"Ahh! You little rats!" a yell came from the lantern.

  The bird carriage came to a stop, Baiyun stepping out awkwardly. He sweated at the sight of the absolutely furious spirit, angered to the point where steam practically exploded from it.

  "You! What have you done? You actually just broke out like that!" it bellowed at him.

  Hah... he could only sigh helplessly. The deal with Veiled Garden failed and he was caught escaping on top of that. Worse, this was the expected outcome to begin with, so he could only mock himself inwardly, wondering why he even pulled such a stunt.

  "Elder spirit, please don't blame him." Qinghe said. "Baiyun was feeling cooped up in the carriage, so we took him to the city for a moment. The fault is entirely on us."

  Mohei nodded along anxiously, seemingly unsure of what to say.

  "Do not call me that, I am not an Elder!" the spirit shouted. "No, no, no, this is completely unacceptable. Baiyun was not supposed to contact anyone, yet you two barged in like that! Scram! I have already alerted the court!"

  Its paused as a communication jade within its lantern lit up, taking a moment to read its contents.

  "Hmph. Perfect timing for the elders to issue a verdict." it grunts. "Baiyun, your grace period of 2 days has been removed. You will be sent to the border immediately! Be glad your punishment is light."

  "Ehhh!?" Mohei shouted. "You're not going to let him rest a bit more?"

  "The gall to talk back! You only have yourself to blame for barging in, you are the one who hurt your friend!"

  Qinghe silently pulled Mohei away back into the carriage, shaking her head at him. He could only helplessly relent.

  "The two of you, your punishment is still being discussed with your clans. Don't think you'll get away lightly!" the lantern spirit cursed.

  Before either of them could respond, it grabbed Baiyun and tossed him into into the carriage and took off immediately. He could only stare at the cauldron helplessly as the rabbit peeked at him. It seemed the mole was coming along for the ride after all...stone

  The rabbit pawed at the cauldron.

  "What's this? Smells weird."

  Baiyun sighed as he reached for the lid. He supposed it was about time he showed the rabbit its companion for the first time.

  He pulled out the mole, and it sniffed the air cautiously.

  "Rabbit, this is your-"

  "Ahhh! Dirt rat!" it yelled.

  Baiyun watched in bafflement as the rabbit hurriedly ran away. The mole tilted its head in confusion, then glanced back up at him.

  "You're afraid of moles?" he asked.

  "No. They're dirty! And nasty!"

  This rabbit...

  Baiyun sighed inwardly at its unexpected prejudices. Weren't they both rodent-like animals that lived in underground burrows? He pat the mole on the head before placing it back into the cauldron.

  Onwards and onwards, the carriage continued to rumble for hours.

  He stared out the window with a forlorn gaze. All he could see was a faint blue hue and nothing else. Not even divine touch was effective; even if he tried to channel it through the carriage and into the ground, the wheels spun so quickly that anything he sensed would be a distorted mess.

  Somehow, this carriage felt more like a cell than the WanLing prison.

  "Weird..." the rabbit suddenly said.

  It reared on its hind legs and raised its head anxiously. Weird? Baiyun frowned as it paced around. The instincts of spirit beasts were sharp and not to be discounted.

  His human ears could not hear much but the rumbling of wheels, but the instant he attuned borrowed its hearing, a cacophony of sounds flooded in.

  Waves crashed violently into distant shores, but something about the sound was off. It did not carry the subtle undertone of crashing sand, instead crashing and tumbling as if rocks were being pelted against each other.

  He thought there would be the cries of distant beasts or perhaps clashing weapons, but all that could be heard were the oddly guttural cries of distant seagulls.

  Leaves rustled as the wind swirled across the unseen landscape, accompanied by a strange undertone. It was hard to make out what it was at first; as if he was listening to crinkled foil. But as he focused, the sound grew crystalline until it was as if thousands of wind chimes were ringing in unison.

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  What in the world was making that unearthly sound? Baiyun wanted so badly to look outside and find out, but he could only curse his blindness.

  Aside from the rabbit's senses, he could also smell the sea air that seeped into the carriage. The salty breeze was deeply tainted and arid, with traces of a rotting stench.

  Many more strange sounds bombarded his mind, but Baiyun could not make sense of them and frowned. He knew there would be conflict at the border, but he never expected it to be such an incomprehensible location.

  "Lantern spirit," he suddenly said. "Where am I being taken exactly?"

  "Hah. You'll find out soon." it harrumphed.

  ...It seemed the spirit was still angered by his escape.

  Another hour soon passed.

  The lively sound of a small town echoed from outside as the carriage passed a gate. Hundreds of footsteps could be heard, the wheels of carts and other carriages rolling by as people argued and haggled.

  The sound of a sword being unsheathed could be heard, and two voices yelled as they began to fight brazenly. No one stopped them, the passersby only laughing and spectating.

  "Old man. I have 5 salamander livers to trade for the Iceheart pills."

  "Bah! If you've been hunting them, pass me earth knobs instead! I have no interest in that useless junk."

  "I can't do anything about that. Cobra already took them all..."

