Ubel was far inside the Orabura forest, to the far east of both the Shrine Of The Raven and his house, approaching the Han Dynasty’s River Ochmurent. Though he was extremely close to the Han Dynasty’s borders, there were no settlements to the west shore of River Ochmurent, and even to its southeast there were only small villages of a few dozen people each living together. And as there were also many wild animals, though none with a degree of cultivation, the chances of someone stumbling near him were exceedingly low. Adding upon that the distance between him, the shrine, and the house, there would be no one that could trouble him.

Yet, Ubel had solid doubts about his grandmother’s abilities and her degree of cultivation as well. How far her senses reached or what kind of a thing she could use to spy on him was out of his knowledge, even the fact that whether she was even attempting to inspect him in the first place. But being cautious was the first lesson he took from Zi Heshang, and he learned that lesson with a good amount of beating as well.

So Ubel inspected his surroundings for a moment before stopping. His eyes grazed the empty patches of barren ground while he raised his right arm and retracted his fingers to show his palm. A faint, blue surge of light started to surge from the surroundings and rushed forth to revolve between his fingers, eventually forming five rings of Qi feeding off of the ambient Qi.

Once he felt the accumulation was enough, Ubel sat down cross-legged and pushed his palm down on the ground. The rings of Qi stopped around his knuckles for a moment, then suddenly crashed onto the earth below with a dull echo. Though the force belied its after effect, as not even a speck of dust rose from the ground.

Instead, the rings of Qi stuck to the ground, continuing to revolve. Ubel raised his left arm this time, reenacting the same motion from before. With another dull rattle, another five rings of light appeared. The moment two sets of rings buried themselves into the ground, they started rounding each other, then spread like frightened crows to circle Ubel. A dim light shone from their round corners, the color of a slightly conspicuous blue.

As the lights brightened, streaks of aquamarine lines of Qi shot from the round corners and merged with the closest ring of light, then shooting off to another one to bind as well. Soon a network of Qi lines showed itself around Ubel, and with a wave of his hand, they burst into a half-sphere barrier that enveloped him from head to toe.

In the same instant, Ubel’s mental connection with Embodiment was cut off. He could feel Embodiment still being there, but they couldn’t establish any communication with the interference of the Versatile Barrier.

Literally, that was its name. It could be used in a myriad of ways; To keep a hostage hidden, to stay away from the eyes of others, to escape from any tracing marks, to protect oneself from attacks, or to even attack one’s enemies. The barrier at Yadratafos, for example, was one of the epitomai of how powerful a Versatile Barrier could be. But without additional materials to increase its efficiency, as well as a high cultivation base to empower and ensure its conduction, it would be nigh impossible to achieve a Versatile Barrier of that magnitude.

Not that he intended to do one- all Ubel wanted was to guarantee that what he was going to do now wouldn’t get on the radar of his grandmother.

Ubel swept his hands inside his fox-patterned blue robe- a gift of Hong Seng- and from an inner pouch he took out a scroll. Color of violet, carrying an aura of decay and death, with the prints of two thumbs at its sides caused by prolonged sessions of study. Ubel gazed at the surface with a faint glow in his eyes, then with a wave of his hands, the scroll opened wide.

The same words greeted him at first, those that puzzled him quite a lot- and also one that he didn’t bother thinking about beforehand.

You know the truth.

What was that truth, anyway?

I know what manual wants, and I know what manual does- yet do I know what I want from it?

It wasn’t a simple matter of him uncovering the erratic way of thinking the manual forced upon its cultivator, Ubel thought. Else, wouldn’t these words appear right after he reached the Late Qi Creation at the cliff of Cindersnow Mountain?

The catalyst, in that case, was Tulpar, the Beast God. The mark she sent forth; the one that made him go mad, the one that caused his Senior brother and Senior master to fall deep in terror, the one that fused with the Seal Of Evil. What was its objective, then, and why the manual considered him to know the truth after that event?

They were left unanswered, of course, and he wouldn’t go out of his way to ask these questions to his grandmother or The Raven. Both were just...unhelpful, if that was the correct word to describe. Their identities, their motives were all shrouded in a cloak of mists, of lies and deception. And his beliefs on their nature was forged with a new hammer of perspective- mainly Zi family and Meng Liu’s outlooks on their own lord.

