The room was pitch black. The candle had not been lit, and the fire in the stove had long since gone out. Both of them were in the dark, one lying down and the other sitting, neither of them speaking. A cool breeze crept in through the gap beneath the door, wrapping around her ankles before slipping away.
Lu Yan took his legs off the table, the front legs of his chair hitting the floor with a soft thud, no longer rocking. He sat for a moment, then stood up and made his way to the stove. Striking a fire starter, he lit a candle. The flame flickered twice before stabilizing, spreading its light and casting his shadow onto the wall. Carrying the candle to the bedside, he set it down on the nightstand. Without looking at her, he turned around and sat back in his chair.
“Someone has been here.” This was what he had discovered when he went down the mountain today.
Jiang Ci turned over to face him, the candlelight dancing across her face.
“...Who?”
“I don't know.” Lu Yan propped his legs back up on the edge of the table, tilting his chair back on its rear legs as it rocked slightly. “The formation outside the mountain was broken. It wasn't due to neglect; someone forced their way through.”
He didn't say who that “someone” was after. Both of them already knew. Jiang Ci fell silent for a moment.
“...You saw them?” The moment the words left her mouth, Jiang Ci realized she had spoken out of turn, but Lu Yan didn't seem to mind.
“I didn't see them,” he said. “I felt it. Several of the spiritual threads were snapped, and the breaks are fresh.”
The chair stopped rocking. He lowered his legs, crossing his hands over his knees, and faced her, even though he couldn't see.
“When you were home alone, did you hear anything unusual?”
“No.” Jiang Ci thought about it. “Just some birds chirping a few times, but nothing else.”
Lu Yan asked no further questions. He pushed the candle dish a bit further in, fearing the wind might blow it out. Leaning back against the chair, he tilted it on its back legs again. Squeak, squeak.
Jiang Ci looked at him, wanting to say something, but swallowed her words. She opened her mouth, but in the end, only two words slipped out.
“...I'm sorry.”
The chair stopped rocking. Facing her direction, he paused and tilted his head slightly, as if asking what she was apologizing for. But he didn't speak.
Jiang Ci lowered her eyes. “You're going to be in trouble again.”
“It has nothing to do with you,” Lu Yan said softly. “Even without you, since I take jobs from the Abandoned Guest Hall, my name would have ended up on the bounty list sooner or later. This place was never going to keep us hidden for long.” He wasn't just comforting her; it was the truth. Who in the Abandoned Guest Hall wasn't wanted? Who among them wasn't living in hiding? Moving was inevitable. With or without her, he couldn't stay huddled in this dilapidated wooden hut forever. It was only a matter of time. Although he had indeed lived very comfortably here by himself, since he had chosen to accept this karmic tie, he had to be prepared to bear its consequences. However, the trouble had simply arrived too quickly—so quickly that she couldn't even stand on her own for very long yet.
Jiang Ci didn't reply. She didn't know what to say. She turned her head toward the wall, staring at his shadow cast upon it. The candle had burned down a bit, wax dripping down the candlestick to pool at the bottom. The flame remained still.
Lu Yan's voice drifted over from behind her, flat and devoid of emotion. “We're moving tomorrow. The sooner we get it done, the sooner we can rest easy.”
“...Okay,” she murmured, not turning around.
The Beast Taming Sect disciple had been waiting by the wooden walkway for half an hour. He had sent the message, but the reply had not yet arrived. Growing a bit restless, he stood up and paced a few steps before sitting back down. He pulled a transmission talisman from his robes to take a look, but it wasn't glowing. He stuffed it back in. The person above him had a terrible temper, and no one dared to rush her, so he could only wait. He had been scolded plenty of times back when he was at the Beast Taming Sect, and after the sect was swallowed up, that superior's temper had grown even worse.
Beneath the wooden walkway was a dry riverbed filled with gravel and dead branches. Crouching by the edge of the walkway, he picked up a pebble and threw it into the ditch. The pebble landed on the pile of gravel, rolling a couple of times without making a sound. He recalled his childhood in the Beast Taming Sect, back before it was swallowed up, when he also liked to throw pebbles. Back then, he didn't have so many worries. The newly joined junior sister hadn't left yet, and the senior brother who taught him cultivation techniques hadn't died. Now, he had no idea where any of those people had gone.
The transmission talisman lit up. He stood up in a hurry and held the talisman to his ear.
“Understood. Keep watching.”
Su Li's voice was neither warm nor cold, carrying no discernible emotion. He breathed a sigh of relief. As long as he wasn't getting scolded, it was fine. As long as he wasn't getting scolded...
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