The trio found an inn that suited their needs relatively quickly, and after settling the matter of their rooms - which, to Jintian's disbelief, cost him nearly ten liang per night, shocking considering the better inns in Chenghe only cost three liang per night - they ordered for themselves a private room, with food and drink to be brought to them.
Li Qiang declined their offer to join them, instead settling for eating in the public areas of the inn and letting the two celebrate their final night together in private.
Soon, their private room was filled with the smell of steamed dumplings, cooked rice, spiced pork, and grilled vegetables. For just an additional five liang, they were also provided a nearly endless amount of baiju, which Jintian was grateful for. Cultivators, as he had come to learn, required quite a bit more alcohol to get drunk than their mortal counterparts.
Cao Xingyue seemed more than happy to continue pouring Jintian's drinks, smiling gracefully whenever she heard his cup hit the table and filling it time and again. Finally, after nearly two hours of eating and drinking, their faces were both flushed as the warmth of alcohol filled their bodies.
"Gah, that stingy sister of mine! She would always go out drinking with her wealthy customers after a successful sale, but never once brought me back any of the wine!" Xingyue complained, and Jintian laughed heartily, patting her head.
"Now now, you can't fault her for it. Drinking with customers is a merchant must. My friend Liuwen's uncle, he would tell us that sometimes he would be forced to drink for nearly two days straight after a particularly successful sale." He consoled, and she pursed her lips, pouting.
Jintian smiled as he saw her expression. She had maintained polite etiquette between them for the majority of their journey, always demure and graceful. She could be sly and charming, sure, but it was always behind the smile she wore. Over the past few days, however, she had seemed to grow comfortable enough with him to show him this side of her as well.
"What're you looking at!" Xingyue huffed, and Jintian cleared his throat, hurriedly glancing away. He then frowned, turning back to her.
"How did you know I was looking at you?" He asked, and she waved a hand.
"I have grown a knack for knowing when I'm being looked at. What, do I have something on my face or something!?" She said, the last word coming out as more of a challenge. She then leaned in startlingly close, her breath tickling past Jintian's nose as her lips hovered only inches away from his own.
"No, nothing like that. I was just thinking how nice you looked." He answered, the drink in his body making him more honest than he should be. Xingyue blinked in surprise at that, her ears growing an even more impossible shade of pink than they had been from the baiju.
"That's not fair, you know." She mumbled, pressing a hand to his chest and leaning away. "You can't say things that make my heart flutter like that."
Jintian stared at her for a few moments, confused, before he felt a flush in his own cheeks. "I didn't… I wasn't trying to…" He sputtered, and Xingyue giggled, swatting his chest with her hand.
"I know, I'm only teasing you." She hummed, and Jintian scowled at her.
"Or you know what? Maybe I was! Maybe I was trying to make a move! Maybe I really do think you are very beautiful." He snapped, and this time Xingyue froze. Her starlit eyes fixed themselves on Jintian's face, as he glared at her defiantly.
He could hear her heart pounding in her chest, and realized that his own heart was beating just as hard.
It wasn't as though he had never realized just how beautiful Xingyue was. Her hair was long and lush, her lashes thick and full. Even her abyssal gaze had a mesmerizing quality to it, while her lips practically demanded attention paid to them. They trembled subtly, as her breathing grew ever so slightly heavier.
Her hand on his chest suddenly was no longer pushing him away, but rather tangling delicately into his robes.
"You wouldn't." She breathed. "You are too much of a gentleman."
Was it his imagination, or did he hear the slightest amount of disappointment in that?
He grabbed her hand on his chest, his grip firm yet gentle. "I am. But before that, I am still a man." He reminded her, drawing closer to her as he spoke the words. Their lips were impossibly close, the heat in his body nearly erasing all of his other thoughts.
"You wouldn't…" She whispered again, and yet did not pull away.
Jintian gazed down at her, his heart pounding in his ears. Or was it her heartbeat he was hearing? They were too close for him to tell them apart, now. All he could feel was how her skin felt in his, and how intimately close they had been when he was guiding her Qi a few days-
Qi.
The thought snapped him back to his senses. He was a cultivator. And he would be leaving, in the morning. Leaving her here, as he ventured into the wider world to enact his vengeance.
