Chapter 68 (Patreon)

“Brother Chen!” Xie Jin emerged from the woods followed by a girl with steel-blue hair. The beetles that had been hovering in front of Chen Haoran flew over and landed on Xie Jin’s shoulder.

“What are you doing here?” Chen Haoran asked, bewildered. What were the odds that he’d meet Xie Jin of all people in this patch of the mountains?

“Looking for you,” Xie Jin said. “Why else would I trudge my way through these damn mountains.”

“Looking for me?” How? Why? He had so many questions.

The girl took this moment to step forward and curtsy. “Hello, Master Chen.”

He frowned. She looked familiar. Blue hair wasn’t common color either. “You’re Lan Fen’s maid?” It took him a moment to recall but he had seen her before once when he and Song Yuelin trained in front of Lan Fen. The day before that disastrous night raid. He had never spoken to her or seen her since though. The girl was as much a ghost as Song Yuelin was. “I’m sorry, I don’t know you’re name.”

“That’s good,” the girl said cheerily.

Chen Haoran lifted an eyebrow. Was he just insulted?

“Don’t mess around Two-Shadow,” Xie Jin snapped. He looked at Chen Haoran aggrieved. “Your wife sent us to track you down after you got lost.” He heaved a sigh of relief. “I’m glad I finally caught your scent today. This girl was driving me crazy.”

“You’ve been looking for me all this time?” It had to have been weeks at least. Xie Jin was only here to take part in the Palace Exams, he had no reason to stay that long once they were canceled.

“A man who feeds me is a brother for life,” Xie Jin said with a serious look.

“He was too poor to go back home,” Two-Shadow said. “My Lady decided to make him do something useful.”

“Hey!” Xie Jin pointed a finger at the maid. “I did this to help Brother Chen, not you and not her either.”

“How did you even find me?” Chen Haoran interrupted. He cast a curious glance at the giant beetle. It sat motionlessly on Xie Jin’s shoulders like a statue.

“Oh well-” Xie Jin’s eyes flickered from the beetle to Chen Haoran. He weakly shrugged. “You know what they say about Southern barbarians.”

“No,” Chen Haoran said. “I don’t.”

“Oh.” Xie Jin looked flustered and the boisterous cultivator for once seemed speechless.

“It’s his Southern magic,” Two-Shadow said. “Their shamans use it to track down their mortal foes.”

Chen Haoran blinked.

Xie Jin scowled. “It’s called a Gu and we use them for more than that.” He reached up and the beetle disappeared into the folds of his sleeve. Whatever trick he used it was impossible to see he had hidden a fist-sized bug in there. Had he been carrying it this whole time?

“Poisoning, cursing, sabotage, revenge.” Two-Shadow counted with her fingers as if she were seriously answering Xie Jin.

“Can you go now?” Xie Jin growled.

“My master ordered me to accompany Master Chen after finding him. He’s been sheltered for many years and ignorant of basics. Lady Fen was worried he’d be taken advantage of.”

“You think I’d take advantage of him?” Xie Jin sounded outraged.

Two-Shadow tilted her head. “Haven’t you?”

While they began to bicker Chen Haoran put together the picture of events. It seemed Lan Fen had predicted he wouldn’t be returning to Clearsprings after separating from Song Yuelin and sent these two to help him leave the province. Of course, she didn’t predict he’d been swept into the Spa Caverns, it seemed however Xie Jin tracked him the secret realm blocked it. Two-Shadow while weird was clearly trusted by Lan Fen to send her as his guide. With them here his immediate problems were solved-

“You think I won’t choke a woman?” Xie Jin shouted.

Two-Shadow looked at him like he was particularly dim. “I know you will. I watched you do it.”

At least they would be when he got them to stop arguing.

He loudly clapped his hands and got their attention. Xie Jin thankfully dropped the argument but for some reason didn’t look him in the eyes. Two-Shadow just looked at him curiously. “Whatever the reason I’m glad you guys are here. I have no idea where I’m going. I’ll be relying on you in the future.”

“I’m not going with you though?” Two-Shadow sounded genuinely confused.

