He Yu and Chen Fei arrived at Plum Blossom City along with fall. Posing as mortals had limited their speed, but had allowed them to see much of what had become of the lands they wandered through. What they saw left He Yu unsettled.

  To say the empire was in ruin would have been a vast overstatement, but neither was is prosperous. Bandits roamed the roads and attacked undefended settlements. The towns they passed through were governed by corrupt officials, often asking outrageous tolls simply for passing through the gates. The common people suffered, and the local nobility turned a blind eye at best. It seemed much had changed in the time they’d been secluded from the larger world.

  The line to enter Plum Blossom City was the longest they’d had to wait in so far. Fair, He Yu thought, as this was the largest settlement they’d been to yet. The walls rose several dozen feet high, their ramparts inscribed with formation characters and patrolled by spear-wielding cultivator guards. From within, the sounds of a bustling urban center filled the air, and even at the back of the line, He Yu caught the scent of noodles, dumplings, and tea shops.

  A pair of Foundation stage guards manned the gate, collecting tolls paid in mortal coin from those passing through. After their first experience trying to enter a town, He Yu and Chen Fei had exchanged some of their low grade spirit stones for coins. They made sure to always carry some ever since. It was a pittance to them, and it just made things easier.

  Chen Fei also inscribed their clothes with hidden formations to help mask their presences. Both of them were far too advanced to easily hide themselves, especially since both of them cultivated fairly heavy aspects. The formations would only stand up to a cursory inspection, though. It was mostly to keep mortals from noticing them, and to throw off the low-realm guards they typically ran across. A true expert would sniff them out in an instant, and should either of them need to reveal their presence, the formations wouldn’t do anything to hide that.

  When they finally reached the front of the line, the guard barely paid them any attention. “Travel papers,” he intoned.

  He Yu and Chen Fei shot each other a quick glance. This was the first time either of them had been asked for any papers.

  “We’re simply here in search of a friend,” He Yu said. “We can pay the toll, but we won’t be in the city long.”

  Now they had the guard’s attention. “So you have no papers, then,” he said, standing up straighter and tugging at his armor.

  “We’ve never needed them before,” Chen Fei offered.

  The guard spit. “So you’re either vagrants or bandits.”

  By now, the mortals in line behind them had caught on to the disturbance and shuffled back a few steps. Nobody wanted to be associated with the two troublemakers trying to enter the city.

  He Yu took a deep breath. They’d had to deal with guards like this several times already. Mostly Second—or sometimes Third—Realm cultivators who’d let what little power they had go to their heads. A bribe had usually been sufficient, but something told him that wouldn’t be the case this time.

  Taking a step forward, He Yu lifted his chin so the brim of his hat no longer shaded his eyes. “I don’t want to cause trouble, but we must enter Plum Blossom City. We’re meeting a friend here, then we will leave. I can pay the toll.”

  The guard met He Yu’s flickering, heaven containing eyes, and apprehension spread across his features. “My lord, why didn’t—”

  “You must be mistaken,” He Yu said quickly. “I am but a simple traveler.”

  “Of course,” the guard stammered out as a handful of bronze coins clinked into his awaiting palm.

  “With luck, we’ll be gone by tomorrow,” He Yu said.

  Once they’d passed through the gates, Chen Fei cast a glance back at the gate guards over her shoulder. “Was that wise?” she asked.

  “I don’t know. It was better than making a scene.” If he’d allowed the questioning to continue, it would have come out soon enough that they weren’t mortal.

  “He’s going to report it,” she said.

  Hopefully, nothing would come of it. This was the seat of the Yan’s power, and the center of the Ministry of Information in the western empire. The last thing he needed was a horde of Ministry cultivators descending upon him for entering the city illegally. If that happened, the Yan would surely involve themselves.

  “Maybe it will lead us to Yan Shirong,” he said.

  Chen Fei gave him a light shove, but let the issue drop. She was right to be concerned, but there wasn’t really anything for it.

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  Strange how age, cultivation, and a shift in perspective changed things. When they’d first entered the sect, an encounter like that would have caused her no end of worry. He Yu wouldn’t have handled the confrontation well either, but for his own different reasons.

  Putting thoughts of the gate guard behind them, the headed to the government district at the center of the city. They followed the main street north, passing noodle shops, tea houses, and other storefronts. People of all different statuses headed in and out of the buildings, and up and down the street. Neither He Yu nor Chen Fei had ever been to a city this large, and it showed.

  The more obvious of the two, Chen Fei stared at all the people passing by, the signs and the storefronts, and the sheer scale of it all. The whole experience wasn’t that dissimilar to vising Xu Xiang at the foot of the sect mountains, but the scale was more than either of them were prepared for.

