The wind over the cliffs was brisk, and stank of rotten seaweed and salt. Shi Qingxuan shivered and tried not to look down at the foam-specked surface of the sea, or think about how far down it was from the precipice they sat upon, paralysed, while their captors discussed how best to kill them.
"I say we just bash their heads against this here," said the larger of the yamen runners, slapping his hand against the stone next to Shi Qingxuan's head with a large, calloused hand. "Save time." Shi Qingxuan thought about how easily this man was going to kill them, and tried not to cry. If they were going to die, they wanted to do so with some dignity. They looked over to Yu Yanli, who'd been placed against a different boulder a little distance away, and tried to give her a brave smile. She gave a shaky smile back.
"Sure," said the smaller runner. "Until someone finds the blood and realises these women were murdered, and Lady Shen has us murdered too." He shook his head. "You gotta stop being so short-sighted, Tan-xiong."
Runner Tan rolled his eyes. "And you gotta learn when to take things easy, Gu-xiong. But if you're so insistent, you can go find some appropriate rocks and I'll sit back and keep an eye on these two."
"Ugh, fine," said Runner Gu. He turned around and started to make his way carefully down the slope.
The array had spat them out on top of a narrow bluff extending far into the sea on some isolated ocean cliffs. A perfect spot for disposing of bodies but washed clean of any loose rocks larger than a pebble. The scrub around the base of the cliff was dotted with stones of all shapes and sizes, so Runner Gu wouldn't be gone for long. Shi Qingxuan silently prayed for him to slip and break his neck.
The boulder they'd been leaned against was cold and damp, and even though they'd only been here a short time they were already developing a painful cramp. They shifted to get a little more comfortable, but there wasn't anything they could do to combat the cold. It couldn't have been more than a ke since they fell to Shen Xiaowan's talisman, but their body was already reminding them how much everything hurt without the buffer of magic to keep the pain at bay. The knowledge that they wouldn't be suffering for much longer wasn't much of a comfort.
Runner Tan, true to his word, sat back and rested against the boulder, a little distance from Shi Qingxuan. Even sitting down the man was intimidatingly huge, maybe even taller than He Xuan, and solid with muscle. He looked out at the sea with a bored expression, apparently indifferent to the grisly murder he was about to commit. Unlike Shen Xiaowan, the yamen runners hadn't shown any signs of sadism or malice, but appealing to Runner Gu's conscience seemed as pointless as trying to overpower him physically. And Shi Qingxuan knew from past experience that telling people that you were friends with gods rarely led anywhere good.
That only left one option.
"Um. Hello Master Tan," said Shi Qingxuan, looking up at his face. Runner Tan looked back, eyebrows quirked with curiosity tinged with threat.
He wasn't ugly, at least. Some might even call him handsome, in a sinewy sort of way. They could do this. "M-my," gasped Shi Qingxuan breathily, fluttering their eyelashes. "You certainly are very...big."
"Uh huh," said Runner Tan.
Shi Qingxuan's experience with seduction mostly involved cheerful flirting with friends while tipsy, not manipulating a bored assassin while under the threat of death. They struggled to keep up the mood in the face of Runner Tan's flat disinterest. "And...um...and so..."
"So gentle," cooed Yu Yanli. "You can just tell he has a kind heart, can't you?"
Runner Tan snorted, but the corner of his lips lifted in a faint smile. Hooray for the expert seductress!
"Very true!" said Shi Qingxuan. "You were so careful carrying me...I only wish other men were so considerate!" Which is to say that when Runner Tan dropped Shi Qingxuan down on the ground and they'd sobbed in pain, he'd grumpily shifted them into a less painful position to shut them up.
Runner Tan stared at Shi Qingxuan with narrowed eyes. "Either you're trying to mess with me, or you know a lot of really shitty men."
"Ahahaha," said Shi Qingxuan. "Well, you know how it is..."
