Han Yu remained in his balcony seat, nursing the sa cup of jasmine tea as he kept a watchful eye on the building across the street.
After a few more minutes, the window curtain shifted again, and Senior Sister ng stood from her seat. Her movents were composed, almost graceful, but Han Yu caught the faintest tremor in her shoulders before she left the room.
By the ti she stepped outside and walked down the building’s front steps, the poise had returned to her stride. Her face, once pinched with strain during the eting, now bore the sa impassive serenity of a seasoned cultivator. From any outsider’s perspective, she might have looked like a disciple returning from routine sect business.
But Han Yu had been watching her too closely for too long. He could see that sothing was off.
She didn’t imdiately return to the Mist Eye Sect branch. Instead, she wandered for a few minutes through adjacent alleys and backstreets, walking a casual loop that may have been a check for any potential tails.
Han Yu didn’t bite. He remained seated, watching her vanish around a corner before pulling his hood tighter and finally rising from his seat.
He didn’t follow her directly back to the Mist Eye Sect compound. Instead, he searched the nearby area for a location where he could lie in wait unnoticed.
A tavern two buildings down caught his attention.
Its signboard was cracked and faded, swinging lazily on a rusted hook: "The Roaming Gourd Tavern." Inside, it was dimly lit, musty with the scent of fernted grain and old wood. A place for rogue cultivators, rcenaries, and failed adventurers to drown their regrets with a few too many drinks.
Perfect.
Han Yu slid into a corner table near the window with a decent line of sight across the street toward the Mist Eye Sect branch. The tavern’s interior was noisy enough to mask his presence, and no one gave him a second glance. His dusty traveler’s cloak, slightly frayed at the edges, marked him as just another drifter too poor to afford spirit-enhanced tailoring.
He ordered a pot of the cheapest wine and poured a cup for show. He didn’t drink more than a sip at a ti, just enough to keep up appearances. Around him, other patrons were engaged in their own loud stories, raucous gambling, and occasional drunken quarrels. One man even passed out snoring with his head on the table, a puddle of wine slowly spreading around him.
Han Yu sat like that for hours.
Day turned to dusk. Dusk to night. The lanterns outside flickered on, casting a soft glow over the entrance to the Mist Eye Sect branch. Several disciples ca and went, but none of them were Senior Sister ng.
He didn’t mind. He had patience when he needed it—and tonight, sothing told him that it would pay off. Thankfully he was in a tavern and could order food as needed. It even helped him seem less suspicious.
Just past midnight, movent caught his eye.
There she was.
Senior Sister ng erged from the Mist Eye Sect building with her cloak drawn close and her hair tied up. She moved quickly but not so fast as to draw attention. In the quiet stillness of the late hour, even a single figure was easy to spot.
Her face, usually composed and unreadable, now carried a tightness around the eyes. The corners of her mouth were drawn into a slight, involuntary frown. Her breathing was just a little too quick. Han Yu recognized the signs: stress.
Urgency.
Sothing had rattled her.
He didn’t follow imdiately. Let her get so distance first. Let her think she wasn’t being watched.
When several monts had passed, Han Yu tossed a few silver coins onto the table, took one final swig of the wine, and stepped out into the cool night air.
The streets were quiet. Only the occasional night guard patrol moved along the cobbled roads, their spirit lanterns casting brief halos of light before they vanished down side streets. Han Yu moved like a ghost, his steps practiced, asured, and noiseless.
ng wasn’t taking any indirect routes this ti.
Instead, she moved with purpose—heading straight for the western gate of Wujing City.
The western gate wasn’t like the grand northern or eastern entrances, which were constantly flooded with caravans and cultivators from various sects. It was a modest checkpoint, used mostly by locals and rchants looking to bypass the heavier foot traffic. At this hour, it was all but deserted.
A lone city guard stood at the gate, half-asleep on his feet. ng passed through without a word, flashing a token that Han Yu couldn’t quite make out from his distance. The guard barely nodded in response before returning to his nap against the wall.
Han Yu waited half a minute before moving.
He got past the guard with ease, simply using one of the Mist Eye Sect disciple tokens he had and flashing it for a second to the man who looked away without much of a glance. It was clear that the Mist Eye Sect Disciples enjoyed quite a privilege here.
Sothing that was now benefiting Han Yu.
’Another Mist Eye Sect Disciple... Who knows what they do at this ti of the night?’ The guard didn’t think much about Senior Sister ng and then Han Yu leaving.
But then he suddenly thought of sothing.
"A woman and a man leaving at this ti of the night just after one another. Could it be... An AFFAIR! A SCANDAL!" The man’s eyes went wide. "This is going to be fun to discuss tomorrow when I’m off work." The man chuckled totally misreading the situation.
Up ahead, Senior Sister ng was moving swiftly now, no longer pretending to stroll. Her footsteps echoed faintly in the night, and every so often, she glanced behind her shoulder.
Han Yu slowed his pace, matching her from a distance while keeping to the trees and shadows along the road. He wrapped his presence tight around him, suppressing his Spirit Qi flow until it was virtually nonexistent.
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