Chapter 136: Making Acquaintances (Patreon)

The blindfolded girl grinned cheekily and used her free hand to wave at them.

“Nice to meet you three, I’m Xinming Yu. As you can see, I can’t.”

She started making her way over to them, nimbly utilizing her staff to feel out and avoid the tables and chairs in her way. Wait, how did she know there were three of them?

“Umm… nice to meet you.”, Ye offered. Maybe the innkeeper had told her beforehand.

Xinming had arrived at the table and leaned on it with one hand, her other staying on her staff.

“So you’re disciple candidates, huh?”

“What? I mean, yes, we are, but how do you know that?”, Ye answered.

“The inn is fully booked by the sect; there are no guests besides disciple candidates. So unless you’re uncommonly young waiters loitering at the job…”

Now that she put it like that, Ye felt somewhat stupid for not being sure about the others earlier.

“Well, that does make sense.”, Nuo began, smiling sarcastically. “But if there’s only disciple candidates here, then I suppose you’re one too, no?”

“Yes, I am.”

“Wait… really?”, he asked, suddenly unsure of himself.

Ye felt the same. The girl was blind; she couldn’t actually be a disciple candidate… could she?

“Does that surprise you?”

Xinming leaned herself forward over the table, her face pointing right at Nuo’s as if she had locked eyes with him through her blindfold.

“I mean… Somewhat…”

Nuo was visibly uncomfortable.

“Why?”

“Because… I mean… Well, because you’re… you know…”

“Blind? Yeah, I can honestly see that.”

She continued to ‘stare’ directly at his face, here expression completely neutral.

“Get it? See?”

Ye was beginning to feel uncomfortable as well when the drawn-out silence was interrupted by Meilin beginning to chuckle.

“Sorry, I just got it. See. Because you’re blind. It’s a play on words!”

Ye facepalmed. Xinming broke her stare and turned to Meilin, grinning.

“Well, you’re a fun one!”

Meilin smiled.

“Thank you!”

Xinming’s grin widened as she pulled back the last remaining chair, seemingly knowing its position by instinct, and sat down at the table. Leaving her staff leaning against her shoulder, she pulled off her blindfold, revealing her eyes underneath. They were clouded in a light blueish grey color that starkly contrasted her black hair.

“Uh… is it okay for you to take that off?”, Ye asked, pointing at the blindfold before dropping his hands, after realizing that gesturing at a blind person was rather dimwitted.

“Your blindfold, I mean.”

The blind girl raised her eyebrows, her eyes locking onto his with unnerving accuracy.

“I’ve been blind for all my life. I don’t think you need to worry about whether I know how to deal with it.”

Ye averted his gaze, but she kept up her stare in silence, once more letting him stew in his discomfort.

“Well, thanks for your concern anyway, I guess.”

She leaned back in her chair, letting the tension drop away.

“I actually don’t need it at all, but it’s a lot easier to move around a busy town when people can actually see I’m blind. Anyways, what’re you guys doing?”

“We were just getting acquainted ourselves.”, Ye answered, happily going along with the change of subject.

“Perfect, we can get right back to that. We can start with the fact that none of you have told me your names yet.”

“Oh, right. I apologize for my manners. I am Ye Wudi, proud heir of the renowned Wudi Clan of the town of Ashwood.”

“Nuo Taolong from Redwell Village.”

“Meilin Loh, from Brittlestone.”

“I see. Well, pleased to make your acquaintance. As I’ve said, I’m Xinming Yu. My family resides in Moonlake City.”

“Really? You’re from Moonlake? That’s amazing, I’ve always wanted to go there!”, Meilin shouted enthusiastically.

While Yu shook his head at the display, he could at least understand where the strange boy’s excitement was coming from this time. Moonlake City was, after all, undisputedly the greatest and most important of the cities inside the Lunar Peaks Sect’s territory and he’d never visited it either.

“I heard you have an insanely large network of old mining tunnels underneath your city. I’d love to see those.”

Of course, what did I even expect?

At this moment, the innkeeper came out from behind the counter balancing four bowls of a meaty stew stacked upon one another.

“Dinner for our young talent.”

She put down the bowls on the table.

