Since we want to be part of the search and the st known people to go missing were headed towards the manor, Captain Quan Qiu suggests, to our agreement, that it would be best to meet up here.

  In light of that, Meng Yi, Xiuying and I spend several tense minutes waiting for the Captain and her search party to arrive.

  I’ve heard before that one of the hardest things to do in an emergency is wait, and I understand why now.

  Yahui and the others have been missing for a little over half a day now, and I’m fairly certain that I’ve heard somewhere that, in a missing person’s case, the first few hours are the most crucial.

  With every minute that passes, the already cool trail grows even colder, and we risk losing what little chance we have of retrieving Yahui, alive or… the other thing.

  As antsy as I am to get out there though, I know it will be the height of foolishness to not wait, I am one person after all, and one person does not a search party make.

  Even if Meng Yi and Xiuying come with me, the Bloody Fang mountains are sprawling and huge, we need eyes to help us search.

  While I know better than to go out there without a search party though, that doesn’t mean that I have enough self-control to wait without compint.

  “Why aren’t they here yet?” I mutter. “Aren’t they all cultivators? They should move fast, right?”

  “They’ll be here soon,” Xiuying says, looking and sounding more patient than I would ever have assumed she was capable.

  “It’s been—” I begin, only for Meng Yi to cut in.

  “They’re here.”

  I reach out my qi sense and pick out no other cultivators besides the two women in the room with me.

  I’m just about to comment on it when a beast rank in the third yer of Sprouting pops up at the very edge of my range, quickly followed by three others.

  The range of Meng Yi’s qi sense is greater than mine, I realise.

  That’s… significant. Especially considering the sheer gap between our cultivation.

  More importantly though, if her range is that good, then she’s going to be indispensable in the search that’s about to commence.

  “Is it my guys, or the constables that are coming? Can you tell?” Xiuying asks, apparently not yet able to sense them yet. She’d contacted her subordinates at the outpost she was posted at to assemble at the manor too.

  Meng Yi has a moment of surprise when she realises that her range surpasses Xiuying’s, before she says, “I think it’s the constables. The most powerful person among them is a beast rank woman in the third yer of Sprouting.”

  “That sounds like Quan Qiu,” Xiuying says, before adding, “I guess it makes sense, they’re closer.”

  Besides distance, Xiuying had written them after we’d decided that this would be the meeting point for the search party with the constables.

  “Come,” I say, rising. “Let’s meet the constables.”

  Captain Quan Qiu looks like a fairy; short, pale, thin, and so delicate looking despite her military uniform, that one might expect her to bruise if she slept atop thirteen feather mattresses with a pea at the bottom.

  At my arrival, she and the three constables behind her bow.

  “Commander Xian,” she says, hands pressed together in a martial greeting. “This one is Captain Quan Qiu.”

  The unfamiliar title added to my name leaves me confused for a moment, then I remember.

  Right. I am supposed to be the commander of the outpost near this town, aren’t I?

  In fact, if I remember correctly, Xiuying is supposed to be my second-in-command.

  Huh. Maybe I should talk to her about that one of these days. If only to know the location of this outpost I’m supposed to be in charge of, at the very least.

  Recovering from my surprise, I return their greeting, and the constables stand at ease.

  Several seconds of silence pass as I wait for Captain Quan to speak, but she doesn’t, simply staring at me with a confused expression that’s mirrored on the faces of the constables behind her.

  What is happening right now?

  “Young Master Xian, what do you suggest?” Meng Yi asks.

  I turn to her, confused by her words, but when I see the expression on her face, it becomes clear.

  Right. I’m the ranking officer here. I’m the one who should be telling everyone what to do.

  I take a deep breath to settle my nerves.

  “Okay, uh… are these all the constables under your command?” I ask Captain Quan.

  “No, Commander,” she replies promptly. “There are a dozen others on patrol.” A sliver of hesitation. “Should I summon them too?”

  I shake my head. “No. Patrols are necessary right now. In fact, tell them to be alert for any suspicious behaviour. Also, is there a way we can spread messages across town fast?”

  “The town criers,” Meng Yi says.

  “Good. Perfect. Have them inform everyone that several people have gone missing recently under suspicious circumstances. Tell them not to leave their homes if they can, and if they must leave, to inform someone of where they’re going. It might be a good idea to move in groups too, especially for mortals.”

  Not that it did Yahui and Dai Lim much good.

