Chapter 132 - Nowhere to Hide

Yuzu’s senses went on full alert as she heard stealthy footsteps descending the stairs. When Yuzu had entered the wine cellar, she was certain that she didn’t see any other strings around her.

Yuzu glanced around the room looking for a place to hide, but the room was small and the stacks of boxes only reached up to her waist. There truly was nowhere to go.

Yuzu grasped onto the black string that had wrapped around her and was ready to yank it away as hard as she could, but upon making contact with the string an image of the owner of the string blossomed in her mind and she stopped.

After discovering the identity of the intruder Yuzu realized that resistance was useless. She really was trapped here.

She took a deep breath, calming her nerves as best she could for the inevitable meeting.

A few seconds later the approaching person reached the bottom landing. They paused, listening carefully to see if they’d been noticed, then turned the corner.

Yuzu was in the center of the room examining a green bottle when Char Char stepped into the doorway of the small cellar.

“Yuzu? What are you doing?” Char Char asked cautiously. She looked out of place in this dingy unfurnished room, dressed to the nines in her elegant red dress with golden flower embroidery. Then again, Yuzu also looked just as out of place in her poofy yellow dress.

Yuzu looked up at at Char Char, her expression blank as she rapidly tried to come up with an excuse. Somehow, Yuzu didn’t think ‘I was looking for the bathroom?’ would cut it. Really, any variant of ‘I took a wrong turn’ would definitely not work, considering how far into the servant’s wing they were.

Yuzu briefly considered the excuse of being asked to pick up some wine by Sansen Zhao or someone else. Of course, that was just as ridiculous. Not only were were servants to do that, but Yuzu would not have known how to reach this room herself.

What about feigning confusion? Pretending that she didn’t know how she arrived in this cellar holding this bottle of wine?

Yuzu considered her options and settled on a response.

“What are you doing here?” Yuzu’s tone was accusatory as she casually looked up from the wine bottle. If it were any other situation Char Char might have assumed that she had interrupted Yuzu as she was casually browsing the shelves.

“Uh-?” Char Char blinked a few times, taken by surprise. “I saw you in the hall and tried to catch up to you, but you slipped into the servant’s wing... Wait, I asked you first!”

“So you followed me secretly.” Yuzu frowned, giving off a disappointed aura as she shook her head. She looked back down at the bottle in her hands, as if simultaneously unconcerned and also disappointed with Char Char’s presence.

Inwardly Yuzu was scolding herself for being so careless. She was just thinking about the ways her powers could be countered, yet she never considered this situation. Char Char’s Chaos domain powers were clearly the perfect counter to her own. Luckily, Char Char was her friend, but she really couldn’t afford to be so careless.

Yuzu’s eyes burned into the bottle as she couldn’t come up with a plan.

Char Char took a few steps forward as her gaze was naturally drawn to the bottle which seemed to have some importance. Char Char opened her mouth to speak but Yuzu interjected first.

“This bottle... Do you notice anything unusual about it?” Yuzu asked meaningfully.

“Isn’t that Scarlet Ambrosia? That’s grandpa’s favourite wine- oh!” Char Char received the green bottle as Yuzu forcefully handed it to her.

“I don’t... I don’t know. What’s wrong with it?” Char Char turned the bottle around in her hands when she suddenly shook her head and glared at Yuzu, “No, wait. Stop dodging the question Yuzu. What are you doing here?”

“Since when did you get so pushy?” Yuzu muttered, sighing and shaking her head. “I guess I can’t lie to you. The answer to your question has to do with that bottle. Take a close look at it.”

The pretty Kumin girl turned over the bottle in her hand, examining the thick parchment label with its expertly brushed calligraphy. After a moment her brows knit together and her eyes narrowed, “Wait. There is something. This wine is rich in spiritual energy.”

“It’s been tampered with.” Yuzu said, “Someone is going to use it to attack your grandfather.”

Char Char’s eyebrows knit together in confusion as she looked up at Yuzu, “Attack? What are you talking about?”

“To put it simply...” Yuzu said slowly, “The wine in that bottle will come to life when your grandfather makes his toast tonight. If we don’t do something then he will be in grave danger.”

“Yuzu... You’re scaring me.” Char Char’s eyes were big and round as she stared at her friend, “How do you know this? Why would anyone even want to attack my grandpa?”

“Wait-“ Char Char’s eyes widened as a look of realization crossed her face. “Does this have to do with what you wanted to tell me back at your house?”

What? Yuzu barely held back her confusion at Char Char’s question. After a moment she remembered what she had said back at the shop to tease an invitation out of Char Char.

‘I’ll tell you later. At the party’ Yuzu recalled what she had said in a tone dripping with hidden meaning. However, this was total bullshit, made up on the spot to have an excuse to come to the party. Yuzu didn’t actually think that Char Char would remember this point, but now it had spontaneously come up.

