Name: The Cast-Iron Bat
Story: Lin Moniao Series (AO3 link)
Colors: Newsprint #13 (With bleeding inside the head there is a metallic taste at the back of the throat.)
Supplies and Styles: gesso; interactive art, life drawing, mural
Word Count: 38,500ish words
Rating: explicit
Warnings: bloody violence, lies, betrayal, gastrointestinal distress, daddy issues, rampant historical inaccuracies
Summary: Lin Moniao, returning from a quest in the north and traveling towards the capital to return to his shifu, Master Wu of the Illustrious Qilin Villa sect, takes on a postal escort job along the way that turns out to be more trouble than anticipated.
Note: I have already posted side stories and extras for the Lin Moniao series here before but this was actually the first adventure in it, co-written with minutia_r . It is the TTRPG logs for an adventure loosely based on the "Obsidian Bat" adventure from the Righteous Blood, Ruthless Blades sourcebook. I was GM, Minutia played Lin Moniao, and I created Wang Xiaonan as a GM-controlled NPC to allow us to play the adventure with only one player. As a result, the plot bounces about a bit, and somewhere in the middle we kinda got stuck at an inn for ages. Anyway--here you go! Also available on AO3 here, with some more notes and commissioned art of the "player" characters.

 

Prologue: A Destiny in Kaifeng

 

This evening, God Yu is meeting his disciples.

The Illustrious Qilin Villa's courtyard is festooned with lanterns. Inside the main reception hall, a banquet lies waiting, seats carefully arranged according to rank. Five youths will receive the honor of the God’s regard today. Two have already gone up the few steps into the back quarters, the inner sanctum, and come out again with their eyes shining, joining the masters waiting in the sidelines for the completion of the ritual.

It is Lin Moniao's turn. Master Wu's expression is solemn as he comes to guide him into the darkness, but his eyes glitter with pride. He is pleased with this disciple he personally selected, even if Lin Moniao did not pass the imperial exams. It frankly would have been astonishing if he had, and there is always next year, and the year after that. An accomplished and beautiful youth is always welcome in the sect.

The way is dark, and the inner room’s windows are covered. It is lit with dozens of red and orange lanterns, so entering is like walking into a sunset. In the middle of the room there is a throne, and around the throne are golden treasures, tributes to the God. Before it stands the sect leader, Beauty Niu. Slim and small, her face covered by a veil, she is wearing the brilliant green of the God's feathers.

The God sits on her padded shoulder, talons digging into the leather. He raises his head and bops at their approach. Beauty Niu lifts her chin proudly as Master Wu introduces his disciple.

Lin Moniao bows low slowly, making sure to preserve the careful arrangement of his hair and robes as he does. Keeping his eyes downcast respectfully, he nevertheless tries to catch a glimpse of Beauty Niu and the God--both to judge their reaction, and out of curiosity. He's never actually seen them this close before. "Your servant, Master, Heavenly Venerable," he says.

The sect leader stands and approaches, the God balancing on her shoulder. Her movements are graceful and athletic, as befits a martial God's servant, her eyes carefully lined, and a sweet but strong smell of perfume wafts around her. "Servant", says the God. His voice is not harsh but melodious, startlingly human. "Stand."

Beauty Niu's eyes crinkle over the veil, and she slowly circles Lin Moniao, assessing him. "Master Wu says you show promise. I agree." Her voice is clear and high.

The cloying smell here in the inner sanctum is not only her perfume, he realizes, but also the incense, which is beginning to grow heavy. The disciples have fasted all day.

Lin Moniao straightens up, following Beauty Niu with his eyes as best as he can while she circles him. The movement and scents are a little dizzying.

The God hops from her shoulder to her arm guard, standing close. "What is your greatest wish?" the parrot asks.

"I wish to excel in your service," Lin Moniao says a little stiffly but not entirely insincerely. Warmth creeps into his voice as he adds, "I wish to be the greatest warrior. A legend."

"A legend?" the sect leader asks, and glances at Master Wu. "Well, well."

God Yu spreads his wings, round eyes unblinking, head turned to look at the disciple. The light is misleading, but it glints off the brilliant green feathers. He is enormous for a parrot.

"The disciple before me has a destiny in Kaifeng," the parrot says, and this time his voice sounds like Master Wu. "It is not what he thinks it will be. It will end in blood. The serpent's young will eat the serpent where he sits. Darkness will come. When it does, do not fail Yu!" That last part is harshly spoken, as if the God's tongue has grown thick. He then screeches, flaps his wings, and flies off into the darkness above, in the ceiling beams.

Beauty Niu grips Lin Moniao's shoulder, gazing at him intently. "You. You are more important than I thought. I will have to have words with your master." Her eyes flick up and down his face approvingly, then she pats his shoulder and dismisses them with a wave.

Lin Moniao bows again and backs out of the room, the impression of Beauty Niu's fingers lingering on his shoulder and the God's voice echoing in his ears. Blood--darkness--what does it mean?

His head clears as he breathes the fresh air of the courtyard. The details of what happened in the inner sanctum scatter like a dream, but a bone-deep conviction is left behind. A destiny. It must be true. The God said so. Straightening his shoulders with renewed confidence, Lin Moniao circulates through the courtyard as the dusk deepens, looking at the other disciples, trying to judge what sort of news they've heard by their expressions and body language.

None of the disciples who had received the honor speaks, but all of their eyes seem to speak for them as they look at each other and purse their lips. Some eyes dance, others look haunted, and one boy looks determined. A shixiong slaps Lin Moniao's shoulder and congratulates him, and as the final disciples come out of the inner rooms, a cheer comes up. It's time for the banquet.

-

Banquets at the Villa are not formal, unless the sect leader attends, which suits young people very well. There will be tables arranged in order of rank, but also erratic servings of wine and food, and plates often changed from one table to the next. It is something to look forward to.

Lin Moniao takes a seat at one of the tables where the disciples seem more boisterous, and tries to see if he can get them to drop any hints about what they heard, maybe dropping a hint or two himself. Nothing forbidden, of course, just the implication that he's confident in his future and looking forward to interesting challenges. He samples all the dishes and grabs a bottle of wine before moving on, keeping an eye out for Master Wu.

Many other youths, especially those who have not had an audience yet, are engaged in the same sport, while the masters stay aloof, dining in place of honor at the end of the hall. A charming shidi snares Dong-shixiong with a question. "Good news or bad news?” the elder disciple scoffs. “Idiot! It is an honor to go wherever the God commands, no matter how far." His eyes are shining; Dong-shixiong is known for his wanderlust.

"I think Hua-shixiong would not think so, would you?" Another clever young one pokes at disciple Hua, who everyone knows is homesick for his family's fabulous manor in the Jiangnan province. Hua-shixiong has not been looking too happy. "It is also an honor to obey by staying put," he mumbles.

"You are both idiots!" scoffs Shen-shidi, the youngest of those presented today. "Stop dropping hints!"

That leaves Yu-shixiong, a big, tall youth, who has been looking thoughtful but determined since his presentation, and saying very little. Drink and charm, however, make even Yu-shixiong slip. "The God knows and understands both fate and righteousness better than we do. We only see the short view and can't tell ill from good." After this, he relapses into thoughtful silence, a crease between his brows. It is not usually in Yu-shixiong's character to question. He is kind and patient, and considered something of a bleeding heart by the other disciples, but he has never complained about orders.

"That's true," Lin Moniao says consolingly, passing over the catty of wine. "The God sees far, and our destiny lies in following his visions. It may turn out differently than it seems now."

Yu-shixiong accepts the drink gratefully, though he probably shouldn't. He is at his limit already.

At this point of the night, all ceremony has been abandoned. Master Wu pads across the floor from the top ranked tables and approaches the disciples. "Lin Moniao, walk with me." He nods his head towards the inner courtyard. If they cross it, they can walk along the long pier that juts out into the lake, with the Villa's boats tied alongside it. The pier ends in a serene pagoda, where green lanterns are kept lit as a guide to passing boatmen.

"Of course, Master." Lin Moniao leaves his martial brothers to the feast and joins Master Wu with a smile just this side of flirtatious. The wine is making everything warm, including his feelings for his master. "We clearly have much to discuss."

Master Wu leads them out to the pier, one of the few places in the villa where privacy can be ensured outdoors. The night is beautiful, the skies clear, and the brighter lights up ahead and behind them create a sense of being outside of one's own life. "You must have some questions," Master Wu says as they walk through the dark. "I can interpret the sect leader for you. But let us go to the pagoda, where there is light. It would be a shame to not be able to look at you."

"True," Lin Moniao says complacently, leaning on Master Wu, and not just for support because he's unsteady on his feet. "There was something about the serpent and his young--do you know who the God might have meant by that?"

Master Wu huffs a laugh at his disciple's easy vanity, but isn't it deserved? Isn't he all the more charmed by it? He pulls him closer, but not too close, in case someone is watching from the Villa. This dimension of their relationship may be an open secret, and he feels not a shred of shame over it, but it is still improper, and ought to be kept behind closed doors. Still, he can't help but lay his fingers on Lin Moniao's wrist in a light caress.

" A destiny in Kaifeng ," he repeats the God's words. " It is not what he thinks it will be. It will end in blood. The serpent's young will eat the serpent where he sits . What the God Yu, praise his name, has been telling Sect Leader, and the prophecies and tasks he has given disciples recently, all point to the same trouble. The serpent refers to the one who sits on the Dragon Throne. The God foresees he will be betrayed by one of his sons. If he would send you to the capital in this matter, he must be impressed by what he has foreseen of your destiny."

"Oh." The gravity of the situation hits Lin Moniao in a way that even Master Wu's clever fingers can't entirely distract him from. The sect's first loyalty is to the God, no matter who sits on the Dragon Throne, but it's always disconcerting to hear it spoken aloud. "Well, I'm ready to serve the God in whatever capacity he requires. But how will I know what that is?"

They've reached the lights, so Master Wu turns to admire the beautiful youth before him for a moment, a smile on his lips, before continuing. "It will become clear when the time grows nearer. I thought you were destined to become an imperial official, but if destiny is not going to be what we expect it to be, then perhaps that will not be it. Either way, I will be with you there when the time comes. There is still your mission in the north before we can think of the capital." Lights or not, eyes or not, he reaches to touch Lin Moniao's cheek. "I will miss you. I wish it wasn't so soon."

Lin Moniao turns his head to brush a quick kiss across Master Wu's palm before answering, "I'll be back before you know it."

He'll miss Master Wu, too, even if his mind is already racing ahead to the mission in the north. If becoming an official isn't his destiny--well, his mother will be disappointed. But hopefully he'll be able to provide for her in some other way, and in the meantime, she has her own work for the sect. It isn't that Lin Moniao doesn't want to pass his exam! It's just that he's looking forward to something more exciting than studying, for a bit.

Master Wu sways slightly in his direction. Sweet words should be accompanied with sweet actions. "My door will always open for my dearest disciple. If you come tonight, I will be able to congratulate you properly."

He glances in the direction of the Villa, and decides. He lifts his sleeve to give them some plausible deniability and leans in for a kiss.

Lin Moniao leans in towards his master in turn and opens his mouth to his kiss, sweeter than wine, and frustratingly brief. "I'm always grateful for your instruction," he says, his teasing words belied by the shortness of his breath and the glitter in his eyes. "I'll be there."

 

The Handan Escort Company

 

Handan, a prosperous city with a great history, home to many restaurants, inns, services, trade… and colourful characters.

Recently, flyers have been appearing around the city, advertising a new opportunity for work with the Handan Escort Company for any dependable, honorable warrior. The words are nailed into signposts, scattered on tables at the inns and cafes that members of the Jianghu are known to frequent, and handed to likely-looking fellows on the street. The pay is good, reflecting the dangers of the job; the reputation of the company impeccable. Chief Ban Fei is known as a man who honors his contracts, and this has brought him both good standing and wealth.

The Handan Escort Hall stands in the busy merchant quarter, a large courtyard building with a facade painted in red and green. Beyond the reception hall sprawl the storage areas, stables with horses and carriages, and an inner courtyard for trade negotiations and the on- and offloading of wares. While the street swarms with people, the Hall is uncharacteristically quiet, even as a guard at the door waves off less likely-looking applicants, another showing in those whose appearance does not immediately exclude them.

It seems like a fine opportunity for Lin Moniao to make some money on his way back to Kaifeng, and it'll probably be safer--or at least less boring--than traveling alone. He confidently approaches the guard, saying, "I hear that Chief Ban Fei is looking for skilled warriors."

"That's right," says the older of the two guards. He gives Lin Moniao a quick lookover, and then motions for the younger guard to come take him inside.

The main reception hall has seats arranged in rows along the sides, and colorful banners along the walls. Chief Ban Fei, a broad-faced man in his later years, sits at the end seat, wearing the company's colours of black trimmed with gold, a finer version of the guards' uniforms. Behind him stand two more company men, a tall man checking off a list and a miserable looking willowy youth. On the seats and paying their regards are other applicants in street clothes, a varied cast including a young woman in dark red leather, a man who sways slightly on his feet, and a woman with a face so scarred it looks almost like a mask.

Chief Ban Fei's posture is strong and decisive despite his grey hair and whiskers, though he seems rather pale. He gestures to the man with the list, who comes closer. They exchange words, and then the Chief turns to those gathered. "Good people, I assume you have all read the flyer. Let us not waste time. The payment is five silver tael, and the route is to Immortal Sword Manor, near Kaifeng. Is this acceptable?"

The girl in dark red had been sitting leaning her head on her hand, bored, but stands and puts her hands together for a quick bow when Chief Ban Fei speaks. The scarred woman starts to do the same, but frowns at the mention of the pay.

