Blossoming Path-272. To Fly, To Hide

The silence after Guowei Wang’s words pressed down like a weight.

Tianyi’s wings fluttered restlessly. She didn’t understand all the words; about coalitions and alliances, but she understood enough: Kai was pushing forward, further than she could follow. He was moving into currents she couldn’t see clearly, while she was left chasing his shadow.

From beneath Xu Ziqing’s sleeve, Windy shifted. His tongue flicked, impatience prickling through their bond.

The moment she had heard Kai’s name, the instinct rose sharp and simple—fly to him. She wanted to burst from these walls, to cut through the city air until she found him, to see him with her own eyes. To perch at his side and remind him he was never alone.

'We should go to him.'

Ren Zhi’s cane tapped once against the floor, steady as stone.

“If you go now, he will only push you away. He left us behind for a reason.”

Windy’s coils tightened, the frustration clear. His thoughts pressed back with force, but only audible to her.

'Reason? What reason? He fights, we fight. What more is there?'

But her protest faltered when Ren Zhi went on.

“If Kai knows you are here, he may do as he did before; put you to sleep, or worse, send you away. Perhaps your presence may even detract from his focus.”

To Kai, they were not comrades in battle. They were to shield, to lock away when danger grew too sharp. That was why he had put her to sleep. That was why he might do it again.

The memory stabbed her: the heaviness dragging at her wings, the darkness swallowing her when Kai forced her into slumber. If his fear outweighed his trust, what would stop him from doing it again?

Her wings folded close. For once, she had no answer.

Xu Ziqing hadn’t spoken, hadn’t even looked at them; his focus was elsewhere, eyes distant, jaw set. He seemed concerned about something else.

“And the Silent Moon?” he asked. “Were they present during this... summit?”

Guowei Wang’s mouth pressed into a thin line. “No. As far as I know, Sect Leader Jun ignored the magistrate’s summons. Their gates remain shut.”

He rose suddenly, voice hard as iron.

“... It appears this is where our paths diverge. I must return to the Silent Moon and convince them to join the coalition.”

Ren Zhi tilted his head. “You? A second-class disciple who abandoned your sect? What influence do you imagine you still hold? More likely, they’ll brand you traitor and chain you.”

Xu Ziqing’s fists clenched, but he didn’t waver. “I don’t know if I can sway them. But not knowing does not mean I should sit idle. If Kai is pouring himself into this, how can I do nothing?”

The words struck Tianyi like wind through her wings. She thought of Kai, the weight pressing on his shoulders. Would rushing to his side truly help him, or would it only add to the burden he carried?

Xu Ziqing bowed, crisp and formal despite the heat in his voice. “Thank you for your guidance, Elder Wang. And you as well, Elder Zhi. Windy. But I must go.”

He unfastened his outer robe, loosening the coils wound tight around his frame. Windy slipped free at once, pale scales catching the lantern light as he slithered to the ground with a restless hiss.

Guowei Wang inclined his head to Xu Ziqing alone. “Fortune guide your steps, young one.”

Xu Ziqing returned the bow, then turned and strode for the stairs. His figure vanished into the shadows, leaving the three of them alone with the vault-keeper.

For a time, the silence held.

Tianyi’s wings shifted uneasily, the soft sound filling the void where Xu Ziqing’s footsteps had been. Her gaze slid to Ren Zhi.

'You truly won’t go? Even knowing he is here?'

Ren Zhi adjusted his grip on his cane, his expression unmoving. “Being at Kai’s side is not the only way to help him.”

The words landed flat and heavy. Windy’s scales rasped against stone as he coiled tighter, hissing his contempt into their bond.

The blind man did not flinch. “If you insist on seeking him out, I will not stop you. But neither will I follow.”

He turned slightly, inclining his head toward Guowei Wang. “I thank you for your time, old friend.”

"Ren Zhi."

The vault-keeper's hand tightened over the desk, his eyes narrowing as if to catch some hidden truth in Ren Zhi’s clouded gaze. “Why now? You spurned the magistrate’s call when he sent for you. You’ve hidden yourself while the province bled. And now you resurface—what is it you intend?”

For a moment, the man stilled.

At last, he exhaled, a sound more weary than soft. “The magistrate’s summons was for politics. I have no taste for such theater. Do not mistake my silence for inaction. I will help—but not in the way others demand."

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And with that, he moved for the door, cane tapping softly against the stone.

Tianyi and Windy did not follow.

They only watched in silence as the old man’s figure faded, his cane-taps swallowed by the stone stairwell. The vault chamber felt emptier without him, though his words lingered like dust in the air.

