Chapter 48: Arc 3: Chapter 17

“Wanted posters?” Bianca wasn’t sure how she stopped herself from sounding extremely worried, but apparently her tone wasn’t enough to arouse suspicion judging by the man’s reaction.

“Yeah, some weirdos,” the man, the supervisor of some other group with no especially notable features, responded, handing over a few of the sheets in his hand, “Some demon leading around a cat or something. Doubt they’d come over here.”

‘That is the furthest thing from the truth, but… with how concerned Xue Yaling was about the sects, I doubt that they would be so bad at recording who they fought with…’ Bianca glanced at the pictures and couldn’t help but gasp, though it wasn’t because their likenesses were so perfectly captured – or misrepresented.

Rather, since there was no photography in this world, as far as she knew, the wanted posters needed to represent them with drawings, and they did so in a rather gorgeous way. Black ink was used for the lines and fine details, drawn in a way that would make any fan of traditional Enian art blush… and anyone keen on high Enian aesthetics get mad, and anyone preferring common Enian get confused at what exactly the other two groups were. Enian in general was a mess that she, as someone who never took the time to look into the subject, had nowhere near enough understanding of, so she didn’t let her head keep obsessing over it.

In short, it was stylised, which came as very much of an advantage, since specific features were challenging to match with reality. The picture meant to represent her captured her skin tone and hair colour at the time with a light paint of some sort, applied prior to the ink detailing, but her lips, nose and even the shape of her head didn’t feel quite right. When combined with the change of her skin and hair colour, it was no big surprise that someone was able to give her the paper without immediately recognising her.

‘I wonder if they are able to make life-like images, or if all wanted posters and… whatever else they have… are done like this? Pretty… even if I dislike the expression,’ she let out a faint sigh as she gazed at it a little longer.

While it had been a while since she had last looked at herself, she knew for a fact that her face lacked this distinct look of arrogance and distaste, seeming to look down on anyone, even the person holding the wanted poster. It was… well, it was what you’d see on a villain, and not just some bad person. The worst of the worst, the big bad, the most cartoony and absurd antagonist that you could find outside of a literal child’s view of the world.

‘Hope I didn’t end up looking like that when I… a-anyway,’ Bianca switched to one of the other wanted posters, ‘This… Song Ming? Eh…’

Whereas she was painted like the demon Xue Yaling wanted her to appear as, Song Ming’s image seemed to be focused on the burst of physique energy that had overtaken her at the time. Lines of bluish-white marked her face, her eyes were composed purely of that shade, and her entire form had an ethereal bearing.

It was certainly a stunning look, though it was even worse at representing her than Bianca’s poster was. Even as clueless as she was about a lot of things, Bianca couldn’t help but ask what use such an image had. Unless Song Ming happened to showcase her physique to the people in the camp, and it happened to go as far out of control as before, then nobody would think to match her with the woman being sought out. The priority and reward for her was lesser, admittedly, only listing her as a potential victim and asking for information on her whereabouts, but that still shouldn’t change the methodology used by the sects.

‘I think I’ll need to ask Xue Yaling about it,’ she inevitably concluded, ‘Not like I know enough about this stuff. Maybe everyone is used to it and is able to overlook such oddities.’

There were probably things like that on Orbis. She could think of the way that files were represented on computers as an example, since they matched physical folders and documents, and yet people younger than her might never be aware that folders and documents were an actual thing and only recognise them from the icons used in computers.

To that younger generation, the pictures would make no sense, but they will have grown to recognise them nonetheless and probably wouldn’t question why they are the way they are. It would take some video or article online for them to learn, and even then they’d just accept it and move on, or find some way of replacing the icons for themselves. Perhaps, in a similar way, everyone has gotten used to the stylised images, and was more than capable of discerning what they meant, or knew that they would only be rough approximations of the targets.

‘So, what does the kitsune look like?’ Bianca looked at the last wanted poster, raising an eyebrow right away, ‘This one is rather close, actually. Huh. Okay.’

There were some obvious excessive factors like the ghostflames around her, but otherwise she was portrayed remarkably faithfully. It was one of the few images that Bianca would be able to match with a person even without knowing in advance who it was supposed to represent.

This put her at the greatest risk of being discovered, so Bianca didn’t hesitate any longer and headed straight over to where she knew she’d find the fox, following the sounds of fierce logging. The wood sounded like it was being beaten very hard, and… Bianca nearly tripped on the spot when she realised that her mind managed to turn logging into a euphemism.

 

“Ah, they’ve finally arrived. Please give them to me. I’m very curious to know what it is the sects have prepared for us,” Xue Yaling said, wiping off a bit of sweat from her brow.

She put down the axe and sighed as she accepted the papers, though she didn’t look at them immediately.

