“You were really cool back there, Pretty Boy!” A-Qi exclaimed excitedly as she hopped from one foot to the other. She mimicked Gui Yin’s movements of holding out the jade pendant, “‘I understand if you don’t recognize me, but you should at least recognize this, right?’ If the storytellers heard about this, they would have an absolute field day!”

“A-Qi, don’t be rude to Lord Immortal,” one of the young men anxiously tugged at her sleeve.

Gui Yin chuckled. “No worries. She isn’t trying to be rude.”

A-Qi puffed up her chest at the young man. “See? This is what it means to be a lord immortal! Not only is he pretty, but he’s also forgiving and gracious. He’s nothing like the other trash from around here! When I get back, I’ll tell everyone that Lord Immortal Ninglan is the best, most amazing lord immortal there is.”

Gui Yin watched the girl amusedly. Before he could say anything else, a low cough interrupted him. His gaze drifted to the hooded man, who sat slumped on the chair provided by the city guards.

The man took great effort to sit up right before speaking again and when he spoke, his voice came out in a hoarse wheeze. “Thank you, Lord Immortal Ninglan. Without your help, I don’t know if we would have been able to get past the city gates.”

Gui Yin shook his head. “There is no need for this gentleman to thank me. The city guards were far too rude. I’m sure if it weren’t me, someone else would have stepped up.”

Gui Yin thought he could see a wry smile under the man’s hood. “You would think so, wouldn’t you? However, the person ended up being you, so I owe you a great debt.”

“No need for such words,” Gui Yin said hurriedly. He glanced at the group before his gaze drifted back to the man. “How about this? Instead of owing me a debt, just tell me your names and introduce yourselves. The joy of traveling is meeting new people. I wouldn’t mind making a few new acquaintances. I’ll start first; I am Gui Qianle of Yunjing Pavilion. This is my disciple Gui Linghuo and this is my martial nephew, Deng Yenuo.”

The man glanced up at Gui Yin. His gaze lingered on those honest eyes a bit too long before pulling away. He let out a dry cough. “This silly girl beside me is named A-Qi. This is Su Wen (苏文) and Wu Feng (吴风). My surname is Sun (孙). Many people just refer to me as Er-ye (二爷).”

“Er-ye?” Gui Yin repeated. It seems this man’s illness wasn’t the only mystery about him. Still, when in Jianghu, if one didn’t want to tell you their real name, it would be rude and even suspicious to press on. Gui Yin accepted this pseudonym with a smile. “It is my pleasure to meet you all.”

“The pleasure is all ours,” Er-ye said, a hint of a smile in his voice.

Gui Yin’s gaze remained on him for a moment longer before he pulled it away. He glanced at the nervous city guards nearby and took a seat beside Er-ye. He poured himself a cup of tea and even refilled the one Er-ye had been drinking out of.

“What brings Lord Immortal Ninglan to a place like this?” Er-ye asked. The hand he stretched out to take the tea cup was nearly skeletal, like the hand of a man who was decaying from disease. “I haven’t heard of any conference on our way over.”

“It’s Sect Leader Qiang’s birthday banquet,” Gui Yin replied. There was nothing to hide. It was common knowledge amongst these parts anyway.

“Sect Leader Qiang?” Er-ye hummed. He glanced at Gui Yin. “Are you two familiar with each other?”

“I am merely attending out of politeness,” Gui Yin said with a humble smile.

“I see. Then, that would be for the best.”

Gui Yin glanced at the hooded man beside him. “What does Er-ye me—”

The door opened with a hurried bang.

Gui Yin and his party looked up to watch a frantic, middle-aged man stop before them. The man was dressed in fine silks and had light crow’s feet at his eyes. Although he had obviously rushed over, there was not a single hair out of place. The few disciples behind him bowed immediately upon seeing Gui Yin and the middle-aged man also clasped his hands together in a salute.

“Lord Immortal Ninglan, forgive me for being unable to properly teach my subordinates.”

“Sect Leader Qiang needn’t be so courteous,” Gui Yin stood. He smiled. “Besides, it wasn’t your fault. It was because your subordinates believed they were far enough from your jurisdiction that they dared to go this far. I’m sure there will not be a next time.”

Qiang Fuheng (强夫恒) nodded. “Naturally, naturally! Once is enough of a disgrace to last me a lifetime. I truly cannot believe…ah, forgive me for being so rude. Who are your companions, Lord Ninglan?”

“Ah, this is Er-ye and his companions,” Gui Yin vaguely introduced them. “They were the ones the city guards were giving the hardest time.”

A flash of irritation passed through Qiang Fuheng’s eyes that Gui Yin didn’t miss. However, his actions were the exact opposite.

