When YueQin and MingYu returned to the inn, ZhiYi waited for them by the stairs with AhXin squirming in his arms. A tight frown pulled at his perfectly symmetrical features. He looked like an angry wife, ready to scold the wandering husband.
Seeing the tension sizzling in the air, YueQin shot a worried look between the two men, mumbled, "I'm tired, I'll rest in my room," and hurried away before war broke out.
MingYu took a deep breath in as he braced himself for an earful, but instead, ZhiYi motioned him to move closer. It was starting to look like ZhiYi would strangle him instead of scolding him. So MingYu took a cautious step closer, trying to read any physical cues on ZhiYi's face that might hint of his impending doom.
He was at fault for leaving without notice. After all, the Diefa sect could still be on their heels. It was unlikely they would give up on catching YueQin so soon. But being locked up in the same room with ZhiYi was akin to torture, and MingYu was a weak man when it came to such temptations.
When ZhiYi raised his arm, MingYu repeated a few prayers in his mind. But instead of a grip around his throat, ZhiYi's knuckles brushed over his cheek in a gentle stroke.
"You look pale, is everything ok? Does the arm hurt?"
MingYu unconsciously leaned forward, following ZhiYi's retracting hand, not willing to part with the brief contact.
"I can't feel it. It's no better than dead weight." MingYu mumbled as he tried to swing the idle arm, but it merely twitched.
ZhiYi gave him a weak smile.
"As long as it doesn't hurt, then it's good."
MingYu only nodded. There wasn't much they could do about it, although now that he had to carry such a useless limb around, he secretly wished Ye WeiRu would have just cut the entire thing off. But instead of voicing his grim wishes, MingYu told ZhiYi of their encounter with Xie Qiang and the storyteller as they moved towards the dining area of the inn.
PingZe was leaning to a wall, sipping his drink as the two sat down next to him. The inn was almost entirely empty besides a couple of customers sitting sparsely on the other side of the room, eating in their own peace.
"Huh, a ghost storyteller? That's a first." PingZe said as the encounter was repeated for him to hear too.
"I don't think it was a ghost, there were no traces of any shifts in energy within the area," MingYu said as he used his right arm to hitch the left arm to rest over his thighs.
The storyteller had spoken of the divine guide, yet MingYu had promised the old fossil that he wouldn't tell of him to his disciples. But asking about him was not telling, not when it was the brothers who did the telling for him.
"So, does this mean your master was actually Shao Siming? The second master of Fate?" MingYu asked, forming the question so, he wasn't breaking any promises. The least he wanted was additional wrath from the fallen master of Fate.
ZhiYi nodded as he rocked AhXin back and forth.
"He already went by the title of the Divine Guide when he took us under his wing."
"Have you seen him after parting ways?" MingYu already knew the truth, but he had to make sure. Someone or something seemed adamant that he knew of the masters of Fate, and more importantly, of BiFei.
"Not really, the old man told us to never return once we leave. I think he hates me." PingZe chuckled into his cup.
MingYu shifted in his chair. The Divine Guide definitely didn't hate his disciples, there must have been another reason behind it.
"Do you think he can still oversee others fate?" MingYu probed. If the old geezer was messing around with his, he would climb Tiankong to strangle him!
"No," ZhiYi said with a little smile, he seemed to have read MingYu's thoughts. "He has been separated from the tree of Fate, he has no power to alter fates, but he can still foresee things happening."
"Besides, it would be against the old man's principles," PingZe added. "He was kicked down for not wanting to force fate down others throat."
Right, MingYu thought. The divine guide was the deity who wished mortals had control over their own fate, instead of living according to whatever Heaven had planned for them.
MingYu's unwavering opinion on Heaven was starting to suffer from dents the longer he stayed in the Earth Realm and learned of all the wrongful and undeserved sufferings many had had to endure. The state the Divine Guide was in now, was it also Heaven's work?
"Was your master in good health the last time you saw him?" MingYu asked. The two brothers shot him bewildered looks since none of them expected such a ridiculous question to be asked.
"He is the Divine Guide; why wouldn't he be in good health?" PingZe asked, now curious as he leaned closer, studying MingYu.
ZhiYi was also looking at MingYu with an unreadable expression.
"He is old, very old. I was just wondering how long can fallen deities survive in the Mortal Realm." MingYu hurried to say. He was getting good with lying on the spot as ZhiYi and PingZe both nodded in understanding.
"He better be alive; he has our ashes." PingZe snorted as he played around with the cup in his hand.
MingYu's jaw dropped in horror.
"Why would he have your ashes?!"
ZhiYi arched his brow as he wiped some of the drool that escaped AhXin's lips. "He collected them back then to keep our souls safe when we were still new and fragile spirits."
MingYu's fear only grew larger. Did the Divine Guide still hold the ashes? What if he didn't have them anymore?
"Why didn't you take them with you?" MingYu could feel the headache creeping in, hammering at the base of his neck. He rubbed his temple with his fingers.
PingZe and ZhiYi exchanged embarrassed looks.
"Well, you see, brother. We didn't really think about it that much." PingZe said as he scratched his head in shame. "Besides, the old man will keep them safe."
"…" MingYu wanted to scream, but he held it in, and the pressure nearly crushed his lunges.
The Divine Guide couldn't take care of himself, someone had nailed pins across his spine! There was no cultivation core left either. He was probably still within the realm of the living only because his brother was the current master of Fate and kept him alive from up there. But these were things he couldn't tell the brothers. Someone was really testing MingYu!
"But how come you ran into Xie Qiang? That mutt never makes contact with any of us out of his free will." PingZe asked suddenly, pulling MingYu out of his thoughts.
"We ran into Lan Guan-Yin. He pulled us out of her way before she could see us."
ZhiYi stiffened as he cradled AhXin closer to his chest. "Why is she here?"
"That's not all. According to YueQin, she was the one who stabbed her when she came to back in Tiang'an."
"Hm, should have known ZongYing is not the type to inflict unnecessary torturing. So Lan Guan-Yin tailed us? Is she also after YueQin?" PingZe said, his cheery facade now only the last winter's snow. "You don't think she is working with the Diefa sect, ZhiYi?"
"Unlikely, ZongYing hates Lan Guan-Yin even more than she hates us," ZhiYi said tightly.
"Xie Qiang said she has been here before we arrived," MingYu said.
There couldn't be so many coincidences. Lan Guan-Yin had been there in Lunan before them too. She also attacked YueQin before any of them knew about her. And now she was in Wupei...
"In any case, you and YueQin should stay out of sight for now, if both Lan Guan-Yin and ZongYing are after YueQin," ZhiYi said. "We should get out of town as soon as possible."
"No!" MingYu yelped to his own surprise, and the brothers were looking at him expectantly.
"I think we should stay," MingYu said as he thought over the situation. "Lan Guan-Yin has been a step ahead of us through this entire time. I don't think it is a coincidence we ended up in the same town again. She must know something we don't."
"Are you sure, MingYu?"
"I think he is right, ZhiYi," PingZe said after a moment of silence. "We should stay and see what she is up to."
ZhiYi looked like he wanted to argue, but his eyes softened under MingYu's pleading expression. "Fine, but we shouldn't stay longer than a week. The longer, the more danger we put ourselves and YueQin in."