A cultivator wearing the uniform of the imperial guard flies up to the ship, his form lit by a small lantern he carries in his hand. He steps onto the ship to speak with the captain of the crew and Master Meng An.

  I don’t recognize the imperial guard, but that is to be expected. As a child, they weren’t the people I was paying attention to.

  After a few minutes, the imperial guard leaves the ship and we circle the city until we are oceanside. The ship lowers itself into the water, rocking the nearby ships as we dock on the pier.

  I jump from the ship onto the pier, hearing a shout from Xia Jing behind me. A moment later, she joins me, landing with barely a sound on the wooden pier.

  The dock workers around us bow and try to stay out of sight, creating a clear circle around the both of us.

  “The both of you are free to explore the city.” Master Meng An says from right next to me.

  I jump, not having sensed his presence or movement.

  He’s stooped over with a fisherman’s hat hiding his hair. Both of his swords are nowhere to be found and his robes have been replaced by simple worker’s clothes. “Make sure you are at the palace by tomorrow morning. We are expected to speak to the Master and Sect Disciples already here.”

  With that said, he bows to the both of us, stepping off and joining the crowd. Xia Jing and I bow in response, but he’s already disappeared into the crowd of dock workers.

  I feel as Shia slips out of my robes, slithering off to do her own business. She’ll find me again when she wants to.

  Xia Jing turns to me with a grin. “Come on! I have something to show you.” She grabs my hand, leading me through the lamp lit streets. Men and women of all kinds walk through the streets, some wealthy, some poor. The mortals make a point of moving out of our way as we walk by, many of them fearing us.

  Xia Jing turns down a random alleyway leading to a wooden wall. Once there, she places her hand on it. Her hand glows with white light before the wall reveals itself as a door.

  Xia Jing wiggles her eyebrows in excitement and I hide my laugh behind my sleeve. With an exaggerated motion, she opens the door.

  I step through the door and my eyes widen at the sight of a bustling market filled with qi. Similar to our own sect’s market, all kinds of cultivator items and trinkets are for sale in stalls lining the street.

  Cultivators of all kinds make their way through the market. Some cultivators from small sects or clans while I recognize a few hailing from the six great sects, others look to be rogue cultivators, finding their own paths on the way to immortality.

  I follow Xia Jing wide eyed as we walk down the street. Alchemy pills, artifacts, weapons and talismans all beg for my attention from different stalls.

  Xia Jing leads me to a normal clothing shop. “You’re going to want something other than sect robes while we’re in the city.” She says, motioning to some of the more common dresses on display. “Discretion has its value.”

  I agree with her and end up buying some common looking clothing in soft browns. The owner of the shop assures me that the items of clothing will survive most conditions and the qi flowing through the fabric makes me trust his statement.

  Xia Jing is distracted by a dress, so I take the opportunity to slip away and back onto the street. A neat little tavern had caught my eye earlier, and I decide to return to it. The establishment is quiet when I slip in. All of the cultivators in the room are surrounding two cultivators who are glaring at each other, their hands on the swords at their waists.

  I walk over to the tavern keeper, not wanting to disturb whatever is happening. “Could you get me something to drink?”

  The tavern keeper looks at me, surprised to see me talking to him with the atmosphere in the room.

  I smile wide.

  Age is hard to tell with cultivators, and no one is stupid enough to ask.

  He pours me a drink while the shouting of the two cultivators gets louder. I hand him the mortal money and take a look around the room as I take my first sip.

  I cough, trying to cover it up with my sleeve. The tavern keeper had given me something with strong alcohol. I’ve never had alcohol before. The sect has a strong policy against drinking on its grounds, but as I look at the drink I can’t help but wonder what all the fuss is about.

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  I take another look around the room, curious. The two cultivators in the middle of the room had gotten more heated, their qi flaring. The highest cultivation in the room is Early Foundation Establishment, which makes sense. All the more powerful cultivators have their own special places they go to, rather than hang around us lowly Qi Awakened cultivators.

  “You BASTARD!” The cultivator who looks to be from some minor clan says to the other. His aura marks him as a cultivator in the Eleventh level of Qi Awakening. He has his close-cropped black hair pulled into a ponytail and his words are tainted by drink. “How dare you steal from my Junior Sister?” He motions to a female cultivator whose face is red from drink.

  “I did no such thing.” The other cultivator is a rogue cultivator, his clothing little more than rags. Still, he wears the sword at his waist like he knows how to use it. He looks to be my age, maybe a little younger. His eyes hold a clear cunning to them, taking in everything about his opponent. His hair is cut short, hanging loosely around his face and he’s only in the Fourth level of Qi Awakening. He looks familiar, but I can’t place why.