Guowei Wang lingered by the desk after Ren Zhi’s steps faded. His hand brushed over a stack of papers. Finally, he looked to the two spirit beasts who remained.

“You cannot walk Crescent Bay without drawing every eye in the city,” he said. “And attention now would serve no one. Come.”

He led them past shelves of ledgers and locked cabinets, into a narrow side room half-swallowed in shadow. It was little more than an office, its walls crowded with scroll tubes, lacquered boxes, and tiny carved figurines layered with dust. A brazier in the corner gave off a faint warmth, the scent of sandalwood clinging to the air.

“This space is seldom used,” Guowei Wang continued. “Few enter, fewer still ask questions. You may remain here safely until the time is right.”

Tianyi’s wings folded close as she stepped inside. The cluttered little room felt strangely heavy, as though each trinket and letter carried fragments of lives she couldn’t touch. Windy slid in behind her, coils rasping against the floor before he lifted his head to taste the air.

The vault-keeper paused in the doorway. “If you require my support, let me know.”

He closed the door softly, leaving them in a hush broken only by the faint crackle of the brazier.

For a long moment, Tianyi simply stared at the rows of dusty shelves. The stillness pressed on her wings until she shifted restlessly, her antennae twitching.

Windy’s tongue flicked again, his gaze sliding toward her. The thought pressed through their bond, hot and impatient.

'Now what?'

Tianyi exhaled, her wings rustling faintly. The question echoed inside her, heavier than the vault walls. Kai was close; so close she could almost feel him beyond the stone and streets. Yet here she was, hidden among forgotten trinkets.

She pressed her intent softly into Windy’s mind.

'We can’t just fly out there. Not here.'

His coils shifted restlessly, tongue flicking with agitation. His thoughts hissed sharp and hot.

'Why not? He is close. We are fast. We fight. We find him. Simple.'

Her antennae twitched, betraying her unease. 'It isn’t simple. If we rush to him now, he will stop us. He doesn’t trust us to stand beside him. Ren Zhi was right—he left us behind because he fears losing us again.'

Windy recoiled, hood flaring slightly. 'Then what? Sit here in dust while he bleeds?'

The ache in her chest pressed tighter.

She looked down at herself, so small in this form. Fragile, yes, but unobtrusive. She could shrink, vanish into the rafters, or perch unseen if she chose. Even here in Crescent Bay, she could slip between sightlines as a butterfly. But her other body would only draw stares. Alien eyes, wings too large to fold away... It made her visible where she most needed to disappear.

Her gaze slid to Windy. He had grown so much larger; no longer the tiny serpent that could traverse the city streets unseen alongside her. His coils were pale and gleaming, his presence too commanding.

A flicker stirred in her chest, a thought unformed yet undeniable. She tilted her head, watching the way his eyes caught the brazier’s glow.

Not like this. Not as they were. To walk unnoticed through sect halls and city streets…

She had despised her butterfly form, wanting to transcend it for as long as she could remember. When she attained her human form... that had been choice. Will. The decision to become what the situation demanded.

But Windy had never felt the need to be anything other than what he was. Had never faced a situation where his natural form was truly inadequate.

Until now.

Her wings folded close, silence filling the space between them. The thought crystallized but remained unspoken, sinking into her like a stone settling in deep water.

'I have an idea.'

Xu Ziqing emerged from the shadows of the stair, his stride brisk.

The vault-keeper's words still echoed in his mind; Kai pouring himself into the coalition's efforts, working tirelessly while his own sect remained silent. The contrast cut deep. Here was a village boy, barely nineteen, carrying burdens that should have fallen to established powers. Meanwhile, the Silent Moon cowered behind its walls, nursing its shame like a wound.

The corridors of the Alchemy Association opened into the streets, and immediately the weight of the city pressed in on him again; eyes, whispers, ridicule.

It had not abated. If anything, it had sharpened.

He kept walking. Faster.

The decision crystallized with each step. If Kai could stand before sect leaders and magistrates, if he could forge a coalition from nothing but determination and alchemical skill, then surely Xu Ziqing could face his own failures. Could drag his sect—kicking and screaming if necessary—into the light.

“Silent Moon trash.”

The mutter cut sharp against the hum of the street.

A louder voice followed. “Coward.”

'Yes,' he thought grimly. 'We have been. But that ends now.'

The warning prickle at his nape was the only thing that saved him—he twisted aside, the dull thud of something striking the wall where he’d been a heartbeat before. He turned, eyes narrowing.

An old man stood there, his shoulders stooped but his gaze alight with fury. A broken piece of pottery lay at his feet.

“If you had protected us,” the man spat, voice shaking, “then my son… my son—!”

