The Following Night

Bai Xue’s peak glittered with thousands of floating flames. Dancing over the peak, the flames shaped into flowers and swords, fantastic spirit beasts and marvelous rainbows. A series of lanterns floated beneath the flames, creating almost a festival atmosphere. Down below, lines of faintly-glowing qi swirled on a light mist. The glowing mist gave the entire peak the appearance of an immortal paradise, wreathing the stone paths, trees, and mystic pools in a gentle light. A gorgeous palace stood out atop the peak, lit from below to give it a dramatic appearance. The doors and windows hung open, and long silk hangings wavered on the breeze Just outside the palace, neat stands of bamboo, gorgeous flowers, and little ponds holding multicolored carp made up a gravel-pathed garden. Ephemeral beauties wandered the garden just outside the pavilion, carrying drinks and platters of food.

Sword beams approached the peak from all directions, as peak lords and disciples from all the various eighty-one peaks joined the party. A few cultivators already wandered the gardens, plucking at the food or sipping the liquor. Healer hovered overhead, taking it in for a moment.

Though I protested… this is actually a very good idea. The established Peak Lords with lots of backing are unlikely to attend a lowly new-founded peak lord’s party, and of the Peak Lords with backing who do attend, they’ll be clearly flaunting their power, backing, and the full might of their factions with the goal of attracting new peak lords to join their faction. Of the other Peak Lords, anyone who attends likely doesn’t have a faction or backing, and might be looking for a new faction to join… a faction I’m happy to present to them! Plus, we can attempt to invite the new peak lords to join our side, and if they don’t join our side, we’ll be able to observe which faction they do join.

Bai Xue… although I’m sure you hosted this party with ulterior motives, you’re… actually doing a lot to aid my cause! A small cultivator like me would never dare to host an ostentatious party, nor be bold enough to invite every peak lord and disciple I can reach. Only Bai Xue would be audacious enough to do such a thing… but I’ll happily benefit from it!

A man in black robes drew up alongside Hui, sitting atop a large black duck. Hui half turned, nodding when he saw the white snake snoozing around Rogue’s neck. “Zhubi’s back in snake form?”

Rogue nodded. “More comfortable that way. I don’t know that he’s going to do much with his peak, either… if the Mountain Lord turns us down, we can always move the spider there. I’d rather hide a needle in a haystack, but better to have it here than have it outside. I’d rather not depend on our node to call it in… we don’t know how the node interacts with grand barrier formation-level barriers, after all.”

Healer nodded. He glanced at Zhubi, then reached out and pet the snake’s head. I miss you, Zhubi…

Zhubi half-woke up and hissed a hello at him, then settled down to nap again.

Hui sighed deeply. He shook his head. One day, I’ll be the one with Zhubi again. He nodded at Rogue. “Shall we?”

“Can’t let Peak Lord have all the fun,” Rogue replied, patting his duck on the neck. He angled down toward the party, and Hui followed.

The two of them landed in the garden. Immediately, one of the beauties drifted over. As she drew closer, an aura of icy cold fell over Hui. He peered closer, examining her. Her skin glowed a faint blue-white. A translucent body drifted over the ground, her feet barely touching the floor.

Not a ghost, but some kind of… ice spirit? Hui frowned, nodding to himself. Interesting.

“Interesting way to keep the drinks cool, you mean,” Rogue replied, snatching a cup off the ice spirit’s tray. He downed it in a gulp and thumped Hui on the back. “I’m off to find Bai Xue. You hang out here and do important stuff, or whatever.”

Hui grabbed the back of Rogue’s robes. “Let’s not rush off so quickly. Stick around. Meet people. This is our chance to recruit other new peak lords to our side.”

“What? You think the kind of people who want to join All-Heavens Sect, who are probably more gung-ho about All-Heavens than people who grew up in All-Heavens, are the kind of people who’d want to overthrow All-Heavens?” Rogue asked. He waved his hand. “Not a chance. Let’s just find Bai Xue.”

Rubbing his forehead, Hui shook his head. He’s got a point, but that doesn’t mean I want to admit it. “Still… it’s worth a try.”

“Well, I’ll leave it to you,” Rogue said, nodding wisely.

The ice spirit drifted over to Hui. He raised a hand to refuse it, turning to Rogue. “Come on. There’s still work to be done.”

Rogue spread his arms, shrugging at Hui. “So? There’s always work to be done. We’ve been working nonstop since we’ve woken up. Why don’t we take a break? Just once. Just one break. We’ve done so much. We’ve made so many advances. I think anyone but us would be done by now, it’s just that we’re cowards so we’re over-preparing. Let’s just… relax. You know. Loosen up and enjoy the party.”

