Chapter 30
Upon reaching here, Hua Ci finally decided to ask what was on her mind.
"So, we're here now," she said slowly, "What is it that you need to do?"
Hua Yan considered how much to tell her. After realizing that he needed her to make introductions for him so that he would know who to approach over the topic of the ashes, Hua Yan decided to come clean.
"I am after something that was dropped in the battle three months ago. It's no longer in the courtyard, so I suspect that it was cleaned away by the cleaners."
"Was it something important?" Hua Ci asked, getting a faint understanding of why Hua Yan wanted to come here now, "Because if it was important, it was probably picked up by one of the residents in the courtyard. The cleaners wouldn't hav—"
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"No," Hua Yan interjected, halting her in her thoughts, "It wasn't something that was important. In fact, one would have to have a few screws loose to filch it."
"Then… why are you looking for it?"
"It's something of sentimental value."
"Ah, I see," Hua Ci replied, now fully understanding why Hua Yan was so concerned about this object.
She also owned objects that were of sentimental value, but had no real market price because of how trashy they were. Things like this were probably trinkets or treasures given by fallen relatives in their pa.s.sing. They were items that weren't worth anything money-wise, but had deep emotional significance.
Hua Ci could understand this much.
Hua Yan was looking for something that was pa.s.sed onto him. This was the conclusion that Hua Ci came to.
"Well, if you tell me what kind of an object it was, I can help you look for it. It's the least I can do to pay you back for your a.s.sistance earlier. Who knows, we might even be lucky enough to find it right off the bat. The cleaners don't throw everything they pick up away. Some discarded items are stored in a warehouse. If you can prove your owners.h.i.+p of them, you will be allowed to reclaim them."
Hua Yan didn't feel hopeful at these words. Though he already knew that all of the Cleaners' Courtyard had a lost-and-found area, the chances for the cleaners to pick up scattered ash and store it here was so low that it was essentially impossible.
Who in their right mind would store something like that?
The normal response would be to sweep that stuff up and toss it out with the rest
"Well, what kind of object was it?" Hua Ci asked again, sincerely wanting to help Hua Yan in his search.
"Ashes," Hua Yan said while sighing.
"Ashes… you mean the stuff you were asking about earlier? You had lost some ashes?!" Hua Ci asked incredulously. She had never expected this.
Earlier, when he said that he had lost something of sentimental value, she had a.s.sumed that it was a bracelet, or a ring, or something along those lines that he had lost.
Never had she expected that he would actually say he lost some ashes.
Calming herself down, she began to think. Perhaps Hua Yan had misplaced an urn filled with the ashes of one of his family members. If such were the case, then it was plausible for him to be looking for it. Considering this, Hua Ci continued to dig for more information.
"Were the ashes in an urn or a pot of some kind?"
"No."
"Were they in a box or something?"
"No."
"...were they stored in something?"
"No."
"Then how were you carrying those ashes!" Hua Ci shouted out, somewhat frustrated with his answers.
Only after seeing his strange expression, however, did she realize that she had gotten too immersed in the questioning process. She had forgotten she was in public and talking with someone she didn't really know much. Blus.h.i.+ng, she quickly apologized for her outburst.
"S-Sorry… I lost my cool."
"It's fine," Hua Yan replied, already taking his attention off of her and looking through the courtyard for clues.
Hua Ci thought that he was looking away from her because he didn't want to see her fl.u.s.tered. This only made her blush deeper.
Trying to focus her thoughts on something else, she got back to the original topic.
"So, how were you carrying the ashes?"
"In my hands," Hua Yan answered half-heartedly, eyeing some people that were walking around with broomsticks
Hua Ci didn't even know what to say to that. She had thousands of questions. The most prominent one being why he was carrying ash in his hands. She knew better than to ask though, because she predicted that things would become awkward again if she did.
"If you lost the ash somewhere at the scene, then it's more than likely for the cleaners to have thrown it away."
"Yeah."
"Yet… yet you still want to look for it?" Hua Ci asked, completely baffled. Just how important were those ashes to Hua Yan.
"Yeah," Hua Yan replied, giving another subconscious response.
He had noticed some differences in the cleaners here. Some of them were actually cultivators, and looked to have higher status than the rest, judging by the way everyone else acted around them.
Meanwhile, Hua Ci relentlessly asked Hua Yan more questions.
"Were the ashes from a deceased one that was really important to you?"
"You could say that," Hua Yan answered, following behind some of the cleaners that were also cultivators.
"Why didn't you go find them earlier?" Hua Ci asked, walking with Hua Yan without minding where he was going and completely forgetting about her mission to deliver the boxes, "Why did you wait for three months?"
"I wasn't in the manor."
"Where did you go?"
"Outside."
"Where outside?"
"Somewhere."
"Can you be more precise?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"Because it's personal."
"Oh… sorry for poking," Hua Ci apologized, bowing her head. She had really gone wild with her questions, even though it was obvious that Hua Yan didn't want to speak, judging by his short responses.
"Hey," Hua Yan suddenly called, breaking the mood, "How does the order of things work around here?"
"Eh? What do you mean?" Hua Ci asked, caught off guard by the question
"Who's top dog?"
"Oh… hmmm, it should be Hua Pan and his group. They have ties with the guards."
"Are they the ones that also manage all major cleaning missions?"
"Ah, by major, do you mean the incident that happened 3 months ago?"
"Yes."
"I actually happen to know one of the members that helped clean up the aftermath."
Hua Yan's ears immediately perked up as he heard this information.
"Who is it?"
"The person I am delivering these boxes to," Hua Ci replied, gesturing to the boxes in their arms with a tilt of her head.
"Lead the way."
"Ah, ok!" Hua Ci replied excitedly, though she didn't quite know what made her so happy.