“My goodness, my sincerest apologies! I cannot believe they were so discourteous to you, Sir. Is there anything we could do to make up for it?”

Gui Yin glanced at Er-ye. To his surprise, he was met with a pair of depthless eyes. For a moment, he froze. The pair of eyes drew him in, making him want to approach the other man.

“Not at all,” Er-ye said. “It was not you who burdened me, but your subordinates. As Lord Ninglan has said, it was not your fault.”

Qiang Fuheng seemed satisfied with this response. “On my way here, I heard that you wanted to see Doctor Zheng? How about I send some servants to escort you to his residence? That way, you won’t have to wait in the long queue or even risk being turned away.”

“If Sect Leader Qiang insists, this humble one is unable to reject your offer,” Er-ye said.

Once Qiang Fuheng settled Er-ye’s temporary residence, as well as made sure there was a servant who could later take them to Doctor Zheng’s manor, he turned his attention back to Gui Yin.

“Lord Immortal Ninglan, will you be gracing my home as a guest?”

Gui Yin shook his head gently. “I still have a few things I would like to buy in town. If it’s alright with you, we’ll head to Fengyao Sect tomorrow.”

Qiang Fuheng nodded. “That is more than alright, Lord Immortal! If you need anything, feel free to contact me. The inn owner will know how to reach me.”

“Thank you, Sect Leader Qiang.”

“No need for pleasantries. Really, there is no need.”

After a few more short exchanges, Qiang Fuheng finally left, leaving Gui Yin, Deng Yenuo, and Gui Linghuo.

“What do you two think about him?” Gui Yin asked.

Gui Linghuo frowned. “He’s a two headed snake.”

“Yenuo?”

“I agree. When we were with Er-ye and them, I saw him scowl when he saw the state of their clothing.”

“It’s always reassuring to see a man standing at such high power looking down on other people,” Gui Yin sighed. He fixed his sleeves. “Though, that Er-ye sure is a character.”

“That girl, A-Qi, was interesting,” Gui Linghuo murmured.

“What? Are you interested?” Gui Yin asked.

Gui Linghuo scrunched up his face. “Shizun, she’s probably much older than me.”

“Children have crushes on older people all the time. But you’re right—you shouldn’t have such thoughts so young,” Gui Yin nodded in approval.

“They were odd,” Deng Yenuo agreed. “I could sense the cultivation levels of the servants, but I couldn’t detect Er-ye’s cultivation level at all. Gui-shishu, did you have any idea what it was?”

Gui Yin thought for a moment before shaking his head. “I wasn’t exactly paying attention, but if I could guess he could probably fight me head-on if he really wanted to. He had that…aura.”

Gui Yin fell silent for a moment and thought about those depthless eyes. When they were on their way out, Er-ye’s gaze shifted to Gui Yin for a split second. In that moment, with the sunlight hitting his face in a certain way, Gui Yin could make out subtle golden flecks. Among the abyss-like darkness of his gaze, the golden flecks were like brilliant stars against the night sky.

“Do you think they’re really rogue cultivators?” Gui Linghuo curiously asked.

“They never said they were rogue cultivators, but it does seem like they aren’t from around here,” Deng Yenuo said. He looked at Gui Yin. “Shishu, what do you think?”

“I think we shouldn’t think about it too hard,” Gui Yin said. He looked between the two boys in front of him. “Everyone has their own secrets.  It’s true that they were a bit suspicious, but they didn’t seem to have any ill intentions. That one surnamed Sun most likely really is here just to see a doctor. And if they really are foreigners, after this meeting, I highly doubt we’ll run into them again.”

He let out a sigh as he poured the two boys a cup of tea. “Let’s just treat this as an interesting story to tell others when we get back and move on.”

Deng Yenuo accepted the cup of tea and glanced at Gui Yin.

A sickly man who somehow contracted a deadly illness that brought him to this place. The attendants around him were only around the same level as Deng Yenuo. If they ran into any danger, would those attendants be able to defend him? Or perhaps, despite being so sickly, the man was still able to fend for himself. It was beyond strange. Not to mention, although the sickly man was dressed in drab, he had an elegant prose. If he dressed up a bit, he would undoubtably be able to fit into high society.

If Deng Yenuo realized these points, then Gui Yin must have realized it as well.

These words were not directed towards Gui Linghuo, who was too young to look past the surface, but were directed at himself and Deng Yenuo. Although it was fine to be curious, at the end of the day, this was none of their business. There were crouching tigers and hidden dragons everywhere in Jianghu. If you were curious about all of them, you were bound to be implicated and meet a horrible end.

Though Gui Yin had warned Deng Yenuo, in the dead of night, his own mind couldn’t help but drift back to those starlit eyes. Every time he closed his eyes, they haunted his vision, getting more and more vibrant the less he wanted to think about them.