Su Chen walked through the courtyard with his heart pounding against his ribs. Each time the jade slip shifted in his sleeve, he felt like a person carrying something very dangerous.
The loud thud of the main gate closing behind them felt like a finality. It was a metallic sound that marked the end of his short experience of freedom.
He looked at Meiling. She was humming a quiet tune and appeared completely relaxed. Her hand was still firmly grasping his.
Her skin was warm and soft, but to Su Chen, it felt like being held by something that was both comforting and constraining. She guided him through the winding stone paths of the estate toward his private quarters.
"You seem very quiet, brother," she said, stopping and turning to face him. The orange light of the sunset highlighted her dark hair. "Is your head still hurting? Or are you just thinking about how much you enjoyed our little date?"
"It was great, Meiling," Su Chen responded, trying to keep his voice steady. "I'm just a bit tired. The city was a lot to take in."
She smiled, and for a brief moment, she appeared genuinely happy. Then her gaze fell to his right sleeve. Su Chen's breath caught.
He remained perfectly still. He did not even dare to blink. After a moment that seemed to stretch on forever, she looked back up at him and giggled.
"Well, we should get you inside. I wouldn't want you to catch a chill."
They arrived at his room. Su Chen stepped inside and immediately moved toward the wardrobe, hoping to drop the slip among his spare robes.
He wanted her to leave so he could breathe. He turned around, expecting to see her standing in the doorway.
Instead, she was already inside. She had closed the door and was in the process of unfastening the silk outer layer of her robes.
The pink fabric slid off her shoulders, revealing a snug white inner garment. It was thin enough to show the curve of her waist and the shape of her chest.
Su Chen felt heat rise to his face. He took a step back, his back hitting the wood of the wardrobe.
"What are you doing?" he asked.
Meiling looked at him with a pout. She looked very cute, her eyes wide and slightly glistening. "I had a horrible dream last night, Chen. I dreamt that you reached a high level of cultivation and flew away. You didn't even look back. I woke up crying."
She walked toward him, her bare feet making no sound on the polished floor. She stopped just inches away from him.
The scent of jasmine and something spicy filled the air around him. She leaned in, her chest brushing against his arm.
"I can't sleep in my own room tonight. I'm too scared. I need you to protect me."
'Are we serious right now?' Su Chen thought. 'You are a genius cultivator who could probably destroy this city, and you're scared of a nightmare?'
"Meiling, there's only one bed," he said. He tried to look at the ceiling, but it was difficult when she was looking up at him like that.
"I can sleep on the floor, but you really should go to your own quarters."
She shook her head, her dark hair brushing against his shoulder. "No. I want to stay here. With you."
She climbed onto his bed and sat there, patting the spot next to her. She shifted her weight, and the thin fabric of her inner robes tightened around her hips.
She was clearly doing this on purpose. She wanted to see him squirm. She wanted him to be so distracted by her that he could not think about anything else.
Su Chen realized that he was not getting her out of here. He had to hide the slip now. He reached into his sleeve, pretending to scratch his wrist, and palmed the jade slip.
As he walked toward the bed, he intentionally tripped on the edge of the rug.
"Careful!" Meiling laughed.
In that brief moment of falling forward, Su Chen shoved the jade slip into the narrow gap between the bedframe and the wall. He landed on the edge of the mattress, breathing heavily.
"See? You really are clumsy," Meiling said. She leaned over him, her hair falling around them like a curtain. She looked down at him with a glint of mischief in her eyes. "It's a good thing I'm here to watch over you."
Eventually, she lay down, taking up more than half the bed. She made him lie down next to her, insisting that he hold her hand so she wouldn't drift away. Su Chen lay there, staring at the canopy.
He waited for hours. He listened to the steady rhythm of her breathing. He waited until she seemed to be in a deep sleep.
He slowly, very slowly, extracted his hand from hers. She stirred for a moment, mumbling something about not leaving, but she did not wake up.
Su Chen sat up and reached into the gap by the wall. His fingers brushed against the cold, smooth surface of the jade.
He pulled it out. He held it to his forehead and closed his eyes.
A rush of information flooded into his mind. It wasn't violent but was a cool, steady stream of knowledge. The technique was called the Silent River Method.
Unlike the flashy, aggressive techniques the Su family used, this one focused on concealment and efficiency.
'This is exactly what I need!' he thought.
The manual stated that the first step was to redirect the Qi. Instead of allowing the energy to settle in the center of the dantian, he had to spread it thin.
He needed to make his energy feel like a flat, still pond rather than a bubbling spring.
Su Chen began to follow the instructions. He concentrated on the faint mist of blue energy in his chest. Normally, it felt warm and somewhat erratic.
He visualized his hands pressing down on the mist, smoothing it out.
It was harder than it seemed. Each time he attempted to flatten the energy, a small ripple would form somewhere else.
It felt like trying to hold a balloon underwater. If he pushed too hard on one side, it would pop up on the other.
He broke out in a cold sweat. He had to be careful not to let any energy leak out. If Meiling felt a sudden spike in his Qi, she would wake up instantly.
He slowed his breathing. He focused on the sensation of his meridians. They felt like tiny, narrow pipes.
He moved the Qi slowly through his arms, then down to his legs. He did not attempt to make it move fast.
The manual referred to this as the Gravel Flow. It was the process of clearing the impurities in the spirit veins to create a more subtle energy signature.
As the Qi moved, he felt a dull ache in his joints. It was not sharp pain, but a deep, throbbing soreness. It was the sensation of his body adjusting to a new rhythm.
He pushed through it. He felt a small "pop" in his lower back, and suddenly the flow became smoother.
The energy began to cool down. It shifted from a lukewarm blue to a deep, icy silver. It felt refreshing, like drinking cold water on a hot day.
He sensed his presence beginning to dim. To anyone casually observing, he would start to appear less like a cultivator and more like an ordinary person.
He practiced for what felt like hours. He moved the silver energy in a complete circle through his body, from his head to his toes and back to his heart.
Each cycle made him feel lighter. Each cycle made the ache in his bones fade.
By the time he finished his third cycle, the sky outside the window was beginning to turn a pale gray. Morning was approaching.
He quickly hid the jade slip back in the gap near the wall. He lay back down just as Meiling began to shift.
She rolled over and immediately threw an arm across his chest. She opened one eye and looked at him, a sleepy smile on her face.
"Good morning, brother," she whispered. She snuggled closer, her head resting on his chest.
She remained silent for a moment, then she tilted her head. Her eyes narrowed slightly.
"You smell different this morning. Like... rain."
Su Chen froze. He did not say anything. He just closed his eyes and hoped that the Silent River was as effective as the manual claimed.
"It's probably just the morning dew," he said, trying to keep his voice calm.
Meiling did not move. She just kept her head on his chest, listening to his heartbeat. "Maybe. I hope so. I'd hate to think you were keeping secrets from me."