The mountain path narrowed, descending into the throat of Vermilion Gully. Trees pressed in from both sides, tall and dense, their canopy stitching a lattice of shadow that muted the afternoon light. The air grew heavy with the scent of damp moss, wet bark, and the iron-tinged earth beneath. Ji Suyin moved ahead, her steps silent and deliberate, her eyes scanning the ground for the subtle disturbances that marked spirit beast passage.
Yan Shen followed, maintaining a distance of three paces. His movement was fluid, economical. Each step settled into the terrain as if he were part of its gradient.
She glanced back once, a quick assessment. Then again, her gaze lingering longer the second time.
Fourteen suns ago, she'd sensed him barely edging middle Qi Gathering. Now, the realm pressure he emitted was different. It held a settled density, like a deep pool whose surface was calm because its mass could not be easily disturbed.
She adjusted her pace until they walked side by side.
"You weren't this bold before," she said.
"Before, I didn't know what I was."
"And now?"
"I'm still figuring it out. But I know what I'm not."
She arched a brow. "Which is?"
"Fodder."
A faint scoff left her lips. "No one said you were."
"You didn't have to."
She didn't answer right away. Her gaze flicked toward him, thoughtful.
After a while, he added, "Middle Qi Gathering. Full saturation. I'm accumulating for late stage now."
That made her stop.
"…Fourteen suns," she murmured. "You weren't even in middle yet."
He kept walking, calm.
She watched his back a moment longer, mind turning. Whatever he was, he wasn't simple anymore.
They reached a clearing beneath two ancient pines that leaned against each other. Ji Suyin unfurled the mission scroll. "We'll rest here. The beast's trail cuts through that ridge. We'll scout first light."
Her sleeve brushed against his arm as she adjusted the parchment. She didn't move it away.
"You made an impression at the Binding Wall," she said. "Lanlan must be someone… very important."
"She is."
"And yet," Suyin added, voice softer now, "you didn't remove my name."
He looked at her, not surprised, not stirred, just present.
She smiled faintly.
"That's what I thought."
As the sky bled from slate grey to indigo, the clearing grew cold. A fire was unnecessary. Ji Suyin perched atop a low boulder, brushing away pine needles before laying out the scroll once more.
Yan Shen leaned against the trunk of a great pine, his arms folded. The air carried the sharp scent of resin.
After a moment, he asked quietly, "Tell me more about the mission."
Suyin didn't look up, just tapped the parchment with two fingers.
"Every spring, the Ironhide boars migrate down from the cliffs. In normal years, small packs roam and disperse after spawning. But the last scouting report said their numbers this year were… excessive. Twice the usual."
Yan Shen's eyes narrowed slightly. "Too many?"
She nodded. "Too aggressive. Too organized. And there's one reason why... Moonroot bloom."
At that, she glanced up, catching the flicker of interest behind his steady expression.
"Moonroot," she continued, "only grows once every seven years. Long taproot, wide leaves, pale blossom that glows under night dew. The boars eat it during mating season, it spikes their Qi, hardens their bone density, and makes them territorial as hell."
"And the sect wants it harvested now?"
"The cores of the boars are useful. But it's the moonroot that matters."
She gave a slow smile, folding the scroll and tucking it into her sleeve.
"Especially in male enhancement elixirs."
Yan Shen blinked once, unreadable. Her tone had shifted, casual giving way to something lightly suggestive.
"A single blossom," she added, "can strengthen vitality, restore essence, and increase… endurance. Naturally, everyone wants a sample."
Her fingers brushed the edge of her boot, and her posture turned just slightly more relaxed, as if testing his reaction.
Yan Shen's eyes lingered on her a moment longer than they had earlier.
When he finally spoke, his voice was level.
"How many boars?"
"Five packs, if the scouts weren't lying. Maybe more."
"And the biggest one?"
Her smile turned edged.
"There's always a tusk-lord. If we are lucky, Middle Body Refinement. Strong hide, dull instincts. But if the moonroot's already in its system... it'll take more than brute force to crack that armor."
Yan Shen gave a single nod.
He looked out toward the darkening ridge. "And we're the only ones on this mission?"
Suyin leaned back slightly. "Officially? Yes. Unofficially… if we get there first, we keep the profit."
She tilted her head. "Unless you're afraid of a few pigs."
Yan Shen didn't smile.
"I'm not afraid of anything I can hear coming."
She laughed once,a quiet, real sound, then shifted to lie back on the boulder, arms folded behind her head.
The silence that enveloped them was charged with the weight of observations unmade.
Above, the sky deepened into a velvet black.
Beneath it, the gully held its breath.
The two figures stood in a small, defensible clearing as the last amber light drained from the clouds. A chill breeze whispered through the pines. Yan Shen had selected the site.
When he turned, his eyebrow lifted a fraction.
Ji Suyin, who carried only a slender travel pouch and a sheathed longsword, twisted a polished silver ring on her finger. With a light tap and a murmured word, the gemstone set within it shimmered. A soft hum filled the air as strands of silvery-blue light unraveled before her. Objects coalesced into existence: a tent-scroll, a collapsible tripod, two bed mats, and three spirit stones nestled in a bronze formation plate.
His gaze sharpened with focused interest. "A spatial ring," he murmured, stepping closer as she placed the stones.
"Just a small one," Ji Suyin said, activating the simple Qi Gathering Formation. A faint ripple spread from the stones. "Barely a meter wide and three deep inside. Elder Mu gave it to me years ago."
"Elder Mu?" Yan Shen asked, arms crossed.
"A close friend of my father's. They served together in the Southern Pass decades ago." She offered him a mild smile and gestured toward the array. "Come. It's not much, but the gathered Qi will make meditation easier."
He hesitated.
"You go ahead," he said, moving to sit on a tree stump just outside the array's edge. "I'll keep watch tonight."
Ji Suyin gave him a curious glance. "Do you always play the protector, or is this just a habit?"
Yan Shen gave a light chuckle. "Mostly habit. And I don't trust this Gully. Too quiet."
"You trust me even less," she teased, reclining on a mat as the formation glowed beneath her.
"On the contrary," he replied, eyes flicking toward her, "I trust you more than this entire forest."
That earned him a smirk. "Careful, Junior Brother. If you keep talking like that, I might start thinking you enjoy my company."
"Let's not get carried away," he muttered, though a twitch of amusement touched his mouth.
Night fell swiftly. Ji Suyin's breathing deepened into the rhythm of cultivation. The formation pulsed with a soft, regular light.
Yan Shen remained motionless on the stump, his senses extended into the surrounding blackness.
Within the quiet of his mind, a single realization crystallized, clear and undeniable: a spatial ring was not a tool for ordinary disciples. It was a marker of access, of hidden connections.
The mystery of Ji Suyin had not shrunk with proximity.
It had deepened.