Beware Of Chicken

Their glowstone lights had exploded and part of their sect compound had lifted off from the ground, exposing a section of it they had no idea had existed.

Well, overall they were all happy with what had happened despite the strangeness of it all, as it had exposed “a secret cache of legendary artifacts.”

Rags had to admit the mops and brooms the sect cultivators were staring at with wonder looked really good quality, but legendary?

He kept his mouth shut, instead thanking the Sectmaster for his hospitality and promising to get to the bottom of the strange Qi surge.

From there, they zig-zagged to the Dueling Peaks, hitting a couple more sects. Each sect visited added a name to the list, and made getting to the next one easier—that others had trusted them made them easier to be trusted. Every compound had some minor damage—and old systems had tried to re-engage.

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When they finally got to the Dueling Peaks the Earthly Arena was once more stuck at its zenith, but this time it was refusing to come down. A harried Bao Wen and Director Huizhong had greeted them. Thankfully Delun’s repairs had held up well from the power surge, so there wasn’t any damage.

Once they understood the scope of things, they used the Transmission Stone room to try and contact more members of the Azure Alliance. They got a couple of people, informing them of what had happened and of their findings, but they couldn’t get through to Verdant Hill.

Rags and Wei kept travelling, continuing their mission, probing the extent of what had happened. They tried the transmission stones again in Pale Moon Lake City, but again there was no response from Xiulan.

So they decided to head north, as they had been planning on visiting Tigu and Xiulan for New Year’s anyway. It was pure luck that Miss Biyu had caught them before they left, and well, since they knew her, they were happy to take her along… probably to her regret. She was a right trooper, that girl, and hadn’t complained once, but she was starting to look a bit peaky.

So Rags kept pushing through the snow… until he saw a gap and grinned.

“Oh, thank the Heavens,” Wei grunted as his feet hit paving stones rather than snow for the first time in hours. The wagon, which had been a struggle to keep still and level so they wouldn’t make their charge sick from the motion, suddenly looked light in Loud Boy’s hands. Rags clapped him on the shoulder and grinned.

“Hey, how come you always get the easy parts?” Rags needled his sworn brother, and Loud Boy just rolled his eyes.

“Because I’m just so handsome the Immortals in the Heavens send good things my way,” Wei shot back. Rags barked out a laugh and felt his steps lighten.

“We’re on the home stretch now, Miss Biyu!” he called back to the covered wagon, and after a moment a hand pushed its way past the thick cloth tarp to give him one of Tigu’s thumbs up gestures. Good gesture, that one, and was quickly catching on. It was really clear what it meant. Though it was probably less Tigu’s gesture, and more something from the North Azure Hills? Or maybe just Fa Ram and Master Jin, considering that was the one gesture Tigu, Gou Ren, Yun Ren, and Yin all used.

“Who do you think plowed this? Brother Chun Ke?” Loud Boy asked.

“Nah, Bei Be. You can see over there, how thereʼs little rolls of snow? He was shaving the ice down instead of just pushing it aside. A blade, rather than bulk,” Rags replied.

Wei blinked at the tiny little rolled pieces of snow he hadn’t looked too closely at. “Good eyes, brother.”

“Of course! Itʼs my job to know whatʼs what!” Rags boasted.

Loud Boy rolled his eyes. “Donʼt go getting a big head now.”

He chuckled. They both continued their pace along the road.

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“Misters Rags and Loud Boy?” the guard at the gate to Verdant Hill asked as they gave their names.

“Thatʼs us, along with Miss Biyu of Mengde’s Crystal Emporium in Pale Moon Lake City,” he replied with a friendly smile. The guards at Verdant Hill were good ones. Vigilant, but not asssholes about it. There was a country boy innocence to them that Rags appreciated; he couldn’t imagine these guys raiding neighbourhoods and rounding up the homeless to expel them like those back home.

The guard clasped his hand over his fist and bowed. “You’re all on the welcome guests’ list, sirs, ma’am. The Lord Magistrate welcomes you to his town and begs you to partake of his Palace’s hospitality.”