and you will do fine.”

  Linghui Mei shrugged with one shoulder, unconvinced. Her nerves didn’t seem to grow any more steady.

  Fortunately, they already counted on that. Linghui Mei was a decent enough actor, when she wasn’t stressed out of her mind and was given some time to prepare, to pick one of her stolen memories to tap into - and an outer disciple being nervous when meeting an imperator wasn’t all that unusual. As long as she could keep enough of her composure to stick to their story, it should all be perfectly fine.

  Qian Shanyi stood up and dusted off her robes, before putting a reassuring hand on Linghui Mei’s waist, gently pushing her out of the alley. “Then let’s go,” she said, “this will be over before you know it.”

  Wang Tingting’s temporary office had changed little in the half an hour it took Qian Shanyi to fetch Linghui Mei and get her ready for the meeting. A bit more space had been cleared up, several planter boxes moved around all so that three people could comfortably sit around the table, and feel cozy instead of overly cramped.

  Xia Mengshan welcomed them in as soon as they arrived, pouring them all tea from an already steaming kettle. Qian Shanyi wasn’t sure whether it was because Wang Tingting did not want to subject a sect member to a wait in that corridor, or because she simply had nothing else to do and was looking forward to a conversation - but it was a pleasant accommodation nonetheless.

  “This is my direct disciple, Xue Mei,” Qian Shanyi said, introducing Linghui Mei. “We’ve been traveling together. Our other disciples who need seals will take some time to arrive, once I contact them.”

  The false name was something of a compromise between the two of them. Qian Shanyi wanted it to be a completely different, entirely unrelated name - her own experience with calling herself Lan Yishan had taught her that much - but Linghui Mei disagreed. She insisted that someone - Wang Yonghao, most likely - would inevitably get confused, and call her Mei out in public. It only made sense to keep her first name the same, at least on the first set of seals.

  But for whatever strange reason, she also wanted to take Qian Shanyi’s last name, and be called Qian Mei. Perhaps she thought of it as some strange gesture of respect, though she stayed cagy about her exact reasons.

  Qian Shanyi rejected that line of thinking outright - the last thing she needed was to be suspected of clanbuilding on top of everything else. If Linghui Mei wanted to present as her disciple - and she did - then she needed a different last name.

  In the end she picked Xue, for student. It was a little on the nose, but not so much as to be suspicious.

  “A direct disciple, really?” Wang Tingting said, arching an eyebrow. “There must be quite a story there.”

  “Because she is an ordinary person?” Qian Shanyi said, mirroring Wang Tingting’s expression. “There isn’t, really. I am an immortal chef and a seamstress - many of my techniques have nothing to do with spiritual energy in the first place. I am sure fellow cultivator Wang can empathize.”

  “My master is far too humble for her own good,” Linghui Mei said quietly at her side. She was sitting with her hands politely folded in her lap, waiting for the tea to stew. “She saved my life. It is only natural that I would offer her my service.”

  “I hardly did anything special,” Qian Shanyi said, shaking her head. “Any other cultivator would have done the same, I am sure. But I will leave it to my disciple to tell this exciting story, before I am accused of being too humble once again.”

  Linghui Mei startled, looking at Qian Shanyi. “What?” she said in a bit of a panic at being put on the spot right away. “It’s hardly that exciting, I merely -” She sighed, wresting control over herself again. “I wouldn’t want to take up the honorable immortal Wang’s time.”

  They prepared a good legend together. Linghui Mei believed it was just in case she got actively questioned - but Qian Shanyi didn’t want to let such a good opportunity pass by. A bit of honest surprise would sell their deception all the better.

  Sure enough, Wang Tingting chuckled slightly, her soft laughter like the tingle of miniscule porcelain bells. “Oh but please, it does sound quite exciting,” she said, turning to Linghui Mei. “I would be glad to hear of it.”

  Linghui Mei shrunk back, before squinting at Qian Shanyi in suspicion. Qian Shanyi merely raised an eyebrow back at her. What did she expect, when she brought up the topic herself? For Qian Shanyi to stay silent?

  “Very well,” Linghui Mei said, turning back to Wang Tingting, and began her tale, to the imperator’s great excitement. She spoke hesitantly at first - but soon seemed to warm, her words flowing as freely as the tea within their cups. Even her posture changed a bit, some of the tension coming out of her shoulders, a smile returning to her face.

  The picture was very good - so good, that Qian Shanyi doubted Wang Tingting could tell it wasn’t genuine. Linghui Mei had glanced at Wang Tingting’s sword only twice, and joked well - but the tone of her laughter was different from the one Qian Shanyi was used to. It was impressive that she could even do this much.

