Sneaking Up On You

As Tang Jiahao's breathing evened out, Yin Haoyu slipped out of the room. As he stepped into the courtyard connected to their room, he was pleasantly surprised to find it empty. Not wanting to count on his luck any longer, he sprinted to the closest gap in the wooden wall and hid there. He searched for his next target, and then repeated the process from spot to spot.

{A-Huan, I'm back.}

His mother had instructed him to leave the moment Tang Jiahao dozed off, she would join him as soon as the interference let her again. He did not know how long the obstructions lasted, but it seemed that a period of an eight of a shichen was a safe assumption.

[[Your mother has given you the task of discovering where the interference is coming from. You gain a 150 G-Points when the task is completed, and if you fail you lose 300 G-Points. You now have 220 G-Points.]]

He had worked so hard to gain back as many points as possible in the last few weeks, but now his hard work would not even be enough to prevent his death if he failed. The severity of these deductions was really too harsh.

{Where are you heading now?}

With no clear instructions, he had slowly made his way to the inner buildings of the grounds. If there was someone causing this interference, it probably was an elder of the Liao sect, so someone who resided at the center of the grounds. Who else had enough spiritual energy to keep his parents out for short amounts of time? He had tried many times himself to guide his spiritual energy to block them out, but every attempt had failed. Or maybe he just was not powerful enough to do it.

If the interference was caused by an object, it seemed logical that such a powerful artefact was kept deep inside the borders. Or maybe there were multiple objects hidden throughout the grounds that wove a network to keep his parents out. He kept an eye out for any such inconspicuous objects or talismans hidden throughout the buildings.

All these assumed that there was at least one person here who knew about the Orphanage System. Maybe another orphan? He had never met another orphan who was part of the system, but then again, he could never ask anyone because he was always being watched. He could only assume that also applied to the other orphans.

Or maybe a more reasonable explanation was that the Liao sect was trying to keep some spirits out, and they managed to accidently keep his parents out too. He knew the spirit repelling talismans at his sect were not able to keep them out, but surely the talismans from the wisest and most powerful sect could do much more.

"The inner buildings," Yin Haoyu whispered. "Muqin, do you perhaps feel that the interference is getting worse? Or is it staying the same?"

When he peeked around a corner, he saw a flurry of black and blue robes, so he quickly escaped into a dark alcove between two columns. He held his breath as two figures passed by him and walked on. So, the Liao sect did not only guard their walls and gate, but they also patrolled their grounds.

{It's getting worse.}

As he expected, the intensity of the interference was not everywhere the same. It was only normal that the inner buildings that accommodated the Liao clan were more heavily protected than the outer buildings.

"Is it gradually getting worse, or are there fluctuations?"

In the dark alcove he waited for his mother's answer, but as the time ticked on, it became apparent that she had been kicked of the grounds. It was a weird feeling that he now for once was not being watched, that his every movement was not analyzed and held against him at every turn. However, he did not know when she would be back, so he could not relax.

But maybe his father was watching him. It was often difficult for him to determine when his father was present or not, because he hardly ever said anything. "Fuqin?"

No answer came this time either. He was truly alone. Woah.

He left his hiding spot, and carefully made his way from building to building. The task might have been easier if he were familiar with the place, if he knew what was coming before he got there, but he had only ever set foot on the path from the gate to his guest residence. His parents had not given him the luxury of first exploring the grounds when he was allowed. No, instead, they insisted on the hard way of him finding his way through the dark in an unknown environment.

It was as if they wanted for him to fail this task. And honestly, he had no clue if that was the case or not.

As he got deeper, he encountered more and more disciples. This amplified his suspicion that something important was hidden in the inner buildings, why else would they have that many disciples patrolling inside the walls?

Or maybe they just did not trust the new guest disciplines. Maybe they just wanted to play it safe until they could confirm they could trust them. He would have felt a whisper of indignance if it were not for the fact that he was now the living proof that their doubts were justified.

Maybe his parents had sent him on a more difficult quest than they had anticipated. That was just his luck. Difficult tasks that through circumstances got even harder.

When his mother returned not that much later, Yin Haoyu repeated his experiment a few times and came to a few conclusions. Although the interference got worse as he got deeper, the intensity did vary from place to place. This emphasized his theory about certain objects being placed throughout the grounds, with more of them closer to the inner buildings.

From the moment he climbed across the wall around the inner buildings, his mother only managed to stay for very short periods, and the intervals between her returns became longer and longer. As his theories solidified, he contemplated how stupid of an idea it was to explore one of the residences. The particular residence that he wanted to investigate was the one that had caused his mother to fall away again after only uttering two words. Surely, if there were any objects hidden, it must be there.

He knew it was a risk, but if he had no answers for his mother, he would pay for it with his life. So, he did not really have a choice.

He glided against the walls of the residence as he sought for the entrance. After turning two corners, he spotted an archway into the courtyard of the residence. However, a faint light came from the courtyard. Was someone awake? What were they doing in the middle of their courtyard?

He waited for a moment in case it was guards on patrol, but when no one came, he contemplated his possibilities. Was it someone that just liked to light up their courtyard? Someone that was afraid of the dark? The thought was quite endearing. If there was an inner Liao member that had such a fear, it must be difficult for them to hunt monsters at night.

In the end, he decided to just take a peek. He could just as quickly abandon the plan if whatever was lighting up the place would be an obstacle. He sneaked closer, careful to not make any noise, and then looked inside the courtyard.

What he saw inside, was not something that he had expected. At all. There was no way he could have ever even imagined such a sight.

In the middle of the courtyard stood a small tree, but this was no normal tree. Along with a large amount of light green leaves, it also bore fruits that glowed up in the night sky. It lighted up the face of the person standing in front of the tree in a warm glow. The person's full attention was on the breathtaking spectacle that was the tree, but Yin Haoyu could not take his eyes off from the man.

The defined features of the man were emphasized by the contrast of the tree and the dark, and the sharp line of his cheek was impossible to miss. His eyes were such a light brown that the tint was closer to a molten gold. His back was straight as the black robe cascaded down his imposing figure, the blue tunic beneath accenting the dark blue ornament keeping his hair in a bun. As finishing touch, the sky-blue patterns were woven into his robes, telling its own story.

Too late Yin Haoyu realized that he had taken a step forward, out of the shelter of the wall, and into the glow of the tree.

The man's gaze snapped to him, and the icy glare that pierced into him was a stark contrast to the warm glow surrounding them. Yin Haoyu froze in place.

Oh. Oh no.