v4c24: The Fox Trap

‘You asked one of these inquisitors if he was in a sex cult?’ Ri Zu squeaked in her rat form from where she was pressed against his chest, interrupting Yun Ren’s retelling. It was the middle of the night and Yun Ren was laying on his side, all his senses peeled as he searched for any watchers that might be observing him as he ‘slept’.

He was still kind of paranoid about what had happened. He had even resorted to using illusions to ask Ri Zu to come over in the night to talk to him. She had obliged him, waiting until Yushang was asleep before sneaking out, leaving behind some pillows in the shape of her body and wearing her clothes before transforming into her rat form and making her way to his room.

Well, as Jin would say, it wasn’t really paranoia if somebody really was out to get you.

“It seemed like a good idea at the time? Break the tension, yanno?” Yun Ren replied with a whisper.

The rat just sighed and shook her head.

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It had started out innocently enough. Yun Ren had been heading out to get a job after lunch when he was approached by a nondescript looking man wearing the robes of a higher ranking disciple.

“You there. I have a job that needs doing. Come with me,” he demanded, pointing at Yun Ren.

Yun Ren was rather used to the higher ranking disciples being kind of assholes at this point, so he just sighed internally and said, “Yes, Senior Brother.”

He followed after the man as they went up the mountain. At first, there was nothing out of the ordinary about things, until he noticed that the path he was taking was filled with twists. If there was one thing besides recording images Yun Ren was good at, it was keeping his way, and so he was fine—but the hairs on the back of his neck stood up when he could feel people watching him that he couldn’t see.

When they came to a wall with a nondescript looking door in it, he was ready to bolt.

The urge to cut and run was intense, but he could feel the creeping sensation of someone watching him.

He was definitely being taken somewhere secret—and then it hit him as Yun Ren realised that these must be the ‘Inquisitors.’ The man wasn’t wearing the black uniform they were said to wear, instead dressed as any other disciple. These were the men that were spoken of in whispers by the other disciples of the Shrouded Mountain Sect… and hatred by Nezuhua. While the rank and file of the Shrouded Mountain Sect rarely, if ever, caught foxes anymore… these guys did. The black-clad killers. The people who spirited away foxes in the night.

“Follow me,” the man in front of him, suddenly clothed in the black robe and veil, said and opened the door.

Yun Ren hesitated for a moment before reluctantly obeying. If this was the Inquisitors… he couldn’t exactly run.

He followed the man through the door, down a set of stairs and into a cramped storage room, where there was a single desk waiting for him.

“Sit, please,” the man commanded.

Yun Ren sat.

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And then Yun Ren called him a sex cult leader. Again, it had seemed like a good idea at the time, but sometimes his mouth got the better of him.

‘So? What happened? If they thought you were a fox, you would still be down there,’ Ri Zu prodded.

“That’s the thing… they didn’t say anything about foxes, at least at first. They weren’t even that intimidating, besides the whole dark clothes and masks thing. They asked me if I knew why I was there—I said no, of course. I had no damn clue, and you never volunteer information.”

Ri Zu glanced at him. ‘That sounds suspiciously like something a criminal would say.’

“Verdant Hill isn’t all sunshine and roses—some bastard stiffed Gou, so I—well, the guards still don’t know who kicked the shit out of that shopkeep, but nobody fucks with my little bro, yeah? And, uh, don’t tell Mei either. Nobody knows I did that. ”

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Ri Zu just rolled her eyes. Maybe it wasn’t the best idea to confess that to Mei’s disciple, but hopefully, she’d stay quiet.

Yun Ren cleared his throat and began his story again.

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“Well, you can be rest assured, you are not in any trouble, Disciple,” the man said, sounding almost kindly. “No, Gen Biren, instead… we come to you with a unique opportunity.”

“Unique opportunity?” Yun Ren paused, glancing at the black uniforms.

“I see you have some idea of what we are asking, Disciple,” the man said, his eyes on Yun Ren’s face.

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‘They just asked you to join,’ Ri Zu deadpanned.

“Yeah. It sounded… well, real damn dumb, and I told ‘em that it was. I’ve only been here a month, and that wasn’t enough time to be even trusted with cleaning these guys’ sandals… And then he agreed with me. Said it was good I was thinking like that, but they had their reasons.”

‘… suspicious.’

“Yeah. They’ve also been watching me for a while.”

‘How long?’