  “We need The Magistrate’s approval to command the town criers,” Captain Quan says.

  I blink at her. “Oh. I didn’t know a new Magistrate has been appointed,” I say.

  “They haven’t,” Captain Quan says awkwardly, looking like she very much wishes to be invisible.

  Realisation, and irritation, settles on me as I understand just what is happening here.

  “Fucking government,” I mutter, before calming myself with a breath. “Can you contact the town criers?” I ask the Captain.

  She nods.

  “Good.” I turn to Meng Yi. “Do I have a seal or something simir?”

  She too nods.

  “Perfect.” I turn back to Captain Quan. “Use my seal. Contact the town criers, tell them Xian Qigang needs them to spread that message to every corner of Silver Springs by sunset. If that doesn’t work, then bribe somebody. I’ll reimburse you.

  “As for the rest of you—”

  “Doctor Gu Chi is here,” Meng Yi says. “He’s brought others. Healers, I believe.”

  I’d contacted the doctor earlier, at the same time Xiuying had reached out to her subordinates, mostly because I suspected we might need medical personnel, but also because he’s the only doctor I know.

  The doctors, three of them and all panting heavily with exertion from their, no doubt, mad dash over here, come to bow before me.

  “Young Master Xian,” Gu Chi says, “your servants answer your call.”

  With great strength of will, I ignore the man’s choice of words.

  “Thank you for coming,” I say. “As I said in my letter, we are searching for a group of mortals who went missing sometime before or just after sunrise this morning.

  “They were on their way here from town, so we’ve chosen this as our starting point. From here, we’ll comb the mountain outwards the best we can. There is a very real risk that one or more of the mortals are in dire need of immediate medical attention, so, since there are only three doctors, we’ll split into three groups.

  “Does anyone here have skills in tracking?”

  No one speaks up but Xiuying.

  “I do. As do Tao Jin and the others,” she says, before adding in a mutter. “If they ever bother to show up.”

  Her words strike like a gong in my head.

  Meng Yi doesn’t miss it.

  “Young Master Xian, what’s wrong?” she asks.

  With forced calm, I ask Xiuying, “This outpost, is it remote?”

  My fake calm isn’t fooling anybody, and both it and my question immediately have Xiuying tense.

  “It is,” Xiuying answers. “Very.”

  “You think something is wrong,” Meng Yi says.

  “I don’t know. Maybe,” I answer honestly. It’s only a feeling for now but… “How many soldiers are there at the outpost?” I ask Xiuying.

  “One,” she says. “We take turns keeping watch, but there’s a messenger parrot in case we need to contact the others. It’s Deng Mu’s turn today. It’s why I contacted him, so he could contact the others.” Xiuying seems to be working herself into a state of agitation as she speaks. “He can’t have been attacked,” she says. “He doesn’t fit the pattern. Everyone else are mortals or Ignition phases. Deng Mu’s Sprouting. He’s strong.”

  “I could be wrong. Maybe he’s just te,” I allow, not needing to voice the other, much worse possibility, that whatever is doing this might simply be a whole lot stronger than we thought.

  Xiuying’s fists clench, her forehead dipping in a frown.

  “I need to go,” she decides, turning to leave.

  “Take Gu Chi with you,” I say before she can run off.

  The ‘why’ doesn’t need to be expined.

  “Gu Chi can’t keep up with me,” Xiuying says, less refusing and more pointing out a fact.

  “Then carry him,” I say, before turning to the man in question. “You don’t mind, do you?” I’m not entirely sure if I’m asking about the being carried thing, or the being carried into a potentially dangerous situation thing.

  Gu Chi bows again. “This your humble servant shall go where you command, Young Master Xian,” he says with complete seriousness.

  I sigh, then turn to Xiuying. “Take him with you.” I almost add a please to the end.

  Xiuying flings the man onto her shoulder like he weighs no more than a pillow and takes off faster than most cars could manage.

  I watch the woman go, literally hopping off the edge of a sheer drop instead of taking the long way down.

  “Come,” I say to Meng Yi and Captain Quan, “we have letters to write.”

  The letters take little time to prepare and send, and after that, I find myself faced with a choice: do I wait for Xiuying to contact us, thereby confirming or denying a suspicion of the current danger’s power level, but wasting precious time, or do I go ahead with the search for the missing people, knowing full well that, if the danger out there is strong enough to take out Deng Mu then every single one of these people I’m sending out will be in danger?