  The legend they settled on was based on someone Linghui Mei had met in the past - a young traveling herbalist she met occasionally out in the forest. One day, Mei heard a scream, and found him dead at the bottom of a cliff, the last dregs of his soul clinging to his corpse.

  She ate them all, just in case she needed a spare face - and the memories alongside them. The herbalist was a reclusive orphan, and in the months since his death everyone in Linghui Mei’s village assumed he simply moved on. All he left behind was yet another life story for Linghui Mei, one that was almost impossible to disprove.

  Linghui Mei swore up and down that she had nothing at all to do with the death, and Qian Shanyi believed her - but thinking of how many bodies were vanished like that by all the jiuweihu over the years, their families simply never learning what happened to their husbands or daughters… It sent a shiver down her spine. A small tragedy, all things considered - and yet…

  But for now, that wasn’t their concern. For now, all it meant was that Linghui Mei could answer many questions as if she really was that herbalist, who was nursed back to life by Qian Shanyi, and chose to become her disciple right afterwards.

  Her tale was interrupted by Xia Mengshan, knocking on their door. “Ah, fellow cultivator Qian, I almost forgot,” she started, poking her head inside, “we would require you to fill out some forms for the seals. Would now be a good time?”

  Wang Tingting grimaced. “Documents,” she said with a bit of disdain. “So dreadfully boring, yet the censorate still requires them. Would the fellow cultivator like to deal with this while I entertain your disciple? I wouldn’t want to subject you both to such inconvenience.”

  “Perhaps we could move into the next room?” Xia Mengshan suggested.

  Qian Shanyi smiled. The ploy was obvious enough - Wang Tingting wanted to speak to Linghui Mei alone. A reasonable precaution, when talking to a disciple of an unknown sect, to make sure their master could not punish them for what they said.

  She hadn’t spotted any signal used to call Xia Mengshan, but that meant little - and perhaps there was no signal at all, and they simply agreed to do this in advance.

  “Of course,” Qian Shanyi said, getting up from her sitting pillow. She leaned over, squeezing Linghui Mei’s shoulder encouragingly. “Please entertain fellow cultivator Wang while I am gone. I am sure it will only take a minute.”

  Linghui Mei’s eyes met hers. Her look was polite - but also a little hollow.

  Please do not leave me here alone in this death trap, Linghui Mei’s eyes said.

  The window was small, and led out into an inner courtyard of the Censorate. And at her back - a solid door. If Wang Tingting struck, there would be nowhere for Linghui Mei to flee to, and hardly any time for her to transform.

  The expected thing - the one they planned - would have been to leave Linghui Mei right away. Doing anything else was suspicious; Qian Shanyi could already see Wang Tingting’s lips quirk slightly in amusement at Linghui Mei’s slight reaction.

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  But Qian Shanyi could also see that Linghui Mei was suffering, and she did put her on the spot a bit. Making the decision, Qian Shanyi knelt down, and gave Linghui Mei a brief hug, rubbing her back reassuringly.

  “I hope fellow cultivator Wang will excuse my disciple,” Qian Shanyi said with a slight chuckle, barely managing to disentangle herself from Linghui Mei again. “She has had a bad experience with another cultivator before, one I hope you will not pry into.”

  “Of course,” Wang Tingting said, corners of her eyes wrinkling in amusement. “I wouldn’t even dream of it.”

  Qian Shanyi could see that her words only made Wang Tingting more interested - but there was no avoiding that. Better to reassure Linghui Mei and count on Wang Tingting being polite enough to avoid prying, than to count on Linghui Mei not breaking under pressure.

  Following Xia Mengshan, Qian Shanyi stepped out into the corridor - and looked back another time. Linghui Mei was still looking at her, and their gazes met.

  They only broke apart when the door closed shut between them.

  Trust was a delicate thing.

  Qian Shanyi trusted Wang Tingting to make their seals. She trusted her to be professional. She even trusted her to keep their affairs private - gossip did not seem to be her style.

  She didn’t trust her to protect them if Fang Jiugui came to town.

  Of course, it seemed unlikely this imperator would ever come into contact with him. She had no reason to know the man, and in fact, her career as an imperator only began after Fang Jiugui must have already retired. But unlikely did not mean impossible, and they would be fools to rely on mere chance.

