Chapter 49: Coffin Hollow

 

The woman headed north, Nan Wan following close behind her. Chong Zhao carried the child, Er Yun at his side. Strangely, Er Yun — who usually couldn't look at Bai Shuo without an expression of mild contempt — had gone completely quiet. Since Bai Shuo's arrival she hadn't so much as glanced her way. With Nan Wan present, Bai Shuo had no opening to speak to Chong Zhao. And Chong Zhao, for his part, hadn't looked at her once since they'd left the inn. She knew perfectly well that showing up in Yi City without permission had made him furious. She walked with her head down, trailing behind the group, thoroughly miserable.

Fan Yue walked behind the two of them, visibly itching to do something encouraging, glancing at Chong Zhao each time and thinking better of it. He had the air of someone trying very hard to be small.

Hua Da Tie brought up the rear, squinting at the spectacle with the unhurried enjoyment of someone watching a play, occasionally laughing at nothing in particular.

The northern quarter of the city had earthen-walled buildings throughout, and the woman's home was no different. But the yard was full of wine jars, the smell of fermented grain hanging heavy in the air. She made her living as a brewer.

As soon as they stepped into the yard, a drunken old man lurched out of the house. His eyes were glazed and his voice was loud.

"Little Autumn Melon! What took you so long? Where's my wine?"

Little Autumn Melon. The group exchanged glances. Nobody had expected this particular childhood name for a woman of her age and bearing.

"Wine, wine, wine — that's the whole extent of your thoughts, you old sot! Drink yourself into the ground!" She was already moving as she scolded, reaching for a jar from the yard and throwing it at him. "There, take it!"

"Generous today, Little Autumn Melon! Tab as usual, yes?"

"Tab! A hundred years of tab! I could sell your coffin and still not break even!"

"Ah, you're good to me, Little Autumn Melon." He caught the jar with both arms and hugged it to his chest, white hair sticking up in every direction.

"Good nothing! My boy is sick and I'm needed inside. Get out, go on!"

"Little one's sick?" He hiccuped and shuffled forward. "What's the matter with the kid?"

"Stomach trouble. This Daoist here sorted him out. Back to your coffin hole!" She waved him off.

He peered at the child in Chong Zhao's arms, noted the healthy color in the boy's face, and appeared satisfied. "Good. Thanks for the wine."

Without another word, without once looking at Nan Wan or the others, he wobbled away with his jar.

The woman settled the child inside and came back out, turning to Bai Shuo. "What is it you want to ask? I'll say this now — if your questions put my people in danger—"

"No, no, nothing like that. You know why we're here — the Phoenix Tree Spiritual Artifact. I only wanted to ask if you've heard of a place called the Tomb of the Foreigners."

The woman went still. "The Tomb of the Foreigners?"

Her bewilderment was genuine, and Bai Shuo's heart sank. The locals don't even know of it. This is bad.

"You've never heard of it?"

"No." She shook her head, looking sorry for it as Bai Shuo's face fell.

"It's fine, no matter." She didn't need to turn to feel Nan Wan's gaze on her back. Sharp as a knife.

Wonderful. Half a day lost and nothing to show for it. The head disciple of Cloudreach must be one step away from doing something unpleasant to me.

"Since there's nothing here—" Nan Wan didn't wait, turning to leave, voice barely containing its frost.

"Your Majesty, let's go together!" Bai Shuo hurried after her, and had taken several steps before instinct made her look back. "Oh — ma'am, take good care of Hu Er. Children love snacking. Keep him away from the autumn cicada fruits."

The woman had been watching Bai Shuo's anxious backward glance. She pressed her lips together and called: "Wait."

Everyone stopped.

The woman spoke directly to Bai Shuo. "You're outsiders — you wouldn't know our customs for the departed."

Bai Shuo's interest sharpened. "What customs?"

"Every person who dies among us has their name carved on their stone. Every grave in this city has a name — except those in one location."

Bai Shuo was already walking back. "Which location?"

"Nameless Mountain."

