Ash and Honey [BL]

Fu Ran smiled and tapped the paper menu against the table. Well, it seemed they were all on the same page, believe it or not. He had a similar inkling when he read over the report himself. It was likely that this mission had something to do with the summer festivities of the dead. And he had his own thoughts he wanted to research. 

Fu Ran figured this could be a good moment for the children. Some character building, he thought simply.

So, with that, he crossed his arms and propped his elbows on the table. "Then would you like to investigate that?" In particular, his eyes fell upon Wan Yu. "Researching the city and the festival could serve as a fantastic first mission." He felt pretty confident, considering that Shesui Lang made sure to remind him that this mission, in particular, would be an easy one.

And while the children were investigating the city, he could go investigate on his own. Fu Ran wanted to visit the shrine.

Wan Yu cocked his head to the side, like he was lost in thought, but then he nodded. 

With a clap of his hands, Fu Ran continued, "Then the three of you can investigate the city. Find information however you can! Talk to people, dig into some information, and then report back."

The children didn't have much to say against the job they were given. Even to someone like Meng Xiao, it wasn't something that required too much effort.

Meng Xiao lazily plopped his menu back on the table. "Sounds good to me. Better than sitting around a quiet cafe."

"I think so too," Lin An said.

Wan Yu was the only one of the three who seemed intensely thoughtful, his eyes lowered to the grooves of the wooden table.

He wasn't about to leave a quiet cafe without the gesture of at least buying something, so he treated the kids to lunch before they headed back outside into the main road.

***

And soon, they were back in the streets again. This time, however, Fu Ran had given them the rundown of their job and left them to investigate on their own. Well, he might have preferred it if he were truly on his own, but instead… Fu Ran cut his eyes to the side.

"You're following me?" Fu Ran asked, already knowing the answer.

Tian Han remained silent until the words were directed at him. He smiled sheepishly. "Of course." His certainty was almost offensive.

Fu Ran's brow twitched.

Only when he and Tian Han passed the gates did Fu Ran take another glance where the children convened. They had already begun their investigations near some shops, and yet, something else caught his eye.

The man from earlier had just stepped out of the cafe, wearing a little more than tattered white robes. His hair hung down to his ankles and a mess of strands, and obscured most of his face. There was an unshakable familiarity, but it was difficult to place.

His presence alone robbed the moment of serene thought, and Fu Ran's feet were rooted to the ground. An iron rod with an attached lantern acted as a cane for the man's barefoot steps as he turned the other way.

A voice snapped him from his thoughts, "So, where exactly is Shizun headed?"

"...The graveyard." Fu Ran lingered on the figure in white before he hesitantly turned towards the path to Jinan.

***

And with that, Shizun was gone, and the disciples were on their own.

Wan Yu chased haphazardly after his two martial sect siblings. A quiet, irrational silence met the backdrop of red maple leaves. Below the bustling city of Jinan, at the foothill of the mountain city, Bei Zangli rested in solitude.

"Meng Xiao! You keep walking too fast," Lin An cried and whined with every step. Her fingers sank into Meng Xiao's black robes until he shoved her away.

"Look," he hissed. "Go cry to the baby. This has nothing to do with me. I don't care if Shizun told us we need to go talk to a bunch of old people."

Lin An looked offended. "Then what are you going to do?" Her hands clutched her chest, and she cocked her head to the side.

Meng Xiao thoroughly ignored her in haste.

"W-Wait!" She paused before her neck snapped toward Wan Yu. She looked ready to cry. "Are you going to ignore Shizun too, Wan Yu?"

"Of course not," Wan Yu answered bluntly, yet he didn't say anything more.

There was a communication issue. The three of them didn't know how to talk to one another, and it was clear from only a few hours' worth of investigation.

Both Fu Ran and Tian Han had given them such a simple task, yet the mission was already falling apart. All they had to do was investigate the city, particularly ask about ghosts, strange happenings, or walking corpses.

Wan Yu drew in a sharp breath, and his shoulders slumped.

His perfect record of being a good disciple was going to be stained by his troublesome Shijie and Shixiong.

Wan Yu's eyes scanned Bei Zangli's empty streets. Perhaps he was looking for something that stood out against the barren backdrop of farmland. Yet the streets were only filled with the soft whispers of a billowing breeze. The city barely even had color, outside of the red lanterns hung on every building. His eyes fell upon the city gates, a large iron sign marking the beginning of the mountain path.

"Shizun said that we only have a few hours…" Wan Yu fretted.

Of course, the sudden vocalization caught Lin An's ear. She held her hands up and shook her head side to side. "Don't worry! We'll make it to the shrine in time."

"Will we?" Meng Xiao asked. "We've already wasted around three or four hours, and not a damn person here wants to talk to us."

