When Lanyun opened the door to his room that morning, he found Riri waiting outside. In her arms was a medium-sized, dark green bag.

“Good morning, Lanyun,” Riri greeted him cheerily.

“Good morning to you too, Riri,” Lanyun said politely. “What do you have there?”

Riri suddenly appeared bashful and thrust the bag forward, hiding her face behind it. “The rucksack you came here with was already burned before I could stop them. As an apology for the mistake, the Princess is gifting you this new one, made out of the hide of the jinniu. It’s very durable, able to withstand fire, snow, and even the occasional stray arrow.” Riri’s amber eyes peeked at Lanyun cautiously from the top of the bag. “Are you sad?”

Lanyun accepted the bag and gave Riri a pat on the top of her head, lightly ruffling her white hair. “No, I’m not sad. On the contrary, I’m very touched by this kind gesture. Thank you, Riri.”

Riri sighed in relief. “You’re welcome. I’ll be sure to let the Princess know too.”

“By the way, this is heavier than I had expected,” Lanyun said, feeling the bag’s weight on his shoulder. There was only one opening to place items in, and though it had only one strap, as it was meant to be worn across the body, the texture was smooth and padded. The bag was undoubtedly going to be more comfortable to wear than his previous one. 

“I was informed that you would be leaving on a short journey today, so I took the liberty to pack a few essentials inside,” Riri explained. “I wasn’t sure how much of a hurry you would be in, so I included your breakfast in the bag as well. The Princess told me that you were quite taken with the shenguo buns and allowed me to slip a few inside.”

“Thank you,” Lanyun said again, even more emphatically at the mention of food. 

“Have a safe trip and try not to be sad,” Riri called after Lanyun as he walked towards the Winter Palace’s front entrance.

Stepping over the door threshold, Lanyun was surprised to see Lianbing standing outside with Renwu. They appeared to have been discussing something but hushed immediately at the sight of Lanyun.

Noticing Lanyun wearing the bag, Lianbing nodded in approval. “Green suits your complexion very well. Don’t you agree, Renwu?” 

Lanyun met the contemptuous eyes of Renwu, who smirked at the sight. “Well he certainly looks more like a tree now.”

Lianbing tilted her head to the side, tapping her chin with the top of her folded fan as she re-examined Lanyun. “I don’t get it.”

“Maybe you’ll only notice it once he starts listing tree facts,” Renwu remarked. 

“Are we just going to stand here all day talking, or are we going to find this flower?” Lanyun asked, trying to suppress his growing irritation. 

“Oh, I understand it now!” Lianbing suddenly exclaimed. She gestured towards Lanyun. “Long brown hair and bright grey eyes paired with an innocent and pleasant countenance that one can’t help but tease a little.” Flicking open her fan to hide her sly smile behind it, Lianbing leaned towards Lanyun and whispered in his ear. “You’re his ideal type.” 

“You should disregard whatever she told you back there,” Renwu said. “Don’t believe anything that comes out of her mouth.”

“I already heard you the last ten times,” Lanyun said, trying to read a map as they walked along the dirt road. 

After leaving the Winter Palace, Lanyun and Renwu had walked to the front gates of the Jade City. Persuaded by Renwu’s colorful threats, Erluan had reluctantly summoned a cloud to carry them down to the human realm. 

Riding a cloud was a peculiar experience. The closest comparison that Lanyun could equate it to was the sensation of free falling. There was nothing solid under Lanyun’s feet to keep him grounded, and yet, he never fell through the cloud. Blue and white blurred his vision while the wind whistled past his ears, and yet, not a single strand of hair had been moved out of place by the time his feet touched solid ground again and the cloud evaporated away into a hazy mist. 

Unfortunately, Erluan’s cloud had deposited them on a random empty road, far from the base of Mount Tiankou. Lanyun had found a map of the Yuanhai Empire in his bag, but, as expected, he could not pinpoint his current location by the cathaya trees growing to the right. 

“What did she say to you back there?” Renwu finally asked in frustration. 

“I don’t know because I already disregarded it.” Lanyun put down his map and turned towards Renwu. “I thought you said you would be helpful, but your obsession over what Lianbing said to me is not helpful. Now, please, will you just move on?”

“Very well,” Renwu said reluctantly. “I will be magnanimous and forget about your insubordination this time.”

“Yes, thank you for your generosity,” Lanyun said dryly, turning his attention back to his map. Stopping under a golden larch tree by the side of the road, he tried to find any significant landmarks around them. 

“Why did you suddenly stop?” Renwu asked, joining Lanyun under the shade. He leaned close to Lanyun to look at the map as well. 

The changing color of the autumn leaves matched the color of the celestial’s eyes. It was the first time Lanyun had stood so close to Renwu, and he couldn’t help but notice how long the dark haired celestial’s eyelashes were. Lanyun hurriedly glanced back at his map once he realized that he had been unconsciously staring for too long.

“I’m trying to figure out where we are right now,” Lanyun said. 

“What do you mean? We’re right here.” Renwu pointed to a spot on the map. It was far more west of Mount Tiankou than where Lanyun had originally been looking. 

Lanyun looked at Renwu incredulously. “I can’t believe you knew where we were and just watched me struggle for half an hour.”