It is well known that the mistress of Immortal Sword Manor is the legendary warrior known as the Sword Goddess, Liu Xiuling. It is there that she trains her disciples and receives appeals for assistance. The ways of the Jianghu are often cruel, but a person who has no problem with Liu Xiuling, it can be assumed, Liu Xiuling also has no problem with.

The young guard rushes up as Lin Moniao watches and catches the swaying man by the arm to lead him outside. How did a drunk get in? Two others fall into a quick whispered conversation and give a quick smile and bop a bow before rushing out. So there are only three of them left.

Lin Moniao bows as well, looking over the two who are left. A quick look tells him that the scarred woman, who carries a veiled hat on her back as well as a staff, is highly trained. The girl also carries herself like someone who has had martial arts training, but it cannot be more than his. If she is carrying weapons, they are hidden.

The scarred woman seems to be of two minds about staying, and he isn't sure if he would prefer her to or not. Of course, they'll be relying on each other for protection on the road, so it would be better to have a more seasoned warrior along. Equally undeniably, it can only benefit Lin Moniao's reputation if he is the most skilled on the expedition.

As for the pay--well, he's traveling that way anyway, and his string of coins is more string than coin at this point. He'll take what he can get.

"The terms are acceptable to me, Chief."

Chief Ban Fei addresses the man with the list. "Wan Lang, the contracts."

Wan Lang is a tall man with a soft, broad frame who carries himself as if he is apologizing for the fact. The attitude belies the sabre at his hip. He has a pleasant, square face, with a few strands of grey beginning to stand out in his neat beard. He comes up to the applicants and hands each an unsigned contract.

The scarred woman looks the contract over quickly and says, "I would have expected ten silver taels at least."

"Chen-guniang is very talented," Wan Lang acknowledges diplomatically.

"Hmm. But it does seem rather boring to me. This road is safe; there are barely any bandits, and few tend to make trouble near Immortal Sword Manor." She hands the contract back. "Next time, perhaps."

"I accept, with thanks," says the younger woman. "Expenses, I assume, are included."

"The payment is five silver tael for the entire job," says the Chief. He looks pained for a moment, and then adds, "But we will add another tael for expenses."

Lin Moniao hesitates, his seal hovering above the paper. "And for my expenses as well," he says. He had been about to sign the contract as it is, but if he's going to get paid less than an illiterate with no weapons, he can still walk out. It's not the money, it's the principle.

Chief Ban Fei may have meant the silver tael for the whole group, but he nods after a moment, accepting that it will be two taels. He is, after all, saving by only hiring two new escorts..

"You will be travelling with Wan Lang,” says the chief. “He will take care of your expenses. The payment is half up front, and the other half when the goods are delivered."

There are writing implements and ink on the small table in front of the seated chief. The girl evidently does not have a seal, because she heads for the table with her piece of paper andl signs. Wan Lang collects the contract and thanks her, calling her by name: Wang-guniang.

Satisfied, Lin Moniao stamps his seal onto the contract, then smiles at Wang-guniang. She may be an illiterate with no weapons, but she just earned him a silver tael. Besides, they're comrades now, they should try to get along.

The girl finally turns to Lin Moniao. She looks him up and down, stares at his smile, then drops her eyes and performs a quick, stiff shallow bow. "Wang Xiaonan!" she declares, presumably her name. Does she even know how to smile? "We will work side by side!"

Not even 'work well', just 'work'. Having made this pointless declaration, she glances up and away again.

"Lin Moniao," he says, with a bow just as shallow as hers but considerably more graceful. "I hope we will become very good companions."

"Let me introduce you to your charge." The Chief gestures, not bothering to get up from his chair, and the guards leave the room.

They return carrying between them, on a plank of wood, a black cast iron incense burner shaped like a very round bat, with the wings forming handles. It is rather ugly, though the construction and the details show that it was made with some skill. They set it down on the table in front of Chief Ban Fei.

"This item is precious to many art collectors," the chief says. "You must not damage it, and you must certainly not use it. The company will pack it appropriately and Wan Lang will not leave its side until it is safely delivered to Immortal Sword Manor. You are to provide blades and eyes to make sure the delivery is successful."

The incense burner is small enough to fit inside two upturned palms. As it is cast-iron, it is likely heavy, but not unusually so. It has small openings around the top for the smoke to escape and the lid is shaped as if it was a part of the bat. You cannot tell if it has unlit incense in it, since the openings on the top are small and you can't see in. Curiously, the top is locked in place with a trick mechanism.

"A priceless artifact, to be sure," Lin Moniao says, lips twitching with poorly-suppressed amusement. "I will guard it with my life."

"As will I," says the girl, but she seems entirely serious.

The precious item is carried away again. "Good luck," Chief Ban Fei murmurs, just on the edge of hearing.

Wan Lang smiles between the two of them. "We will leave in the morning. You can come directly to the stable-yards, then. Can I offer you both dinner tonight?"

"I have duties," the girl says stiffly. "I must be back by sunset."

"Surely we have time for noodles before then," says Wan Lang kindly. The girl wavers.

"I would be honored," says Lin Moniao, and, turning to Wang Xiaonan, adds, "Do come." He's not about to turn down free dinner. He'll have the girl's noodles too, if she doesn't want them.

Wang Xiaonan nods, and a little too late, adds, "Thank you."

Wan Lang gives the contracts to the Chief, and the three of them bow and take their leave politely. The Chief nods in acknowledgement but does not bother to stand. As they go, the young guard comes up to the Chief with his arms held out, but is waved off.

Back in the street, the world is once again noisy and the sun warm.

"Ming Jin's, Wang-guniang?" Wan Lang asks the girl.

"Yes, that is fine," she replies, flushing. "But please stop calling me that."

Wan Lang laughs. It seems they are familiar with one another. Wan Lang guides them to a noodle-shop not far from the headquarters. It has an open air area with tables outside, covered by straw shades, and a few inside, where you can see the cooks toss their noodles and sprinkle them with vegetables, mushrooms and, in another bowl, slices of beef. The place is quite busy this afternoon.

Lin Moniao picks out an outside table, near the street, so he can people watch while he waits for his food, and sprawls out along one side of it. He hopes they won't be waiting too long, with how busy it is. The smells wafting from the kitchen are making his mouth water.

Wan Lang praises the noodle shop, while maintaining it is not as good as what his wife, Yang Tao, makes. Her virtues, according to him, are many, and he grows happier when he talks about her. Another man in Handan Escort Company colors enters the shop, but simply waves despondently at Wan Lang before settling in a corner to gloomily nurse a bowl of soup.

The noodles arrive, and they are passable, with some excellent flavoring, but a little undercooked. Wang Xiaonan digs in wolfishly. "Does Madame Yan not feed you?" Wan Lang asks. Wang Xiaonan frowns at him over the rim of her bowl.

Wan Lang turns to Lin Moniao. "How do you like Handan, Lin Moniao? Have you been here long?" His accent must have betrayed him as a non-local.

"Handan is charming," Lin Moniao answers, slurping up a mouthful of noodles. "I'm sure you know many places of interest and entertainment in the city that I haven't discovered in my few days here. I did visit Madame Yan's last night, however.

"So you work there!" he adds, turning to Wang Xiaonan, who has some sauce on her chin. "As what, a bouncer? Anyone with martial training can see it would be a poor idea to tangle with you." On the other hand, anyone without martial training--which is surely most of the people who frequent Madame Yan's--would be more intimidated by a large burly man, however unskilled. And it seems even less likely that this graceless girl is employed in a more client-facing position. "Regardless, if she doesn't feed you, and she expects you to return rather than spend your time with people who will, it's no wonder you're seeking other employment."

The girl tenses when first addressed, but seems pleased with the compliment, taking it as sincere. She wipes her mouth on the back of her hand. "It isn't like that! I have duties. And my shifu is really in charge of security, I'm still learning. I'm going back when we are finished with this journey. And..." She puts down her bowl self-consciously; there are still some noodles pooled at the bottom. "And they do feed me! Wan Lang, he is teasing me."

Wan Lang just laughs again.

"I apologize. I didn't intend any offense." Lin Moniao bows as deeply as he can while seated--which isn't very--his words contrite but his eyes laughing. Then he snags the remaining noodles from Wang Xiaonan's bowl with his chopsticks. Waste not, want not.

Wang Xiaonan makes a noise of protest, but says nothing and does not reach for the bowl. How could she, without admitting that she is still hungry? She pouts instead, looking even younger than usual.

"It is a pity you can't stay," says Wan Lang to Wang Xiaonan. "You could show our new friend your skills."

"Hmh." The girl cheers up a little as Wan Lang tosses her a rice cake.

They part after the noodles, Wang Xiaonan to her duties, and Wan Lang to his Yang Tao.

 

Badgers and Bats

 

The morning arrives bright and cloudless. Even though it is still early in the day, the sun and the sky are promising a hot day ahead.

A stable-boy hangs by the carriage gates at the back of the Handan Company headquarters. Inside, in the inner yard surrounded by the company’s storage and business buildings as well as the stables, Wan Lang is lifting supplies into a black carriage with the company's crest. He is dressed for travel in the company’s colors of black and gold, with his hair tied in a neat tight bun. The courtyard is even more deserted than it was the previous day; there is no sign of anyone but Wan Lang and the youth when Lin Moniao shuffles to the gate.

The sunlight seems a personal affront to him and his aching head. Maybe he drank too much the night before, but he found a group of agreeable companions, and how could he refuse when they kept buying him drinks? It may be the last chance he gets for a while, anyway. Looking around the yard blearily, he asks, "Is the young mistress not here?"

Wan Lang waves hello to him and signs for him to come closer. "Not yet."

The stable-boy is just about to close the gate again, when there are running footsteps from behind. "I'm here, I'm here!" Wang Xiaonan runs up from around a corner in the street, skipping nimbly by a vegetable cart. She is wearing the same clothes as yesterday, but has added a wide-brimmed straw hat and is carrying a bag slung over her shoulder.

Lin Moniao turns to wave at Wang Xiaonan when he hears her come running up. "Wang Xiaonan, how wonderful to see you!"

"So you did show up!" She lifts her chin at him defiantly before scurrying over to throw her bag in the back of the carriage. It's a box carriage closed at the back, and boxes of supplies and rations fill up the space, with a single heavy wooden box sitting at the back with a combination lock closing lid.

Two horses are already hitched. The stable boy brings up another two, handing one to Wang Xiaonan shyly and warning her that the mare, Peach Blossom, can be nervous. Lin Moniao receives the reins of a complacent looking gelding the boy calls Steady.

"I did show up? I was here before you!" Lin Moniao says, affronted. It doesn't improve his mood when the stable boy hands him the reins of such an uninspiring horse. Why is everyone against him today?

She looks him up and down. "Maybe, but I don't look like I just crawled out of a bottle." It is a lie, of course. Lin Moniao, even hung over, is gorgeous, though perhaps in a slightly more dissolute way.

"Behave," says Wan Lang in a parental tone that confirms that he and his Yang Tao must have children. "We have a good long ride ahead still before we stop at Cizhou, and bandits on the roads to look out for."

"Yes, let's not argue." Lin Moniao dredges up a weak but still dazzling smile. His head can't take yelling right now, and maybe a steady horse will not be such a bad thing, after all.

Wang Xiaonan is either subdued or satisfied, either way, she is quiet. She pats and shushes Peach Blossom, then woos her with a half-eaten rice cake before mounting her.

Wan Lang climbs up on the carriage and takes the reins, urging the horses to the large gate, which the boy pulls open for them. He waves them goodbye as their group leaves the quiet of the inner courtyard and enters the already busy streets.

The first few blocks are slow going between the crowds and produce carriages, and later another street is clogged by the passing of a wedding procession, but eventually they make it out of the city gates and onto the road. The road is not exactly abandoned either, but the land spreads out around them and even the sky seems wider.

Those who know the road, know that it can take seven hours to ride to Cizhou, and that without stopping. And there are reasons for stopping along the way--inns and alehouses to cater any traveller's taste. There are also stretches of wilderness, where one must be wary of ambush, and open farmland and orchards, where one might be tempted to steal summer fruits. But as much as Lin Moniao might like to stop at every inn--and steal as much fruit as he can get away with--he had better follow his employer's lead, at least for now. Shading his eyes, one hand loosely on the reins, he scans the side of the road for any sign of bandits.

The stable-boy seems to have been right about the young mare, who dances almost aggressively when encountering other horses or carriages on the road. The traffic is not very heavy today, so Wang Xiaonan rides her up ahead and back again to get rid of some nervous energy; a solution that might have its ill effects later, if she tires Peach Blossom out too much. Wan Lang lets her wander around. Despite being their senior, he speaks politely to his companions, almost as if they were equals, and smiles when spoken to, but the smile disappears when he gets lost in thought.

The landscape here turns hilly, the horses laboring sweaty under the hot sun. Beyond the orchards, there is a wide patch of woodland that at least offers shade, and a trickle of a fresh spring can be heard through the trees. Here, they could refill their water without having to impose on anyone's well. Wan Lang pulls the cart to a stop by the road. He has not been sparing his water, knowing the opportunity would come.

"Let's stop for just a moment," he declares. "Wang Xiaonan, there are buckets for the cart horses at the back. I will help you. Lin Moniao, stay with the carriage." He slips to the ground. Wang Xiaonan nods and ties her mare to the carriage. The empty buckets are tied to the back, outside the box.

The morning's ride has cleared Lin Moniao's head somewhat, and fresh cold water does sound good. He's not thrilled to be left alone with the carriage at such a convenient spot for an ambush, but it's better than hauling water. He dismounts and leans up against the side of the carriage, one hand on his dagger, alert for any sign or sound of movement in the woods beyond.

Wan Lang stops beside the carriage, frowns, looks around and up. "Lin Moniao," he calls out. "Would you ride a little ahead, around the bend, and check nobody's sneaking up on us?"

