Yu ZiYuan's hands trembled as she looked at the scenario in front of her.

How could this be Meishan?

How could this be the place she was born in?

Jiang Cheng clenched his fists, gritting his teeth, "This is a disaster. They would have done everything to let us not see this picture."

People, there were sick people, everywhere. The people were weak, they were feeble, they were barely alive. Not because of famine, not because of poverty.

It was a plague.

The desolate, lifelss streets, and its even more lifeless people. They all gave her a horrible memory, and reminded her of ones as well.

"It's the same plague, A-Cheng...it came back...after all these years."
"What plague?" Jiang Cheng felt his heartbeat quicken.

"My parents died in this exact plague when I was very young." Yu ZiYuan made an expression that made it clear she was uncomfortable.

She expected everything, everything but this.

"My revival definitely is connected to this. Now I am sure of it." she advanced as she drew down her hoodie a little.

Making suspicions appearances wouldn’t do. They tried their best not to stand out while walking through Meishan.

"Let's go." Yu ZiYuan sounded determined, as if a fire was set to flames by a thousand times.

"Where?"
"To our sect quarters. The Rain Pavilion."

The Rain Pavilion. Meishan Yu sect quarters. They were really going to go for it.

"Mother, if we do this, there is no going back." Jiang Cheng warned, frowning in seriousness.

Yu ZiYuan nodded, "I know."

She knew. Of course she knew. And she decided to do what she had to.

Fuck it. Let's go.

Jiang Cheng took one last look at the town before bringing out a teleportation talisman, "Best to use this now. The distance isn't too much or too little, we can use less spiritual energy and get there immediately."

Yu ZiYuan's eyes lit up, "My smart boy."

Jiang Cheng's lips curled up unintentionally, as he activated the talisman. A burst of spiritual energy took over the place, the whole dark area lit up, and the next second, they were gone.

The next time Yu ZiYuan opened her eyes to adjust away from the flash, she was in the hallroom of the Rain Pavilion.

Needless to say, the guards, disciples as well as the seniors were surprised for a moment, pulling out their swords in reflex.

Suddenly, someone unsheathed their sword and attacked, Jiang Cheng dodged it quickly, holding the sword with his left hand, "Too slow. Too sloppy. Young one, you need to polish your skills more."

The disciple's face reddened in embarrassment, not only because of the feedback, but also because he knew that voice very well.

"Sect Leader Jiang?" A senior questioned, keeping a level, "Greetings. However, your visit was supposed to be three days later. How come..." he quieted down, wanting to keep things diplomatic.

"I am sorry for arriving in such an unbefitting fashion. However, it was vitally necessary. An emergency, to be exact." Jiang Cheng authorised his command in the room with an even expression. Yu ZiYuan also had a poker face, no one being able to read her mind.

Jiang Cheng lifted his head up slightly, "Let me speak to Aunt please. Immediately."

The silence that came afterwards was deafening, and the air was tense like a bow being stretched.

"The sect leader is not available at the moment." one of the elders spoke up with an uneasy expression.

"Unavailable? Weren’t you about to start a meeting?" Jiang Cheng crossed his hands and raised one of his eyebrows.

"...Sect Leader Jiang, even if you are the sect leader of a gentry sect, you cannot meddle in the affairs of another sect like this."  A female elder spoke up sounding irritated and anxious.

Jiang Cheng narrowed his eyes, "I am not meddling anywhere in your sect's affairs. I simply wish to speak to my Aunt. As her nephew, I do not see a problem with it."
"But-"

Yu ZiYuan added with a bold tone, "Sect Leader Jiang mentioned it was an emergency. Do you not see the importance of this arrival? We wouldn’t have arrived in this way if it was anything trivial."

"A-Cheng?" came a puzzled voice.
"Yi-niang." Jiang Cheng bowed, turning around swiftly, he got up, and didn’t waste another second, "We need to talk. It's an emergency."

Yu HeiYuan appeared conflicted, her eyebrows creasing, "What is it, that you had come to in such a fashion?"

"Madam, let's take this inside. We can discuss things clearly there." Yu ZiYuan politely smiled, although her hawk like gaze lingered hovering over Yu HeiYuan's head.

Which she obviously noticed. Good. Yu ZiYuan intended for her to notice it. The threat was clear, they had to talk. No compromises.

Yu HeiYuan forced a curl of her lips, "Well then, we shall have to postpone the sect meeting for a while. Let's go inside."

Jiang Cheng smirked, "Indeed."

The inside of her office was decorated in silver and purple, although it was more of a violet colour than the purple of the Jiang Sect, which is why Yu ZiYuan was given the title 'Violet Spider' and not 'Purple Spider'.