But Ubel also knew, or thought, that this could be a ploy of the Feathered Deity, to make him doubt his own kin and his last pillar of trust. Or in reverse, it could be his grandmother’s scheme to have him out of The Raven’s influence, to keep him in the forest for reasons unknown. That was why he didn’t ask their opinions anymore, that’s why he was- though this was not one of the main drives- unwilling to accept The Raven’s offer, that’s why he stood away from his house as long as possible.

It all came down to a matter of trust, simply put, and neither his grandmother or the Feathered Deity could provide that sincere desire- only a few managed to do so in the end.

I went off again-haah... Ubel sighed.

This was a result of reminiscence, not that he could blame himself. But now aware of where he should be focusing on, Ubel turned the scroll to its back and gazed at the violet surface full of golden texts.

I can’t give the scroll itself and copying would be the same as giving it away. How do I make it work like the manual itself?

Ideally, if he could make it easily accessible and referable like the manual itself, that would be the perfect scenario. But, even if it might be seen as rude, he intended only Haoren himself to cultivate the manual, not others. Perhaps Hong Seng or Meng Liu would benefit from cultivating it- as former practiced Servants’ Manual’s Curse path, the way that focused on weakening the enemy rather than lethal strikes, while the latter practiced a state manual from the late Han Dynasty, The Spectral Blaze manual. And indeed, his relationship with the two was especially on the good side. Even his confession of holding onto the main manual was a show of goodwill.

Yet Ubel couldn’t trust Hong Seng on the manual, for the man’s faith didn’t allow him to disobey any order. He might complain, he might lash out, but he never, ever, failed to comply with The Raven’s orders. Leaking Death River manual wouldn’t be ideal to him, or to the men and women of the continent, even if it wouldn’t affect anything- but he doubted that point. Unreputable religions were the second most dangerous in Quan’s opinion, and strengthening them wouldn’t be aligned with both his and Quan’s ideals. For Meng Liu, it was just an eerie feeling that made him unwilling to share it.

One might ask, still, that wouldn’t it result the same with Haoren? A child had no will of his/her own, or even if he/she had it would be limited to a degree, controlled by others in the name of guidance. Zi Muqin was also a fervent follower of The Raven, though she might not show it, and if her lord ordered, there was also a good chance of her poaching Haoren for the manual. She was, after all, his mother. Who could curb the utmost faith a child had of their mother?

Only the other parent, of course.

Zi Heshang was not a believer of The Raven, he wasn’t even a Willing Soldier like Meng Liu. He was a love-stricken guy who worked under The Raven for the sake of his wife. If not for the sheer strength and reserves of The Raven and his believers, Heshang might have destroyed them a long time ago. Hence, Ubel didn’t doubt Heshang’s trustworthiness in that matter. But that begged the question again, how would he make the manual work?

Trustworthiness and all matters aside- everything depended on how he left the manual for Haoren and how he could arrange it to safeguard them from others. Brainstorming for a while under the flickering lights of the Versatile Barrier, Ubel suddenly blinked.

‘’The voice!’’

The voice he heard when he first laid his eyes on the manual, and on the breathing techniques. He could leave recordings, of course!

‘’...but how?’’

Now that he thought of it, Ubel didn’t know how the manufacturers of the manuals managed to implant the voices in the scrolls. He had never thought about that, too, and didn’t question it as well.

Ubel let out a sigh and relaxed his brows for a moment. Just as he needed something, it turned out he didn’t know how to achieve that.

I’ll have to improvise...Ubel closed his eyes and started thinking of the artifacts or tools using voice. His eyes opened again as he thought of two things.

Soundwaves and talismans.

Soundwaves were soundwaves, he learned that in the early days of his admittance to the sect. They were a series of vibrations in the air caused by the tremblings of the vocal cords near the throat- one of the most vital parts of the human physique that allowed humanity to develop language and complex communication.

Talismans were tools used for communicating long distances. They worked on a similar basis to how soundwaves spread- yet instead of bouncing off of obstacles and dissipating in the air, the talismans used the ambient Qi to reinforce the soundwave, and condense it into a line of invisible streak that continued to exist until it reached its target in the estimated time. The line of communication of a talisman could be intercepted, distorted, changed, or even destroyed by external factors; namely immortal interference, surges of Qi, heavy auras like blood and death auras, or the absence of a receiver.

The thing Ubel needed to learn was how to condense and contain his voice into a talisman-like structure to preserve it. This wouldn’t be hard if he was still a cultivator- as the basic premise of the talisman was similar to a Qi transmission between immortals in some ways. The refined and exquisite, yet unconscious control the meridians possessed would make it much easier to realize his aim at the moment. But Ubel neither had meridians or a control level near a perfect meridian. And though he improved by leaps and bounds in the past year and months, he had no way of achieving the same effect at the moment- only Zi Heshang could, perhaps, do it.