Wang Xiaonan also looks around, but shrugs and takes the buckets.

"Of course," says Lin Moniao with a sigh. He just got off his horse, and now he has to get back on? Really, Wan Lang is too cautious; this may be a good ambush spot, but anyone can see that the woods are quiet today. Nevertheless, he swings himself into the saddle and starts off down the road, meaning to ride just past the bend to reassure his nervous employer.

Wan Lang gives him a grateful nod. Satisfied, he picks up another pair of buckets and goes down the little footpath with Wang Xiaonan to fill up the buckets for the cart horses and replenish their leather bottles.

Lin Moniao has barely gone around the bend when he hears a rustle of leaves and Wang Xiaonan's high, clear voice crying out in outrage. A bald, black-clad man with a badger design on his tunic has leaped from the bushes and is grinning menacingly at the water fetchers. Two more identical fellows burst from the undergrowth on the other side. One grabs the cart horses' reins, while the other scambers up into the carriage box.

Peach Blossom tries to rear, pulling at her rope. Wan Lang faces the nearest bandit and draws his saber, but doesn't try to slash at the bandit; instead, he runs right at him, using his bulk to try push him over. The bandit simply catches his taller frame with his own and swings him aside.

Wang Xiaonan manifests a pair of short chicken sickles that she has apparently had strapped to her back under her short cape this whole time, and attempts a feint at the bandit’s head while kicking out a leg to hit his knee. That hit connects as well, but she might as well have been kicking a tree. The bandit, still grinning, ducks down, lowering his head, and rams forward at Wang Xiaonan like a goat, but she flips out of the way easily and he ends up running at empty air.

Lin Moniao whirls around and whips a dagger at the bandit on the carriage box. Unfortunately, he misjudges Steady's speed, or the bandit's, and the dagger lodges harmlessly in the wood a hand's-breadth from the bandit's head.

The dagger does not go unnoticed. The bandit that had been holding on to the horses twists around, lowers his head just like his colleague--brother?--had done at Wang Xiaonan, and runs forward like a human battering ram at Steady's legs, but even a dependable horse like Steady manages to dance out of the way of such a poorly coordinated attack.

The bandit on the cart has succeeded at planting his bottom on the driver's seat and taking the reins. He's getting away with the cargo that Lin Moniao has been hired to guard--and what's more, with Lin Moniao's dagger. Spitting curses, Lin Moniao leaps from Steady's back, over the other bandit's head. His landing rocks the carriage box, and the bandit who had been driving it tumbles onto the path with the impact.

The bandit on the path swivels around and tries his ramming trick again, this time aiming at Wan Lang, but Wan Lang simply steps aside, and the bandit ends up smashing through a low-hanging brush, spreading leaves and bits of twig everywhere. Wan Lang swipes at him with his blade, but the attack goes wide. The bandit Lin Moniao knocked off shouts a string of curses and rolls back on his feet, spitting out dust.

Wang Xiaonan scowls and spins her chicken sickles around to land a two-handed blow at her bandit's head, using both iron pommels to hit it right above the temples. He takes the blow on that bald round head like it's nothing. It looks like it should leave his head ringing, but he just whoops like he's having the time of his life. What is going on with these guys?!

Steady trots a little way away from all the hassle, but then just stops and surveys the action with a calm, zen-like curiosity. Peach Blossom whinnies angrily. The cart horses step to the side, but they have nowhere to go.

The bandit who had failed to run at Steady rushes after Lin Moniao instead, and tries to tackle him, but between the restless horses and the hassle, he ends up missing and eating dirt.

Wan Lang slashes with his saber to one side, and when the bandit dodges, he changes the movement to pin him between the tip of his blade and a tree. The bandit glares at him, but to move now would be to cut his own throat.

Lin Moniao wrenches the dagger out of the cart and throws it at the bandit who keeps charging at him. Annoyingly, he manages to roll to the side just enough so that the dagger lands in the dust of the road instead. This guy's being a real pain. The bandit then turns that roll into a motion to get back on his feet and bare his teeth at Lin Moniao.

As for the bandit Wan Lang had caught, he should thank his lucky stars. Wang Xiaonan, having seen that bludgeoning the bandit did little good, has finally turned her blades upright, and would have gone for his blood. Seeing him pinned, she instead rushes past him and Wan Lang and jumps nimbly up on top of the carriage, and from there lands next to Lin Moniao by the driver's seat, weapons out and ready to defend the cargo.

She is too late to stop the bandit that Lin Moniao knocked off the cart from launching himself at Lin Moniao's legs. He hugs them to his body and yanks him down hard.

Caught off balance, Lin Moniao feels the world tilt around him for a second before the bandit slams him into the ground, knocking the breath out of him and making bright spots appear in his vision. He is on his back on the road, the bandit looming over him, blocking out the sun. Then, a punch lands right into his gut.

The bandit with Wan Lang's saber at his throat snarls and throws the blade aside. Wan Lang tries to pin him again, but he slips out of his grasp.

One bandit clambers onto the carriage and launches himself at Wang Xiaonan. She dodges him easily. Catching both chicken sickles in one hand, she flips out a box from her sleeve and flicks it open. She blows on the box, and the bandit is engulfed in a red powder, coughing as it gets into his lungs and eyes. Through that red powder, she stabs down and skewers him where the shoulder meets the neck.

Blood slashes out in a thin stream as Wang Xiaonan yanks her weapon out of the bandit, who yowls in pain. Her sweet, young face icy with determination, she swaps the sickles one in each hand again and pins the bandit's head between two blows from the pommels of her weapons. The bandit shakes the blow off and screams in rage.

As Lin Moniao's vision clears, he catches sight of Wang Xiaonan savaging her opponent. It's quite impressive, actually. Who knew she had it in her? But the smell of foul breath in his face snaps him back to his own problem. Scrabbling blindly in the dirt, his fingers find his fallen dagger, and he drives it upwards, aiming for the man's throat.

The dagger stabs right through the bandit’s neck! Blood dribbles down the blade. And yet, somehow he simply yanks his head back and the dagger slides out, having missed every vital region in the area. Barely blinking, the bandit tries to grab Lin Moniao's hair, but Lin Moniao blocks the attempt.

Trying to kill Lin Moniao is one thing, but grabbing his hair is just not okay. Infuriated, he slashes with his dagger in a wide arc, but the bandit simply turns out of the way.

Out in the path, Wan Lang does something, but it is out of sight of his companions. Whatever it is, it makes the bandit stop dead in his tracks just as he was about to ram him.

Suddenly the leaves above rustle, then a branch jerks violently, scattering fresh green leaves in the air and on the road below. A black figure drops from the branches on the top of the carriage, black wings spread! The horses whinny and try to move, but the man balances himself easily. And it is a man--a hulking figure dressed in a tattered black cape, which he flips out. He bares his teeth at the company, revealing two long, hideous iron fangs!

He is remarkably ugly, and the cape, fangs and face combine to make him look like a giant bat. "ENOUGH!” he barks. “Badgers, stand down!"

The badger bandits react instantly. Wan Lang stuffs something back into the front of his robes and the bandit he faced backs up, putting himself between Wan Lang and the carriage. The one above Lin Moniao scampers off him and back on his feet. The one facing Wang Xiaonan looks up, dazed, and she takes the opportunity to shove him off the footrest. He lands on his back on the road with a thud.

Lin Moniao scrambles backwards a pace or two before managing to stand, somewhat ungracefully. He brushes the dirt off his robe with one hand, holding his dagger ready in the other, and keeping a wary eye on the newcomer.

The man's eyes sweep across the scene. He seems a little taken aback at Lin Moniao's appearance and narrows his eyes at Wang Xiaonan, who has not put down her weapons and is scowling up at him.

Wan Lang pushes past the bandit and comes up to stand next to Lin Moniao. He, too, is still holding his saber. Tension is thick in the air. "Ah, the company man," the big man says, mocking, and crosses his arms. "I see these two are your hired thugs. Did you go scraping the bottom of the barrel for them?" He laughs at his own joke. "Now, hand over my property."

Lin Moniao lifts his chin proudly. He may be a hired thug, but he is a top shelf hired thug. And at least he doesn't go around dressed as a bat. Honestly, this fellow and the incense burner are ugly enough to deserve each other, but Lin Moniao is not about to hand it over now.

"The Obsidian Bat is not yours, Bat King," Wan Lang says in a steady voice. "And it is due to go to someone you would not want to upset."

"It is mine!" the Bat King shouts, and continues with surprising passion. "Of course it is! Who will take better care of it than me? Who will appreciate it more than me? Should it lie gathering dust in some merchant's gaudy hall? No! It should be with me!" He bares his fangs again. "You barely held up against these three idiots. You think you can take on the Bat King?" He flips his cloak out dramatically once again.

Wang Xiaonan looks troubled, and steals a glance at her companions, but keeps her weapons stalwartly up before her.

"Sir, you do not have all the facts!" Wan Lang returns. "This item was entrusted to us by a great lady, to deliver it to another great lady! What do you think they will do, if we go back and tell them the Bat King has stolen from them?"

The Bat King crinkles his ugly nose at him. "What does the Bat King care about some wealthy socialites?"

"Socialites!" Wan Lang hangs his head and shakes it. "Sir... It is going to the Sword Goddess herself."

The Bat King flicks his cape, but looks perturbed. "So what? She is far away in Kaifeng."

"Do not make me tell you who sent it." Wan Lang flicks his eyes at Lin Moniao, then Wang Xiaonan.

"Perhaps I will simply kill you all, and then the Sword Goddess will never know any better." The King spreads his arms and grins. He seems to like this plan.

"Don't be a fool, Your Bat-Majesty," says Lin Moniao. "She will know it's been stolen, why wouldn't she find out who stole it? After all, who would appreciate it more than you?" He tosses his dagger in the air and catches it by the hilt. "Or you can all leave while you can still appreciate your heads being attached to your necks."

The bandit Wang Xiaonan had been pummeling grabs his throat as if his head was about to roll off his body at any moment, his eyes wide with fear and confusion. The other two look at each other, worried. "Boss, hey boss," says the one who had fought Lin Moniao. "I don't want to fight the Sword Goddess. She cuts off people's legs! What am I going to do without legs? Boss!"

Wan Lang looks concerned about this business about legs, but schools his expression into stern business mode. "Sir, there may yet be other opportunities for you to purchase the bat," he says evenly. "I assure you my commissioner is at least as fierce as Liu Xiuling."

The Bat King frowns. "Words! Why should I wait to collect what is mine?"

"Hey boss," says the bandit who was on the path. "It's all right, he's got the badge. He's one of us."

Wan Lang jolts and spins around to the side. His saber is now between himself and everyone, bandit and colleague. His eyes have gone wide, his face pale.

"One of who?" Lin Moniao looks from the bandits to Wan Lang, trying to determine where the biggest threat is coming from. "Bats, badgers, I don't care, as long as I get paid, and don't end up on the wrong side of the Sword Goddess. I too would prefer to keep my legs."

Lin Moniao's own parrot token is kept tucked inside his robe. How many different animals are involved here, anyway?

"Lin Moniao, you do not know what is at stake," says Wan Lang in desperation.

Wang Xiaonan's face has set into a contained fury. "Wan Lang!" she cries and spits on the ground.

"I'm sorry," says Wan Lang to her. "It's Yang Tao and the girls. Our boys are old enough to be apprenticed, but what am I going to do with two small girls? I was relying on the Company, and now the Company is done for. We need the money!"

"Take him," says the Bat King, crossing his arms and smiling as pleasantly as one can with iron fangs, "and kill the others."

"Wait--no!" Wan Lang protests as one of the badgers pounces on him, grappling to restrain him.

While one bandit is distracted with Wan Lang, and before the others can get their footing, Lin Moniao leaps to the top of the carriage and shoves the bat king off, who tumbles head over feet in a satisfying swirl of cape. He curses as he lands by the side of the road and rolls into the bushes.

"Drive!" he calls to Wang Xiaonan, hoping that they can escape faster than the bandits can pursue them.

The Bat King leaps up, a little less majestic now with his cape and hair covered in dirt and leaves.

Wan Lang struggles to free himself from the bandit’s grasp, but the two are evenly matched and remain locked in struggle. Giving up trying to get a good grasp, the bandit instead loops his arm around Wan Lang's throat and presses it down viciously on his throat. Wan Lang grapples at the hand, but it is pressing down hard, choking him.

Wang Xiaonan stuffs her weapons back into their straps under her short cape and drops down on the driver's seat, gathering up the reins. She flicks them and clicks at the horses to go. Peach Blossom, still tied to the carriage, whinnies. They cannot go very fast this way.

The pummeled bandit jumps up off the ground and puts his hands out as if to menace someone, but gets confused about who to attack, and so sits down again.

That leaves one. The badger bandit jumps up on the footrest of the carriage just as it starts to move, menacing Wang Xiaonan.

Lin Moniao leans down, and with a sweep of his dagger, cuts Peach Blossom free, then holds on tighter to the carriage's roof as it picks up speed.

The Bat King attempts to leap at the moving carriage, to latch on to the back and regain his position, but the horses are trotting faster now, free of the pull of Peach Blossom, and his leap falls short, fingers merely brushing against the carriage roof before he falls back on his feet.

Wang Xiaonan flicks the reins again with more enthusiasm, yelling encouragement as she drives the horses on. The cart horses, nervy and ready to run, make no trouble but trot faster, working up to a gallop.

As the carriage leaves the scene behind, Wan Lang continues to struggle in the bandit's grasp, his face beginning to redden. The bandit just grits his teeth and hangs on. Soon he will give up, his hands falling down by his sides.

