I was not the type to listen.
Yet, I was, I had had enough of today. Zewu-jun said Carp Tower could wait. I couldn't. I needed answers, a lot of them. It felt as if the past was slowly fading away, which I could not figure out if good or bad, I could barely remember the details.
"I'll follow him, I guess."
The moment I stepped into the Darkness room, I felt all the eyes on me.
"YOU! WHY ARE YOU HERE!?" Jingyi shouted. All the disciples started murmuring.
"Quiet." They all realized Lan Zhan's presence and immediately became quiet.
I ignored them all, my eyes were currently on the spirit-like sword.
"Oo, what do we have here?"
"It's the sword from Mo's Manor." Sizhui replied.
"Oh, okay, okay, why did it stop circling?"
"It is pointing towards northwest." Lan Zhan answered.
"Maybe we have to travel northwest, maybe that's a hint."
Jingyi went in front of the sword's spirit and moved it by touching it's tip. He was having his doubts. The sword changed from the direction Jingyi had moved it to, to its original direction. Now it was pointing at Jingyi.
"Or maybe it's pointing to its owner or maybe the one who schemed old master Lan's poisoning?"
"Y- You!" I laughed. Lan Zhan looked at me. The room fell quiet once more. Jingyi returned to where he was standing.
"Maybe travelling northwest will give us a clue? As to who is doing all of this?"
"Mn." Lan Zhan agreed.
"Hanguang-jun, are you planning on making a trip to Qinghe...since, it is where the northwest leads to."
"Mn."
"Can I come too!?" I immediately became excited.
All the disciples looked harder at me, Lan Zhan made a face, a frustrated-blank-emotionless face.
My excitement got trampled too soon.
"You said I could help!"
"Help? Him? You?" Jingyi questioned.
"Do you even know who you're even trying to coax?"
"..." "Lan Zhan!" I pouted.
"Please..." I became all serious.
He looked at me.
"Mn." He said, it was easier than what I had expected, and made way to leave, this time I was not going to lose him.
We were going to go to Qinghe then travel northwest further. It was going to be one hectic journey, and I already knew it.
~~~~~~
We had made it to the gates, the entrance to Qinghe.
The steel gates stood tall, stones surrounding the area. I looked up and around and then back at Lan Zhan who was surely getting annoyed by my fidgety behaviour. But I could not tell, his face...it remained the same.
He walked in first and I followed. It had been so long, Nie Huaisang would surely not remember me, no one had, so he wouldn't as well.
"Qinghe, the more we go northwest, the stronger the resentful energy will become." Lan Zhan spoke. His tone: unchanged, and manner, too polite towards me, which was unimaginable. Almost unimaginable, I wanted to think, but Lan Zhan, I did not know about him.
"We should ask the locals, ask if anything suspicious has been going on about."
"Mn."
"We should go there!"
"..." I pointed at the wine shop, which of course made Lan Zhan all at unease, I wanted to taste the wine. It felt so long ever since I drank wine!
"No." Lan Zhan replied.
"Pleaaaaaaase." He looked at me then walked onward.
"Hmph!" "How will we interrogate people then! All types of people visit wine shops, I promise I won't drink!" A frown became a part of my face. But the promise made Lan Zhan stop and look at me, then contemplate my words and finally walk somewhere with me steady-paced and by my side, I did not have to follow him or chase after him like some...ugh...
We entered the shop.
It felt as if years ago I had come here with Lan Zhan. It was just a feeling.
I called the waiter over.
"One drink please." I told him.
"Mhm, right away sir." The waiter assured me.
"You said." Lan Zhan spoke.
"Ai, this is all a part of the plan." I whispered to Lan Zhan. Now I knew he'd wait and see.
The waiter brought the drink over. I got the chance to question him about strange happenings.
"Sir, er...say...has anything strange been happening around lately? You know, any rogue spirits, murder, massacres, evil roaming about?"
"Er, why are you asking all of this?" He looked at Lan Zhan who sat next to me.
"Are you guys..."
"It was likely for you to take a guess, yes, we are cultivators."
"I understand, it's just that...the man sitting next to you...I have never seen someone so...so..."
"So beautiful." I finished his sentence.
"Well, I'm not really a cultivator, riding clouds all day and stuff like that...I don't really collect information on stuffs as you mentioned...sorry-" before he could say anymore, I slide a penny onto the table. It was from Lan Zhan's pouch. I gave him a look. He said nothing.
"Has any strange occurances been happening about?" I asked him once more.
"Oh! Uhm! Yes! There are rumours surrounding Walker ridge."
"Walker ridge?"
"If you walk up five or six miles you'll find a place named Walker ridge. But it is also named as man-eating ridge."
"Is it because there are cannibal monsters along the way?"
"No! It's because..." He looked around for a bit. He waved at me to come closer so that he could whisper something to me.
"It is because people say that there is a man-eating bunker there, for years those who have strolled in there have been devoured down, eaten! By the cannibal monsters, with no bones and remains to be found, no corpse. And there was no exception!"
"Ohhh! So horrible, so horrible."
"Yes, horrible isn't it?"
I thought for a while.
"If no bones and remains of the victims have been found then...how can you say for sure that they were eaten up by the monsters?
"Ai...maybe someone saw them being eaten up anyways..."
"But you said that there were no exceptions, so who was this powerful man who could stroll in and out with such information?"
"Ai...you're impossible sir!" Lan Zhan gave me a look, I sensed it immediately.
"Well...why hasn't the Nie clan done anything about it?"
"Hmph! The Nie clan, if it were the Nie clan in the past then, they would've rushed there and destroyed those monsters immediately!"
"So what happened?"
"The clan leader Nie, as in Nie Huaisang is Mr. Know-nothing, he's always 'I don't know', 'don't ask me, I don't know.'
"What about clan leader Nie Mingjue?"
"He died, years ago..."
"..."
"Well, thank you for the information."
"Mhm, sir." The waiter left. It was just Lan Zhan and I, sitting together now.
"Bribery is-"
"Oi! This is not the Cloud Recesses Lan Zhan! This is the outside world, you have to acquire answers from commoners one way or another!"
"Is...clever..." Did he just...
"What?"
"Though unjust but...clever." I chuckled. He was having a hard time admitting that he also thought that I was actually pretty impressively smart. I never expected a compliment.
"Lan Zhaaan! So you're actually in for breaking rules! Hah?"
"Quit talking."
"Oh! Right! Right! We have somewhere to travel to!" "But can I get a sip of this wine please?"
"No."
"Lan Zhaaan." I was back to chasing after him again.
"That Lan Zhan..." I stopped and whispered under my breath. He walked onwards. He really wasn't going to stop, I had no expectations.
"Walker ridge it is, I guess...or, man-eating ridge as they say."