"HEY! TAN-XIONG!" Runner Gu's voice rang out over the sound of the surf. Yu Yanli let out a frustrated hiss.
"Ugh," muttered Runner Tan. "What is it?" he shouted back towards Runner Gu. "None of the rocks meet your high standards?"
"Uh..." Runner Gu sounded a little embarrassed. "I got my leg stuck in a hole. Can you come help me get out?"
"Here we go again," muttered Runner Tan, standing up with visible reluctance. "We could have taken things easy, but no. Who's going to guard the prisoners if I come down there, huh?"
"They're paralysed!" said Runner Gu. "Shut up and come help!"
Runner Tan glared at Shi Qingxuan and Yu Yanli suspiciously, like they might jump up and make a run for it the moment he turned his back. Shi Qingxuan tried to radiate harmlessness. After a moment Runner Tan shrugged and turned around to head down towards Runner Gu. "Always making things more complicated," he muttered to himself, and then vanished out of sight.
Shi Qingxuan let out a long sigh that turned into weak, desperate laughter. "Ahahaha we're going to die," they choked. "I'm going to die because of rice."
"We are not going to die," said Yu Yanli. "I refuse to die like this. It's too stupid!"
"It's so stupid!" said Shi Qingxuan. "So stupid and so...ahhhh. Yu Yanli, what are we going to do? It would be hard enough to fight these guys without magic even if we weren't paralysed! It won't take them long to come back, and then what?!"
"Calm down," said Yu Yanli. "Panicking isn't going to help."
"Sorry, sorry..." said Shi Qingxuan. "The thought of dying is just so scary!" Having lived for so long did not make the prospect of death any more appealing. They fanned their hands across their face to clear their thoughts, taking deep calming breaths. "Ok. Not panicking! Being constructive! Do you think you can charm them? You seemed to be making some headway with the big guy."
"I don't think so," said Yu Yanli. "It was a good idea, but I'd need more-" She froze, and stared at Shi Qingxuan with wide eyes. "Wait, did you just move your arms?"
Shi Qingxuan stared down in shock at their hands, now sitting in their lap instead of collapsed useless by their sides. "I..." They tried moving their arms again, and could get them all the way up to shoulder height before they flopped back down, feeling weak and unpleasantly tingly. They shouted with joy. "I CAN MO-"
"Shh!" hissed Yu Yanli.
"Ack, right!" said Shi Qingxuan. The base of the cliff wasn't so far down that they could afford to speak carelessly. They lowered their voice to a whisper. "I can move my arms! I'm still affected by the talisman, though, I'm not sure I could stand. What about you?"
Yu Yanli wriggled about a little and then let out a frustrated grunt. "It's wearing off for me too, but I'm still basically paralysed. If I'm reading the talisman right, it works off the user's golden core, so you're at an advantage over me."
"Haaa," said Shi Qingxuan. Who knew being a fake cultivator would actually an advantage for once. But it was He Xuan who had given the use of both their hands, and He Xuan who had given them the spiritual power that had fooled Shen Xiaowan into using the wrong talisman. If they somehow survived this, it would be thanks to him.
Yu Yanli slowly raised her hands up from the ground, eyes squinted tight with concentration, and then let them fall again with with an exhausted exhalation. "If it comes down to a fight, I could maybe knock the little guy off the cliff if I caught him off guard," she said. "But that's about it."
"That's something!" said Shi Qingxuan. "I have this sword, I could take out the big one. We just have to surprise them."
"Right!" said Yu Yanli. "When they get back, we keep them talking as long as we can, and then when the right moment comes along...bam!"
"Yeah!" said Shi Qingxuan. "We can totally take these guys!"
They absolutely could not take these guys. They were going to die. Yu Yanli surely knew it too. The two of them drifted into silence.