  He Yu had to fight down a slowly growing sense of apprehension as they made their way to the Ministry building. With this many people, it was only a matter of time before someone found them out. What then? At the other towns they’d passed through, nothing was ever this busy, and they’d been gone by sundown, anyway. There wasn’t any telling how long they’d have to stay here. If his limited experience dealing with officials from his time in the sect was any clue, it could easily take a few days, at least.

  When they arrived at the large Ministry of Information building at the center of the city, their first real problem reared its head. There were two lines—one for mortals and another for cultivators. The line for mortals was considerably longer, stretching out the courtyard, down the steps, and well into the central plaza of Plum Blossom City. If they entered that line now, they’d likely not be seen before the office closed for the day.

  The cultivator line was much shorter, but required them to be cultivators. He Yu didn’t know how the Ministry would confirm that. Would they need to reveal their presences? That would be fine for lower realm cultivators. They wouldn’t have put any mortals at risk if they had low enough cultivation. If the Shrouded Peaks Sect was still around, they likely could have presented their jade stamps. But something told He Yu that wouldn’t be the best idea now, fifteen years after the sect’s destruction. They’d come off looking like looters at best. He couldn’t begin to guess what would happen if the rumors that the sect grounds were haunted had reached this far—something he wasn’t willing to gamble on.

  In the end, his impatience won out. He headed up the stairs, past the waiting mortals, and into the building. Another cultivator was already speaking to the man behind the desk, so He Yu simply stood a respectful distance behind and waited, ignoring the mix of skeptical and envious looks he and Chen Fei drew as they passed everyone else.

  It took some time for the cultivator ahead of them to finish up. When the Ministry official behind the desk finally motioned for them to approach and look at them both expectantly, He Yu was beyond the point where he was capable of tact any more.

  “I need to schedule a meeting with someone who I think works for the Ministry. Yan Shirong. He’s an acquaintance of mine.”

  He Yu felt the presence of foreign qi faintly and briefly press down on him. The way Chen Fei shifted next to him told him she’d felt it, too. The official blinked, then narrowed his eyes. “Who are the two of you, exactly?”

  At least they knew how the Ministry verified their cultivation. But he quickly realized this presented them with a new problem—they would both appear in official ledgers after this. If Xin Lu tried to use the Ministry to find them, he’d know exactly where to look. He Yu wasn’t certain if Xin Lu had any ties with the Ministry to speak of, or how closely they worked with Jin Xifeng. That the Ministry still stood, and the Yan still controlled Plumb Blossom City, he guessed the answer was “closely.”

  “Acquaintances of Yan Shirong,” Chen Fei cut in when it grew obvious that He Yu wasn’t answering quickly enough. “We’re just passing through, and thought we’d pay a visit. We don’t know if he’s in the city, or if he’s even with the Ministry at this point. Coming here seemed like a better option than visiting the Yan estates.”

  “Well, you were right to come here,” the official said, marking something down on a sheaf of paper conveniently out of sight. “I’ll make sure you’re contacted once we’ve made the arrangements. Next!” There was no “next” in line behind them, but He Yu knew a dismissal when he heard one.

  As they left the Ministry offices, Chen Fei said what He Yu was thinking. “I don’t think that was the best idea.”

  It hadn’t been. Between the guard at the gate and the obvious perception technique at the Ministry, they’d called more attention to themselves than he’d have liked. That didn’t even touch on the fact the official hadn’t bothered to ask where to find them. Or followed up on their request to meet with Yan Shirong.

  “What now?” Chen Fei asked once they’d left the Ministry and the central plaza well behind them.

  “Noodles,” He Yu said.

  “Food? Now?”

  “I haven’t had a decent bowl of noodles in fifteen years. There are obviously cultivators in this city, so we shouldn’t have any problem finding some good ones.”

  “Okay, so you just want some food then? Not that I disagree,” she added. “You can only eat spirit beasts for so long before you want something more.”

  Not that either of them needed to eat much. The sort of qi-infused food that higher realm cultivators ate was closer to elixirs than something they needed. While constant hunting was a poor substitute for the refined elixirs and pills they’d had access to at the sect, it had allowed them to keep advancing over the past decade and a half.

  This time, however, He Yu was mostly just interested in a good meal. And if it could provide even a small boost before whatever fallout was coming from the Ministry caught up with them, he’d take it.

  They quickly found a shop that met He Yu’s standards, low as he felt they were. A couple of low-grade spirit stones bought them a private room and two hot bowls. They’d not even had their food long enough for an incense stick to burn when the proprietor returned with a third bowl, placing it at an empty spot on the table before bowing and leaving without a word.

  The flickering shadows cast by the paper lantern overhead grew unnaturally dark. Then they surged outward, filling the room and plunging it into blackness. In that inky dark, a thousand eyes stared at He Yu, perceiving him from all angles. When the shadows retreated after another several heartbeats, a familiar figure that He Yu hadn’t seen in a long time sat before the third bowl.

  “That was stupid of you,” Yan Shirong said before taking a bite from the steaming bowl in front of him.