The sky had already darkened, and the first touches of stars could be seen above the crimson treetops. At the very top of the mountain, Jinan was engulfed in an entrancing party of lights, starkly different from the city of Bei Zangli, where barely a cough could be heard from a passing window.

Lin An forced a smile and pressed her hands to her hips. "Well, if they won't talk to us, then maybe we just have to snoop!"

It sounded more like something Meng Xiao would have suggested. However, Wan Yu was not opposed. If he didn't have any information to bring back, the mission would be a failure.

Wan Yu followed Lin An down the street.

Passing by old houses resulted in windows shutting. Walking by stores caused owners to suddenly mark their signs as closed rather than open. They couldn't exactly go barging into people's houses or storefronts where they weren't welcome, so Wan Yu was at a loss.

His heart thumped with every step, and the sense of self-disappointment grew heavier.

"Hey, there's still one store open." Lin An stood up straight and extended her arm.

The building she pointed to looked nearly ready to collapse on one side, old and dilapidated, with the greenery of moss beneath the windows. At first, Wan Yu thought it might have been a house, but upon closer inspection, there was a sale sign near the trinkets at the foot of the door.

The two of them stopped. But Meng Xiao threw his hands behind his head and kept walking. 

"Do what you want. I'm out of this dumb town," Meng Xiao complained. 

Wan Yu's brow twitched at the impolite childishness, and he watched as Meng Xiao disappeared down the street. He turned up his nose at the belligerent teenager.

Why bother becoming a disciple… if you're not going to take it seriously?

Wan Yu huffed and stepped into the shop.

Immediately, the floor creaked under the weight of two small children, and his nose was assaulted with the scent of dust. The place was barely lived in, barely walked in, and yet the trinkets on the shelves looked somewhat clean.

When he got closer to the counter, a strange smell of rot came across his nose—the distinct stench of food past its expiration. The snacks hidden in boxes had gone bad. Wan Yu wrinkled his nose and furrowed his brow.

There was a back room. The door was slightly ajar, but there had been no noticeable sound of a bell's chime when he entered. So, for now, his investigation would go mostly unnoticed.

The trinkets in the shop were strange. There were a lot of carved wooden souvenirs, coated in lacquer, each one decorated with red maple leaves. The trees here produced millions of these red leaves per year. Surely, the locals would find these items excessive.

The shop only targeted tourists.

Wan Yu paced the aisles, and before long, two pairs of footsteps became one.

"...Shijie?" he whispered. His hands touched the edges of the shelves, and on his tiptoes, he peered over the aisles. His eyes scanned back and forth, but he didn't see any pink or purple flowers.

"Shijie?" he asked again, a little louder this time, while still maintaining a voice of secrecy.

Lin An did not answer.

Maybe she went outside? He reassured himself. The logic was pretty sound. He could imagine her crying at this much—the food did stink.

As he was about to continue his search, a silver shimmer caught his eye, tucked away on the very bottom shelf behind some wooden animal sculptures. He lowered to his knees and gently pushed the trinkets aside. The layer of dust was thick on the bottom shelf, and when he touched it, his palm came back completely gray.

He had to stretch, nearly completely under the shelf, before his fingers could reach the shining piece of metal.

It was an emblem.

These emblems were often worn on a cultivator's arm or perhaps on their sash. He tilted it in his hand, and it reflected a faint lantern glow. Carved in silver was an elegant, poised crane.

It most definitely belonged to a cultivation sect, but not one he knew by name. Undoubtedly a smaller one, not of the grandiose status of An Xian Yun Peak.

What was this doing at the bottom of the shelf? He cocked his head to the side.

In the reflective surface of the emblem, he caught the shimmer of something moving behind him. His shoulders stiffened, and his head snapped backward in fright.

His fingers instinctively reached for his blade, unsheathing it a full inch before he paused.

A small girl with brown hair and pink and purple flowers as accessories—it was Lin An.

"Shijie…" Wan Yu muttered under his breath.

"What's wrong?" she asked quietly.

Wan Yu bristled, but he tried to calm himself with an exaggerated breath. He pushed off the floor and stood, still trying to keep his head low. Holding up an open palm, he revealed the emblem he had found.

"Did you find something strange?" She touched it with gentle ease, her finger tracing the shape of the crane. "What's the symbol mean…?"

"It's a—" Wan Yu couldn't answer.

The entirety of the small shop suddenly lit up with warm lights. It was as if they could see with the light of day again. The brightness poured in through the window, stunning both him and Lin An into silence.

He barely had time to register a thought, What's going on?, before Lin An ran to the window. And suddenly the smell of cooked street food filled the air, a mix of greasy snacks and sweet candies. 

Wan Yu's eyes widened as he pressed against the window beside her. The empty ghost town's streets had become full of colorful life. A Festival?