Tang Ye came down the ridge like he wasn't worried about slipping.
Which meant he wasn't worried.
He moved lightly, boots barely scuffing stone, and his fox followed in a smooth lope that made the campfire look smaller by comparison. Adolescent-sized, lean and long-legged, its single tail thick and expressive. It wasn't cute. It was the kind of beast that made normal travelers cross the road.
It hopped onto a rock and sat like a prince who had decided the mountain belonged to him.
Its eyes landed on Shen Lu.
Then, very clearly, in Shen Lu's mind:
You still smell like dirt and secrets.
Shen Lu's mouth twitched. "You still smell like arrogance."
The fox's ears flicked, pleased, as if it had been complimented.
Tang Ye's grin widened when he saw Shen Lu's expression. "He likes you."
"I can tell," Shen Lu said dryly.
Pei Xun stood with his back half turned, paper strips hovering at his fingertips. His gaze was cautious and neutral, but the sarcasm was beginning to show through in the way his brows lifted.
"So," Pei Xun said. "You brought more trouble."
Tang Ye spread his hands. "Trouble follows me. I don't chase it."
Gu Li didn't bother with sarcasm. "Why are you here."
Tang Ye's smile softened a fraction. "Because if you head toward that fracture without me, you'll die."
Helian Feng's voice cut in, cold. "And if we go with you, we won't?"
Tang Ye's grin returned. "Oh, you might. But you'll die later. That's an improvement."
Shen Lu exhaled through his nose. "Comforting."
The fox's tail swished once, and Shen Lu felt another thought push into his mind, smug and uninvited.
Master husband is still glaring.
Shen Lu's face went warm under the mask. "Stop calling him that."
The fox blinked slowly, like a cat ignoring a command.
Tang Ye looked delighted. "He decides what he calls people. I'm not involved."
Helian Feng's gaze flicked to Shen Lu. "What is it saying."
"Nothing," Shen Lu lied automatically.
Pei Xun's paper strips trembled, then settled again. "You lie badly."
Shen Lu shot him a look. "We met yesterday."
"And I already know," Pei Xun replied, tone dry. "I have eyes."
Gu Li's attention stayed on Shen Lu's wrist. He'd been watching Shen Lu's circulation the way a healer watched a crack spreading in ice.
"You're still strained," Gu Li said.
Shen Lu muttered, "I noticed."
Gu Li's expression didn't change. "Then stop pretending you can fight like Helian Feng."
Shen Lu's mouth tightened.
Helian Feng's voice was flat. "He doesn't fight like me."
Gu Li's eyes flicked to Helian Feng. "Good."
Tang Ye leaned back on his hands, relaxed as if they weren't standing on a mountain pass with a bounty posted on a stone marker behind them. "So. Are we traveling together, or do you want to keep running in pairs until someone gets picked off."
Pei Xun's gaze sharpened. "Picked off by who."
Tang Ye's smile thinned. "By whoever buys the bounty. By whoever owes Yaochuan. By whoever thinks one masked alchemist is worth more than a conscience."
Shen Lu's stomach tightened at the name, even unspoken. He forced his shoulders to stay loose.
Helian Feng's eyes went colder. "Who told you about the bounty."
Tang Ye shrugged. "People talk. Foxes listen."
The fox's tail flicked like it agreed.
Shen Lu watched Tang Ye carefully. Something about him didn't match the underworld messenger act. He was too cheerful. Too open.
And still, Shen Lu didn't trust him.
Not fully.
But he trusted the fox's eyes.
The fox watched Helian Feng like it respected him. That meant something.
Gu Li spoke, voice stern. "If we travel together, we need rules."
Pei Xun snorted softly. "He means you need rules. I'll ignore half of them."
Gu Li's gaze didn't waver. "You'll follow the ones that keep you alive."
Pei Xun's mouth twitched. "Annoying."
Shen Lu surprised himself by saying, "I like him."
Pei Xun looked at him. "You shouldn't."
Shen Lu's smile was thin. "That's never stopped me."
Tang Ye clapped once, bright. "Great. A group."
Helian Feng's voice was cold. "Not yet."
Tang Ye's eyes crinkled. "Oh?"
Helian Feng's gaze swept them all, sharp as a blade counting heads. "We're missing one."
Shen Lu blinked. "Missing—"
And then he heard it.
A sound from below the pass, faint but wrong.
Not footsteps.
Metal.
A clear, rhythmic note like thin steel tapping stone.
Pei Xun's paper strips lifted instantly.
Gu Li's fingers slid into his satchel.
Tang Ye's fox rose smoothly to its feet, tail stiffening, ears forward.
