After touring the streets for a long time and even eating lunch at a newly opened restaurant, Ye Liuxing and Jiu Jingyi exclaimed that it was finally time for the play to start.

Only when they arrived at the playhouse did Gui Yin’s spirit slowly remerge with his body. He looked around curiously and walked silently beside Ye Liuxing as he guided them to the seat furthest in the back.

“I’m going to get some peanuts,” Ye Liuxing tugged on Gui Yin’s sleeve. “Do you want anything else?”

“No need,” Gui Yin shook his head with a small smile.

Jiu Jingyi stood as well. “I want to see what else they sell. We’ll be right back, Gui-shixiong.”

“Take your time. I’ll save your seats,” Gui Yin said.

He sat quietly in the last row and observed his surroundings. First, he noted where the exits were, then he noted how many people were sitting in each row. When it came to his own row, there was no one beside him and Ye Liuxing and Jiu Jingyi.

The seat beside him creaked.

Gui Yin glanced over. The person who sat down was a hooded figure. The cloak they were wearing was so boxy that it was difficult for Gui Yin to even tell their legs from their torso, or their head from their shoulders. He withdrew his gaze and didn’t think of bothering with the person beside him. However, even when Jiu Jingyi and Ye Liuxing returned, the nameless person’s presence stuck out like the mechanical whir of fluorescent lights in a silent room.

Soon, the lights of the theater dimmed. A loud clang of instruments Gui Yin barely recognized opened up the beginning of the play.

The play depicted a sect that wasn’t anywhere near here. It was further out, past what Gui Yin assumed to be the “Central Plains” of this world. The people in the story wore clothing that didn’t belong to those in this area and even the way the actors spoke mimicked their regional accent.

The more Gui Yin watched, the odder he felt it was.

During the intermission, he leaned over to Ye Liuxing.

“Ye-shidi, do you know the people they’re depicting in the play?”

Ye Liuxing paused mid-stretch. “It should be about Huigu Palace (毁骨宫).”

“Huigu? What sort of sect is that?” Gui Yin asked.

Ye Liuxing shook his head. “I’m not sure about that. Huigu Palace isn’t a sect that’s part of the Beidou Alliance (北斗盟). They’re a sect that’s in the far south within the desert.”

“I’ve heard rumors that they’re a demonic sect,” Jiu Jingyi offered. “However, there are other rumors saying that they cultivate the righteous way.”

“It’s not like any of that matters anyway,” Ye Liuxing said, sighing sympathetically. “Huigu Palace doesn’t even exist anymore.”

“They don’t exist?” Gui Yin’s eyes widened.

“I guess Gui-shixiong wouldn’t remember this, but it actually happened last year, just a few months before you went out on your mission,” Ye Liuxing said. “Overnight, without any rhyme or reason, the entire sect was found dead. A sect that had been sent out to investigate it reported that they died of a manmade cause. The scene was extremely bloody and the disciples who were sent out to observe the scene all came back with various psychological shadows and traumas. Many of them fell into madness afterwards.”

“That bad?” Gui Yin murmured.

Ye Liuxing nodded. “Nothing else has come out of the investigation, but everyone was on edge for a while. Rogue sects in the surrounding area looked to the Beidou Alliance to do something, but there’s little we can actually do when the case has run into a dead end. The other cultivation alliances in that area also claim to not know a thing about what happened.”

“People’s mouths can say one thing while their hearts know the truth,” Jiu Jingyi scoffed. “You really think with all those hundreds and thousands of people, not one of them know who Huigu Palace offended?”

Ye Liuxing agreed. “It’s even likely that the cultivators in that area disliked Huigu Palace and decided to eliminate them once and for all.”

“It’s all speculation,” Gui Yin concluded calmly before Jiu Jingyi and Ye Liuxing exaggerated the matter further. “We’re outsiders. We’re not even helpers in the investigation. It’s better to not make any baseless assumptions.”

Gui Yin could feel the cloak beside him brush up against his hand. He couldn’t help but glance over at the person sitting near him, but aside from that brief movement, the person didn’t move again. He slowly drew his gaze away again.

“It’s a shame though,” Ye Liuxing sighed. “I heard that the palace lord was a man of extreme martial prowess from unknown origins. There were stories about how he was a pirate, others about how he used to be a prince. Some even say that he was the court priest for a faraway kingdom. It’s even possible that all of the rumors were true and he’s just lived a long time.”

