Zhang Cai woke up to a loud shout less than a few steps away from him

‘‘-all for a horrid beast? Are you trying to drive me crazy, Bo‘er!? Is it not enough you have seen it safe to here?‘‘

Zhang Cai chose to keep his eyes closed. He did not have much awareness of where he was except that he laid on something soft in something warm. He felt no wind or cold and it comforted him enough that he did not question the woman screaming at the seated Li Bo.

‘‘Please do not use vulgar names for my friend, great aunt.‘‘ Li Bo sounded calm enough. And he called the woman aunt? Were they at their family estate? Since when?

‘‘That is not the concern, Bo‘er!‘‘ The woman, on the contrary, seemed to be lit in a flame that she could not expel with her throat. She was truly furious. He heard something crack. ‘‘Playmate it might be, or a helper on the way, but are you sane still? What kind of delusion did that...did he pull you into?‘‘

‘‘Great aunt, please.‘‘ Li Bo replied. There was a long silence where Zhang Cai heard himself breathing. The motion occurred out of his control, instinctive, and he could not control the loud whoosh escaping his lips. His chest seared.

‘‘And that distasteful breathing- how has he reached the doorstep of Rocksmote with that breathing? And you say he is a sect initiate? What does that have to do with our Li family—let him do his own task and we do ours. We have treated him, you have paid him, that is enough!‘‘

‘‘You are quite short-sighted, aren‘t you, my dear great aunt.‘‘

‘‘Huh?‘‘

Zhang Cai heard another crack, louder. And he heard Li Bo step up from whatever he was seated on.

‘‘This is not between you, but between me and him. He is not just a playmate or a helper, but my friend and a fellow cultivator. You go deal with your womanly duties, and I will deal with my cultivator duties. Do not interfere anymore.‘‘

‘‘...all that money gone to waste, all for a...ALL FOR A—‘‘

A great wind picked up in the room and lashed all around, flying at him like a zap. Zhang Cai blinked and punched at his right before that something crashed into his face.

He saw Li Bo hold a gleaming silver fan right before his dark nose. A breeze traveled up his nostrils to the curly locks of hair hanging before his eyes. He gulped.

‘‘Hoarding silver and stone,‘‘ Li Bo revolved the fan in his hand and presented it to the white-haired elder woman. ‘‘Is empty business. If not for spending, why is there money?‘‘

The woman who bore a blue and jade necklace of seven jewels around her neck received the fan and cast Zhang Cai a glare. She did not hold her hateful look, nor did she keep any rude gesture to herself. She flicked the silver fan over her cherry lips and cheeks and snorted.

‘‘Go to the treasury branch, then.‘‘

He smiled at her, awkward, for Zhang Cai did not know what to say or do. A family fight was all normal, he supposed, but when one side seemed much too hostile that made it hard to connect.

‘‘Unsightly.‘‘ she said and left through the serpent engraved bronze doors. When the gates shut with a thud Li Bo let out a sigh.

‘‘My, my. My great aunt has not changed a single bit.‘‘

He walked over the carpeted room, and Zhang Cai found their intricate red webbing quite pretty, and seated himself on a rose-colored chair without backrest. For a few moments Li Bo gazed at him and Zhang Cai looked down at the carpets and the sunlight coloring them gold. How marvelous that bright yellow spread on the floor.

‘‘Do not feel responsible for that. My great aunt has always been a sharp figure in the family.‘‘

Zhang Cai blinked at him.

‘‘Truly.‘‘ Li Bo said. ‘‘So, how do you feel?‘‘

He let out a sigh and stood up. Zhang Cai touched around his body and found it right and steady, except that his stomach felt swollen but did not seem fat and his chest burned. He told exactly the same.

‘‘Good. Do you remember what happened?‘‘

‘‘...are you alright?‘‘ Zhang Cai said.

Li Bo moved his fingers and an untainted blaze of crimson lotuses flamed from their tips. He let go and they dimmed.