Renwu scoffed. “You were staring at that map for so long, I thought you were merely considering the destination. It was my mistake to overestimate your abilities.” He suddenly fell silent, frowning. “Does this mean you’ve been leading us down this road meaninglessly for the past half an hour?”

“Well it wasn’t necessarily meaningless now that I know where we are,” Lanyun said defensively. He pointed to a marking on the map a few centimeters west of their location. “Look here. If we walk further along this road, we’ll eventually reach Guwang City. It’s the nearest to us and a major stop on multiple trade routes. The ghost flower grows in areas where there have been a lot of deaths.”

Renwu nodded in understanding. “So then we’ll visit…”

“Guwang City’s hospital!”

“...the Guwang forest.”

Lanyun and Renwu silently stared at each other for a moment, processing the other’s words.

“Why would we visit a hospital?” Renwu asked first. “To cure your lack of intelligence?”

“Many people pass away in hospitals,” Lanyun explained, choosing to ignore Renwu’s insult. “Since Guwang City has a larger population in addition to the many visitors constantly passing through, there should be more deaths in its hospital than in other places. Why would you want us to visit the forest?”

Renwu clicked his tongue in disappointment. “There’s obviously still room for improvement in your history knowledge. Three hundred years ago, near the end of the Xinran Empire, what is now known as ‘Guwang City’ was the Xinran imperial army’s last attempt to defend against the rebel forces. The battle occurred in the nearby forest, and over a hundred thousand soldiers died altogether. After the Xinran Empire fell, Guwang City became a desolate town. It was only approximately eighty years ago when the trade routes with the kingdoms to the north were established that the city began to flourish again. The forest may still be haunted by the ghosts of the dead. There’s a very likely chance that we’ll be able to find a ghost flower there.”

“How do you know all that?” Lanyun asked in mild surprise with a hint of admiration. 

“I’m a celestial,” Renwu said simply. He then smirked. “I know I offered you my assistance, but I didn’t expect you to need it with this sort of trivial matter.” 

“I bet you only know it because you witnessed it firsthand,” Lanyun said, walking back to the road. “I forgot that you’re actually an old man who’s lived for centuries.” 

“I am not an old man,” Renwu protested as he caught up to Lanyun in a few quick strides. “In fact, I’m quite young by celestial standards. You humans always try to judge everything by your own ideals. Even amongst my peers, I can be considered young. I know about the history of Guwang City because I am a very wise and powerful celestial…and the rebel’s commander had signed a contract with me.” He muttered the latter part of the sentence in a softer voice.

“Alright, if you’re such a powerful celestial, then help us get to the city faster,” Lanyun demanded. “It’s going to take us most of the day to arrive on foot.”

“I don’t have the capability to do that,” Renwu admitted shamelessly. 

“Aren’t celestials able to fly through the skies or something?” Lanyun asked, giving Renwu a skeptical look. “Didn’t you say that celestials can leap over mountains?”

“There are celestials who can do that,” Renwu agreed, “but I’m not one of them.”

“Yushen, bless me with patience,” Lanyun prayed. 

“Oh if you’re bargaining with His Imperial Majesty, you should request two steeds for us instead,” Renwu suggested. 

“Nevermind,” Lanyun sighed, not wanting to waste any more energy in bickering with his contractual ally. Since there was going to be a long walk ahead of them, he decided to make small talk. “So why are you interested in this ghost flower?”

“Why do you want to know?” Renwu asked, narrowing his eyes in suspicion.

“I was just wondering,” Lanyun said, feeling wrongly accused. “The page I had said that the flowers purified the surrounding area of malicious spirits, and Granny Tao’s medicinal celestial friend was the one with this information. This means that the ghost flower probably has medicinal properties, so why do you want it? Are you injured?”

“You’re not a very tactful human,” Renwu remarked. He fell silent, appearing to ruminate over his next words. “How much do you know about the corruption?”

“However much that Granny Tao and Lianbing were willing to tell me,” Lanyun answered honestly. 

Renwu hummed softly in acknowledgment. “So then you also know that in accordance with my occupation, I’ve been afflicted by this curse.” 

“It’s a curse?” Lanyun said in surprise. 

“That’s what I’m theorizing,” Renwu explained. “The symptoms are only aggravated under certain…conditions.”

“What makes you believe that makes it a curse and not a disease?” Lanyun questioned.

“Just my intuition,” Renwu said with a shrug. “But there have been historical accounts of something resembling the ghost flower used to lift dark curses. If my theory is correct, then I may finally have a cure for the corruption. I believe Baili also has this same theory, which is why she’s been requesting it.”

“Is Baili going to become afflicted by the corruption as well?” Lanyun asked worriedly. He wasn’t sure how his contract with her would stand if she became demoted from an executor to a lawyer.

“No, it’s not for herself but for someone else,” Renwu said with a calculating smile. “And I have a suspicion regarding who she would go through such great lengths for.”

Before Lanyun had a chance to ask who Renwu was thinking of, he heard the sound of wheels and hoofbeats behind them. Turning around, he saw a wagon pulled by four oxen. A young boy and an older man sat atop with dozens of large, woven baskets piled up behind them. 

“Good day, young lords,” the man said pleasantly as the wagon approached Lanyun and Renwu. “Where are you two headed?”