While the Song clan was invited by Nian Zu and Li Qin’s Shan Qing sect to the event, it was not certain if the Chieftain and Kong are participating. As a result, Mei Ying would need an alias and a new robe. From the last time in which she had overheard any news at all, the council of elders were still fighting amongst themselves. So, there was no answer.

Even if Kong makes an appearance, Wei Sheng’s sect is part of the main cultivation world and has more power and higher status than him. He is less likely to make a move.

On top of that…the child’s offer is not bad either. Normally, in situations like this, the sect will take care of everything—including protection, room, weapons, and food.

After all, the veiled maiden needs more spirit stones for her travels and investigation. Hunting jobs do not come by often. When they do, not all will pay as well as the mission with fifty-five ghosts.

The young woman soon found the child staring at her intently. Their large sunset-gold eyes gleamed. Wei Sheng was quite adorable, with his irradiant crown of stars, tassels, and pearls.

“Get in the carriage, ah! The big sister can sit with me!” Waving their broad deep-blue sleeve, the youngster motioned for the veiled maiden to get inside the large white sedan carriage.

“We can discuss the details!” The boy stopped, seeing that Mei Ying had noticed the two enormous horse-like beasts. “Oh, let’s pretend that you did not see those.”

Excuse me? The young woman raised an eyebrow upon this statement.

With a simple clap of the child’s hands, one of the surrounding cultivators drifted over to the magnificent creatures and waved a hand over the beasts. In an instant, silver dust showered the animals—and they morphed into two gray horses. As if to be more convincing, the creatures looked at the white-robed huntress and neighed. It was a terrible imitation. Their noises still sounded like windchimes against a spring breeze…

“Horses…do not fly though.” said the veiled maiden.

“…Do they not?” Wei Sheng sighed and kicked open the carriage door. “Whatever! Right now, these qilin beasts are now ‘horses’, okay?”

Quickly, another cultivator ushered the young woman toward the floating vehicle. As soon as she had stepped inside, the shining sword glided away from the bottom of her boot. Fa Guang slipped into its sheathe at the master’s sash.

The huntress was quiet.

Qilins are one-horned mythological creatures and pets of Heaven gods. The Song elders used to tell stories about them to Mei Ying and the other children for many years. These beasts bring good luck, good omens, longevity, and success to the wise and good. Not only that, qilins punish the wicked and side with those who are good and innocent.

Heaven Immortals and gods are known to be highly skilled for their impeccable disguises. Glancing at the innocent-looking boy, the young woman rubbed her temples. Shifu… Cultivators do not normally own divine beasts, right?

Little did Mei Ying know…several divine events have already happened in her twenty years. One, on the night of her birth, Cheng Xiu Village was attacked by what many presumed to be the Red Omen, the demon king’s raining red fire. Two, the girl became a disciple of a Heaven Immortal. Three, she had met a peculiar demon boy who saved her from those who wished her harm. Four, someone had penetrated the defense of Cheng Xiu Village and murdered Shaman Hua, whom many had suspected was given a vision that threatened one of the two most powerful realms.

Now, five, Mei Ying had accepted the invitation from a strange child despite noting that none of the ‘cultivators’…were using flying swords to move around in the sky.

❁❁❁

Huamei City was a golden metropolis.

The town where the young huntress and the senior hunters had spent the night at—was also part of the Jin Sword sect’s wide-ranging domain. It was why Xia Qi scolded her childhood friends about vocally criticizing the disciples’ philandering. It was wiser to keep one’s thoughts to themselves if they are on the sect’s territory. Most importantly, the top ten seats must avoid conflict in their own midst. Otherwise, others will climb over whatever gaps there may be, which would induce chaos everywhere.

Over a hundred years had passed by since the Ghost War, but both the major and small various sects from across the land—all still remembered the blood, sickness, and deaths their last chaos had caused. Thousands of innocent civilians had perished. Many sects fell. The once-mighty Song clan nearly succumbed, but their people had paid a heavy price in many ways and quite literally.

“Wow, the people here sure know how to celebrate!” Wei Sheng laughed, admiring the dozens of lustrous banners with glittering scripts. “Don’t you agree, big sister?”

When little Wei Sheng and Mei Ying arrived in the city by road, their immaculate white sedan carriage and escorting cultivators were merely overlooked. Many civilians were more interested in the hundreds of more lavishly decorated vehicles before them. But the two did not mind. They did not want too many schemers when the tournament did not even start yet.

