As Heavens Divide

"She… Knew? How could it be?" Erdeni sank down in front of Xin again, her fingers tightly clenched, her eyes brimming with worry. If the demoness was part of a larger conspiracy, then her tribe's plight was even graver than she previously imagined.

"Someone tipped her off, that's clear." Xin said, his voice firm. "It's impossible she detected us by chance, ran ahead to the manor, killed everyone inside, spent hours covering her tracks, raised her creatures, then burrowed underground to wait. The timeline just doesn't add up, especially given the fact we know she doesn't have any impressive movement methods."

"Who do you think helped her, then?" Erdeni asked. She knew nothing about sect politics of the North, and could only trust Xin's judgement.

"The suspect list is quite long, I'm afraid. Could be the Fist sect, an allied demonic cultivator, or even a traitor from our own sect — all of these sound plausible. A day after leaving the manor, we were attacked by another demon by the name of Little Mantis, and even if he claimed that he didn't work with the demoness, he could have lied... Wait!" Xin suddenly jumped up, scaring his partner.

"What? You remembered something?"

"Yes." Xin straightened and recomposed. "Between the two demon attacks I just mentioned, we spotted a tribe of nomads in the distance. We managed to avoid them, but now I'm wondering — what if they worked for one of the demons, or perhaps one or both demons worked for them? Or maybe it was just a coincidence, given how leaky the border is nowadays. No way to tell. Fuck." Xin slapped his knee.

"What's wrong, Xin?" Erdeni put Xin's hand into hers, her touch gentle and soothing.

"I'm angry because none of this is hard evidence. None of this tells us where to look for her. I want to seize the initiative instead of waiting for her to attack again. Next time, she might bring more vinemen, or some other allies and massacre you all. That won't do."

"I… I doubt we'll find more answers just pondering here in the camp." Erdeni said, her voice hesitant. "It's not a pleasant thing to say, but we might have to do some tracking outside."

"We? No, it's stupid to get you people involved." Xin put both of his hands on Erdeni's shoulders and looked intently into her eyes. "None of you can match her methods. I've got my perception powers and I'm about to master a new totemic invocation, so I'll soon be at a peak of rank one in terms of investigative powers. Given how sloppy she is, and given her recent injuries, I think I can track her down. Your riders will just spook her, and get us all killed."

"I see." Erdeni stared at her knees, away from Xin's overwhelming presence, thoughtful. She was silent for a few breaths, then spoke up again. "I am impressed with you punching above your weight, of course, but can you at least promise that you'll return for reinforcements if you manage to find her? We'll assemble a hunting party and hunt her down together. Alright?"

"Sure." Xin nodded.

Of course not! I'll ambush and kill her alone! Erdeni doesn't need to know. Xin kept a blank face, but noticed Erdeni's suspicious gaze a few moments later. Fuck, she studied my expressions for weeks, it's not so easy to fool her.

"Erdeni, by the way…" Xin went into an offensive to stop her from pressing. "Tell Oygun that I want thirty spirit stones worth of valuables, and tell him not to make me haggle for the items' true worth. It's rather grating."

"Oh?" Erdeni scratched her temple, her posture stiff and voice tightened. "Thirty, are you sure?"

"I was about to request more, but since she robbed you so many times, it just wouldn't be fair."

"Xin, may I humbly implore you to reconsider? It's quite a sum…" She tried to ask for a favour, yet Xin ruthlessly cut her off.

"Hush. My request is already a bargain. I protected your tribe from a rank two, and a dozen plant monsters on top. Don't haggle. Such is life."

"I see… I understand." Erdeni sulked, Xin's demand was fair, yet she hoped for his heart to be softer. Well, why would it be, given how much he survived?

"Hey, look at me." His tone softened. "That's not all of it. I'll collect this money once I return. If I don't, collect it on my behalf and use it to raise the boy. I'll also leave a set of water and sword path dao shards with you, use them to finance the kid's martial arts and cultivation education. Given your tribe's situation, he'll need to learn how to fight at an early age. If he wants to leave the tribe and travel the Clay Folk lands one day, you should let him, once he's of age. This is my will."

Erdeni digested what Xin said for thirty breaths or so, silent and clearly conflicted. She then snapped out of it, looked Xin in the eyes and nodded:

"So be it, it's a fair arrangement. I'll also remember what you said about Wu Lei and Rui Ming, your friends from the sect near Clay Nest. Five Elements Transition sect, right?"

