Destiny in Cinders

”So, the loss of that precious artifact caused the black market to be completely purged. Even then, Luofu failed to recover their artifact. It’s most likely fallen into the hands of their competitors. That was when your friend, An Xuan, coincidentally came to Deepnight City. After getting his bearings, he even purchased a warehouse at Hilltwixt. And what do you know? The immortal castle ruins appeared there. Seriously, there’s no way this is a mere coincidence,” Metalhand said.

Huo Qing understood what his uncle was trying to gesture at. ”Are you suggesting that he’s someone who’s sent here by another megacorporation? Is his badlander identity merely a cover for his spying activities?”

His honest feeling was that all this was just groundless speculation. He was the one who had spent the most time with An Jing in Skysource and he could tell that An Jing’s ignorance of much common Deepnight City knowledge was by no means feigned.

”Hah, your imagination is just too weak,” Metalhand said, smiling oddly. ”Huo Qing, think big. Be bold about it. Maybe something like... what if a group of dwellers in those ruins survived to this day?”

Huo Qing was completely stunned. Dwellers in the immortal ruins? That’s... Yeah... An Jing’s knowledge about cultivation is out of this world, yet he knows almost nothing about Deepnight City and many things others take for granted. Yet, he was able to get used to life here so quickly and didn’t show any extraordinary curiosity to high-tech things like waterscreens and the like. He takes those things for granted. That’s right... This doesn’t seem like the behavior of a normal badlander at all!

Not to mention, his cultivation techniques are completely divorced from the mainstream of Deepnight City and Skysource as a whole! The Imperial Sky and Earth Arts and their formation-based body refinement principles are so unlike conventional modern qi refinement methods...

It wasn’t that Huo Qing had never doubted An Jing, it just wasn’t in his nature to doubt his friends. He simply overlooked any odd behavior that An Jing displayed. But after Metalhand went out of his way to point it out, he couldn’t help but recall all the things that made An Jing stand out. Not only that, the old madam and young girl from that one time appeared incredibly refined, yet they were completely ignorant of Deepnight City. It was one thing for young people to be ignorant, but not the old!

”Don’t tell me...”

Metalhand smiled at the sight of Huo Qing in deep thought. ”How is it? You sense it now too, right?”

”What’s the Justice Restoration Army planning on doing to him?” Huo Qing sat back down on the couch, his face shrouded in shadow as he looked at the ground. ”Did they give you a mission or something?”

”Nope,” Metalhand calmly said. ”I’m only voicing what I realized on my own. I think An Xuan hasn’t bothered to hide it all that seriously from the beginning. Other things aside, just the fact that he has to vanish somewhere every three days makes me think he can’t be a badlander. He must have some kind of special restriction or curfew. Either way, the next time he comes, make sure to tell him to hide it properly, lest others find out.”

Huo Qing looked up at Metalhand with surprise. ”Huh? But why?”

The man gave his nephew a scratch on the back of the head and growled, ”You little... I bet you were thinking of how to shut me up so that I don’t tell the Justice Restoration Army about his true identity, right? You think you can go against me now just because you grew up just a tiny bit?! Not bad, though. Loyalty to a friend is a good thing. We’re all human at the end of the day. I trust that you won’t get yourself into trouble, but make sure to hide it better.”

”I... All I wanted was to change your mind about it...” Huo Qing blushed. He didn’t even know why his first reaction had been to rush to An Jing’s defense. He had never been the impulsive type.

Metalhand didn’t really mind it either. In his many years of spying, the notion of selling out and betraying the Justice Restoration Army had occurred to him countless times. But all was well as long as he didn’t act on it. Mere thought didn’t constitute a crime.

He took another sip of tea with his prosthetic arm and said, ”Our little cell didn’t make much progress on our mission at all. That’s why we didn’t receive that many resources either. It’s a good thing, though. We were able to stay hidden because we didn’t have any resources that would draw attention. We didn’t slip up in the slightest during the previous great purge either. And whether by coincidence or not, we managed to build some kind of relationship with An Xuan, someone who has something to do with those immortal castle ruins.

”Even if he’s truly a badlander with no relation to those ruins, it doesn’t change the fact that your warehouse is in Hilltwixt. I’ll pull some strings to make sure you get to keep your warehouse. All you have to do is to conduct your business there. You can also tell An Xuan that if he wants to collaborate with us in a more involved capacity, we can talk about it. If he isn’t willing, we’ll cross the bridge when we come to it.

”Either way, you’re the only child of your late parents. Whether you like it or not, there’s a file with your name on it at the Justice Restoration Army. That warehouse of yours is also quite a significant contribution to the cause. In my reports, I described you as a long-term undercover agent who saw the opportunity to establish a foothold in Hilltwixt where you built your base of operations. It’s fine even if you don’t use it for that purpose. What matters is for you two to not draw attention.”

Huo Qing came to understand that his uncle had no choice but to confess the truth to him. There was no way he would willingly drag Huo Qing into the Justice Restoration Army’s affairs, yet they would no doubt take notice of him given that he owned the warehouse in Hilltwixt. Rather than let them catch the eye of other factions in the Justice Restoration Army, Metalhand figured it would be much better to give Huo Qing his own voice in their organization by supporting him with his own faction. Only then would Huo Qing truly have a say in the matter.

After much thought, Huo Qing faced his uncle earnestly. ”I understand. I’ll tell him my guesses... the truth. Our plans and intentions are only one part of the equation. If An Xuan doesn’t want to go through with them, it’s a non-starter. If we truly want to work with him, we can’t hide anything from each other. We have to face him with sincerity.”

”I’ll leave it to you,” Metalhand said, feeling that a heavy burden was finally lifted. ”It doesn’t matter to me either way. I just didn’t want you to feel like you were dragged into a massive scheme without being informed at all. To be frank, as long as you continue to stay with that brat, you’ll be sure to experience all sorts of odd and ridiculous things.”

”That’s true.” Huo Qing was surprised that he could still stretch on the couch in such a relaxed fashion despite learning so many shocking things all at once. ”Thanks, Uncle, for telling me all this and giving me the chance to prepare myself. Now that we’ve come to this, I’m no longer afraid.”

Metalhand got up and said, ”Aren’t you quite the fearless sort? Damn it, if I had known that your mental fortitude was this good, I would’ve told you all about this long ago.”

”You’re mistaken. I would’ve been crushed by the weight of all this back then, but not anymore.” Huo Qing also got up and smiled at his uncle. ”I used to be a coward who only thought about withdrawing and taking a step back to please others. If I had come across something like this, I would’ve fearfully retreated into the abyss without even flinching. But I am able to face this risk head-on as I am now. Uncle, I’m more afraid of stepping into the darkness, not knowing any better. Now that you’ve told me the risks involved, however, I no longer fear taking them on.”

His eyes shone resolutely as he spoke without a hint of fear. ”At the end of the day, I’ll say the same thing. I’ve already faced death once on Mortality Plains. I no longer fear it. What I hate is finding myself aimlessly walking into the darkness in complete ignorance. Now that I’ve gotten a second chance at life, I will walk my path, no matter where it leads, even if it ends in death. At the very least, I will walk this path by my own choice.”

As Huo Qing’s heart-to-heart with Metalhand came to an end, An Jing returned to Void Embrace with a void artifact filled with fertilizer, the materials for the dragonhoard bottle and his new squirrel companion who had just made a breakthrough.