  Once they left Wang Tingting’s office, they headed north, away from civilization. Their seals would take several days to be ready, and pseudonym seals would take longer still - weeks, likely - for unlike the sect seals, requests would have to be sent around to make sure no impersonation was taking place. Until then, there was little reason for Qian Shanyi and Linghui Mei to stay in the city - and much safer for them to be elsewhere, with fewer surrounding eyes.

  Five Sealed Hills region had long since been cleared of all the most dangerous demon beasts, but the settled lands could only grow so quickly, and much of it still remained wild, villages growing smaller and smaller as one got further away from the major rivers until they vanished entirely, sinking back into marshland and untamed hills.

  It was not quite the frontier - yet one could draw parallels. Ministry of Exploration certainly did as much. Their signs adorned every town they passed, and plenty of spirit hunters were running around the place - training and recruiting others. One even approached Qian Shanyi in one of the smaller towns, but left quickly after she indicated her disinterest, without ever seeing her veiled face.

  They were far from the only cultivators heading north, of course. The ghost festival was just under a month away, but in a region like Five Sealed Hills, it felt as if it was already tomorrow. It was no wonder that spirit hunters were so active, looking for promising candidates. One of the cultivators even joined Qian Shanyi and Linghui Mei, traveling in the same direction. They walked together for a good half an hour before Qian Shanyi could find a good excuse to split up.

  Linghui Mei stayed silent throughout. She looked like a wrung-out towel or a lump of dough rolled out flat - her eyes hollow, energy gone completely. She barely said a word after she had gotten out of Wang Tingting’s office, except to briefly reassure Qian Shanyi that their talk went well. She got a little better as the day turned to evening and then to night, as they went past great expanses of rice farms stretching out across the landscape, until finally, she breathed out a long sigh, and spoke a few short words.

  “I am sorry.”

  Qian Shanyi stopped, turning around to face Linghui Mei. Out of all the things she expected to hear, this definitely wasn’t one of them. “For what?”

  Linghui Mei took off her bamboo hat and ran a hand through her shoulder-length hair. The road around them was quiet, deserted - the sun having set a good hour ago. They had no specific target in mind - except to reach one of the villages close to the edge of the settled lands. One of them was now just over the hill, a couple glowing windows guiding them like beacons in the dark.

  “I sunk so deep in my head I almost ruined everything,” Linghui Mei explained. “Thinking what to do if they noticed, how to flee, how to help you. So much that I almost completely panicked there.”

  “Hm,” Qian Shanyi said, scratching her head, “No, I don’t think you should be sorry. If anything, now any inconsistencies in our story will get chalked up to my nervous disciple mixing up some facts.”

  “I worried over nothing!” Linghui Mei exclaimed, her hat almost flying out of her gesticulating hands. “They never even suspected a thing. But if I panicked - if I -”

  “If your worries were truly unfounded, I would have told you already,” Qian Shanyi cut her off. “The risk was there. It was small, smaller than you believed, yes, but so what? If you gamble with your life yet never roll snake eyes, does that mean you haven’t gambled?”

  “I am still sorry.”

  “Again, for what?” Qian Shanyi said, raising an eyebrow.

  Linghui Mei glared back at her, her awkwardness quickly turning to annoyance. “My master will accept my apology!”

  It wasn’t even a question. More of a threat.

  “Oh?” Qian Shanyi laughed, tossing her hair over her shoulder and stepping closer to Linghui Mei. “Who will make me do that?”

  The glare only intensified. At least she wasn’t apologising anymore, which was an improvement. “I will,” Linghui Mei ceded through her clenched teeth.

  “Really?” Qian Shanyi said, stepping close enough she almost bumped into Linghui Mei - but the jiuweihu didn’t step back. “How?”

  Qian Shanyi was almost a full head taller, so Linghui Mei had to crane her head up to keep glaring at her. “If you do not,” Linghui Mei growled, “I will dump a bucket of cold water onto you the next time you sleep!”

  “And if I still do not accept it then?”

  Linghui Mei hissed at her, hackles rising. If her tails were out, Qian Shanyi was sure they would have puffed up as well. She tried to shove Qian Shanyi back, but Qian Shanyi’s feet were securely planted, and even with jiuweihu strength she simply wouldn’t budge…

  …until Qian Shanyi burst out laughing. She couldn’t help it. The sight of rebellious Linghui Mei was simply too amusing to do anything else. “Fine, fine, very well,” Qian Shanyi got out through her own laughter, backing down. “I accept it.”

  “Why must my master always be so petulant?” Linghui Mei said, her scowl slowly fading. “What is wrong with simply accepting an apology and giving your disciple some face? This is why you do not have many friends.”

