Aimless Ascension

Shi Fan was eerily nervous. It wasn't the ideal mood he would like to have to meet a friend. But he couldn't help it, considering the friend was Twilight. Not the time of the day, but a frightening woman who could slit his throat and he wouldn't know.

After everything went in this lair, Shi Fan decided to move again from there to an even lonelier place, but he couldn't do that on his own. He needed a helping hand to move all those treasures from prying gazes.

The area might be rural, but treasures of this caliber tend to call disasters wherever they are taken. From greedy practitioners to wild beasts, anything could get pulled from the ripples of its effect.

Shi Fan had taken care of the ones he could on his own, but for the pure crystal, he required Twilight's help. That was one reason he was nervous. Whether Twilight would accept the deal or not.

The other reason was Twilight herself. True, she wouldn't covet his treasure. He was absolutely . . . well, mostly sure about it. She had chances to run away with his stuff, but she had not. In contrast to her eerie presence, Twilight valued her work ethic and honesty more.

The eerie thing about her was that she could be standing across from him, goggling at him, but he wouldn't know. Unless she wanted him to.

Twilight was a bounty hunter, an assassin. She wasn't that always, of course. Something happened to her fate-lock, Shi Fan didn't know if things went wrong or right, letting her into such a unique situation where she could go invisible, alter herself between physical and spiritual state and other things he wasn't aware of.

As far as Shi Fan was concerned, it seemed like a gift to him. Who wouldn't want to have such spirit arts that would let you travel unhindered throughout the world?

But after the accident, Twilight grew more distant. She left the sect on a number of occasions and eventually cut herself off from the sect. Shi Fan mostly knew her by face in the sect, and only later they became friends.

Shi Fan stared into the darkness, his back getting stiff in the cold of the night. An eerie wind blew from the mountains, slapping his face. But the damnable thing was the cacophony of insects going louder and louder as the evening progressed.

A slight cycling of Qi would drive away all the chilliness, but he couldn't just seal off his ears. Well, he could, but it would leave his senses incapacitated. Thus, Shi Fan decided he would endure the awful chorus of these damnable insects for a little longer.

But as time passed, a grim recognition came to the back of his mind. What if Twilight had better things to take care of than babysitting him?

The more he thought, the more likely it seemed. Perhaps she was busy on some assassin mission, taking care of some corrupt gold ranker and didn't have time to read his message.

As Shi Fan was pondering, the cacophony of the insects stopped abruptly, alerting Shi Fan. The wind stilled too, bringing the eerie vibe to higher ground. Shi Fan stood up on the move to inspect when a dark silhouette came into his vision. Shi Fan unconsciously pulled his Qi, only to recognise the figure as Twilight.

The frame was slender in a dark robe. Shi Fan could only make out the slightly glowing eye which came quite close to that of a canine. Shi Fan wasn't mistaken. Only Twilight could have a presence like that.

Shi Fan only wished she wouldn't be so anticlimactic, silencing all the insects on arrival.

"I see you've succeeded in your advancement," Twilight said. Her voice seemed to hit only where it needed to, into Shi Fan's eardrums.

"Good evening, senior sister," Shi Fan greeted.

Twilight nodded ever so slightly that Shi Fan almost missed it. "So you need to move again?" she asked. "How did it come to this so early?"

Shi Fan laughed dryly, trying to lighten the mood, but he failed miserably. Twilight still stood with her mysterious aura, as her loose robe swayed even in the lack of wind.

Wetting his lips, Shi Fan explained how things went wrong. From a couple of mortals to the weird hound to an even weirder owner, he let out everything he thought relevant.

"A dog?" Twilight asked. "You're sure it's a dog, not some great wolf, morphed into a dog?"

Shi Fan shook his head. "I'm uncertain, but the beast was weird."

Twilight didn't speak for a while as silence descended with the lack of wind and the bickering insects. "And the master," she asked, "he didn't covet the treasures?"

"He seemed perfectly placid that the treasures weren't of any use to him."

"What? Is he some sage to look down on pure crystals?" Twilight snorted. Or it was just his imagination. Twilight's voice grew colder. "I don't think so. Only gem heart experts have no use of pure crystal. To everyone else, pure crystals are everything they need. A genius isn't created by sheer willpower and talent.

"Behind every genius, there's always heaps of pure crystals, spirit marks, and other heavenly treasures."

"But you're not everyone else." Shi Fan said. "You don't covet them."

"Who told you that?" Twilight's canine eyes grew colder.

Shi Fan almost took a step back. That didn't go unnoticed by Twilight's eyes, which softened shortly as she sighed. "Hope that person is virtuous and truly meant what he said, but don't go to sleep, believing everything they say. I shouldn't have to tell you that after what happened to your master."

Shi Fan bit his lips. "What do you think I should do?"

"What you're doing, but faster."

"That's why I called you." Shi Fan took a deep breath and stood straight. "If you agree, should we discuss the terms?"

Twilight nodded. "I will need to look into mortals and the other practitioners. Whether or not they leaked the matter. That's extra work," she said. "Two hundred Silver marks per day. Other remuneration according to difficulties."

The price was steep, but Shi Fan wasted no moment to agree. Twilight didn't disappoint, and she was at least a silver ranker who had killed Gold rankers before.

The price was a bargain, considering her reputation.

Shi Fan made the initial payment immediately, employing her right from this moment. Making sure everything was fair, the dark silhouette vanished.

Shi Fan didn't sigh, however. She could be standing right behind him.