I'm soaring through the heavens on the back of the Dragon of Fire. The wind brushes through my hair and occasional smoke rises from his breath. I cough every time the chilly wind blows the smoke to me. Even though we're at a high altitude, he naturally exudes warmth through his scales.
Below us is the bustling immortal highway, where immortals either ride their divine beasts or imbue relics with elemental power to travel. Having my elemental powers sealed off was a severe punishment. It's like being left with nothing in this harsh realm.
Long Yan, the Dragon of Fire, veers toward an isolated mountain crowned with a waterfall. I jump off his back with a thud, cracking the stone beneath me as usual. He transforms back into his human guise and lands, scorching the ground with a sizzle.
We both look at the damage from our landings—the cracked stone under me and the scorched mark under him—then our eyes meet and we shrug. Finally, someone in this forsaken realm gets me.
"Why are we here? Is this where the missing merchant is?" I scan the serene, lush forest with a river streaming down as we stand at the top of the waterfall.
There is the sound of cascading water with the croak of frogs. A cool mist kisses my skin, and the scent of wet earth and moss tickles my nose. The sunlight shimmers on the rippling water. This is a nice hiding place, come to think of it.
He walks next to the river, sits down, and motions me to sit next to him. I give him a suspicious look but comply anyway. Then he cups his hands and whispers in my ear. "There are ears and eyes everywhere. This is the only place I know that we can have a serious chat."
"Why are you whispering? We're the only ones here." I whisper back.
"Not everything is as it seems. You never know who's lurking in the shadows or who is watching us through the eyes of an unassuming divine beast. But the water stream should muffle our whispers."
"Is finding this missing merchant that important?"
A breeze rustles the trees behind us, and a fish jumps out of the water. I salivate at the sight. Another fish leaps up, catches fire midair, and floats back to me. "You must be hungry. Eat first, then I'll tell you exactly what's going on."
He doesn't have to tell me twice. I devour the deliciously cooked fish, its perfectly grilled flaky skin melts in my mouth. I throw the bones back into the water with a splash and let out a resounding burp.
He chuckles, scratching his chin. "You must drive Elder Brother insane since he's adamant about manners."
I rub the back of my neck as my face flushes. "Yes, Master does tolerate a lot from me."
I lean over the stream to wash my hands, then pat them dry on my thighs. As I begin to get up, he stops me.
"Now that you're fed, it's time for our chat." He looks around us, his head peeking up and down as though studying every nook and cranny. He cups his hands again and whispers. "Be careful what you say to the Crown Prince in public, especially in front of his subordinates."
"Why? Isn't he like, so influential you can't touch him?"
Long Yan's eyes widen and he shakes his head with a tsk. "His title can be stripped off him at any time by the Celestial Emperor. I'm surprised he still has it, given the stunt you pulled."
The Crown Prince's title is on a knife's edge? No wonder he's so careful behind that jovial demeanor. It must suck to live under such scrutiny. I gulp, the fish in my belly suddenly feels like it's swimming again. "Is that why you stopped me from speaking in the dungeon?"
He nods, then sighs. "If you say anything that links you to that serious crime, he will have no choice but to enforce the law on you. While you were in the dungeon, he probably made out that you shouldn't be taken as part of that criminal syndicate."
He's right. I knew it was dodgy and I knew it was illegal. And I still did it. Now I'm annoyed that I got manipulated by that scrawny, frazzled-hair merchant.
I bang my fist on the ground, jolting my companion in surprise. "That's it! I'm going to ring that scrawny merchant's neck."
"Do you remember all the merchants that were involved, by chance?"
"Chance?! I leave nothing to chance. Of course I do. Hand over my mystical satchel. My master would have given it to you before he left."
Long Yan nods and pulls out the satchel from his long sleeve.
"Where can I get robes like that? They seem so handy, like they have a storage dimension in the long sleeves."
"Sorry, Elder Brother had this tailor-made for me. If he didn't get you a pair, he must have his reason."
Probably to prevent me from hiding things in my sleeve. He probably knew it would make it too easy for me to pilfer from stores everywhere I go.
Long Yan raises a brow, eyeing me suspiciously as I scratch my chin, ruminating on the possibilities. "I agree with Elder Brother. I suspect that you will use it for nefarious reasons." He hands me the satchel.
I grab my satchel with an eye-roll. "Would I do that? Me? Nefarious? Please! That's my middle name!" I rummage through the satchel, pluck out a scroll, and hand it over to him. "This should be a record of every single one that I've encountered."
He unfurls the scroll as the edge rolls down to the floor. I beam, proud of my work. His eyes widen. Then he gives me a deadpan look. "It's blank."
I snatch the scroll off him, turning it back and forth and studying it. It is blank! It took me many full moons—long nights of chasing leads and scribbling notes—to gather the intel. Then I notice the royal seal at the bottom edge. I point it out to Long Yan.
He squints, then holds his belly and laughs boisterously. The sound echoes throughout the forest, carrying across the stream and sending birds flying off. When he finally regains composure, I wave my hands. "Well? Aren't you going to tell me what this means?"
"The contents of your scroll have become confidential evidence. You're not getting it back."
I run a hand down my face, throw the scroll back into my satchel, and then extract a quill and a new scroll. I write and draw furiously everything that was supposed to be on the original scroll.
The Crown Prince did tell me about his seal. It's exactly like the one on the quest list he's given me, where the line disappears once the quest has been completed. This scroll should retain everything since it doesn't have the royal mystical seal on it.
Once I finish recounting everything about the criminal syndicate, I hand the freshly written scroll to Long Yan. His eyes widen as he reads through it. "Your memory is impressive! No wonder he was able to say that you're not part of it. This is a thorough ledger."
I puff up my chest and flick my hair back. "Well, I'm not just a pretty face, you know."
He coughs, then recomposes himself. "You've got names, faces, times, and descriptions. This is very useful. With this information we can narrow down our search."
My stomach rumbles again. I think all that scribbling used up the energy from that one fish. I raise my brow at him, hinting he should catch another for me and cook it.
He tilts his head, scratches his brow, and sighs softly. "I'll cook whatever you catch."
I see. He's just like the others after all. I try to catch a jumping fish but keep missing. Fishing is so difficult without my elemental powers.
"Why don't you try using your martial arts? If Elder Brother taught you, it means you'd be able to use it to catch a fish easily." Long Yan swiftly snags a fish barehanded, gripping its tail as it flips wildly in his grasp. Then he drops it back into the water before I can snatch it off him.
He makes it look so easy. I eye the swimming fish again. As I reach for one, suddenly I'm shoved to the side as an arrow whistles past, grazing my cheek. I press my hand to stop the bleeding. I breathe heavily, feeling a fire ignite deep within, ready to explode. Who dares interrupt me from getting my food?!