Yuan Xuelan wiped sweat off his brows and tugged at the orange sleeve that was a little too small for him. "Ahh, why are you guys so short?"

The beaten Seven Moons disciples sat there sullenly but the tallest one of the bunch complained, "Isn't it you who's too tall?"

A sharp glare instantly silenced him, Xuelan's face was pulled into a sneer, "Who said you could speak?"

Meanwhile, neither Liu Sumeng nor Hui Moxiang were having issues adjusting the fit of their stolen garments. 

Hui Moxiang hummed, "So what should we do with these guys? It's better if we kill them, right?"

They shrank and paled at his words and Yuan Xuelan was already curling his hand over Silei. Liu Sumeng felt an odd tug in his chest. It was not like he was a person unused to violence, nor was he a person who claimed to have outstanding morals, but if he could prevent pointless bloodshed at Xuelan's hands then he would.

"There's no need," he said quickly. "We can bring them back as prisoners later. It will suit us better."

Hui Moxiang pursed his lips, with arms crossed over his chest, "I don't know…Isn't it a bad idea to just leave them here? I think killing them off would be a lot cleaner."

But Liu Sumeng was insistent, "We will not. It's fine."

Yuan Xuelan also seemed hesitant at first and did not wish to unfurl his fingers from his sword hilt. An itch for violence was waiting for him to scratch but there would be other chances. More importantly... 

"I agree with Sumeng."

Hui Moxiang's demon eyes pointedly traveled between the two cultivators. A teasing brow shot up with a smirk. "Of course, Young Master Yuan agrees. Why wouldn't he agree with his beloved?"

"You!" Yuan Xuelan's face went red with shame. 

His hand tightening around Silei with the promise of violence. This d.a.m.ned demon sure knew how to rub salt into an open wound! He did not enjoy being so thoroughly embarra.s.sed in front of the person who had just rejected him.

"That's enough," Liu Sumeng wedged himself between his two companions before anything dangerous could happen. He sighed and said, "let's not draw too much attention to ourselves. As for these three…"

The Seven Moons disciples looked up at the Ivory Sword Saint with pleading eyes. He wasn't planning on killing them but that didn't mean he wasn't going to take any precautions. After the three bound idiots were knocked unconscious, they finally took their leave.

The undergrowth was thick but any perceivable trails were laden with spells and traps. Though they might be dressed in Seven Moons colors now, it did not mean that they shouldn't move stealthily.

Hui Moxiang was able to divert some of the spells with his demonic energy, allowing Yuan Xuelan and Liu Sumeng to pa.s.s through. Carefully, like this, they were able to creep up to the tall wall that surrounded Hengsheng.

The trees were pressed up the wall and patrols scattered about, guarding the quiet town. A watch tower poked out with more eyes sweeping across the surroundings. There were no entrances on this side of the town.

Daylight was dwindling and they decided to wait there and watch the patrols until the sky went dark.

"The idiots walking back and forth don't look so threatening," Hui Moxiang hummed. A crow perched on his arm shared both gossip and useless information.

"I don't care about what they ate for lunch!" He hissed at it before continuing, "Huh? So there's one guy that's more dangerous than the rest but he's a lazy piece of s.h.i.+t? I guess that's convenient. What about this Fallen G.o.d nonsense… What do you mean you don't have a clue? Stupid birdbrain!"

The information gathering was largely left to Hui Moxiang and his large network of contracted beings. That didn't mean that Yuan Xuelan and Liu Sumeng were going to idle around in wait.

Yuan Xuelan made a small clearing among the fern and gra.s.s and sat down to take a closer look at the sacred peach wood and the diagram for the essence replication talisman.

He had occupied his mind of this particular issue for the entire trip to escape the whirlwind of emotions that came along with being close to the man that had stolen his heart.

Yuan Xuelan had a hard time ignoring the bitter feeling that festered within him. And he was upset with Sumeng for leading him on. And then he became upset with himself for even thinking such a disgusting, selfish thing.

After all…

After all… he really needed to think of a way to properly resonate the talisman with the peach tree wood. And ignore Liu Sumeng.

Liu Sumeng busied himself as well. He was keeping a keen eye on the coming and goings of each guard and counted their numbers.

Now, he knew that there were at most three bodies stationed atop the tower at once, but there was one incense stick of time between which the guards would take a break and switch s.h.i.+fts.

The ones that paced to and fro the walls followed a different pattern. There were usually two that walked the span on the wall, alternating between long and short patrols.

There was a small window of time in which both these guards would face the same direction.

Hm, but he wasn't so concerned about these guards. From this distance, it might be easy to trick the guards in the watchtower quite easily, especially with darkness on their side.

Hui Moxiang set the crow off again, and Yuan Xuelan was gathering up the scattered items set out before him. It was night now, and they were due to action.

"Okay," Hui Moxiang hummed, "Kind of cliche, but there's reasonable belief that this Fallen G.o.d is hidden somewhere in that watchtower. I mean, they don't really have a lot of guys stationed around here."

"Right," Yuan Xuelan nodded, "Then I will follow Sumeng's lead."