“What was their sect leader’s name again?” Jiu Jingyi asked.

“I’m not sure,” Ye Liuxing shrugged. “I think he went by many names and many faces. His most common pseudonym though was—”

“Hush. The play is starting again,” Gui Yin interrupted Ye Liuxing’s speech.

The younger man clamped his mouth shut and obediently watched the play start up again.

The play ended with a heroic bang. The main character, supposedly the palace lord of Huigu Palace, charismatically said a few lines, and the play ended satisfyingly.

As the group trailed out of the theater, Gui Yin caught many bits of conversation, bemoaning what a shame it was for Huigu Palace to have vanished in such a horrendous way. As they walked out, Gui Yin subconsciously glanced back over his shoulder for the hooded figure but amidst the crowd, the hooded figure had disappeared.

“Gui-shixiong?”

“Hm?”

“Are you okay?” Ye Liuxing asked cautiously.

“I’m fine,” Gui Yin said. He glanced around again. “Did you two see the person who was sitting next to me the entire play?”

“The person next to you?” Jiu Jingyi thought about it. “I did. Was there something wrong about them, Gui-shixiong?”

“It’s nothing,” Gui Yin said. “They just felt…”

Ye Liuxing and Jiu Jingyi waited for Gui Yin to continue, but the man seemed to have fallen into his thoughts again. The two martial siblings exchanged silent glances.

“Gui-shixiong…?”

“Hm? No,” Gui Yin shook his head. He offered them a smile. “It’s nothing. It just felt a bit odd, but maybe I’m just paranoid.”

“Should we report it to the Sect Master?” Ye Liuxing asked, somewhat worriedly.

Gui Yin hesitated a moment before nodding. It was better to be safe than sorry.

Although Gui Yin wasn’t from this world, he had always been one to trust and act on his gut feeling. It was the same with the man surnamed Sun, and now this hooded figure. He wasn’t sure what this feeling meant, if he ignored it, he was afraid something bigger would come from it.

“A hooded figure?”

Gui Yin looked up at Lin Cangyuan. He nodded. “When we were watching the traveling players, a person came and sat down next to me. They were wearing a nondescript hood and I couldn’t see their face, but they gave me a strange feeling.”

Lin Cangyuan frowned. He lowered his head as he fell into his own thoughts. He looked at Ye Liuxing and Jiu Jingyi. “Did you two notice anything?”

“I did see someone sit beside Gui-shixiong, but I didn’t feel anything odd from that person,” Ye Liuxing said.

Jiu Jingyi was silent for a moment before speaking up, “I think that was odd though. I didn’t notice that person at all until Gui-shixiong pointed it out after we left. That’s when I remembered there was indeed a person there. As cultivators, our senses should be heightened, so why was it that I didn’t notice this person at all? I trust Gui-shixiong. If he found that person odd, then we should have also felt something.”

Ye Liuxing agreed. “That person was also sitting closer than the average person might if they were with a stranger. The entire row was empty, but they were right next to Gui-shixiong.”

Lin Cangyuan glanced at Gui Yin. He nodded. “I understand. Ning Yue (宁月).”

“Yes, Sect Master.”

Gui Yin glanced over at the newcomer. The person had come from the shadows noiselessly. If he hadn’t been a cultivator, he wouldn’t have noticed that there was a fifth person’s presence there. He slowly drew his gaze away.

The person was petite. They didn’t carry the muscular physique one may expect from someone who belongs to the elite division of Yunjing Pavilion. This person wore dark colored robes, with faint embroidery down the torso that was similar to the plum blossoms that adorned Yunjing Pavilion’s uniform.

“Bring a group of disciples down the mountain to figure out what is happening. Make sure to inform the city guards to lock the gates, but tell the citizens who ask that it is nothing important. We are just doing a routine check,” Lin Cangyuan said.

Ning Yue bowed their head low again and disappeared from the room.

Lin Cangyuan’s serious expression faded. He reached into a drawer under his desk and looked back to Gui Yin. “Enough of that, Gui-shidi. You shouldn’t be worried over such things on such an important day.”

Gui Yin raised a brow. “Important day?”

Lin Cangyuan placed a simple sandalwood box on his desk and slid it over to Gui Yin. “Did you forget already? Today’s your birthday. Happy Birthday, Qinle.”