“I’ll get you some freshly baked bread and some fruit to go with it. I’ve made plenty, so make sure to eat your fill so you can perform at your best when you’re at the sect in a couple days.”

She scuttled back into the kitchen and returned with the promised side-dishes a moment later.

“I hope you’ll be happy with my cooking.”

Ye was sure he would be. Sure, it was somewhat simple compared to what his family served its high-ranking members, but the smell of the stew already made his mouth water. Besides, he was quite hungry, so anything would taste well right now.

Before he could dig in, however, three loud knocks at the door interrupted him.

“Would you look at that. Quite late to be receiving guests.”, the innkeeper stated. Then, raising her voice, she called out towards the door.

“Yes, you may enter!”

After a moment, the door swung open and two men and a woman, all three probably in their twenties, made their way inside. Ye’s eyes immediately locked onto their robes; they were adorned by the emblem of the Lunar Peaks Sect.

“Greetings.”, the woman spoke in a polite tone. “I am Qiao Bai and these are my companions Zixin and Chonglin. We are inner disciples of the Lunar Peaks Sect.”

The three bowed in unison. Ye’s eyes widened. Inner disciples! He knew that he would become the same once he entered the sect, but he still couldn’t help but feel a sliver of admiration that drove his heart to pound faster.

“Oh my! I apologize for not expecting you, I had thought the delegation from the sect would only arrive in three days’ time.”

The innkeeper bowed deeply.

“No need to apologize, we are not the delegation you are expecting.”, one of the men, Zixin if Ye had matched their names correctly, answered. He was lean and muscular; his body clearly having been steeled by extensive training. A well-used sword was fastened to his belt.

“We are part of a hunting expedition returning from the grand forest. We arrived here just this evening and decided we would stay in your fine city for a while to meet up and travel back with the delegation once they arrive.”

The grand forest. That forest marked the very edge of the peninsula. And these three had been there! Ye nodded approvingly.

“I see.”, the innkeeper said, sounding relieved. “How can I help you then?”

“We’re looking for a warm meal, some drinks and, if possible, a place to sleep during our stay here.”

“Well, the Lunar Peaks Sect has rented out all the rooms for the use of the disciple candidates, but since you’re part of it yourselves, I don’t think anyone would mind if you stayed here – certainly not me. If too many disciple candidates show up, I might need to ask you to free up the space for them, but I highly doubt that. There’s quite a few more inns in town that have been rented out as well after all.”

“Thank you very much.”

The man bowed.

“What do we owe you for our stay?”

“You don’t owe me anything.”

“But… we truly do not wish to impose on you.”

The innkeeper laughed heartily.

“If only my regular guests were as insistent on paying me as you people are. As I said, I’ve been paid by the sect already. If anything, accepting payment from you might get me in trouble.”

She gestured towards Ye and the others at his table.

“These four fine youngsters are candidates for the admittance exam. If you want to repay me, maybe you can regale them with some tales of your deeds. I’m sure they’d rejoice to hear them.”

The man chuckled.

“Sure, we can do that.”

He nodded in their direction.

“Please take a seat for now though. I have more than enough stew for everyone, I’ll get it to you shortly. What can I get you to drink?”

“Your town is quite famous for its distilleries, no?”, the woman, Qiao as she had introduced herself, stated. “Rice wine please. A sweet one.”

“Sweet for me as well.”, Zixin added, though he sounded slightly hesitant.

“I don’t drink alcohol.”, the second man, Chonglin, who had thus far stayed quiet, said. “If you could get me some juice instead…”

“Of course. I’ll be back in a moment.”

Ye and the others listened carefully as the three began to make conversation. They talked about the sect, the upcoming exam and all sorts of things he didn’t understand but eagerly soaked in nonetheless. Only when the innkeeper returned with their food and drinks did they remember their own dinner before them.

As they ate, Ye busied himself trying to mentally assess the three for his ranking of talent. For starters, they were inner disciples, so all of them had to possess quite a bit of talent.

Zixin seemed like their leader and also the strongest of them. Seeing how confident he was and how strong he looked, Ye ranked him as an eighty for now.