"Right. But we're not done with the demoness. Let's exchange all the intel we have."

"What's intel?"

"Useful tactical knowledge. I'll tell you everything about our caravan's journey from start to finish, and then you'll tell me about every raid she conducted—and any events that might be related. Even if you doubt the connection, you should still tell me."

"Sounds reasonable. Let's do this. You go first." Erdeni brushed his hand fleetingly before staring into his eyes intently. 

"Sure, but you've got to stop giving me the sex eyes. Deal?"

"No idea what you're talking about." She smiled mysteriously. "Go on, I'm all ears."

***

Two hours later. 

So, there were four extortions in total. The Horqin tribe was constantly on the move, chased westward by larger tribes, pushed closer and closer to the imperial border. Erdeni explained how much effort it took to avoid being extorted (or worse) by her father's former bannermen and rivals as they travelled, as without their sacred banner, a proper chief and a clan spirit the Horqin were seen as vagrants, not a proper tribe.

The demoness first appeared four months ago, when Xin was still working at the lab in Clay Nest. She took a lot of valuables, but mostly cultivation materials, and didn't squeeze the tribe dry. She returned two months later, somehow finding the new location the tribe migrated to, and extorted the tribe twice as harshly, taking most of their valuables and a sizable chunk of their supplies. This happened weeks after the Riversong Manor fight, when Xin had already been drafted into war.

The demoness' third visit was just a few days before Xin and Erdeni first met. She came and demanded a smaller tribute, but said she'd be back for the "regular amount" in a month's time. This prompted the tribe's riders to spread out and hunt diligently, and it was also a reason why Erdeni risked entering the imperial territories, looking for alchemical materials.

The fourth raid came unexpectedly, a week before the arranged date. This time, she acted rather tense. She killed a tribeswoman for pleading to uphold the original schedule, then executed another warrior to punish the tribe for Horhu's escape. The demoness took hostages, dug a pit using her vines, then filled it with materials from her core. In that raid, she killed eight horses before Xin intervened and drove her away. Injured and with four damaged vinemen, she fled, leaving behind a trail of pungent, toxic blood.

"I see now." Xin rubbed his chin, his expression thoughtful. "Something forced her hand, ruining her plans. Another thing worries me — your tribe was constantly on the move, yet she still found you four times?"

"Well, about that…" Erdeni furrowed her brows. "You think she had someone feeding her inter about our tribe, just like with your sect's caravan?"

"It's intel, dear. And yes, that's possible. It could be a demonic ally, someone in your tribe, or even one of the nomad tribes cooperating with her. But I don't know enough about your local politics to say which is most likely."

"Oh… You think it's possible?"

"Why not? From what I've heard about nomad honour, it's quite performative. Performative means all for show." Xin explained the word's meaning in advance just in case.

"I deduced it." Erdeni looked aside, clearly stung by that comment. "Sadly, it's hard to say that you're wrong. The chieftains forgot the meaning of honour lately, and are eager to backstab each other while 'saving face' in public. Sadly, it seems we're turning into Clay Folk." She couldn't resist the urge to poke back.

"You shouldn't be the one complaining — carrying a Clay Folk child and all that, hehe."

"Oh, is this some sort of cultural victory for you, huh? Bringing the nomads back into the fold, is this what it is for you? Huh?" Erdeni stood up, outraged. "Our child is going to be a half-breed, think it's funny? Do you know how hard he'll have it in life?"

"Eh… The joke was funny, but you made it grim. Way to kill the mood." Xin tried keeping a calm voice to avoid the escalation.

"Kill the mood? Are you having fun right now? We're in mortal danger, all of us!"

"Don't shout, dummy, what will the tribesmen outside think? Look, I'm a hunter, and I've never hunted prey that strong. Of course I'm excited, I get to deduce, analyse and think on my feet! You should be grateful for my mentality, a different person would have shat themselves, fled and left you to die. Sit, we are not done." He sternly pointed towards the carpet opposite of him. To his surprise, Erdeni submitted and sat down, but raised her chin pridefully.

"What else, then?"

"We saw some nomads after we…"

"It's Sky Folk." She interrupted. "Please say Skyfolk. The word 'nomad' is rude."

