Emery

Thankfully, Vale was just about on time with what I had expected. He turned up two days after we brought the piglets home, and was thankfully willing to hang around with the girls for a while so Avuri and I could look into the whole Bladed Highlands situation.

We ran what we already knew past him, and Vale agreed with our current feelings on the matter - while it was technically possible that the three disappearances could have all been coincidental accidents, it seemed far more likely that something was going on.

Three families traveling through the Bladed Highlands not reaching their destination was not necessarily uncommon. Three families getting vanished and leaving no trace was less common. It happening three times, nearly exactly a month apart each time, even less so.

Vale, Avuri, and I all agreed that the chances of something natural being responsible seemed almost zero.

We had only had the five of us together for a few days before Avuri and I set out to at least start gathering information about the situation. It had basically been just enough time for us to run to the city, pick up our new bull Tulo, and get him minorly adjusted to his new living space before we were off, leaving Vale to deal with most of the home-related work.

Our first stop was Flowing Dragon City. The Bladed Highlands were not too far away from us, but were certainly further than the Dying Lands had been during our last demonic Cultivator hunt.

This time, we would need travel west from the city, through the Blooming Wilds to the Amber Valley. The Amber Valley was the name given to a massive canyon that was basically made of a crystalline stone that was reminiscent of amber. There wasn't a well-known story regarding its creation, but the rock that functioned as the sides of the canyon was replete with Qi.

Like with many land-defining formations, rumors of the canyon being a scar from a very high Realm Cultivator was the most common theory. I wasn't convinced, if only because the canyon wasn't straight. If it had been a massive cut of some kind, the Cultivator who left it behind would have surely been embarrassed by the wavy, unclean cut.

Or, maybe, that was why there were no stories about it being left behind?

Either way, there was a Qi rich river that flowed along the bottom of the canyon, and crossing the massive gap could only be easily done at certain locations. Our plan was to eventually head to Resin - the small city that all three families had supposedly been heading toward - to cross at its bridge.

The Amber Valley, on a map, also included a fair bit of land on both sides of the canyon, where the amber-like rock continued to extend into the ground. It only continued around a few kilometers on both sides, but it was enough that the land was distinct enough to be noted.

On the far side of the Valley was the grassland of the Bladed Highlands. Traveling along predetermined and cleaned routes through the Highlands were common because of the tall grass there. While it could easily conceal dangerous beasts or even bandits, just like any other grassland, the Bladed Highland's grass wasn't mundane in that way.

It was sharp. Not like metal, as it was still thin and swayed in the wind. But the edges of the grass could cut into the skin of animals, mortals, and Cultivators alike. They wouldn't be life threatening cuts unless the person was intentionally injuring themselves, but the small, thin blades of grass would leave incredibly irritating, painful cuts.

Worse still, for those traveling through the grass unprepared, it was common for the little cuts to get infected.

Altogether, it added up to an unpleasant experience for anyone trekking through the grass without a plan.

Avuri and I had two reasons to stop by Flowing Dragon City before truly setting out on our little trip. First, of course, was to gently ask around for information about the disappearances. We didn't expect to get a lot of information beyond what was already reported by the Wind and Vine, but it still felt pertinent to ask around.

We also had the secret weapon of checking in with the Elders, just in case. Which really just meant Lyn and Cyril at that point.

Second, we needed to acquire a few extra layers of clothing that were cheap and we didn't mind shredding. If we were going to be moving throughout the Bladed Highlands and not sticking to the roads, it meant that we were likely to tear up several outfits worth of clothing in the process. I wasn't looking forward to the extra layers of clothing that we would need to wear, but I also didn't want to just cut down the grass everywhere we went.

Once we made it into the city, a simple clothing store was our first stop as it was the easiest of our goals to take care of. Avuri and I each bought a few sets of outer wear that were simple materials and undyed, keeping the price down. They looked a little shaggy, but that wasn't so much a concern when they were chosen to wear in the wilderness.

Our next stop was heading over to the Celestial Dragon Pavilion. Thankfully, it was a little bit after the lunch rush and Lyn and Cyril were both at the restaurant. They didn't even need any extra information beyond a simple request to chat before bringing Avuri and I into a less public space of the restaurant.

Cyril closed the door behind the four of them and with a quick gesture surrounded the space in fiery Qi.

"Did you two need something? It's rare for you not to ask for a meal first." Lyn took a seat while her husband secured the room.

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I looked at Avuri, but she seemed content to let me speak. "I'm honestly hoping it turns out to be nothing. But it's this." I prompted Avuri through our bond to show her the Wind and Vine scroll. Avuri popped it out of her storage ring and handed it over.

Lyn didn't even need to see what was printed on the croll to guess what it was. "The disappearances?"

I nodded.

"They're too regular and too clean to not be suspicious." Avuri said, just leaving the scroll open on the table.

"Agreed." Cyril said, joining us all at the table. "I'm not sure we have any extra knowledge that will help, though."

