Salt-and-pepper ponytail pulled tight, Erlan perched atop a normal-sized calligraphy brush, his foot nearly longer than the brush itself. He held Gu Tian by the back of his belt, dangling the boy between his thumb and forefinger like a piece of garbage. He chuckled and shook his head at the three of them below, smiling so broadly his eyes closed. “The masterpiece is not yet complete.”

Hui glanced around them, his back crawling. If Erlan is here… Is that Yunxu guy around?

“Hand him over!” Bai Xue growled, leaping at Erlan.

“We’re still questioning the subject!” Li Xiang agreed, chasing after her.

Erlan peeked an eye open.

Pressure crashed down on the three of them. Hui toppled, and Bai Xue and Li Xiang plunged out of the sky and struck the ground beside him.

“Know your place,” Erlan grumbled, voice suddenly deep and rumbling.

“You—my clan will—” Bai Xue snarled.

“Is it illegal to be a demonic cultivator in Twin Elemental City now? Or do you have some evidence that either of us have done wrong?” Erlan asked.

“He played the note that caused a lotus-pill blossom—” Li Xiang started.

“Did you see him do it? Or did you see a demonic cultivator with a flute in the vicinity of a bloom and assume he had done wrong because he was a demonic cultivator?” Shaking his head, Erlan tsked.

Li Xiang fell silent. Her brows furrowed.

Li Xiang, don’t listen to his nonsense! Hui wanted to say, but under the pressure, he could barely draw breath, let alone speak.

“Thank goodness I was here, or who knows what you horrid ‘righteous’ cultivators might have pinned on His Eminence’s disciple. Gu Tian, come along now. Let’s go, before they try to heap all the city’s ills upon us.” Folding his empty hand behind him, Erlan flew off. In seconds, he was a blur on the horizon.

Bai Xue glared after them. “Get back here!”

At last, the pressure lifted. Hui climbed back to his feet. He sucked in a deep breath and dusted down his robes. His Eminence’s disciple? So this Gu Tian is Yunxu’s disciple. But who is Yunxu? What a coincidence, too, to run into a second Gu Tian.

Unable to do anything but glare at Erlan’s back, Bai Xue’s lip twitched. At last, she turned away. “Dammit.”

“Was… was I wrong?” Li Xiang muttered to herself.

“No. Listen, Li Xiang. Evil people are good at turning justice around to make it suit them. Make sure you never let yourself be drawn astray by them,” Hui asserted, crossing his arms as he frowned after Erlan. All those loan sharks sure were great at it. All the legalese they threw at me… I still don’t know how much of it was legitimate or not. It sure sounded scary. Not that it mattered. The threat of breaking my arms and legs and tossing me into the ocean with concrete shoes was real, for certain.

She nodded slowly, but her brows didn’t untwist.

“We need to head back to the clan. I’ve got a bad feeling about this. Everything is wrong, and I don’t like it,” Bai Xue snapped. She strode off through the streets, operating her movement technique at top speed.

Hui chased after her. Li Xiang followed along. The three of them raced through the streets, shoving other cultivators out of the way. Hui twisted his lips, thoughtful. The invitation. The lotus pills. Yunxu and Erlan. This… something bad is going on in Bai clan.

Bai Xue threw open the doors to her clan.

Cultivators wandered around peacefully, black and white robes swirling around their ankles. A pair of female cultivators sparred in the training grounds, swords flashing.

Hui bit his lip. All looks normal. But there’s still a day to go.

Bai Xue let out a sigh. She looked around, then marched off. Hui glanced at Li Xiang, who shrugged. They followed after Bai Xue.

“Where are you going?” Hui asked.

“To Mother. If anyone knows if something’s going on in the clan, Mother will,” Bai Xue declared.

“If she doesn’t know?” Hui said quietly. There’s something wrong with Bai clan. I don’t mean to underestimate sixth-stage cultivators, but if she knows, wouldn’t she have eradicated the problem already?