"Alright." Xin sighed. "We saw some Skyfolk nomading around the Riversong manor..." He expected Erdeni to blow up, yet she held a blank expression, biting into her lower lip. "Now that I think of it, when I was in Zadana, the bounty master I worked with leaked the bounty intel… It's quite possible that our supplier in Zadana also leaked our shipment info to some… Skyfolk, who informed the demoness. 

"You also mentioned a group of Sky Folk men trying to recruit your riders between the third and fourth extortions, right? What if they were plotting with her? Pushing your tribe into ruin and poverty, driving you toward the imperial border? Once they adopted your riders, they'd annex your tribe, probably kill you, Horhu, and anyone else with a claim to power. They likely used the demoness to weaken you, saving their own resources while making it look like they saved you from adversity and not exploited the vulnerability they themselves created."

Erdeni's gaze flicked around the room before settling back on Xin. She sighed deeply and spoke.

"It sounds… plausible. How come none of us thought of that? But this sort of cooperation is unheard of. Clay Folk demons are killed on sight. Helping one would shame your ancestors!"

"Everyone plays politics, Erdeni. Even the ancestor spirits." Xin shook his head. "Listen, I don't have evidence for this — it's just a theory. But now we need to put ourselves in the demoness's shoes and figure out her next move. There's truth to the saying: to catch your prey, you must think like it does. My father always said it applied to humans as well."

"Your father sounds scary. Relatable."

"Oh, not at all. He was a martial artist and a hunter, but I suspect he was also a bounty hunter at some point in his life. Still, he was a gentleman, not scary at all."

"I assume you take after your mother, then?" It was hard to tell how malicious Erdeni's banter was.

Xin smirked, then shrugged.

"Please let me think about this whole thing. I feel a conclusion brewing up."

"Sure. I'll go stretch my legs." Erdeni stood up, smooched Xin's cheek and left, leaving Xin to meditate on his thoughts.

Hm, my intuition is screaming a conclusion at me, yet I struggle understanding how I've reached it. A normal person would drop everything, take a horse and race to the Bai Du fort, to request assistance and rush back with a hunting party… No, that would be a blunder.

Without proper evidence, they'd never dispatch a rank two to hunt down a demon operating in nomad territories. Yes, she killed mortals in Riversong Manor, but convincing them to act would require leverage — either influence or intel to make the search easier. None of which I have right now. I'm approaching this from a wrong angle.

I need to think like her, and my intuition tells me she's scared. At Riversong Manor, she couldn't defeat master Taowei, who was already low on qi, and was even harmed by me and Wu Lei, who were mere mortals at the time. Back then, she was uninjured and fresh off a successful raid on the Horqin tribe, yet she still lost badly, even with the advantage of ambush.

Why? Faulty intel.

Could it be that whoever gave her the intel on our caravan knew that master Taowei was a rank two with damaged meridians? If that's the case, they (or the demoness herself) would assume she'd be able to handle us, yet they underestimated (or straight up didn't know about) the qi active mortals of the caravan.

Injured, with damaged meridians and having lost all of her plant monsters, she fled. Next step in the puzzle might be crucial.

By the time of her second raid on the tribe, our caravan duty was long over. If her first raid looked like trying to shave the sheep and keep them alive for the future, the second one looked… Brutish? Desperate? Was she just cautious the first time, or was she desperate the second time? Was it both? Whatever the case is, what was she doing these several weeks between the two raids?

Recuperating, most likely. Healing the meridian damage, repairing the core, resting. Travelling, too. Handling some duties I don't know about? If I had to bet, the tribe's extortion was her backup plan after the Riversong failure, and that failure set her back immensely. During the third raid, she came and demanded a scheduled extortion, yet she came a week before the assigned date, which can only mean one thing…

Change of plans. 

And when she came the fourth time, she demanded a payment in horses if they didn't have enough goods. It means she needed either money or flesh to create new plant soldiers. It's safe to assume that someone or something threatened her. Pressure from higher up the food chain, with the fallout rippling down to the Horqin tribe.

But what does it mean in the current situation?

It's safe to assume that the demoness has at least one lair where she digests the gains. It's also clear that she has no strong movement methods, and, assuming she went back to her lair after the third extortion, which is a reach, it's situated at most one and a half weeks of travel from here (three weeks interval between the latest raids, divided by two), but is probably much closer, as she wouldn't want to spend on her time on travel. We can't know this for a fact, but her lair might also be not that far from the Riversong Manor itself, so I should keep that in mind.

Think. Just one more piece, and I'll have my solution…