After a while they stood up and dusted off their robes and started walking back toward Stone Sparrow Hall. The sky had gone from gold to a dull orange and the air was cooling fast.
Yan Qiu glanced at Sun Hao. The heaviness from before was still there in his shoulders but his breathing had steadied and his jaw was not as tight. The silence between them had done its work, but it had also left the air thick and Yan Qiu wanted to break it before it settled into something permanent.
"So," he said. "How is your progress with Jiang Mei?"
Sun Hao's head snapped toward him. "What?"
"You heard me."
Sun Hao's face went red from his neck to his ears and he shoved Yan Qiu's shoulder hard enough to make him stumble. "Why would you bring that up right now?"
"Because you looked like you needed a different topic."
Sun Hao opened his mouth to argue and then closed it. He rubbed the back of his neck and looked away. "She talks now. Unlike before. That is progress, I think."
"What does she talk about?"
"Not much about herself. She is secretive, talks in circles, never gives you a straight answer about where she is from or what her life was like before the sect." He shrugged. "She talks about how much she likes it here though. The inner court, the techniques she is learning under Elder Qiao Ling. She seems genuinely happy about that." He paused. "She told me to tell both of us that we need to get to the inner court faster. Said it is far better than the outer court in every way."
"She said that?"
"Her exact words were something like, the difference between the outer and inner court is the difference between breathing mountain air and breathing through a cloth. I do not know what that means exactly but she was serious about it. Apart from that there is nothing. She does not give much."
Yan Qiu nodded. Jiang Mei had said something similar when they ran into her in the eastern woods months ago, about the qi density being different in the inner court. If she was bringing it up again unprompted, she meant it.
They walked in silence for a few steps. Sun Hao flinched like he had just remembered something.
"Oh, also. Do you remember the guy who was first in the trials?"
"Duan Ke," Yan Qiu said. "What about him?"
"He has been missing since you left on the mission. Nobody has seen him. The last time anyone saw him, he was with some of the seniors from his faction." Sun Hao's voice dropped. "For inner court disciples or anyone at a higher stage, the elders generally do not keep close track. But we are all still new. The first few months they watch us, make sure we settle in. After that we are on our own."
Yan Qiu thought about what Elder Han had told him. Disciples disappearing, found drained or dead or not found at all. Duan Ke was first place in the trials, gold roots, the kind of talent the sect would not want to lose.
"Are disciples not disappearing a lot lately?" Yan Qiu asked.
"The seniors have been saying that too. It has been getting worse." Sun Hao kicked a loose stone off the path. "Let us just take care."
"Us? You are saying I am the one who should take care the most."
"Yes, Qiu. That is exactly what I am saying."
They reached the base of the path that led up to Stone Sparrow Hall. Sun Hao slowed his pace and his expression shifted, like he was working up to something he had been holding back.
"There is one more thing," he said. "I joined Gao Yichen's faction."
Yan Qiu stopped walking. "You what?"
"I joined his faction. A few days ago."
"The seniors told us not to join any factions. You agreed with them."
"I know what I said." Sun Hao turned to face him. "But Gao Yichen came to me with an offer. His faction gives members a qi condensation pill every week, and they are also investigating the disciple disappearances on their own. He has people looking into it, gathering information, tracking who went missing and when." He met Yan Qiu's eyes. "He told me to get you to join too. So go and meet him."
"What do you mean go and meet him? I am not joining any faction."
"I told him you would join for sure if I joined."
"You told him that without asking me?" Yan Qiu stared at him. "Just deny him. Tell him I am not interested."
Sun Hao winced. "I cannot do that. I already took a pill from them. If I go back now and say you are not coming, I will have to return it. It would be a break of trust."
"I can give you another pill," Yan Qiu said.
"It is not about the pill, Qiu. It is about the commitment. I already accepted their terms." Sun Hao looked at him with an expression that was half apologetic and half stubborn. "Just go talk to him. You do not have to commit to anything. Just hear him out."
Yan Qiu frowned. He did not like being pushed into things, and he liked it even less when the pushing came from his closest friend making decisions on his behalf. But Sun Hao had already put himself in a position where refusing would cost him, and Yan Qiu was not going to let that happen over stubbornness.
"Fine," he said. "I will consider it. That is not a yes."
"You will join once you see the full list of perks. There is more I have not even told you about."
"Where is he?"
"Around the training grounds, probably. He just loafs around there most of the time. You can find him or go to their meeting spot, but for now just look for him near the grounds."
"Badmouthing your faction leader already," Yan Qiu said.
"You really do love teasing people." Sun Hao shoved his shoulder again, lighter this time. His face turned serious. "Do not mention the investigation part to any elders or anyone outside the faction. It is sensitive. Gao Yichen was clear about that."
Yan Qiu looked at him for a moment. The warning was genuine.
"I will keep it quiet," he said.
They parted at the base of the stairs. Sun Hao went up toward the hall and Yan Qiu turned back toward the training grounds.