"I'm sure you've visited the prison, Yanyin," I said. "Can you tell me something about it?"
"Umm," she started rubbing her chin thoughtfully, "it's big, it has an entrance shaped like a dragon's mouth, it's dark, and it smells disgusting. I don't know anything more because they blindfold me when I enter."
Not much help, to be honest.
"I might be able to help with that," Longwei said, raising his hand.
"Wow," I drawled, "look who's decided to join in on the mission."
"The Vortex Bastille, my friends, was built from the brilliant mind of a single man named Wan Shun. And guess what? He resides right here in Greenleaf Crossing. I think 'hiding' would be the more accurate term. Maybe we can extract some information from him."
"Why would he 'hide' here?"
"I don't know, ask him. I just know his whereabouts."
With that, we began moving toward our next destination.
Mei and Qinyue walked alongside Yanyin, messing around with her about how they really were actual guardian angels sent to help save her uncle, while Jian and Liangyu reluctantly walked together, bickering about... Well, does it really matter? Meanwhile, it would seem that the weight of Longwei wasn't just metaphorical, it was very much physical. He lounged beside me, arm slung casually over my shoulder.
"So, how's the mission so far? Is it to your liking?" he asked, lowering his mask.
I gave him a slightly irritated look. "Do you do this to everybody, or do you find it in your heart to show mercy to at least a few people?"
"Do what?"
"Really? I'm sure this is part of your sadistic charm. None of this is to my liking. I'd much rather go on peaceful little quests alone with my friends. Independently."
"You call Ironbell peaceful?"
"Hey, that was different! The plan was to just go in, hire Mei, and get out. What, am I supposed to just dream up that it would be under the control of the Sixth fuckin' High Being?!"
"You couldn't. But you still chose to get involved. And when you love trouble so much, don't you think it'd love back?"
"Whatever," I muttered, continuing to walk. "By the way, I don't think you'll answer it but, when you were violently beating up Feichen, you seemed to announce a few names. You looked quite angry too. Mind telling who they are? Or were?"
He let out a breath. "Let's just say they were people I cared about."
"Mhm." I doubted him, yet it didn't feel like a lie. "I didn't know you had people you care about."
"Trust me, Ziyang, everybody in the world does. Those that say they don't either once did, or are just lying."
"Uhuh? Heavy words, coming from someone like you."
Longwei smiled just enough to suggest everything he wasn't saying.
After a brief pause, I continued asking questions. "Also, I just can't figure out why my friends are involved in this whole ordeal. You need my body. Not theirs." I traveled through possibilities for a moment and turned to him with a disgusted look. "Are you gonna try some fucked-up shit on them to try and combine all of our bodies? Some kind of weird ancient magic or something?"
"What? No! Why would you think that?!" He looked genuinely startled and disgusted at the thought. "You don't have to worry about anything of the sort, Ziyang. You have my word."
I chuckled bitterly. "Yeah, right. Like your word means shit."
"Look, first off, I'm not heartless. Obviously I want your friends accompanying you in this tough journey of yours. Besides, you're currently worthless without qi and you kinda need them."
Ouch.
"And second," he continued, "I think you're not focusing on what's important here. I'm sure that when you formed your sect, your primary goal was to get stronger and better and reach new heights, wasn't it? Reaching for the skies, conquering Heaven, that type of thing? Hell, isn't that the predominant desire of almost everyone? Just keep doing what you're doing, and when the time eventually arrives, I'm sure you'll find a way out of this mess. You're smart, aren't you?"
He was damn right about that. "You bet your ass I will."
"You know," he said, scratching his face, "you really should be respecting me. I know I look incredibly young, but I'm centuries old."
I smiled. "Not a chance. Not after I know that you literally need me. You wouldn't even let me get a bruise. I'm only listening to you because I have people that I love, and God knows what you'd do to them if I don't. But that doesn't mean I can't talk shit to you all the way."
He removed his arm from my shoulder and asked casually, "Can you hand me that stone from the ground?"
I looked down, confused as to why he would randomly ask me that, only to see my palm lying on the ground, severed. I looked at my hand, which was very clearly cut clean, then back at the ground, then back at my hand again, trying to process what has just happened. I screamed at the top of my lungs in panic, startling everyone. "WHY THE FUCK WOULD YOU DO THAT?!"
Longwei snapped his fingers, and my hand was healed, as good as new. I simply knelt on the ground, feeling my hand, sweating and panting heavily.
Qinyue closed Yanyin's ears with her palms, "Hey! Language!"
"Just because I need you doesn't mean I won't hurt you, buddy," Longwei said, offering me his hand.
Everyone stared at us in utter confusion as I got back to my feet.
"Don't worry, folks," Longwei announced casually. "Just teaching your leader some manners."
They silently resumed walking.
"You've got a shitload of ego, man," I whispered to Longwei as we continued moving forward.
Teaching me manners, my ass. Spoiler alert: I disrespected that son of a bitch every chance I got.
Anyway, enough of chatter. Let's get back on track. After a while of searching around, we finally found the place.
Shosha Tea Shop.
It was a tiny shop at the center of the village, and despite being in the middle of heavy footfall, it didn't have any customers. It was completely empty as we entered and it kind of reminded me of The Laughing Goose Tavern. 'Man, I should've at least tried to grab a takeaway parcel,' I thought.
We walked into the beautifully decorated shop. It sure was tiny, but immaculate, with warm lighting, polished counters and delicate paintings lining the walls.
"Welcome!" chirped a short and cheerful man with a squeaky voice. "How may I help you all today?"