"Say, Lao Wu what do you think our new guests are up to?"
Lao Wu didn't have to strain himself to remember which guests A-Xi meant. Or even to look upwards in the direction of the second floor and the dull, banging sound coming from upstairs.
Ever since they had booked a room in their inn, Peaceful Snowfall, a week ago, no one could stop speculating about them. They were clearly two finely dressed young masters, with clean, noble appearances, and refined manners.
But for some reason, they had only booked a room for the two of them, traveled with no servants, and always went out with the same set of robes. To date, they hadn't ordered a single meal.
It wasn't impossible that the dishes prepared in Peaceful Snowfall weren't to their liking and that they preferred to take their meals elsewhere. But they often spent long periods in their rooms, any normal person would be fine with eating gravel after so long a fast, but these two didn't seem bothered.
Poor people also needed lodgings, there was nothing unusual in that. But if they were so destitute, how could they be so leisurely?
Whatever business had brought them to Longbei, they seemed in no hurry to finish it.
Thus the speculation:
"I think they're disgraced cultivators, kicked out from a major sect. That explains the odd behaviour. Aren't those cultivators able to go days without eating? There you go."
"If they're disgraced wouldn't they be punished? There are no marks on them. And if they are on the run from a major sect why would they come into Jade Dragon Manor territory? Are they stupid?"
"You guys are complicating things. They're not cultivators, just spoiled young masters from some rich family that fancied themselves an adventure."
"What spoiled young masters would tolerate living like that? Our inn is very decent, but it's not luxurious."
"I think they're runaways too," Lao Wu finally said, interrupting the lively discussion between the other members of the staff. "But I think they ran away to stay with each other." He lowered his voice. "I think they're lovers."
Everyone went quiet while digesting this information. Maybe spoiled young masters would tolerate a great deal assuming they had a good enough reason.
A-Xi, the youngest staff member nodded with great solemnity. "They're escaping their family's arranged marriages to be together. They don't care about living in poverty as long as they have each other."
Finally, an explication that satisfied everyone. They were about ready to return to work when Lin Mo stopped himself with a chuckle. "I guess now we know why they're making all that racket..."
---
Xie Bian's legs gave out from under him, and he fell on his knees to the floor. His bare chest was covered in a thin layer of sweat, heaving while he took in gasping, greedy lungfuls of air.
"No more," he begged.
Fan Wujiu was resolute. "Again."
With great effort, Xie Bian climbed up to his feet. He swayed in place and glared openly at Fan Wujiu. "Why all this martial arts training? It's been days, and we made no progress in our investigation."
Other than a few nightly outings, Xie Bian had barely seen the outside of the room! All Fan Wujiu had him do was searching through family registry books, and then practising the same repetitive martial arts movements with a wooden sword.
He'd been excited at first when he thought maybe Fan Wujiu was going to teach him how to perform an exorcism, and the more interesting aspects of their skills as Underworld Generals, but it soon became obvious that this was all there was to it.
"Why all this training? Who's going to attack us! More importantly, who's going to manage to hurt us?"
Fan Wujiu shot him another of those indifferent, cold looks that were so effective at getting on Xie Bian's nerves.
"Do you think I'm the only one who can destroy a soul? I've told you to stop acting like you're indestructible. No physical injuries can come to you in the Underworld, but it's not the same here." He took a step towards Xie Bian, crowding him against the wall.
"Do you think pain has no pull on you just because you can't die from it?"
Xie Bian raised the wooden sword in front of his face, blocking Fan Wujiu's disconcerting eyes. "You've made your point. But I really can't see how what you're teaching me will help. It feels more like a dance."
"That's because it is. Sword dancing."
Xie Bian let his head thump against the wooden wall, biting back a string of curses. Fan Wujiu was a test to his patience, endurance, and overall sanity.
"You've kept me in here to teach me how to dance?"
"You'll have noticed I kept myself in here as well."
It was impossible to miss Fan Wujiu's silent, threatening presence. Whenever he wasn't coldly training Xie Bian he was in his corner, meditating in silence for hours on end.
"What I don't understand is how any of this is supposed to help us understand what's keeping the souls of the deceased from reaching the Underworld."
Xie Bian walked up to the sparse room's only window and looked out onto the street. "We know the names of the deceased, from the Book of the Dead, and we know the day they died, but nothing else."
They had discussed this before briefly. It wasn't news to Xie Bian. "Usually the cause of death would show up as well, but it's not doing so for these missing souls. That was Yanluo's first clue that something wasn't right. We know that."
"The few times I went out, I asked around if there had been any deaths on the days we had listed. Everyone told me no," Fan Wujiu said.
He turned his head at the books scattered over the low table. "That was why I had you checking the family registry, to see if any of the names showed up there. By your own words they don't. That means they're either from out of town, or that their names have been removed."
Xie Bian frowned. "It would take a considerable amount of influence and money to do something like that, so it's probably the first option."
Fan Wujiu wasn't so convinced. "Maybe so, but even if the dead are from out of town they're likely employed as servants in the city. The only way for their deaths to be completely unknown is if they're working for a wealthy family, they have the means to keep large groups of people quiet."
There was logic in what Fan Wujiu was saying but an important aspect still evaded Xie Bian. "I still don't understand what the sword dancing has to do with any of this."
Fan Wujiu's gaze sharpened, the hint of a smile tugged at the corners of his lips. "We're going to dance for our supper."