Technically this was her first day, as her work started from today. The Chief Steward had pushed her onto the Manager of Internal Affairs, who in turn had shoved her towards the Maintenance and Cleaning Department, where a weed basket as tall as her own self was tossed into her hands, and everyone pretty much scrambled off like she was down with some contagious disease.
She twirled around the basket, secretly praising the workmanship. Thin strips of weed were densely woven. Thin creepers, with almost wire like tensile strength was used to bind the weaving together, and this created a very toughened shell, with great capability in carrying large loads. This basket was supposedly attached to the back, with creeper rope to tie around the shoulders and waist. In two days she had been reduced from a supervisor to a trash collector!
Due to the length, it was bit difficult to walk. She had to pretty much keep her knees bent at all times, so the basket would not keep knocking into her legs. Twisting her lips up in subtle disdain, Rihanna began on her daily route, pondering on how to better this burdensome contraption. Otherwise she would end up with twisted legs! No wonder all the other servants had disappeared that fast!
Her first stop was a tiny metal working station. All the lower level guards, as well all cultivators at a lower stage of cultivation received their weapons, armors and other artifacts from here. A load of scrap metal, broken bits of stone after the ore had been extracted, and harden metal sludge which was left behind with all the impurities of the ore once the fine material had been extracted, came pouring into her basket. What the heck! What was with all this weight?! How was a commoner supposed to carry this much load around every-day?
Thank goodness for her enhanced physique, or she would have been knocked off at the very first stop. Grudgingly she stood up, straightening her back once more to trudge on to the next stop.
Rotten herbs, stinking alchemy remains, foul smelling and poisonous weird muck from the alchemy department; wads of cloth stained with blood and medicine and pus from the medical department; broken bits of wood and wood shavings in large amounts from the maintenance department; piles of scrap paper from the accounts and documentation department.
Even with her enhanced physique, Rihanna was fatigued, both mentally and physically, by the time she took a turn to reach the garbage disposal department. Well....actually it did not have such a fancy name. It was simply called the waste room.
Here again she had to sort out through the entire basket, putting the flammable elements in a large furnace and burning them off, stack the stones and metals in a heavy load crushing entrapment. The medicine and poison sludge were all poured down a large metal vat fitted into the ground. Who knows what was done with this! And finally Rihanna fell back on her buttocks, refusing to budge from the spot. She was so tired!
' And I have to do this every-day? If I keep this up, I will really turn into a thin, old woman! No....I really need to figure out the plan fast, and take action!'
'Did you get to check out the map?'
'Ummm....oh yes, I did. But I couldn't look at it for too long. My energy burned out and I returned back inside my body before I could memorize it.'
'It will not be that easy. We'll have to try again today.'
'Which reminds me....there was a strange white smoke inside that room. Even in my spirit self I was feeling drowsy. Any idea how to counteract that?'
'Smoke that made you drowsy?...That could be the Ever-Illusion Dust. It is a kind of light dust found sprinkled on the stamens of the Bright-Night Flower. This flower is found in the Shifting Valley, and only blooms for a night during the Full Lunar Eclipse, when all the three moons get eclipsed. It lights up the entire dark night, and when day breaks, the whole flower lights on fire and burns away. Only on such a night can you collect the dust from the stamens of the flower, and then carefully store it in an ice jade bottle fed with the blood of the owner. This dust can be sprinkled over water, and when it comes into contact with the fumes of burning Moon Dragon Ether, it will release a white smoke which can make even the soul fall into an eternal and nightmarish illusion. One cannot break the illusion unless fed with the blood of the person who fed the jade bottle.'
Truly.... a crazy world could only be built on cock-and-bull stories and anecdotes! Whatever....
'So....you have any suggestion?'
'Currently....no. Why don't we change our plans for the time being. You still need to find out the whereabouts of Su Matsao's sister. How about trying to enter the alchemy building tonight?'
'Well....as long as I do not come too close to the locked rooms themselves, the array does not hamper me too much. Maybe I could keep a watch tonight. They must be giving food and water to their testers, or maybe I'll be able to find some other clues there. Fine then, let's do that.'
And so for the next few days Rihanna was busy shoveling trash from one end of the territory to the other.....and at night she would leave her sleeping body to the care of Little Purple and venture forth to check around the alchemy department.
