Be The Icy Beauty: A Xianxia/Cultivation Tale

"Everyone, search this place. Grab any valuables you see! Especially changes of clothes!"

Jiang Fang's shout filled the air. For a moment, no one responded. Then, one boy ran off. Immediately the rest of the villagers were spurred into action, spreading outwards to loot the house. One boy ran over to a shelf in the corner of the lounge, tearing open its doors to grab the silver cutlery within. Another tore an ornate copper statue from the wall it had been affixed to.

Zhang Yi turned, quickly jogging out of the lounge area through a door in the room's left side. He found himself in a large kitchen area. Several large shelves sat upon one wall, brimming with ingredients. There were jars of exotic spices and bags of dark green herbs, small containers of translucent fluid and bottles of alcohol.

Zhang Yi's eyes scanned the room, wondering how valuable any of the ingredients would be. After a moment, he gave up, realizing he knew absolutely nothing about cooking or what ingredients were expensive.

Instead, Zhang Yi continued forward, stepping past the kitchen and into the next room.

A large mahogany desk sat proudly in the center of the room, polished and glistening. Loose sheets of bamboo paper and splotches of ink covered the top of the desk.

The walls of the room were decorated with three large bookshelves, filled with random volumes. There were fiction books, encyclopedias, notebooks and more.

"It's a study," Zhang Yi muttered aloud.

Ignoring the bookshelves for now, Zhang Yi moved over to the desk. He began to rummage through the loose papers atop it, searching for anything of importance. The majority of the papers seemed to be finance-related, covered with complex calculations and dense text.

'Tax forms,' Zhang Yi realized absently. 'Who would have thought that even Immortals have to pay taxes?'

Moving on from the loose papers, Zhang Yi pulled open the first drawer of the desk. The well-lubricated wood slid open with a gentle wisp and Zhang Yi leaned over to inspect its content.

Within the drawer lay several ink brushes of varying sizes and bottles of dark black liquid. Looking over the brushes, Zhang Yi decided only one seemed to be visibly expensive. Its handle was a long stick of carved jade inlaid with gold leaf. Its head was made of large but fine hairs that shone glossily. Zhang Yi grabbed the brush, shoving it down a pocket before moving onto the second drawer.

The second one pulled open just as easily, revealing its insides to Zhang Yi. Within it lay a single book, a thick tome with an illustrated cover. It was titled 'The Lady and the Rogue: Revelations' and the prominent drawing of a scantily clad woman on its cover revealed its purpose all too clearly.

'How indecent!' the boy thought, shaking his head.

Blushing, Zhang Yi prepared to slam the drawer shut. Just before he did so, he noticed something strange at the edge of the drawer's inside. Leaning down, Zhang Yi brushed his finger along the edges of the drawer's inside.

There was a slight gap between the bottom of the drawer and its wall!

'It's a false bottom!' Zhang Yi discerned.

He removed the lewd book, dropping it unceremoniously atop the mahogany desk before removing the false bottom. Below it sat a small ornate jade box, body covered in complex carvings and plated with gold. It sat atop a small red velvet cushion and Zhang Yi realized he had just stumbled across something important.

Lifting the box up to his head, the boy attempted to open it, only to find it stuck closed, despite the lack of any visible lock. After a few moments of trying impotently to force it open, Zhang Yi placed the box down, sighing.

'How strange! There does not seem to be any lock holding it shut, yet I can't seem to get it to budge!' Zhang Yi thought.

Finally, he turned away from the desk to look at the bookshelves.

There were dozens of books stored on them, from thin notebooks to thick tomes. However, Zhang Yi didn't really think any of them seemed that valuable or important so he ignored them. Instead, he turned his head upwards at three large scrolls that sat atop the bookshelves.

The orphaned boy reached up, stretching as far as he could. However, he was still but a short eleven-year-old and could not reach the top. Zhang Yi grit his teeth in annoyance, bending his knees. Then, he leaped from the floor, powerful leg muscles launching him just high enough to pull one of the scrolls from the top.