On either side of the carriage, there were innumerous jade statues of the Heaven gods or mythical beasts that were carved into buildings. Large sparkling banners were at every other corner of the street. Hundreds of finely dressed people roamed around with their servants. Lining the blocks were also elaborate forms of street entertainment, such as rogue cultivators performing acrobatic stunts, singers with their easy-to-carry stringed instruments, and jugglers of twenty or thirty knives.

“Yes, they are quite lively people.” From inside the large vehicle, Mei Ying could not help but smile, admiring the colorful scene. With one hand waving her white fan, she reached out of the window with the other one and gathered many fluttering pink petals. “It is nice…”

“Is…it your first time being here, also?”

“Yes.” The young woman let the petals fall into the street. Though it was her first time, the ethereal scenery seemed oddly familiar. She withdrew her hand onto her lap and turned to face the boy. “When does the conference start?”

“It will start soon. Today, there will only be a short greeting among the ten major sects and the smaller ones for the sake of formality and politeness.” Wei Sheng explained while playing with a long loop of red string. “Then, everyone is free to relax and make themselves comfortable. We will register you under your new alias by the end of today. Then, tomorrow morning, you will fight.”

“Is it still a conference then?” The veiled huntress scratched her head.

To this, the boy nodded.

“During the day, the tournament will take place. By sunset, the sect leaders will discuss about the recent issues, the highlights, and what other troubles are brewing across the land.” The child paused. “The young ones are free to participate in the discussions, but some will be too busy, helping their tournament representatives rest or recover.”

“I see…” Mei Ying nodded in understanding. She paused, noting how the small boy had woven the loop of string around his fingers and wrists. “Ah, Wei Sheng…are you playing Cat’s Cradle?”

Startled, the child began to put away his game. “Um…”

“That’s a pretty string you have there.” While studying the child’s seemingly innocent face, the cultivator continued to cool herself with the fan. The air outside was mildly warm. “Is it one of the games that you often play when you are not practicing divination?”

Wei Sheng’s smile froze. “Y-Yes…”

❁❁❁

Spanning her arms, the young woman raised an eyebrow as her eyes swept over the broad sleeves of her pale-green outer robe, sash, and long veil that covered the bottom half of her moon-jade face. It was beautiful, especially with the embroidered white and gold flowers along the sleeves up to her shoulders. On the back of the robe, a large, gorgeous flower was sewn perfectly there, along with dark jade-green leaves.

To be frank, Mei Ying had never worn such a lovely, soft garment before in her life. It was much like her white outer robe that Shifu had magically woven from wind and moonlight. Such a shame that she cannot wear it for such a grand event. Instead, she needs to go in disguise.

As luck had it, the huntress and her new friend would be staying at a luxurious hotel near the Jin Sword sect palace. Outside of their windows and large balcony, there stood the sky-high luminous home of the proud and flaunty people, lined by lofty walls. The white marble structure seemed to span on and on into the outlying horizon. Not only that, but the free-standing towers near the entrance gates were also long and graceful. In the farther back stood even much taller buildings, many of which were multi-storied and majestic.

The fifth floor has the best view indeed.

“Big sister.” Wei Sheng motioned for the maiden to slowly spin around. “Take off your veil.”

“Wouldn’t people see my face?” asked Mei Ying.

“Does it matter if they don’t even know what the Child of Red Omen looks like? It is redundant!” The child sighed, shaking his head. “Just take it off for one moment. You can put the veil back on later.”

It was not only Mei Ying and Wei Sheng in the vast, shining room. Two other cultivators, the boy’s servants, were assigned to stay with the youngster for safety precautions. Hearing the little master’s words, one of them quickly came over and removed the young woman’s veil before she could do it herself.

“If it makes you feel better, I’ll make it so that no one would recognize you at all." said the boy, pacing back and forth. "I understand that skilled cultivators have enemies.”

However, when Wei Sheng’s golden eyes fell across the maiden’s peerless face, he came to a halt. It was rather unusual as he stared at the stunning woman with wide eyes. Then, lowering his gaze, the child murmured a few inaudible words under his breath. Bit by bit, his ears reddened.

“Is there something on my face?” asked the huntress, pointing to herself.

“No, you…look fine.” Wei Sheng’s voice was low and quiet. His eyes began to scan around.

“For some reason, I do not believe that I ‘look fine’…” The cultivator did not know what to think.

“Big sister…just looks like someone whom I used to know.”

Mei Ying stroked her chin. Someone…whom he used to know. According to Shifu, throughout the land, there are over two hundred Heaven gods being worshipped. But if the number also includes every Heaven Immortal who was fortunate to gain a following…that would rise to over one thousand possibilities. Aiya, if I compare myself to a Heaven god, would I be struck down by lightning as Heaven’s tribulation?