Taking a deep, steadying breath, his mind still somewhat muddled by the baiju, he placed a hand on her shoulder. She almost instinctively leaned closer to him, but he gently pushed her away, shaking his head.
He had just been about to do the very thing he had promised Cao Huixian he wouldn't.
"I'm sorry." He whispered as hurt passed briefly over Xingyue's expression. "It wouldn't be fair to you. I am preying on the feelings you have for a future that we will never have. And even if it might…"
"I am not a child." Xingyue snapped angrily, jerking away. "Stop doing that. Stop treating me like I'm this… thing you have to protect and care for. I am not that. I am a woman, and a woman who can make her own decisions for herself. If I wish to kiss you, why shouldn't I? If I wish to lay with you… I only want you to see me for who I am. Not something you must keep your distance from, to 'protect' me. I do not need your protection."
Jintian stared at her, and she at him. Her heart was still beating fast, but with anger now rather than desire. Anger, and… pain, he realized.
He had hurt her terribly deeply, just now.
His heart ached as she bit her lip, turning away from him. He did not need his heightened senses to notice the tears that had sprung to her eyes.
Jintian knew, though, that no matter what she said… she still saw him as her husband. How could she not? She had lived nearly twenty years with the full belief that they would be together. Every memory they would have made, every feeling they would have shared, were all still very real to her. And it had been taken from her, just as suddenly as his village had been taken from him.
She grieved for him, in her own way. Grieved for their life together. The life that now could not be.
He placed his hands on her shoulders, and she moved to shake herself free from him. But still, he held onto her, gently drawing her to his chest.
She stiffened, but then melted into his embrace. He slowly rubbed her back, as her soft sniffling turned into full, racking sobs, as she clenched tightly to his robe and cried into his chest.
"I'm sorry." He murmured, pressing his cheek to the top of her head. "I'm sorry I cannot be him. You deserve that happiness… but I cannot provide it. I'm sorry."
He said nothing else after that, only continued to comfort her in the ways he knew how. She continued to sob in his arms. For their past life, or for this one, he did not know. But he held her anyways.
After a few more minutes, Xingyue finally settled, her tears slowing to a stop. She let out a shaky breath, pulling away slightly to look up at him.
"You could still kiss me, you know." She whispered, and he gently shook his head.
"I couldn't. It wouldn't be fair. If I kiss you now, would you be able to forget about me?" He asked. Her silence was all the answer he needed. Jintian sighed, petting her head.
They had only really known each other a short amount of time. Two weeks, nearly three. But after spending every waking moment together, Jintian had come to care for her much in the same way he cared for his life long friends. She had been kind to him, a stable presence that he hadn't quite known he needed.
To say he had not developed an infatuation with the beautiful, strong woman before him would be a lie. But he knew in the end that was all it was. Two weeks, even to a mortal, was but a fleeting moment, let alone a cultivator like himself. In a year's time, this would only be a fond memory. In ten year's time, it would be something he vaguely recalled had happened. And in a hundred, long after she passed?
Kissing her would be selfish. It would be binding her to a promise he could not be sure he could keep. Even if in this moment, it was all he wished to do.
Finally Xingyue sighed, pulling away completely. The sudden lack of her presence ached, but he pushed that feeling far from his mind. Instead, he watched as she slowly reached up to her hair pin, and pulled it free.
As her hair tumbled down, she held her hairpin out to him. He studied it for a few moments, before realizing with a start what it was.
"My grandfather's War Bow." She said, pressing it into his hands. It was tiny, obviously small enough to pass as a hair pin. But as he scanned it with his spiritual sense, he was shocked to find that it held a surprising current of spiritual energy within it.
"He also called it the Three Thunders Bow." She continued. "He'd said it was a Qi Condensation treasure. Every day, its master can shoot the bow three times. The power of these shots depend on the power of the cultivator, as it uses their Qi to form the arrows."
Jintian looked at her, a sudden hot lump forming in his throat. She bowed her head to him. "WIth this, our deal is complete. Thank you for guiding me to Jianling, Shen Jintian. I apologize for the state I was in just before our farewell. Our time together, though brief, was… more than anything I could have asked for. Thank you."