Gravity pulled Zhang Yi back to the floor with a heavy thump. He looked down at the scroll he had grabbed. It was made from thick, heavy, yellow parchment, tied closed with a thin green ribbon. He pulled the ribbon open, unfurling the scroll. Then, his gaze landed upon its title.

'Wind Valley Magical Arts: The Complete Compilation'

Zhang Yi's eyes widened slightly and he gripped the scroll tighter.

Magical Arts? Had he somehow stumbled upon one of the immortal's magical techniques?

After pausing for a moment to process his discovery, Zhang Yi quickly scanned through the scroll, inspecting its contents. It began with a short poetry-like segment.

In the Wind Valley, the breeze flies. Elegant drafts circle atop the heavens. Be one with the breath of the azure...

Zhang Yi skipped past the poetry to the next segment of the scroll. It was a complex series of instructions filled with mystical terms.

Begin by circling Wind Qi around the Sea of Energy. Send one-half of the Qi into your fortieth Aperture and then into your eighteenth. Continue into your ninth aperture. Send the other half into the fifty-seventh aperture and then further into the sixty-eighth...

"Wind Qi?" Zhang Yi whispered to himself "This really must be an actual magical scroll!"

However, excited as he was, Zhang Yi quickly realized he could not fully understand the scroll. It was filled with bizarre and profound instructions about Qi, Meridians and all sorts of other strange terms he did not recognize.

Sighing, he closed the scroll. It should be expected that he wouldn't be able to automatically comprehend an Immortal's magic just like that. It would be more surprising if he could...

Zhang Yi set the scroll down atop the mahogany desk, next to the jade jewellery box. Since he couldn't understand the scroll, there was no need to waste time reading it, and he could move on.

Instead, he turned back to the shelf, looking up at the other two scrolls. Now that he knew they contained magic, Zhang Yi definitely had to get them. He bent his knees before jumping as high as he could.

Zhang Yi reached out, grabbing the two scrolls before landing. He unfurled the two scrolls, quickly reading their titles.

The first was called 'Copper Shell Breathing Method' and the second was titled 'Elephant Muscles Ancient Manual'. Just as he was about to begin reading the scrolls to see what he could learn, he heard a loud voice shout out.

"Everyone gather in the lounge! It's time to get out of here!"

It was Jiang Fang.

Zhang Yi paused before he turned around. He grabbed the three scrolls, jade jewelry box and jade ink brush. Quickly, he made his way back through the kitchen and into the lounge room.

In the ten or eleven minutes, Zhang Yi had spent exploring, the woman's corpse has been removed, though her blood still stained the couch she had sat upon. Atop the couch sat a small pile of various weapons, no doubt looted from around the Immortal's house.

Furthermore, someone had brought a large hand-drawn wagon to the center of the room, upon which someone had laid down the corpse of Hua Zi next to dozens of other items looted from the Immortal's house. There were crystal vases, silver cutlery, paintings, bags of coins and even small statues.

It was more wealth in one place than Zhang Yi had ever seen in his lifetime. Even his grandfather's antique shop had never contained so many valuables. In all of Jiang City, perhaps only the Jiang family themselves could have so much.

No doubt there was even more spread throughout the Immortal's house, unable to be gathered due to time constraints. Even with more than thirty people running around looting, it had still only been around ten or eleven minutes, so there was no way every nook and cranny had been searched.

It was a testament to the sheer difference in status that could exist between people. If Zhang Yi had even a percent of the Immortals wealth, then he wouldn't have suffered so much in life...

Jiang Fang and about half of the other villagers stood around the wagon. Other villagers quickly filed into the room from various doorways, having heard Jiang Fang's call. Each carried various items, from wooden boxes to carved jade ornaments, to bags of herbs. One even carried an entire silk bedsheet.

As Zhang Yi stepped into the room, he saw a shadow fly towards his face. Instantly, he dodged to the side, watching as a ball of black cloth smacked into the wall beside him.

