"Do you think someone could truly sell their shadow?" Keeping her voice low, Yue Rin asked A-Ling.
"I'm not sure. The world is vast. Stranger things have happened." A-Ling answered calmly, like she was weighing a strange rumor instead of a horror story.
After finding each other, they talked as they walked toward the Rogue Alliance Pavilion. It seemed the manager had closed it for Qiu Wen's storytelling, and the staff were expected to return as soon as it ended, so Yue Rin was walking A-Ling back.
"Still… that poor girl. All she wanted was to help her sick mother. Qiu Wen didn't even say what happened to her in the end."
"Maybe the shadow replaced her."
"H-How would that even work? A shadow replacing the person?"
"I'm not sure either. But didn't you notice? When Qiu Wen described the shadow's actions, it sounded like it was copying her, studying her, learning how to become her." A-Ling frowned slightly as she thought it through.
"But that doesn't make sense. She sold her shadow, didn't she? And it was inside the lantern. The man took it with him… right?"
"That's true." A-Ling paused, then shrugged. "Maybe she went mad and started seeing things that weren't there."
Yue Rin's stomach sank. "And then maybe… she killed herself."
"That's possible too. In the end, it's a tale. Don't dig so deep you bury yourself in it."
After that, they drifted into safer topics: Qiu Wen himself, his looks, and the strange sword-girl who had silenced thousands with a glance.
By the time they reached the pavilion, the tightness in Yue Rin's chest had eased, even if the story still lingered.
At the entrance to the Rogue Alliance Pavilion, Yue Rin waved goodbye to A-Ling and turned toward the Abacus Pavilion.
It sat just off the central market, where the busiest trade street widened into a clean stone plaza. Close enough that merchants could reach it in a hurry, far enough that the crowd never pressed against its doors.
When Yue Rin arrived, the sign above the entrance read:
Golden Abacus Pavilion
The building was made from pale stone blocks that were fitted together so tightly you could barely see the seams. The doors were dark metalwood, banded in brass, engraved with an abacus pattern so fine it seemed to shift when the light hit it. Two stone lions sat on either side of the steps, not snarling, just watching, as if they'd already measured her the moment she walked up.
Yue Rin took a breath and entered.
Inside, the air was cooler and cleaner, faintly scented with ink and polished wood. The hall was wide, the ceiling higher than it needed to be, and everything felt arranged to keep people moving. A row of reception desks stood ahead, separated by waist-high wooden rails that guided the lines. Behind each desk, clerks sat straight-backed and quiet, faces calm in the way that made you think they'd seen every kind of greed and panic without blinking.
Wooden pillars ran along the queue, and every few steps, a sign was mounted at eye level.
Yue Rin joined the emptiest line. And as it crept forward, the first sign came into view.
[Golden Abacus Pavilion]
(The Golden Abacus Pavilion is a branch of the Golden Abacus Hall, operated by the Golden Abacus Sect. A Pavilion is maintained in the capital city of every kingdom and empire across the Luminor Continent. The Main Hall resides within the Aurelian Empire.)
After a short wait, the person in front of her moved up, and Yue Rin stepped forward. The next sign slid into view.
[Services At This Branch]
(This Pavilion handles deposits and withdrawals of spirit stones, balance inquiries by official disks, and Ledger Card matters including registration, locking, and replacements. This Pavilion also exchanges local coinage and spirit stones in both directions, with denomination exchange available upon request. Fees and exchange rates are posted at the desks each morning.)
A few more people finished, and Yue Rin advanced again until she stood beside the last sign.
[Ledger Cards and Denominations]
(A Ledger Card does not store spirit stones. Spirit stones are held in secured vaults, while the card serves only as authorization tied to your registered identity and Qi imprint. One high spirit stone equals one thousand mid spirit stones. One mid spirit stone equals one thousand low spirit stones. If you are handling anything above a low spirit stone, inform the staff before presenting it for counting.)
Then the person in front of her finished, stepped aside, and it was her turn.
"Hello, how can I help you?"
"Hello. I'd like to check my ledger card balance."
"Of course. Please have it ready while I bring the inquiry disk." The clerk moved quickly, and by the time Yue Rin found her card, an artifact was already waiting on the table.
She searched inside her cloak for the card and, after a few breaths, brought it out.
The inquiry disk looked similar to the one used for payments at the Rogue Alliance Pavilion, but instead of a crystal crown, a narrow panel of square counting-tiles sat at the top, each tile able to display a single digit.
Yue Rin slid her card into the recessed slot, pressed her finger to the mark beneath it, and fed a thin thread of Qi.
The process felt familiar, but this time the light didn't climb into a crystal. It flared across the counting-tiles, then sank into the card. A breath later, the digits ticked upward:
0000030
0000067
0000141
0000261
0000470
When it reached 470, it stopped.
"You currently have 470 low spirit stones in your Ledger Card. Is there anything else?"
"No, thank you."
"Alright. The inquiry fee is one silver coin."
Yue Rin took a silver coin from her cloak, handed it over, then retrieved her card and stepped out of the lane.
"Four hundred and seventy…" Not bad, actually.