"Nameless Mountain?"

"A bare hill with three graves. The only tombstones in the city with no inscriptions. Nobody knows when they were placed — they've been there since the city was founded. People just started calling it that over time." She paused. "It has another name as well."

"What name?"

"Coffin Hollow."

Coffin Hollow. That was what she'd called out when she'd told the old man to go back where he came from.

"That old man just now—" Bai Shuo pointed in the direction he had gone, but he had long since disappeared from the yard.

"He keeps the graves on Nameless Mountain. It's the one place in our city where tombstones carry no names. The grave you're looking for may be there."

"That has to be it!" Bai Shuo's face broke open. "Ma'am, which way is Nameless Mountain?"

"Easy enough to find." The woman pointed at the ground. "Follow the trail of wine jars the old drunk leaves behind. The thickest stretch of them is where you'll end up."

That simple? Bai Shuo looked outside the yard. Sure enough — wine jars, scattered in a winding trail that disappeared into the distance.

"Thank you!"

"No debt. You saved Hu Er — this settles it." She added: "One thing — the old man has a temper. Don't provoke him or you'll get nothing. Not a word."

She said nothing more and went inside.

"Your Majesty, you see? I told you we'd find a lead—"

Bai Shuo turned to share her vindication with Nan Wan and found Nan Wan already gone, following the wine jars without a backward glance.

She clicked her tongue. Before she could even finish scoffing, Er Yun bounded after Nan Wan.

"Senior Brother, quickly!"

Er Yun was gone. Chong Zhao remained. It was just Bai Shuo's group and Chong Zhao outside the courtyard.

"Mu Mu — go follow them!"

Fan Yue always did what Bai Shuo told him. This time he saw her not moving and refused to move either, shaking his head in a single flat refusal.

A chill ran through her. She nudged him toward the street. "Go walk around for a bit. Master needs a word with Senior Martial Uncle."

Fan Yue looked at Chong Zhao with deep suspicion and did not move.

"Be good and listen to me." She put some hardness into her voice. Fan Yue's expression went aggrieved, then resigned, and he shuffled sideways just far enough to be technically out of the conversation.

Bai Shuo took the opportunity to propel Hua Da Tie after him with her foot. Hua Da Tie, who had not seen that coming, nearly pitched forward into the dirt.

"A-Zhao!" Finally free of both of them, Bai Shuo turned to speak — and Chong Zhao's voice, clipped and irritated, cut her off.

"What is happening here? Why are you in Yi City? Is he—"

"Yes, yes, he is!" Bai Shuo lunged to cover his mouth, checking over her shoulder. Fan Yue had his back turned, glowering at a tree stump. She breathed.

"Quietly." She lowered her voice. "It's too much to explain now — I'll tell you everything once we're out. For now just know he's my disciple. A-Zhao, there's no time — listen. The first Heartflame is in the Tomb of the Yi People. I think the tomb is Nameless Mountain. I need the first fragment before the other two can be located. Let Nan Wan take the lead getting in — once the flames are gathered, I'll help you get to them. A-Zhao, what are you—"

Chong Zhao's hand came up and sent a current of spiritual energy into her shoulder. She locked in place, completely unable to move.

Fan Yue spun from where he'd been sulking and was beside Bai Shuo in an instant, hand raised to strike at Chong Zhao.

"Mu Mu, stop!" Fan Yue's hand froze. He lowered it, slowly, still staring at Chong Zhao.

"A-Zhao, let me go!"

"Do you remember why I sent you away from Piaomiao?" Chong Zhao's voice came out controlled.

"I remember." She looked at the ground.

"Then why come?! The Three Realms are dangerous even for those far stronger than you are. As a half-immortal, do you truly think you can afford to involve yourself?" He was working to keep his anger in bounds. He thought of the evil energy that had moved through the city the night before, and his expression hardened further. "The Phoenix Martial Feast is a contest between the two races, properly conducted. If I win, it will be because I won it. I don't want your help."