The amount of silver was quite a lot, defining why the place was called the Rain Pavilion.

Yu HeiYuan sat on her chair, trying to appear at ease. However, Jiang Cheng was no fool.

"Yi-niang, I will make this quick. The plague here has reappeared. We need to know why."
".....That is of no concern to the Jiang sect, A-Cheng. This place is run by the Meishan Yu sect." Yu HeiYuan tried to play it professional.

Jiang Cheng clenched his fists, anger starting to build up in him, "Yi-niang, you are aware of what is happening. Is it really that important to keep this a secret? Whatever is happening, is clearly related to Zidian, as well as the recent attacks in Lotus Pier, and Cloud Recesses."

Yu ZiYuan still had her hawk-like gaze fixated on Yu HeiYuan, to which she seemed uneasy, "Why do you think so?"

Jiang Cheng brought out the whip in an instant, the entire room lit up with purple lightning. Yu HeiYuan was startled into shock, reflexively putting her hand on her sword, "What are you doing?"
"You feel this power?" Jiang Cheng held the whip in front of him, as if to show her the immense energy in the spiritual weapon, "This weapon that has been passed on for generations. It holds such immense power. A high grade spiritual weapon like this, has no origin? It’s not like the Lan sect where they specialise in music, thus having lots of instruments as spiritual weapons."

He took a break, lifted his head up and continued, "Do you not understand? We need to know. Everything. How Zidian was made. And why exactly are those people after it. We need to know."

Yu HeiYuan clasped her hands tightly, looking down on her lap with a worried expression, as if contemplating everything. In the end, she could only sigh, her red lips thinning on a straight line afterwards.

"Lead the way." Yu ZiYuan instinctively commanded. Then she realised whose body she was in, and added softly, "...Please."

Jiang Cheng almost snorted.

"I don't know."

.....Huh?

Both the two of the other were stunned.

"What do you mean, Yi-niang?" Jiang Cheng was puzzled, as if he had never heard of the phrase 'I don't know'.

Yu HeiYuan looked at the photo of the Rain Pavillion hanging over her wall, "I have no idea about the origin of Zidian. I tried to pry it out of father and uncle, but neither of them told me about it. Uncle especially resfused to talk about Zidian after the first plague."

And the mystery thickenned.

Yu ZiYuan whispered to him, "She is talking about uncle JingXu. Yu JingXu. He is the eldest person of the sect."

Jiang Cheng nodded slightly, "I see. He must know at least something then."

Yu HeiYuan looked at Yu ZiYuan for a second. To which she froze completely.

'Am I arousing suspicions?' Was Yu ZiYuan's primary thought.

She then looked at Jiang Cheng again, her shoulders tense, "The plague reappearing has made uncle mad for some reason. He keeps saying things here and there with no purpose. Like he has gone crazy. He has confined himself to meditate for some reason since yesterday, saying he has seen some signs and what not." She appeared extremely as she started talking about the situation.

'Seems like she wasn't really happy after being a sect leader. Not a surprise.' Yu ZiYuan remembered the number of dramas happening in all the gentry sects, including the Jiang sect. She was not happy in there as well, albeit it was due to her own fault.

Yu HeiYuan stood up from the chair, walking to her window, "I didn't want for you to see our home like this. So I at least wanted to try and minimise the effects of the plague."

"What good would that do, Yi-niang?" Jiang Cheng questioned as a matter of fact.

To which he got the reply.

"I suppose I was too prideful to show the defaults of the place our sect ruled in."

Pride.

A very old problem of their blood that he was all too familiar with. One that he had to learn to overcome. Jiang Cheng looked down, his amethyst eyes trembling a little, his deep voice not a bit more loud than a feather, even then, his words were heard clearly, "Pride can be a good thing, Yi-niang. But pride carried too far, is foolishness."

Yu HeiYuan smiled bitterly, "Seeing the situation, I am starting to realise that's true. Maybe I would have reached out to the Jiang sect anyway. It's good you came here."

She then walked away from the window to her table, putting a hand over the wood coloured surface, "Uncle is in his room. I am not sure how his ramblings are connected to anything though..."

Yu ZiYuan bluntly spoke up all of a sudden, "Please take us to him. Immedietly."

Jiang Cheng gave her a side eye, indicating she was being too blunt yet again. Yu ZiYuan shrunk herself as a result. Jiang Cheng looked at Yu HeiYuan, "Well then, shall we go?"
"Are you sure meeting him will do any good? He never told me or your mother about Zidian."

Jiang Cheng narowed his eyes, "We can try. He is our only hope now. We need to know."

Yu HeiYuan met his gaze, her red eyed dangerously gleaming, a new determination in them, "Follow me."

_________________________________________

Note: Rain lilies represent the rain.