The two of them looked in his direction. Liu Sumeng did not mind taking the lead, but since when did he become the designated leader? He decided not to think about this too much. 

"I've been observing the schedules of the guards," he began with an explanation of what he believed to be the best approach.

And thus they waited for that interval of time where only two guards were on the tower and not three. There was torchlight along the wall. Liu Sumeng and Yuan Xuelan stood on opposite ends, their gazes skywards in wait.

A raven gray in plumage flew overhead. It watched the guards below and then gave a telling caw. A strong wind roared and extinguished most of the lights that danced along the wall.

Liu Sumeng and Yuan Xuelan moved at the same time. With their light step technique, they scaled the wall in silence, leaping over the ledge with minute timing. 

The two guards had not even the time to process or understand the descent of darkness before hands reached from behind them to smother their voices.

Yuan Xuelan suppressed the urge to break the man's neck, "Resist and you'll regret it."

Above them, one of the guards shouted, "What happened!?"

The gray raven fluttered down and found its perch on the Ivory Sword Saint's shoulder. The voice that came out of its beak was identical to the voice of the woman locked under Liu Sumeng's hold, "I'm not sure, but there doesn't seem to be a problem!"

Liu Sumeng made quick work, tying his prisoner with rope and talismans that suppressed her power before tossing her over the wall's ledge. He was not so cruel though, and left her a lifeline, tied to a crevice within the wall. She dangled off the wall, struggling and crying behind a gagged mouth.

Yuan Xuelan was supposed to do the same to his prisoner. But the man, though shorter, was burlier than him and unexpectedly nimble for his size. He elbowed Xuelan in the gut, and unsheathed a dagger.

He moved, unthinking, and simply snapped the man's neck.

The fire along the wall was returning one by one, light licking up the side.

And thus he tossed the corpse over the edge. It landed below with a thud.

"What was that?" Their supposed senior's voice called, a head peering over from the watchtower's balcony. Luckily he was still too far to discern much of the people below and with night obscuring his vision further, he could not see what was wrong right away.

The raven responded again, "Ah, no nothing, s.h.i.+xiong just fell on his a.s.s because he got scared of the lights going off."

"..."

"..."

But eventually the man retreated and the three on the wall let out a sigh of relief.

"How long do you think till they notice?" The raven on Liu Sumeng's shoulder asked, this time with Hui Moxiang's masculine voice.

"Not long. They will see that there is no one on the wall. We will move before they come find us."

When there was no one looking directly downward from the watchtower above, Yuan Xuelan and Liu Sumeng promptly jumped off the wall, making way into Hengsheng town.

The sight that greeted them was gray and deathly quiet. Weed had already begun to grow between cobblestone. Some of the doors were left unhinged as well and peoples' belongings littered about the street unattended.

There was a laundry basket, upturned and caught under a pillar from a fallen food stall. A cart still parked along the side of the road, with wares left out on a table next to it. An eerie wind blew past them but without a single whisper that came from the town.

There wasn't even a single drop of blood to tell of violence or ma.s.sacre.

But they had no time to marvel and unravel the horrors that happened at Hengsheng. 

The main road that cut through the town led them to the watchtower, but soon there were the voices of footsteps rus.h.i.+ng about, their enemies alerted that something was not quite right.

Liu Sumeng and Yuan Xuelan ducked into a narrow alley, waiting for the Seven Moons cultivators to clear out from the streets.

"What happened? s.h.i.+t! Where did s.h.i.+jie and s.h.i.+xiong go?"

"Are there intruders? Master Yang is going to kill us!"

Luckily, there was not much organization among the Seven Moons ranks, which made it easy for Liu Sumeng and Yuan Xuelan to quietly wait until everything simmered down and an opening was given.

In the narrow alley they waited, face-to-face.

It was dark, with only a flicker of light that came down from the main street, the glow of torches that followed their enemies as they floundered around.

Liu Sumeng could barely make out the curve of Xuelan's face, the edge of his jaw just catching a stray glimmer.

His voice, a whisper, asked, "Why did you kill that man?"

It was hard to make out his expression. But he could hear the way Xuelan's breath drew in sharp. 

"I...didn't mean to. He was struggling and was going to kill me so..."

"I see."

Of course, he understood. Death and killing were inevitable. But he couldn't help but be unnerved and fearful. That Yuan Xuelan might travel down the same path of violence and insanity once more, all because Liu Sumeng could not stop him.

Because he couldn't be the one to quell the chaos, the unbalance that flared in Yuan Xuelan's core.

...But maybe he was overthinking. His heart, after all, was too attached to this man, in this life and the last. Liu Sumeng let out a sigh. He turned his gaze to the streets, failing to catch Xuelan's dark and frozen expression. 

"Let's go."

"...Okay."

Hui Moxiang, still perched on Liu Sumeng's shoulder, could not understand what it was that he saw. Was this…a lover's spat? For some reason, his trash heart thought that this also had a certain degree of sweetness.

After all, those trashy books he often purchased from peddling merchants would also feature scenarios as such, where the couple would eventually make up with sweet, sweet love-making!