Heart of Cultivation 64. Checking In (Patreon)

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Jinghua was the quieter of Meirong's two friends. While she seemed happy to see him, Jian suspected that her welcoming smile wouldn't look any different whether she admired or despised him. As it happened, her professional demeanor was exactly what he needed right now.

"Master Zhou," she said, "you honor us with your presence."

Jian nodded.

"Please," she said. "Come inside."

She unlocked the formation guarding the fence and welcomed him inside. Jian followed behind her at a stately pace, maintaining his silence until he was safely inside.

"I'm afraid Meirong isn't here right now," she said. With the door closed behind them, Jian was free to speak normally.

"That's all right," he said. "I actually have a question I think you can answer."

"Oh my," she said, taking a seat. "What's that?"

"What can you tell me about the Grave of Dreams?" Jian asked.

He may have been imagining it, but he thought he saw a flash of disappointment cross her face. It was there and gone in an instant, leaving behind her usual placid appearance.

"Hmm," she said, rubbing her chin in thought, "that area is a little outside of where our expedition has been going."

"The Huang family is up to something in the area," Jian said.

He briefly summarized the visit that he and Shan had made to the Huang family compound. Overall, he thought they had learned enough to cement the Huang family as the most likely suspects, but not enough to outright condemn them.

"So," Jinghua said, "the evidence we need is at the Grave of Dreams?"

"Possibly," Jian said. "Is it a problem?"

He would have liked to read up on the area before he approached any of the disciples from the Heavenly Sword Sect, but it would be a little tricky to explain to the city lord why the venerable Master Zhou was interested in reading about the notable landmarks of the Verdant Doom. He was, after all, supposed to be devoting his mind to the dao of art.

"Not a problem," she said. "It's just that the Grave of Dreams is a little special."

She saw the obvious confusion on Jian's face and was gracious enough to fill him in. It seemed that the Grave of Dreams had been the site of a momentous battle several centuries ago. The battle had marked the end of the Empire's most ambitious effort to outright clear the Verdant Doom from the map.

It wasn't a happy story. The battlefield itself was not particularly deep within the jungle. That was because it had been more of a last stand than a true battle. The remnants of the Imperial army had fled from the depths of the jungle, fled from the middle parts of the jungle, and finally stood and fought their last on the outskirts of the jungle.

While the Grave of Dreams was inauspicious, it had also been a source of the occasional lucky find. The beasts of the Verdant Doom weren't particularly interested in any of the treasures that the Imperial soldiers had been carrying on them, after all. The Empire had eventually sent a second army to recover as much as they could of the remains of the first, but that had only happened after years and years had passed. The army also had to be careful, lest they provoke another massive outpouring of jungle beasts.

On the other hand, individual treasure hunters could sneak in and out of the edges of the jungle without too much trouble. They'd be in grave danger if they were unlucky enough to run into a strong pack of beasts, but plenty of men were willing to take those kinds of chances if the reward was great enough.

Even down to the current day, there were stories of people finding ancient treasures buried in the jungle around the Grave of Dreams. Most of the stories were more myth than fact, but there was a core of truth, or at least truth in the possibility of finding treasure, that kept all the rumors going.

"So the Huang family is just treasure hunting?" Jian asked. If all they were doing was trying to find a treasure that would give them a leg up on the city lord, then he might have some useful gossip on his hands, but it was hardly evidence of treason.

"Not necessarily," Jinghua said. "The jungle is vast. I can hardly claim to understand all of its secrets."

"It's worth investigating, at least," Jian said. He was glad that Jinghua wasn't ruling out the only clue he'd managed to gather so far out of hand.

"Mm," Jinghua said, nodding. "Although our expedition has been traveling through a different region of the jungle, nobody will gainsay senior sister Meirong if she decides to set off in a different direction."

Jian frowned. "Nobody will stop her, but the Huang family will be put on their guard."