"Change into that clean robe," Jiang Fang ordered, gesturing to the black cloth he had thrown at Zhang Yi. "Then put anything you've found in the wagon."

He frowned, annoyed by Jiang Fang's tone. However, after a moment, Zhang Yi nodded. Given their respective statuses, he couldn't really disobey the young noble, plus he really did need a change of clothes.

Zhang Yi stepped out of the lounge and back into the kitchen. After placing down his looted bounty, he quickly disrobed. The crusty, bloodstained robes he had been wearing falling around his legs to expose his naked body.

Speedily, he grabbed the black robe Jiang Fang had thrown at him and wrapped it around his body, tieing it closed. The robes loosely fit around his body, just a little too big. However, the luxury and comfort of the high-quality material that surpassed anything Zhang Yi had ever worn more than made up for that slight flaw.

Finished changing, Zhang Yi grabbed the scrolls, jewelry box and brush and walked back into the lounge.

As much as he wanted to keep them to himself, he knew there was no way he could keep them with him without anyone noticing.

Thus, he walked over to the wagon, placing down his loot inside it. He made sure to hide the scrolls underneath a large silken bedsheet someone else had deposited. That way no one would be able to see the scrolls and get curious about their contents. So long as no one knew about them, perhaps Zhang Yi would be able to retrieve them later. Amongst the tens of villagers all setting down their own gains, no one noticed his stealthy actions.

After Zhang Yi finished, it wasn't long until all the other villagers had arrived back at the lounge. Once everyone had arrived, Jiang Fang jumped onto the wagon, clearing his throat to grab everyone's attention.

"We don't have much time left before people start arriving for the auction." he began. "When that happens, they will surely notice something is wrong. If we are caught for having killed the Immortal and the auctioneer, then I hope I don't have to spell out what will happen to us all."

A solemn silence filled the air after Jiang Fang's words. Many of the villagers turned their heads, exchanging glances with their friends and family.

"If we leave now, we should be able to get out of here, safely," Jiang Fang continued solemnly. "However, it's still risky and many things could go wrong. Especially if people act on their own and endanger the group. So, until we arrive safely at Jiang City, I'm asking you all to follow my orders."

Jiang Fang had already been something on an unofficial leader to the group of villagers. He was the son of the Jiang City Lord and had automatically taken charge when everyone realized what was happening. However, there was no 'rule' saying anyone had to listen to him so he had to formalize his leadership role over the other villagers if he wanted to be sure people would definitely listen to him.

Zhang Yi sighed. He already knew what the responses of the villagers would be, and so did Jiang Fang. It wasn't like any of them would disagree with his proposal.

Just as Jiang Fang finished speaking, one boy stepped forward, speaking up.

"Of course we'll obey you, young master!" he said "After going through a life-or-death battle together, I know all of us men will follow you!"

It was Li Renlong, the older brother of Zhang Yi's ex-fiancee. The tall, well-muscled boy immediately answered in the positive upon hearing Jiang Fang's words.

As he heard the boy speak, Zhang Yi's eyebrow twitched slightly.

'Hey, who said you could speak for me?' Zhang Yi mentally complained as he watched other villagers began to loudly voice their agreements.

After a large enough amount of the villagers had spoken up, Jiang Fang nodded, bowing his head towards the villagers.

"Thank you all for your trust in me," he said solemnly. "I will make sure not to lead us astray."

Then, Jiang Fang jumped off the wagon. He grabbed one of the silken sheets someone had looted, placing it as a cover atop the wagon's contents.

Zhang Yi winced. Of all the places he could have put the scrolls, he had somehow ended up hiding them right underneath something Jiang Fang was about to use. He could only hope the noble either had not seen or was not curious about the contents of the scrolls.

If Jiang Fang did ever learn about the magic scrolls, Zhang Yi knew he would never see them again.

After covering the wagon with the silk sheet, Jiang Fang walked over to the pile of weapons that sat on the bloodstained couch.