Now that they could move, Shi Qingxuan took a moment to remove some of the heavier items Shen Xiaowan had put inside their sleeves. Lacking any way to hide them, they had no choice but to throw them over the edge of the cliff into the sea below. Little carved figures, jewelry, a cracked crystal cup, items sacred and mundane all lost to the waves. They sent a silent apology to any other gods they might be insulting with this impromptu sacrifice. And then they leaned back against the stone and closed their eyes, exhausted. "I wish He Xuan was here," they said, softly.
"Ha," said Yu Yanli. "Yeah, he could kill these guys with a click of his fingers."
"That too," said Shi Qingxuan.
"How did you even become friends with him? I thought gods and Ghost Kings were supposed to be enemies, but you and His Highness seem pretty chummy with them."
"It's...a long story, haha," said Shi Qingxuan. "He Xuan and me...we have a lot of history together. Not all of it...not all of it good. But I still wish he was here. I wish..." They sighed.
For a while all they could hear was the harsh sea wind whistling over the cliffs like a mournful song.
"Ol' Feng..." said Yui Yanli, her voice so soft they could barely hear it. "Shi Qingxuan..."
Shi Qingxuan looked at her in surprise. She never used their real name, none of the beggars ever did.
"If we don't make it out of this," she said, looking down at her hands, "I just...I just want you to know..."
"I care about you too, Yu Yanli," they said, before she could finish. "You're definitely my third best friend."
She looked over at the them and blinked. "Um. Thanks," she said. "You're a good friend, too. A great friend. But... that's not it." Her hand brushed weakly at the jade belt around her waist. "Wearing all these holy artefacts dedicated to Lady- to you...it's made me think. About how I used to, um... to worship Lady Windmaster. Ever since I was a little girl."
"O-oh," said Shi Qingxuan, feeling equal parts flattered and awkward.
"She always seemed so kind and happy..." said Yu Yanli, her voice wistful. "I relied on her to get through the hard parts of my life. She inspired me to stay strong."
Shi Qingxuan's heart filled with a warmth they hadn't felt in a long time: the affection of a god towards their worshipper. "Yu Yanli," they said. "That's so-"
"Let me finish," she said, quickly. "Sorry, but I just...I need to get this out." Her hands twitched against each other weakly in her lap. "Like I said, I relied upon Lady Windmaster. I expected her to always be there when I needed her. So when she vanished, I...I felt abandoned. Betrayed." She sniffed, and blinked her eyes quickly, unable to wipe them. "I...took my anger out on her temple. I stole things, broke off part of her holy statue...I took out my frustration and sense of weakness on her...on you, when you were guilty of nothing worse than falling on difficult times yourself. When I found out who you really were...I felt so ashamed I just wanted to forget it all had ever happened. But now I...I don't want to forget. I want to face the past, and face you, honestly, as your friend."
"Oh," said Shi Qingxuan, as the feeling in their heart became more bittersweet. Yu Yanli probably wasn't the only person Shi Qingxuan had met as a mortal with this sort of history with them as a god, but she was the first to ever admit to it.
"So, I'm sorry," said Yu Yanli, still not meeting their eye. "And I hope...you can forgive me."
"Yu Yanli..." began Shi Qingxuan, trying to put their complex feelings into words.
But of course that was the moment the two damn yamen runners decided to make their appearance. Runner Gu had acquired a bit of a limp but Shi Qingxuan found it hard to have much sympathy.
"What are you two whispering about?" asked Runner Tan with narrowed eyes.
"Can't two friends have a final heart to heart while they still have the chance?!" said Shi Qingxuan. "Give us a moment!"
"Hurry it up, then," said Runner Gu. But it took Shi Qingxuan a few breaths to drag their eyes from the sharp and solid rock in his hands and remember what they'd been saying.
"Yu Yanli," they said slowly, picking their words with care, and hoping their feelings got through to her, in these last words they might ever get to say. "Wherever Shi Qingxuan is now I...I'm sure she understands. Everyone makes mistakes, and hurts people...whether they mean to or not. What matters is that you try to do the right thing as much as you can. Even if it doesn't work out, even if things...end very very badly haha. It was still worth trying."