Helian Feng's sword came out a fraction, lightning qi tightening.
Shen Lu's pulse kicked.
The tapping came again, closer.
A figure appeared on the lower path, walking uphill at an unhurried pace like he didn't care who was waiting above.
Young. Same age range as them, maybe a little older-looking in the eyes. Long hair tied loosely. Clothes travel-stained but still neat, as if he refused to look messy even while bleeding.
In his right hand he held a folded fan.
Not paper.
Metal.
Its ribs glinted like blades.
He flipped it open with a soft click.
The fan's edge caught the light and sharpened it.
His gaze lifted to the camp, calm and unimpressed.
"Move," Helian Feng said, voice cold.
The stranger didn't even look at Helian Feng first.
He looked at Shen Lu's shoulder pole. The sacks. The way Shen Lu stood slightly in front of them without realizing it.
Then the stranger's mouth curved into something almost like a smile.
"Is this where the bounty is," the stranger asked, tone mild.
Shen Lu's blood turned cold.
Pei Xun muttered, "I hate today."
Gu Li's voice stayed stern. "Name."
The stranger flicked his fan once, like he was brushing dust off air.
"Xie Han," he said.
Shen Lu's heartbeat thudded hard.
Helian Feng's sword lifted a fraction. "Why are you here."
Xie Han's eyes finally moved to Helian Feng, and the faint smile sharpened into something more openly teasing.
"Because someone posted a bounty and expected only idiots to come," Xie Han said. "I dislike being underestimated."
Tang Ye's grin returned. "So you're here to claim it."
Xie Han's gaze slid to Tang Ye's fox. He raised one brow. "Tempting."
The fox stared back, then spoke into Shen Lu's mind with absolute arrogance.
If he tries, I'll bite his fan.
Shen Lu swallowed a laugh.
Helian Feng's voice cut sharp. "Answer."
Xie Han sighed, as if forced to be honest. "I'm here because the people chasing you are sloppy."
He tapped the metal fan against his palm, that same clear note as before. "And because they'll run into me on the road anyway. I prefer meeting trouble on my terms."
Pei Xun's tone was dry. "You speak like trouble is a hobby."
Xie Han's smile widened. "It is."
Gu Li's gaze was stern, but his eyes were assessing. "Weapon refiner."
Xie Han's fan paused.
Then he tilted it slightly like a bow. "Good eye."
Shen Lu watched him, heart still beating too fast.
Xie Han didn't move like a hunter.
He moved like a man who expected to be attacked and was bored waiting.
Helian Feng's gaze stayed hard. "Prove you're not here for the reward."
Xie Han's eyes flicked to the spirit stone sacks again. Then to Shen Lu's masked face.
Then he laughed softly. "If I wanted the reward, you'd already be on your knees."
Helian Feng's aura flared dangerously.
Shen Lu stepped half a pace forward before he could stop himself. "Then why aren't I."
Xie Han's eyes narrowed slightly, amused by Shen Lu's lack of fear.
"Because," Xie Han said, "I don't like Yaochuan."
The name landed heavy.
Gu Li's fingers tightened on his satchel strap.
Pei Xun's paper strips hovered higher.
Tang Ye's grin faded into something sharper.
Even Helian Feng's expression shifted, just slightly—recognition of a bigger web.
Xie Han flicked his fan open fully. The metal ribs gleamed like thin blades.
"I'm not your friend," Xie Han said, voice light. "Not yet. But I can be useful."
He glanced at Shen Lu. "And you look like you collect useful things."
Shen Lu's mouth twitched, bitter humor rising. "I collect problems."
Xie Han's smile widened. "Same thing."
The wind rose over the pass, cold and dust-filled.
Below them, far down the path, a shout echoed faintly—human voices, multiple, moving fast uphill.
Not travelers.
Hunters.
Pei Xun's paper strips snapped into a defensive circle instantly. "They're coming."
Gu Li's voice stayed calm, stern. "How many."
Tang Ye's fox's tail stiffened. "Too many."
Xie Han lifted his fan, eyes bright. "Finally."
Helian Feng's sword cleared its sheath fully.
Shen Lu's pulse hammered, but his mind went strangely clear.
All friends before fire.
They were here now.
Pei Xun. Gu Li. Tang Ye. Xie Han.
Four names.
Four different kinds of strength.
And Shen Lu realized the next step wasn't choosing whether to go to the fracture.
It was surviving long enough to reach it.
The shouting grew closer.
Boots on stone.
A flash of torchlight below.
And Shen Lu tightened his grip on the shoulder pole, staring down the path as the hunters crested the bend.