To live without thinking too deeply about one’s own nature and self-worth was easier said than done, but the members of Screeching Sparrow Sect made it hard for Wu Lingtian to wallow in anything for longer than a few seconds.
After using a cleansing spell and using internal energy to dry himself, Wu Lingtian had rejoined the others for dinner. As if they didn’t notice his strangeness, everyone proceeded as noisily as they usually did. The only difference now from back at the sect was they had an extra guest joining them.
Li Qing glanced at Bai Qiu as she placed a piece of tofu into Wu Lingtian’s bowl. Wu Lingtian glanced at the child beside him and tactfully lowered himself as she waved him closer.
“That man,” Li Qing’s whisper was so quiet that it seemed as if she was barely breathing. It was quiet enough for cultivators to consider it a whisper. “He used to be part of the sect?”
As for who Bai Qiu was, Li Qing was as ignorant as Wu Lingtian. Whether if it was because Li Qing hadn’t joined the sect yet, or if it was simply because she was too young, she had no recollection of Bai Qiu, nor of Lu Ban. These were two disciples who were barely mentioned after they had left the sect, as they had been a sore spot for everyone.
Wu Lingtian nodded as he ate the food Li Qing dutifully placed into his bowl. He couldn’t help smiling a bit as he began to feed her instead. “I hear he and Su Han used to be close. However, now he’s part of another sect.”
Li Qing began to eat once food arrived at her bowl. “Are they not close anymore?”
“That’s not something we should be asking,” Wu Lingtian glanced down the tables at where Bai Qiu sat sullenly. “Relationships take time. Asking will just dredge up unpleasant memories.”
Li Qing nodded in understanding. She glanced at Wu Lingtian’s hand and looked over at Fan Yi and Ren Yizhou, who were talking about sect matters, and tugged on Wu Lingtian again.
“What’s wrong?”
“Shishu, what happened to your hand?” Li Qing asked quietly.
The way she spoke was quiet, as if she knew Wu Lingtian wanted to hide it. Wu Lingtian shifted the bowl in his hand. He hardly felt the sting from the deep gash in his hand. It had closed up by now, though it still discolored his skin and made it look extremely horrific.
“I tripped and fell,” Wu Lingtian replied.
Li Qing frowned. “Did Shishu fall on a rock?”
“Mn. It was really sharp,” Wu Lingtian said. “Don’t worry, I’m fine though.”
Li Qing nodded, though she still seemed a bite unsettled. After a few more bites, she turned to Wu Lingtian again. “Be sure to ask Shizun for medicine. He always carries a balm with him for cuts.”
“I will.”
Li Qing turned away, but looked back again almost immediately. “I’ll ask about it tomorrow.”
Wu Lingtian puffed out a laugh. He rubbed the girl’s head fondly with his uninjured hand. “Alright, alright. I’ll do as you say.”
Li Qing smiled pleasantly and began to focus on eating once more.
Wu Lingtian sighed internally. Whether it was Li Qing or Su Han, the two were just as observant as Fan Yi. It was a bit frightening to know that, in another few years, there would be another Fan Yi duplicate out in the world.
Frightening for the cultivation world, that is.
Li Qing finished her food quickly and energetically as usual. By the time she was done, the others around the table were still only halfway through their meal. Her hand rested against her rounded belly and her big eyes darted around as she looked for a companion who was almost done with their meal. Usually, she would simply jump from the seat and run off to play, but since they were in an unfamiliar environment, Li Qing held on and waited as patiently as she could.
Still, in the end, she couldn’t help fidgeting.
Her gaze burned into Liang Jun’s skull, but the boy was far from finished eating. It wasn’t that he wasn’t fast, but, unlike Li Qing, he was a growing boy. He ate twice as much as her and he was still busy shoving food into his mouth. Faced with the little girl’s prying eyes, Liang Jun found it more and more difficult to swallow.