The last bandit, on the other hand, is still riding on the carriage, his black strong figure looming over the little Wang Xiaonan. He balances himself, pulls his fist back and lands a punch right on the side of Xiaonan's face. The girl takes it, grits her teeth and focuses on the road, putting her arm out to protect against future blows.

Reaching into a hidden slit in his robe, Lin Moniao draws another dagger and lobs it at the bandit attacking Wang Xiaonan. He's not risking his good dagger on this guy; if he happens to get left in the road with one of Lin Moniao's backup daggers in him, no great loss.

Wang Xiaonan moves the reins from both hands to one and reaches behind her back for one of her weapons, but just then Lin Moniao's dagger embeds itself into the acupoint at the back of the bandit’s neck. Caught in the bone, it does not penetrate his neck, but his internal energies fluctuate, and he convulses and stops moving, suddenly confused. He grapples at the dagger at the back of his neck, trying to catch it and pull it out.

Wang Xiaonan slashes at him and catches him across the belly, ripping through the leather armor, but the wound she makes is shallow, barely tasting blood, let alone guts.

They hear the Bat King's voice behind them, commanding them to stop, but across the sound of the hooves and the rattling of the carriage, it is soon left behind. Steady trots happily along the carriage, apparently undisturbed by the humans' hassle. Peach Blossom is out of sight, left behind with the bandits.

Lin Moniao sits on the carriage roof and prods the stupefied bandit with his foot. "Do you want this fellow for anything?" he asks Wang Xiaonan.

"Nope, I'm good." Her voice is tight and her expression a mixture of conflicted feelings. She keeps her eyes on the road. She can recognize the effects of the Big Hammer Acupoint.

Lin Moniao retrieves his dagger from the bandit's neck and boots him unceremoniously into the road before dropping down to sit beside Wang Xiaonan.

"You fought well. We should call your weapons cat claws instead of chicken sickles, because they only come out when you mean business." He looks out into the forest on either side thoughtfully. "I suppose it's just the two of us now. What do you think Wan Lang meant by the Company being done for? I certainly hope we'll be paid when we arrive at Immortal Sword Manor."

Wang Xiaonan bursts into a short laugh, but it turns into a sniffle. There are tears in her eyes. She flicks the reins all the more aggressively. The forested area here does not stretch for long, there will be open fields up ahead, with land climbing up toward the sky on the horizon in the west.

"I don't know. I didn't know there was anything wrong with the company. I just thought he looked sad, and they must be short-staffed if they are sending out flyers for extra hands, so that was why it was so empty... I didn't think--" She stubbornly shuts her lips over another sob, but tears are now openly streaming down her face.

Oh no, Lin Moniao hates seeing people cry.

"You have a generous heart, to be crying for Wan Lang." He puts a gentle hand on her shoulder. "He wouldn't have cried for you. He may have spoken like an uncle, but he led us into an ambush and almost got us both killed. Still, I'm sorry we had to leave him behind, since it upsets you."

That just makes her cry harder, and she shoves the reins into Lin Moniao's hands and buries her face in her hands. She's crying for Yang Tao, too, even though she's barely met her, and the two girls she hasn't even caught a glimpse of, and a little for herself, for having been thrust into an uncertain world and future.

Wan Lang was just a nice man who came to the Fragrant Blossom to chat with the cook and spar with her master sometimes, who never went upstairs with the girls even when other Company men did, and who teased her whenever he caught her practicing in the small, private inner yard. Xiaonan has never met her own father, and can barely remember her mother, and she's always thought it must be nice to have a father like Wan Lang.

Lin Moniao takes the reins from her helplessly. Driving is at least something he knows how to do. The undisguised depth of her emotion, he has no idea how to deal with.

In time she dries her tears and blows her nose on her cape, takes a deep breath, says, "I'm sorry," and then cries for another moment or two before finally collecting herself.

"There's no need to apologize," he says softly, as she subsides.

She gives her red and puffy face a final pass with a sleeve and nods, still not quite looking at him. "You're nicer than you act."

"Hey!" he says. What's that supposed to mean, Lin Moniao always acts nice.

She punches him in the shoulder. "Good fight."

He laughs and punches her back. "You too."

 

Dong Min's Inn

 

The rest of the journey to Cizhou passes without incident. As they exit the forest and approach the Zhang River, more travelers appear on the road, cargo heading from the rural countryside to the city, and some messengers pass by on fast horses. There is still water to drink and rations to fill up their bellies, so they only have to stop to rest their horses and collect more water from a less dangerous stream.

By the time the traffic almost fills the road, Cizhou is in sight. More houses, restaurants and workshops appear as they approach, thickening into a town. It isn't as large as Handan, but there are signs of brisk business being done.

"Shall we find an inn?" Lin Moniao asks. "Somewhere where we won't be expected to part from our cargo, after this morning, I think."

"Um." Xiaonan's eye flicks around the street, and up ahead at the top of a guard tower poking out above a cluster of buildings. They should report the bandits, but that would mean reporting Wan Lang. "Yes, let's find a place."

The street is crowded here, reducing everyone to much the same speed whether on foot or astride, and they are squashed right up to a group of three messengers with saddlebags and uniforms on one side, and a merchant carriage on the right, driven by the squarest man anyone has ever seen. "I don't really know Cizhou, do you?"

Squashing the impulse to claim that of course he knows Cizhou, which would only mean that then he'd have to pretend to know the best inn to stay in, Lin Moniao looks around at their involuntary companions in the street. Both messengers and merchants would be used to traveling with cargo they need to protect, but maybe the messengers would be less likely to mislead Lin Moniao and Wang Xiaonan on the theory that they're competitors.

"Excuse me, gentlemen," he says to the messengers, "we've just arrived in town and are looking for accommodations, can I ask where you're staying?"

"Ah, Dong Min's inn is good," says the oldest of the postmen, clearly the leader of their group, a rather severe-looking fellow with a beard. "We are heading there ourselves. You can follow us." As if they had any choice. A cart is dislodged from the mud up ahead, however, so the street begins to unclog, and they can meander their way further from the center.

The inn, when they find it, is one that caters to travelers, postmen and officials, which is obvious as they approach and see uniforms from various companies going in and coming out. Even outside it is clean and in good condition, if not beautiful. Stable-boys stand ready to take their carriage into the stables, the entrance to which is a tall gate by the inn.

The location is not noisy; there are no bars, markets or houses of entertainment very close, only dwellings and some small workshops. The merchant, as it happens, seems to have followed them to the inn.

Wang Xiaonan lets the merchant go first, and they watch him lock up his carriage in one of the stalls, while a sour-looking woman gets out from the back. Then she follows, negotiating a stall from a stable-boy, and the horses are unshackled and led to the stables.

"We don't really have anything else very valuable," she says as she checks out the rest of their rations, water bottles, buckets and repair tools. The box with their cargo rests undisturbed at the back of the carriage.

"No," Lin Moniao agrees. The stalls seem secure, and the merchant isn't hesitating to trust his cargo to their stout locks, and yet. "We had better take it with us, hadn't we? The chief said something about not leaving its side."

Actually he had said that Wan Lang wouldn't let it leave his side, but probably best not to bring that up now.

As they unpack the box, more people arrive at the stable yards; a pair of pottery merchants with an empty carriage, likely off to the manufacturers tomorrow, and a single rider on horseback, apparently a scholar by his hat and the big shoulder bag bursting with books. The bat is packed with a lot of straw and in a wooden box, but it’s not too heavy for Wang Xiaonan; a little unwieldy, perhaps. "Watch my back!" she says as she hoists it under her arm and heads inside.

The inn's common area is quiet. Only two of the twelve tables are occupied, though the postmen they met before are in the process of commandeering a third. On the left, a family of elderly parents and a grown-up daughter are digging into wine and bao, a quiet scene; on the right, however, there is one very full table, a party of ten or so people apparently engaged in storytelling.

Dong Min himself shuffles up to greet them, smiling. He is dressed in a maroon robe with an apron and his top-knot stuffed inside a hat. He is a tall man, and has a habit of curling down to be at others' level. "Welcome, travellers. Would you like a table, a room, or both?" His eyes flick between them, but if he has opinions about males and females of such different styles traveling together, he keeps it to himself.

"Both," says Lin Moniao, glancing aside at Wang Xiaonan, "but a table first."

Xiaonan lifts her chin defiantly and nods. "Dumplings and soup, please."

Dong Min half-bows and shows them to one of the many free tables on the quiet side. The open area of the inn is dominated by a staircase leading to a balcony, with doors to the rooms above. As they sit, Xiaonan settling the box beside her and giving it a reassuring little pat, the scholar and the merchant couple come in and also secure tables on their side; it seems nobody wants to sit next to the rowdy storytelling group.

Lin Moniao orders a roast chicken and a catty of wine; maybe he's being profligate with their expense account, especially seeing as how the other half of their payment is still somewhat uncertain, but fighting bandits is hungry and thirsty work. He's not planning to drink enough to impede his ability to defend their cargo if necessary. Surely no one would expect him to subsist on tea and water, simply because he's working.

Nevertheless, he keeps a sharp eye on their surroundings, trying to spot anyone lurking, or any sign that the other diners are anything other than what they seem. The morning's encounter has made him jumpy.

The merchant couple, by their way of holding themselves, obviously have no martial training, though that doesn't mean they can't be dangerous. The woman is tall, wearing a rather pretty but ill-fitting dress, and has square shoulders. Her face lights up minutely as a waiter brings a catty of baijiu and a plate of dumplings.

Her husband is not tall, but my goodness, he looks strong. He looks no less square in a wider space. His hair is running from his temples, and his expression seems set in a kind of contemplative sorrow. They do not seem to be very successful merchants.

The young scholar is just now seating himself at his table; Lin Moniao can’t get a good look at his face while he fusses with his bag, setting it beside him, but he has the carriage of someone with at least some training in spiritual or martial arts, though there is no saying whether he is any good. His overcoat is simple but elegant in a soft blue.

The waiter comes to their table next and brings soup and their wine, dumplings to follow. He bears a resemblance to Dong Min, and like him, has no signs of martial prowess to Lin Moniao’s searching eye.

"Uhh." Wang Xiaonan seems suddenly struck with a thought. "Ah. Um." She lowers her voice and leans closer to Lin Moniao. "We didn't... leave the money with Wan Lang, did we?"

"Of course not," Lin Moniao answers reflexively, but, just as reflexively, checks his strings of coins. There's the mostly-depleted one, only about two dozen coins left on it, and the two-and-a-half he'd been paid earlier... "Oh, Wan Lang was holding on to the money for expenses, wasn't he. Damn! At least we've still got our advance money."

Seeing something in Wang Xiaonan's face as he says this, he adds, with some trepidation, "....right?"

She cringes. "I left my advance with Madam Yan for safekeeping. I figured if Wan Lang handled expenses and I got the other half after the job, there was no point in carrying so much... I have a little?"

"It's fine." Lin Moniao smiles through clenched teeth, reminding himself that Xiaonan is a good fighter and quite likely saved his life, that she has a generous heart, that if he upsets her she may well cry again. "It was a reasonable decision. Who could have known this would happen? You're a dutiful employee and I'm sure Madam Yan will keep your earnings safe; in the meantime, it's no trouble for me to cover our expenses. I'm sure you won't be upset if I drink less, maybe then I won't look like I just crawled out of a bottle."

Well, maybe that last part was a little petulant. Lin Moniao is only human.

"I will pay you back. I swear. On my honour." She pats his knee. "And Lin Moniao always looks good. Like he came from the most expensive bottle of red pepper wine."

"Lin Moniao? I thought it was you." The young scholar has padded closer, abandoning his table, though not his bag, which is by his side again. Now Lin Moniao can see his face—the first time he saw that narrow, pointed face, one of their fellow-students said it looked like a fox’s, and Lin Moniao had laughed, but later on he came to find it a very pleasant face to look at. It’s Shi Jia’s face, a smile softening its sharp features. "Is there room here for old friends? You haven't forgotten Shi Jia?"

"Shi Jia!" Lin Moniao gets to his feet, embracing him. "How could you accuse me of forgetting you? I'm hurt!" It's true that Lin Moniao didn't recognize him until he got a good look at him, but it has been several years. "Of course there's room for you."

Shi Jia laughs and pats Lin Moniao's back when they embrace, but also sneaks in a little pinch of his bottom. It is a skilled maneuver, no doubt the result of years of practice, disguised as part of an innocent greeting, and over before you know it. Lin Moniao laughs, his face heating as he pulls Shi Jia down to sit beside him. Why did he ever lose touch with Shi Jia? He knows, it's because he got caught up with Master Wu and the sect, neither of which he actually regrets. Still.

"Wang Xionan and I are working together. She's very fierce," he says, by way of making introductions. "And Shi Jia, as he says, is an old friend." Punctuating this with a retaliatory squeeze of his thigh under the table.

"Pleased to meet you." Shi Jia smiles at Xiaonan as he sits. His eyes slide to Lin Moniao at the squeeze and the smile widens, delighted and naughty. She returns the bow, far more awkwardly, her expression faltering, and mumbles her way through an answering greeting. It seems her grace when meeting new people has not improved.

"We sat the imperial examinations together. What brings you to Cizhou, Shi Jia? Have you been here long?"

"I have only just arrived," Shi Jia says, "riding from Handan on business. I must admit I noticed the seal on your carriage before I recognized my old friend. I was surprised, pleased and surprised, to see the Handan Escort Company still laboring to honor its contracts. Extraordinary effort must be commended." He puts his fist in his hand and inclines his head, gesture suggesting a bow to show respect.

"Hmph." Lin Moniao huffs out a breath as he offers the catty of wine to his companions, holding out his cup to Wang Xiaonan. "It seems I should have done due diligence before accepting this job, but it can't be helped now. What have you heard about the Handan Escort Company?"