"Cyril is right. We all thought it was suspicious, and Eiry did a quick fly over of the Highlands after the second one. She didn't find anything noteworthy."

"Well, that tells us that if there is a demonic sect involved, they aren't in open view of the sky, I suppose. That's not nothing, especially given how few places there are in the Highlands that offer any sort of cover." I said.

"That does leave the potential concern that they aren't based in the Highlands, though." Avuri leaned forward to rest her arms on the table. "Which would honestly be fairly smart? We don't know where along the route the people were taken, and the Highlands aren't all that large, comparatively."

"You think they might be taking people to the Jade Steppes?"

"Or the Crimson Wastes."

"I was actually thinking that they may be taking them into the Amber Valley." Avuri shrugged. "It would be easy to dispose of any caravan evidence by dumping it into the river at the bottom, and no one really traverses the cliff sides. If they found a way to make a base in one of the walls…"

She trailed off as the small group mulled that over.

"It's certainly a possibility." Cyril said eventually.

"Is there any chance you or one of the other Elders could do a quick fly-over of the Steppes?" I asked. "They are just as open as the Highlands. If they made camp somewhere in the open grasslands there, they'd be easy to spot."

"I think Eiry would be more than happy to. It'll probably take a few days, though." Lyn said.

"That's fine. I think for now we're just trying to track down leads. If she can give us any direction, it would be helpful."

"I'll let her know." Lyn nodded.

"I think Resin is our next stop. After that…Maybe a long walk along the edge of the Valley?" Avuri suggested. "Now that I put it in my head, I'm worried they may really be set up somewhere in the canyon walls. It'd be a great spot to avoid detection."

"That's nice and all, Ri, but like you said, it'd be a good spot to avoid detection. We aren't earth Cultivators - do you think we'd even be able to find them?"

"Depends if they're actually in a cave underground or in a recess in the cliff face. There's a non-zero chance we spot them across the gap."

"I don't think they'd be that brazen, but I've seen demonic sects make worse mistakes." Lyn shrugged.

Her husband snorted. "If they've been around for a while, demonic sects do tend to get a little…haughty. Doubly so if their leaders have twisted themselves full into demons. Something about their twisted Qi seems to make them exceedingly arrogant."

Avuri nodded in agreement. "That's what I was thinking. When we went searching last time and found the sect in the Dying Lands, they were basically out in the open."

"That's true. It didn't really occur to me at the time, but they were also led by arrogant demons, too. They probably felt safe to make their camp in the middle of the open landscape, despite being so clearly exposed."

"Right." Avuri nodded to me. "I'm not saying that it's likely we'll find any signs of them along either cliff face - but it's worth a look. I guess it will also be a small test of their level of haughtiness too."

I rubbed my forehead, trying to straighten out our plans in my head. "Okay. So we'll head to Resin from here. Do a little information gathering in the city there. Then we can travel up and down the cliff side of the Valley and take a look for any signs of a hidden enemy while Eiry does her fly-over of the Highlands. Can you tell her we'll be in Resin?"

Lyn nodded. "I'll let her know to stop by and find you to tell you both what she finds."

"I would guess she has some way to track us?"

"Yeah, she'll find you, don't worry about that." Cyril said flatly. "That woman has a talent for tracking, though none of us have ever managed to figure out how or why."

I shrugged. "Well, that's fine by me. Then we'll either start combing the Highlands based on her information, or we'll divert to whatever other leads we may have." I turned to Avuri and poked her mentally through our bond. "Did I miss anything?"

She shook her head. "I don't think so. Unless, of course, we find a strong lead that we decide to immediately follow. If we're really lucky, maybe we'll just find them without much effort."

"If they're so brazen that you find the sect without looking, please be careful." Lyn said, "There's arrogance among demons, yes, but sometimes that arrogance is warranted. Especially if this is, for example, a large sect that developed elsewhere and recently settled in."

"I don't think that's it. If they were a large, already established sect moving somewhere new, they would need more than a small family every month." Even as I said it aloud, I could feel my stomach turn. "While I don't necessarily have the…cleanest record of dismantling demonic sects, I've seen enough of them. This feels to me like either a small, newer sect getting established. Or a single, powerful demon, perhaps."

Avuri took a deep breath and sighed. "Alright, we're not getting anywhere here just talking about it. And we're just retreading ground the two of us have already discussed at length back home. We should get moving."

Lyn and Cyril seemed to accept that. I was also itching to get on the road to our destination, and while I didn't say it, Avuri must have felt it. As we all stood, Cyril waved a hand to lower whatever Qi formations he had set up for privacy.

"I hope you two find what you're looking for."

"Indeed. I wish you luck." Lyn said, following up for her husband.

Avuri and I turned toward the two Elders and bowed politely on our way out.

"Thank you. Let's all hope we can keep our lands clean, yes?" I said.

Avuri chuckled next to me. "We've managed to clean up the trash once before. We'll do it again."

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