Villain Path

Chapter 77.2. The fourth night

When Shen and Al finally returned to the estate, it was past midnight. Shen tried not to think about how dumb he looked and what Al might think about his great teacher lost in the night streets of the capital. He was very sleepy and even shaken with fatigue, so he focused on his steps. Al held him under his arm, helping reach the Winter Pavilion.

They tried not to make any unnecessary sounds so distinct in the silence of the night and crept through the covered gallery to the pavilion. Shen was already dozing off when Al suddenly stopped, making his teacher take a renewed interest in his surroundings.

From afar they saw a white wolfhound retreating down the gallery. The large animal showed very uncharacteristic fear, quietly whining and cowering. 

Shen gazed up in surprise into the darkness Nine was backing away from. Someone stepped into the moonlight falling onto the terrace, and it clearly illuminated Ritu. The girl was slowly gliding along the wooden flooring, like a ghost came to life, and the poor dog that loved playing with her during the day so much, was backing away. 

"But she said she wouldn't leave her room after sunset," Shen said quietly.

Al didn't reply. They approached Ritu trying to stay quiet and be visible enough for the girl at the same time so as not to accidentally scare her. Still, Ritu kept walking with measured steps as if she had not seen anyone at all, even as Shen and Al stepped in front of her. Noticing them, the wolfhound wagged its tail and fled.

The girl took the next step, and Shen stood aside. He saw that her eyes were wide open yet they looked empty.

"Young lady Ritu," Al called. 

He reached out, but Shen grabbed his hand. 

"Seems like somnambulism," he said. "We better not try to wake her up in this state." 

Al didn't understand the meaning of the word his teacher used, but he didn't disturb Ritu's steady advance and turned his eyes to Shen, waiting for further instructions. 

"Let's follow her," he decided.

They let the girl pass and slowly went after her at her pace. Moon was low, casting its sharp oblique rays onto the dark galleries. 

"Teacher, has an evil spirit possessed her?" asked Al. 

"I don't know," Shen brushed him off. "Let's just follow her."

He assumed that in the somnambulistic state Ritu could head to the kitchen or to that secret room of hers, but after ten minutes or so, to his surprise, he recognized the gallery covered by dry vines. They stopped in front of the room with a white door. 

Ritu was just standing before it, she hadn't tried a handle, pushed the door or done anything else to it. It looked like she was waiting for something.

Five minutes had passed, nothing had changed, Shen and Al were still looking at the girl. And then Ritu turned around and slowly went back. 

For a half hour more, they had been following her, until the girl returned to her room and climbed into the bed . Shen adjusted her blanket and stepped out of the room, closing the door behind.

What just happened? he thought, puzzled. 

Al stood in front of the door, looking at him calmly.  

"I'm tired," Shen told him with a sigh. 

The incident with Ritu had refreshed him a little, giving his blood a little surge of adrenaline, but now that the rush had already passed, he felt twice as tired. Al held him under his arm and helped to reach the Winter Pavilion again.