Then another thought cut in before she could get too comfortable.
Instead of buying supplies right away, Yue Rin should head to the Central Library and see if she could find more information about the spirit beast guarding the orchid.
Spirit beasts could develop intelligence, and once they did, they fought no differently than humans. Yue Rin wasn't sure when they gained it or how, but she was certain the one inside the secret realm hadn't developed intelligence.
When she stepped out of the Pavilion, a faint unease slid over her.
She looked around. People were moving about as usual. Nothing stood out. Nothing obvious should have set her nerves off.
But her instincts wouldn't flare without reason.
Keeping her guard up, Yue Rin hurried toward the library.
* * * *
After getting an access card and climbing to the cultivation floor, Yue Rin went straight to the spirit beasts section.
She knew what the beast looked like. That silhouette had stayed lodged in her mind since the last time she saw it. But she didn't know its name, its habits, or any weaknesses. Only that the last time she'd seen it, the pressure rolling off it had felt like it was at the mid Body Tempering realm.
So she pulled one book after another from the shelf, flipping through sketches and ink plates, searching for anything that matched that shape.
By the sixth book, her eyes were starting to sting.
Then she found it.
The illustration was rough, but the 'mantle' was unmistakable, moss and dark growth swallowing the creature's crown and shoulders. Yue Rin leaned closer and began to read.
* * * *
{Spirit Beast Registry, Forest Records}
[Mantle Canopy Ape]
(Identification)
A forest spirit beast best known for the 'mantle' that grows over it: moss, lichen, and dark algae clinging to its head, shoulders, and back. In deep shade, it can be mistaken for a mossy stump or a boulder wedged among branches, which is often how a careless cultivator loses their first exchange.
Beneath that cover is a body built for climbing and control: long arms, broad hands, thick wrists, and a heavy chest that hits like a falling log. Its brow is pronounced, and its face sits deep in shadow, making its expression hard to read from a distance.
(Size and build)
Most adults stand roughly 210–260 cm when fully upright, with rare old-growth specimens reaching near 300 cm. Weight varies with season and moisture, but most records place them between 180–320 kg, sometimes more.
Do not judge danger by height alone. Shorter, thicker-armed individuals are often worse, because they are harder to knock off balance and their grip is stronger.
(Favored climate and ground)
It thrives in cool, damp forests: ravines, stream corridors, shaded slopes, and places where morning mist lingers.
(Diet and feeding habits)
It is not a pure hunter. Most of its feeding is quiet: nuts, seeds, fruit, shoots, roots, insects, and anything rich in fat or sweetness. It tears open hives for honey and larvae, and along streams it flips stones for soft river life.
In lean seasons it will take small deer, goat, or piglets, usually by dropping from above or charging through brush. Signs of feeding are often higher than expected, cracked nuts and fruit skins in the mid-canopy rather than on the ground.
(Daily rhythm)
Sightings cluster around dawn, late afternoon, and foggy mornings, when mist and shade hide movement.
In cold stretches it grows sluggish and feeds heavily when warmth returns. In wet seasons its range expands along water.
(Territory and lairs)
Many keep a crude 'sleep platform' high in the canopy: not woven neatly, but crushed into shape by weight. Others take cliff hollows or dense vine knots where a large body can still vanish if it stays still.
If a pocket of canopy feels too still, treat it as territory before you call it luck.
(Field signs)
The first warning is often absence: birds fall silent, small animals vanish, and the forest goes quiet in a way wind cannot explain. After that come physical signs: torn bark above a man's reach, branches pulled apart, and high limbs scraped with green-black residue.
Near streams, deep palm-like prints sometimes remain in wet clay where it climbed out or paused to feed.
(Temperament and approach)
When it commits, it does not circle and 'trade blows'. It closes, breaks your stance, and takes control. Survivors often share the same mistake: they watch the ground, and fail to read the branches.
(Signature combat patterns)
Its common opener is the Canopy Drop, a full-body fall meant to crush stance and steal breath. If the impact doesn't end the fight, it immediately hunts a grip, because once it holds wrist, shoulder, collar, or waist, escape becomes the real battle.
On the ground it favors slamming you into earth, tree, or stone to rattle your control. If space opens, it tears branches to swing wide and ruin footwork, and may throw stones or bark chunks to steal attention for the heartbeat it needs to close.
(Strengths)
Its advantage is closeness, endurance, and control. Shallow cuts rarely slow it quickly, and damp forests favor it by muting sound and keeping the mantle thick.
Most weapons are made to cut. Few are made to escape a hold.
(Weaknesses)
Open ground reduces its advantage. Without canopy and shadow, its approach is easier to read and punish.
Hands, wrists, and shoulder joints are the best targets, not because of pain, but because damaged joints weaken holds and climbing. Heat and smoke can help by drying the mantle and revealing its shape, but do not mistake that for an instant victory.
(Caution to readers)
In its favored terrain, treat the canopy as part of the beast. If you must pass through damp shade, walk as if watched from above, because you often are.
* * * *
After she finished reading, Yue Rin began to formulate a plan based on the information she got.