Yuzu didn’t even know how to respond to Char Char, but her silence seemed to confirm her thoughts. A shadow fell across her eyes as she looked away for a moment.

“The White Maiden...” Char Char muttered under her breath.

Did she figure it out? Yuzu felt herself freeze in shock for a moment. Of course, the moment Yuzu revealed that she knew something was wrong with the wine bottle, she knew that she was showing her cards. Based on all the evidence from the past week, the connections were easy to make.

“You’re helping the White Maiden!” Char Char exclaimed.

...So close, yet so far.

“That’s right.” Yuzu said in a deadpan.

Technically, it wasn’t a lie.

“Since when...?” An excited energy seized Char Char as she thought carefully over the past few days, “Was that why you believed my story about the wolves? And why you helped me find the mushrooms at the market?”

“You figured it out.” Yuzu sighed.

“Wait... was that why you came to dinner that night when we met Edwin? I was so worried that you weren’t going to visit. I bet the Maiden specifically told you I arrived in town, right? That’s why you came to see me!”

“Absolutely not!” Yuzu’s patience snapped as she couldn’t take Char Char’s enthusiasm anymore. This was exactly what she was afraid would happen if Char Char found out anything ‘interesting’! Furthermore, her question wasn’t even reasonable. Even if the Maiden really was a different entity, they hadn’t even visited the shrine yet at the night of the dinner. So how could ‘the Maiden’ have noticed them?

“Enough questions!” Yuzu growled, “There’s more important things to worry about! I just said your Grandfather might die! Aren’t you worried about that?”

The excitable Kumin girl’s smile deflated, “I- I got carried away... Of course I’m worried...”

“Then stop fooling around and focus.” Yuzu pinched the bridge of her nose as she inhaled deeply, gathering her thoughts. “First and foremost, we need a way to deal with whatever is inside that bottle.”

“What exactly is going to happen?” Char Char asked, looking down, “Is it poisoned?”

“No. There is... some sort of creature inside. I don’t even know if it can be called a creature, it’s like it’s made of blood.”

“Made of blood...” Char Char frowned as she looked down at the bottle. She didn’t notice anything strange about the liquid inside. “I... I think I can help. Yuzu... How much do you know about Exalted?”

“I know you’re one of them.” Yuzu said.

“How- No, never mind, that’s not important right now...” Char Char said, focusing more seriously, “If there’s something dangerous inside this bottle that will come out when we open it, then why don’t we hide it? We can just replace it with a different one and my Grandfather will be safe.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.” Yuzu shook her head, “This bottle was purposefully set as a trap. If we disrupt the plans so obviously, the person who set it will know that someone discovered it. If we can find a way to save your grandfather while still making it appear like his plans weren’t found out that would be best.”

“Why does it have to be so complicated?” Char Char asked.

Yuzu hesitated a moment, then said, “The person who set this up is an enemy of the White Maiden. We have to do this to protect her from him.”

To be honest, it sounded completely ridiculous to Yuzu. This kind of line was the kind of thing written in bad, poorly thought out novels. Fortunately Char Char was exactly the kind of person who liked those kinds of stories.

“I see. Okay.” Char Char nodded. “Do you have any ideas?”

“No.” Yuzu said candidly. She’d only just discovered the bottle, how could she have a plan to deal with it? Even as she thought about it she couldn’t think of a way to neutralize the danger without making it obvious that she’d tampered with it.

And what she said about Markus Gantt being her enemy wasn’t untrue. This man was her parents’ murderer. He was allied with the monks and the cultists who were reviving the Demonic God of Life. He was the future murderer of her friend’s grandfather.

Yuzu hadn’t ever had an enemy before, but surely this man would qualify.

“I have a trainer for these things...” Char Char said at length, “Her name is Firuzeh. She told me that spiritual items and creatures can be extremely dangerous. The most important thing to do when faced with an unknown item is to avoid triggering its powers, until you can find out more details about it.”

“That seems obvious enough.” Yuzu said.

“So then the first step should be finding out as much as we can about the thing inside the bottle.” Char Char concluded in a way that sounded like she already had someone in mind.

“Okay, who do you think we can go to for help?” Yuzu asked. She already knew that Uncle Zhao had at least two Exalted people in his employ - Chloe and Corbin Nao. Perhaps one of them was knowledgeable about these kinds of things? Or maybe there was someone else.

“Is Firuzeh here tonight? Can we ask her?”

“Mm, no, she’s not. But I was thinking about someone much more powerful, wise and knowledgeable.” Char Char shook her head.

Yuzu had a bad feeling as a smile grew on Char Char’s face, “Isn’t it obvious? We should ask the Maiden!”