“I…” Hui rubbed his forehead. He shook his head. “I just… I can’t stop now. We’re so close. I feel like any moment I’m not working for it is a moment wasted.”

“And I’m telling you, you’re wrong. You’re all wound up. Take a deep breath and take the night off. What’s it going to hurt?”

Hui shook his head, but he didn’t say anything.

Rogue put a hand on his shoulder. “I get it. We’re the same person. I feel the same things you’re feeling. But, you know… if you got twice as much of our sense of duty, then I got the double-up on the part of us that knows how to relax. When was the last time you took a day off?”

“I went drinking last night,” Hui muttered.

“Yeah, but that was still work,” Rogue pointed out. He clapped Hui on the shoulder again. “So? Let’s go find Bai Xue and have a good time.”

Hui sighed deeply. “I…”

“Yeah? I’ll let you hold Zhubi,” Rogue said.

Hui looked at the little snake and sighed again. “Oh, alright.”

Rogue grinned. “Yeah! Let’s go!”

“Hand over Zhubi,” Hui demanded.

“Aww, but he’s sleeping,” Rogue said, making a pouty face.

“You said,” Hui replied, crossing his arms.

Rogue laughed. He reached to his shoulders and delicately unwound Zhubi, then handed him to Hui. “There, there. I did promise, after all.”

Hui carefully took the snake and settled him into place. Zhubi shifted a little in his sleep, but immediately relaxed into his usual spot. Hui’s shoulders unwound slightly, already a little more relaxed.

“What are we, five?” Rogue muttered to himself, shaking his head.

Hui pressed his lips together. He turned, looking off toward the horizon where First hid, far, far distant from the sect. “There’s only five of us left…”

“That’s not what I meant,” Rogue groused.

Healer sighed. He shook his head. “I was the first one awake. You remember that, right?”

“Mmm. I woke up second, after all,” Rogue replied. “It was a close thing between me and Wildman…”

Both of them fell silent.

After a moment, Healer spoke again. “For a while, I thought I was Hui. That I was the only one, all alone. The sect gone, completely gone, even the ghost flag vanished. Li Xiang missing, no one to stand by my side and the whole world against me…”

“Too scared to contact Bai Xue, afraid to admit who you were… that pressure, it’s…” Rogue shook his head.

“And when I connected to the network, there was no one there. It was just me, all alone,” Healer murmured. “I think… that’s probably the moment I felt the most alone. To reach out and find no one… even on what passes for the internet, that’s…”

Abruptly, Rogue laughed. He shook his head. “But First was there all along, wasn’t he? The original clone, hiding away. He just wasn’t brave enough to reach out to the network, not until Sixth came along. So you know, even when you thought you were alone, you weren’t.”

Hui laughed. “Ah, well… that’s true.”

“Let’s not be gloomy. Just for tonight, why don’t we forget the world and relax?” Rogue suggested. He waved his hand, snagging a glass off a passing ice spirit’s platter. The glass landed in his hand, and he passed it to Hui. “Drink to the ones who’ve gone, and to the rest of us, who’re still here. Drink to our hard work and to the future.”

Hui took the cup. He stared into the bottom of it. “I know you’re the most fearless of us. Alcohol… for me, it’s still…”

“Then give it to me,” Chen Wuya said abruptly, surging out of Hui’s robes. His beak latched onto the glass, and he downed it in a gulp. Hopping onto Healer’s shoulder, he shook his head at the two of them. “Standing around griping at a party, can you be more boring? I’m going to find the fun Huis.”

“Ah, my apologies, Senior,” Hui said.

Zhubi half-woke up again and lifted his head, lazily baring his teeth at the crow interceding on his sleeping spot.

“Hmph.” Chen Wuya took to the air, flying away.

“Funny for you to be the one hesitant about drinking,” Rogue pointed out.

Hui dusted down his robes, brushing little black feathers off. “Elder Brother, the healing service I provide to others is a clinical usage of alcohol! Far be it from me to endorse drinking or the partaking of dangerous amounts of liquor.”

“Didn’t you just host a party specifically to get a certain cultivator drunk?” Rogue asked.

“Well… that was a special case,” Healer said smoothly.

Rogue snorted. “Alright, alright. Enough excuses. C’mon, let’s go find Bai Xue and the others. I’m going to have fun, and so are you, even if I have to drag you kicking and screaming the whole way.”

Healer laughed. “Alright, alright. Let’s go greet the host.”

“Yeah, yeah. ‘Greet the host,’” Rogue repeated, waggling his eyebrows.