She let out a long sigh. "Yeah." She sniffed. "Thanks, Ol' Feng. You've always inspired me to be a better person. I regret a lot of things in my life, but not the times I chose to do the right thing. The kind of thing you would do."
"Well, you've inspired me too!" said Shi Qingxuan. "You're so much more practical than I am, I need people like you to help me put my ideas into practice, and to remind me not to get myself into trouble. Even if it doesn't always work haha." They thought about how He Xuan had always told them getting involved in politics was a bad idea, how he'd known something was wrong at the school. They sighed. "I promised him I wouldn't die, but I guess I'm going to end up as fish-food after all..." Maybe a little bit of their body would float out to He Xuan's island and make his skeleton fish happy. The thought was weirdly comforting.
"Yeah you are," said Runner Gu. "You ladies done?"
Shi Qingxuan suddenly remembered they were supposed to be stalling for time. "Um, no!" they said, quickly. "I have so many other things I need to get off my chest! Like...how I never got to fulfil my dreams of becoming a famous calligrapher!"
"And I want to make a final prayer to Ling Wen," said Yu Yanli. "He's been such an inspiration to me in my-"
"You're done," said Runner Gu, sharply. He turned towards Runner Tan. "Right," he said, hefting the stone in his hands and then tilting his head towards Yu Yanli. "Let's get started. You hold her steady and I'll do the job." Runner Tan nodded and stepped closer to Yu Yanli.
No. This couldn't be happening.
Yu Yanli stared at Shi Qingxuan with wide desperate eyes and mouthed something in silence, but Shi Qingxuan was too terrified to figure out what.
"Hey," said Runner Tan. "What are you muttering? Is that a spell?"
"A prayer!" said Yu Yanli. "To Shi Qingxuan, that her sword may protect me."
The sword! Shi Qingxuan slowly moved their hands towards the hilt while the yamen runners stared down at Yu Yanli. They had to get this right.
"Looked like a spell to me," muttered Runner Tan. "This one's the proper cultivator, right?"
"They both are, I think," said Runner Gu. "But how much of a cultivator can a crippled beggar, be, right?" He flicked his eyes towards Shi Qingxuan, who quickly flopped back into motionlessness. Runner Gu narrowed his eyes, but after a tense moment seemingly convinced himself they hadn't moved, and turned back to Yu Yanli. "So, Lady Shen says we have to make it look like smashed her head against the rocks after falling off the cliff. A few sharp knocks to the head should do it, I think."
He made it sound so dull, like they were discussing the best way to crack an egg.
Shi Qingxuan carefully pulled the scabbard off the sword, horribly aware of every tiny squeak of metal scraping against metal. Leaving the sword tucked into their belt, they used the scabbard to help lift themself off the ground, and then carefully placed it against the boulder. Their legs protested vociferously about having to support their weight, especially on such a slippery surface. But they forced themself to stand regardless, and take slow, careful steps towards the yamen runners. They had to stifle a yelp when they nearly slipped on the smooth wet stone.
"The-they'll figure it out, you know," said Yu Yanli, quickly, before the yamen runners could notice the noise. She was doing an excellent job of acting as Shi Qingxuan wasn't there, but they could see her eyes twitching with tension. "And trace it back to you."
"Who will?" said Runner Gu. "The school? The magistrate?" He and Runner Tan snickered. "Do you have any idea how many throats we've slit and had it passed off as suicide? The only reason we're going to so much trouble now is that young Lady Shen asked us to. She thinks a convincing story needs alibis and motives. But all we need is someone in charge to say 'This is what happened' and nobody will question a thing."
"W-well...WELL THAT'S TERRIBLE!" said Yu Yanli, raising her voice as Shi Qingxuan's steps drew them closer and closer to the two yamen runners, still standing with their backs to Shi Qingxuan. If they turned around...
