Bai Lu

Xiao Ran did not stop. He kept walking. Hu Liena caught up, and they crossed the forecourt plaza one behind the other. Xiao Ran did not look back again, but he felt a gaze on the back of his neck, like a fine needle hovering just above his skin.

When they reached the middle of the plaza, Bai Lu caught up.

She walked lightly, her footsteps almost soundless, her long silver-white hair swaying behind her. Her pace was neither hurried nor slow, as though she simply happened to be going the same way. Once she drew near, she did not deliberately crowd him. She walked beside Xiao Ran, keeping two paces between them.

"Don't be nervous," Bai Lu said. "I'm just heading back to my quarters. It's on the way."

Hu Liena slowed half a step, putting Xiao Ran between herself and Bai Lu. Her tail hung behind her, seemingly relaxed, but its tip was tense.

"Where are the guests from Sea God Island staying?" Hu Liena asked casually.

"The West Side Hall," Bai Lu said. "It used to house foreign guests. It's quite peaceful." She tilted her head to glance at Hu Liena. "You don't have to keep your tail so tense. I really mean no harm."

Hu Liena did not answer.

The three walked in silence for a dozen or so steps. Bai Lu suddenly slowed, falling into place on Xiao Ran's other side so that she and Hu Liena had him sandwiched between them. She did not look at Xiao Ran, keeping her gaze on the stone path ahead.

"That thing you're carrying," she said, her voice very low, "pulsed twice this morning. The first time was around the hour of the dragon. The second was just now. I couldn't pinpoint the direction the first time. The second came from nearby."

Xiao Ran kept walking. "I don't understand what you're talking about."

"Yes, you do."

Hu Liena cut in from his other side. "What exactly do you want?"

Bai Lu stopped. She stood in the center of the plaza, sunlight falling from behind her. Her almost translucent face held little expression, but her gaze was direct.

"Sea God Island has an old archive containing records of anomalous sites all across the continent. Before I came to Spirit Hall, I looked into the western forest. There was a page in the old records about 'A Heart Beneath the Abyss.' But half of that page had been torn out."

Xiao Ran stopped.

"What was written on the half that was torn out?" Hu Liena asked.

"I don't know," Bai Lu said. "But the tear was old. At least twenty years old. In other words, someone got to it before I did." She looked at Xiao Ran. "You went to that place yesterday. This morning, an internal Spirit Hall record stated that 'the disturbance deep in the western forest has been investigated.' So I guessed you were back."

Xiao Ran started walking again. Bai Lu did not follow. Remaining where she was, she called after him, "If that thing beneath the abyss wakes up, it won't be the first thing affected. That thing you're carrying will."

Xiao Ran did not look back. Hu Liena walked beside him, and they returned to their quarters in silence. Once the door was shut, Hu Liena spoke first. "She knows too much."

"Mm."

"But she said someone tore out that page from the old records." Hu Liena leaned against the table. "Who could get into Sea God Island's old archive and tear it out?"

Xiao Ran sat down in a chair and thought for a moment. "Someone who could enter Sea God Island's old archive and also access records about Spirit Hall's western forest. That narrows it down."

"Ghost Douluo?"

Xiao Ran said nothing. Ghost Douluo had said he had visited the hollow thirty years ago, written things down on the Parchment, and searched the old records for "Sealed Abyss." He knew far more about the depths of the western forest than he had told them yesterday.

"But he wasn't necessarily the one who tore it out," Xiao Ran said. "He only said he'd searched old records. He didn't say whose records they were. Sea God Island and Spirit Hall had several personnel exchanges in the past. If someone had access to both sides—"

He stopped. Hu Liena followed his train of thought, her ears pricking up.

"Bibi Dong."

Xiao Ran shook his head. "Bibi Dong wouldn't need to tear it out. She could just take it."

"Then who else could it be?"

Xiao Ran was silent for a while. "Have you ever wondered why Bai Lu came?"

Hu Liena tilted her head to look at him.

"Sea God Island sent someone to Spirit Hall for an exchange visit," Xiao Ran said slowly. "They could have come anytime, but she arrived the day before we returned. She asked about our movements, knew the records about what lay beneath the abyss, could sense the card pulsing, and half the old record was torn out—she isn't here to study."

Hu Liena walked to the window, lifted the curtain a fraction, and looked outside. There was no one in the courtyard. She lowered the curtain and turned back.

"You think she's here to find the person who tore it out?"

"Or to find what was torn out," Xiao Ran said. "She said something about 'a heart beneath the abyss, a lock upon the heart.' If the lock starts moving—she didn't say what came next. She might not know what comes next, either. She came to Spirit Hall to find that next line."

Hu Liena leaned against the table again, draping her tail over the chair back and swishing it twice. "Then why did she lay her cards on the table with you?"

Xiao Ran slipped a hand inside his clothes and felt the edge of the card. It was cool and still, without a pulse. He withdrew his hand.

"Because she knows she can't find it on her own."

Three knocks sounded at the door. They were soft and evenly spaced.

Hu Liena and Xiao Ran exchanged a glance. Hu Liena went over and opened the door. A steward stood outside, holding a folded letter. "Lord Ghost Douluo asked me to deliver this. For Xiao Ran to open personally."

Xiao Ran took the letter, and the steward turned and left. He unfolded it. Inside was only one line in Ghost Douluo's handwriting, scrawled but legible—

"Tonight at midnight. The small room on the east side of the Side Hall. Come alone."

Xiao Ran folded the letter and put it away. Hu Liena glanced at the words on the paper without asking more. She only said, "Do you trust him?"

"I'll know once I go tonight."

Hu Liena went to her bed and sat down, pulling off her boots. Her tail rested loosely across her knees. "What about Bai Lu? She's bound to come looking for you again."

"Let her," Xiao Ran said. "She has information, and I have the card. Whoever shows their hand first loses out."

Hu Liena gave a quiet huff. "You're becoming more and more like someone from Spirit Hall."

"You said that last time."

"Last time was a warning." Hu Liena lay down with her back to him, curling her tail over her calves. "This time, it's a compliment."

Xiao Ran did not answer. He leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. The card inside his clothes lay perfectly still. But just as he was about to drift off, it gave another very faint pulse. Immediately afterward, that heartbeat, so distant it was almost inaudible, quickened by a beat as well. Just like last night. The card moved first, and the heartbeat followed.

Xiao Ran opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling.

Tomorrow, I need to find Ghost Douluo and get a clear answer. What exactly did he tear out?

Xiao Ran did not rest for long. As dusk fell, Hu Liena woke briefly. She rolled over and saw him still sitting in the chair. Her tail dangled over the edge of the bed and brushed the floor.

"Aren't you going to sleep?"

"I slept for a while," Xiao Ran said.

Hu Liena did not call him out. She sat up, retrieved a waterskin from the head of her bed, and took a couple of sips, then leaned against the wall and stared into space. They had not lit a lamp, and the last trace of daylight outside the window faded away. The two simply sat in the darkness, each lost in their own thoughts. After a long while, Hu Liena spoke. "When you go at midnight, what are you going to ask?"

"I'll hear him out first."