But he had to attempt at least, so Ubel clasped his palms together and Qi started to rush into the Versatile Barrier. They coagulated into patches of glimmering blue crystals around him, and once they condensed Ubel opened his arms wide to gather them between his five fingers.

The crystals floated towards his fingers and lined up like a set of soldiers between his palms and hands, glittering with the same light. To the sight in front of him, Ubel responded with clasping his hands again, causing the Qi crystals to crash and merge into a single pearl of shining blue- with prickly and rough edges on the circular frame.

Ubel released his grip on the pearl, yet it continued to float in front of him with a slight buzz. Ubel took a deep breath, pierced a hole in the pearl with his right index finger, then spoke into the pearl.

‘’First attempt, let’s get over with this.’’

Then at the same moment his words came to a halt, Ubel sealed shut the small hole with a burst of Qi. His eyes flashed with a small light, he took another deep breath, then after waiting for a few more seconds opened the pearl.

‘’....?’’

No sound came.

How am I supposed to do it then?

*********

Zi Muqin was sitting on the stairs leading up to the shrine’s gates, her hair let loose, reaching the likewise loose sleeves of her green robe. And behind her Zi Heshang half-kneeled, moving his hands across the tendrils of golden hair to tie them together with a blue-jade hairpin. A few snuck in front of the reddish mark of a burn on her left face, Heshang quickly grasped them and put them together with the rest.

Though she couldn’t see the whole process, Muqin knew how fast Heshang normally managed to make her hair. He was efficient, and was a master of hair in some cases, even the ponytail he always wore was the work of his own- not her’s, as people assumed. If not for her circumstances, no doubt he would be an excellent coiffeur.

But he acted slow today, and she didn’t know why. Still, knowing that he took, seemingly, more care than usual made her happier.

‘’Momvy!’’ Haoren’s shout came from a few steps away from them, riding on Yihuli and chased by Erhuli and Sanhuli. He approached with the furious wave of his hands to garner attention, and he gained what he wanted- Muqin smiled at him and waved her hand too.

‘’Don’t fall off, Ren’er!’’ She said, Haoren nodded. Then he spurred his mount to clash with the other two, but, suddenly, Sihuli sprang from their back and jumped between them. His gaze sharp, and his nose pointy, he let out a cry and went forth to face his biggest sister, tilting the scales in favor of the other two.

‘’Sihuli, evil!’’ With a furious shout, Haoren slapped- or patted- Yihuli’s side and revolved in his place, running back to the Meng Liu sitting on the branch of a tree with a knowing smile.

In the meantime, with the swishing and flapping of her hair, Muqin felt Heshang doing the final touches- which were not much, yet quite fair in itself. Heshang waved his hand behind her and a flurry of Qi floated to the front, materializing out of nowhere. The Qi particles gathered together and turned into a flat, shining green surface glittering with her reflection.

With another wave of his hand, Heshang created another one above her head, so as to let her see how her hair looked like. There were two small circles at the left and right sides of her hair, connecting to the cascading tendrils of golden hair at the middle that stopped right before her shoulders.

She tilted her head and shoulders, left and right and back and forth, to inspect and to see the details.

‘’It’s fabulous,’’ She said and leaned back on him, though his knee poked her spine.

‘’As always?’’ The pair of mirrors blinked out of existence as he asked.

‘’As always,’’ Muqin nodded with a smile. ‘’Where is dear Hong?’’

‘’Cleaning the shrine one last time,’’ Heshang told and supported her back for a moment, then sat cross-legged on the entrance to let her lay down. He touched the burnt patch of her face while her head slumped on his knees. ‘’I saw some tears fall from him.’’

‘’He loves the Lord, and leaving his house must give him great pain.’’

‘’...might be,’’ Heshang said. ‘’But he still has someone to take care of it, no?’’

‘’He does,’’ She agreed, ‘’But it doesn’t matter much. The value isn’t in its cleanliness, but in the presence of it.’’

‘’Then don’t you feel upset about it?’’

‘’You know me enough, Heshang,’’ Muqin made a slight frown, ‘’What troubles you, say, to fish an answer out of me?’’