Xiaonan catches the drink and pours for Lin Moniao, Shi Jia and then herself. She pours with surprising grace, even though the introduction of a new person seems to have rendered her mute, but then she does work in a brothel, where the client-facing personnel are expected to do such things to perfection.

"Ah, that explains it. You are new hires, of course; no uniforms, and no knowledge of the tragedy." Shi Jia tilts his head from one side to the other. "I expect your payment is in no danger. Even in these circumstances, Chief Ban Fei is known to be dutiful and fair, and the client ought to pay or lose face, whoever delivers their goods. But ah, as to what I have heard... The doors to the headquarters were closed suddenly two days ago. A grand lady had entered, and when she was done, she left rivers of blood running across the floor." He makes a gesture like the flow of water. "The coffin home was filled that evening. The following day, the gates were open and boys sent to deliver flyers for new hires, as if nothing had changed. Most of this I only heard of, but I did also go to the headquarters myself, to offer condolences for the Company men who had so troubled the undertakers..."

Wang Xiaonan's jaw drops, but she only stares at him, her cup still in her hands.

Lin Moniao raises his eyebrows, impressed. "Our... contact did say something about a great lady who ought not to be crossed. I don't suppose the rumors stretched to giving her name? Or anything that might identify her?"

"The Chief himself could not see me, as he had fallen into a fever, but I spoke yesterday evening to his second in command, Wan Lang. He told me the rumours had been exaggerated. I did notice in the reception hall some signs of recent turmoil, long slashes that had cut into the wood of the columns and furniture recently moved, and I thought even a dark stain near the front... As to the identity of the lady, what I heard contradicts what I saw." He sucks his lower lip in and looks from one to the other, a dramatic pause to drink in the attention.

"Shi Jia is as dramatic as ever," Lin Moniao laughs, despite the gravity of the news that he's hearing. "Go on, tell us, you have our undivided attention."

Shi Jia arranges his sleeves primly, eyes demurely lowered. "This Shi Jia had heard the great lady had a proud and upright carriage and was dressed in black robes embroidered with silver thread... The name spoken in the eateries and street corners was Xie Lijuan; those are her colors, after all. But I did notice the slashes in the columns in the reception hall were long. And, when I asked, the curious persons who had been there did say the lady was carrying a pair of swords. Xie Lijuan, ah, the great Xie Lijuan is known as the Heartless Dagger. The sword is not her weapon."

"A great lady who fights with swords..." Puzzled, Lin Moniao catches Wang Xiaonan's eye, trying to see what she makes of this. "If so, our mission is a very curious one. One wonders if we are meant to fail," he muses.

Wang Xiaonan thinks for a moment, then offers timidly, "The Heartless Dagger and Liu Xiuling... Aren't they supposed to be friends?"

Shi Jia laughs. "Of a very particular kind! There is no saying when they will be at odds or working together." He leans in a little closer. "But let us keep our voices down. Have you noticed that very pretty little storyteller?" He nods towards the storytelling group.

There is indeed a very pretty storyteller, a petite, curvaceous one with a dark cloak thrown over silver robes. She speaks loudly and carries herself like a bargeman, but once one pays attention, it is clear that she, too, has training.

Wang Xiaonan looks, then looks again, squinting. "Oh! Black embroidery on silver robes?"

"Exactly," says Shi Jia. "Colors worn by Xie Manor disciples. Now, they are as free to travel as anyone, of course, but isn't it interesting that one of them showed up here so close to Handan, so soon after the unfortunate events? Even if the attacker was not the Heartless Dagger herself, perhaps it was someone acting for her? Ah, this Shi Jia has made an oversight--I should have asked the witnesses if the lady in question was tall!"

"One can't think of everything, after all," says Lin Moniao, holding out his cup to Xiaonan for more wine. For instance, he didn't think of disguising their carriage, but perhaps he ought to have. He steals a glance at the storyteller, trying not to be obvious about it, to see if she seems to be paying any particular attention to them.

The pretty storyteller has just launched into a new tale, one foot on the table, an open bottle of wine in her hand, from which she swigs during dramatic pauses. Her voice is raised, so it is quite clear she is recounting a tale of heroic (or possibly villainous) bloodshed. She is not paying them the least bit of attention.

Shi Jia tuts.

"Someone commissioned this delivery, but then attacked the company right after? Why?" Wang Xiaonan scrunches her face in thought, but then shakes her head, defeated. Compared to this, Wan Lang's motivation had been simple and straightforward.

"Ah," says Shi Jia softly.

Lin Moniao looks from Wang Xiaonan to Shi Jia. The look on Shi Jia's face is familiar; Lin Moniao can almost hear the tiles clicking into place in his head. Wang Xiaonan is a fierce fighter, but perhaps not the most circumspect. Well, Lin Moniao hasn't been the most circumspect himself. He's fond of Shi Jia, after all, and Shi Jia has been helpful and forthcoming so far. Perhaps trusting him isn't the worst idea.

"Since Shi Jia knows so much," Lin Moniao says, very softly, "maybe you can tell us more about our cargo. I had simply thought it very ugly, but clearly there's more to it than that. If we can show it to you somewhere more private."

Shi Jia lights up. "Oh, I should like that very much! I have just booked a room here--but I suspect you have as well. I will leave it up to you."

"We will bring it to your room," Lin Moniao decides. It may not be likely that anyone is watching the room that's been assigned to Lin Moniao and Wang Xiaonan, but it's even less likely that anyone's watching Shi Jia's.

Shi Jia has an almost childish skip to his step as they climb the stairs. Wang Xiaonan carries the box with the bat in it under her arm, looking suspiciously over her shoulder. She steps a little closer to Lin Moniao and says under her breath, "That weird couple is looking at us."

Looking down, indeed, the sour-looking woman is scowling up at them, and her square husband watches them under lowered brows.

Shi Jia unlocks his room. It is one on the left, the closest on that side to the staircase. The room he has booked is modest, but like the rest of the inn, very clean, and everything in it is new or at least whole. There is a simple canopied bamboo bed, a large window on the far wall, and a small square table with kneeling pillows arranged around it. He welcomes them in with a sweep of his sleeve.

Lin Moniao sweeps him a bow in return. "An honour, truly, it's been too long since Shi Jia welcomed me to his rooms--"

A picture of innocence, Shi Jia touches his chest demurely. "Truly, this one would keep a lantern lit all night, waiting for Lin Moniao..."

Then, glancing over at Wang Xiaonan, Lin Moniao clears his throat. "But, ah, to business. Wang Xiaonan, if you would?"

Xiaonan pays them no mind, but places the box rather heavily on the table. This is it--they are really going to have a close look at their cargo! Only... "I..." She looks around at the other two. "I don't have the lock combination."

"Ah. Right." Lin Moniao had forgotten about that, momentarily. "Between the three of us, I'm sure we can figure it out."

Wang Xiaonan gives it a go, fiddling the characters into place, listening for tell-tale clicks. One click! But the second character she simply cannot find. Frustrated, she shoves the box back and stands up. "Lin Moniao, you try."

Lin Moniao pushes back his sleeves, frowning in concentration. The first character is easy enough, since Wang Xiaonan found it already. Feeling for minute changes in the mechanism as he turns the second dial, he feels fairly confident that he's found it. But he can't be sure until he moves the third character into line, and, flushed with triumph, watches the lid of the box swing open.

"Brilliant!" Shi Jia applauds and laughs. "Great Master, you must teach me." Even surly Xiaonan looks impressed.

The box opens and... The bat is sitting there among the straw, just as ugly as before.

"Good heavens, I would swear it's gotten uglier since I saw it last," says Lin Moniao. "Do you have any idea why this is worth killing for, Shi Jia?"

Shi Jia leans in closer, then grabs an oil lamp and brings it closer. There is still sun outside, but the shadows are longer, and the servants must have lit the lamps as they prepared the room. "Why, that's the Obsidian Bat! Or at least, it looks like how the Obsidian Bat is described in texts. I have never actually seen it." He reaches in and carefully picks it up, turns it around in his hands.

"The Obsidian Bat?" Lin Moniao asks.

"But it's not made of obsidian," Xiaonan complains.

"The original was. It was very ancient, and eventually it broke down. Craftsmen of the last generation remade it in cast iron. Well, if it can be done once, it can be done twice, but only the first copy retained the extraordinary attributes of the original. You know, I always wondered if it was less the construction of the thing and more something it was laced with--something we have since lost."

"Shi Jia, you are being a tease again. What extraordinary attributes?"

Shi Jia places the incense burner down on the table with a disappointed little huff. And he had been having so much fun! "When incense is burned in it, it is said, wounds and aches heal quickly and never fester, and even certain death can be delayed. I have never heard of either Xie Lijuan or Liu Xiuling having it, but I can see how such martial persons would find it useful. Then again, who wouldn't? I am sure the Ancient Willow Sect’s physicians would be interested. It is rather encroaching on their business."

"Yes." Lin Moniao drums his fingers on the table. "Either it's the genuine article or it's a forgery. We could try to test it and see which--assuming we could get it open without harming ourselves. That trick mechanism looks more difficult and dangerous than a simple combination lock. But we were cautioned not to use it, and it may be difficult to hide the evidence that we have, if we do.

"If it's Liu Xiuling who had it sent to herself, it must be a forgery. She wouldn't risk the genuine article on such an odd scheme. The purpose must be to draw out her enemies, seeing who tries to steal it, or some such. If it was Xie Lijuan--or one of her disciples--it still might be a forgery, and the slaughter might have been done to replace the genuine article with a fake. I think it must be fake. Why else would they have hired us to transport it? Unless it is real, and whoever sent it was trying to disguise its value by hiring guards of no great reputation but clearly extraordinary abilities.

"If it's genuine, Liu Xiuling will surely reward us for delivering it to her safely. If it's a forgery, we may be blamed for effecting the substitution, especially if it becomes clear we've tampered with it. On the other hand, if we don't deliver it, we will certainly be blamed, and we may be killed by factions who believe it's genuine, and want to obtain it for themselves. At the moment, I can't see a better option than to do the job we were hired to do, to the best of our ability. Or we could run off to Mongolia and become steppe herders."

Except that Lin Moniao can't do that. The God promised him a destiny in Kaifeng, and besides, his mother is still with the sect. There's also the possibility of delivering the incense burner to Qilin Villa somehow, earning the gratitude of Beauty Niu and the God himself. But that's not a possibility he can discuss with his friends.

It's probably a forgery, anyway.

All the twists and turns of logic, ifs and thens, are making Lin Moniao's head hurt. He flings himself dramatically backwards onto the bed. "Ugh, it's like studying for the imperial examinations again. I need a drink."

As Lin Moniao talked, Shi Jia's gaze on him became more adoring, until he was leaning his chin on his hand, eyes shining. It's enough to make Wang Xiaonan turn her head to avoid looking at him.

"I think you must be right," says Shi Jia at last, his voice a little breathy. "The most likely answer is that it is a fake." He crawls over to the bed and pets Lin Moniao's hair soothingly. "I have some ideas, I think. We can talk about it more tomorrow. Ah, you poor, brilliant fellow. Will Shi Jia bring you a drink?"

"Should I leave?" says Wang Xiaonan wryly. "I'm... I'm going to leave." She gets up on her feet.

"Then you can bring the drink." Shi Jia's tone is pleasant, but he doesn't even spare her a glance.

Lin Moniao rubs his head against Shi Jia's hand like a cat, basking in the attention. His problems seem more distant now, even without a drink.

Wang Xiaonan steps softly but quickly across the room and slips out the door, closing it behind her. Shi Jia crawls up onto the bed on all fours and is dropping kisses on Lin Moniao's temple and cheekbones almost before the door is closed, making soothing sounds.

However, raised voices just outside interrupt this tenderness. "Hey! What are you two loitering out here for?" Wang Xiaonan's voice is sharp, though still rather too high and girlish to command authority.

"Ain't this our room?" says a woman's voice, nasal and harsh. The wooden door has a panel of paper laid over by tight frames, and through the paper, they can see Wang Xiaonan's short shadow facing two larger, menacing ones.

Shi Jia groans, lifts himself up on his hands, and shouts at the door, "An Yu, Chan Yu! I'm fine! Get lost!"

Lin Moniao tenses for a second, but whatever else is going on with Shi Jia, he is Lin Moniao's friend. Lin Moniao is almost certain of it. "If I had known you were likely to have company, I would have suggested we go to my room," he says lightly, pushing himself up onto one elbow and feathering his fingers through Shi Jia's hair. "What have you been up to, Shi Jia?"

Shi Jia has the decency to look embarrassed. "They're my bodyguards. Some people think I can't go anywhere just because I'm no good at fighting. It's all very spooky and circumspect and boring." He drops down to nuzzle Lin Moniao's neck. "They can sleep in the carriage, get a different room, I don't care. Lin-ge, I missed you..."

The shadows outside seem to have some kind of a short, silent stand-off, until the tallest shadow jerks their head, and she and her colleague move towards the staircase. Xiaonan’s shadow hesitates, looks around, then follows.

"I missed you too," Lin Moniao murmurs, pressing up against Shi Jia, running his hands down his sides, reveling in the feel of his wiry frame beneath his robes. He does wonder why and exactly who has assigned Shi Jia bodyguards, especially ones who seem to have no martial training, and what it is that's so spooky and circumspect--but these questions seem less urgent than Shi Jia's mouth.

It's only--

He allows himself another two seconds of indulgence, then pulls back reluctantly. "I should check on Wang Xiaonan. We were attacked earlier, she may not be safe by herself, I just need to make sure. You understand, Shi-ge."