As for Wen Yi and Su Han, both ate with practiced elegancy, as if they were trying to pose as members from the righteous sects. Hua An’ting wasn’t even worth talking about. After spending day in and out with her, even Li Qing was tired. She felt that if she had to play with Hua An’ting anymore, her ears would probably start bleeding and her eyes would roll out of her head.
But no matter where she looked (even towards the unfavorable end of the table) the disciples still had their heads down.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
As talking wasn’t against any rules, they chatted mirthfully, just happy to be out of the sect to get some fresh air. Li Qing moped by herself silently. Her legs swung to a rhythm only she could hear in her mind. She glanced again at Liang Jun, but the boy was still inhaling his food with gusto.
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Wu Lingtian lowered his gaze before turning to Fan Yi, who was not sitting too far away. “Sect Leader.”
Fan Yi finally had half the mind to look up. “What’s wrong?”
“I’m going to take Li Qing for a walk.”
Fan Yi’s gaze fell onto his energetic disciple. With a helpless sigh, he nodded. “Be careful. It’s a bit messy out there right now.”
Wu Lingtian nodded. He felt Li Qing jerk from her seat as he left his own. By the time his head had lifted, Li Qing was already bouncing happily near the doorway. He smiled helplessly and followed the little girl out.
“Don’t run too far away,” Wu Lingtian warned Li Qing. “It’s dangerous right now, so we all have to be careful.”
Most of the details of the two murders were undisclosed to outsiders, save for the higher members of Wu Rong School and Xiuxing Temple, the people from the Hall of Impartiality, and the ragtag group that joined together to investigate. What the others knew was just that there had been two murders of two cultivators, the city was on lockdown, and that the remainder of the activities in this conference was halted, along with the strange appearance of a manmade puppet that entered the case.
Li Qing nodded happily. “Alright, I won’t stray too far!”
When danger wasn’t staring one in the face, it was always easy to forget the situation. While Wu Lingtian and the others had been scrambling to clear Tian Xiewen’s name the past day or so, the other disciples had sat around gossiping and playing about the city. It was two different worlds situated in the same space, but there was no helping it—after all, the kids couldn’t do anything helpful.
These thoughts flew through Wu Lingtian’s mind momentarily as he watched Li Qing happily dodge into the crowd. He let out a small sigh and followed after her tightly, weaving through with greater dexterity than the small child could.
This was probably the first time in his life that he realized he had a bit of an advantage with his height.
However, as the darkness grew, the crowd also thickened. Nightlife in this city—especially during an event—was quite vibrant.
Wu Lingtian’s brows furrowed. He quickened his pace and called out to Li Qing, but in the noise, his words were perfectly swallowed by the crowd.
“Excuse me,” Wu Lingtian tried to maneuver past a group of people, but for some reason, they remained relatively routed in place.
He tried to walk around, to push past, and even to dodge under, but the people remained where they were.
Wu Lingtian’s brows furrowed. He finally turned and looked at the face of the man closest to him. He inhaled sharply and immediately jumped back.
His sudden movement startled the crowd. There were gasps of surprise and grunts of irritation, but before the common people could voice any type of distaste, the man Wu Lingtian had made eye contact with lunged forward.
Wu Lingtian arched in the air, avoiding the black clawed hand that stretched out for him, swiping at where his neck had just been.
The crowd shrieked in horror and retreated further away.
Wu Lingtian glanced around.
Li Qing had disappeared.
His heart hammered against his chest. That gnawing anxiety from earlier in the day returned, but this time with greater ferocity. He gained chills on the back of his neck and his palms began to grow sweaty.
In the second his attention was torn away, the two other people had gathered around him, forming a strange triangle formation. It was one man and two women. All three of them had a dazed look in their eyes. Although the glow of the lantern warmed their skin, upon closer inspection, you could tell how ghastly their complexion actually was. The way they moved was unnatural, as if they had to exert extra thought to just shift their legs forward or move their hand to the side.
The jerky movements reminded Wu Lingtian of fierce corpses, but his mind wasn’t focused on his opponents. He was really only half paying attention.
