It had been over a month since they had last been here. The Storm Seal Shrine, the place where everything went wrong. Shāng Bù Huàn wasn't certain he was ready to approach the place after the seal guardian killed Làng. There was too much pain still left in his heart.

"Still no signs of imperial activity," Mù Tiān Mìng observed. "And the place is still standing. Something is going on here."

Shāng attempted to focus on the task at hand. He was doing this to continue in Làng's memory, to complete the Index as they all had intended to do. No sword should be left for the imperials or Huò Shì Míng Huáng to do more harm. One singular seal guardian had already done enough. "Part of me is wondering if she was collaborating with them."

"Collaborating?" Mù questioned.

"Think about it," Shāng painfully recalled the encounter. "She knew about the 'Sword-plundering Nemesis' and for such a remote location, someone had to have told her."

"Xiào Kuáng Juàn," Mù frowned. "I don't know why I didn't think of it before. The locals did say that an imperial who appeared high ranking was traveling up the mountainside. What if that seal guardian struck a deal with him purposely to separate us?"

"And to kill Làng," Shāng frowned.

"Focus, Bù Huàn," Mù grasped his shoulders. "We cannot change what has happened, only work towards the future we all wanted. And if this shrine is collaborating with the empire, all the more reason to seal the Mountain Gale within the Index." She peered at him, noticing him staring at the wall. "Wait here."

He snagged her by the sleeve, shaking his head. "I'm fine. We'll do this together."

They leapt up onto the walls, sneaking by the guard standing by the doorway. Quietly they crept along the walls before leaping into the lower roof of the large shrine at the end. Finding an open window, they crept inside. Avoiding as much conflict as possible was always best when dealing with seal shrines, but it wasn't often that they went into a seal shrine.

The shrines had existed since the War of Fading Dusk, built around relics of the war. But there was a problem with that. They were relics. No one actually knew if they had a real or a fake. The even bigger problem was that the empire sought to control the shrines and the relics within, real or not. They knew that the relic guardian Lián Měi had in her possession was real. But like any relic, they were usually returned to one spot.

The building inside wasn't well guarded, but it was also locked on the outside. The chances of someone sneaking through the window was rather unlikely. The remote location and the dangerous cliffs also served as a perfect defense for a powerful relic.

Quietly they descended the stairs, finding a typical sword shrine located on the first floor. Talismans were plastered about with various ropes tied with more spell papers. A silver staff-like sword stood in the middle of the pedestal. It resembled the broom that Lián Měi had wielded before.

Mù stepped forward, cautiously feeling for any sort of barrier. None. But after the seal guardian had removed it, perhaps there was no need. She reached forward, grasping the broom-sword and pulling it out. "What?"

The handle had been painted silver. It was an ordinary broom. They had been fooled.

A massive gust of wind barreled down the hallway, throwing Shāng and Mù through the door and out into the courtyard. They landed in the courtyard, drawing their weaponry as broken boards from the walls and the fake Mountain Gale clattered to the ground around them.

The seal guardian stood at the top of the stairs in the broken doorway, brandishing the silver broom. She scoffed. "You were supposed to be taken care of. It's a good thing the Lián Clan is always prepared to defend our sacred relic."

Mù scowled. "It sure sounds like she struck a deal with the imperials, doesn't it?"

Shāng shook his head. "Why would a seal guardian strike such a risky deal with the empire? They'll just turn around and stab you in the back!"

"Do not assume my reasons!" Lián Měi hissed. She had to protect this shrine, and she would do anything to accomplish that. No second-rate thief was going to threaten this shrine or its relic. She'd have to take care of them herself, since that imperial seemed to be incapable of handling them. If she could take out one, she could take out the others. "Lián Style: Seven Gales!" Spell circles spread out behind her, firing off razor sharp cuts of wind at the pair.

Shāng leapt backwards, avoiding the winds as he landed a bit further away. He drew his wooden blade, the qi blasting behind it and throwing the approaching guard further back. "Leave it to a guardian family to have a strong technique." He didn't like the idea of fighting in a shrine. The seal guardians were supposed to be protecting Xī Yōu in case of another demon invasion, but here one was, likely working with the empire with deadly force.

He leapt out of the way, avoiding another burst of winds. He couldn't tell how much was Lián Měi's own abilities and how much was fueled by the mystical sword in her hands.

