Shizuma continued to walk in the direction of the pagoda — his back was aching since he got a stroke a few minutes back, thankfully it didn't bleed anymore since he burned his wound with his own flames. The path was not long, but it felt like it was. A faint wind whispered through the trees, carrying an unsettling silence. He had a faint idea of who was waiting for them.
He stood at the entrance for only a few seconds before the door opened for them, the sudden movement echoing in the stillness. In front of him it was the only woman he feared. Fu Xuanyi.
Her expression was neutral, as usual. Nothing ever bothered her, she never smiled, cried or showed any emotion. Her beauty was something strange, everyone who met her could agree that she was indeed beautiful, but not because she fit some kind of patron — it was due to her being very androgynous in a very beautiful and unique way. Her hair was dark grey, like a cloud in a storm and her eyes as well — deep, but emotionless. The air seemed to grow colder around her, as if her presence drew all warmth away.
— You can give me back my daughter now, Shizuma. — Her voice was deep, demanding, cutting through the silence like a blade.
Without questioning, Shizuma put the woman he was carrying in the arms of Xianyi, noticing how naturally protective and gentle she was. Questioning in silence how someone like her had a daughter — it continued to be only a thought, unspoken.
Not that he saw much of Xianyi in his life, but the way she looked at Yuanling was indeed very different. The way she held her, indicated that she was very dear and precious. That was how his mother used to hold him. "Only a mother to love something like me," he thought, still in complete silence, feeling a pang of envy.
— I appreciate what you did for Yuanling — Her tone was still cold as ice, but he could feel she was being genuine.
— You're welcome I guess… I just didn't want to die — He hesitated slightly, the words almost swallowed by the weight of the hall's silence.
— I thought you had changed. I was mistaken. —
— How could I change in such a little time? What was it? A few centuries? — His voice echoed faintly, bouncing against the high ceilings.
— Time doesn't pass in mount Tayuan —
— Mount Tayuan? Is that where we are? —
No more answers from Xuanyi. She felt silence again while examining her daughter, which meant that Shizuma was supposed to be quiet as well. The shadows in the grand hall stretched long and still, the air thick with a faint, almost imperceptible scent of incense.
The woman whispered something, and a moment later, some youkais appeared. Big snakes with little wings on their bodies, a pair next to their heads and a pair at the end of their tails, shimmered in white with shining blue spots. They moved with effortless grace, flying around them, completely unbothered by Shizuma's presence. Their wings beat silently, almost like a whisper of wind.
— Shikigami? — He asked, curiosity lighting his tired eyes, a flicker of awe passing over his expression.
— Fúlíng… But I think you would know them as shikigami.
Shizuma's gaze followed their movements, noting how unnatural yet elegant they were, each subtle flick of a wing making the air shimmer slightly. He couldn't help but feel fascination. Those were servant spirits, minor youkais that usually serve a more powerful deity. Some even use them to fight, and some use them to do minor tasks.
He wondered what those were for, probably for minor tasks — since she rather fought with a sword.
Xianyi started to walk deep into the grand hall. The walls were covered in golden paintings that probably were real gold. Their glow reflected faintly on the marble floor, casting shifting shapes that danced as he moved. Typical paintings from Shen Zhou, a nation older than his own nation Kurogane. But that nation no longer existed — it had fallen to the rebellion of a single man.
— How do you have so many things from Shen Zhou? Did you rescue some locals? — His voice echoed through the vast chamber, swallowed by the silence that followed.
For a long moment, all he could hear was the weight of that silence, before she finally spoke:
— My wife. She was the one who painted those, the rest are her things —
Shizuma froze, his mind stumbling. Not because she was married to a woman — but because she was married at all. Xuanyi had always given the impression of a monk dwelling at the top of a mountain, someone who had cast away every worldly attachment.
— How can you two have a daughter? I mean… —
She exhaled sharply, then turned her gaze on him, heavy and dismissive, as if he had just spoken something foolish.
— She was adopted by us a long time ago. She was seven. Now be quiet. —
The words fell like a stone into the silence.
It wasn't the answer he had built in his mind. He had imagined Xuanyi holding some ancient secret — the power to create life on her own, like the entities of old myths. Still, he thought, even adoption carried its own kind of greatness. It was something he had never expected from her, and perhaps that made it even more astonishing.
After walking for a brief moment they end up in a room, following the pattern of the rest of that place — with shiny golden paintings and various luxurious items. Including a typical noble bed at the very end of the room. "So Yuanling's room is like that," he thought, looking at the fabric of the bed. It matched perfectly the colour of her hair.
The stoic woman put her daughter in the bed, carefully adjusting her hair. Her movements were slow, almost reverent, her fingers brushing aside the strands with a tenderness that didn't reach her expression.
— I only saw part of what happened. Tell me what happened before that man appeared —
She didn't look at Shizuma when she spoke, her voice calm but weighted, as if giving an order while still keeping her full attention on her daughter.
Shizuma told her everything that had happened, obviously leaving a few details in the dark — such as the fact that he flirted with her daughter.
— I see. —
— That's all? Are you going to tell me what's happening? — Again, that silent treatment from her.
But this time, it wasn't because she was choosing silence. Her hand had stopped, resting over Yuanling's chest, and her focus was elsewhere. The air grew heavier as she whispered a sequence of enchantments. A faint glow began to rise under her palm.
From that glow emerged a polished crystal-like stone, pastel pink with subtle shining points scattered within. It hovered for a moment, catching the light as if alive. Beautiful, yes — but something about it was unsettling.
— It's broken. — Shizuma's voice was low, almost unwilling to believe what he saw.
— Yes. And there is no replacing it. — Xuanyi's tone carried no hesitation. She paused before continuing. — That was a seal given to me when we adopted Yuanling… to prevent her qi, her mana, from growing too fast.
— Did she have too much mana when she was a child? That doesn't seem like a good reason to put a seal on her, though —
— No. — Xuanyi's voice cut him like a blade. — If it was just that, I could have trained her body to endure her own qi. The reason for the seal is because she grows qi from her very body.
Shizuma froze, his breath caught in his throat. His mind screamed the impossibility of it.
— That's… impossible. Most beings are born with pre-existing mana; they don't generate it themselves… —
— Do you understand how valuable she is because of that? — Xuanyi's eyes were fixed on the glowing shard, her tone sharpening. — In the very first years of her life, she grew up in a lab. She wasn't created in one — of that, I'm certain. They used her as a charger.
Shizuma fell into silence once more. At first, he had thought her life was nothing but privilege — raised in wealth, in this golden place, with a mother who feared nothing. But now… what was the price she had to pay for that?
Their conversation was abruptly cut off by a loud crash — something had fallen heavily onto the ground, leaving cracks behind. When Shizuma turned, he froze for a moment, taken aback by the sight before him.
It was a woman. She looked to be around Xuanyi's age, perhaps in her thirties. Her hair fell in long, elegant waves, its jade-green color gleaming with a luster so vivid it rivaled the most precious stone. Her eyes were a deep, oceanic blue. But it wasn't just her beauty that seized his attention.
Scales shimmered faintly along her cheeks, the same jade hue as her hair, extending subtly to her forehead. Small, delicate horns crowned the side of her head, adorned with intricate golden ornaments that glimmered with every movement.
Shizuma's lips parted before he could stop himself.
— Your wife… she's a dragon. — His voice was filled with awe, almost disbelief. — I thought they were extinct.