"Li Renlong, Wan Zue, Zhang Yi, Dong Huo, Ling Shuren, He Zhao, Cao Xinyi and Yang Mu. You, along with me, are the nine oldest men here. It will be our duty to protect the others should anything happen," Jiang Fang began, gaze trailing slowly over the people he had mentioned.

While the other boys nodded or smiled proudly at Jiang Fang's words, Zhang Yi narrowed his eyes.

'Up to him to protect the others?' Why the hell would Zhang Yi have an obligation to risk his life for a group of people who did not care about him and who he did not care about?

When Zhang Yi's grandfather had died, the Jiang Family stole his inheritance. The Li family broke their engagement. The other villagers would push him around and steal what little he had. So why would he do anything to help them?

Zhang Yi had always believed in reciprocity in treatment. When someone gave you things or was kind to you, you acted the same towards them. When someone attacked you or insulted you, you did the same to them.

So, he would definitely not be going out of his way to help the Jiang City villagers, a group of people who had never gone out of their way to help him.

"Come up and arm yourself," Jiang Fang continued, gesturing at the pile of weapons atop the couch. "Then, we leave!"

While he was not planning on risking his life for any of the people here, Zhang Yi knew it would be best to stay with the group. So, he nodded his head along with the other seven boys Jiang Fang had addressed.

The boys all quickly walked over to the pile of weapons, Zhang Yi trailing at the back. They crowded around the couch, clamouring to grab the best weapons.

"Get in an orderly line," Jiang Fang snapped, noticing the crowding.

After a bit of grumbling, the boys quickly formed up in a line, each stepping forward to grab a weapon.

First was He Zhao, who grabbed a long-handled black hammer. After him, Yang Mu snatched up a silver Ji polearm. Dong Huo was next, selecting a thick glaive.

As each boy grabbed a weapon, eventually it was Zhang Yi's turn at the pile. He looked over the remaining weapons.

A short bo staff made from dark black wood, a pair of iron sai and finally a long, thin dagger. It was that final weapon that caught his eyes. The blade's length was just below the point it would qualify as a shortsword, its razor-sharp edge gleamed wickedly.

Pulling the blade out of the pile, Zhang Yi stepped backwards. Now that all of the boys were armed, Jiang Fang continued with his orders.

"You six over there," Jiang Fang said, pointing to some of the older girls. "You will be in charge of pushing the wagon first. If you get tired, switch out with someone else."

The girls Jiang Fang had pointed out nodded, quickly walking towards the wagon. Two walked to the front, grabbing hold of the wagon's handle. The rest walked behind it, placing their hands against the back.

Jiang Fang and the older boys walked in front of the wagon, and the rest of the villagers walked behind it. Quickly the group made their way to the house's front entrance. It was a wide double doorway made from a glossy, burgundy-coloured wood. Jiang Fang pulled out the iron keyring he had looted from the Immortals corpse unlocking the door and pushing it open.

Jiang Fang jogged through the door, followed by the boys, the wagon and the rest of the villagers.

As he walked out, Zhang Yi's blinked his eyes, rapidly adjusting to the bright sunlight. The atmosphere here was slightly warmer than Jiang city, but a horrible stench filled the air. It was a strange concoction of rotting meat, rancid feces and burnt coal.

He swept his eyes around the environment, taking it in. Outside the immortals, the house was a wide clearing. To the left of the house, a wide road trailed off into a forest. However, to the right sprawled a massive city.

Huge, absolutely massive stone structures could be seen rising above the city, dozens of stories tall. There were houses and buildings stretched as far as the eyes could see. Smoke trailed from chimneys, forming smog clouds high in the air.

Unlike Jiang City, which was really more of a large town, this was a true metropolis, filled with hundreds of thousands of people. The sounds were incredibly loud too, a constant clammer and clatter of noises that overwhelmed Zhang Yi.

Perhaps the Immortal's house was magic in some way because, while inside it, Zhang Yi had never noticed the smell or noise.

However, Jiang Fang's loud shout broke him and the other villagers from their enchantment.