  “What!?” Qian Shanyi said, scandalised. “I have plenty of friends!”

  “If my master says so, it must be true,” Linghui Mei said, an amused glint returning to her eyes.

  “Bah,” Qian Shanyi said, waving her off. “We got what we needed, in any case. Even if it’s unfortunate that we might have to pass on you making any more.”

  Linghui Mei snorted, crossing her arms on her chest, and raised her nose defiantly. “We won’t have to pass on anything,” she said, ”I’ll be ready by then. I won’t repeat my mistakes.”

  “Very well,” Qian Shanyi said, nodding. “Let’s make it three days from now.”

  Qian Shanyi turned around, and started walking towards the village, but paused for the briefest of moments, glancing at Linghui Mei out of the corner of her eye.

  “What?” Linghui Mei said, catching her eye. She was still glaring at her, even if much softer than before. The little victory Qian Shanyi had gifted her by backing down seemed to have improved her mood somewhat.

  “It’s nothing,” Qian Shanyi said. “I was going to suggest that perhaps you could relax at the ghost festival, but thought better of it.”

  Perhaps she shouldn’t have said anything - the hackles went up again. “Relax?” Linghui Mei hissed. “I despise everything about it!”

  “Hm. Yes, I could see why.”

  “Could you?” Linghui Mei poked her in the chest. “Could you really?”

  Qian Shanyi gave her a weird look. “Perhaps not directly. Nobody ever celebrated my hunters. But I do know how it feels for others to unthinkingly praise those I know to be monsters.”

  Her mind flashed back to Jian Shizhe. Such a shame that she never got to hit him with a stick. What an opportunity, wasted.

  There was always next time.

  Linghui Mei’s glare quickly softened. “Of course,” she said, bowing her head down. “I apologise for my rash words, master.”

  “If you do not stop apologising over nothing, that bucket of cold water will find its way into your bed, Mei.”

  The glare returned, and Qian Shanyi giggled once again.

  So amusing.

  Soon, they crested the hill overlooking the village, and stopped to look over it. It was small and quiet: less than fifty houses, all taken together, as well as a small wooden bridge over a quiet stream. Farmsteads, all of them, wooden houses with nothing much to speak of in terms of decoration - though one of them, with red lamps hanging off the four roof-corners, was easily three times larger than the rest. Qian Shanyi wouldn’t have called it a manor, but perhaps that had more to do with her own inflated standards, after having lived in Golden Rabbit Bay.

  “This village will do, I think,” she said after a momentary consideration. “If we walk any further tonight we risk having to sleep in a forest. Unless you have something against it?”

  “No, master.”

  “Good. Let’s find us a place to stay. The only question is - big farm or small? I was thinking small, to be a bit less noticeable.”

  Linghui Mei sighed. A short walk had let her recover most of her composure. Qian Shanyi was mostly glad she wasn’t about to go back to sulking. “Will we be presenting as cultivators, master?”

  Qian Shanyi nodded silently. They discussed it before - and though Linghui Mei found the idea unpleasant, she could make no real argument against it.

  Upsides and downsides, as with everything - if they pretended to be ordinary travelers, perhaps they could stay under the notice of other cultivators, and better hide from Fang Jiugui. Yet to do so for almost a month… Someone would surely notice, and rumors would start to spread of a cultivator traveling secretly. Best to be open about it right away, and cut the suspicion off at the source.

  Besides, the ghost festival was coming up. They had a responsibility to these people.

  “In that case, the entire village will see us coming and going either way, master,” Linghui Mei continued. “And would it not be far more suspicious for a cultivator to avoid the wealthiest hosts in town?”

  Qian Shanyi nodded. “True enough. Very well, let’s see if anyone is still awake.”

  They took the long way around, passing around the edge of the village - on the off chance they would sense something amiss - before heading for the large farm. With four glowing lamps - surely someone was still awake. Why else would they keep the candles burning?

  The farm was surrounded by a solid fence, easily climbable, but still tall enough that most people couldn’t simply look over it. Fortunately, Qian Shanyi was not like most people. They circled the farm, looking for signs of life - and soon found just that.

  An old grandmother was out near a wide chicken coop, feeding a shuyu flock splashing around in a wide pond. She was huddled up in several layers of furs, looking more like a small bear standing up on its hind legs - were it not for the cane in her arms and a pair of suspicious eyes peeking out from beneath a fur hat. Those eyes followed Qian Shanyi as she approached the point of the fence closest to the grandmother.

