Ten Thousand Autumn Harvests

"Chief Li told me about them." Wuxian lied.

In truth, the chief had never mentioned the Nightwatchers. It was Wuxian who had read it off of the badge. But obviously, the chief wouldn't have showed him said badge if he didn't intend to. 

'Though it's also possible that he wanted to see whether I was able to read common script…'

Regardless, this Nightwatcher didn't need to know that.

The black-clothed man seemed to be thinking things over internally. He glanced over at the queue that appeared to be steadily lengthening and then at Wuxian.

"Come inside. Stop making a scene." He said, disappearing into the back.

'You are equally as responsible for this scene as I am, if not more so.' Wuxian tutted silently.

Then he looked at the office, realising that there was no way in through the front.

One of the two attendants gestured to the side.

"There's a way around the back." She said, helpfully.

Wuxian nodded, before ignoring her and climbing over the front desk, careful not to barge into the two women as he passed by them. They watched in confusion as he quickly followed the black-clothed man into the back.

Before him was a long corridor that split off into two branching paths. The black-clothed man was nowhere to be seen and it was completely quiet, save for the muffled sounds of the two clerks talking behind the door.

'Giving me trouble, are you?'

He regretted not prioritising learning some sort of divination technique, else he would have been able to directly locate chief Li, assuming the man didn't have any anti-divination protection.

'Thinking about it properly… someone like the chief probably does have anti-divination means. After all, I imagine he'd be a big target for a few kinds of particular individuals.'

Wuxian let out an annoyed sigh. Before him, there were probably around 20 or so doors lining either side of the corridor, not counting the many more that lay beyond the branching paths ahead.

He walked over to the first room on his left, knocking firmly.

No response.

After a few breaths, he moved on to the next door, knocking firmly again.

No response.

Resisting the urge to begin kicking the doors down, he went over to the third door, knocking another time.

He heard sounds of hushed whispers and rustling, hastened and secretive movements.

After half a minute, the door was opened by a man who appeared to be out of breath, a bead of sweat sitting upon his forehead.

He had short brown hair and brown eyes, a pair of thin-rimmed glasses that were placed comfortably on the bridge of his nose. His face was blushed and his head peeked through the gap in the door.

Due to the height difference, Wuxian could see directly over the man and into the room. There was a woman there, only partially clothed.

"C-can I help you?" The man asked.

Wuxian blushed slightly, averting his gaze.

"No, goodbye."

He shut the door and turned away, feeling sorry for chief Li.

'No wonder the queue was so long. Aih, chief Li must be really busy if his employees are slacking on the job. Maybe I should let him know when I see him later.'

Wuxian shook his head slowly, going over to the next door.

In the end, it turned out that save for 'that' specific room, the others were all empty.

Turning the corner, Wuxian calmed himself down. He diverted some of his attention to circulating qi, while using the remainder to make sure he didn't bump into any walls as he walked.

An gloved hand reached out and stopped him.

"You're pretty patient."

It was the black-clothed man from before.

Before Wuxian could speak, the man spoke first.

"I'm Wan Qiushou. Wan for ten thousand, Qiushou for autumn harvest."

Wuxian nodded, giving Wan Qiushou a proper look.

He was tall, though not as tall as Wuxian, but only around half a head shorter. His face was defined, with smooth skin and a hooked nose. He looked slightly arrogant and a little bit cruel, but his eyes were an astonishing clear blue, like that of an azure sky.

"Good name." Wuxian complimented. "I am Sihai Wuxian, Sihai for four seas, Wuxian for leisureless."

Though Wan Qiushou had given him trouble previously, Wuxian did not think it was a big deal. After all, it was like going up to the mayor's manor and asking the guard whether he could meet the man himself- there's no way one would leave without having garnered any modicum of suspicion.

Wan Qiushou nodded, seemingly accepting the compliment, though he did not give any reaction to Wuxian's own introduction.

"The chief will see you now. Come with me."

Wan Qiushou, without waiting for a response, turned and went down the right corridor. Wuxian followed, matching his speed.

"Why didn't those two attendants know chief Li?" He asked.

"They're new."

'Makes sense.'

"From out of town, then?" He asked.

No response.

After a few moments, Wuxian spoke again, "You walk quite quickly."

