Hand It Over

By the time Xialuote returned to the alley, the surrounding area had grown quiet once more. The police officers who had rushed over earlier seemed to have already swept through. The wooden crates stacked against the wall had been shifted, and fresh, messy footprints marked the dirt, but the constables had since moved elsewhere, leaving only distant shouts echoing in the night. Under the crimson moonlight, Xialuote soon spotted the smear of blood left behind by the Element Dawn member she had wounded. There were no droplets trailing off into other directions and no signs of a renewed struggle, indicating the police had in all likelihood failed to notice the injured Beyonder and had simply moved on after a perfunctory search of obvious hiding spots. *A rather careless search... Still, without surveillance cameras, bright street lamps, or high-powered flashlights in this era, finding someone skilled in concealment at night relies solely on divination or pure luck...* Xialuote inwardly mocked the police, then reflected on what had transpired earlier. She became increasingly convinced that the Assassin had employed some verbal Beyonder ability to deceive her. When he had proposed calling it even and walking away, she had subconsciously agreed without any serious thought. *Was it a form of 'Persuasion' akin to the Arbiter or Lawyer pathway? No, it felt more like 'Deception' or 'Instigation.' It magnified my reluctance to be discovered by the police and my dread of Father finding out about my late-night excursions, allowing those concerns to override my intent to capture a cultist... Such an ability isn't overwhelming and has limited utility in direct combat, yet in conversation, it is potent enough to induce a fatal misjudgment...* Suppressing her frustration, Xialuote surveyed her surroundings once more. *...If I were him—cornered with police arriving at one end of the alley, the Beyonder who just defeated me at the other, and wounded to boot—where would I hide?* Putting herself in the shoes of that Element Dawn member, her gaze swept across the shadowy corners behind the wooden crates and the exits leading toward different districts. Finally, she slowly tilted her head upward. Sure enough, along the edge of a second-floor windowsill, she spotted a faint smudge of dark red bordering on black. *Found you...* Xialuote stepped toward the wall, planted a foot onto a wooden crate, and gripped the sill. Using both hands and feet, she clambered up swiftly, then engaged her core to vault onto the sloping roof. Smoothly smoothing down the hem of her skirt, which had hitched up to her knees, she restored her composure and elegance. Yet as soon as she lifted her head, she froze. Hengli'aite, whom she had just met near the cemetery earlier that evening, stood bathed in moonlight. Her long black gown and smooth hair fluttered in the breeze, and an enchanting smile graced her captivating face, as though she had known all along that Xialuote would return. Before Hengli stood a short-haired man with tawny-brown hair, the right sleeve of his coat soaked through with blood. He stared toward Xialuote in astonishment and took two hesitant steps back, looking as if he desperately wanted to flee but dared not make a move. Taking in their postures and expressions, Xialuote immediately grasped what had happened after her departure. Evidently, after this Assassin failed in his attempt to tail Hengli'aite, Hengli—whose sequence clearly surpassed his—had turned the tables and shadowed him instead, intercepting and cornering him here when he climbed onto the roof to evade the police. Yet the atmosphere between them did not resemble an encounter between mortal enemies. Hengli had neither drawn a weapon nor bound him with invisible threads, and while the wounded man appeared anxious, he showed none of the despair of someone facing death. After a moment's consideration, Xialuote ventured, "You know each other?" Hengli folded her arms loosely across her chest and answered with casual ease, "You could say that. Strictly speaking, I used to be his superior." *A superior?* Xialuote's gaze shifted between the two of them as she speculated what could have transpired to turn them into "former" colleagues. Hengli'aite seemed amused by her reaction and introduced him with a smile: "This is Walunting, a senior member of Element Dawn, a Sequence 8 Instigator." *So that's the name of the potion an Assassin advances to? It seems the words he used to trick me were the core ability of that sequence...* Xialuote noted this silently, then pressed on, "Were you part of Element Dawn as well?" "No," Hengli'aite said, giving a gentle shake of her head. "Element Dawn has existed for over a millennium. On the surface, it maintains an independent philosophy, but in truth, it has always served another, far more ancient and secretive organization. "Among low-sequence Beyonders like Walunting, some know whom they truly work for, while others go on believing they merely embody the ideals they pledged to upon joining." *It seems this Instigator belongs to the former group that knows the truth...* Xialuote glanced at Walunting, who kept his head lowered in tacit agreement with Hengli's words. After a pause, she continued, "So you belong to that 'higher' organization?" Hengli'aite nodded without elaborating further. She merely lifted a hand to tidy a stray lock of hair stirred by the wind and said, "The less you know, the weaker your connection to them will be, and the less likely you are to be targeted." With that, she turned back to the wounded Instigator. Though a smile still lingered on her face, her tone turned frosty: "I originally intended to silence you permanently and give them a small warning in the process, but I find it unnecessary. "When you return, tell the fool who sent you that I left the faction to carry out a different assignment. Tell her to stop having people spy on me over past grievances. If that lady finds out, she understands the consequences. "Furthermore..." Hengli'aite tilted her head toward Xialuote. "What happened with this young lady had best remain strictly between us. The forces backing her are not something Element Dawn can afford to provoke." *The forces backing me... That's right, I'm a scion of the Suolun family that once ruled Yindisi, a member of the largest Church in this nation, and I chat casually with a nun who shares the name of this city's patron angel...