Xu Ziqing’s breath caught in his throat. His lips parted, but no words came. What excuse could he offer?

None.

He bit his lip hard enough to taste iron and turned away, quickening his pace until the streets blurred.

He didn’t stop until he was running.

Every face he passed seemed to sneer. Every whisper echoed the same word.

Coward.

The Silent Moon’s name was ash. Tarnished beyond recognition. And not without cause.

It was their sect that had admitted those strangers from the mainland, had given them the title of elder. Their sect that had shielded them when doubts were raised, basking in the false prestige of borrowed strength. With their aid, Silent Moon had pressed for expansion, flexing power it did not truly possess. For a time, it had seemed the sects were on the verge of open conflict.

But then the cultists struck.

The very ones Silent Moon had elevated were the first to flee. When the cultists pursued, they did not defend the province. They slipped into Crescent Bay, hiding in plain sight to escape their hunters, and left hundreds to be slaughtered in their stead. Entire villages gutted, entire lines extinguished, all because Silent Moon had tied its fate to men who vanished the moment the fire grew hot.

And when the cultists came, and the province demanded answers... what had Sect Leader Jun done?

Nothing.

Only silence, hidden behind the fortress walls of the Silent Moon.

Xu Ziqing’s teeth clenched. The shame burned hotter than the stares of the crowd.

He broke into a full sprint, lungs heaving, feet striking the stones as if to outrun the weight pressing down on him.

The city's eastern gates loomed ahead, their arch shadowed against the dim sky. The guards barely looked at him as he passed through, only muttering among themselves. Outside, the air felt rawer, cleaner; though it did nothing to ease the fire in his chest.

The beaten path wound east, cutting through sodden fields toward the distant silhouette of where the Silent Moon Sect sat entrenched. Dark clouds gathered above, heavy with rain. The first drops pattered against his shoulders, streaking the dust from his robes.

He slowed at last, forcing his breathing under control. But the prickle at the back of his neck would not ease.

A presence lingered.

His hand went to his blade. The steel whispered free in a single motion as he turned sharply, voice hard.

“Who’s there?”

The rain deepened, drumming on leaves, masking the silence. Moments passed. Doubt edged in, whispering that fatigue had sharpened his nerves too far.

Then a voice answered, steady as stone.

“If you don’t mind the company… I thought I’d tag along.”

Ren Zhi stepped into view, cane tapping lightly against the wet earth. His robes were already damp with rain, but his expression was unchanged, unreadable.

Xu Ziqing’s grip on his blade slackened, though his eyes narrowed. “What of Kai?”

The old man tilted his head faintly, those clouded eyes turning toward him. “I’ve already said it—I can help him best from the shadows, not at his side.”

But the second-class disciple studied him, suspicion and curiosity warring. The pieces had been accumulating—the bronze tally that commanded instant respect from hardened guards, the way Guowei Wang had addressed him with barely concealed deference, the casual mention of spurning the magistrate's summons as if it were beneath his notice rather than beyond his station.

And before that; the way he'd fought the Envoys. Using techniques unlike anything he'd seen or heard of, creating hurricanes and pushing back against those monsters.

"You're hiding," Xu Ziqing said slowly. "You're hiding from recognition. From being pulled back into something you walked away from."

Ren Zhi's stillness was answer enough.

"You were someone important, weren't you? Before Gentle Wind." Xu Ziqing's eyes sharpened. "Important enough that the magistrate still expects your call."

The old man remained silent, but Xu Ziqing pressed on, the understanding spreading like dawn.

"You chose to disappear rather than take up whatever mantle you'd carried. But now, with the cult rising, with Kai in danger..." He paused, seeing the weight in Ren Zhi's posture. "You can't stay hidden anymore. But you still refuse to step into the light."

"The light makes you a target," Ren Zhi said quietly. "It makes you a symbol. A rallying point for those who would use your name for their own ends. I have seen what that costs."

Xu Ziqing nodded slowly. A legendary cultivator, perhaps. Someone whose very identity could shift the balance of power in the province.

"So you help from the shadows. Choose your own fights. Refuse to let others decide where you stand."

"Do you want me along for this journey, or not?" Ren Zhi asked, deflecting as always.

The rain ran cold down Xu Ziqing's brow. He looked at the legend masquerading as a simple hermit—and understood at last why Kai had grown so strong so quickly. Why Gentle Wind had survived what should have destroyed it. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

At last, he exhaled sharply, sheathing his blade with a click.

"Do as you will."

The title hung between them, unconfirmed but understood. Ren Zhi only inclined his head, then stepped forward onto the path, his cane tapping a steady rhythm against the earth.