‘‘I can not cultivate for the time being, but the poison is purged. What do you remember?‘‘

‘‘Just the travel...around when we stopped using swords. What happened to me?‘‘

‘‘We were ambushed by a Rocksmote Xian who, strangely, used frost instead of fire. It tore your chest up a little bit and you fell from great height—‘‘

Li Bo put one finger on his belly. ‘‘But, your cultivation saved you. That swelling is your dantian‘s response to the amassed Qi.‘‘

Zhang Cai closed his eyes for a moment and felt his stomach churn. The Qi that laid dormant around the half-real giant him rushed into the subspace where they gathered to form a gigantic rope. It shook and tugged by itself, but could not move without help. At the end of the rope he saw a glass door.

‘‘Congratulations.‘‘

Zhang Cai stared at his hands for a moment. They were rough, a little scratched here and there, yet also hard. He clenched them and let them go, but still felt nothing.

‘‘It feels empty.‘‘

Li Bo rested his chin on his right palm. ‘‘Why is that, junior brother?‘‘

‘‘It just...feels so. I don‘t remember anything but a stupid dream. I knew I was ready for some time to ascend but...I am not sure. This had to be a big deal to me. Not a random fact to find out after waking up; in a comfy bed, in a warm room.‘‘

‘‘The situation does not satisfy you.‘‘

‘‘It doesn‘t.‘‘

‘‘That does not matter, does it?‘‘

Li Bo smiled at him. ‘‘You have three more stages in Rocksmote, and the entire Threshold that so many linger before its gates. How many steps there are in the Threshold is another matter, and the Spirit realm that so many cannot even dream is unknown in its content. Divine...that, you might not want to put up as a goal. But there is more to your path than you see as of the moment.‘‘

‘‘It is not the ascension that should make you complacent, but the progress to that point. Is that not the case?‘‘

Zhang Cai took a short breath and let it out. ‘‘You speak like my master, you know that?‘‘

‘‘You have not spoken much of your master, so I did not.‘‘

Zhang Cai giggled at the blatant attempt that was neither funny nor witty. But he felt content for a moment. Thinking of the great journey he came through to this place, of the cold and the damp and the dark; of the few enemies they saw and the burden of his indecisiveness; of Li Bo and of Li Huan that he accompanied all the way and shared talks and drinks that remained few but worthy enough, he felt proud. He felt that it was enough of a tale to tell his master.

‘‘...master!‘‘ Zhang Cai searched on him and held Li Bo‘s shoulders. ‘‘Li Bro! How long was I asleep? Where is the books and the map? My chest-‘‘

Zhang Cai touched his chest. ‘‘They were not torn apart, were they?‘‘

‘‘That, my dear junior sister will explain to you.‘‘

Without any complain Li Bo put Zhang Cai‘s hands down and pushed him back until his head remained on the puffy blue cover of the pillows. ‘‘Rest a little further. She will visit in a while, and after that you can decide how you want to deal with what is to come.‘‘

‘‘What is to come...‘‘

They were to part ways, of course. That was the deal of their companionship.

Zhang Cai felt his chest swell down. He gave a curt nod.

Li Bo shook his head, smiling, and left through the door. For minutes unknown to him Zhang Cai stared at the wide window to his left. He watched the long pruned trees and the sunlight flowing down their vined branches come into the room. At last he put up a fist in the air and clenched it.

‘‘My friend, huh.‘‘

It fell on his empty chest.

‘‘...It feels too soft.‘‘

He rolled around the bed and hugged the pillow. He pushed it with a tiny bit of his strength but it did not cave. Curious, he pushed harder, and the pillow still did not give in.

‘‘Is it resistant to Qi?‘‘

A given obvious, of course, that cultivators had to use sturdier material for everyday life. Zhang Cai stood up and surveyed the room. He came beside the shelves donning the left side of the window and looked at the finely crafted statues of serpents and Xians and mammoths. Some were of bronze, some of jade, but most from simple marble and cobblestone that any city had plenty from the mountains.

Beside it, he took two steps, was a hand lamp that could be held from a leather strap tied to its metallic round head. It seemed familiar, and he smelled oil from it, but without any clue he put it down and walked to the right of the window.