Shi Jia makes a small plaintive sound, but then puffs out a breath and rolls off obediently. "Of course. Yes, naturally. Best be careful." He sighs again, props himself up on hand and gives Lin Moniao another heated look, playing with the strings of his own belt. "I did say I would keep a lantern lit all night for you, didn't I? If it suits Lin-ge, he can come back. Or leave me languishing and bereft, as it pleases him." His tone suggests the latter option has a certain erotic appeal as well.

Lin Moniao has to laugh. "That would not please me at all," he says, leaning over to kiss Shi Jia again before pushing the door open and looking down the hallway for Wang Xiaonan.

The odd couple and Wang Xiaonan are all hanging around at the top of the stairs, talking quietly. If one looks at Chan Yu and An Yu (which is which?) with the idea that they are bodyguards in bad disguise, their little oddnesses begin to make sense. Why would a merchant man be built like a brickhouse? Why would a woman so clearly uncomfortable in a dress wear such a flowery, gauzy thing that doesn't even fit her, her arms sticking out almost up to the elbows?

None of the three seem to be threatening the others, and when Lin Moniao pokes his head out, the female bodyguard looks up with a suspicious scowl. But then, perhaps that is just what her face is like. Wang Xiaonan notices and looks back, and waves. She says a word to the other two and comes up to the door, though not too close. What does she think she'd see, after less than five minutes of privacy? "I'll be fine, Lin Moniao. Do you want me to take the cargo? I'll take it to our room and sit on it. Like a mother hen, all night if necessary. I promise."

Looking at the determined set of her shoulders--reminded of the way she looked facing off against the bandits--it occurs to Lin Moniao that one way to solve this problem would be to invite her back to bed as well. He's not sure that either Wang Xiaonan or Shi Jia is ready for such a suggestion, however.

"Well..." he says, conscious of Shi Jia waiting in the room behind him. "Is our room nearby? I will come if I hear you shout, no matter what."

She nods and points--Dong Min must have been giving them out in order, because the room in question is the one next in line, one step further from the stairs on the left. "Just know the reverse won't be true. Shout as loud as you like, I won't come." She holds out her arms. "Box, please."

Lin Moniao laughs. "Wang Xiaonan is wise. Just a moment."

He looks back at the box, and an idea occurs to him. "Shi Jia, do you happen to have any possessions that are small and heavy and that you won't miss? A rock, or a particularly boring book?"

"Oh, I see what you mean." Shi Jia sits up. "Why don't you take that oil lamp? I will compensate the good innkeeper for it."

"We will have to compensate him for more than that before the night is over, I'm afraid." Lin Moniao gives him a lascivious grin.

Then he replaces the Obsidian Bat with the oil lamp, slits open one of the kneeling pillows with his dagger, pulls out a few handfuls of stuffing which he tucks in among Shi Jia's baggage, puts the Obsidian Bat inside the pillow, re-situates it, and finally closes the box and hands it to Wang Xiaonan. "There you are."

Wang Xiaonan, who dared to come close enough to peek in and see what he did, winks at him as she accepts it. "I will guard this box with my life," she says, a little louder, and pads over to the next door. Open, close, the girl and the box are gone.

Shi Jia's bodyguards are still loitering uncertainly on the staircase, though the man at least seems to be looking down to where a waiter is bringing someone red seaweed soup and porkbelly, the scents wafting up enticingly. There is the sound of laughter from below.

Lin Moniao shuts the door firmly, then climbs back into bed. "Now, where were we?"

Shi Jia grins at him, flushed and happy. He catches the strings of his own belt between two fingers and pulls them apart, loosening his robes. "Overdressed." He pushes lightly at Lin Moniao's chest to get him back down on his back.

Lin Moniao goes without resistance, opening his own belt as he does. "Easily solved."

Shi Jia kisses his mouth, sweet and soft with just a touch of tongue, his hand wandering down to slip inside Lin Moniao's robe, tugging layers of fabric aside until his fingers find a stretch of bare skin. The connection seems to undo some of his self-control, as he makes a soft sound and melts against him.

The touch of Shi Jia's elegant hands sends a jolt through Lin Moniao, and he chases his mouth, nipping at his lower lip. At the same time, he winds his arms around Shi Jia's shoulders, pushing down his robe, drawing him closer.

Shi Jia scrambles to push his own robes down and off, really the fastest way, leaving him in his trousers. Though he is no great beauty, he has the grace of an active young man, and never had any shame over showing it.

"My Lin-ge is so beautiful and clever." His voice is heady, and he rocks against Lin Moniao. "And Shi Jia is greedy." He wiggles back up until he is kneeling over Lin Moniao's thighs and pulls his robes apart too, unceremoniously flipping them out over the bed. He runs his hands and eyes over the exposed chest, grinding his hips just a little.

They've only been alone for a moment, true, but he's been primed and ready to go ever since that monologue. Honestly, he isn't like this with just anyone...

Lin Moniao wriggles a bit at the praise, even if it is entirely deserved. Beautiful goes without saying; beautiful and clever is always nice to hear. He grabs Shi Jia's bony hips, surging up to meet him, grinding them together in a delicious agony of sensation and not-quite-enough. "Shi Jia," he whines, "don't tease."

Shi Jia grins and teases more, rolling his hips, but soon shows mercy. He falls down to mouth at Lin Moniao's throat and slips a leg between his, bringing their hips flush, slotted together for a deeply satisfying frot through the material of their trousers. "Mmm, ah."

He moves back and reaches one long-fingered hand between them, pressing it against Lin Moniao's length. "Do I tease? Never..."

"Never," Lin Moniao echoes with a groan, thrusting up into Shi Jia's hand, light-headed with bliss. He turns his head to nuzzle against Shi Jia's other hand, the one bracing him on the bed, babbling, "How could Lin Moniao say such a thing--you must allow me to apologize," as he licks a stripe down one scholar's-calloused finger.

Does Lin Moniao get a thrill from watching a clever man go stupid with lust? Well, he's in for a treat, if so. Shi Jia's groans against his neck, rocking over him. "F-fair," he manages. "I think that's only... fair." He raises his head to kiss him one more time, open and hungry, then rolls off him and undoes his own trousers' fastenings. "Come then."

Lin Moniao is clever enough that he's played himself, because he does immediately regret the loss of Shi Jia's hand--but, quickly pushing down his trousers and scrambling over to seat himself between his knees, he finds himself adequately compensated.

Shi Jia really is a sight like this, disheveled and desperate, his newly-freed member jerking up from his belly like a live thing, leaving a trail of moisture. Lin Moniao licks the moisture off, hot and salt, then gives Shi Jia one long, heated look before bending his head and applying himself to sucking.

Shi Jia throws his head back, biting back cries. He grasps the bed covering tight to keep from rudely jerking his hips up. "Fuck," he pants. So much for that scholarly upbringing. "Lin-ge, Lin-ge, you're too... too good to me." He's biting his lip, holding back, but from his shaking, he's already shamefully close.

Lin Moniao sits back on his heels, wiping the back of his hand against a very self-satisfied smirk, the other hand busy with the fastenings of his own trousers. Once that article of clothing is out of the way, he lies down next to Shi Jia, getting a knee between his legs and pulling him onto his side so that they're flush against each other again, only this time there's no barrier between Lin Moniao and the silken heat of Shi Jia. A few thrusts are enough to bring Lin Moniao to the edge himself.

"No such thing," he whispers into Shi Jia's ear.

Shi Jia hugs him to himself eagerly, bringing a hand down to pull their hips even closer together. He babbles disjointed praise in his ear as they rut together: "This one is ashamed, Lin Moniao's beauty has overcome him, ah, his mind, his mouth, ah, he would bring down sages from the mountains and they would eagerly lie down for him." Humility and apologies, but yet actions belie words as he works towards his own release shamelessly. When it comes, he digs his fingers into his lover's flesh and buries his hot face in his shoulder, muffling his cry.

Stark as the contrast between Shi Jia's words and actions is, it's hard to say which inflames Lin Moniao more. Together they make a truly intoxicating blend, and he shudders in Shi Jia's arms, the sweet sting of his nails enough to send Lin Moniao plummeting to the depths of ecstasy a few seconds afterwards.

Once he catches his breath, he snuggles bonelessly into Shi Jia's chest. "A-Jia," he sighs, sleepy and fond.

Shi Jia's eyes are closed as he catches his breath, but he breaks into a grin anyway. He always loved to be called such sweet names. He pets Lin Moniao's back, apologetically soothing over the scratches. "My sincerest apologies for such... such haste, A-Jia would gladly make up for any transgressions..." As if he wasn't stretched out like a happy cat.

Lin Moniao laughs and brushes the hair out of Shi Jia's face. "Ridiculous," he says affectionately. "Tomorrow, maybe. It's been a very long day already."

"Ah, of course! Lin Moniao works hard." Shi Jia rolls them to their sides, the better to drop kisses all over his face. "Anytime. I will remember my debts. You lie back, Shi Jia will take care of everything."

"Be careful, I will take you up on that," Lin Moniao yawns, already half asleep.

With a last possessive peck on Lin Moniao's chest, Shi Jia slips out of bed and potters about, humming happily. After a while he crawls back into bed, curling up against Lin Moniao and pulling the covers over both of them.

 

Anyang

 

Lin Moniao sleeps solidly enough that he barely notices any of Shi Jia’s actions preparing for bed, but he does still steal all the blankets. Morning light through the inn window wakes him, without a headache this morning, but sore in other places from various strenuous activities. Slowly, the previous day's events come back to him, and he gropes blearily in the bed beside him, murmuring, "Shi Jia?"

He finds no-one on the bed with him, but there is a cheerful "Good morning." It is early still, by the slant of the light from the windows. Shi Jia is sitting by the chair with his hair loose around his shoulders and his inner robes thrown over his tunic, trousers still crumpled by the bed. He has opened a bottle of water, which stands on the table next to the Obsidian Bat. He turns an excited smile at Lin Moniao. "I really do think you were right about this thing... Ah, I'm sorry, I haven't called for breakfast yet, are you hungry?"

Shi Jia always was a morning person. Maybe that's why Lin Moniao lost touch with him. No one should be this chipper this early in the morning. Not that Lin Moniao can exactly complain at the moment, an offer to fetch breakfast is an offer to fetch breakfast. "I could eat," he allows. "And... yes, you said you had some ideas?"

"I thought, since we are in Cizhou, we could have an expert look at it and confirm if it was made this generation or the last, but now I am seeing it in sunlight, I'm not sure that's necessary. It doesn't look like it's ever had any incense in it. And listen--" He shakes the bat. It rattles.

Lin Moniao listens. There's something in there, clearly, that wouldn't usually be in an incense burner, but beyond that he doesn't understand what Shi Jia is getting at. It makes him doubly grumpy to have to admit this after impressing Shi Jia with his brilliance last night. Who invented mornings, anyway? "So?"

"Maybe they hid some actually precious thing inside a fake precious thing? Or it could be booby trapped? Or it is a message. You might want to send a secret message inside something so precious it will be safely guarded for its own sake."

"Those are all possibilities, I suppose," Lin Moniao says, somewhat mollified that it wasn't an obvious solution that he had managed to miss

Shi Jia seems to take notice Lin Moniao's morning face, and shows mercy. He puts the bat down. "Breakfast first, I think."

"Yes. Breakfast." He flops down on the bed with a groan. "Does this mean I have to put on trousers?" Outrageous! But apparently it does. And Wang Xiaonan might also want breakfast, and he should check to make sure she hasn't been assassinated in the night.

Shi Jia puts his hair up and offers to help with Lin Moniao's, and they finish dressing as the sun climbs a little higher on the summer sky. Out of the door, Shi Jia scans the room below, then knocks on the next door. After a moment, the sour woman opens, but steps back as Wang Xiaonan pushes through. "Good morning! Come in, we still have some tea."

She looks a little worse for wear, like she hasn't slept. Inside, there is tea and snacks laid out on a similar table as in the other room. The square man is finishing up a cup.

"Tea!" Lin Moniao flings himself down by the table and drinks a cup in one swallow. Halfway through the second cup, after picking at a selection of snacks, he takes a closer look at Wang Xiaonan, noticing for the first time how worn out she looks.

"All night, like a mother hen, eh?" He isn't used to feeling ashamed. He can't say he cares for it very much. "Did you have any trouble?"

"None. I thought these two might try something, so I pretended to sleep." She comes to sit by the table.

"Hey!" the woman scoffs. Chan Yu's expression darkens as well, as if he is taking personal insult. He doesn’t seem chatty, though.

"You do look a little shady, An Yu," Xiaonan tells her.

An Yu crosses her arms and scowls at her. "Hmh. At least you're honest."

"And I offered you the room for the night, didn't I?" Xiaonan yawns. The box is sitting on the bed, unopened.

"Please don't start fights with my friends," Shi Jia scolds the bodyguards mildly and settles down at the table while Xiaonan pours a new round. "You'll be off again today, I'm guessing." He glances at Lin Moniao as if trying to communicate a second question.

Honestly, you say one clever thing in front of a man and suddenly he expects you to know everything. Lin Moniao was certainly gratified by Shi Jia's reaction last night, but now he's feeling the weight of expectation. "We will," he says guardedly. "Our destination hasn't changed. And you?"

Shi Jia smooths his robes over his knees. "This Shi Jia was heading to Kaifeng for an appointment, and then soon after elsewhere from there." He looks at Lin Moniao again.

"So we are headed in the same direction. It would be perhaps prudent to travel together, with all the bandits on the road," Lin Moniao says, meeting Shi Jia's look. Shi Jia's company will be very welcome. That of his bodyguards--maybe less so, but if there are further attacks they may at least draw some fire. And if they themselves mean to attack, it's not like they're waiting for Lin Moniao's invitation anyway.

