Mystique Soul: A Cultivator's Flame
Chapter 106: The City of Darkness

Chapter 106: The City of Darkness

The wind gently tousled her long black hair as they soared above the clouds, the world stretching out endlessly beneath them. A sea of green mountains, lazy rivers, and distant villages passed beneath their feet. The sky was painted with the soft hues of morning, blues fading into blush, and blush fading into gold.

Feng Jiao Xue sat steady upon Yin Xiao’s broad back, her gaze fixed on the horizon. Her hands, gloved and calm, rested lightly on the soft white fur of her winged companion. Behind her, she could feel the warmth of another presence.

Mo Tianze.

His silver ears weren’t twitching like they normally did when excited, nor was his tail lightly swaying behind him like usual. That curious energy, the quiet spark that often danced in his voice and his movements, was missing.

He was quiet. Too quiet.

She glanced behind her.

He wasn’t asleep, but his eyes were unfocused, clouded, distant, as if they were seeing something far away that wasn’t the sky.

She watched him for a moment, then looked away, pretending not to notice.

He was usually more talkative during flights. He liked to point at things, clouds shaped like strange beasts, shimmering lakes, villages nestled into mountain cliffs, and tell her what they reminded him of. Sometimes, he would ask endless questions about the academy, or whether she thought Yin Xiao liked him. He once made a ridiculous claim that Yin Xiao only listened to her because he was smitten. That made her chuckle.

But today, he was still.

Feng Jiao Xue sighed softly and looked ahead once more.

"Tianze," she said, her voice soft but firm, catching in the wind.

She felt him shift slightly behind her. "Yes?"

"You’re quiet."

"...Am I?"

"Mhm."

She waited.

No excuses. No awkward jokes.

Just silence.

Then finally, "Sorry," he murmured. "I guess I’m just... a little tired."

Feng Jiao Xue didn’t answer immediately. She wasn’t the type to press, not unless it mattered. But something told her this wasn’t just about fatigue.

She reached into her robes and pulled out a small wrapped candy. Holding it up without looking back, she said, "Eat."

There was a pause. Then a soft rustle as he took it from her fingers. The quiet sound of the wrapper being peeled open.

A tiny crunch.

"...It’s sweet," he mumbled.

"Of course it is," she replied.

Another quiet beat passed between them.

"You always notice," he said quietly.

"What?"

"When something’s wrong with me."

Feng Jiao Xue didn’t say anything.

Then he spoke again, softer than before.

"...I’m sorry for being quiet."

"You don’t need to apologize," she said, her tone firm. "You’re allowed to feel things."

There was a breeze, gentle and warm, brushing past them like a comforting hand.

Feng Jiao Xue tightened her hold on Yin Xiao as they dipped slightly to avoid a thick cloud. Then, when they steadied again, she said, "Rest for now. When we stop, I’ll make something warm."

"...You will?"

"Hm. You’ve earned it."

Behind her, she felt his tail shift slightly.

He didn’t say anything more. But she didn’t miss the way his hand curled lightly into the back of her robe, like a child clinging to something safe.

She said nothing of it.

She simply let him hold on.

Feng Jiao Xue shifted her posture, adjusting slightly as Yin Xiao soared through the high skies.

She didn’t say a word aloud but her thoughts whispered clearly.

"Slow down. We won’t rush this time."

Yin Xiao tilted his head gently, angling his wings with a graceful sweep that scattered misty clouds around them. The great stag’s flight eased into a smooth glide, the wind brushing softer against their forms now.

"But if we slow down, we won’t reach the Everald Town before sun down" Yin Xiao reminded Feng Jiao Xue as Everald Town is the nearest human settlement after Yin City, known for its bad reputation as a lawless city.

There was a pause. "We can rest at the nearest place" Feng Jiao Xue decided.

Then a quiet, familiar presence stirred beside her thoughts.

"The next nearest city is Yin City."

Feng Jiao Xue’s gaze flicked ahead.

A distant blot in the valley, faint but growing. Surrounded by dark forest and crooked hills. Smoke. Lanterns. Noise.