  “Tell me, friend - how are things in this village?” Qian Shanyi said, folding her hands on top of the fence, and laying her head on top.

  She calmly studied the grandmother, even as she was studied in return. The grandmother was an ordinary person - though her age was hard to determine, with how little of her face could be seen. Qian Shanyi would have guessed sixty five - but it could just as easily have been fifty or eighty. Hard work in the fields aged a woman quickly.

  “And who is asking?” came a scratchy, suspicious reply.

  Qian Shanyi reached for her hat, and pulled back the veil she wore, revealing her face. “But a humble traveler of no renown, on a hunt for rumors.”

  “Traveler, huh,” the grandmother said, not responding to the traditional greeting. “Honorable immortal, if you would listen to this here old woman, then go to the Sun farm in our village. It is the house shaped like a cross, right in the center - the children there would love to see you.”

  She didn’t even turn to face Qian Shanyi, merely continuing to feed the shuyu at her feet. The shuyu, ever temperamental, hissed and clicked at even this slight interruption.

  “Honorable grandmother, we prefer our peace and quiet,” Qian Shanyi said, inclining her head slightly. “Perhaps I will visit those children later, but your farm suits us much better.”

  There was, of course, no obligation for her to respond - nor to offer them a place to stay. Tradition or not, it was their house. Qian Shanyi could ultimately demand nothing.

  “We? Who is ‘we’?”

  Qian Shanyi glanced over to Linghui Mei, who was too short to be seen over the fence. Her lips were pursed tightly, no doubt still displeased that Qian Shanyi decided to go the traditional route instead of simply asking for a place to sleep. She raised an eyebrow when Qian Shanyi looked over, but stayed silent.

  Qian Shanyi winked at her and quickly grabbed Linghui Mei by the midsection, raising her just above the fence, to the jiuweihu’s protestant squeak. “Me and my overly shy disciple,” she said, before unceremoniously dropping Linghui Mei back down to the ground.

  Linghui Mei easily landed on her feet, and dusted herself off, adjusting her clothes while muttering curses under her breath. Strangely, she didn’t glare at Qian Shanyi - keeping her hat lowered, her face hidden.

  “And what will you seek on our farm?” the grandmother continued. “My knees are far too old, and my son is no good at all. His useless daughter is even worse. I couldn’t hope to cook a feast for two cultivators.”

  Qian Shanyi laughed slightly. “Honorable grandmother, I am an immortal chef. I would gladly cook for us all. Perhaps even something to help with your knees?”

  She would have preferred not to - but they could always find another place to stay, if it took up too much of their time.

  “So polite,” the grandmother complimented her in a voice that made it sound like an insult. “Very well. I haven’t hosted one of yours in ages. You are making me feel as if I am still a young woman.”

  “Then perhaps it is the truth. It’s the age of our spirit that matters.”

  “Yeah, yeah. You can stop with the compliments.” The grandmother finally turned around, put the bag of feed away into her fur cloak and shuffled towards the fence. “You said you hunt rumors? If it’s rumors you hunt, we have them aplenty.”

  Qian Shanyi smiled, glad they could finally continue. “Is that so? Are your forests quiet?”

  She was, in truth, quite tired. To cover more distance, she and Linghui Mei have been pushing themselves for a good week now, and only slept when they could find the time for it. To have a full night sleep without worrying over needing to be somewhere else seemed like an almost impossible luxury.

  “The forests shriek with every sunrise, traveler,” the grandmother said. For all that she was so antagonistic before, some sunshine seemed to have crept back into her voice. “Best you stay away.”

  “And are the roads still safe to walk?”

  Qian Shanyi knew the greeting well, even if she never heard it used. There was a parade in Golden Rabbit Bay, for every ghost festival - and one of the dances was built around it. It was one of her favourite ones.

  “The roads are soaked with blood come every sunset, traveler. Best you stay away.”

  “And do the spirits stir in the night?”

  “The spirits hunger for our flesh, traveler. Best you stay away.”

  Linghui Mei shifted uncomfortably at her side, and Qian Shanyi put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. “Is that so?” Qian Shanyi said, smiling at the grandmother over the fence. “These rumors sound truly gruesome, friend. Perhaps I shall stay and see if there is any truth to them after all.”

  “Stay, she says,” grandmother muttered, quietly enough Qian Shanyi wasn’t sure she was supposed to hear it. “As if. Well, come around to the gates,” she continued, raising her voice. “And let’s see if I can find you two a cot to sleep on.”