"Now is not the time to marvel. Get a move on," the noble ordered. "We're heading into that forest."

Jiang Fang began to hurriedly run down the Immortal's front lawn, heading over to the wide road that led off into a forest. Zhang Yi and the others followed behind him, quickly making their way onto the road.

After several minutes of speedily running, the group slowed down slightly. They were now fully within the forest and the horrid stench of the city had faded somewhat, growing weaker and weaker with every passing moment. The noise as well grew fainter, becoming a muffled clattering in the distance.

Zhang Yi breathed a sigh of relief as he jogged at the front of the group. He wasn't sure how much more of the noise and smell he could take.

Eventually, they slowed to a fast walking pace, continuing deeper into the forest for more than half an hour. Suddenly, Jiang Fang turned sharply to the left, walking off the beaten road and onto the grassy forest floor.

"What now?" He Zhao asked.

"If we just follow the road, it will be easy for someone to follow after us," Jiang Fang said. "So, we will head off the road and into the forest."

"What if we get lost?" the blacksmith's son continued.

"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing," Jiang Fang responded.

Zhang Yi and the others walked after him, making their way deeper into the forest and further from the road. As they walked, the vegetation became denser and denser, eventually, the wagon could no longer move forward and Jiang Fang stopped.

"This is a good spot," Jiang Fang said. "It should be hard to find us here even if someone is searching for us."

The boy then turned around, facing the large group of villagers.

"We don't know if anyone will be searching for us," Jiang Fang began. "However, it's better to be safe than sorry. We will wait a few days before continuing on the road. It should lead us straight back to Jiang City if my memory serves me."

"What will we eat?" one girl asked worriedly.

It was a valid question. Even if several of the villagers knew how to hunt or forage, most didn't and it would be hard to gather enough food for more than thirty growing children with just a few people.

"We can have a few people head into the city and buy food," Jiang Fang responded. "As long as we are discreet, then we should be fine."

The girl nodded silently, reassured by Jiang Fang's words.

---

Hours passed as the group of children hid in the forest. The sun slowly sank and darkness thickened in the forest. Exhausted, mentally and physically, by the events of the previous day, the villagers easily fell asleep atop a makeshift bed made from various cloths stolen from the Immortal's house.

Jiang Fang had set up a watch system, so there were always two people awake who could wake the others should everything happen.

Currently, Zhang Yi and Ling Shuren were on guard, sitting upon a fallen log. The soft noises of the forest washed over them, the chirping of birds and the sound of a rushing river in the distance.

Ling Shuren sighed, laying down.

"I am just gonna close my eyes for a few minutes...," the boy yawned, laying down on the floor. "Don't tell anyone..."

Zhang Yi didn't respond, watching as the boy quickly fell asleep. Sighing, he stood up.

He looked around at the sleeping others, making sure they were all asleep. Then, Zhang Yi silently walked over to the wagon.

Carefully, he lifted up the silken sheet that covered it. In the corner, he could see the three scrolls.

Zhang Yi gingerly reached forward, grabbing the scrolls. After looking around to make sure no one had been woken by his actions, he grabbed a golden cloth from the wagon, wrapping it around the scrolls.

Then, he quietly tiptoed away from the group. After a few minutes, feeling he was safely far away from them, Zhang Yi began digging, in between two roots of a tree. Once the hole was large enough, he placed the cloth-wrapped scrolls into the hole and covered them back up with dirt.

Pulling out his knife, Zhang Yi carved a cut into the tree, marking it.

'Way later, after we get back to Jiang city, I can return to retrieve the scrolls,' he thought. 'Hopefully, no one has noticed I was gone.'

Zhang Yi returned to camp, satisfied in that everyone appeared to sleep. He walked over to two boys, shaking them awake.

"What is it?" one grumbled tiredly.

"Your turn for the watch," Zhang Yi said.

As the two boys slowly got up, Zhang Yi found himself an open spot on the forest floor, slowly falling asleep.