Facing the bed were several portraits. One of them was a hairy Li Bo, who had a long mustache and beard well-trimmed to the point of shining, smiling the same as him. Another was Li bo, just to the hairy one‘s right, the same but a bit paler. To his right was a woman that looked tanned. A slight brown reflected upon her skin and her unruly hair. Unlike the other two, she seemed much nobler and refined, holding a reserved look to herself. In her arms was a toddler with big eyes and hair reminiscent of Li Huan‘s own hairstyle.

‘‘Family...‘‘ Above all the portraits was a round stone frame holding them together in a single shot. It looked much more realistic than the calligraphy portraits with color. The family as well had smiles on them, and the mother figure that he assumed seemed to be in the middle of singing something.

Zhang Cai heard a knock and glanced at the door. Li Huan stood there, hugging a scroll and a pair of books that did not seem too well, glancing back at him.

‘‘Ca-Zhang Cai? Are you fine enough to stand up by yourself?‘‘

‘‘I am!‘‘ He stretched all limbs in an exaggerated motion. ‘‘How have you been?‘‘

She seemed a little weirded out at the gesture. Not in a natural way, but as if her face did not belong to her and twisted against her will.

‘‘I have been most pleasured to see you fine.‘‘

‘‘...I see.‘‘

‘‘There is this matter that I am required to talk to you.‘‘

She stepped inside, without skipping, and extended his belongings to him.

‘‘Your map and books. They were...they were...‘‘

Zhang Cai received them from her. He put the map under his armpit and opened one of the books. The fist and kick stances seemed to be there, as well as the notes of his master. But he saw a clean streak of lines going through the entire book, evident in damage, and some words misshapen or rewritten by hand.

‘‘They...were they damaged then?‘‘

Li Huan took a deep breath, glanced around the room, but still told him nothing. He knew it was strange. He would be blind to not notice it. But he did not know the cause of this awkward attitude. Was it the family?

‘‘They...I...‘‘ she stuttered a little longer, then let out a sigh. ‘‘They were like this...when I found them. We have tried to restore it to our best, but the two weeks of travel hurt it, so it took a month.‘‘

Was that why?

‘‘Almost two months...‘‘ he gulped. But he saw how worried she was, so he had no choice but to shrug it. ‘‘You made me worried there for a second. Thank you for repairing them!‘‘

She smiled and walked away.

‘...um?‘‘

‘‘I need to go back for the execution. Please do take care, junior brother.‘‘

‘‘Execution? What are you talking about?‘‘

She did not answer.

‘‘ Zishen?‘‘

She flinched at the door and turned to glance at him, but a large hand covered her eyes. She looked up at the figure resembling Li Bo.

‘‘Go.‘‘

The thick, rough voice carried an authority that could not be defied. She meekly nodded and left without looking back. The man, most likely Li Bo‘s father, gave Zhang Cai a short attention. He had no necklaces nor hairpins on him, or a bracelet and any rings. Just a simple blunt sword without its sheath hung on his jade belt. His head full of beard and mustache seemed oily.

‘‘...your payment will be delivered in a while. Pack up your belongings and leave then.‘‘

Zhang Cai looked at the man, and the man looked at him. Their eyes met each other for the faintest of the moments. That instant replayed in Zhang Cai‘s eyes, then he saw no one standing there, door ajar.

He glanced at the map‘s outer scroll and saw it mended as well, and he threw them to the bed. He ran out the door and turned left through the well-lit hallway. Lamps of all kinds decorated this way: those with round shells, those with square shells, those with triangular shells; those that had candles in, those that had oil burning, those that had Qi lit ablaze in it—all casting shadows even in this day alike of the nights he feared for his life.

What do you mean to leave? What execution? How do you expect me to go so suddenly, without proper talk and farewell with my friends?

He ran and ran until the hallway came to an end and he came before a wide green courtyard littered with corpses.

What?

Zhang Cai froze at his step and looked at the group of black-fitted Li Family children. There, among them, was Li Huan, and some younger and some older than her. Beside them were several adult men and women who wore fabulous silk clothing and glittering jewelry, and they and the children carried blunt blades that could not cut fruit let alone flesh. Everything about them was painted red, all bloodied.