“It certainly took them a long time. It’s been… what, half a month now?” the kitsune wondered, glancing towards Song Ming as the young woman continued to chop wood, “You can take a break too. It wouldn’t be too odd to examine wanted posters such as these, even if the rewards are unlikely to be of particular note.”

With that, she looked down, taking a few moments to appreciate every poster before moving onto the next. There were a few others beside the three depicting – or attempting to depict – them, but not only were they highly unlikely to run into those people, attempting to claim the bounty would bring them close to those with high awareness of other bounties. So, even if they were able to take down their foe without issue, they would then have to hide their identities well enough to obtain a relatively miniscule reward, at least according to Xue Yaling’s explanation. The chances of failure were much higher than simply sitting low and doing their own thing in the logging camp.

The kitsune made no particular comment on the contents of the posters until Song Ming came over, sweating far, far more than Xue Yaling was. Her clothes were practically soaked through from it all, leaving her skin glistening and easily visible through the thin fabrics.

‘She’s really hot… I mean, uh, right, the wanted… things,’ Bianca reluctantly forced her gaze back to the kitsune, and tried to make herself pay attention to what she’d inevitably say.

“Yes, these aren’t particularly exceptional. Most of the time, there are more notable features than just facial features to search for people with, so these pictures are meant to do little more than provide an image alongside the words, helping people remember at least something from the poster,” Xue Yaling explained, glancing up at Bianca, “You were going to ask about the pictures, weren’t you?”

“Ah, yes… So, since they won’t get a perfect picture and most won’t memorise them… and since there are various ways of disguising yourself, the priority is on whatever the stuff written underneath is?”

“That’s what I just said, yes. There are skills, whole cultivation techniques, archetypes and even non-planar methods such as makeup that can be used to change one’s appearance. Some may opt to wear a mask or just a hood to obscure most of their face, and since there are few reasons to demand everyone show their face in the vast majority of places and in the vast majority of situations,” the kitsune added, then nodded towards her.

“… Uh-”

“Your hair, darling. It changed without you even intending to transform it. So, if someone was to rely wholly on the image, they would ignore you completely. Luckily for us, we’re likely to be ignored completely regardless,” she said, “The reward is, as mentioned, small, and most of the people here won’t actively look out for bounties. Instead, they will memorize a few of the highest paying ones and, if they ever run into the person, they’ll likely report them to someone with greater power in exchange for a small share of the reward.”

“Uh-huh. Guess that does make sense…” Bianca nodded after a moment, “So, should we be looking out for whoever that person is? Make a bit from them?”

“I like your thinking, though it may not be worth the risk. Want me to explain their identities to you?”

Since Bianca nodded right away – and Song Ming also expressed some interest after a while, having spent most of her time up to this point gathering her breath – Xue Yaling flipped through the wanted posters until she found something suitable, removing it from the stack and placing it on top before scanning through it and clearing her throat.

“Interesting. The first is Shouge Zhe, and although the details on her are minimal, her identity alone tells me plenty. She is the last survivor of the Reaper’s Grave, a faction of so-called reapers that wielded scythes and sought to purify the world of so-called stagnant beings. You’ve heard me mention them at least once before, Bianca,” the kitsune said, “Most of them were wiped out, but it appears that one survived the crusade against them… Call of the Reaper…”

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“What now?”

“Oh, no, it’s just that we should not provoke her. If this is correct, she is in possession of the Heart of Dao of the Reaper’s Grave in addition to their whole legacy, and is at the Active Core realm – the fourth, in case you’ve forgotten. This makes her a very dangerous person for the three of us, since neither of you have any ability to defend against her and even I would struggle.”

“Would reporting something about her count as offending her?” Bianca asked, even though she knew that the question sounded silly, “How would she know?”

“If she believes that anyone that sees her intends to report her, then we’re in danger right away. We would need to find a way to avoid her wariness from influencing her until we’re able to get far enough away to avoid her wrath.”

“Could we… maybe… not get on her bad side? I mean, you have enough funds to keep us going for the moment, right?”

Song Ming exhaled loudly, “It’s not… like it’ll last forever, right? Whatever coins and shards you’ve saved up… they’ll run out eventually… especially if we don’t ever make any money from all of this…. So tired…”

“Are you alright?” Bianca stepped over, letting Song Ming rest an arm on her shoulder once she confirmed that there was nothing to be concerned about beyond ordinary exhaustion, “A-Anyway, I’m not certain it’s worth going after her if things are that bad. Ideally, we’d avoid anyone that looks even remotely like her, just in case, and… could we possibly win her trust? I mean, it’s not like we need to tell anyone about… why are you looking at me like that?”

