Chapter 18: Encountering a Robbery

With a sigh, Xie Yuzhu scooted forward, leaning closer to Wen Ci. "Master Wu, I call you Master Wu every day, but I don't actually know your real name."

The Master of the Dream Ruins glanced down at her, his expression indifferent. "Wu Enci."

Xie Yuzhu fell silent for a moment before a look of understanding dawned on her face. "That makes sense. These days, who uses their real name while traveling the world? It’s only natural you wouldn’t want to share it. 'Wen Ci' is a lovely alias, anyway."

As she spoke, a seed of doubt sprouted in her mind. She was being so considerate, so why was Wen Ci looking at her as if she were a fool? Didn’t he just say his name was Wen Ci? It was clearly his way of telling her not to pry any further into his real name.

Xie Yuzhu never once considered that the first two syllables of "Wu En" could be heard as "Wen." Changing the subject, she returned to the matter at hand. "I keep calling you Master Wu, and since you’re a Nightmare Weaver, that’s far too easy to expose. Aren't there people still hunting you? I think I need to call you something else."

"Oh? And what do you want to call me?"

"I’ll call you Second Master!"

The gusting night wind made Wen Ci stumble. He turned slowly to look at Xie Yuzhu, arched an eyebrow, and repeated, "Second Master?"

"Yes! Think about it—the three of us are traveling together. How should I describe our relationship? It’s complicated! But if both of you are my masters, it would be perfectly reasonable for two masters to take an apprentice out for training." Xie Yuzhu was brimming with confidence and excitement.

Wen Ci gestured toward Ye Miwei. "Why is she the First Master and I the Second?"

Ye Miwei was leaning against the side of the small boat, her fingers trailing idly through the water. She was clearly still preoccupied with her meridian map and had no intention of joining the discussion.

"Well, there’s the matter of seniority, and if you count age, First Master is older than you. It is said that in learning, there is no distinction between early and late arrival; what matters is the mastery of the craft. That’s not important!" Xie Yuzhu hurriedly reassured him.

Wen Ci stared coldly at her. Under his gaze, Xie Yuzhu’s smile gradually faded. She cleared her throat, sat up straight, and said, "Actually, I’ve just been so mesmerized by your mastery of Nightmare Weaving these past few days that I really want to learn from you."

Wen Ci gave a crisp, decisive refusal: "No."

"Don't be so quick to say no! You said yourself how attentive and concerned I am toward the First Master—if you take me in, you’ll have a disciple just like that! Just consider it. I’m not in a rush; I’ll just treat you like a master for now."

Xie Yuzhu didn't care about the rest. Her father always said that timing was everything and that one had to be willing to swallow their pride. She would stake her claim first and worry about the details later.

From that day on, regardless of how Wen Ci responded, Xie Yuzhu simply called Ye Miwei "First Master" and Wen Ci "Second Master."

Exasperated, Wen Ci said to Ye Miwei, "That night on the floating boat, I really should have thrown your apprentice overboard."

"She is your apprentice, too."

"When did she ever become my apprentice?"

"I have heard that it is the disciple who makes the master a master. In that case, since she calls you master, then you are her master."

Ye Miwei spoke with such matter-of-fact logic that Wen Ci’s eyes widened, and he sputtered in indignation.

The three of them traveled by night and rested by day. A week later, they wandered into Qingyang Ferry in Jizhou, in the north. This was the place where Ye Miwei’s nightmare beast had last sent a message before vanishing three days later, leaving behind neither spiritual artifacts nor azure crystals. Neither the immortal sects nor the Nightmare Weavers had managed to capture it, and it was assumed it had merely passed through on its way elsewhere.

***

They had not been there long when they stopped at a tavern. Qingyang Ferry was a small place, and the tavern was modest, yet business was booming. From the moment they sat down, guests arrived in an endless stream. The main hall was packed with a motley crowd of people, all talking loudly in a deafening roar.

The three of them sat in a remote corner. Wen Ci slumped over the table, his head buried in his arms, pressing his face down as if he were about to drift off to sleep.

According to their plan, they were to stay here for a few days to look for clues regarding the nightmare beast.

Amidst the swirling steam of food and wine, and above the bobbing heads of the crowd, the sunlight appeared hazy and distorted. Through that blurred light, a tattered, indistinct flag fluttered, and a voice rang out through the din.

"Bad luck, truly bad luck! Boss, you are going to have a terrible stroke of bad luck today!"

The newcomer wore a dark blue Taoist robe and was covered in strips of cloth, including one over his left eye. He waved his bamboo-like arms, putting on a show of supernatural mystery.

Xie Yuzhu spotted the flag that read "Miraculous Calculation" and gasped, "Isn't that... Master Cang Shu?"

Wen Ci lifted his head at the sound, and Ye Miwei turned to look as well. In such a crowded place, she was not wearing her sight-stone, and her vision was a hazy blur.

She only saw the tall flag swaying back and forth. The boss shouted, "You death-defying fortune teller, what nonsense are you spouting? My business is so good today I can barely keep up with the coin—what bad luck, what misfortune!"

A few waiters moved to chase Cang Shu away. Amidst the shoving, Cang Shu bellowed, "When things happen against the norm, there must be a demon! Your business is suddenly this good—fortune hides disaster, and you are about to encounter a calamity!"

As the waiters tugged at him, the thin and frail-looking Cang Shu somehow managed to hold his ground, gripping the counter tightly. A crowd quickly gathered around the counter, pushing and pulling in a chaotic scene.

Just as Xie Yuzhu was marveling at Cang Shu’s appearance, Wen Ci slowly straightened up and said, "There is something wrong with the people in this tavern."

