The pass opens onto a narrow ridge above the spring valley. Mist clings to the rocks, and the air still hums faintly with lingering qi.
Ahead stands a lone swordsman in Azure Sword Sect robes. He does not draw, only waits, hand resting on his hilt as if measuring the mountain itself.
Wei Tianlong
You two are late to leave the range. The disturbances from this mountain have not gone unnoticed.
His gaze shifts once to Luo Meiying, then settles on Zhāng Wújì, calm but sharp. He looks less like a blocker than a gate that can decide to open or close.
Luo Meiying
If you are here to accuse someone, pick a better posture. If you are here to ask questions, ask them.
Wei Tianlong
Then I ask directly. What did you find in these mountains, and why does your qi carry the trace of an old, concealed place?
The ridge goes quiet except for the wind. Whatever happens next, the answer will matter.
✓ Quest Accepted
Deflect Wei Tianlong's suspicion
✓ Quest Accepted
Leave the mountain range safely
“"we found nothing but some herbs why is it any concern of yours?"”
SUCCESS (Legendary Willpower, rolled -3)
Zhāng Wújì
We found nothing but some herbs. Why is that any concern of yours?
The lie lands cleanly, but it costs him a thread of breath. A faint gold sheen slips under his collar before he reins it back in.
Wei Tianlong
Herbs do not usually leave that kind of qi in a person's meridians. Nor do they make a mountain seal go quiet.
Luo Meiying
He asked your question. If you have a second one, make it useful.
Wei Tianlong's eyes narrow, not at her, but at the tiny delay in Wújì's answer. The mist curls between them like a curtain that refuses to close.
Wei Tianlong
Then tell me which herbs, and from where. If your story is ordinary, it will remain ordinary.
Quest Complete
Deflect Wei Tianlong's suspicion
“I look to Luo sense she is an alchemist perhaps she collected some up there earlier she can use now for this deception”
SUCCESS (Legendary Reasoning, rolled -3)
Wújì flicks a brief glance to Luo Meiying, just enough to ask without words. Her brow shifts, and the look she gives back is sharp with understanding.
Luo Meiying
He wants cover, not comfort. Fine, then I will give him something that sounds alive.
Her fingers settle lightly at her sleeve, as if recalling a basket of gathered herbs. The motion is tiny, but it gives his lie a shape.
Luo Meiying
If you need names, we gathered cloudfern, marrowmint, and a little frostroot from the upper shelf near the west cleft.
Wújì catches the pattern at once and lets it stand. The invented details cost him a shallow bite of tension through his chest, a faint pulse of gold flashing at his collar before fading.
Wei Tianlong
Cloudfern grows in damp shade, frostroot in colder stone. Which slope, exactly?
“continue letting her talk this out and simply smile”
SUCCESS (Legendary Willpower, rolled +0)
Wújì lets the silence do some of the work. His mouth softens into a small, steady smile, neither eager nor guilty, just calm enough to pass for harmless.
Wei Tianlong
That smile is too measured for a simple herb walk. Speak plainly, where did you go after the upper shelf?
Luo Meiying
He went where I said he went, Elder Wei. If you want blame, take it from the one who knows the slopes better than he does.
Wei Tianlong studies the pair in the mist. His gaze lingers on Wújì's face, then drops to the faint sheen at his collar and the clean set of his breathing.
Wei Tianlong
Their story is prepared, but not careless. The boy's qi is odd, refined in a way mountain herbs do not explain.
Luo Meiying keeps her posture open, one shoulder angled between them like a shield. Wújì's smile holds, quiet and unreadable enough to give her words room to stand.
Luo Meiying
If you are done measuring us, ask your next question. I would rather answer one cleanly than keep repeating the same harmless lie.