“Honey, the chances of us running into this person are… well, as low as the chances of accidentally encountering the Exarch, or of ending up in the middle of the conflict between it and Long Shiyi without realising it. In other words, miniscule. Worrying this much about strategy is more or less pointless,” Xue Yaling explained, “Anyway, I ought to tell you about the other people on here… hm, Li Cheng is wanted as usual, no surprise here… Luo Long, some type of thief… no chance of getting this guy… Hm, this one is interesting. No name, but she seems to be another user of an odd archetype, something to do with memories or the synthesis of thought. Alright, listen up.

“User of an unknown technique currently being referred to using the name of her apparent archetype, Synthesis. She is considered to be mentally unwell yet highly stable, pursuing a goal that hasn’t been determined so far, though every action so far has been consistent and reasoned. How the fuck did they conclude that? Anyway,” she sighed, “This individual has eyes that glow with a blue light, seeming to form strange shapes and keep the viewer’s attention, though whether this is deliberate isn’t yet known.”

“How in the world do they fit all that in on that sheet of paper?”

“Shorthand, among other things. Anyway, interesting way to say that, Bianca. No reference to the heavens or the Grand Dao?”

“W-Well-”

“Anyway, other notable features include the ability to manifest memories of her opponents and use them offensively, though this skill appears to have limited capability for the moment. Limited observation suggests that the memories are not truly that of her opponents, containing minute differences, and yet they are nonetheless familiar enough to prove highly distracting, and their offensive capability is not to be underestimated.”

“… For once, even I’m not sure what this is supposed to mean… what exactly are the memories manifested like? What makes them so dangerous?” Song Ming asked, having finally gathered her breath enough to not sound like she was on the brink of death.

“Not a clue. It might be a mental skill, which causes the user to remember memories influenced by this individual, or it might be something that can read those memories and give them solid form, changing them to be more dangerous and pitting them against a confused opponent that may struggle to discern the memory from… well, a memory. And most people have something in life that was threatening to them, that they fear, so if it is given form and striking power, it could well kill them,” Xue Yaling proposed, “Either way, dangerous. Extremely so.”

“So we should be careful around her too, and ideally avoid her? That sounds just like the other one,” with a sigh, Bianca helped Song Ming over to one of the stumps left over from their logging so that she didn’t have to leaning on her the whole time.

Xue Yaling shook her head, “Not necessarily. For one, you might be her natural foil, Bianca. Perhaps you’ll be resistant to her unusual skills, and will be able to attack her without incident.”

“T-That-”

“Mhm, I know, you’ve acquired more memories since, so it wouldn’t work,” Xue Yaling chuckled, “I suppose I shouldn’t expect that to work, but you might still have an advantage. Perhaps her capabilities are highly overestimated, so it wouldn’t be beyond two second realm cultivators and a single third realm one – an above average one in terms of strength, though not exceptionally so – to take down someone whose strength isn’t currently exceptional.”

“That seems like a very big change in plans… wait, I bet you’re going to say that these are hypotheticals, but ones we’re discussing since there’s more of a chance of success here than if we were to meet that Shouge Ze.”

“Pretty much, honey. It’s not especially complicated, though we do have one more person to watch out for – the one that shocked this logging camp. The man who used yet another unusual archetype to summon soldiers to fight for him, clad in broken armour,” the kitsune said, “We don’t know exactly who he is or why he’s around, but we ought to beware him for that exact reason. Whereas we have some hints at what the other two notable figures want – as few hints as there may be for that Synthesis woman – this man didn’t clearly convey any intent.”

“… Is this sort of thing normal?”

“This sort of thing being…”

“Well, you know, strange people showing up out of nowhere with unusual abilities and unclear goals?” as she asked it, she slowly got the feeling that she was being a little silly, and it was only once she stopped that she understood she had described herself excellently, “I mean, uh…”

“Normal? No, not exactly. However, we’re not in a very normal situation, nor in a normal time. With so many strange people showing up, it’s inevitable that we’ll run into some of them sooner or later. Besides, we’ve heard of only a few unusual people, and have run into none so far, so we’re already doing better than anyone who was in this camp a few days prior to our arrival,” following a quick shrug, Xue Yaling picked her axe back up, “Regardless, with these posters, we’ll be able to leave soon.”

“Ah, right… Will we be heading over to the Phoenix Sect?”

“Almost certainly. We’ve no better place to go, and it will take us outside these warring territories without forcing us to head back towards the three sects, nor to brave the waters of the Heart Lake. It’s not always the safest place to traverse, after all.”

“Right… Song Ming, will you alright to continue this for a while longer?”

The young woman appeared to have recovered a decent amount of her energy, as she was breathing only a little deeper than normal, “Yeah, totally… Um, B-Bianca, what do you think about muscl- N-no, never mind.”

“Wait, what?”

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