With that, she rose from her seat. Jintian clenched his fist around the bow, wanting to speak but not knowing what to say as she slowly turned away from him, walking to the door that separated their private room from the rest of the inn.
"Xingyue." He finally managed to say her name just as she pressed her hand on the door. She stopped, slowly turning her head to face him. Jintian thought about what words to say. What could he say, to express the entirety of his feelings?
After a few moments, he settled for the only thing he could think of. "You are the most wonderful woman I have ever met. And I am a damn fool for not kissing you." He declared, and she stared at him for a few moments. Until, a small smile bloomed on her features.
"At least you know. Jerk Jintian." She whispered, before turning away and leaving him in the room alone. He stared at the closed door between them for a long, long time, before finally he sighed and poured himself another drink.
After picking up his glass, though, he hesitated for a few moments before slamming it down and grabbing the entire bottle instead, taking a long swig from it.
"What a life it would have been." He muttered to himself, chuckling bitterly, before taking another swig.
-
Jintian did not see Xingyue the following morning, nor did he look for her. After stepping out into the early morning bustle of the city springing to life, he looked back at the inn for a few moments, before turning away to begin his restock of supplies for his journey.
The mountain city was grander than any other he had visited, stone houses carved from the very mountain itself. Several spires dominated the sightline of the city, where he could see countless people milling on the balconies that stretched out from it or climbing the staircases within.
Due to the city's nature, there was a surprising amount of verticality to the structure of its layout. He would occasionally stop a resident to ask where he might procure certain things, and after following their directions found himself regularly ascending or descending various flights of stairs to cross to a different plateau within the mountain.
Finally satisfied with the state of his supplies, and having spent the majority of his liang, he finally found the Border Bureau. It was a relatively small building, compared to the other Offices he had seen within the city. Furthermore, he realized that there was very little traffic entering or exiting the building.
After scanning it with his spiritual sense, he was also startled to realize that every person inside of it was a cultivator. Most only in the First Circle, but there were a few who were in the Second and Third Circle, as well as others he could not gauge the strength of.
Jintian then felt a wave of pressure wash over him, not enough to push him to the earth, but enough to settle heavily on his shoulders. He then also heard a clear, gruff voice inside of his head, separate from his own thoughts.
Come inside then, you country bumpkin. Don't you know it's rude to scan other cultivators with your sense without even a hello?
Jintian felt the hairs along the back of his neck raise as the pressure left him. Divine Sense! His teacher had told him that Divine Sense was the evolution of spiritual sense, available only to those who had reached Foundation Establishment.
Swallowing thickly, he squared his shoulders and stepped foot into the building. Jintian was then immediately bathed in the scent of incense, and he realized with a start that it was the same kind of medicinal incense he had used in Kang Shanxi's cave for his own cultivation.
The interior of the building was thus thick with spiritual energy, but he did not dare begin to absorb it, afraid of offending the Foundation Establishment expert in the building.
He had detected at least a dozen people with his spiritual sense, but as he entered the main lobby, he only saw three sitting at a desk, chatting casually amongst themselves. There was a pot of tea between them, and as they sipped, he could sense that they were passively enriching themselves with the medicinal energy around them.
One of the cultivators, a young woman wearing azure robes, noticed his entry and stood with a smile. Jintian felt the hatred in his heart surge as he recognized the color of the robes.
They were the same color that Wu Mingjie and the other attackers of his village wore.
His fists immediately clenched, his teeth grinding inside of his mouth as his Qi involuntarily surged through him. The woman stumbled back, shock crossing her features, and the other two cultivators hurriedly stood with her.
"Can we help you?" One of the other cultivators, also wearing the same azure robes, asked warily. Jintian stared at them for a few moments, the rage sharpening inside of his body like a sword itching to be drawn. Finally he forced himself to take a deep breath, screwing his eyes shut and settling the Qi inside of him.
After several moments, the tension in his body relaxed, while his fists unclenched and the hatred inside of him settled.
"Ah… my apologies. Wu Clan?" He finally asked quietly, to which all three of the cultivators nodded. "I did not mean to act like that. I'm a bit frightened of your clan, is all."
This seemed to soothe their nerves, as the two men finally sat down once again, though did not return to their casual conversation. Instead they watched him warily, while the woman approached, her smile back but noticeably tighter than before.