Shi Jia lights up. "That sounds very wise. This Shi Jia will be happy to travel with you." He puts his hands together. Across the table, Wang Xiaonan looks skeptical, but doesn't object. Perhaps a night of not getting attacked by An Yu or Chan Yu has convinced her these people are no threat.

"Are there any preparations you need to make before you depart? I believe we're ready to travel once we collect our carriage and horses, but it would be no trouble to wait," Lin Moniao adds, polishing off the last of the snacks.

Shi Jia shakes his head, but Chan Yu says the first words Lin Moniao has heard from him: "Scouting."

Shi Jia visibly stops himself from letting out a long-suffering sigh. "Yes, of course. Chan Yu will make sure there are no bandits here, in this respectable inn, waiting to pounce on us the moment we set foot out these doors. Thank you."

Dark-faced Chan Yu leaves the room without another word. They collect their things and follow soon after. The bodyguards have a carriage, which is mostly for show, some rations and clothes, and for Chan Yu's collection of sabres and axes. Shi Jia apparently does not trust his books to them. He himself rides a gray mare, which the stableboys deliver to him brushed and shiny.

Steady has been given a good seeing to, as well as the carriage horses that Wan Lang never named for them, and so between them they now have five horses.

"Why don't I drive today," Lin Moniao says to Wang Xiaonan. "You can ride in back and keep an eye on our cargo. And," he adds in an undertone meant only for her ears, "if you happen to fall asleep, then you fall asleep. I will wake you if there's any excitement. On my honour."

She smiles at him. It's the warmest and most genuine he's seen her smile, though she still bites her lower lip and turns away quickly. "Wait," she says, leaning in and lowering her voice, "you have the cargo, don't you?"

In answer, he cuts his eyes over to Shi Jia.

"Perhaps I should... get it back," he admits in a whisper.

Shi Jia is getting up on his horse, checking the saddle fastenings. Wang Xiaonan glances over, and notes the bag. "Oh, brother," she mutters, then looks at him earnestly in the eye. "Well... how sure are you? Not having it in the actual box was a brilliant idea, really, even more so on the road, but..."

"He had," Lin Moniao admits, even more sheepishly, "ample opportunity to abscond with it last night, if he had meant to."

She hesitates, looks back at Shi Jia, who notices this time. She turns away. "Let's go like this for now, then." She climbs into the back of the carriage with her empty box, places it reverently at the very back, and flops down among the blankets and rations.

They set off, taking a slightly longer route around Cizhou to avoid the morning congestion. Anyang is less than a day's ride away; between the two towns, there will be a few roadside inns and resting places. The traffic is light, and it is promising to be another warm day.

The surroundings are too open for there to be a good ambush site like there was the day before; also, if Lin Moniao decides to call for a break at every likely spot he sees, there's no one to stop him. On the other hand, knowing the value of what he's traveling with--or what people might believe he's traveling with--or suspecting the value of what might be concealed inside the thing he's traveling with--he would rather be rid of it as soon as possible.

He watches the road on both sides for any sign of a threat, and with the other half of his attention, he waits for a chance to talk with Shi Jia without being overheard by the bodyguards.

Shi Jia eventually catches him looking, smiles and winks. He stalls his own horse until he is riding level with the carriage, but An Yu and Chan Yu are right ahead of them in theirs, well within hearing. "Would you like this?" He holds out his bag to Lin Moniao.

"I don't mind carrying it," Lin Moniao says magnanimously. "I'll make sure no harm befalls your books." He takes the bag from Shi Jia and tucks it protectively against himself on the driver's box, a small spark of vindication--he told Wang Xiaonan that Shi Jia was trustworthy--smothered in the larger feeling of frustration that he can't now ask Shi Jia about his business in Kaifeng or the mysteries he had alluded to the night before. He should have taken his chance then, but his mind had been on other things.

At the mention of his books, Shi Jia does throw the bag a slightly regretful look, but shakes it off, smiles, and canters a little ahead and back, exercising his horse, until another traveler coming through chastises him for being on the way. Shi Jia makes him a very pretty apology, and he thunders past.

Wang Xiaonan naps almost until half-way to Anyang, then crawls to the front, her ponytail falling out of its bind. She yawns as she settles beside Lin Moniao and hands him a bottle of water from the back. The day is indeed hot; it is not even noon, but the air is beginning to shimmer ahead.

Lin Moniao takes the bottle gladly. The water is soothing to his parched throat, even if it is warm, and it makes him realize how hungry he is. He's ignored a few tempting resting places until now, but it's really becoming unpleasant to continue traveling during the heat of the day, and the horses will need rest too, won't they?

"I'll take Steady and ride ahead to see if there's anywhere we can get something to eat that's better than cold rations. You watch Shi Jia's books." Under cover of leaning over to hand her the reins, he adds in a whisper, "If you can transfer our own cargo, all the better; I think he's missing that bag. I wonder what's in it that he keeps so close?"

"Oh!" She picks up the bag and looks around, then slips in the back with the bag. She comes out after a while and dumps the bag back in Lin Moniao's lap, slightly lighter. "It really is just books," she whispers, "now, that is. The other thing's in the rations bag. I thought... It was a good idea you had." She takes the reins. Steady snorts at the back, as if he knows he's up.

Lin Moniao is used to flowery compliments, from Shi Jia and others, and he rarely doubts that they're sincere or deserved. But something about Wang Xiaonan's blunt praise puts him on the back foot. It is not unpleasant, just disconcerting.

"Well--thank you," he says, blushing as he accepts the bag and hops off the carriage to mount up on Steady. It also occurs to him, recalling her lack of writing materials when they signed their contracts, that he may have chosen the wrong accomplice to snoop on Shi Jia's books.

Shi Jia's ridden up ahead again and is reaching up to swipe at the leaves on the overhanging branches of a lone roadside tree, like a child. The bodyguards ride mostly in silence, passing a bottle between them. The terrain here is rocky, but smaller roads join up with the big one, and up ahead there is more traffic, and so there ought to be another diner as well. In fact, as they crest a hill, a likely one shows up in the distance, nestled under the shade of a natural outcropping and with its own well. Carriages and horses are parked haphazardly around it; but it is still some way in the distance. Further on, there may be more modest watering holes.

It takes the plodding horse a minute to catch up to Shi Jia's. Handing the bag to him, Lin Moniao grins and says, "Here, you needn't pine after this any longer. I was thinking we might find somewhere to stop and eat. I was also thinking we might talk. What business takes you to Kaifeng? Is it also very mysterious and boring?"

Shi Jia accepts the bag gratefully and pats it against himself, feeling the fabric, as if some water or stain might have soaked through. Satisfied, he nods. "Yes to food! I think An Yu and Chan Yu will mutiny otherwise." He scratches the skin behind his ear, dislodging and then replacing his felt hat. "Well. I'm not supposed to say. But, remember our days under that dreadful old Master Fa, and taking the exams... I did say I'd try again. I did; and then again; and..." He counts with his fingers. "Fourth time is supposed to be unlucky, isn't it?"

Lin Moniao also said he'd try again, but so far he's avoided doing so. "And? Was it?" He's not sure what it has to do with bodyguards and mysteries, but he assumes Shi Jia will get around to the point eventually.

"Must mean I'm going to have a bad fate because I passed." He looks genuinely embarrassed; this is not his usual playful false humility. "But I think my father had something to do with it," he adds quickly. "If he did, I will find out. But that means that I got a job. That I really can't talk about. I'm sorry, not even to you."

"I told you about my job," Lin Moniao pouts. It must be nice to have a father who is able and willing to pull strings on your behalf. Not that he begrudges Shi Jia his good fortune. If it is good fortune.

"Ah, I-- You did. I'm so sorry." He reaches across the space between their horses to tug plaintively at Lin Moniao's sleeve. "I'll tell you more when we're in private. Please don't be mad."

Lin Moniao can't stay mad at Shi Jia when he's giving him that look--but he doesn't have to let him know that. "Well." He shrugs noncommittally. "That diner seems acceptable, what do you think? Shall we rejoin the others and let them know?"

They pull up closer and find the place busy--no wonder, many of their fellow travelers have been half a day on the road, as they have. It is a far cry from the cleanliness and professionalism of Dong Min's inn, but the smells from the kitchen are heavenly. The bar faces the road, and there are tables and chairs set outside, though only a few rickety canopies for shade; all have crowds gathered under them, though some have brought their own sunshade umbrellas or shelter under wide-brimmed hats. Almost everyone is dusty and tired, but there is food and drink. You can tell the local boys apart from the travelers with one look.

"An Yu, you better stay with the carriages," Shi Jia instructs, and receives a surly nod. The rest of them tie up the horses.

"Maybe me too," says Xiaonan, and yawns.

"I'll bring you back some noodles," Lin Moniao tells her, and, observing her yawn, adds, "and tea."

"Tea would be excellent, Lin Moniao." She puts her hands together in thanks.

Chan Yu hurries ahead to do his not-so-surreptitious reconnaissance, but they make it to the food stalls unmolested by surprise bandit attacks. Though some of the clientele look rough, at least none of them are wearing badger signs. Up close, the smell is even more heavenly, though one might balk at the cleanliness of the hard-working cooks' hands as they hand out bowl after bowl to people jostling, not bothering to line up. Chan Yu shoves a couple of them aside to let them pass.

"Welcome to Wang Yan's Roadside Inn," says the cook currently frying pork on a pan, multitasking accepting money from the previous person in 'line'. "I'm Wang Yan and this is my beautiful wife." The rough-looking woman grunts and pours another helping of cooked noodles into the giant stirring pot. "Drinks, food?"

"Both, please," says Chan Yu. "Five people."

Lin Moniao hangs back a bit, ready to grab bowls when the opportunity presents itself, but hoping to avoid being the one to pay for anything. In the meantime, he scans the area, noting the mix of travelers and locals sitting around. It looks like the best place has already been claimed by a group of drunken young men, but it shouldn't be too much trouble to convince them to move.

The cook ladles noodles into the bowls and tops them generously with meat, chives and vegetables, while her husband takes Chan Yu's money and promises to bring the food and drinks in just a moment, he has to tap a new barrel. Shi Jia takes off his hat and fans himself in the shimmering heat, and looks about the place. There's nothing for it but to squeeze in somewhere, and as a family moves on from one table, he quickly steps up to it. Just before he can get to it, a foot slams down on the seat.

"Sorry, kid. This seat's taken."

It's one of the drunken young men, on the older side of young--stubbled and unkempt but with a swagger one might find charming. His friends look over with interest.

Shi Jia inclines his head. "My mistake." He moves back, and for a moment they stare at each other. There is another open seat, but it is quite clear what would happen if Shi Jia tried to take it, as the bully keeps looking at him with an open challenge in his eyes.

Chan Yu materializes at Shi Jia’s shoulder with a threatening scowl at the local boys. "Chan Yu, don't," Shi Jia whispers to him. "Back off. Now." But it's too late. The bully is already drawing breath--

"There are plenty of places for everyone to sit." Lin Moniao slides in between Shi Jia and the bully with a wide grin. "We happen to have chosen this one. I think we'll all have a more pleasant afternoon if we don't fight, don't you?" He swings his own foot up onto the seat, nudging the man's with it, resting his elbow on his knee and his chin on his hand, never breaking eye contact. "You, in particular, will have a much more pleasant afternoon."

Chan Yu crosses his arms and steps up to stand next to Lin Moniao. Shi Jia covers his face with both hands. It's tinted pink, and likely not because of the heat.

The bully's friends, short of one particularly drunk one already lightly snoring in the shade, stand up behind him. It will be three on three, if it comes to blows. Unfortunately on one side they have Shi Jia.

Apparently this was more resistance than the local boy expected. He scowls and wrinkles his nose, spitting on the ground, then yells back at his friends: "Hey! Get that Li Nin up! These guys want a fight!"

"Right, Hu-xiong!" One of the bullies kicks the sleeping Li Nin, who rouses himself an inch. "We paid for your drinks, you're with us now, Unravelled Sword!"

But Li Nin simply slumps back into slumber.

"Now, weren't you listening?" Lin Moniao gives the bully a disappointed look. "I just said I don't want to fight. Li Nin has the right idea. However, if you wish to fight, I certainly won't be so rude as to disoblige you."

"Are you calling me stupid?" says Hu-xiong, stepping up.

"Noodles! Drink!" Wang Yan bustles up with a tray. He is a short, weedy man approaching his fifties, but he comes in with authority, stepping in between the would-be fight. "Hu Jun, sit back down or I'll cut you off. You, sir, honored guest, how glad this humble one is that you do NOT want to fight. Better than a thousand hollow words, is one word that brings peace." He sets the tray of noodles and three bottles of second barrel baijiu on the table.

Hu Jun scowls but backs off, then makes a mocking bow to the provider of baijiu. The look he throws Lin Moniao over the man's shoulder signals murder.

"Hot day, isn't it, sirs?" says Wang Yan loudly. "On a hot day, you should get a drink! Are you headed to Anyang? It should rain in a day, if my aunt is right, and she usually is." He certainly seems to be brimming with hollow words.

Lin Moniao grins and bows very slightly to Hu Jun before sitting down at his newly-claimed place.

"My thanks, good host," he says, digging into his noodles. "And to your very wise aunt for the promised rain as well. I suppose we could use it."

If the aunt's prophecies hold any water--which Lin Moniao doubts--he's not looking forward to spending a day driving a carriage in the rain. But at least it would cool things down.

Shi Jia, visibly relieved, sits down and shoots Lin Moniao a glance from under his lashes, shakes his head and smiles faintly. He then picks up one of the bottles and pours out bowls of baijiu for everyone.

Lin Moniao gives Shi Jia an innocent, unrepentant smile as he sips his baijiu. Chan Yu sits down too, but keeps glaring over at the other table. Shi Jia fills his bowl to the brim and nudges him to drink.