Chonglin, the quiet one, looked a lot less fierce. He was a little chubby and had a friendly face, but he was also burly and broad, and the spear on his back identified him as a warrior. Probably and aggressive fighter relying on his strength to overwhelm his opponents. Seventy.

The woman was slender and didn’t seem particularly strong. She didn’t carry a weapon either; she probably specialized in a non-combative art, perhaps healing. Still, she was an inner disciple, so Ye decided to give her sixty points.

A while after they were all done with their food, Chonglin rose to his feet and made his way to their table. His smile was friendly as he introduced himself.

“I’m Chonglin. Nice to meet you.”

They all introduced themselves to him. He turned out to be very easy to talk to and soon they had talked about all kinds of stuff, learning, among other things, that he was a member of the enforcement hall and that he would help out in the admission exam.

“As you heard, the innkeeper asked us to tell you stories of our adventures, so… want to hear some?”

They all nodded eagerly.

“Anything in particular you want to hear about?”

Before Nuo could ask some basic question about cultivation or Meilin could inquire what sort of rocks the mountains of the Lunar Peaks Sect were made of, Ye answered.

“You were hunting in the grand forest, right? What sort of beasts did you encounter there?”

Chonglin rubbed his chin.

“Hmm… alright. Imagine a bear. Have any of you ever seen one?”

Ye shook his head. He knew that his father had used to hunt sometimes when he was still around and there were some decorative pelts to prove it back at their estate, so he had a rough image, but he’d never laid eyes on the animal proper.

“I don’t really go outside much since I get sunburn very easily, so…”, Meilin offered, shrugging.

“I think the question is rendered moot in my case.”, Xinming added.

“I’ve seen bears, though only after they’d been killed. We used to have a problem with them on the farm.”, Nuo offered.

“Hmm, alright. Well, imagine what you know of a bear. A great, burly beast with powerful muscles and thick, wild fur. Now imagine that bear not at its usual size, but truly gigantic. Shoulders as high as this rooms ceiling. As tall as a tree when standing upright. Teeth and claws like daggers. Eyes glowing red with primal wrath and hunger. A roar so loud it shook the ground.”

As Chonglin spoke, an image appeared in Ye’s mind. A terrible beast, so mighty and grand that one could hardly imagine it defeated.

Zixin walked up to their table from behind and spoke up.

“Now imagine a slender woman, clad in glistening silver armor and white robes, standing defiantly before the monster. The blade of her sword glistening with its blood, its roar no longer one of dominance, but one of confused anger and pain. It swipes for her with strikes that could cleave fell a tree, but it only catches the air. She’s too fast for it. Her blade flashes forward and a new cut appears upon the bear’s flesh.”

Ye’s felt his heart pound in excitement as the scene flashed vividly before his eyes. A cultivator. A true cultivator, heroic and unfazed.

“Who was it?”

“The woman?”

Zixin smiled mysteriously and turned his head. Ye’s eyes followed his back to their table, where Qiao was still seated.

“She’s right over there.”

Ye’s breath caught. Qiao took a sip of wine, taking her time to savor it. Then, she looked over, a faint smile on her lips, and began to speak.

“The beast loses blood. With every wound it incurs, it loses more. Its strength begins to drain away. It starts slowly. Its movements grow a little more sluggish, its aggression slows. At first, it doesn’t even notice it itself. But the drain grows stronger with every passing moment.

“Swinging its claws becomes tiresome. Its rage recedes and its aggression falters. It stands up on its hindlegs, towering over the surroundings as if to reassure itself of its sovereignty over the forest. But the forest can’t help it anymore. One more roar, this one of desperation. For a moment longer, it remains suspended in place, as if to present its majesty one last time. Then it buckles. Its legs refuse to support its weight anymore. It falters. It falls.”

Silence fell over the room. Then, at once, the three inner disciples began to laugh, breaking the tension.

“Quite the prize, that beast, tell you that much. Apparently, it’s unbelievably rare for an ordinary beast to grow to that size. We still have some of its claws and teeth at the caravan, as well as the pelt. We can show you tomorrow, if you want.”

The children’s eyes glistened as they enthusiastically agreed. As the evening progressed and even as they eventually headed to bed, Ye’s heart didn’t stop pounding. There was so much more to the world he would eventually stand on top of than he had known!