Chapter 66: WHAT SHE WARNS

CHAPTER

66

WHAT SHE WARNS

JIEYUAN

—∞—

Caoluan was waiting for him on the seventh step down, leaning with her back against the wall. She had her head down, not looking at him. The stairwell had no dedicated lights, but it was evenly, perfectly lit all the same, given it was all brightgold.

“So,” Jieyuan said as he reached the same step, settling himself against the opposite wall, arms crossed. “You wanted to talk?”

He went for as relaxed a look as he could—but he had Absolute Will Command ready, and he’d also put Huaxin on high alert. If she tried anything funny, he’d have her down in an instant.

Caoluan glanced up at the entrance of the stairwell, then turned to face him. She still had that unreadable face on, but… something about it wasn’t quite right. There was an unnatural tightness to it, like she was forcing herself to look that way. Like she was holding something back.

Without a shred of preamble, she said, “The Xiyunfeng are plotting something.”

Her voice was just loud enough for him to hear—anyone not on the stairwell wouldn’t be able to make out the words.

Jieyuan tensed up, pulling himself straighter. He had thought it might be something like that. But he hadn’t expected anything even remotely that direct. “Care to elaborate?” he said, in the same volume. She was right to keep this on the down-low.

“I don’t know the details, but they’ve got something planned for the Gleaming Stone Sect. And for you, Meiyao, Yongyi, and…”

Her expression tightened, and she trembled a little—before she took a deep, steadying breath.

“And Daojue,” she bit out. Even though it was clear she’d tried to hide it, there was no mistaking the venom in her words. The sheer anger underlying it.

Jieyuan frowned. “The envoy—”

“They have a way of dealing with her,” Caoluan cut in. “And no, I don’t know what it is. But they don’t think she’ll be a problem.”

Now that was troubling. There was only really one way to safely deal with an Orangesoul—by bringing in another one. Or, Heavens forbid, someone at an even higher realm. And that wasn’t all—it wasn’t just Envoy Guodan the Xiyunfeng would have to handle. There was also the Howling Lightning Sect to contend with.

This also wasn’t the kind of thing you could plot on the spot. Whatever the Xiyunfeng Clan’s plans were, they hadn’t been kickstarted by Xianjun’s death. They must have been in the making for a while now.

“And do you know when that’s happening?”

“The last day of the summit. The thirtieth.”

With that, she turned around and started down the steps. Jieyuan watched her back, staying where he was.

A step. Two. Three.

He thought about the way she kept using they, and not we.

“Why tell me?”

She stopped. But didn’t turn around. Didn’t say anything else.

Jieyuan waited.

Then she said, softly, and Jieyuan wasn’t sure whether she was speaking to him or to herself, “Because he would’ve wanted me to.”

“He?” Even as he spoke, a name flashed in his mind. A name and a headless corpse.

Another pause.

“Xianjun.” Her voice broke on his name—briefly but clearly. A visible shudder ran through her.

He didn’t respond, seeing if she’d take it upon herself to fill the silence.

She did. “He hates… hated the clan. Loathed them. His father most of all. He’d have done anything to see them brought down. Ruined.”

Jieyuan was beginning to understand. “It was he who told you about the plans. You were close.”

“Close?” She whipped around to face him. Her eyes were wide, wet with tears, her expression irate, murderous. “Close? We were— We were…”

The fire went out of her suddenly. Her voice died, and she slumped, looking away from him.

“We were,” she whispered.

Jieyuan glanced over to the entrance, just in case anybody had noticed anything, but it was clear. Then he turned back to Caoluan. “How does today’s duel fit into all of that?”

“The plan was to kill Daojue,” she said, sounding defeated. “That’d have set off the envoy—Xianjun had an idea of what the envoy’s personality is like, and she wouldn’t have hesitated to massacre most of the clan in response. But… but if he failed to kill Daojue, he’d have Daojue kill him instead—and hope that was enough to make his father show his hand early, messing up the plans.” She was trembling. “It didn’t work. He died for nothing.”

So. Plan A, kill Daojue and then die. Plan B, just die.

Jieyuan was all for simple plans, but that was a bit much, even for him. He didn’t think Xianjun’s madness and desperation had been play-pretend, either. Rational, level-headed people tended to leave self-sacrifice for at least Plan C, as a very last resort—not as the direct consequence of Plan A and the centerpiece of Plan B.

And something about this whole situation still didn’t make sense. “But you said Xianjun hated his father. I’m assuming their relationship wasn’t the best. Why did he think Sovereign Zhihao would throw all caution to the wind if he died?”

Caoluan gave a bitter little laugh. “Zhihao only ever really cared for one person in his entire life. One person, and nobody else. And it wasn’t Xianjun. But he’s deeply possessive—and as far as he’s concerned, Xianjun’s his property. Was his property. He’s not a very rational man. Xianjun was betting on that. And he lost. He lost.”

She shook her head, then looked straight into his eyes. “Just promise me something. Don’t let Zhihao get his hands on Meiyao.”

What? Jieyuan pushed himself off the wall. It took effort to keep his voice low. “Meiyao? What does she have to do with this?”

“She’s what Zhihao wants more than anything else. More than taking down the Gleaming Stone Sect. Even if everything else goes as planned, as long as Zhihao doesn’t get to have her… That’ll be enough.” Quietly, she added, “It’ll have to be be.”