  I take another sip of the drink, this time managing to not cough. I still don’t get why people would drink lots of it, but I can see a sort of charm to the harsh substance.

  “Don’t lie to me! I saw you steal from her while you were walking by!” The ponytail cultivator draws his sword. “You will not insult the Tong’un Clan further!” Qi moves through his sword, giving it a slight silver sheen.

  I lean forward. Are the two cultivators going to fight? Surely someone will step in.

  The rogue cultivator draws his sword, his movements slow, clearly uncomfortable with the situation. “We can still work thi-” His words are cut off as he ducks under the swing of the other cultivator.

  He dodges another swing, diving to the floor and rolling away from the qi that arcs towards him. The cultivators surrounding the two start cheering at the fight.

  “Not again.” The tavern keeper says under his breath with a defeated atmosphere.

  The rogue cultivator is skilled, but doesn’t have the ability to match the Tong’un cultivator’s qi enhanced sword. He’ll lose soon.

  I wonder if I should interfere? I don’t want to watch someone get killed and the more I look, the less likely I think it is that someone will interfere. I take another sip of the alcohol, coughing again as I do. It still hasn’t gotten easier to drink.

  The rogue cultivator dodges another arc of silver qi, and I watch as the qi moves towards the tavern keeper who just stands still in shock.

  My sword slides from its sheath in a quick movement as I stand up from my chair, spilling my drink to the floor.

  The silver qi is dispersed by the edge of my sword and the tavern keeper gulps at the attack that nearly split him in two.

  I start humming.

  The hum spreads through the room as qi answers my call.

  The Eighth Requiem: Necrosis

  Soft notes fading into nothing, weak in power coming from only a soft hum.

  Everyone in the spell slows, the world around them decaying as their own bodies start to fade into death.

  Everyone in the room turns their attention to me. I see the rogue cultivator’s eyes widen at the sight of me, “No way.”

  I stop humming, raising my sword towards the two cultivators. “If you have face to save, then you can take it up with me and stop disturbing the establishment.” I narrow my eyes at the two cultivators, “So, are you going to keep idiotically swinging your swords around?”

  “You dare-” The Tong’un cultivator starts before his eyes land on my robe, marking me as a core disciple of the Flowing River Sect. After a second, he sheaths his sword, turns around and leaves the building, his Junior Sister joining him a moment later.

  The rogue cultivator sheaths his sword as well, so I put mine away.

  He starts to move towards me, but Xia Jing bursts through the door grabbing the room’s attention. “There you are! You had me worried when you disappeared!” She walks through the building with purpose, sitting down next to me. “If you wanted to get a drink, you could’ve just told me!” She turns to the tavern keeper, “I’ll have whatever she got.” She turns back to me. “What trouble did you get yourself in? I felt your qi from outside.”

  I look up to see the rogue cultivator gone. “The Tong’un Clan aren’t important, are they?”

  Xia Jing snorts, “Hardly.”

  “Then nothing happened.” I shrug, looking down at my spilled cup with sadness.

  The tavern keeper sets two cups in front of us, bowing to me as he does. “Thank you for your help, Young Miss.”

  “Nothing happened?” Xia Jing asks.

  I hide my expression by taking a big gulp of the drink. Then I start coughing at the large gulp. Shouldn’t it be easier to drink by now?

  Xia Jing chuckles as she downs her whole glass.

  We talk for a while at the tavern, drinking more of the mysterious drink that the tavern keeper keeps giving us.

  “Come on, let’s fight someone.” Xia Jing says, standing and tilting a little to the right as she does.

  “Xia Jing. No. It’s a bad idea.” I stumble over my words, bringing my hand to my head as I wonder if the alcohol is starting to affect me.

  “We won’t kill anyone.” Xia Jing shakes her head, her face red. “You know, just fight a little. Slash slash. Aaaaaah we surrender, you know, just fight a little.”

  “I think you might have drunk too much.” I say. “Way too much.”

  “You might be right.” Xia Jing laughs. She grabs me, pulling me to her. “I’m just happy to be doing this with you, my Junior Sister Lin.”

  “You should call me Senior Sister Lin.” I say, putting on my best serious face and pushing her away.

  “Junior! Junior, Junior Junior.” She laughs again, before calming, tears forming in her eyes. “You know I love you right?”

  “Yeah, I love you too.”

  Tears come to her eyes before she turns away. “W-we should get to the palace soon. You need to sober up.”

  “I need to sober up? I’m perfectly sober. N-not a drop of alcohol in my b-body.” I motion to myself as I speak, pronouncing every word perfectly and not messing up a single time.

  “You're drunk.”

  “You’re drunk!”