The Nightwatcher

Wood element spirit qi circulated through Wuxian's body as he sat there, motionless. His breathing was shallow and his eyes were shut.

Within his meridian network, the qi moved much like the ocean against a cliff, rhythmically back and forth. Each time qi circulated the system it focused on a few specific meridians, acting like the tireless lapping of water against a rock, each pass smoothing the rock down further and further, bit by bit.

Wuxian's first target was the Triple Burner. This, along with the pericardium, were the best meridians to start with according to the manual. These two meridians were elementless and possessed a neutral polarity, being neither of yin or yang.

At the same time, Wuxian focused also on the collateral meridians surrounding the Triple Burner. The major meridian itself was positioned near the diaphragm, being in close proximity to the heart meridian as well as his dantians.

This made cultivating it smoother, since the qi did not need to travel far to complete a circuit.

Once he got into the zone, time flew. Though Wuxian was cognisant of the passing of time, it did not feel long or boring. He merely 'watched' the flow of his qi, almost able to hear the ebb and flow of its waves. Each circuit, he pushed the qi out gently, watching as it collided with his meridians, watching how the meridians began to morph slowly.

And then, he withdrew his wood qi. 

'Balanced refinement requires each element of qi to contribute equally to the meridian's moulding. I have already reached one third of the progress required to refine this section of meridians. According to logic and the manual, I must progress in order of the five phases, so as not to cause internal conflict between my qi.'

The wood qi returned to his Shen dantian. Not much had been expended, only about twenty five percent.

Then, Wuxian steadily mobilised his Qi dantian, guiding the hot and rowdy fire qi out of its cage. Unlike wood qi, which was docile and subtle, fire qi was irritable. But despite its testy nature, Wuxian handled it expertly, driving it down to his Triple Burner meridian, beginning to mould it and the collaterals.

'Unlike wood qi, there is a risk here if I do not manipulate my fire qi well. If I lose focus just a little, it might wreak havoc on my meridians.'

He employed maximum care, allowing the hot fire qi to flow through his meridians. It felt less like an ocean or stream, but more like the movement of hot magma. A single moment of negligence and the surroundings might catch fire.

More time passed, and he moved onto earth qi. This time, he had to be careful to separate the traces of metal qi out. The principle of balanced refinement was to have an equal amount of enhancement and disarray. With the tiny volume to him, if he included it in moulding his meridians, the net enhancement overall to all four elements would be negative.

It was better to have weakened metal qi, since the Nine Revolutions Earthfire technique did not have many applications than it, than to have weakened wood, fire and earth qi, of which his technique primarily focused on.

Again, time passed. Though he should have been half starved to death by now, as a cultivator, despite his low rank, he could fast for a week or two with little trouble. Though, by the time he'd finished cultivating, he felt his stomach growl in hunger and a sense of weakness permeating throughout his body.

Wuxian smiled slightly, the corners of his mouth tugging upwards.

He stretched and retrieved a fasting pill from his ring, popping it into his mouth.

"Feels good."

He let out a breath of steamy air, stained with the colours of the three elements. While most of the qi he used for refinement could be recycled and stored back into the dantians, there were still lingering traces within his meridian network. They were difficult to store and could potentially do some damage, so the easiest method for him was to eject the remnant qi from his body.

But without using a larger clump of qi to drag the remnants out of his body, he could only take the slower approach. Each exhale, a small, almost unnoticeable trace of different qi was ejected. This continued throughout the span of many minutes before it finally stopped.

Getting off the bed, he felt like he was in a new body. Twisting his hips, he felt as if a powerful energy was emanating from deep within him, overriding the sense of weakness.

To nobody's surprise, he had successfully refined the Triple Burner and its collateral minor meridians. In all honesty, if he had not been able to succeed here, he might as well discard his interspatial rings and live out the rest of his life as a mortal.

Then, his elation faded away. He felt a sense of emptiness within him, sapping the energy from his body.

'The past is the past, the present determines the future. You still have debts to pay off, money to return, letters to deliver, legacies to carry out. Wake up, Wuxian!'

He slapped himself in the face. A largely symbolic gesture, but nonetheless, the good intentions were there.

Then he strode out of his room.

'To deliver these letters, my cultivation must rise to the point that I can roam jianghu freely. To return the money I owe… I'll need to get a job.'

But he was faced with an issue.

'I cannot communicate with anyone that does not speak… 'ancient tongue'. In which case, I should find someone who can teach me how to speak the current language- perhaps I can use this money to pay them for their help.' He pondered.

Though he had considered finding chief Li and asking for his help again, Wuxian shook his head. The chief was undoubtedly busy- though he had just spent an afternoon drinking tea with a stranger. Asking a cultivator like that, of a much higher rank, to teach him how to speak was no different to courting death, right?

But at the very least, it couldn't hurt to ask if he knew any other ancient tongue speakers.

'So in the end, I'm going to have to go and harass chief Li again.'

As he walked by the counter, he felt strange. Though he was unhappy in general, especially at having to rely on someone else so much- something he'd been doing a lot of lately, he also felt a tinge of expectation towards his meeting with Li.

