They strode through the streets. Bai Xue led the way imperiously, white robes sweeping over the cobbled floor. Ordinary cultivators made way for her, ducking out of her way. A few even ducked into a short bow as she passed. She paid them no mind, eyes on the horizon.

“Er, Bai Xue, you wouldn’t happen to be…” Hui started

She glanced at him and smiled.

The black-and-white robed cultivators carried the two men Hui had knocked out between them. Likely infected with lotus pills themselves, Bai Xue had ruled it better to take them into seclusion than allow them to enter the normal prison.

Li Xiang bounded along, riding in Bai Xue’s wake. She hummed to herself, clearly pleased. “Ah, it feels so good!”

“What does?” Hui asked, falling in with her.

“I went out and found unrighteousness, and brought justice down upon them! I’ve been waiting so long to go out into the world and do just that, and it went so well,” Li Xiang said.

Hui laughed. “I’m glad you’re so pleased.”

“Thank you, Hui. I almost got taken in by that woman’s lies. If you hadn’t been there, it wouldn’t have ended so neatly.”

“Not at all, not at all. You could see through her lies before I intervened, right? It might have taken longer, but you could have done it yourself,” Hui assured her.

“But I might have been poisoned, or put to sleep and given the lotus pills first. I knew she was lying, but I can’t sense malice in a cup or a stick of incense. I might have been cautious toward a liar, but she might have been able to fool me first. And if you didn’t show up at the end, I would have been arrested and she, the perpetrator, allowed to go free! So thank you, Hui.” She bowed to him, smiling.

“No, no, please, Elder Sister gives me too much credit,” Hui said, waving her down.

“Mmm. I need to educate myself on this world’s wickedness, so I can learn to catch these vile deeds in the future!” Li Xiang declared, clenching her fist.

“Educate yourself on the world’s wickedness?” Bai Xue asked, a familiar glisten in her eyes.

Hui narrowed his eyes at Bai Xue.

She laughed and reached out, patting Li Xiang on the head. “That’s a good goal! Keep it quietly in your heart, though. Perverted people might misunderstand.”

“Mmm!” Li Xiang replied, nodding enthusiastically.

“Ah, were we praising Xiao Hui? He is very clever. Come here, let me give you a pat on the head,” Bai Xue said, drifting closer.

“Thank you, but my head is well-patted already,” Hui declined politely.

“A head pat? Is that how one praises someone properly?” Li Xiang asked. She tilted her head, pink enamel pin shining in the sunlight.

“Mhm. See, like this.” Bai Xue darted in. Before Hui could resist, she looped an arm around his shoulders and vigorously petted his head. Annoyingly, she still stood taller than Hui, so he couldn’t use his newfound height to escape.

“Bai Xue, don’t corrupt Li Xiang!” Hui protested, grabbing at her arm. He leaned his head away, trying to escape.

Li Xiang grew close. Hui stilled, startled. Her big eyes gazed into him, and he forgot to flinch away or resist.

“Pat, pat.” She patted his head gently.

“So cute, so cute!” Bai Xue squealed. She caught Li Xiang in her other arm and petted both of them at the same time.

“Bai Xue!”

“Ahaha, tickles!”

One of the black-and-white robed cultivators cleared his throat. “We’ve arrived.”

They stood before a pair of gates inlaid with the yin-yang symbol. A tall wall stretched in either direction, separating the property from the city.

Releasing the two of them, Bai Xue again adopted the cold, distant expression she’d worn earlier. She strode forward and pushed the gates open.

Black-and-white robed cultivators stood to either side of the entrance path. As Bai Xue entered, they bowed. “Welcoming back Young Master!”

Hui straightened his ponytail, glancing out of the corner of his eyes at the welcoming committee. Young Master… then it is as I thought. Bai Xue is the successor to the Bai clan.

Ah, this whole curse business… it’s much more complicated than she presented it to me at first, isn’t it?

One of the cultivators, an older man, peeled off from the crowd to walk along Bai Xue.

She glanced at him. “Take the two infectees to the isolation formation. I’ll be in my quarters with my guests.”

The man nodded. He gestured, and the two carrying the unconscious men split off and followed him.

As subtly as he could, Hui took in the clan around him. Tall pavilions in black and white, touched with accents in red, stood all around. To the right, a small pagoda stood in a stream-side garden, while to the left, a well-kept practice field awaited trainees. Although not overtly ostentatious, the buildings were neat and clean, sides gleaming as if freshly painted, and the entire clan gave off a feeling of wealth without garish colors or gleaming gold all over.

