He? She?
Those two words were worlds apart, and the thought hit Su Jin hard.
Du Wenyan could be a woman, though it hardly seemed possible. But it seemed even less likely that the mask had made a mistake.
It was a product of the Company. There was no reason for it to fail over something like this.
Still, Du Wenyan didn't look the least bit feminine.
Su Jin rubbed his chin. Seeing him grow even stranger, Yunlian shrank into a corner. "Brother Wu, are you all right? Where is my brother?"
"Your sister's outside. Go on."
"Thank you." Yunlian hopped off the sofa and ran out of the RV.
Su Jin raised an eyebrow and clicked his tongue in disbelief.
There it was. Instinct was hard to fool. Du Wenyan really was a woman.
Then there was only one explanation!
She was a Host Spirit Girl too. Perhaps her ability was to change shape.
She had kept lying to him. Even her name might be false...
But Su Jin soon let it go.
Suzai had a hard time surviving. He couldn't say he'd tell the truth in her place. Some secrets were too much to ask a person to reveal.
And this was good news. Du Wenyan seemed an even more trustworthy companion now. She and her sister were both Suzai, so why would she betray him? Still... what did she really look like?
She wouldn't look bad in women's clothes even with that face. Yunlian was pretty beneath the dirt, and her grown sister surely would be too.
Did her shape-changing ability only alter her appearance, or could she grow the corresponding organs?
He had always fantasized about having Mystique for a girlfriend. Even just getting a look at a real shapeshifter would be something.
There might be one right outside... No, better not.
Du Wenyan had no chest at all. If her organs had changed too, that was more than he wanted to think about.
Pushing the thought aside, Su Jin stepped out of the RV.
Du Wenyan leaned against it with a hand to her forehead, apparently still reeling from the film and the news of the apocalypse.
Only when Su Jin approached did she look up. "You said the end of the world is in one hundred and seventy-nine days?"
"Yes. Things are serious," Su Jin said earnestly. "We need to find Shen Yufeng and keep him alive. If he lives, we have a chance too."
"All right... Say I believe you. Why would his life be in danger whether we find him or not?" Du Wenyan asked. "He doesn't have to fight on the front lines, and the people at Zhenguo Manor will protect him. What exactly do you intend to do? What can he do?"
Su Jin was silent for a moment. "The apocalypse is coming. Shen Yufeng's task is to lead others through what follows. How he'll do it, only heaven knows. We find him and help him build a shelter. That's what we need to do."
"Then tell the emperor!" Du Wenyan cried, her eyes red.
"Tell the emperor?" Su Jin scoffed. "Tell the court there's another Son of Heaven, so they can lock me up as a heretic? Then when the day comes, we'll all die together."
"And let me make this clear: I will never work with the court!"
"Why?"
"My family were Suzai too. The court persecuted them. I had a younger sister..." Su Jin sniffed sharply and turned away as though fighting tears.
After a couple of breaths, he said sorrowfully, "I don't like talking about it. I've always believed the court has another reason for hunting Suzai. I wanted to change things, but there was nothing I could do."
"Now Shen Yufeng is our chance. The apocalypse will come, but there can be a new world afterward! We can make a world where everyone lives in peace, where you and your sister won't have to hide. Do you understand?"
Su Jin laid a hand on Du Wenyan's shoulder. "It won't be easy. But I've met an immortal, and you can trust me. Your sister's ability is meant for the future! Even heaven is helping us!"
Du Wenyan stared at him with reddened eyes filling with tears.
"Brother!" Su Jin pulled her into an embrace. "You don't need to say anything. When I first learned all this, I was like you... No, I was worse. But we have to be strong and keep going. If not for yourself, then for Yunlian."
Du Wenyan wept and nodded again and again.
Yunlian stood beside them, wiping away her own tears.
Su Jin's arms tightened, and his expression changed.
She had bound her chest beneath her clothes. So she wasn't some shape-changing witch with a dick after all.
"All right." Su Jin stepped back. "Let's plan our next move. Take your time getting used to all this. The immortal left me plenty of things, and you and your sister can use them too."
"Mm!"
....
"This is a map of all Suyuan. I won't claim it's perfectly accurate, but it's at least eighty or ninety percent right."
After some work and Su Jin's reassurance, Du Wenyan had recovered considerably.
Looking at the map she pushed toward him, Su Jin asked, "How did you get a map this complete? It must be valuable."
"I have a good memory. I saw it at Zhenguo Mansion. Shen Yufeng and I really are friends; I've visited his home. His grandmother likes rare flowers and plants, so I brought seedlings for Yunlian to grow and gave them to her a couple of times."
Du Wenyan paused. "To be honest, I had another reason for getting close to him. The Xuanjia Army often searches for Suzai. Staying near Shen Yufeng helped me learn about their searches, and it helped me... helped my sister avoid being caught a few times."
"What does he think of Suzai?" Su Jin asked.
"Much the same as anyone else. The Xuanjia Army is focused on the Demon Spring. It's Tanyu Temple that deals most harshly with Suzai."
"Do you know why they search for them?"
"It's highly secret, but I heard a rumor from the nobles that they use Suzai to cultivate," Du Wenyan said quietly. "I suspect it's true. Tanyu Temple holds a Burning Ceremony each year, but they burn only one person each time. That doesn't account for everyone they capture."
"I don't know the details, though."
"We can talk about the rest on the way. Let's work out the route first." Su Jin tapped the map. "The route you've marked takes us through three cities. We still have enough supplies on board. Can't we go around them?"
"It would be difficult. Suyuan's large cities are built into the mountains. The Demon Spring keeps spreading and squeezing the land people can live on, so the cities serve as passes and barriers. We can't just abandon the vehicle the immortal gave you, can we?"
"Don't worry about the vehicle. Could we take a mountain road?"
"No." Du Wenyan shook her head. "The mountains are more dangerous than people. Fierce beasts keep appearing there. Even a Six-Vein master couldn't be sure of staying safe."