"You walk slowly." Wan Qiushou responded, widening his gait slightly and walking quicker.

Strangely, Wuxian was not annoyed or offended. 

'Some people just speak bluntly, uncaring of others' opinions or feelings. It's a little refreshing.'

He was brought back to his days as a peasant where the most amount of formality was referring to his friends' parents as 'uncle' or 'auntie'.

Wuxian caught up to Qiushou. 

"Are you a cultivator?" He asked curiously.

"No." The man responded, picking up speed again.

Wuxian grinned, but also felt surprised.

'I expected all Nightwatchers to be cultivators…'

Qiushou glanced at Wuxian, as if to read his mind.

"Nightwatchers are more specialised members of the law enforcement. Cang'An has a mortal police force as well, but they deal with more mundane matters and answer to their police chief.

As for us, we report directly to the magistrate and the lord immortals."

Then, uncaring if Wuxian understood or not, he directly broke into a run, sprinting down the hallway.

Wuxian looked at Qiushou, wondering if the man had suffered any traumatic head injuries as a child. Then, he also began running, catching up to him quickly.

"You run pretty slowly." Wuxian joked, returning Qiushou's words back to him.

"We're not allowed to use techniques indoors." The man replied, providing no further information.

They quickly reached another turn, stopping in front of a room with a set of double doors. Above sat a plaque which read 'prefecture chief's office'.

Qiushou glanced at Wuxian before opening the door.

"Be respectful." He warned, gesturing for Wuxian to go first.

Wuxian nodded in response.

As he entered, he expected to see a grand room with expensive paintings and statues and whatnot.

But he was greeted with an almost dingy and plain office instead, with chief Li sitting behind his desk with a bored expression.

Upon seeing Wuxian and Qiushou, his expression brightened, though he always wore a smile when in the presence of others.

"Hello Wuxian, hello Qiushou, welcome." His smiled widened a little.

Qiushou immediately bowed with a salute. Seeing this, Wuxian copied him.

"Greetings, prefecture chief." Qiushou said, loudly.

"Greetings, prefecture chief." Wuxian echoed, wondering why someone who was clearly as important as chief Li had decided to spend an afternoon drinking tea with him.

"Oh you, stop with the formalities. Please, have a seat, both of you." Chief Li said, standing up and going over to pull out some chairs.

"No, chief, you mustn't!" Qiushou cried, charging over and snatching the chairs out of the chief's grasp.

Chief Li stood there with a helpless expression. Wuxian covered his mouth, almost laughing at the chief's plight.

In the centre of the room was a small and circular walnut wood table. There were two chairs, facing opposite one another.

"Alright, Qiushou, you may leave now." Chief Li said.

Qiushou bowed again. As he left, he turned to look at Wuxian.

"Don't try anything funny. I'll be right outside if anything happens." He said, closing the doors behind him with one last cautionary glance before he left.

Wuxian turned to look at chief Li, only to find the man taking a seat with a tired look on his face.

"Please, sit." He offered.

Wuxian nodded, making sure to prevent the chair legs from dragging along the wooden floor.

Chief Li sighed and then recomposed himself quickly. 

"How have you been since last week?" He asked compassionately.

"Not too bad." Wuxian responded.

The chief nodded slowly, resting his head on an upturned palm.

"These things take time. It's normal for you to still feel unwell." He consoled.

"I know. I'm currently trying to keep myself distracted." Wuxian said.

Chief Li smiled slightly, one side of his mouth pulling up higher than the other.

"That's good. Then I won't pry into your private matters any further. Why have you come to find me today?"

Wuxian had an embarrassed look on his face. He bit the bullet and decided to ask.

"In order to repay you, I need to find employment, but I cannot speak whatever the current language is." 

Looking at the two metre tall man twiddling his thumbs nervously in front of him, chief Li felt the humour of the situation.

Wuxian continued. "I was wondering if you could let me know where I could find a tutor who would be willing to teach me how to speak your language. Not for free of course, I could pay with… with the money you lent me."

Hearing the last part, Li snorted with a grin. Then he returned to his usual casual expression. He answered the question with another.

"What is your opinion of Wan Qiushou?" Chief Li asked lightly.

Wuxian was puzzled.

"Wan Qiushou? What about him?"

"Just what you think about him, in general."

Wuxian blinked twice.

