The Door To All Marvels

Grand Theft Spirit Herb (7)

A pause. “” Another, longer pause. “”Almost five minutes later, a different, and far more familiar voice rang through the speakers. “”

“How do you know something’s wrong?”

“”

“Yeah yeah.” She rolled her eyes, fighting back an inappropriate laugh. This was the time nor place for . “” she sighed. “They took it, Mingtian”

“”

“The fruit— apparently it’s something called an Eightfold Yang Golden Dragonfruit, and probably super powerful too, and they it. He thought I stole it, and apparently he’s working with or for some sort of Twin Pines Clan and he said the police won’t help which if he told me who he works for he’s probably not lying and— they it, Mingtian. They took the fruit.” She realized she was rambling, and snapped her mouth shut with an audible . Heavens, wasn’t this Trained in cultivation for months and she could do .

The silence that followed her words was heavy. Even though she knew that Mingtian was a mortal half the city away, she couldn’t help but feel like something truly had descended on the area around her. Then, as soon as the feeling came, it was gone. “” It was the most unemotional she’d ever heard the usually friendly man. “—” he paused, just faintly, so short as to make her think she’d missed it— “” She blushed slightly. He’d never know that she’d totally intended to get the fruit back by herself. “” Slowly, she realized that Mingtian was . She shuddered to imagine what that looked like. “.” Then, a second later— “” Right.

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Then the line went dead, and she was left wondering— how? Slumping to the ground next to the pay phone, she couldn’t help but wonder of Mingtian, a , would be able to do anything. Sure, he was a bit more respected as a witness than a random orphan like her, but…

She smirked to herself. Who was she, doubting her Master? What an unfilial disciple…

“Good. From what I’ve seen of you, I half expected to find you bleeding out on the street.” She leapt to her feet at the sound of an unfamiliar— slightly familiar? Voice, glancing around and finding nothing— until suddenly, like an image resolving out of deep water, a woman stood in front of her, wearing the white and red robes she’d dreamed about her entire life and holding in her hand a long, heavy jian in one hand and a little paper star in the other. “You’ll have to thank your Master for me. I’ve been getting bored, sitting around in East Saffron all day.” That was an outer sect disciple. From the . outer sect disciple, she realized with a start. “Come on.” The woman’s words snapped her out of her stunned silence— “you won’t want to miss this.” Before she realized it, she was being dragged back towards the alchemist-thief's house. Heavens above, she was an outer sect disciple…

She shivered with excitement. Suddenly, the day didn’t seem so bad.

“Stay here.” The woman dropped her at the shrine right across from the alchemist’s house. “This is the place? No, don’t answer that, I can already feel the vile magics that permeate its walls. I am going to this.” She made a handseal, and a second later, and the whole world seemed to for a second before returning to normal— but for the strong tang of iron on the air. “Don’t move. I’ve used a technique to make you essentially invisible to the casual observer, but it won’t last if you move around. Just… watch.” She shot her a grin, and it was a nice grin. Then, she walked up to the door, sword in hand, and—

Pulled it open and stepped in, closing it softly behind her. Lily couldn’t help but let out a slightly disappointed sigh at the non-action. had been anticlimactic. She’d been looking forward to—

The front of the house , and the stared in stunned shock as the corpulent alchemist was bodily to the ground with a sickening . “You To spit on the face of the Bloody Saffron Sect’s magnanimity— have you no shame?” The man scrabbled back, babbling in fear as the sect disciple strode out of the gaping hole in the wall, sword in hand and wreathed by an aura of bloody, indomitable power.

That. Now was the sort of drama she’d been expecting from a cultivator.