Into The Sea

In the dead of night, a figure jumped off a wall, silently making its way through the alleys.

The small town was even quieter at night. The occasional sound of footsteps would quickly fade away. Lan Wu avoided the beams of light from the watchtowers, moving with extreme caution.

As she did, a swarm of  black butterflies flew past her as if she wasn’t there. They reached the end of the alley and, under the cover of darkness, morphed into human shapes, casting distant glances in her direction.

Lan Wu was silent for a moment, then muttered, “Showing off your demonic powers, huh?”

Suddenly, she felt a weight land on her shoulder, and before she could react, a familiar voice whispered by her ear, “What are you doing?”

Lan Wu was shocked. She quickly grabbed the gyrfalcon on her shoulder and pinched her beak. “Shhh…”

Footsteps echoed again, quickly approaching. Lan Wu quickly ducked into another alley. After the patrolling cultivator had left, she carefully poked her head out again.

At the end of the alley, Ji Lingyue still stood there, arms crossed, tilting her head at Lan Wu with a faint smile.

Lan Wu pursed her lips, finally giving in and waving her over.

Ji Lingyue smiled, transforming back into a swarm of black butterflies. When she was just a few steps away, she reformed, her long legs stepping gracefully to a halt.

“I could have taken you out earlier,” she whispered.

Lan Wu hummed in agreement, opening her arms. “Come on.”

Ji Lingyue took a step forward, scooping Lan Wu into her arms while glancing at Danqing, who was perched on her shoulder. “Are we bringing her too?”

“What choice do I have?” Lan Wu said helplessly, poking the clueless little gyrfalcon. “Running around in the middle of the night instead of sleeping.”

Danqing’s blinked, her eyes wide with innocence. “But… I don’t like sleeping at night.”

“You expect me to believe that?” Lan Wu poked her head again. “Okay, we’ll take you. But you better behave once we’re out there.”

Danqing blinked and asked innocently, “Out there? But didn’t that man this morning say we shouldn’t leave without permission?”

“As long as he doesn’t find out, then it’s not really without permission, is it? As long as you don’t say anything, and I don’t say anything, we’ll be back before dawn.”

Danqing paused, then said excitedly, “Are we going to do something bad?”

“Don’t say that.” Lan Wu pinched her beak again, wrapping her other arm around Ji Lingyue’s neck. “Let’s go.”

Ji Lingyue hummed in agreement. An invisible, formless black mist enveloped them, and they flew away, reaching the sandy ground a hundred meters away in the blink of an eye.

She looked down, gazing at Lan Wu with a bright smile. Her red eyes were glowing.

Lan Wu sighed, looking up and kissing her cheek. “You’re amazing.”

Ji Lingyue’s lips curled up. “I can keep carrying you if you want.”

Lan Wu quickly shook her head, struggling to get down. “No, no, that’s not necessary. I’m not a child.”

After smoothing her slightly wrinkled clothes, she looked at Ji Lingyue, puzzled. She was smiling, but she didn’t know what she was so happy about.

Why has she been so… high-spirited these past few days?

Did I say something I shouldn’t have after I accidentally drank the medicated wine?

Lan Wu couldn’t figure it out, so she shook her head and stopped thinking about it, turning her gaze to the starry sky above.

Uh… which way, which way is west again?

She turned around in confusion, her brows furrowed as she muttered to herself. Ji Lingyue watched her for a moment before sighing. “You’re lost again, aren’t you?”

Lan Wu blushed, mumbling, “You know how I am…”

Ji Lingyue pointed. “That’s the Big Dipper, so that way is west. But we don’t know the exact location. Will going west really take us to Wangliang City?”

“Wangliang City?” A voice came from behind them. “You’re going to Wangliang City?”

Danqing paused, turning around in surprise. “Danbai? You’re here too!”

The girl in white slowly emerged from the darkness, glancing at Danqing before continuing, “I know where Wangliang City is. I can take you there.”

Ji Lingyue frowned. “Why did you follow us?”

Danbai raised her hand, revealing a thin golden bracelet on her wrist. A faint thread extended from it, connecting to a similar bracelet on Danqing’s claw.

Danqing instinctively raised her claws. Sure enough, there was a small golden ring on them.

She was shocked. “You’re using this to track me?”

“Track you?” Danbai denied. “I was worried you’d run off like last time. With this, even if you die out here, I can at least recover your body.”

Danqing said loudly, “But you said it was a gift for me!”

“It is,” Danbai said calmly. “A gift to keep you safe.”

Danqing opened her mouth, unable to think of a retort. She flapped her wings, snuggling into Lan Wu’s arms. “She… she tricked me…”

Lan Wu hesitated, glancing at Danbai before smoothing Danqing’s feathers. “Alright, alright. I’ll help you punish her tomorrow. For now, Danbai is here to help us. Don’t be mad.”

Ji Lingyue looked around casually and said in an unhurried tone. “Danbai didn’t exactly do anything wrong. She only did it because she was worried about Danqing.” She then turned to Danbai and asked. “This bracelet is pretty interesting. Do you have any more?”

Danbai relaxed. “No, but if you need one, I can make another set for you when we return to Shiling City.”

Lan Wu was shocked. “I’m telling you, don’t even think about it!”

Ji Lingyue blinked innocently. “Alright, I won’t.” She patted Danbai’s head, and when Lan Wu looked away, she whispered, “Good job.”

Danbai was surprised, but when she met Ji Lingyue’s smiling eyes, she couldn’t help but smile back.

Once they had agreed on the plan, Danbai transformed into a white crane. Lan Wu carefully climbed onto her back, feeling a bit embarrassed. “I’m sorry for the trouble…”

“It’s no trouble,” Danbai said. “I’ve carried you many times before, I’m used to it.”

Lan Wu pursed her lips, looking at Ji Lingyue. “Aren’t you coming up?”

Ji Lingyue shook her head. “I’ll just follow alongside.”

Lan Wu hummed, then looked at Danqing, who was perched on her shoulder. “Aren’t you coming over?”

Danqing huffed. “I don’t want to be with her!”

Danbai said indifferently, “Whatever.”

After saying that, she flapped her wings, steadily flying into the sky.

“You!” Danqing was furious at her attitude. The golden ring on her claws swung back and forth. “Stupid bird, stupid bird!”

The crane gradually became a small black dot in the distance. A gust of wind blew, and two figures emerged from the alley.

Qi Yueyao looked up at the night sky, thinking. “Sneaking out in the middle of the night? They must be up to something.”

Wen Shiyu chuckled. “Now you owe me a thank-you, right, Senior Sister? If it weren’t for me, you’d still be sleeping in bed.”

Qi Yueyao was silent for a moment, then said irritably, “Let’s catch them first. Then you can gloat.”

“We definitely won’t be able to catch them,” Wen Shiyu said, shaking her head. “We’re no match for that Miss Ji. We should just follow them and see what they’re planning.”

“How? They’re already far away. I wanted to get closer to listen, but you wouldn’t let me.”

“Getting too close would make Miss Ji notice us,” Wen Shiyu said with a smile, pulling out a talisman. “Luckily, I was prepared.”

Qi Yueyao was surprised. “What is that?”

“A Parent-Child Talisman.”

She lit the talisman in her hand. After it burned out, the ashes scattered on the sand suddenly began to swirl and fly away, as if drawn by something.

The two quickly followed. Qi Yueyao couldn’t help but ask, “Whose body did you stick the talisman on?”

Wen Shiyu replied, “Of course, it was that little bird named Danqing. She’s the weakest of them. She wouldn’t be able to notice a talisman the size of a fingernail.”