‘’Nothing, nothing,’’ Heshang shook his head, ‘’I’m fine puffy puff, don’t get angry at me.’’ He snuck closer and was about to plant a kiss on her forehead when his eyes widened. Muqin, at the same time, sensed the approaching footsteps and rose from Heshang’s embrace. Her eyes at the front, she saw the fox-embroidered blue robes wearily walking towards them.

He clasped his fists to Meng Liu, who also greeted him the same, and passed by the children chasing each other. After giving a slight smile and a pat on the head for Haoren and Sanhuli, he came before the couple and greeted them.

‘’Where were you these days?’’ Heshang asked first.

‘’Look at his feet-’’ She heard, and Heshang’s message arrived at the same time she noticed the abnormality. ‘’There is a small imbalance.’’

Not seen with normal eyes, or with the third eye, but this detail could be seen with the experience of a veteran, which both of them were top-notch. Stains of mud or earth were common in the forest, even Heshang and Muqin had dirt and pieces of brown soil over their feet. But none were as tight-packed as the ones under Ubel’s barely visible foot. They were sunken into the small wrinkles beneath the toes, heel, and the middle, and it said a lot about how long he walked or ran to get here. If they were the cause of the almost-invisible trembling of his left knee and unsteady right foot, then Ubel had not much of a physique to speak of.

But he had, and they saw how he trained and improved it, and it was Heshang that knew it the best, being the tutor and the teacher of the boy for over a year and a half. Likewise, Ubel seemed to know it too, but his efforts to hide the flaw made it more obvious.

They didn’t comment on it, nor did they betray any emotion other than curiosity.

‘’Preparing these-’’ Ubel said and reached for the inside of his robe, then took out a small brown pouch. Muqin recognized it as the relic of Ubel’s master, one he mentioned and showed them before. ‘’There you go.’’ And he pushed it towards Zi Heshang.

Heshang reached out and grasped the itchy pouch, then after a moment his eyes had a small glint passing through in an instant. ‘’How did you manage this?’’

‘’Oh? What did he do?’’ Muqin asked whilst approaching closer to both, now they stood only two steps away from each.

‘’Senior Heshang-’’ Ubel interrupted right as Heshang moved to open the pouch, ‘’This might come off as rude, but please don’t,’’ Muqin raised a light brow at the remark. ‘’They are for Haoren only.’’

‘’...I guessed so,’’ Heshang nodded. ‘’Let it be puffy puff, it is a fortune for Ren’er, nothing more.’’

Whether he said this to not talk about it right now, or he actually meant it, Muqin couldn’t sense with certainty. She clasped her hands for now in gratitude. Heshang, however, put his right hand on Ubel’s left shoulder and patted his back.

‘’Thank you,’’ He said, and Ubel gave a wry smile.

‘’It makes me a little uncomfortable knowing this looks a bit bad,’’ He turned to her here and clasped his hands. ‘’So forgive me, but as you said before, I must handle it with care. Sorry, Miss Muqin.’’

So the manual? She guessed, but if that was the case they wouldn’t hesitate to reveal it now. So there ought to be something additional, or a surprise that she couldn’t predict.

But before she could answer, Heshang suddenly snapped his fingers right beside Ubel’s left ear.

It was of the light kind, yet audible from a few meters away. Ubel slightly tilted his head to look at Heshang, confused. But Heshang snapped for a second time, this time fainter than before. Muqin couldn’t hear it clearly as well, she only saw the motion, but it should have been obvious to Ubel with how close he was.

He didn’t react a second time.

Heshang snapped for the third time, this time the sound effect between them both, and the face of a fish caught in a net came before Ubel’s own. His brows furrowed, and his mouth opened to say something. Yet, all came out was a sigh.

‘’How did you rupture your ear?’’ Heshang asked and put his hand on Ubel’s shoulder again. With a push, the boy’s feet sunk two centimeters into the earth, with his back alone straight. Meng Liu’s faint silhouette faced their way at the same moment.

‘’With them?’’ He waved the pouch in front of Ubel.

‘’Let me check,’’ Muqin said and put her palm on Ubel’s open neck before he uttered any words, then sent a pulse of Qi. Like a ripple, the rich wood and earth Qi surged in Ubel’s broken meridians and his veins, then spread like a wave to the organs and limbs. The faint vibrations stopped right beside Ubel’s left ear, left knee, right foot, and the upper-left of his torso. Then, as if they revitalized, the ripples resurfaced again with harsher vibrations, surging back to their origin like a tidal wave.