Jieyuan recalled, then, the first time he’d come across Sovereign Zhihao, and the way the man had looked at Meiyao, utterly transfixed, as he whispered Lianhua, the name of Meiyao’s mother. The way the sovereign protector had spoken about Lianhua afterward, and the tension between him and Sect Leader Junjie—Meiyao’s father, the man Lianhua had married. And all the times Jieyuan had caught him staring at her.

Zhihao only ever really cared for one person in his entire life, Caoluan had said, barely a minute ago. One person, and nobody else.

Jieyuan felt a sudden, creeping chill. He’d known something was off about Xiyunfeng Zhihao—but this was way worse than he’d thought.

And that wasn’t all. Something still itched at the back of his mind, so he went further back. And he recalled the two times they’d been tracked down by the Gleaming Nobles in the Gleamstone Valley. First by that inner elder, then by Qingshi and his lackeys. Both times, their pursuers had made it clear that while they had every intention of killing him and Daojue, they only wanted to capture Meiyao—and ideally unharmed.

It all fell into place.

Oh. Oh.

“The Gleaming Nobles and the Xiyunfeng Clan,” he said. “They’re working together.”

It wasn’t a question. But Caoluan answered anyway. “Yes.”

She turned back around and started down the stair again. Slumped. Broken. Nothing like the woman he’d fought in the fifth round—in a duel he’d only won by staking his life.

Jieyuan didn’t stop her this time, and kept his eyes on her retreating back until she was well out of sight.

“So that’s that,” he murmured, then kicked off the wall.

He began climbing back up the steps.

He finally had confirmation. The Xiyunfeng were planning something—and were teamed up with the Gleaming Nobles at that. He still didn’t know what exactly it was they had in store—but if they were confident in dealing with Envoy Guodan, things really weren’t looking good. Worse, Meiyao was in the thick of it.

There was a chance that Caoluan had lied. It wasn’t as if she’d produced any evidence. But he felt he had a pretty good read on her. Besides, he didn’t see a point in making all of this up.

So he was better off assuming this was all true.

Earlier today, he’d racked his head trying to think of how exactly he and Meiyao could end up in the Viridian Death Forest. How such a thing would require taking Envoy Guodan out of the picture. Well, it seemed like the Xiyunfeng had the solution to the latter—which probably meant they’d be involved in the former.

So what now?

Jieyuan stepped out of the stairwell—and immediately found himself facing Meiyao, who was leaning sideways against the wall by the entrance.

Clearly, she’d been waiting for him.

She pushed off the wall and stepped closer, giving him a meaningful look.

He resumed walking, and she fell into step with him.

“What did she want?” Meiyao said, promptly.

Jieyuan didn’t rush to answer, thinking. He’d had thoughts before about not stopping whatever trouble was headed their way. About letting things run their course, only making preparations to improve his chances of making it out alive.

It all came down to the reason he’d decided to follow Meiyao and Daojue. He was sure they were part of something greater, meant for something greater, and he’d wanted to take advantage of whatever opportunities came their way. And the Viridian Death Forest might very well be one such opportunity.

But this thing with the Xiyunfeng Clan and the Gleaming Nobles was big. Bigger than them, bigger than his own, admittedly reckless plans and theories. And while Meiyao and Daojue would come out mostly unscathed if his suspicions were right, that same couldn’t be said about everyone else. From what he understood of the coming storm, the Gleaming Stone Sect was very much at risk—the Liangshibai Clan most of all.

And that was just the question, wasn’t it?

Was he really willing to gamble with the lives of all of the Gleaming Stone Sect on unproven beliefs of fate and providence?

They stopped in their usual place by the railing. He still didn’t give Meiyao an answer, and she didn’t press him for one.

He looked past her, to where Yongyi was standing off to the back, talking with another disciple. Liangshibai Feiyuan, the woman he often saw Yongyi sparring with. The woman who’d almost died to Baisenzhou Houliao in the fifth round. The woman he was pretty sure Yongyi was involved with.

Yongyi didn’t seem to notice him, too engrossed in his conversation.

Jieyuan moved his attention to the doorway behind the Radiant Gold Sect’s side of the floor. Behind it were the elders of the Gleaming Stone Sect. Palace Head Yiming, Protectors Yuyan and Wanxin.

Those were the ones he’d be risking.

Was he willing?

A month ago, he had little what doubt his answer would’ve been. But now…

Now…

He frowned. Something tight clutched at his chest.

And that wasn’t all. What if he was wrong about Meiyao and Daojue—about them being invulnerable?

The two of them were definitely part of something greater. Daojue had almost definitely played a role in him regaining his memories of his life as Amyas. Both the Tianzijun and Linzushen Clans were mentioned in the notes of Yikongwei Beidao, the mysterious Violetsoul who’d created the Fatebloom Heart. And Meiyao and Daojue both had way too many secrets.

But that didn’t mean they were untouchable, that nothing could happen to them. None of that meant that they were fated in some way—only that they were involved in something. And involvement didn’t guarantee protection.

Daojue wasn’t much of a problem, but was he willing to risk Meiyao?

Jieyuan closed his eyes.

He steadied his breathing, letting the tension coil and uncoil in his chest as he collected his thoughts, forcing them into some kind of order.

Then he opened his eyes again, and met Meiyao’s gaze. Her large, bright, piercing eyes bored into his, like they could see right through him.

She didn’t speak. Only looked back at him, waiting. Patient. Expectant. Standing close enough he could almost feel her warmth, her heartbeat.

And he had his answer.

Some things you didn’t gamble with.

He straightened up, the decision settling into his bones.

And he said, quietly but steadily, “I need to speak to the palace head.”