The other thing Qiu Yunru did in those weeks was, of course, go searching for any sign of Guo Mei.
What was he looking for? He really wasn't sure.
After so many years, a thing like ashes would be impossible to find. In the end, he figured a good goal would be to try and contact Guo Mei or get some sentimental object of hers to bring back to Fu Qiuyue, like a sword tassel. Though it wasn't much, it might be enough to satisfy Fu Qiuyue's spirit and send her on.
However, his hopes had been much too high. In the end, after searching the lakeside for days and even conducting spirit-summoning rituals, nothing came up. It seemed it was possible that something truly tragic had happened: Guo Mei's spirit had moved on, while Fu Qiuyue's had stayed behind waiting for and mourning her. This made Qiu Yunru feel depressed, so he went to find Pan Fa.
There was one thing one could always be sure of when being around this child: there would never be silence!
Pan Fa was training at the martial grounds. His form was poor; even after ten months of training, he had still only just reached Qi Condensation, and his sword forms were clumsy and inaccurate. But his passion ran so deep that anyone who saw his swinging wildly couldn't help but feel both pity and admiration. He whacked the training dummy like it owed him money. One could almost hear it begging for mercy: Please, young master! I can't take any more of this poor form! This smacking and beating! Have mercy!
Pan Fa was not one to have mercy when he was training, even if his results didn't reflect his passion. Qiu Yunru watched for a little bit, feeling both proud and a little embarrassed at this display. It was a little while before Pan Fa noticed him standing there.
As soon as he did, his puppy-eyes lit up. What a transformation! It was just like on the exam day: his face morphed from that of a sullen, furious little beast into a newborn pup begging to be coddled.
"Qiu-shixiong!" he chirped, jumping up and down. "Qiu-shixiong, did you see that? My form is improving!"
The form he had been practicing was one of the Jade Clouds Sect's signature base forms: Striking Viper. It involved feigning towards the enemy's legs and then suddenly slicing up towards their throat. When executed correctly, it could be said to be graceful, yet terrifying.
This scene Qiu Yunru had walked in on...A bead of invisible sweat dripped down his face.
It was like watching a baby bear swipe up a tree trunk to get some honey, only to barely scratch it every time to the point that even the bees were laughing!
"Very good," He managed. "Pan-shidi is working hard. Have you eaten yet?"
Together at the dining hall, Pan Fa yapped and yapped as usual, seeming to have an infinite number of things to speak about:
"Qiu-shixiong is so cool! I can't wait to go to the Lan Bing Caves! Oh, I heard from the other street rats today! San-ge knows how to write and sent me a letter! He says that the city has changed so much!"
"Oh?"
"Yes! Lord Li is still sick and hasn't been seen in a long time," Pan Fa said mournfully. This kid...he really had too much trust in shady people, still admiring Li Fengguang after all this time! "But even though his nephew has taken charge, no one has seen him either! But San-ge says strange things are happening in the city. The number of monsters and ghosts that have been attacking the city has grown really high. Thankfully, San-ge and the others all have good hiding spots, but I worry about him because he's too nice and might get hurt trying to protect someone else! I can't wait to see them again..."
As Pan Fa babbled on, Qiu Yunru thought about this. His plan truly had worked, then--Li Fengguang wouldn't be able to run the Li household for life. He couldn't help but wonder how the Abused Nephew was doing. And this news about kidnappings and monsters...What a strange situation!
In the end, it didn't concern him, so Qiu Yunru continued to munch his food and contentedly take in Pan Fa's endless chatter. He felt a little better.
It was true that he found peace in being alone, but sometimes the company of others was nice, too.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________
Soon enough, Qiu Yunru was sent down the mountain for his first mission. It was a small group: only him, Fang Hai, and a few other disciples who would keep logistics had been sent.
"As you may have heard," He Yongliang informed them in their briefing, "There have been a concerningly high number of encounters with monsters, demons, and ghosts in Jin He City. These occurrences reportedly center around the mansion of a member of the lower nobility, Li Chenyuan. We have received a request personally from Master Li to investigate this situation with the hopes of finding the source."
Then he had given them a pile of briefing papers so heavy that Qiu Yunru had nearly fallen over. Tears nearly sprang to his eyes. Who knew that even in this life, he would have to study so hard?
Having the training of a good student, he had read everything thoroughly. There wasn't much that he hadn't already known. It was strange, he thought to himself, that he knew so much about this Li Mansion and Li family after being in this life for a year. He must know more about their private affairs than anyone else in this world!
When they arrived, the guards at the doors of the Li Mansion recognized their uniforms right away and greeted them.
"Excuse me," One of the guards said apologetically, "But would one of you young masters happen to have a token of entry? Our master lives a rather solitary life and is distrustful."
Fang Hai, being the head of this mission, was aghast, and rather offended. "Why didn't you send an entry token when requesting our presence for investigation? If you didn't send one, of course we don't have one!"
Qiu Yunru coughed awkwardly. He held up that token Li Fengguang had given him long ago. "This humble one happens to have a token. It is strange we didn't receive one with your request, but will this do?"
The guard was relieved and took the the token. "Right this way, young masters."
Fang Hai couldn't help but steal a thousand incredulous glances sideways at Qiu Yunru. How had this kid gotten ahold of a token to a house of nobility? Hadn't he been an orphaned street kid before? First a prodigy, now a mystery with high connections--what else was he hiding?!