Xie Yuzhu looked around, puzzled. "What’s wrong with them?"

"They are watching us."

Though Ye Miwei could not see clearly, she answered honestly, "That must be because you look good."

"With such a commotion at the counter, why aren't they interested? Surely I’m not more entertaining than a brawl." Wen Ci was fully alert now, his voice cold.

He grabbed Ye Miwei’s wrist and stood up unhurriedly. "Let’s go."

Ye Miwei and Xie Yuzhu rose to follow. Xie Yuzhu, not sensing anything amiss, said regretfully, "Second Master, the food we ordered hasn't even arrived yet..."

Before she could finish, the moment they stood up, every single diner in the hall rose in unison. The bustling hall fell instantly silent; only the sound of chopsticks hitting the floor was piercingly clear. People of all shapes, sizes, and appearances fixed their gazes entirely upon the three of them.

Xie Yuzhu felt those blank stares and was instantly reminded of her nightmare about the umbrella-wielding women in the rainy alleyway. Her hair stood on end.

Dust motes danced in the sunlight filtering through the windows, and the air was thick with steam. The shadows of the people throughout the room fell upon them. Wen Ci gripped Ye Miwei’s wrist tightly, a glimmer of light hardening in his bloodshot eyes.

Ye Miwei, as always, looked calmly at the mass of shadows before her, as if these people were not human beings at all, but merely a clump of dough.

"Dear guests... what is the meaning of this? Harmony brings wealth! Harmony brings wealth!" the boss behind the counter stammered, clearly panicked.

Cang Shu nonchalantly retrieved his "Miraculous Calculation" flag and said, "I told you, Boss. You’re going to have a terrible stroke of bad luck today."

***

Wen Ci suddenly bolted, pulling Ye Miwei toward the side door, and Xie Yuzhu hurried after them. As if receiving a signal, the entire hall of people moved at once. Without a word, they surged toward them from all sides. Fortunately, these guests carried no weapons; they were simply engaging in hand-to-hand combat.

With so many people in the cramped tavern, they struggled to maneuver. Wen Ci used this to his advantage, pulling Ye Miwei through the gaps in the crowd, weaving behind pillars and tables. Xie Yuzhu followed, fighting with her hands and feet, throwing plates and biting, locked in a scuffle with their pursuers.

Cang Shu was swept up by the surging crowd, swaying as he was shoved forward until he tumbled into a liquor rack. Clay jars shattered one after another, spilling wine across the floor. The boss hid behind the counter, wailing in agony, "My thirty-year-old Daughter Red!"

The liquor rack happened to fall right in front of the three of them. Wen Ci immediately pulled out a fire starter, blew it into a flame, and tossed it into the spilled alcohol. In an instant, a roaring fire erupted, licking up toward the second floor. Thick smoke billowed, creating a wall between them and the other diners. Some of the pursuers who stepped into the flames were instantly ignited.

As the boss shrieked, the people set ablaze transformed into human-shaped paper cutouts, fluttering and drifting until they were reduced to ash.

"Is that... the Thread-Linking Technique?" Xie Yuzhu exclaimed in surprise.

The Thread-Linking Technique of the Lingjin Pavilion allowed one to attach strings to paper cutouts, clay dolls, or puppets, using spiritual power to briefly animate them as human-like figures and control their movements.

Taking advantage of the wall of fire, Wen Ci turned and sprinted toward the side door leading to the backyard. "Go!"

"Coming!" Xie Yuzhu turned and followed.

The three of them burst out of the side door, raced through the yard, and scrambled out the back gate into the street. The "paper people" followed in hot pursuit, swarming the street in such numbers that the real townspeople fled in terror.

"Is the... Lingjin Pavilion... here to catch... my master?" Xie Yuzhu gasped, breathless from running.

"The Lingjin Pavilion has plenty of methods; they wouldn't need to use the Thread-Linking Technique to ambush us," Wen Ci said.

"Then that means..."

"It’s a spiritual artifact." Ye Miwei had put on her sight-stone at some point. Its blue light flickered as she pointed toward the crowd behind them. "The spiritual power within them comes from azure crystals. The threads behind them converge toward the southeast, controlled by someone."

Wen Ci said coldly, "The place with the most sensitive intelligence on spiritual artifacts is the Ghost Market, and spirit-bandits are frequent visitors there. It seems the Ghost Market has leaked news that the 'Myriad Phenomena' has appeared in the world. Some spirit-bandits want to steal the artifact for themselves—they probably don't know your identity yet."

"Exactly right, you can turn right now."

A voice suddenly cut in. Wen Ci, Ye Miwei, and Xie Yuzhu all looked to the right to see Cang Shu, the "Miraculous Calculator," running alongside them. Despite looking frail enough to collapse at a touch, he was moving with nimble, lightning-fast agility, his strips of cloth fluttering behind him in the wind.

The three of them were stunned. Wen Ci frowned deeply. "Who exactly are you?"

"Turn!" Cang Shu made a sharp turn, dragging Xie Yuzhu with him. Xie Yuzhu yelped as she was pulled along, leaving Wen Ci and Ye Miwei no choice but to follow into a narrow alley.

The alley was packed with bamboo baskets, straw mats, and upright stone millstones, leaving the path incredibly narrow. The four of them squeezed through one by one. Wen Ci, taking up the rear, kicked over the debris and shoved a millstone into the center of the path. The paper people pursuing them poured into the alley, only to become jammed in the narrow space. The ones in front couldn't get through, while the ones behind kept pushing, causing them to pile up on top of one another.

As the four of them continued to flee, Ye Miwei remarked, "The person controlling them is not very skilled."