Su Ling crossed the room without looking at any of the other disciples and stopped next to where Chen Wu sat.
For a moment, she only stared at him.
She said."This village head, Something about him isn't right. His interest in this tomb and now a banquet, we have already wasted time and.."
Chen Wu didn't respond, his expression unchanged. Which forced her to shut whatever she was saying.
The silence deepened and she remained in it, then something happened to her face, there was a change in it beginning from her eyes and moving down the face, she gazed at her own hands for a moment before looking back at him.
"Why…are you still." She stopped. "I'm sorry. For what I did back then." Her voice had dropped further. "I didn't know what I was doing. I wasn't thinking clearly, I wasn't..." Tears came down her cheek and landed on the back of her hand. She looked at it like it had surprised her. "Chen Wu."
But even after this Chen Wu's eyes didn't flinch. He exhaled once and shifted, pulling himself up from the wall and standing.
He reached for his outer robe beside him and shook it out before putting it on.
"I don't know how you and Mei got onto this expedition," he said. "But if you're planning something again—"
Right then—
Cutting off his words, both her hands grabbed him from behind, and she leaned back against him with her shoulders, her voice unsteady. "No. No, I told you I'm sorry, how could we— I just want you to forgive me, please, just..." She couldn't even finish it.
Chen Wu looked down at her for a moment, then freed himself from her grip with a single pull and stepped out through the doorway, "Don't follow me," and walked away down the corridor.
Su Ling stood there before leaning back against the wall behind her. She lowered her head and a quiet sob slipped out.
After a short while, the door opened again and Mei slipped inside. Her eyes found Su Ling immediately, and she crouched down beside her, one hand reaching out. "What happened? What did he—"
But Su Ling shook her head, and Mei fell silent, staying beside her without asking anything more.
Night settled over Bai Village. The last daylight pulled back from the rooftops, and lanterns began to glow one by one until the garden behind the mansion was filled with light.
Long tables covered with food and jars of wine.
The village families were already there, men and women in robes trimmed with beast hide and fur, their conversations loud and their cups already filled.
And when the disciples entered the garden, all heads turned and the conversations shifted slightly.
Chen Wu walked at the front of the group in a golden outer robe, the eyes that followed the whole group now only settled on him and stayed there.
At the main tent in the garden's centre, the village head and his family rose from their seats.
"Welcome, welcome." Bai Village head spread his hands, his voice carrying the warmth of a host who had prepared carefully for this moment. "Clouded Peak Sect honors us with your presence. Please, sit, eat, drink. Tonight you are our honored guests."
Chen Wu bowed politely along with the others. "We are grateful for the village head's hospitality."
They were shown to their seats, the disciples arranged along one side of the main table with the Bai family across from them. The grandson sat beside Chen Wu and settled into his seat.
"Forgive me for not introducing myself earlier. I am Bai Feng," he said while facing Chen Wu. Then he pointed with his finger to the two younger girls sitting farther down the table. "My two younger sisters, Bai Yun and Bai Xia."
Both girls looked toward Chen Wu and offered small bows from their seats, their smiles bright and slightly amused at something only they shared.
Further down the table Su Ling's eyes moved from the two girls to Chen Wu and back, and beside her Mei lifted a cup of water and drank without commenting.
The banquet continued, food arriving in steady succession, conversations opening and branching across the table.
Time passed and slowly the food diminished. And the chatter quietened.
Then Chen Wu set down his cup and looked across the table at the village head directly.
"you mentioned earlier—"
But before he could say more, the village head raised a hand, stopped him and glanced at the guard standing by the front of the tent.
The guard nodded, understanding the gaze and disappeared through the back entrance of the tents.
The conversations at the table slowed. Bai Feng sat back slightly in his seat. Even the village families at the outer tables seemed to feel something change, their voices dropping without apparent reason.
The tent flap opened and the guard returned, and behind him came a middle aged man walking with caution.
Stopping at the main table the man bowed deeply toward the village Head.
"Father."
The Village head nodded without looking at this man who was his son.
The man then straightened and looked around the table at the assembled disciple before carefully sitting down on the empty seat.
He grabbed a cup of wine first and drank it in one go. "Ah, this is what I needed the most."
Everyone was staring at him, to which he smirked. "Oh, you want the information about what's in the crack, hehe." He paused, thinking deeply. "Where should I start… mmm, after I went down with my men."
Everyone turned serious.
He continued, "The staircase descended longer than expected through a narrow tunnel, and on many steps there were traps set, flying blades, falling stones. Many of my men died, but we still didn't stop. Finally when we reached the bottom where we found ourselves in a corridor running left and right, so we separated into two groups." He picked up another cup of wine.
"Haha, maybe I was lucky that I chose the left side, because at the end, in front of us, was a big door with some ancient inscriptions…and when I touched the door." Every eye at the table was fixed on him, expecting.
"Nothing happened! Haha." Their faces fell.
"But suddenly!" His face turned serious.
"I heard a creepy laugh, I turned at the others and saw they had covered their ears with their hands. And then the laughter ended with a heavy voice saying… YOU ARE NOT WORTHY!
The man stood up from his seat ready to leave, but before he could, Hou Zi asked hurriedly, "After that?"
He turned towards Hou Zi, "What else? We ran for our lives." And he left.
SILENCE
Everyone was left in deep thought when Bai Feng, who was beside Chen Wu, reached into his robe and pulled out a folded piece of paper, then set it on the table.
Chen Wu and others noticed it.
"My uncle drew this map last night," Bai Feng said, "It contains information about the traps and some important points where these traps are located."
Chen Wu looked at the folded paper for a long moment, then up at the Village Head across the table. Who had been sitting with his hands folded in front of him through his son's entire account.
"My son nearly died," he said. "And he is willing to give you this and everything he knows about what is inside that tomb…..In exchange we only want a fair share of whatever you bring out. A written agreement, binding between your sect and my village." He unfolded his hands and placed them flat on the table. "That is all we ask."
Hou Zi's breath came out sharply through his nose. "How much?" he said.
The Village Heads expression shifted by a fraction. "Forty percent of what you bring."
Every disciple's eyes widened at the demand and they looked ready to argue. However, Chen Wu stopped them with a single glance and turned to the head. "Thirty, no more."
The Village Head went silent for a second. "Agreed."
The tension at the disciples' side of the table did not disappear, but it shifted. Hou Zi looked at Chen Wu with questions in his eyes, but Chen Wu's face showed nothing, so he let it go.
The banquet resumed around them. Food was brought out again and wine was poured and the outer tables recovered their noise.