"How might I be able to help you?" She asked, and he shook himself from his earlier wrath.
"Ah… I became a cultivator here in this mortal realm. I was hoping to leave to explore the rest of the continent." He answered, and the woman nodded at that.
"I see. Very well, the matter is simple enough. You will need an identification badge imbued with your spiritual sense registered with us, if you wish to return. This way we can verify your identity and register you as a resident of this mortal realm." She said, flicking the sleeve of her robe. "We can provide this service for you for one spirit stone, or two thousand liang. If you wish to simply leave without registering with us, that is also fine. The north gate will allow you to exit, you need only inform the guards of your status as a cultivator. Please note that reentry without registration, however, will prove very difficult unless you have a contact who can vouch for you here in the mortal realm."
Jintian listened attentively, before nodding. He was once again grateful for his encounter with Chen Ruide, as he pulled out a singular spirit stone from his bag of holding and held it out for the woman.
"I would like to register, please." He said, and the woman nodded, her smile loosening slightly as he remained amicable. She took it from his hands, while the other two also seemed to finally relax a bit, conversing amongst themselves lowly.
After a few moments, the woman returned with a small jade slip. "Imbue your Qi into this, and then scan it with your spiritual sense. That will complete your registration." She instructed, and he did so. Soon after, a small set of characters was imbued into the jade slip, which she tied a thin rope around before sending it floating away further into the office. She then turned to look back at him. "You are now free to leave this mortal realm as you wish. Like I said, simply go to the northern gate of the city, and inform the guards manning it of your intent to leave. Please note that your identification badge is valid for only twenty years, after which time if you have not returned will expire, and you will need to pay another spirit stone to re-register. If you have returned, you may simply re-register with us for free."
Jintian nodded, making sure to memorize the important pieces of the conversation as he bowed and took his leave. The woman returned his bow slightly, and as he left, she heard the voice of the Wu Clan ambassador in charge of the office resound in her mind through their divine sense.
Interesting fellow. Xiao Yuan, did you recognize the emblem on the back of his robes?
The woman, Xiao Yuan, frowned slightly before shaking her head. The man had been handsome, which was why she had stood so eagerly. But then he had frightened her deeply by bringing his Qi down upon her, and after that she had only been eager to see him leave.
"I did not, Senior." She said, and she heard the voice laugh slightly in her mind.
I suppose this far south, and given how young you are, you would not recognize the emblem. But among those who lived through it, further to the north, the emblem has become a little ominous.
Xiao Yuan pursed her lips. "Ominous? Why would it be ominous?" She questioned, and her senior chortled.
Well… it is of no consequence to us. But if you ever hear the name Frostheart begin to spread its name through the continent once more, remember this young man from today. Remember him well.
Xiao Yuan jumped slightly. She had not recognized the emblem, but the name itself was something she had heard her parents and elder cousins reminisce upon, on many occasion.
Frostheart. The mad man who had nearly defeated a Great Sect entirely on his own, before submitting to the death penalty to spare the members of his sect from total annihilation.
She hurriedly ran to the door, craning her neck and hoping to catch one last glimpse of the man her senior had taken an interest in. But alas, through the crowd of Jianling, the young man had disappeared.
-
Jintian, oblivious to the conversation happening in his absence, had finally found the northern gate after nearly twenty minutes of a brisk walk through the city. Which would have been comparable to a horse's full gallop.
The gate itself was small, perhaps only twice the size of his person. Compared to the entrance gate to the south of the city, which stood at nearly ten meters, it really was comparatively tiny.
There was only one guard who manned it, sitting in a chair near a guard house. He had watched his approach, before standing as he got closer.
"Hold. This gate is special access only." The guard commanded, to which Jintian raised a hand, beckoning the guard closer to him.
"I'm a cultivator." He whispered once the guard approached, and the guard immediately nodded.
"I see. Then please, continue on your way sir." He said, stepping aside and opening the gate for him.
Jintian stared at the darkness that laid beyond the door, a tunnel carved through the mountain itself that would lead to the rest of the wider world. He then looked back at the city of Jianling, and even further past that. He looked at the entirety of the mortal realm, what he had called home for his life.
And then he turned, and walked through the gate.