But they didn't, and Shi Qingxuan crept closer still. This close, Shi Qingxuan could see signs that someone had carefully mended various tears in Runner Tan's robes with neat, careful stitches. Did he do that himself? Perhaps he had a wife. Shi Qingxuan reminded themself that all the people whose throats Runner Tan had slit would have had families too.
"What ever happened to JUSTICE?!" she shouted, "And COMPASSION and-"
Shi Qingxuan readied their hands around the scabbard, aimed the sword between Runner Tan's ribs, and then thrust upwards with all of their strength.
It was a weak, shaky blow, far from the powerful strike they'd have made in their prime. But the sword was sharp, and they hadn't lost their knowledge of how to make a quick and efficient kill. Runner Tan let out a strangled cry as Shi Qingxuan thrust the sword upwards through his lungs and up into his heart. Their hands became sticky and warm as Runner Tan's blood spilled out into the brisk air.
"Tan-xiong!" shouted Runner Gu, staring at the two of them in horror, his face spattered with blood.
"Who's...a harmless cripple...now," panted Shi Qingxuan, pulling out the sword with some difficulty from Runner Tan's body and taking a few steps back. Runner Tan fell heavily to the ground, the gash in his back continuing to spurt blood up into the air. The smell of salt in the air was smothered in the sharp tang of iron.
"...What?" said Runner Tan, eyes wide in confusion. And then his eyes went glassy, and dull. He was dead.
Runner Gu's expression of horror turned to one of fury. "You fucking whore," he roared. "He was my friend." He drew a dagger from his belt and rushed towards Shi Qingxuan. Yu Yanli had dragged herself up into a sitting position, ready to try and push him over, but he was gone too quickly for her to have the chance.
"Oh shit," said Shi Qingxuan. They did their best to dodge, but the ground was slippery and their legs even more shaky than normal. Luckily Runner Gu was off-balance due to his own injury, and too angry to think clearly. Shi Qingxuan managed to avoid the arc of his dagger, but only just. They wouldn't be so lucky next time.
"You want a whore?" shouted Yu Yanli. "WELL HERE I AM!" She'd dragged herself to her knees, and swayed unsteadily, but the fire in her eyes burned white-hot. She pulled one hand up into a fist, the jade belt wrapped around her fingers as a makeshift weapon. And then the other hand flew from her wrist and punched him in the face.
Runner Gu roared and slapped the hand away and it flew over the cliff into the sea. "I'll kill you both!" he shouted, voice hoarse. "Screw making it look like an accident! I'll slit your bellies and watch you drown in your own shit!" He turned to attack Yu Yanli.
There was no way she would be able to dodge him. Shi Qingxuan tried to raise the sword, but their arms were exhausted and they could barely keep it off the ground. They threw themselves in front of Runner Gu with a desperate stumble, hissing in pain as they landed on their bad leg, bracing themself on the sword to stay upright and not slip over the edge of the cliff. Runner Gu swung, and hit. Shi Qingxuan felt the dagger slice against their shoulder in a wide, vicious arc, and the air filled again with the smell of blood.
"Jump!" they choked out, before Runner Gu could strike again. "Yu Yanli! The water's deep, you might..."
"Always so kind," said Yu Yanli, softly. And then as Runner Gu raised his hand for the final strike, Shi Qingxuan felt a heavy weight against their side. It was Yu Yanli, pushing against them with all their strength. They lost their footing, and the sword scraped across the ground as they fell.
"Ahhh?" they shouted in surprise and horror, as the view in front of them became a tumbling vision of rock and water and sky.
"Live long and happy!" shouted Yu Yanli's voice from the cliff-top rapidly receding above them. "And if not, I'll see you-"
There was the sound of a knife hitting flesh, and a cry of pain. And then Shi Qingxuan hit the water, and all they could hear was the sound of the ocean as they were swallowed by the waves.