Chapter 95 : The Favor of a God : The Curse of Baiyunya

The crescent moon hung low in the sky, casting a pale glow over the paved road stretching endlessly ahead. Festive lights flickered from tall lanterns strung along the streets, bathing the capital in soft golds and deep reds. The scent of lotus cakes and sweet wine drifted from stalls lining the edges, their owners still calling out to passersby even at this late hour. Ornate estates rose on either side, their gates carved with family crests, gardens blooming in impossible colors under enchanted lamps.

But none of that impressed Astra at the moment.

"I can't walk anymore," she groaned, dragging her feet as she tilted her head back. "Still how far is the inner sector?"

Shion, a few paces ahead, glanced over his shoulder with a faint smirk. "We're barely at the edge of the Outer Ring. We still have to pass through the Middle Sector before we even see the Inner. On foot, that's a three-day journey."

Astra came to a full stop, blinking at him. "You mean…" She looked up at the crescent moon again in disbelief. "It's going to take us three more days? Are we traveling to another realm or what? It already took us three days by boat just to reach the capital from the last province. And now it's another three days just to walk to the center? It's all still within the capital, right?!"

Kaen gave a short laugh and walked past her. "Look around you. The imperial capital isn't a city. It's a realm. It stretches across all nine directions. That's why there are nine guardian gates. One for each compass point."

Astra's eyes widened as she turned in a slow circle, taking in the sheer size of it all.

Seirou strolled up beside her, hands in his sleeves. "And within the capital, everything's split into three divisions. The Outer Ring, this area is where low-ranked nobles, merchant families, traveling cultivators, guilders, trade bases, and minor academies reside. It's also the hub for goods exchange, auction houses, and traveling inns."

Astra blinked, looking at a nearby estate with carved jade lions and a koi pond lit with floating crystals. "These are low-status people?"

Seirou chuckled. "Compared to what's deeper inside? Yes. The Middle Sector is where the high-ranked clans, military officers, and council delegates stay. And the Inner Sector—well, that's where the imperial court, high temples, ancient relic vaults, and the emperor's bloodline live."

He paused, then added, voice dropping with a hint of reverence, "It's also where the most powerful sects in the empire have their ancestral grounds. The Divine Scholars' Hall, the Celestial Forge, the Whispering Blade Pavilion, names most people only hear in legends. The Inner Sector belongs to the elites of the elites. Those who shape law, command nations. The deeper you go, the closer you get to the true heart of this land. And the more dangerous it becomes."

Astra blinked, her mind struggling to process all the information. "We're heading into all that?"

Seiya nudged Seirou with a teasing smirk. "False genius! you seem to know quite a lot about it."

Seirou brushed the dust off his shoulders with a small shrug, "Yeah, you two might have known a bit more if you'd shown any interest in reading. You might've learned a thing or two if you weren't busy napping through every scroll I offered."

Astra groaned, throwing her hands up in exasperation. "So basically, this is just the beginning of our slow death march for next three days."

Shion raised a brow. "You're lucky you're walking. If you had the right status badge, you'd be carried."

Astra shot him a look. "Then maybe next time I'll hitch a ride with a noble."

Seirou grinned. "Good luck with that. The nobles in the Middle wouldn't even spare a look unless you had a crest glowing brighter than their ego."

Kaen gave a short laugh, "Come on. We better keep moving before the inns fill up. Unless you want to sleep beside the pond."

Astra sighed, adjusting her satchel as they continued their walk past golden-roofed manors, bustling trade squares, and a city too vast to grasp in a single gaze.

————

The towering scroll hall of the Imperial Archives was bathed in filtered golden light, rows upon rows of ancient scrolls stacked in towering wooden shelves that touched the ceiling.

Daita stood below, arms crossed, his foot tapping impatiently on the polished floor. Above him, balanced precariously on the top rungs of a tall ladder, Zuzu was rummaging through the uppermost section dust clinging to his robes, his hair a tangled mess from hours of searching.