His non-dominant hand flew to the wrist brace on his right hand. In the flash of light, a bow emerged into Wu Lingtian’s hands. He jumped upwards and drew back an arrow formed from spiritual energy and shot down at the three figures below him.
Before they could recover, he treaded on the air quickly to the rooftops. His shoes scraped against and shifted the roof tiles, but he didn’t care. His gaze was concentrated on the crowd as he scanned them for the small girl with butterfly pins in her hair.
The three creatures, who had shed their human appearance, growled at the sudden attack. One had been shot through the stomach, disappearing completely into an explosion of black ashes. The other two had just narrowly avoided Wu Lingtian’s attack. Furious, the two women jumped onto the roof after Wu Lingtian and speedily followed.
It was good that Tian Xiewen had the foresight to give Wu Lingtian’s weapons and artifacts that leaned more towards escaping—with Wu Lingtian’s qinggong abilities, coupled with the shoes, he stayed constantly out of reach of the strange monsters. The beauty of the Star Chasers that Tian Xiewen gifted was, not only did they help with speed and mobility, they also provided a better center of gravity for the wearer and allowed them to keep a steady pace, even when they rushed over ragged surfaces.
Two arrows were shot back towards the strange creatures.
Wu Lingtian couldn’t be bothered with capturing them alive. Without even thinking too hard, it was obvious that these three things had been a divergent tactic. The crowd had suddenly grown thicker and Wu Lingtian had just happened to lose sight of Li Qing when these things showed up.
Who knows just how many in the crowd were real people and how many were actually one of them?
The thought chilled Wu Lingtian, but he pushed it to the side for now. He focused on his breathing and focused on his aim. The remainder of his attention was pushed towards analyzing the frantic crowds as he ran backwards and forwards on the rooftop.
When the last creature was shot down and dispersed into ashes, the people finally calmed, but Wu Lingtian’s anxiety only grew.
His chest was tight.
His breathing was stuttering.
His vision was beginning to blacken around the edges and his beginning to feel a bit lightheaded.
The bow in his hand transformed back into the sleek wrist brace and Wu Lingtian jumped down from the roof.
Although the bow was handy, manifesting your own spiritual energy into a weapon was tiring even for the most experienced cultivators.
At regular times, Wu Lingtian would be able to do so without breaking a sweat, but now, for some reason, his back had become sticky, and he felt like he might faint at any moment.
“Excuse me,” Wu Lingtian suddenly grabbed one of the people on the sidewalk.
After seeing him fight, everyone already realized that he was a cultivator and instantly became more courteous.
“Have you seen a little girl, about this tall?” Wu Lingtian gestured with his free hand. “Her hair is tied into two buns with blue butterfly pins.”
The man and his companion shook their heads.
Wu Lingtian thanked them and rushed off to the next group.
“Excuse me, have you seen a little girl, about this tall? Her hair is tied into two buns with blue butterfly pins.”
“No, I didn’t see her, sorry.”
Wu Lingtian nodded and went off again. He stopped everyone in the surrounding area to ask as he made his way through the emptying street. He peered into alleys and even sent out his spiritual sense to search for even a sliver of Li Qing’s presence, but he came up with nothing.
Wu Lingtian stopped in the crowd. He thought about rushing back to Fan Yi, but would Fan Yi blame him? No—this wasn’t the time to even think about that! Li Qing was missing. Even if Fan Yi blamed him, it was still better than him stupidly searching on his own.
Just as Wu Lingtian turned on his heel to head back to the inn, he heard a loud, piercing scream.
Although it seemed to smash into his eardrums, if he hadn’t been so frantic, he would have noticed that only the few people near the sound actually turned to look. It was almost as if the scream was just for him to hear.
Wu Lingtian shoved past the crowd and rushed to the alley where the scream came from.
The streets became quiet.