Bai Shuo's eyes had gone red, but the words wouldn't come together properly. Chong Zhao's chest ached. He knew her too well — the moment he softened, she would take ten steps where he'd given her one.

"Stay here. When the Spirit-Locking Seal lifts in two days, leave Yi City. Go wherever you like. But do not return to Piaomiao." He turned to go, then stopped and glanced at Fan Yue. "Whoever you are — you're by her side. Protect her." He disappeared into the distance.

"A-Zhao!"

He didn't look back.

"That blockhead! With honor! Yunxiao and Nan Wan are cheating, and so is every other sect that came prepared. Mu Mu, undo this!"

She turned urgently to Fan Yue, who stood there looking at her without moving.

"Come on, what are you staring at?"

"Oh." He snapped to and gave her a light pat on the shoulder.

She stayed frozen.

"Harder! You're tickling me!"

He increased the force slightly.

"Three inches to the right — you've got the wrong spot!"

He moved three inches to the right. She remained completely rigid.

"Your spiritual energy, use your spiritual energy!"

Fan Yue's expression went flat. "He's right. There are monsters in the city. Master has weak spiritual power. You shouldn't be going."

He went and sat on a tree stump and turned his back to her. "Senior Martial Uncle told me to protect you too."

In her most critical moment, Fan Yue and Chong Zhao had arrived at exactly the same position. Bai Shuo looked toward Hua Da Tie.

"Hua—"

"I'm not getting involved in family business." Hua Da Tie was chewing on a grass stalk and watching the whole thing with great interest. When Bai Shuo's eyes found her, she shrugged and also turned her back.

Two entirely unconcerned backs. Bai Shuo had no choice but to look directly up at the sky.

---

Dusk arrived. A flash of spiritual light fell outside a desolate hilltop. Nan Wan landed and looked at the path into the mountain — wine jars, shattered, scattered across the ground in a trail. She raised her eyes toward the dark barren slope and walked in.

She reached the center of the wasteland. Three graves, alone in a clearing. Not far off, a decrepit thatched hut, listing, ancient. The Outland was already bare, but this place managed to be ten times more so — not a blade of grass anywhere. Nan Wan spread immortal power into the air around her. She felt nothing. Not a trace of the Phoenix Heart Flame's presence.

The phoenix tree was divine wood. If it were here, there should be something. Frowning, she fixed her attention on the graves.

The Daoist had divined this location. Could the Heartflame be inside the graves themselves? She leaped toward the nearest one. The moment her hand touched the tombstone, sword qi slashed through the air from behind with a force that drove her back even as she dodged. She stumbled several steps.

"Who?!"

That attack had carried real spiritual power. But Yi City had been sealed against it — and the Yi People had none. Who in this place could still use it?

"What kind of rat disturbs an old man's rest..." A drunken shape emerged from the thatched hut, wine jar in one hand, yawning widely with the other.

Nan Wan stared at him. This was the same old man from the woman's courtyard — and at that time, there had been nothing about him. Even now, she could sense nothing. And yet that strike had come from somewhere.

"So it's the little rat again." The old man gave Nan Wan a sidelong look. "Cloudreach's disciple, and you're running around with your sneaky tricks."

One glance, and he'd identified her sect. Nan Wan went very still. "Senior. Are you the guardian of these graves?"

"You already know. Asking anyway. Blind?" He swayed over, picked up a dead branch from the ground, and swept it leisurely across the nearest tombstone.

Nan Wan bowed. "May I ask which sect you belong to? Are you of the Immortal kin?"

"Immortal, demon — none of it matters. Go away." He slumped against the tombstone and didn't lift his eyes.

"Senior." Nan Wan kept her anger down. "I am Nan Wan of Cloudreach. I mean no disrespect to the Yi ancestors. Is the Phoenix Heart Flame here?"

"And if it is. Do you think you can simply take it?"

"Whatever your standing, Senior — I did not come to Yi City to leave empty-handed." An immortal sword appeared in her palm, immortal qi coiling around it. A high-grade artifact.