That brought Chen Haoran up short.

“Didn’t Lan Fen want you to help me?” He didn’t think Lan Fen would tell her maid his secret but she had to know he needed someone knowledgeable by his side.

Two-Shadow nodded. “She did. I don’t want to though.”

“Then what are you going to do?”

“I’m going to look for Lady Fen. A servant must not stray far from her master.”

Well… he’d give her points for loyalty. “Do you even know where she is?”

Two-Shadow brightly smiled. “I’ll just wander the mountains until I find her.”

What was it with ostensible servants being the biggest weirdos? He was two for two now. Were Song Yuelin and Two-Shadow part of some kind of theme? Was there behavior just a piece of local culture he was unaware of?

“If you’re going to leave then hurry up and go,” Xie Jin snapped.

“Excuse me then.” Two-Shadow curtsied to him then to Xie Jin. “I enjoyed traveling with you.”

“I didn’t.” Despite that Xie Jin still cupped his hands and offered a bow in return.

Chen Haoran waved Two-Shadow over before she could go and leaned in to whisper in her ear. As he did so Phelps leaned over his shoulder and sniffed her hair. “Follow my path and you’ll find a pond. Follow the water and that’s where you can find Lan Fen.” He didn’t know the full extent of her relationship with Lan Fen but if she was serious about looking through the whole mountain for her then she would find her eventually with this hint.

Two-Shadow nodded, a serious expression firmly set on her face. “You shouldn’t whisper in girls ears like this Master Chen. You look okay enough that someone might misunderstand.”

Chen Haoran stared at Two-Shadow, flummoxed. Until she curtsied again and turned to leave. Phelps squealed at her and she stopped, turned around, and curtsied toward him as well before walking off into the forest.

“Okay enough?”

Xie Jin choked. He sputtered into full laughter when Chen Haoran leveled a glare his way. “Don’t mind her Brother Chen.” He wiped a tear from his eye. “She’s a strange one.”

“Yuck it up you bastard,” Chen Haoran said. “Are you gonna leave too or what? Give a guy some directions before you do.”

“That depends on where you want to go. I assume you don’t want to return to Clearsprings City?”

“A city far from here with the resources for me to breakthrough to Liquid Meridian.”

“In that case you can go to almost any city in the Central region.”

That said a lot about how wealthy the core of the Empire was. “What about the capital?” He recalled the name from the books in his manor. Last Light.

Xie Jin snorted in derision. “There are more snakes there than a king’s courthouse. You’ll find every treasure and pleasure in the world there but honor is in short supply.” He hesitated. “I don’t think going there would be safe for you.”

Right. Xie Jin was there when Song Yuelin got scared off by the prince. “I wasn’t planning on going there. I was just curious.”

“Does… your family have enmity with the Imperial clan?” he asked.

Chen Haoran sighed. “Your guess is as good as mine. Does the Chen family mean anything to you?”

“Should it? There’s a lot of Chens.”

Well at least his name wouldn’t cause him any issues if that were the case. It was probably best to avoid the Central region though. Song Yuelin assumed that Shen Jianyu didn’t come to Clearsprings City for them but who really knew. In any case he was better off avoiding even peripheral contact with people related to the Imperial family.

“Thanks for coming to find me,” he said. “I won’t ask you to guide me but if you could point me to the next city I would really appreciate it.” He paused. Xie Jin had spent weeks looking for him. He cupped his hands and bowed. “Brother Jin.”

“No no no.” Xie Jin rushed to stop him. “Brother Chen you’re my benefactor. I can’t think of anyone who’d so freely feed a Southerner like you did for me.” He clasped Chen Haoran’s arms. Phelps squealed at the sudden motion and his claws dug into his sides. “Where will you go though?”

“Somewhere far from the Imperial family at least. As long as I can cultivate there it doesn’t matter where I am.” The first thing he’d have to do was find a map. He couldn’t be so blind in the future.

Xie Jin bit his lip and looked down at his bone arm rings. He must’ve seen something in them because the uncertainty in his eyes disappeared.

“Do you want to come south with me?”