V4c82: And the First Days of Winter

Su Yuanlin’s journey to the Azure Hills hadn’t been what she had been expecting.

 

Everybody had harped on about the Qi void—and yeah, it had been bad for the first leg of the journey, down the mountains and into the hills. The sucking feeling had lessened the closer she had gotten to her destination, though, to the point where she couldn’t feel it at all.

 

Of course, just as she’d started getting comfortable, somebody came out to meet her, a cultivator. Except instead of being some weakling, barely scraping the Profound Realm, she met him.

 

“State your business,” the cold, aristocratic man demanded. His eyes were sharp and his body was refined. He oozed calm mastery, and Yuanlin felt every hair on her body stand on end. His Qi was suppressed, in a way where Yuanlin could not sense his might, but her body knew.

 

He was strong.

 

Yuanlin licked her lips, carefully not moving too much lest the man cut her with his eyes and intent. “Might you be a servant of Master Jin? This Su Yuanlin has been instructed by Fa Bi De and Master Shen Yu to convey this letter to him.”

 

She slowly and carefully pulled out the seal letter she had been given. The man’s eyes locked on to it… and then the dangerous aura abruptly ceased.

 

Yuanlin took a breath, relieved that the pressure was gone.

 

“That letter is indeed in order, and I feel your intentions to be pure. I am Lu Ri; guardian of this place.” The man bowed formally to her. Then he straightened up and gave her a small smile, looking slightly sympathetic. “I see you have been burdened with a task I know well.”

 

Yuanlin blushed slightly—his smile was somehow more dangerous than his Qi.

 

“Please, Miss Yuanlin, this way. I shall not impede your delivery.” The man raised an arm like a servant… and then began escorting her. Not the prisoner kind of escorting, but the gentleman escorting a lady and a guest kind of escorting. “I do hope your travels have not been too full of trials.”

 

Yuanlin’s heart beat slightly faster in her chest.

 

“It wasn’t too bad. A bit of difficulty in the beginning with so little ambient Qi around, but it was nothing I couldn’t handle.” She smiled and leaned over slightly, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear. Her nape was her best part!

 

“Indeed? I am glad to hear that,” the man continued, completely ignoring her light flirtations.

 

Yuanlin pouted. Sure, she wasn’t as feminine and soft as the other gals, but lots of men liked the wild look! It was just her luck that this gentleman didn’t.

 

Of course, all the flirting was blasted out of her mind when she actually met Master Jin, who felt like a giant mountain just looking at her curiously. But he too had been polite, simply recieving her message before… and gently passing her along to her current predicament.

 

Su Yuanlin stared awkwardly at the mortal human before her, her finger outstretched and her mouth slightly open.

 

The mortal woman was her mirror image, save for the fact that her hair was black instead of blonde… and age had lined the woman’s face.

 

It was one thing to see those features on somebody accompanying Honoured Elder Nezan. It was another to see them on a person here. Not that she had doubted the Young Master, but still.

 

She was kin, alive and well, and that was always something precious.

 

“Good evening, My Lady,” Yuanlan said, going for respect. “Su Yuanlin pays her respects to the Young Master’s honoured mother.”

 

The woman went from shocked pointing to consternation. “The hells yeh callin’ Lady, cuz?” the woman demanded in an incredibly thick accent. “Young ladies should be calling old maids like me, Auntie! Now come on and sit down and tell Auntie Hu Li everything.”

 

Yuanlin blinked, a small smile coming to her face at the immediate mothering attitude of the woman… even though she was centuries younger than Yuanlin.

 

And her name! Hu Li—Fox was definitely a bit on the nose.

 

“… ’course, Auntie,” Yuanlin replied in her own thick mountain-tribe accent.

 

The mortal woman beamed even as the man beside her, a man who looked a bit like a monkey, raised an eyebrow at her. Then the man shrugged.

 

“Ten, get us some dumplings, wouldja? Me and my cousin here gotta have a chat, yeah?” Hu Li asked. Her husband nodded agreeably, and Hu Li turned to Yuanlin again. “First! Everyone! Welcome my cousin here to Hong Yaowu! The best village in the Azure Hills!”

 

There was a cheer from the other mortals, along with several well wishes. There were some curious glances at the colour of her hair and at the sharpness of her teeth, but it was just that—curiosity. Nobody here was having second thoughts about her, nor thinking of running to an authority to start a fox-hunt.

 

She appreciated that. Though they hardly needed to with the monsters protecting this village.

 

Hells, Yuanlin was of half a mind to sprint back to the Fangs and move everybody over right now if they could get protection from Lu Ri and Master Jin. They’d never have to fear a fox-hunt again!

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

 

“Welcome to Hong Yaowu, Big Sis!” one young boy in particular said, smiling brightly up at her. He was a cute kid, with a band of freckles across his nose.

 

“Thanks for the welcome,” she said, slightly awkwardly; and several people laughed, but even they smiled and nodded encouragingly.

 

At that, Yuanlin’s smile became slightly more natural. She followed Hu Li to a fine house—a surprisingly fine house, one extremely well built for a mortal’s abode, especially in the countryside like this. It looked more like something a noble would have commissioned.

 

And yet… it smelled… it smelled like family. The faint scent of foxes. Yuanlin almost staggered as what felt like a physical wave of relief travelled over her.

 

She sat down at a table with a woman who couldn’t be anything but related. The woman’s husband brought in some dumplings, as the mortal woman studied her.

 

“… you’ve had a rough go of it, haven’t you, cousin?” Hu Li asked quietly.

 

Yuanlin looked into the woman’s amber eyes and let out a little breath, knowing that her emotions were in plain view. “We have, yeah. But I think things may be starting to get a bit better now.”

 

Hu Li extended her hand across the table, and Yuanlin took it.

 

“Now, why you’re callin’ my boy Young Master?” Hu Li asked.

 

Yuanlin smiled at the tone in her voice. A mother, wondering just what sort of mischief her children had gotten up to.

 

Yuanlin was only too happy to gossip.

 

========================================

 

The three of us sat in Pop’s house. It was just me, Mei, and Gou Ren for now. I would read the letter again to everybody else later, but for now… for now it was just us three. Chunky and Peppa were off in the forest somewhere, Washy was in a food coma, and Babe was asleep alongside him.

 

Maybe it was a bit hypocritical of me to make people wait for Tigu’s letter and then read Big D’s immediately, but Big D had always been in more danger than Tigu… and I knew Tigu was fine through Tianlan.

 

I unrolled the scroll with a steady hand, and was immediately greeted by elegant calligraphy. The part of me that had been taught to write by Gramps admired his brushwork. He had gotten even better, and had completely eliminated all the little imperfections that had come with writing with his beak.

 

Fa Bi De pays his respects to his Great Master, the Healing Sage, and his fellow disciples.

 

It is a relief to finally be able to write to you after so long. Necessity demanded silence from our band but now that necessity is no more, and we may speak candidly.

 

Much has transpired since I have last seen home, and our deeds are many. Some good, some bad, and some I am still unsure what to think about, even after meditating upon the path we have traveled.

 

Though now I can say with certainty I understand why you left this life behind, Master.