Immortality Starts With Generosity

A moonless night had fallen over Clearsprings City and again he and Lan Fen stole out like thieves. After leaving the city proper they made their way to the stretch of forest that separated flat civilization from towering mountains. Rather than go any deeper they instead circled eastward under the cover of the brush.

He cycled qi to his eyes to better see but there was a limit to his vision in a world with no light. Even Lan Fen seemed to fade in and out of existence like a of ghost. The only thing he was certain of was her five layers of qi cultivation. Like a beacon, he locked his sense onto it and used it to guide his path.

“Stop here,” Lan Fen said. She crouched low and peered past the bushes into the cleared land that surrounded Clearsprings City.

He leaned over her and looked into the darkness at a mishmash of lights. A few tall walking fires became men carrying torches. Soft square lights were the windows of illuminated buildings. Between both lights were numerous glowing orange lights low to the ground and evenly spaced. It reminded Chen Haoran of a plane runway if somebody had filled the whole tarmac with lights rather than just the sides. Amidst the lights, he saw familiar shocks of white hair.

“Lan Fen,” he whispered. “What is this place?”

“A medicine garden,” she whispered back. “One of many that the Lan family owns.”

He knew enough now to know she meant spirit herbs instead of literal medicine, although given the way many spirit herbs could be consumed for immediate effect perhaps the term wasn’t that far off. The orange lights must have been the spirit herbs then.

He tapped Lan Fen on the shoulder. She looked back and he waved his middle finger at her. She held up two fingers of her own and returned to observing. Song Yuelin had indeed followed them and was close by.

“What’s the plan?” he asked.

“Sneak in, steal everything we can, and burn whatever we cannot.”

A simple enough smash and grab then. He felt his adrenaline start to rush and mix with anxiety as he processed the situation. He had been through plenty of exciting situations ever since waking in this world but he still felt a strange fearful glee facing this one. They were dressed like ninjas and ready to rob an unsuspecting company blind, it had a sort of criminal charm to it, the kind he’d fantasize about but never be reckless enough to do back on Earth.

He tamped a lid on his boiling emotions and focused. “What do we do about the guards?” They would be the biggest variable to deal with. While it was too far for him to sense their cultivation he was sure Lan Fen wouldn’t lead them into a situation they couldn’t handle.

“There are three at the Eighth-Layer.” Lan Fen didn’t turn around. “I will handle them. Kill the rest.”

Chen Haoran stopped. His rising adrenaline flat-lined. “Excuse me?”

Lan Fen turned to face him. “Is there an issue?”

“Do we really need to kill everyone?”

“You were not so squeamish when you killed the thugs from before. Why are you hesitating now?” He could hear the frown in her voice.

“They were trying to kill me, that’s not the same as going over and killing people who’ve never done anything to me.”

“The Lan family is already your enemy, what more reason do you need?”

“The Lan family is my enemy because of my own decisions. These people have done nothing to me.”

“And? They are still your enemy. Do you think they will show you the same courtesy?”

“I’m not going to just kill everyone I pick a fight with,” he said, growing frustrated. “You should have told me what you were planning before we came out here.” He would have stayed behind if he had known.

“What did you expect then,” Lan Fen harshly replied. “All of our actions till now have been to cause the downfall of the Lan family. What do you think that means? Do you think the other families will be content with just taking away their wealth and status?” There was murder in her voice. “Do you think I will? This was always going to end in bloodshed. I refuse to believe you had no idea.”

“I know what will happen to the Lan family,” he bit back. “I was never going to stop you from getting your revenge.”

“Then what do you want? Do you think they will show you mercy? Shall I lead the guards over here so they can try to kill you?”

“Yes,” the venom with which he spoke cut short her next words. “Bring them here right now and if any of them try to kill me I’ll kill them.” He looked to where he thought her eyes were. “I’m not about to put myself in a situation where I have to take a life though.” A black void stared back. “Not for someone else.”

Never again.

The air was thick with tension and something else that weighed down on Chen Haoran. He didn’t know what the feeling was till he felt it emanating from Lan Fen. It was her presence. Something that had once been so comfortable now became stifling.

“You said you wanted to become more valuable to me.” Her voice was cold.

“There are some things I won’t give away Lan Fen,” he said, his voice grave. “Not even to you.”

“Are you going to get in my way, Chen Haoran?”

“No.” He looked away. “I’m hypocritical enough to support everything you do. Even the things I disagree with.”

Lan Fen was silent. At that moment he would have done anything for just a flash of light so he could see her face. “I will be back,” she finally said. She disappeared into the night, the crunch of leaves the only sign of her passing and even that soon vanished.

Chen Haoran sighed and sat heavily at the base of a nearby tree. He looked up to the stars but found them blocked by the foliage. He sighed again. It was a huge risk to argue with Lan Fen, not only would this potentially ruin their relationship Song Yuelin no doubt heard all of it. His behavior now was a clear break with how the Young Master would act. He knew that his predecessor wouldn’t shy from killing at least.

Song Yuelin appeared, looking more shadow than man in the darkness. Chen Haoran didn’t react.

Just beyond the tree line, they saw lights silently snuff out one by one. Soon the sound of fighting and screaming could be heard. Steel hissed and techniques ignited and fizzled in the same moment. Lan Fen had started her bloody work.

“She’s quite skilled,” Song Yuelin remarked. “I haven’t met someone at a level so below me who could hide their cultivation as well as her.” Song Yuelin tilted his head as a few particularly loud screams were cut short. “Good at fighting too.”

Chen Haoran said nothing.

“I think your sister would like her.”

“What do you want, Song Yuelin,” he demanded.

“How could this servant desire anything in front of his master?” Chen Haoran could imagine the faux innocence on his face as he spoke.

For once though he had no patience for it.

“Perhaps you and I had more in common than I thought then,” he bit out.

Song Yuelin went still. The around them went still with him. “How so?” His words broke the frozen air.

Chen Haoran had to watch his words, drop the topic, anything.

He didn’t.

“We both give up too much for loyalty.”

Song Yuelin’s shadowy form seemed to fold and fluctuate in front of him. At any moment Chen Haoran expected one of those shadowy hands to stretch out and wrap around his neck. Or perhaps he’d command the night itself to consume him. The shadow man stepped forward and Song Yuelin appeared out of the shadow.

“Do you regret it?” Song Yuelin asked. The question had the air of confession about it.

Chen Haoran couldn’t help but laugh. Would he like the essay or the abridged version? There were a lot of things he regretted both right now and back then. It was for more than just survival that he took a dead man’s name. “Yeah, I do,” he smiled. “When has that stopped guys like us though.”

Song Yuelin was stone-faced.

“I don’t like I like the way I’ve been acting,” Chen Haoran admitted. “I’ve just been swept up into the flow.” It was a depressingly common issue with him. One that followed him from Earth.

The last of the screaming stopped. Chen Haoran could hear the crackling of burning wood. For better or worse, he had made his choice.

He sighed.

Did he die just to be the same man twice?