Seeing the mix of hesitation and confusion on Wuxian's face, chief Li raised his left hand and shot out a streak of earthy-yellow qi. As it shot through the air, it rapidly morphed into a thin wall of light, pasting itself onto the set of double doors.

"It's soundproof, you may speak freely." Li assured.

Wuxian nodded, but internally, he was thinking about the spell chief Li had just cast.

'It looks like a spell of the earth element with the purpose of blocking sound… does the qi projected always end up in the shape of a rectangle or can it change according to the caster's will?'

Chief Li coughed to get Wuxian's attention.

"So, any thoughts?"

Wuxian touched his chin, rubbing it gently.

"He seems cold and harsh on the outside, but acts very… 'true' to his own thoughts and desires, so to speak." Wuxian paused, pondering over whether to fully speak his mind. "He also respects you a lot."

Chief Li nodded ponderously. Then he ran his hand through his long black hair.

"To be honest with you, there are not many people in the mortal realm who speak ancient tongue."

Wuxian was caught off guard by the sudden topic switch.

'Why did he ask me about Wan Qiushou if he's going to immediately address my previous question?'

"Most who do speak it are from times when the language was spoken regularly, or have learned the language from those people," Chief Li continued. 

He then looked at Wuxian.

"Which is why I find it odd that someone like you, who clearly is not an immortal, who clearly does not have a high cultivation base, speaks only ancient tongue and not common language instead."

All of a sudden, Wuxian felt goosebumps. His left hand subconsciously nudged toward Northern Dark Edge on his back, while his muscles tensed.

The cold atmosphere was chilling and somehow, chief Li's usually kind and relaxed expression seemed to produce a dangerous aura. Behind the man's squinted eyes, Wuxian sensed the sharp stare of an apex predator.

"A-amnesia." Wuxian said, struggling to produce any sound that wasn't a croak. "I've lost my memories."

Chief Li continued staring, only to let up after just a few more minutes.

Wuxian couldn't tell whether the man was convinced or not as chief Li's expression remained the same as ever.

"I see. Well, no matter."

Wuxian subconsciously let out a sigh of relief, regarding the chief's words with wariness.

'I need to leave this city, immediately.'

"You should stay in this city for a while."

Wuxian looked at Li blankly.

"Pardon me, what?"

"I said, you should stick around. Who knows, maybe your memory will slowly return?" Chief Li smiled.

'Sihai Wuxian, find an excuse. Find any excuse you can and leave.'

He cleared his throat, trying to appear casual.

"I-I still need to learn common. Now that I think about it, I seem to remember having some immortal seniors who could teach me, I should go and find them."

Chief Li waved his hand slowly, tilting his head.

"Don't bother. I was thinking that Qiushou could teach you common instead."

As Wuxian stared at the floor, he continued.

"And about the money- don't worry about it too much. I was actually thinking about employing you. Would you consider joining the Nightwatch?"

'Are you joking?' Wuxian scoffed internally, but externally he remained inert.

He looked up at chief Li, meeting that enigmatic look again, eye to eye.

"Do I have a choice?" He asked.

At this moment, chief Li adopted a rare serious expression.

"You do. I am not lying to you. You have full autonomy over what you do, like you did yesterday and like you will tomorrow.

You may think that I have a nefarious purpose or ill intentions, but in truth, I am merely protecting you. You have picked a poor time to enter this city and being a cultivator puts you at risk, especially considering your weakness and low realm.

If you value your life, you would be wise to accept my offer. If you wish to gamble, you may do so and I shan't stop you.

I can lead a horse to water, but whether it drinks or not is out of my control."

Wuxian sat still, obviously engaged in inner turmoil.

Chief Li spoke again, trying to convince him.

"Being a lone cultivator has the benefit of freedom, but the risk of being murdered at any moment. Being a Nightwatcher, you take orders only from me and my superiors. Ordinary cultivators will not make any moves, regardless of whether you are immortal or mortal, regardless of how strong you are. 

All you need is to wear our uniform, and it will be as if you have donned the legendary armour of Jadeface Yu."

'But being a Nightwatcher, I will become a prime target for this city's enemies, especially considering my weakness. I will be trading my freedom and the risk associated with it for a whole new type of danger.'

After a few moments, Wuxian looked up.

"I have decided."