003. Mysterious Whereabouts

Lingyu answered blankly, “I don’t know. Master never says anything.”
The old man in black barked harshly, “If you’re hiding something, you’ll beg for death and not find it!”
Lingyu shook his head hastily. “Senior…sir, I truly don’t know! Master only said he needed to practice through the full-moon night, and we didn’t dare go out…”
“Gongsun, you old ghost,” Feiyun interjected, apparently dissatisfied with the black-clad elder’s approach, chin lifted arrogantly. “It seems you didn’t get anything from that boy. If that wild Taoist didn’t tell the eldest disciple, how could he possibly tell the younger one?”
The old man in black retorted coldly, “One can never be sure. The boy I caught is honest and dull, but the one in your hands is far more cunning!”
Feiyun shot him a sideways glance. “But no matter how cunning, can he outwit you? He’s just a child, barely past ten, I doubt he’d dare deceive us!”
Feiyun’s gaze was cold as ice, making Lingyu shiver all over and lower his head quickly.
Though Feiyun’s words seemed to defend him, Lingyu acutely sensed the chill was real. Even if she had seemed kind to him earlier, when it came to serious matters, there’d be no mercy.
Realizing this, he grew even more anxious.
What had Master done to attract the trouble of cultivators? The three of them were nothing but wandering Taoists without even official credentials!
Never before had Lingyu regretted so deeply his lack of curiosity. Had he paid more attention, perhaps he wouldn’t have been caught so clueless today.
They were searching for Master—what would happen once they found him? Was it vengeance they sought, or some treasure? Lingyu’s thoughts swirled, stories told by wandering storytellers echoing in his mind.
Before he could come to any conclusion, the signal talisman received a response. In the darkness, two figures approached swiftly.
Though it was a full moon, Baishui Temple had been abandoned too long; ruined halls and tangled shadows rendered the place a sea of gloom. As the two figures drew near, Lingyu could barely make out their appearance.
Both were men: one tall and sturdy, the other of average build, neither young nor old. Their faces were indistinct, but their robes were of the same style.
“Fellow Daoists,” the tall one spoke first, “have you gotten any news of the wild Taoist from the boy?”
The old man in black countered, “So you two haven’t found any trace of him either?”
“We searched for a long time,” the man replied, “and found nothing.”
The old man in black frowned. “How strange. Even if he is a cultivator, with the four of us, we should have found him. Is he truly so unfathomable?”
“So these two children don’t know where their master is, either?”
“I used the Dream-Guiding Technique on this one,” the old man in black said. “It shouldn’t be wrong.”
Dream-Guiding Technique? Lingyu wondered silently. What kind of spell was that? Did it force people to tell the truth?
“How interesting, truly interesting,” the man of average build piped up, his voice sharp. “I thought him some fool, a mere wild Taoist, staying at Baishui Temple. Now it seems he’s a cultivator—and one who knows quite a bit!”
“And his movements are so elusive, he won’t be easy to handle,” the tall one added.