Bai Xue led them to a set of rooms behind the garden, part of a large, low building. Her rooms overlooked a small red bridge over the stream and a nearby bamboo grove, and the sound of water lent a quiet undertone of serenity to the space.

Plopping down on a cushion, Bai Xue let out a deep sigh and relaxed her shoulders. “Argh, it’s so stifling here.”

“Stifling?” Hui asked.

She waved a hand. “It’s not important.”

Hui nodded to himself. No, I understand. She’s the clan’s Young Master. She has to take up the responsibility of the next clan leader, but she’s currently cursed and unable to advance her realm—in fact, she’s even halfway fallen back a realm. Of course she would feel stifled by everyone’s expectations.

“Your clan is very beautiful. It’s as if the entire space is a garden. Our sect is so disorganized and chaotic… it’s very refreshing,” Li Xiang said. She sat delicately opposite Bai Xue, eyes still on the burbling brook outside.

Bai Xue smiled at Hui and patted the cushion beside her.

Not today, you hair maniac! Hui pretended not to notice and took a seat beside Li Xiang, on the far side of the table.

Bai Xue pouted for a second, then sat up straight. “Our city has been in chaos lately. Demonic cultivators pushing the boundaries, lotus pills, unscrupulous idiots like the ones we caught today setting up shop. It’s hard to say why… or, so goes the official line, anyways.” She grimaced.

“It’s related to your curse?” Hui guessed.

She nodded. “The man who put it on me, the demonic cultivator, is a fifth-stage bigshot. He doesn’t want to openly attack our clan, because that might trigger our many alliances and devolve the situation into open war, but he isn’t afraid to seed chaos in our city.”

“Your city?” Li Xiang asked.

“Twin Elements City—Hui, you’ve probably guessed it already—was founded by our Bai clan. The idea was to get our Bai clan openly acknowledged and well-known, so that no demonic cultivator could roll in and squash it and enslave us all. Unfortunately, back then, we had little negotiating power. We formed a cultivator’s city for everyone, openly allowing demonic cultivators, in the hopes that they would be appeased and that by forming links with demonic clans and sects, they would be less motivated to attack us. It worked… had worked, in the past. But now, as the righteous sects wane and the demonic sects grow more powerful, demonic cultivators feel able to come out in the open and commit attacks in broad daylight, even openly break our laws. The flute player who set off those lotus pill attacks… it’s not even startling, anymore. Our city’s order is breaking down. Our treaties are collapsing. If something isn’t done about this situation soon, the legacy of my clan may be broken off.”

“A fifth-stage demonic cultivator? Do you not have any fifth-stage cultivators of your own?” Hui asked.

Bai Xue grimaced. “Thanks to the city, we’re a wealthy clan, but when we founded our city, we had few resources. This land has little natural qi. Most of our fourth- or fifth-stage cultivators are off training on other peaks or treasured land. Unless it’s absolutely necessary, we don’t want to call them back. One, it disrupts their training, and two…”

“Two, it sends a signal that Bai clan is weak and in danger, in a time when you want to appear strong,” Hui finished.

Bai Xue nodded. “And to make it all worse, our lone sixth-stage cultivator, our Matriarch, is pregnant. She’s in no state to fight, and won’t be for another three months until the baby is born, maybe longer.”

“Truly unfortunate,” Hui breathed, frowning. In novels like this world, higher-stage cultivators often have difficulty conceiving. For such a miracle as a sixth-stage pregnancy… I imagine the Matriarch is willing to defend her baby with her entire clan’s lives, if she has to, and the clan likely feels the same. Even if Bai Xue, the Young Master’s, life is in danger, the Matriarch’s child will take precedence. And pregnancies usually require cultivators to suppress their cultivation, or naturally suppress it… in any case, it’s a troublesome coincidence.

“It is. If I had known, I would never have been so bold and left the sect alone—it’s been done. There’s no point rehashing the past,” Bai Xue said, shaking her head.

“It’s a good thing we’re here, then! We’ll help out, however we can,” Li Xiang declared firmly.

Hui frowned. He slid his hand in his robes and felt the bird-shaped jade. For a long moment, it laid still, then buzzed gently under his fingers. So this is not the right place… but it’s close. Or maybe it is the right place, but I have to reach the sender itself for the jade to fully react.

It doesn’t matter. I’m not going to abandon a friend, one way or another, and it sounds like Bai Xue is deeply entwined in the troubles of this city. If this isn’t the clan who sent the letter, then I’d be surprised if their troubles weren’t linked to the bold demonic cultivators, the lotus pills, or the root of everyone’s trouble: Bai Xue’s curse.

Bai Xue’s curse…