  Baiyun mused to himself, wondering if there were other alchemists imprisoned here.

  The carriage turned a corner and passed a shop oozing with the foul scent of decay. Violent thuds of cleaver against bone rang out as the animalistic grunts of a man echoed from within.

  Rabbit trembled for a moment, before scrambling to the cauldron and prying it open. The mole watched in shock as it tumbled in, the lid shutting above them.

  Baiyun watched in exasperation. How was a creature brazen enough to attack disciples and ignore the scoldings of spirits so cowardly?

  "Don't harass the mole." he ordered, just in case.

  "I wasn't going to..."

  The mole crawled over to sniff the rabbit, only to be pushed away as the latter raised its head, aloof. Surprisingly, neither of them fought.

  Now unable to borrow the rabbit's insight, Baiyun could only press his ears to the window to listen closer. There wasn't anything new to be heard however, and he soon lost interest. He wished he could continue reading his textbooks, but he had no explanation for being able to.

  Baiyun sat listlessly until the carriage came to a stop at last.

  "We're here. Get out." the spirit said.

  At last...

  Baiyun frowned at the cauldron. If he held it, he wouldn't be able to use a walking stick to channel divine touch into the ground. But would it be more conspicuous for him to carry a cauldron or have 2 animals following him?

  "Are there rules against animals here?" he asked.

  "Hah, you're allowed to have pets. Some inmates fight with tamed animals after all." the spirit said. "But I doubt your frail pets will live long here."

  It let out a sigh.

  "I could take them back to the sect if needed." it offered, the first time it had been kind since Baiyun defied the rules.

  He thought for a moment.

  "Can you take this mole to Qinghe then? I-"

  "How many times do I have to drill this into your thick skull? You are not allowed to contact any clans!" the spirit suddenly yelled. "Just because you were sent here early doesn't mean the prohibition period is over!"

  Baiyun could only raise his hand helplessly. The spirit was all jovial normally, but the instant someone broke a rule, it would morph into an ball of unbridled fury. Just how had the WanLing sect raised it, for it to hate rulebreaking so much?

  Staring at the spirit that turned away in anger and refused to speak further... He had a feeling any apology would only enrage it further.

  Hah... he opened the cauldron and examined the two creatures inside with a complicated gaze. He tamed the rabbit to help him survive the border, but the mole being here was not part of the plan. Just what was he going to do with it?

  For now, he dumped them out and stashed away his cauldron, tying a bundle of cloth around his neck to place the disgruntled mole in.

  "Rabbit, we're getting out. Follow me." he said with soulsense.

  "I don't want to... this place is bad..."

  It had no say in the matter unfortunately.

  Baiyun stepped out of the carriage and prodded the cold stone ground with his walking stick. With divine touch, he sensed a foreboding building of grey brick, its construction reminiscent of the WanLing colosseum court. Its surface was somewhat weathered, but the building seemed new and couldn't have been more than a few decades old.

  "Stop dallying." the lantern spirit huffed as it stashed the carriage away.

  It grabbed him by the back of his neck and dragged him into the building, Baiyun's stick skidding across the ground with the sound of grinding wood.

  As the doors swung open, the inmates stared at the strange sight of a flying lantern dragging in a blindfolded cripple, while a trembling rabbit followed.

  After passing several hallways, Baiyun was finally pulled into a room and tossed onto a hard bed. It lacked even a blanket, the mattress lumped and sewn with rough cloth.

  "This is your room. The other inmates will fetch you later."

  Those were the only words the lantern spirit could be bothered to give him, leaving without further explanation. Baiyun could only sign inwardly. Should he call it irresponsible for letting anger get to it in this manner, or loyal for practically worshipping the sect's laws and orders?

  He supposed it matter not.

  "I don't like this room..." the rabbit said. "It's so dusty..."

  Baiyun nodded as he examined the area. Beneath layers of old dust, long-dried bloodstains seeped into the stone floor, the corners of the walls covered with tattered cobwebs. No other furniture was present aside from the bed he was on. Even the window was merely a square hole cut into the thick walls, without even bars to prevent his escape.

  Calling the room desolate was an understatement.

  He tossed the best cloth he had over the bed before placing the mole and rabbit on it. Then, he reached into his bag and pulled out various cleaning supplies like rags, buckets and mops. He stared at his water gourds hesitantly and wondered if it was really wise to use them here.

  With how polluted the ocean was and how little the sect cared for the inmates with rooms like this, it was possible clean water was a somewhat valuable commodity here.

  Bah.

  There was no world where this was a debate. It was impossible for him to put up with a room like this. Baiyun stopped hesitating and filled the bucket with water. With how much vital heart brew he stockpiled to enhance his body, he barely drunk actual water at this point anyway.

  The mole let out a grumble from the light, so he retrieved his cauldron and tossed it in.

  He grumbled to himself as he wiped down the walls and floors, scrubbing the room as clean as he could for the next hour. Outside the window was merely dead soil, so he dumped the bucket of blackened water outside.

  Baiyun sighed. He had done what he could.

  The bloodstains were etched too deeply into stone to be simply washed away.