“Hmph!” Feiyun snorted arrogantly. “Even if his cultivation is extraordinary, the four of us together can surely handle one man!”
The old man in black glanced at Feiyun coldly. “Numbers mean little before absolute strength. Though you, Ying and Ji, are both capable, we can’t be careless until we have what we came for!”
Lingyu’s eyes brightened. The old man’s words clearly revealed their goal was to acquire something, and they were seeking his master because they believed he possessed the secret. After all, they had just happened to take shelter at Baishui Temple…
Wait—was it really just coincidence? Master’s mysterious disappearances every full moon—could he really be searching for something, as they suspected?
No, impossible. Master was strict, but had always treated him and Xianshi well. He’d never deceive them… Though, perhaps it wasn’t deception, only omission. If Master brought them to Baishui Mountain for his own reasons, what of it? They were only children; he had every right not to tell them everything…
Lingyu’s thoughts ran wild. By the time he came back to himself, the four had agreed to split up and search.
Feiyun took him along, skimming over the ruins without touching the ground, stopping now and then to toss something like a ladle, observe, then retrieve and adjust her direction.
After watching for a while, Lingyu guessed this was similar to the compass used by the old man in black, for detecting spiritual fluctuations.
He didn’t quite understand what “spiritual fluctuations” meant. To Taoist disciples, spiritual energy was a mysterious thing—intangible and invisible. Or perhaps, to true cultivators, it could be observed?
He’d trained for three years but had never met a real cultivator. Master had described them as immortal beings, but Lingyu himself had never yearned to become a true cultivator—until tonight. The four strangers demonstrated their lightness skills, their high-grade signal talismans, and their proud, arrogant words. For the first time, Lingyu longed for that world. Feiyun said that entering the State of Visualization was the first step into the path of cultivation. Did that mean he could already become what they called…a cultivator?
Lingyu’s heart burned with excitement. He couldn’t wait to escape his current predicament, find Master, and ask if he could truly become a cultivator.
Master—where was Master now? Would these people find him? If they did, could he defeat them? If not, would they turn on him and Xianshi…?
Unconsciously, Lingyu had come to believe their assessment: Master was no ordinary wandering Taoist.
He didn’t know how much time had passed when, suddenly, a golden signal talisman streaked across the sky, heading straight for Feiyun.
Feiyun’s face lit up with delight. “Finally found it!” Pleased, she said, “Little thing, if all goes well for me, I’ll let you go. Maybe I’ll even recommend you to one of the Three Great Temples. You’d better help me.”
“Ah?” Lingyu exclaimed fearfully. “You’re so powerful, sister, do you really…need me?”
Feiyun replied, “Don’t think your master is a good man. If he were, he wouldn’t have let you waste your talent as a wandering Taoist. So what if he’s a cultivator? He’s just a solitary practitioner without a lineage. Following him leads nowhere. No matter how gifted you are, stay at Baishui Temple long enough and you’ll fade into obscurity.”
Lingyu was stunned. “Sister…”
Seeing his expression, Feiyun assumed he was frightened and patted his head to reassure him. “People’s hearts are dangerous—you’ll learn that soon enough. Your master didn’t take you and your senior brother in out of kindness alone.”
She offered no further explanation, simply grabbed Lingyu and hurried in the direction indicated by the signal talisman.
The four regrouped. The one who’d sent the signal was, again, the old man in black.
When the others arrived, his rough voice sounded, “Fellow Daoists, follow me.”
He stood before the most magnificent ruin of Baishui Temple: the Taiji Palace.
When Baishui Temple was the foremost temple in the world, Taiji Palace was a sacred place every Taoist disciple yearned to visit. Legend said it housed the most complete Taoist canon and that the highest adepts lectured there daily.

A thousand years later, Taiji Palace had collapsed. Its sacred relics had long since been looted, the gold dust on the walls scraped clean by fools, leaving behind only a lonely, empty ruin.
“Look, fellow Daoists.” At one side of the palace, the old man in black pointed to the ruins. “Every full moon, he claims to practice here. In three years, he’s come over thirty times—he must have left traces. Someone tried to cover them up, but here—a half footprint remains!”
Lingyu’s eyesight was nothing compared to theirs, but he saw Feiyun’s face light up in realization. “So he’s hiding here?”
“Most likely,” the old man replied. “Ying, Ji—what do you think?”
He addressed the tall one as Daoist Ying, and the sharp-voiced one as Daoist Ji. Daoist Ying nodded slowly. “What Daoist Gongsun says makes sense.”
Daoist Ji agreed as well.
“So shall we go in?” Even as he spoke, the old man made no move to enter.
After a moment, Daoist Ying spoke up. “Wait. Let my spirit beast scout ahead.”
This was clearly what the old man had been waiting for; he stepped aside with pleasure. “If you would, Daoist Ying.”
Daoist Ying took from his belt something like a pouch. He opened it, and out darted a dark, pangolin-like creature.
He stroked its scales affectionately, fed it a fruit, watched it crunch it down, then waved his hand. “Go!”
The pangolin shot forward, clearing away weeds and vanishing into Taiji Palace.
Lingyu’s eyes went wide with wonder. “Amazing!”
No one spoke. His voice was especially clear in the quiet of night. All four, save the unconscious Xianshi, fixed their gaze on him.
Daoist Ji glanced at Lingyu, then at Xianshi, who’d been tossed aside by the old man in black. “Daoist Gongsun, Daoist Feiyun, why keep these two brats? If they’re useless, we should kill them to prevent any leaks!”
Lingyu started, instinctively shrinking behind Feiyun.
But before she could speak, the old man in black replied, “These two were close to Xuanchenzi for three years. Who knows—they might be useful at a critical moment.”
“If Xuanchenzi is truly extraordinary, why would he care for the lives of two mere disciples?” Ji sneered. “Mortals are ants in our eyes.”
The old man responded, “Leave them for now. They’re no trouble.”
Daoist Ji didn’t bother arguing, seeing the old man was set on it.

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I haven’t written in so long, it’s hard to keep in the flow…