Though she couldn't find out which room the sister was being kept in, on the fourth day she came across a very interesting person hovering around the medical building.
'Wen Haoli?! What in the world is he doing here? Don't tell me.....is he planning on kidnapping Su Matsao's sister from the locked rooms? Or is he here for some other purpose? It is very strange that he is still staying in the Su residence.....what exactly is he planning?'
Rihanna stood in a corner, blending into the shadows. Even though she was in her spirit consciousness, she didn't want to take any chances. Who knew what kind of spirit artifacts this fellow might be carrying with him and she didn't want to accidentally expose herself! Once bitten, twice shy. She needed to be very cautious, or she'd end up in the dragon's mouth!
After a short while of hovering around the building, someone actually came out through one of the side doors. Wen Haoli followed him till they were both hidden by the large water reservoir in a corner of the courtyard, providing water for the entire building. Keeping to the shadows, Rihanna crept to the other side of the reservoir, then concentrated her hearing senses.
"Are you truly guaranteeing me a place in the sect?"
Wen Haoli plucked something out of the inner pocket of his robe and tossed it to the man.
"Here, this is my Sect Disciple token. Take it to the sect once you leave the clan. Show it to the Branch Manager of the Inner Sect Management, and he will know what to do. Now you have my guarantee....what about the thing I asked for?"
The man took out something wrapped in a bundle of cloth. Rihanna crept a bit closer to take a better look. Inside the wrapped bundle lay a gray stone toad, with five tongues hanging out of its mouth. It looked gross!
"This is the token to the inner region. When are you planning to go in? I will have to leave before you do, or I'll get caught."
"I still have not completed my arrangement. It should take me about five more days."
"Then it'll be time for the mid-summer tide."
"Hmm....I'll go in on the Triple Full Moon day of the mid-summer tide."
"Fine. Then I'll make my arrangements too. Don't come here anymore."
"Hmm....see you at the sect."
The two separated, and both went off in their own directions. Rihanna was confused for a moment, but then decided to follow the other guy in, still contemplating what she had just heard. Someone else wanting to make a clean sweep at the Su Clan? It seemed there were people everywhere, ready to create chaos and disorder in every clan! Question was...what was she going to do with this information?
The fellow walked all the way to the alchemy department, and almost bumped into the house steward managing the affairs in the building.
"Suwamea...where did you go at this hour?"
Suwamea was startled and almost fumbled out an excuse.
"Oh....ah.....I was feeling a bit stifled. Have been running around since morning, and was wanting to breathe in some fresh air. So I went to the courtyard."
"Oh....never mind. Since you are up already, do me a favor. I need to check on number three, to note down the effects of today's dose. But number five's blood is acting up. I have to monitor the new dose of calming pills on her, and make sure the blood surge recedes. So can you do the check-up on number three in my place?"
Suwamea nodded quickly, perhaps to cover up his earlier alarm. Tucking a pile of papers under his arm, and holding a crystal key, he headed off to number three's locked door. Rihanna paused, unsure who to follow, but then decided to follow the first guy. She would just take a peek through the door first. Su Matsao's sister was only 8 this year, and she had gathered through her loitering on for so many nights, that she was the only 8 year old in this building. So if the girl Suwamea was going to check did not match the age, she could still rush on to follow the steward.
Suwamea unlocked the door and went in, taking his time to place the pile of papers on the nearby stone table before turning to lock the door from inside. In the short time gap, Rihanna saw the girl inside.
The girl was small, and must surely be Su Matsao's sister. Laying on a table like bed, she was sickly thin, her face an abnormal bluish-green. Her thinning hair could barely cover her scalp. Strange red and yellow rashes were festering all over her thin body, and there seemed to be some kind of black fungus-like formation around her finger and toe-nails. Rihanna almost puked at this sight, feeling shocked to her core.
What sort of inhumans existed amongst these cultivators?! Yes, torturous methods existed on earth as well, and she had read extensively on torture methods of different civilizations in medieval times.
But what was this method of testing poisons and medicines, which even these powerful cultivators didn't dare to touch bare handed, on a young and innocent 8 year old who couldn't even cultivate?! These cultivators treated these commoners like cattle for breeding, who could be sent to the slaughter house as and when they pleased! A surge of anger burst through her inner sense, driving her rage higher and higher, and for the first time she felt as if she wanted to burn the entire building into eternal nothingness!