* A fleeting trace of guilt crossed Xialuote's mind before she threw out her chest, meeting Walunting's suspicious gaze with unflinching calm. Walunting's expression shifted uncertainly. It was impossible to tell how much he believed, but in the end, he gave a slow nod. "I will only relay what you have said." Hengli'aite withdrew her gaze in satisfaction, then turned to Xialuote with a smile. "I'm done on my end. Do you have any questions for him?" Xialuote understood this meant the night's affair was drawing to a close, and she abandoned any thought of handing the man over to the Church. Instead, she asked, "Do you know anything about the cultists who recently carried out terrorist attacks in Telier?" Relieved that the question was not directly tied to his own trespasses, Walunting relaxed slightly and replied, "Many rumors are circulating through the underground, but judging from the movements of official Beyonders, those rumors are likely true. "Fanatics devoted to the 'True Creator'—who claim the Seven Gods stole their Lord's divine authority—launched an assault on a church. While it didn't cause massive structural damage, casualties were considerable. "They also declared that this was merely the first strike, and certainly not the last." "You weren't involved?" Xialuote asked pointedly. Walunting shook his head at once, as though the question were absurd. "How could we be? Everyone harbors grievances against the Church and official Beyonders, but no one is reckless enough to provoke them like that... I hear several Machinery Heart squads have arrived from outside the city over the past few days to reinforce the local Church, garrisoning various cathedrals against further assaults." *Indeed, wild Beyonders go out of their way to avoid the Church; why would they ever court disaster deliberately?... That only highlights just how deranged the True Creator's followers are...* After reflecting for a moment, Xialuote continued, "Where can they be found?" Walunting darted a glance at Hengli. Seeing that she only watched them with a smile and had no intention of intervening, he had no choice but to lower his voice: "There is a regular gathering in the University District that official Beyonders haven't caught on to. Recently, someone has been preaching similar doctrines there—though no one pays them any mind, of course. However, you need a token to enter, and you'll have to secure that on your own." No sooner had he finished speaking than he saw her extend her open right hand, wiggling her fingers at him. His expression instantly went blank. "Hand it over," Xialuote said with righteous confidence. "You attacked me just now. You owe me something for psychological distress." Walunting turned toward Hengli'aite, seemingly hoping she might intervene on his behalf. But the latter looked away into the distance, appearing suddenly captivated by the silhouette of Saint Ma'er Prison. Realizing his former superior was entirely indifferent, he reached rather begrudgingly into his pocket with his uninjured left hand, drew out a gold coin, and dropped it into Xialuote's palm. The coin was identical in size to a common gold louis, yet the profile of King Louis VI had been replaced with the figure of a naked man bearing a cross with arms spread wide. *The Creator enshrined in the church at the town of Beimang?* Xialuote paused in surprise, then, struck by an intuitive realization, rotated the coin halfway. The man crucified upon the cross was instantly transformed into an inverted figure hanging upside down. *** Toward the end of April, a little over a week after their arrival in Telier, the Suolun household finally received a formal notice from Baifeng Palace. Early the following morning, Lawuer Suolun had the butler arrange the carriages, formal attire, and accompanying attendants, while he dressed in full court dress, groomed to perfection. Unlike her father, whose mind was entirely consumed by the upcoming reception, Xialuote had spent the intervening days acquainting herself with several of Telier's primary districts. She had slipped out of the estate at night on multiple occasions, seeking out brawls and disputes shrouded in darkness, "persuading" both sides with word or fist before rendering a fair verdict. With enough such interventions, whispers had even begun spreading through the city about a strangely dressed lady who appeared only at night to punish wrongdoers. *I only wore trousers for convenience's sake... Fortunately, I always sought opportunities to act in other districts. Otherwise, Father would have heard the rumor from the servants long ago, and he would almost certainly have suspected me...* Standing in the ground-floor foyer, Xialuote stole a glance at Lawuer. Seeing that his attention remained wholly fixed on the itinerary ahead, she breathed a quiet sigh of relief. Once the carriages were ready, father and daughter boarded the first coach together, while the maids and valets followed closely behind in another. Trunks containing gifts and changes of clothes were securely lashed to the carriage roofs. The coach rolled through the bustling streets of Telier, passed the toll wall used to collect city entry taxes, and headed southwest. As houses and farmland were left in their wake, an immense sprawl of majestic architecture, gleaming beneath the morning sun, gradually came into view ahead. It was the largest and most opulent royal residence on the entire Northern Continent—Baifeng Palace.