Following trails of snakeweed marked with blatant guidance—as if the Qiannian Pavilion's mistress had stamped "HERE!" on each blade—Shui Qian trekked for two days. The plants, enchanted to resist damage, led her to a cluster where she halted.
No more markers. She cast a spell at the snakeweed. Instead of repelling harm, the blades split midair, hovering as a violet vortex swirled behind them.
Shui Qian reached into the vortex. A teleportation array. Steeling herself, she stepped through.
"*Clap, clap, clap.* You've finally arrived." The woman from her dreams stood before her—Qiannian Pavilion's mistress. Draped in pearls, emerald necklaces, and a cat's eye bracelet whose stones shimmered like shifting eyes, she radiated lethal elegance.
"Such theatrics to summon me," Shui Qian said coolly. "You collapsed my cabin. What do you want?"
The woman smiled like a blooming peach. "Miss Luo, so lovely yet unadorned. All women crave beauty. My jewels are peerless—aren't you curious?" She offered a teacup, voice languid.
"Curious?" Shui Qian sipped the tea, eyebrow raised. "You lured me here to peddle trinkets?"
"I seek business with yokai. Exorcists slaughter them; you don't. You *understand* them."
"And?"
The mistress tapped her jade pipe. "My jewelry shops worldwide are illusory branches of this pavilion. A few… strayed into Buddhist temple lands. To reclaim them, I need allies to break monastic seals." Leaning closer, she whispered, "And you, my dear, are not human, are you?"
Shui Qian turned away, silent.
"Do you have shadow amber here?" she finally asked.
The mistress grinned. A pitch-black stone phased through glass, landing in Shui Qian's palm—cool, hypnotic. "I'll take that as a yes."
Shui Qian unslung her worn longbow, its guard dulled. "Replace the shadow amber in this guard, and I'll aid your reclaiming."
The mistress studied the bow, sprinkling herbs that glowed like stardust. Her eyes narrowed. Measuring meticulously, she returned it. "Return in a moon for the reforged guard."
As the shadow amber floated back, glass shattered. Shui Qian held a raw white jade stone. "Compensation for my cabin."
The mistress watched her vanish, then gazed at the broken display. Amid glittering gems, Shui Qian had chosen only white jade.