There were five dirty men and women at the center of the courtyard. Ropes tied in both arms and eyes, kneeling at their feet, weeping for their lives.

‘‘Your strikes have dulled...again.‘‘

Li Huan‘s father came before her and she remained steadfast at his glare. He took out his blade and pushed it to her hands. The others did the same, and all the children looked down at the screaming figures.

‘‘Do it once more.‘‘ He said and took a step back. Now, before Li Huan and the children stood no one. Zhang Cai‘s eyes focused on that single rise of arms in waves, coordinated with such precise timing that even their afterimages matched. Shrill screams battered at his ears.

The blunt blades tore into the napes of them, crushed them, and he felt their pain as clear as they felt. The children, even if cultivators, lacked the strength to cut through the bone with a blunt blade. Another strike came down, and another third of the blade pushed toward the spines.

Once the last strike fell, someone pushed Zhang Cai inside the dark hallway.

‘‘Junior brother!‘‘ Li Bo held his shoulders. ‘‘Why are you here? Why have you not been resting?‘‘

Zhang Cai did not answer. His heart, his belly, his back. They all felt hot. They all felt mushy.

He let out a torrent of black and red vomit.

He could not comprehend the space around him, but he saw Li Bo stand up and talk to Li Bo. Li Bo and Li Bo?

One Li Bo slapped the other, then left screaming something. He watched Li Bo let out a tear, then take him by the arm. He dragged him into the same room. There, he sat down and waited for Zhang Cai to awaken from his stupor.

When Zhang Cai came to his senses and realized what he witnessed, he shed tears.

‘‘I need to go.‘‘ He said. ‘‘I need to go, Li Bro. I need to go right now.‘‘

Li Bo remained silent. Zhang Cai saw a bright red smack remaining on his cheek. He felt terrible. He could not contain the cold sweat dripping down his nape. He touched it and felt it hot.

‘‘I am sorry, junior brother. That was unsightly of me.‘‘

‘‘I...‘‘ Zhang Cai repeated. ‘‘I.‘‘ he said again. Then he did not finish it. He just stood up, took his master‘s map and books, and stood beside the hunched Li Bo.

‘‘I need to go.‘‘

Li Bo looked up at him. His narrow eyes and smile seemed so reluctant. He was so much weakened, so terrible. Zhang Cai felt something wince in his heart. But he repeated.

‘‘I need to go.‘‘

‘‘I know.‘‘ Li Bo said. He stood up and took a pouch out of his sleeve. ‘‘This is your payment, and my gift.‘‘

Zhang Cai stared at the stretched hand.

‘‘Take it.‘‘

For a moment he gave no answer.

‘‘I beg you, Zhang Cai.‘‘

But if he took that payment, what would be left of their friendship?

He would not accept it. He could not.

Li Bo‘s smile turned wry. His brows no longer furrowed, he took one hand of Zhang Cai‘s and pushed it into his palm. A blazing lotus rose from the tip of his fair fingers and his Qi invaded the pouch.

‘‘I put my Qi signature in it.‘‘ He said. ‘‘Do you understand?‘‘

‘‘...You mean to send me letters?‘‘

‘‘And for you to send me letters. Any crow or raven will find me, if you let them sniff it.‘‘

Zhang Cai, hands trembling, grasped the pouch. Li Bo gave him a short squeeze that he did not expect and retreated before he reacted.

‘‘Now...let me lead you out.‘‘

They walked out of the gate and took a right. They walked in a hallway lit by Sunlight, adorning nothing but the stable wooden pillars that kept the building up. Through them, under that gold warmth, Zhang Cai followed Li Bo‘s back. He watched that bright, straight back stand tall and strong until a giant passage led them outside.

He smelled fresh flowers and saw pure white lotuses adorn the pathway out the estate. Nothing else mattered.

Li Bo stood at the path‘s end, waiting for him to approach.

He walked forth and looked at his friend for this journey, and his friend stared back.

‘‘In a month,‘‘ Li Bo said. ‘‘Let us talk again.‘‘

‘‘Alright.‘‘

Without any more words, Zhang Cai walked under the giant crimson arch and left.