The Outland seal suppressed the two races' spiritual energy, not the grade of their artifacts.

The old man still didn't look up. "So many rats... Can't an old man guard graves in peace?"

He raised his hand.

Two streaks of sword qi slashed toward a nearby tree. With two impacts, Er Yun and Chong Zhao were driven out from where they'd been watching and landed beside Nan Wan.

Nan Wan's first instinct was irritation — then she reconsidered. The old man's capabilities were unknown. Letting these two absorb some of whatever came next wasn't the worst arrangement.

The old man looked at the three of them for the first time. "The Phoenix Heart Flame is within this mountain. Jin Yao and I have an agreement — defeat me, and it's yours. Don't, and it stays. Three of you now. Let this old man see what the rising stars of the two races amount to."

Three streaks of sword qi flew before he'd finished speaking.

---

Outside the courtyard, the sky had gone to dusk. Fan Yue had lit a small fire beside the still-frozen Bai Shuo to keep her warm. Hua Da Tie had produced a chicken from somewhere and was drawing Fan Yue enthusiastically into roasting it.

"Between the two of you, what have you been roasting before? The smell of this only carries three miles. If I were doing it, ten miles at minimum." She waved a branch and licked her lips appreciatively.

The boy scooted toward her, watching intently.

Hua Da Tie swallowed. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Learning."

"Learning what?"

"Roasting chicken. I'll learn and make it for Master." He said it with complete sincerity.

Hua Da Tie nearly choked. She looked at the boy's entirely serious face, decided against whatever she'd been about to say, and patted his shoulder instead. "Good child."

Bai Shuo, seeing her opening: "Good disciple! Mu Mu — what is the most important lesson Master has taught you? What comes first when following your teacher?"

"Survival," Fan Yue answered smoothly, his bright eyes finding her. "Master said survival is the most important thing."

Bai Shuo felt the full weight of her own teachings land on her.

"Survival — no! It's loyalty! Loyalty! Your Senior Martial Uncle is in danger in that mountain and I have to go help him!"

Fan Yue turned his attention back to the chicken.

"Ow!" Bai Shuo's voice went sharp. Fan Yue turned.

Her face had gone white.

"Master!" He was on his feet. "What's wrong?"

"It hurts—" Cold sweat at her temples. Her body was shaking slightly, stiffening. "That creature last night must have left something in me..."

"Where?"

He circled around her, frantic.

"Here—" She gestured weakly toward her chest. "Qiankun Bag — get it. There's medicine inside I made."

Fan Yue snatched the bag from her waist and upended it. A scattering of pills in different colors.

"Which one?"

"The... white one..."

He got it between her teeth. The moment it went down, her spiritual qi began moving in all the wrong directions. Her face twisted. She bit through her lip.

"Master — what—!"

He watched in alarm as the qi gathered itself rapidly into a concentrated mass and drove toward her shoulder. With a crack, it detonated at the point of Chong Zhao's restriction. The lock broke. Bai Shuo coughed blood directly onto Fan Yue's chest.

Before he could process it, she had grabbed the Qiankun Bag back, pulled a Flying Talisman from inside, and pressed it against herself.

She shot into the sky.

"Good disciple — Master is going to help your Senior Martial Uncle! Wait for me!"

The whole sequence was so smooth and so fast that even Hua Da Tie could only stand and stare.

What kind of mind produced that? Hua Da Tie looked at Fan Yue, who was standing with a handful of pills in his palm looking like the ground had moved under him, and patted his shoulder as she got up.

"Mu Mu, your Master—"

She stopped.

The blood that had landed on Fan Yue's chest had soaked through his clothing. And now it was disappearing — sinking into his skin.

She looked up at his face.

The boy had dropped into a half-crouch, the pills scattering from his open hands, both hands going to his head. A sound came from him that wasn't quite a word.

"Mu—" Hua Da Tie moved to support him, and her voice cut off in the middle of his name.

The boy's eyes opened.

Something in them that hadn't been there before.