Yin City.

A place avoided by most cultivators. A den of misfits, outlaws, those cast out or those who chose to walk paths unaccepted by society. There were stories about that place, murky, violent, never clean. It was a pit to some. A home to others.

Even Mo Tianze had warned them before.

Yin City is lawless, he’d said. It doesn’t care who you are, noble, criminal, beast. It just chews people up.

Yin Xiao hesitated. "Are you certain. He warned you not to go there."

Feng Jiao Xue glanced over her shoulder.

Mo Tianze was still holding onto the back of her robes, but looser now. He had leaned forward slightly, cheek resting just above her shoulder. The candy wrapper crinkled quietly in his hand, forgotten.

She reached up, her gloved fingers brushing his arm lightly, then turned her gaze forward again.

She nodded once.

"He needs rest. Proper rest. A bed, not a saddle. A roof, not sky. He’s not... himself".

Yin Xiao didn’t question her further.

The city ahead began to swell in size, slowly revealing its worn gates and sprawl of mismatched buildings. Lanterns lit alleyways even in the day, and smoke rose from chimneys that never slept.

She didn’t like this place.

But she’d gone through worse.

We’ll stay only a night.

That was her thought.

But beneath that, buried just a little deeper, was something quieter, gentler perhaps even stubborn.

He had stayed by her side.

Now it was her turn.

She might not know what was going on inside his head right now, but his Qi is giving enough cue for what he needs from her right now.

Not pity, never pity, but understanding.

When they reached the city, it stood as dark as was expected despite the sun yet to set. It seems that the atmosphere around here is gloomy enough to seemingly take a physical form.

The tall walls stood intimidatingly strong. Dark, stained, battered and worn yet it is still as thick and firm as it can be.

"Get out of here, you b@stards!" A guard threw away a battered looking man.

"No! No! Please! My Shirley is still inside! You can’t take my sister! I’ll pay! I’ll pay the protection fee!" The man begged only to be kicked away harshly, flying through the air and slamming into a dead tree.

Feng Jiao Xue looked at the man and frowned. Covering Mo Tianze’s ears with her qi to block out the noise.

Yin Xiao took that as his cue to keep moving, stopping at the gate.

"Visiting or staying?" An old woman with face full of wrinkles, wearing a simple clothes asked. Not even bothering to look up from the coins she was hugging.

"Visiting?" Feng Jiao Xue replied.

"500 Silvers" The woman reached out her hand without shame at the entrance fee.

Feng Jiao Xue raised a brow at the over the top price but just handed the old woman the exact amount. Her instinct telling her this woman is more than she seems.

"Next!" The old woman called out, as two guards open the rickety old gate.

Beyond the gates, the streets twisted like veins, narrow, coiled paths lined with leaning buildings stacked near, almost suffocating one another. Layers of grime and stories left to rot in silence covered the old, dark wood and crumbling brick structures. There were homes with iron bars instead of windows and red lanterns swinging at their doors. Each of the faded paint-covered, crooked lettering calls out in whispers for coin, blood, or both.

The crackle of fire, the dull clang of metal, the hiss of boiling broth, the clink of gambling tiles, the low murmur of laughter, arguing, haggling, and something else beneath were all sounds that stirred the air, not loud but constant. Footsteps echoed from alleys too small to see through, where shadows moved even when no one was walking, but life was still there.

Young children running barefoot after a paper kite half-torn by wind had dirt-smudged cheeks. A street performer earned some thrown coins and more wary looks by twisted flames in his palms. Retailers huddled over pilfers with smiles too broad to be polite. And somewhere in the distance, someone sung, a low, sad melody that seemed more fitting for the night than the day.

The smell of Yin City was like a wall. Strange incense’s smoke curled through the streets, blending with the sour tang of alcohol, the sweetness of overripe fruit, the salt of sweat and iron of blood long dried on stone.

Feng Jiao Xue pulled her hood tighter as she stepped off Yin Xiao’s back.

She was careful not to let Mo Tianze fall as she led them to the cleanest looking place she can find.