Unless her pregnancy has lowered her cultivation enough she can’t handle whatever’s happening.

“Then things are worse than I expected,” Bai Xue replied.

Throwing the doors wide, she marched into the throne room.

Quiet awaited them. No cultivators stood in the room or milled in the wings. An empty black-and-white chaise stood at the end of the room.

“Wh-what?” Hui asked. Did someone already get the Matriarch?

“Your mother has entered a treasured realm to prepare for her child’s arrival.” A sensual voice echoed through the room. Bai Fenfeng stepped out from the wings, taking slow steps that accentuated the sway of her hips. “Did you forget?”

Bai Xue clicked her tongue.

Hui frowned. Did she know? Was she aware of whatever’s happening, but unable to handle it without harming the child, so escaped into a treasured realm?

“Why? Did something happen?” Bai Fenfeng asked. Concern played over her face, but none sounded in her voice.

“Nothing. Can a daughter not seek out her mother?” Bai Xue replied, eyes narrowed.

“Hmm? Did she not tell you she was going? She did leave quite suddenly. I wonder what prompted it,” Bai Fenfeng said, tapping her chin thoughtfully.

“I’ve no idea,” Bai Xue said. She turned, white skirts flying after her.

“Bai Xue,” Fenfeng called.

Xue paused, but didn’t look back.

“Do be careful. You wouldn’t want to stumble over something.”

Xue looked over her shoulder.

Bai Fenfeng smiled. “With that rope of yours.”

Xue narrowed her eyes. “Thank you for your concern.” She whipped back around and stomp-shuffled away.

Li Xiang followed her. Hui hesitated another moment. He touched the jade in his robes.

“Yes?” Bai Fenfeng asked, smiling.

“Nothing. Apologies, this disciple was too taken with Elder Sister’s beauty.” Hui bowed and retreated. She isn’t the one who sent the letter. No, it’s more likely Bai Fenfeng is the one who’s up to something, for sure. But what? Distributing lotus pills? That isn’t going to topple the Bai clan. Even if it turns out that the Bai clan is behind them, it would only be a hit to their reputation. Clans don’t let outsiders decide their leadership, and with the Matriarch as their only sixth stage cultivator, she’s unlikely to be unseated even if it comes back on them.

Sure, outsiders could topple the entire Bai clan and ruin them, but that doesn’t benefit Bai Fenfeng. Equally, they might have to give up their leadership over Twin Elemental City, but even so, I don’t see how that unseats the Matriarch—or benefits Bai Fenfeng, either.

The doors swung shut behind them. Bai Xue glared dead ahead. “We’re going.”

“Where?” Li Xiang asked.

“Bai Fenfeng’s branch family’s compound,” Hui guessed.

Xue nodded, pointing at Hui. “She’s up to something. She’s wanted to take over the family for a long time now. What an opportunity this is, with Mother pregnant and father… oh, who knows where, by her side, probably.”

“She wasn’t lying about anything she said?” Hui asked Li Xiang.

Li Xiang shook her head. “It was all true.”

So the Matriarch is safe from Bai Fenfeng, at least. Unlikely to help us, but that’s one burden off my mind. Hui drew a deep breath. “Right. Let’s go.”

Low trees stirred in the garden. Slender bamboo swayed. Passing cultivators nodded at Bai Xue. She brushed by, cutting a line across the clan’s grounds. At the back wall, Bai Xue took a sharp turn and led the way to a pair of doors. She nodded. “The branch family’s grounds.”

A blur flashed past into the doors, almost close enough to touch. Hui raised a hand, and caught as the jade finished buzzing. He whipped around.

Nothing. A pebble rocked on the ground.

“Hui?” Li Xiang asked, halfway through the door.

Hui jogged to catch up to her. “Coming.”

Alright, Mr. Mysterious Blur. Whatever you want me to see—I’m coming!