It all happened at a moment’s notice, even before Ubel replied and Heshang berated, and once the feedback reached her mind Muqin’s face darkened.

‘’What were you doing, Ubel?’’ She questioned. ‘’An almost sprained ankle and a knee, a cracked torso, and a ruptured ear. What caused it?’’

‘’My cultivation went err,’’ Ubel said, ‘’That’s all. They aren’t anything serious.’’

‘’They all will heal in a few weeks at most-’’ Heshang added, ‘’But that doesn’t change what you did.’’

‘’Just a slightly-below average mistake I made,’’ Ubel said, ‘’Please don’t ask further.’’

Muqin lowered her frowning brows. Heshang seemed like he wanted to press further, but Muqin waved her hand at him.

‘’Let him be. Let’s not be ungrateful. He has done it for Ren’er, after all.’’

Heshang cast her an unwilling glance, then lowered his hand. Ubel took a step back to get out of the small pit, where now stood the hard engravings of her footprints, and clasped his hands at both. They stood silent for a moment, then Muqin urged him to sit down.

‘’Let me take care of them, at least.’’

Ubel nodded and sat cross-legged, Muqin moved behind him and waved her hand in the air. Streaks of green and brown Qi gathered between her open palms, and as they condensed into the shapes of thin lines she sent them forth.

One snuck in Ubel’s left ear with a hush, one passed through his skin to mend his torso, and the other two went to his lower body to stick onto the right ankle and the left knee. The injured parts of Ubel gave the glow of a pure jade, then with another wave from Muqin they condensed into corporeal marks around the wounds.

‘’Your torso and ear should take around three or four days,’’ She explained as Ubel stood up and clasped his hands again. ‘’Don’t let water or anything alike get in your ear, and don’t force your torso much.’’

‘’I’ll do, thank you.’’ Ubel nodded.

‘’...when will you depart?’’ Ubel asked after a moment of silence. Heshang also looked around, confused, before he replied.

‘’Once Hong Seng is done, but it doesn’t seem like he is...I’ll go fetch him up.’’

‘’Let him be as well,’’ Muqin stopped him. ‘’It won’t bother Hao Tou if we are delayed by a few hours.’’

Heshang pursed his lips and went back to the staircase to lay on the cold stones.

‘’By the way, I can’t seem to smell the scent of the flowers. You’ve gathered them already?’’

‘’Oh, actually...’’

*********

Huiqing looked at Ubel’s smiling figure, bidding farewell to the believers with her third eye. As they exchanged words and hugs, she closed her third eye and turned her attention back to the foxes in front of her.

They were busy lazing around as always, sleeping next to the empty fireplace while tangling their tails together. Either it was the slight breeze seeping inside, or her piercing gaze, she saw them shudder for a moment before turning to look at her.

‘’Are you sure about it?’’

What replied wasn’t a calm gaze, but a thick voice akin to the sound of a cracking boulder.

‘’I want them...to grow like...him...’’ Replied wily fox and rubbed his nose against his wife.

‘’Ancestor...wants...it too...they are the...last...’’ His wife replied, while her voice was no different from his, and next they spoke together.

‘’Holy Desert...Sheng...our home...’’

Huiqing nodded at them and turned her attention back to the departing group of believers. Other than Erhuli, the middle sister, all three decided to escort the group to the border of the forest. Haoren rode on Sihuli- a gesture never seen by the most junior of the children- while others walked off in silence.

Ubel and Erhuli didn’t make any noise for a few seconds, Ubel sighed. Patting upset Erhuli’s head, he started walking back to the home.

It should take an hour for them to leave the forest- it is more than enough.

Ascertaining the situation, Huiqing spread her mind over the whole forest- and every leaf and branch shook with a chilling hurricane.

Among the group of believers, Meng Liu’s eyes widened for a second as he took a look behind him, muttering to himself some words.

Near the Pierced Mountains, next to a pathway leading first to Ussriver then to Road Boty, Hao Tou felt the ground rumble for a moment, even the barren rocks around him. He gazed at the faint forest of Orabura with a glint.

Ubel and Erhuli were walking with weary steps when Erhuli stopped for a second in confusion. She let out a slight growl.

Embodiment was plowing the garden of the hut when the outline of his eyes rose in a frown- he knew this creepy sensation very well.

He threw the hoe in his hands to the ground and rushed into the house, rounding the garden and barreling through the door to see Huiqing speaking to the air while smiling.

‘’Feza, release the beast!’’