There is evil in her heart, Shāng.

He could just hear Làng's words echo through his head, the words he had chosen not to follow. They were the last words that Làng had spoken to him. Làng knew that Lián Měi was up to something and he simply wasn't listening to it. And now faced with the seal guardian who took his life, he should've been angry. He should've unleashed everything he had, but he just felt guilty. Everything just hurt.

"Bù Huàn!"

Mù's words stirred him from his thoughts. The fight was still raging on as Mù fired off a number of distance attacks with the guqin. He shook his head. He had to get that sword back and seal it in the Index. He couldn't let anyone else die at its hands.

Sheathing his sword, he dodged another wind attack and rolled over towards the shattered wood panels and discarded broom. Plucking the broken broom from the ground, he jammed it downward and rose the broken wood into the air. One by one, he fired them off with qi.

Lián Měi rolled out of the way, dodging most of the planks until the last one caught her through the sleeve and pinned her to the wall. So this was the power that Xiào Kuáng Juàn had mentioned. He could've easily taken her before at that bridge, but the loss of that red musician must've shocked him too much at the time.

"Hand over the sword, Lián Měi," Shāng demanded. "Then we'll be on our way. That's all we want."

She pulled at her sleeve, ripping it where the board had speared it. Anything to protect this sword and the shrine. "I don't think so! I'll have you killed like that red friend of yours!"

Mù scowled. That was a low blow, but she really didn't expect much from a seal guardian that would willingly collaborate with the empire.

Shāng felt the pain of Làng's loss stab him right through the heart. If only he had listened to Làng's judgment.

"I'll wash you away from this world!" Lián Měi leapt upwards onto the main building, landing on the roof and raising the Mountain Gale above her head. "Prepare yourself for the Lián clan's ultimate technique! Lián Style: Summer Storms!"

The skies darkened as Lián Měi rose the Mountain Gale into the sky. She slashed downward, a massive burst of wind following her movements.

Shāng and Mù leapt apart as the wind burst downward, shattering the walls in their path. The winds hardly let up, firing off again and again. Rain pelted the ground, impaling the stone tiles like sharpened daggers. Mù glared up at the seal guardian who was willing to take down the entire shrine just to kill them. This was going well.

Mù flung several sonic attacks into the sky with the guqin. If she could just reach that guardian, she could stop this before the whole place fell off the cliff. She dodged another wind attack, not noticing the second following behind it soon enough. It cut through the guqin, slicing the strings and part of the front. It would've taken off her arm had she not moved in the last moment.

"Bù Huàn! We need to retreat!" she shouted at him.

Shāng glanced over at her, noticing the broken guqin. This was becoming deadly and he didn't want to lose anyone else. There must be some means to retrieve that sword with just the two of them. They had retrieved stronger. But now wasn't the time, not with that attack and down one weapon and neither in the right state of mind. "Agreed."

Quickly the pair fled over the wall, dodging clay roof tiles and trees as they were knocked over in the wind, nearly tumbling down the hillside. Mù glanced over her shoulder, noticing that the winds had died down. "That went well. At least she's not following us."

Shāng pursed his lips, staring at the ground. He'd hesitated and it nearly cost them everything. Just like before. Just like the day Làng died. There was still guilt panging at his heart, and this place was nothing short of a nasty reminder of everything that went wrong a month ago.

"It was far too early to return here," Mù admitted, frowning at the sorry state of her guqin.

"I messed up," Shāng said.

"As did I," Mù agreed. "When have I ever had my guqin broken in a fight?"

"Never," Shāng shook his head.

"Exactly," Mù confirmed. "It's too early for both of us to return here. There are too many painful memories, and Lián Měi is more adept at using that blade than we expected. And while it's clear she's collaborating with the empire, it would take a lot of work or cunning to take that thing from her."

"You're right," he nodded. "It should be safe here for now, and she doesn't seem the type to willingly hand the Mountain Gale over to the empire. Let's change our plans and pursue another. It's only a matter of time before the empire tries to use another." They couldn't give up this quest. They had to continue for Xī Yōu and for Làng.

…..

Author's musings

This whole thing is just going so well, isn't it?

I figured that guardian clans likely would have their own styles much like Dan Fei does. Lian Mei's are all related to storms and water. Her name means Beautiful Waterfall so I named the shrine and the sword to match her name.