  I pinch the bridge of my nose.

  Why do so many people seek power? All it does is make you question every decision.

  The worst part is that I can’t even decide to do nothing, or apply a ‘wait and see’ attitude, because that too would be making a choice.

  Lives are on the line here, real human lives, and one wrong choice can see people dead.

  A soft, small hand settles on my shoulder, squeezing reassuringly, and I reach up and take it, grounding myself with its warmth.

  I look at her. No words need to be said.

  I exhale. It sounds like a sigh.

  I would argue it isn’t.

  Rising from my seat, I say, “Captain Quan, head back to Silver Springs, make sure everything is proceeding appropriately over there.”

  She bows.

  “Meng Yi, come on, we have people to find.”

  I don’t know how long it will take Xiuying to get to the outpost, and I don’t know when, or even if, she’ll be able to send me information on what happened there. Hell, I don’t even know what happened there.

  For all I know Deng Mu is perfectly fine and simply got lost coming here.

  Whatever the case, waiting solves no problems, meanwhile, there are people missing for half a day and counting who need us.

  We can’t afford to waste time.

  My determination sts until Meng Yi says, “We are the two cultivators with the best qi sense, Young Master. We are wasting resources if we go together.”

  See, my pn is the same as st time, to split into groups with a doctor in each.

  After remembering that I have a healing technique though, I realise that we could actually make three groups, and while I don’t care how the three constables and two doctors divvy themselves, I, of course, want Meng Yi with me.

  Unfortunately though, as my wonderful manager oh-so accurately points out, we are the two cultivators with the best qi sense, and us going together is an immense waste of resources.

  I don’t bother arguing with her, but there is a strong temptation to simply ignore her words and take her with me all the same. I resist it.

  Meng Yi isn’t stupid, or incompetent, or powerless (entirely). And while it comes from a pce of care, giving in to such protective behaviour is always a slippery slope. Soon, care might be overridden with fear… among other things.

  So, like a big boy, I suck it up.

  “Fine, you go with those three.” I point at two constables and a doctor, all of them with the highest cultivation.

  Meng Yi gives me a look and I let out a long, heavy sigh.

  “Fine,” I say, “those two. And that’s final.” I pick the highest yered constable and doctor for her.

  Sure, they’re still beast rank, but it’s better than nothing.

  Meng Yi doesn’t argue, instead she hugs me.

  “I’ll be fine,” she whispers in my ear, before letting go.

  I nod at her words, feeling better.

  “I shall protect her with my life, Young Master,” the constable I paired Meng Yi with swears.

  I stare at him, then I sigh.

  “Your life matters too,” I say. “Just… look out for each other. And be safe.”

  Clearly not knowing what to say to that, the man nods.

  Meng Yi shoots me one st smile, then she and her group head out in the agreed direction.

  Seeing this, the other group of two constables and a doctor, head out too.

  And then there’s only me.

  With a final sigh, I turn and head out too.

  I keep my qi sense on Meng Yi for as long as I’m able, and I feel hers on me in turn as the distance between us grows wider.

  The space between us grows and grows, until finally, there comes a moment when my qi sense stretches, almost like a rubber band, as it tries to remain on someone now out of reach, then it snaps.

  I stop, the sudden absence jarring.

  To my surprise, Meng Yi backtracks into my range.

  She stops and stands still for a second… two… then she walks out again, not returning.

  I keep staring in the direction I sensed her st.

  “Stay safe,” I say.

  The sun begins to dip down as I search, but I find nothing. No footprints, no ripped clothing, no blood.

  Worst of all, I don’t know enough to tell if this is a good sign or a very bad one.

  I range farther out into the mountains, worry and fear growing steadily with every hour that passes without any sign.

  Maybe the others are having better luck, I tell myself.

  Maybe, any moment now, a messenger parrot will come swooping down with the… a messenger parrot is swooping down.

  And it isn’t mine. Its colours are different. Its cultivation. It looks older.

  The bird nds, and without a word, hands me a note.

  I open with shaking hands.

  I don’t recognize the handwriting, but I don’t need that to know who this note is from.

  “Please, be good news,” I pray. “Please, be good news.”

  It isn’t good news.

  Qigang, the note reads. This is worse than we thought. I’m coming back to your house.

  Deng Mu’s dead.

  Jackpot-kun