At this point, the moon was already high in the sky and the lanterns had all been light. The soft breeze that didn’t calm Wu Lingtian down and, instead, heightened his sense of unease. His steps slowed and quieted. He heard the sound of retching coming from within the alley. It mixed in with the ringing in his ears. His pace slowed to a stop at the mouth of the alley.
A strange liquid oozed through the cracks in the ground, crawling slowly towards Wu Lingtian’s shoes. He remained where he was and watched it come into the light to meet him. The coppery scent assaulted his nose, mixed with the putrid smell of bile and something else unplaceable.
Wu Lingtian ignored what the liquid could possibly be and stepped into the alley anyway.
A soft splashing sound mingled with the voices far away.
“Li Qing?” Wu Lingtian wanted to talk louder, but his voice died out before it could reach the front of his mouth.
He heard hurried footsteps and then felt a weight throw itself around his waist. Without thinking too much, he immediately wrapped his arms around the small, trembling form and hoisted her up. He felt a pair of slim arms wrap tightly around his neck as soft, girlish cries pierced his ears.
“It’s okay,” Wu Lingtian heard himself say. He patted Li Qing’s back. “It’s okay, you’re okay now. I’m here.”
“S-Shishu—over th—”
“Sshh, ssshh,” Wu Lingtian placed his hand on the back of Li Qing’s head, pressing her closer to his chest. “It’s okay.”
Li Qing whimpered slightly and held Wu Lingtian tighter.
Wu Lingtian felt his knees weaken. He stumbled towards the wall and leaned his back against it in an attempt to catch his breath. His ears still rung and his head was beginning to spin. He knew he didn’t have long until he fainted. He took several deep breaths and was preparing to turn and leave when he heard a set of hurried footsteps.
The steps came to a halt to Wu Lingtian’s right. Light suddenly emerged at the mouth of the alley, but it was an unwelcome, harsh type of light.
Li Qing buried her head into Wu Lingtian’s neck, unable to face the sudden brightness, but Wu Lingtian turned to meet a pair of cold eyes.
The scene was familiar. It stirred up something from within the depths of Wu Lingtian’s memory—something that he had realized he had forgotten earlier that day too.
A group of cultivators, wearing white and turquoise robes—all carrying lanterns. At some point, it had started to rain, matching the weather of that night. Everyone was wet. Everyone’s hair clung to their foreheads, their cheeks, and their neck. The accusatory eyes bore into Wu Lingtian as his head, just like that night, throbbed horrendously.
The soft laugh did little to break Wu Lingtian from his paralyzed state.
He did nothing as he watched the tall man walk towards him. Someone who was normally considered gentle and scholarly was like a hulking beast in Wu Lingtian’s eyes. He felt trembling, but he wasn’t sure if it was Li Qing or himself at this point.
Finally, the man stopped in front of Wu Lingtian.
“Again, huh?”
The soft, almost understanding voice made Wu Lingtian’s hair stand on end.
He was brought back to that night.
“Da-shixiong,” Wu Lingtian’s voice came out with an uncharacteristic tremble. “It wasn’t me…I didn’t…listen to me—”
“It wasn’t you?” Li Ran raised a brow. He looked down at the crime scene that Wu Lingtian hadn’t even glanced at. “Hah. Why do those words sound so familiar?”
Wu Lingtian felt dread filling his entire being.
Those words and those eyes formed a bleak, dark cell in Wu Lingtian’s mind.
Listen to him? What was the point?
From the moment Li Ran set eyes on Wu Lingtian, it had already been decided—he was already guilty for whatever monstrosity Li Ran had yet to accuse him of.
Who keeps setting Wu Lingtian up?!??
Can we get rid of Li Ran quickly , that Gu bug . Thanks
Suddenly I’m not sure if Li Ran is accusing him as if he hadn’t been cleared, or if something is making Wu Lingtian believe that’s happening. Either way, he’s going to need to be rescued again.
… Frankly, I really kind of wish someone would just kill Wu Lingtian off already. He’s too exaggeratedly a pit. Just make the rest of the ‘investigation’ postmortem…