It wouldn't take much effort to put the pieces together if bragging about their efforts to Jian were to lead to an immediate visit from the disciples of the Heavenly Sword Sect. Something like that would raise the hackles of even the most complacent cultivator, and the Huang family was neither complacent nor inclined to take insults lying down. Jian thought his status as an artist would probably shield him from reprisals, but it was always safer to live his life in such a way that nobody wished to call down a reprisal upon him.

"True," Jinghua said. "Perhaps I can lead a smaller team on a more subtle visit."

Jian couldn't help but give Jinghua a skeptical once over. While the outward appearance of a cultivator often disguised their true power, Jinghua seemed to have taken that saying to an extreme. Nothing about her suggested that she was comfortable with violence. Well, nothing other than her casual willingness to lead a small group through the Verdant Doom.

She smiled as she noticed Jian's reaction. "While I'm not as capable as my senior sister, I am able to defend myself... and perhaps a bit more talented at avoiding notice."

Jian nodded. He certainly wasn't going to argue with her. He was well aware that any of the three Heavenly Sword Sect disciples was currently capable of taking him apart at their whim, even if he weren't subject to the constraints imposed on him by his prototype heart.

"Will Meirong mind?" he asked.

"I'll check with her before I go," Jinghua said, "but I don't think she'll hold it against you that you met with me behind her back."

Jian just clicked his tongue and shook his head. He wasn't avoiding Meirong. She just hadn't happened to be in when he had come to pay a visit, that was all. There was no point in arguing, though.

"How is the expedition going so far?" he asked. He ought to know, if only so that Shan would be able to tell convincing lies about the statue that Master Zhou was working on.

"Quite well, so far," Jinghua said. She seemed as cheerful in discussing the subject as most girls would be in relating their embroidery lessons. "We've all killed our fair share of demonic beasts. This first trip was just to scout things out, though. It won't be until the third or fourth expedition that we will face anything that poses a challenge for senior sister."

Jian nodded. Part of him was glad that the expeditions were being done in a relatively safe and sane manner. No matter how badly he'd fallen out with Meirong, he didn't want to see her dead. On the other hand, it was daunting to hear that what would be a death-defying journey for him was simply a casual stroll for her. It only reaffirmed his desire to weasel out of their duel.

"Very well," he said. "If you can get a look at the Grave of Dreams, I'll keep working on my side to see if there's anything suspicious about the Huang family."

Shan would be doing most of the work. He'd be doing it because Jian asked him to, though, so Jian felt it was reasonable for him to take the credit.

"Don't forget the Chen family," Jinghua said.

"The lecherous merchant?" Jian asked.

She nodded. "Junior sister Jingfei is a bit unique, but she has a knack for lucky guesses."

"I'll do my best, then," Jian said.

It might be a little tricky for the dignified Master Zhou to contrive a meeting with a mercantile family. He'd have to do a little digging to figure out some kind of art supplies that could plausibly be useful and that it would be plausible that he would fail to have them on hand. Or perhaps he'd have Shan arrange an order of some luxury or other. Master Zhou might be known as having dedicated himself to the path of an artisan, but he hadn't taken a public vow of asceticism.

"That's good," Jinghua said. "With so much riding on this, we can't leave any stone unturned."

"It's that important?" Jian asked.

He knew it was objectively important to preserve the integrity of their plane of existence, but he thought it was unlikely that their investigation would affect such momentous events in any direct fashion. Any evidence that he gathered ought to be only one piece among many presented by the Heavenly Sword Sect and by Imperial investigators.

Although, he didn't exactly know what Meirong had riding on this. She'd described it as a task set to her by the sect. A test of her ability to solve problems in a subtle fashion. He'd been so shocked to see her again that he hadn't probed any further at the time to determine the stakes attached to the completion or failure of the test.

Jinghua smiled. "Senior sister could soon become a core disciple of the Heavenly Sword Sect."

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