The thought of it seemed unpleasant…

“She was a good friend of mine from long…long ago.” With a simple wave of Wei Sheng’s hand, gold, glittering dust showered over Mei Ying. “But she is not my friend anymore because many people, like me, did not protect her.”

A god who was banished? The huntress thought. Or was she a god who lost her followers?

“Oh…” Almost immediately, a servant rushed to the young woman’s side and handed her a handheld bronze mirror. She took it but did not look at her reflection. Instead, Mei Ying watched the child stiffen when their eyes locked. “And what…became of her?”

Wei Sheng hesitated and glanced down at the wooden floor. He took a step back, shrinking like a small puppy.

Aiyo, the child seemed truly pitiful!

It was quite insensitive of Mei Ying to ask. Realizing this, she did not know whether to laugh or cry from the awkwardness.

With hands clasped together, the young woman stammered out, “Wei Sheng, ah… I too have done things that I am ashamed of. I did not mean to make you feel uncomfortable. For that, I am sorry.”

Slowly, the child met the maiden’s gentle expression.

“At an early point of my life, I was not a good friend.” Mei Ying revealed a wistful smile. Her eyes were clear and bright. “Even after that, I am quite a failure at protecting the ones whom I love. You are young, and so, I am sure that little Wei Sheng will grow to become better than this older sister here.” There was a sigh. “It is partly why I am looking for someone right now. He did something bad to another person whom I could not protect.”

Looking at her changed reflection in the handheld mirror, the huntress noticed how her eyes had altered from an autumn tint to vivid sunset-gold orbs. Her eyebrows were longer and darker. The moon-jade forehead now had bangs falling just above the brows. Even the crimson floral birthmark had vanished. It felt as though she was staring back at a pretty stranger, ah.

To add, the change of her face seemed flawless. The skin was smooth and realistic, even with small pores.

Who is this boy? Mei Ying remembered the piece of red string that Wei Sheng had played with earlier.

The child had two qilins with him, beasts that are said to be only owned by Heaven gods. Not only that, but they also obey only the gods themselves.

“I’m looking for someone too.”

“Huh?” Putting down the handheld bronze mirror, the young woman arched an eyebrow. One of the other cultivators slowly breezed by and took the mirror away.

Seeing that he had garnered her full attention, the small boy stammered, “I only went on this trip to see if I find that person here at the tournament. I need to return him to his family. Though I cannot compete, I need the big sister to take my place while I search for that person before he runs farther away.”

It was not that the child was too low ranked to compete. It was that…

Wait, wait… Heaven gods are absolutely forbidden to meddle in most mortal affairs. The young woman felt the knots in her stomach tightened. “Wei Sheng, is that why—”

Suddenly, the screen door opened with a slam. In a blink, a servant rushed in to close the door shut behind them and fell back on their butt. Their face was ghostly pale. Both hands and legs were shaking.

The two servants, who had remained with Mei Ying and her friend, darted over to help the person stand up.

“What’s wrong?” asked the child. “Aren’t you supposed to watch over the qilins?”

“W-W-Wei Sheng…!” stuttered the cultivator, with wide eyes. “H-H-He’s on his way here!”

Mei Ying raised an eyebrow. “Who’s on their way here?”

The person pointed to the window behind the young woman and the small boy. “There!”

Being told this, the huntress and her friend turned to look. There was nothing out in the large wooden balcony. A few brown leaves flitted in the air, finally resting against the railings. Outside of the grand hotel, people continued to laugh and cheer. Like birds, they chattered with joy on a magnificent and sunny day.

However, a frown wove into little Wei Sheng’s red lips. His deep-blue outer robe rippled back as he strode over and opened the wooden screened doors that led to the back, followed by the naïve huntress.

Mei Ying nearly halted in her tracks. Whoever it was, the aggressive presence was rapidly approaching!

“WEI SHENG!” Swiftly, she grabbed the child’s hand and pulled him back by a few steps from the back doorway.

All at once, a flash of lightning slit through the clear, blue skies. As it drew closer, the huntress knew that it was impossible for her to avoid the hit.

Shit! Wasting no time, the young woman held out her hand. A mighty gold light flooded the entire room. Mei Ying closed her eyes, surging her spiritual power forward, attempting to manifest a shield.

The crack of lightning against wood exploded upon impact.

Thunder bellowed.

Gradually, the huntress opened her eyes.

"Wow..." A charming but playful voice caused the young woman's hopes to waver. "Mei Ying sure knows how to make new friends."