"Found her!" Longwei's voice rang out as we entered the temple. He wore a black mask and hood combo so as to not be recognised by anyone.
No. I will not admit that he looked cool. It was beautifully paired with his perfectly fitted black robes, tailored far too well for someone allegedly trying to blend in, but he looked ugly. Deeply, offensively ugly. You couldn't see his face and he still looked ugly, which frankly felt like a talent. Enough about that man. We are not giving him any more attention than he already, unfortunately, has. Let's move on to my friends.
Qinyue was the first to rush toward Yanyin. "Aw! Look how adorable you are! I'm Qinyue, by the way. It's so nice to meet you!"
Mei joined her next, eager for introductions. Yanyin simply stared at all of us at once, nodding repeatedly in visible confusion.
"Did the man scare you?" I asked, approaching her, with Liangyu and Jian flanking me. "I'm pretty sure he said something cringeworthy like 'Your guardian angel is here!' didn't he?"
"I actually told her the Devil's here for her," Longwei said, looking pleased with himself.
"Wonderful. Because that's exactly what'll make a kid smile."
Despite the overwhelming presence of so many people surrounding her, Yanyin chuckled at that.
"See?" Longwei said with a smirk.
"You're a tough person to find, lady," I said. "We had to ask around about you, discovered you'd gone to the Bastille, then went on this long walk through a forest where we got lost for quite a while. We found your broken hat, which kind of scared Mei into thinking something might've happened to you-"
"Yeah," Jian added, "Liangyu thought you were as good as dead."
"In my defense," Liangyu raised his hands defensively, "the hat looked like it had been mauled by a bear."
"Anyway," I continued, "we went to the prison, found out you'd just left, walked back the entire path, asked around yet again, heard about the temple, and finally reached you."
"You're talking like it's her fault," Qinyue pointed out.
"What? I'm just letting her know it was quite the lengthy process. I'm Ziyang, by the way," I said, patting her on the head. "This is Liangyu, and this is Jian." I pointed at them in turn. They waved at her with warm smiles.
She looked around in silence for several seconds before asking, "Who are you all?"
"That's an answer which requires quite a bit of explaining," Longwei said, "but let's just say, in short, that we, my dear little child, are here to save your uncle."
Yanyin's eyes widened dramatically. She turned around to face the statue, then looked back at us. Then at the statue again. Then back at us once more. Finally, she screamed at the top of her lungs, "MY PRAYERS HAVE BEEN ANSWERED!!"
She looked totally adorable, let me tell you that. I didn't even know her yet, but just seeing her get so excited about saving her uncle made me want to help her right away. I wanted to jump into that prison without a care for my life and bring her uncle back for her in the most heroic fashion imaginable.
We finished up our little introductory session and headed toward Yanyin's hut. She kept jumping the whole way, enthusiastically urging us to walk faster.
The villagers stared at us throughout our journey, some wondering if we were Yanyin's long-lost relatives and others watching out of pure suspicion, for which I blame Longwei's outfit. After awkwardly avoiding their gazes for quite a while, we finally reached her humble abode.
It was a tiny hut with a meticulously kept front yard filled with various plants and an even larger backyard. The entire property was surrounded by trees, with a small pond nearby. Just being in that peaceful and serene place for a few minutes could cure all your worries.
At the entrance hung at least twenty little jade chimes, tied there to ward off any demons. Usually, just one or two would suffice. But I guess the kid was, well, a kid after all. She tried to look and act tough, but was probably scared out of her wits.
"Leave your shoes outside," Yanyin instructed as she escorted us inside. "I like to keep the hut clean."
We entered to find a carefully maintained space, except for one small detail. A single sheathed sword sat in a corner, collecting dust.
"What's up with that sword?" I asked.
"That's my uncle's. He told me not to touch it, so I just kept it that way," Yanyin explained as she disappeared into the kitchen. "I'll make tea for you all!"
"You really don't have to-"
"You must! You're here to save my uncle!"
We simply sat there, waiting.
"You know," Longwei began, "I grew up in a hut just like this."
"Oh yeah?" I said. "Did you build it yourself, or did you steal that too?"
"Come on, Ziyang, don't judge me like that. I told you, I'm misunderstood." Longwei's frown was theatrical.
Within minutes, Yanyin returned with a tray of cups, handing one to each of us. After a long journey, nothing sounded better than a warm cup of tea. Still, I should have known something was off, since it neither smelled nor looked like tea. Even so, we all took a sip anyway.
"This… this is just hot water," Liangyu said.
"Huh?" Yanyin blinked, genuinely puzzled.
"Yanyin," I said gently, "you do realize you're supposed to add tea leaves to the water, right? You probably saw your uncle making it once, but didn't catch the whole process."
Yanyin stared at me for a long moment before facepalming. "So that's why my tea tastes like water!"
"Nobody told you that before?"
"I never offered my tea to anybody. It's my special tea I drink every morning."
"Not gonna lie," Liangyu added, "drinking hot water every morning is actually very healthy."
"It's actually cold water," Jian interrupted.
"You really believe that rumor, you brain-dead-"
"So!" I stopped them before it could spiral any further. "Would you please tell us about your uncle, Yanyin? I'd like to know everything. Things like who he is, what you know about him, and why he was imprisoned. Can you do that for us?"