The innkeeper sat at the counter. Upon noticing Wuxian's wide frame heading towards the exit, he couldn't help but speak up.

"Excuse me mister… you didn't leave your room for five days, is everything… good?" He asked cautiously.

Wuxian turned to look at him.

'Five days? No wonder I was so hungry after completing the first refinement.'

He sent a slight nod in the innkeeper's direction before leaving.

The innkeeper watched quietly as Wuxian turned the corner before letting out a sigh of relief.

"Phew, you idiot, you idiot! Why did you have to ask about his business? Those serial killers and murderers hate it when people pry into their affairs…"

Then, he gulped in fear.

"Could it be that by asking him, I've put myself on a kill-list?! Come to think of it, the look he gave me just now was quite fierce… and the way he tilted his head was like a neck snapping, could that be what he has in store for me?"

The innkeeper's hands trembled, his skin covered in goosebumps. Then, without a moment's delay, he emptied the safe hidden behind the painting, then took the painting too, then fled in a hurry to his own room.

———

After an hour of following signposts, Wuxian finally managed to locate the prefecture office. As he looked onwards, he felt dismay rising within him.

'The queue…'

The line of people stretched on past the road, turning several corners as it did so. To the point where Wuxian wondered just exactly how bad chief Li was at his job that there were this many complaints being received.

'Either that, or his staff are too inefficient at overseeing cases.' He grumbled internally, stepping behind the last person in line.

Then, he spent another hour under the glaring sun in the queue. Some people had at one point tried to chat with him, but knowing the futility of the matter, he played mute instead. His main source of entertainment was listening to the gossip of others, as well as circulating his qi.

The general cases that were popping up were things pertaining to missing individuals, belongings and so on. It seemed that the Nightwatchers, or law enforcers had their work cut out for them.

'Though, it doesn't seem like these things would be particularly difficult for cultivators to deal with, given the wide range of divination and scouting techniques that exist. That is, unless the culprits are also cultivators.'

Finally, Wuxian made it to the front of the line, meeting with the record keeper face-to-face.

"How may I help you?" She asked tiredly.

Though Wuxian was unable to speak the common language, it wasn't like he was completely illiterate. He had picked up a couple of words, such as 'chief' and 'Li'.

"Chief Li." He said hoarsely.

The record keeper gave him an odd look.

"Sorry, who?"

'Maybe it was the accent. Let's try again.'

"C-chief, uh… Li?"

The woman shook her head.

"I don't know a 'chief Li', I'm sorry."

Wuxian resisted the urge to scratch his head. He pointed to the sign hanging above the office.

"Prefecture… office?" He asked, brokenly.

The record keeper nodded, realising that if the person before her wasn't handicapped, they were likely foreign and did not speak the language well.

"Yes, this is the prefecture office, but I don't know who this person you're looking for is. You said they're a chief, right? Are you perhaps looking for the chief of the city guard?" She suggested kindly.

Wuxian shook his head. "Chief Li, prefecture chief." 

He silently cursed at not being able to say the words 'Nightwatcher'. He also cursed at his inability to be understood.

"Wait here one moment, let me go and ask my colleague." The record keeper said, vanishing behind a wooden door.

A moment later, she returned with another woman who was dressed identically.

"Who are you looking for?" She asked.

"Chief Li." Wuxian replied.

"Never heard of him. Give me a moment, let me go and speak to someone."

Wuxian nodded, appearing tranquil on the outside. On the inside, he felt like kicking the prefecture office down.

After another moment, another person arrived. This time, it was a man clothed in black, wearing a black headband and bracers.

Upon arriving, he seemed to scan Wuxian from head to toe with a bland look.

"You're looking for the chief, are you?" The black-clothed man asked, somewhat coldly.

Wuxian, upon spotting the familiar attire, nodded with a bright expression.

"Well too bad. The chief is too busy to personally meet a lowlife like you. Get out of here, you lone cultivator scum."

Wuxian blinked twice, not expecting anything like this. He did not feel offended, merely confused.

He gestured to himself, as if to ask, "Me? A lone cultivator?"

Only to realise he was practically no different from a lone cultivator. His master had perished, he had no senior or junior siblings and his grandmaster did not even know of his existence.

"What's wrong with me being a lone cultivator? What did lone cultivators ever do to you? Did a lone cultivator sleep with your wife?" Wuxian asked in ancient tongue, slightly annoyed.

The black-clothed person wore what appeared to be a look of surprise, but quickly returned to normalcy.

"Seeing how you speak ancient tongue, I can see that you've had some amount of education… but you haven't studied enough. You speak ancient with an obvious accent, clearly, you have no idea how those words should be properly pronounced." 

Although Wuxian did not like conflict, he was fairly competitive. Once the cat was out of the bag, it would be difficult to retrieve it. 

'Between the two of us, he's the one speaking with an accent.'

"I did not know the recruitment criteria for the Nightwatchers was to be mentally handicapped." He tutted.

The Nightwatcher clenched his fists while Wuxian slowly reached behind, ready to unveil the tablecloth that wrapped around the Northern Dark Edge.

The Nightwatcher's eyes were narrowed.

"Where did you learn of the Nightwatchers from?"