Daita ran a hand down his face and shouted, voice echoing off the grand stone columns.

"Mule bag! You call yourself the grandson of the Grand Historian of Shenghara—keeper of all scrolls and records and yet you can't even find a single scroll about that damned snowy mountain?"

Zuzu sighed, blowing dust off a rolled parchment before tossing it behind him. He reached for another scroll, muttering under his breath, "Why didn't you just ask someone else to fetch it? Would've spared me a sore back and a dozen sneezes."

Below, Daita pinched the bridge of his nose in exasperation. "Just find the scroll, Zuzu. Before I climb up there and start knocking everything down myself."

Zuzu rolled his eyes and kept digging, the old ladder creaking beneath his shifting weight. A few moments later, with a groan, he climbed down and dropped a heavy pile of scrolls onto the wooden floor, the sound echoing sharply through the silent archive.

Daita shot him a look.

Zuzu raised both hands defensively. "It has to be among these. It's not like there's a scroll titled 'Secrets of the Snow mountain and the twin spider demons.' According to the catalog, any mention would be buried somewhere in the records from nine hundred years ago."

Daita let out a long sigh and sat cross-legged beside the pile. "Then sit down and search with me."

Zuzu hesitated, glancing toward the distant arched windows. "But I have to return to His Highness soon. The third bloom celebrations are ending. I already missed the bloom itself because you wanted me in here digging through a mountain of scrolls."

Daita didn't even look up as Zuzu rolled his eyes and sank to the floor with a resigned sigh. He knew better than to argue now, he wasn't leaving without helping Daita find what he wanted.

The hours crept by in silence, the only sounds being the rustle of parchment, the occasional sneeze, and the distant hum of festival horns muffled by the thick palace walls. Scrolls lay scattered around them like fallen leaves, old ink curling at the edges, brittle and ancient.

Eventually, Zuzu scratched his head, squinting at another faded script. "Seventh Prince… why do you even want to know about those demons and that flower? What secrets are you chasing?"

Daita, eyes still fixed on the scroll in his hand, replied quietly, "There are things that spider said that won't leave my mind, Zuzu. Words twisted in riddles, but laced with truth. Enough to keep me awake most nights."

Zuzu glanced over at him, curiosity piqued. "Like what?"

Daita finally looked up, his gaze sharp with something deeper than mere interest.

"Tell me, mule bag… have you ever heard of the guardian spirit of a mountain turning into a demon? And even then, a god descending to grant a flower the blessing to save life… then leaving that same demon to guard it, one who takes lives for the next seven hundred years? And not even as punishment but as a token of exchange for a favor." His gaze darkened. "Tell me, what kind of god needs a favor from a demon? No… two twin demons."

Zuzu, who had been half-dozing against a pile of scrolls, perked up. He tapped his chin thoughtfully, then muttered, "Twin demons… mountain guardian turned demons… life-saving flower blessed by a god…"

Without another word, he scrambled to his feet, suddenly alert. His fingers flew across the scrolls, untying and scanning them with a sharpness that surprised even Daita.

Zuzu's fingers paused over a thick scroll sealed with an old crimson thread.

"If I'm not wrong…" he murmured, pulling it out with care. He unraveled the brittle parchment, his eyes scanning quickly across the old ink.

"Yes! this is it. The monk-keeper records from Baiyun Temple."He lowered the scroll for Daita to see. "It says that around seven hundred years ago, a guardian spirit named Baiya watched over the sacred snow peaks Mount Baiyunya for nearly two centuries. Travelers who passed by were protected by his divine presence… until one day, the mountain's silence was broken by bloodshed."

Zuzu's voice lowered as the story darkened. "That act triggered a powerful curse, one strong enough to tear Baiya's spirit in two. Those fragments took form… and became the twin demons."

He pointed to the names inked in faded gold, "Bingya and Baixue."