Wang Yan continues on his theme. "After rain, one could wish for a bit of breeze and cooler air, though it isn't so good for business. The weather was so nice just a few days ago, hardly anyone would stop, even as they passed." He is clearly just hanging around to keep the peace.

"I suppose I've never thought about it that way before," he says to Wang Yan. "The next lovely day we have, I must remember to spare a sympathetic thought for the roadside innkeepers. May we have a pot of tea as well? Your baijiu is very good, but one must stay alert on the road."

Wang Yan seems to genuinely need to think about this for a moment, but he nods in the affirmative. It doesn't seem to be what most people ask. He finally bustles off back towards the bar with a final warning look at Hu Jun. "Hey," you hear him call to his wife, "do we still have that bing cha?"

Chan Yu finally drinks, and even the bullies have started to argue among themselves. Shi Jia leans over to Lin Moniao and nudges his shoulder with his own. The encounter seems to have rendered him mute, however.

"Poor Shi Jia," Lin Moniao says, sympathetically patting him on the knee. "I must be as tiresome to travel with as Chan Yu and An Yu. Worse, because I don't listen to you."

Shi Jia lets out a long breath in a single puff and relaxes a little. "I just don't know what to say to illogical people!" he whispers. "Lin Moniao was very brave and heroic."

Lin Moniao finishes off his noodles and virtuously does not start on Wang Xiaonan's. Once they have their tea, it will probably be time to move on. If they can get away without a fight, so much the better.

Wang Yan returns with a chipped pot of tea but no cups--baijiu bowls will have to do. Shi Jia, who has been picking at his food, asks him, "I say, do a lot of fine people pass through here?"

"We get all sorts," says Wang Yan.

"Any famous people?"

Wang Yan scratches his chin, "Oh, absolutely. Great heroes--greater than that Li Nin, too."

Shi Jia presses, "Anyone recently? From the Xie Manor, perhaps?"

"Heavens, no," says Wang Yan, slightly shocked. "Well, maybe sometimes... but not her."

"If she did, she would find service worthy even of herself," Lin Moniao says in reflexive politeness to Wang Yan, but his most of his attention is drawn by Shi Jia's line of questioning. What has he seen, or concluded?

Wang Yan chews on his inner cheek and blinks a couple of times, pondering on this before deciding it is a compliment, then puts his hands together in a bow. "Very kind! Very kind! I wish more heroes did stop by! Of course, Xie Manor is far to the south, near Nanjing... We are more likely to see the young masters of the Dragon Clan, or the Tranquil Scholar Hua Shiyi and his sworn brother, and of course the Sword Goddess. She passed here only very recently!"

"Ah!" said Shi Jia quietly.

"How interesting," says Lin Moniao, trying not to let on exactly how interesting he finds it. If the Sword Goddess has really been here in the last few days, that makes it more likely that she did send the bat to herself, which in turn makes it less likely that he and Wang Xiaonan will be blamed for delivering a fake. Of course, it could mean that they still have to expect an attack from whichever enemy she was hoping to draw out--maybe--and it still doesn't explain why she would have impersonated Xie Lijuan.

"How wonderful! To think we might have met her on the road!"

"Oh, you would not have." Wang Yan shakes his head. "She came through here three days ago, in the direction of Kaifeng, and before that, a couple of days earlier, going the other way. She was alone, too, no disciples of guards with her, but I recognized her all the same, even in a cloak. It's not the first time she's passed through."

Shi Jia looks at Lin Moniao, excited.

Lin Moniao meets Shi Jia's look before turning back to Wang Yan. "Because of your excellent noodles, no doubt. Unfortunate that she hasn't brought her disciples, but perhaps she just wants more for her."

The proprietor laughs, pleased, bows, and retreats again. Shi Jia presses his palms together and brings the tips of his fingers to his mouth, biting his lower lip rather than start chattering.

"You guys done yet?" Hu Jun call out as soon as Wang Yan is out of earshot.

"I think we are," says Shi Jia sunnily and stands up. Chan Yu scarfs down the rest of his plate and grabs the one for An Yu, as well as the two remaining bottles of second barrel baijiu. Lin Moniao likewise gathers Wang Xiaonan's noodles and tea.

They find the women getting along amicably enough, Wang Xiaonan playing with her chicken sickles while An Yu complains about something in a low voice. "Ohhhh that smells so good," Xiaonan sighs. Chan Yu brings An Yu her bowl, which seems to improve her mood, too.

"It is quite good, for a country diner like this one." Lin Moniao hands her the bowls, pleased with himself. "We learned some interesting things as well, but perhaps we'd better discuss them when we're on the road again. There are some fellows who may wish to continue a quarrel with us, although with your help and An Yu's, I don't believe they'd give us much trouble. Even if they manage to wake that other one--what did they call him, Unraveled Sword?"

"Did they insult you?" Xiaonan says sympathetically from between bites and drinks. "We can stay a little longer.”

"That's all right, I insulted them back," Lin Moniao says cheerfully.

”Unraveled Sword… Hnh, I think I've heard that name? Did he have another one?"

"Li Nin," Shi Jia offers. "But the only Li Nin I know is an upright gentleman and scholar by reputation."

"Then you don't know the latest," says Xiaonan. "One of my mistress's employees had a client who told her Li Nin had fallen from grace and become a drunkard and a fool. That's why they call him that name!"

"Between the two of you," says Lin Moniao, "you're simply brimming with interesting information. He certainly didn't seem to be operating at full capacity. Very well, we won't worry too much about the Unraveled Sword."

Xiaonan thanks Lin Moniao again with a cheerful bow. The food seems to have been just the thing. As they pull up into the road, there are some final jeers from the local boys, but they don't give chase, and any insult they may call out is caught by a merciful breeze and carried away.

They have barely got on the road before Shi Jia sends his bodyguards to "scout ahead". An Yu rolls her eyes but flicks the reins, and the three of them are left alone. "The Sword Goddess was seen on the road!" he tells Xiaonan directly as soon as they have privacy. "That narrows down our theories. It couldn’t have been Xie Lijuan herself, since it was a sword fighter, but someone skilled enough to attack a whole escort company by herself..."

"Yes, and so at least she won't be expecting delivery of the genuine article," Lin Moniao adds. "Although what she hoped to achieve by disguising herself as Xie Lijuan and sending herself a false incense burner is still not entirely clear. If it was to draw out some enemy, we should probably expect an attack by someone more serious than that bat fellow."

"It probably still has something to do with Xie Lijuan," Shi Jia muses. "Those two have something going on. And it's quite scandalous, isn't it? Immortal Sword Manor is supposed to be an upright establishment. It would lose her an enormous amount of face if it was known she has been attacking people so far below her skill level."

"The same can't be said for Xie Lijuan, can it?" says Lin Moniao. "You can't lose what you lost long ago."

"You said it could be to draw her enemies out... Then, who is most likely to hear this rumor about Xie Lijuan and know it was a lie? Xie Lijuan herself." He rubs his temples. "But then why a fake bat? Which is the important part, the bat or the disguise? Ah... it's all conjecture."

"Yes, Xie Liujan will know the rumor is a lie--which means she will also know that the bat is a trap rather than an opportunity. But maybe she'll be too angry to care. Damn! If this is how they flirt, I wish they would leave poor hapless couriers out of it."

Wang Xiaonan has been processing this, growing all the more serious. "To sum up, then, if we don't deliver it, Liu Xiuling will get us. If we spend a lot more time trying, someone else might get us. Um... shit."

Lin Moniao sighs, turning to Xiaonan. "I think you have the right of it. The best we can do is deliver it as quickly as possible."

"Then let's not stop at Anyang." She eyes the horses. "And actually, we don't need the carriage, do we? If these horses agree to be ridden, we could get ahead much faster." Steady is slow, but the poor unnamed cart horses may not be used to riders.

"Yes, that might be for the best, if we can. Although then we'd lose our safety in numbers." Lin Moniao looks over at Shi Jia. "Wouldn't we?"

"Well, we have enough horses for everyone, so long as we find a place to leave the carriages." Shi Jia looks sullenly towards the bodyguards' carriage. "Chan Yu rides even slower than he drives… but we are all going the same way, still." As they move on, as if to prove the point, faster riders on single horses are catching up and passing their little caravan by.

"Well then." Lin Moniao gives Shi Jia a sunny smile. The bodyguards may not like leaving their carriage because of a mission they haven't been told about, and which isn't their mission either way, but as long as Shi Jia is volunteering, it looks like they don't get a say. "I'd be glad of your company for a little longer."

Shi Jia sparkles at him. Wang Xiaonan rolls her eyes. "Well then,” she says, “maybe we should stop in Anyang, just to drop off the carriages at an inn or a station. Actually, Madam Yan has a sister in the red light district there. She would not steal from us... I think."

"Perfect. As long as it doesn't cost us more time than it saves." As for the carriages and their contents, Lin Moniao doesn't really care if this sister of Madam Yan's steals everything; it's not his property, and it hardly seems that the Handan Escort Company is in any position to take him to account for it.

"I will cost us money, though," Xiaonan mutters under her breath, but then none of them want to get poisoned by the Ancient Willow Sect or have their eardrums shattered by the Screaming Zither Sect, or whoever else might have caught wind that they were carrying the Obsidian Bat.

"Wang-xiaojie mustn't worry," Shi Jia says with a downward glance.

"Lin Moniao, this is on you." She flicks her reins and hurries the horses on, leaving the other two behind. Anyang is only an hour or so ahead.

No, it's on Shi Jia, Lin Moniao wants to say, but Xiaonan drives ahead before he can. Well, if she objects to Shi Jia paying, next time she shouldn't leave her money behind, is what.

"Never mind," he says, in non-apology for Xiaonan's bluntness. "I think A-Jia is very generous."

Shi Jia looks a little pink with embarrassment again. "This Shi Jia is grateful for A-Niao's trust. Wang Xiaonan is wise to be suspicious. I... want to tell you... even what I'm not supposed to. I will, probably. But it really has nothing to do with this. I, ah." He looks behind and ahead of them and rides a little closer. "Let's just say that if I had seen a parrot charm among your clothes, I would be expected to give a report on the activities of the Qilin Villa. But I didn't, so there is no reason to mention you at all. Shi Jia's eyesight is really very bad sometimes."

"...Ah," says Lin Moniao, in an unintentional echo of Shi Jia. He just stops himself from reaching for his parrot token. "Well, we were both fairly preoccupied at the time; I'm sure no one could blame Shi Jia for not observing as astutely as usual. And, truly, this has nothing to do with--any of that. It really is just a job I took. And... thank you."

The land here is flat, though the horizon meets with rolling mountains. They arrive at the ancient city in the afternoon, where the streets are uncharacteristically quiet, but then the heat is truly oppressive. Wang Xiaonan has thrown off her cloak and detached the hood to tie on her head as a hat; Shi Jia's hat has been used as a fan almost more than as a hat, today. As they pass through a quiet, tired marketplace, Shi Jia hops off his horse to buy several cheap fans and distribute them among their group, not that they do much against this kind of weather. Relief will come with sundown, which is still hours away.

An Yu and Wang Xiaonan both have the face to ask around for the red lights, and so it is no problem finding Madam Ji's Red Lotus Pavilion. It is a squat, flat two story house without an inner courtyard, blissfully near a thin canal that evens the air here fractionally, with stables backing up to another restaurant. Its balconies are covered in red silk hangings to provide shade and privacy, and inside you can hear the sound of a pipa being played.

With a longing glance at the canal, the restaurant, and the balconies, Lin Moniao turns his horse resolutely to the stables, which are surely the place to inquire about storing carriages for a few days, which, as he reminds himself, is the only reason they're here.

"Customers?" says the stablemaster, a gruff-looking woman in her forties.

"We have money," Xiaonan says and reaches into her robes for a pendant hanging around her neck. She shows the token to the stablemaster, who grunts and whistles for attendants. "We're only dropping by, but if you could..."

"I know how to care for horses, young lady."

She hands over the carriage and hops down, her eyes seeking out Lin Moniao. "I need to go pay my respects, and also pay." She turns to Shi Jia, who laughs, slides off his horse, puts his hands together for her, and follows her towards the main building. "Coming?" Xiaonan calls to the others. Chan Yu looks interested, but An Yu pulls him back with a firm shake of her head.

Lin Moniao follows Wang Xionan, intrigued. It's possible that they all have something they're not telling each other. If Madam Yan's and this place really are simple houses of pleasure, why would an employee from one of them need to be carrying a token that identifies her and gives her access to the other? Even if they really are sisters, it seems excessive. Not to mention, this is the most confident he's seen Xiaonan outside of a fight.

Inside, the pleasure house is a series of semi-enclosed areas connected with hallways, with stairs leading up for more privacy. As the others follow, Wang Xiaonan bows low before an effeminate older man and offers her token again. He touches her elbows to bring her out of the bow, rejecting her show of submission. "Come on in, dear," he says. "Are these your friends? Come on in, all of you, we'll get you drinks while you wait."

Inside it is shaded but still hot, but there is the sound of conversation coming from all around, and the sound of the pipa grows louder the further one goes in.

"Thank you, Uncle. It's really not necessary to trouble yourself." Lin Moniao bows shallowly, looking around the interior. Drinks sound wonderful--it is so hot--but the whole point of this detour was to save time. It's loud and crowded enough in here that he's afraid he wouldn't spot any enemies until it was too late, and he doesn't want to leave their cargo, disguised as it is, with Shi Jia's bodyguards and the stablehands for long.

"I'll just be a minute," Wang Xiaonan says. The uncle points them to a table and snaps at a waiter, who brings in miraculously cool drinks as Xiaonan follows the man upstairs.

"And here I am with all my money and nothing to spend it on," says Shi Jia, looking around restlessly. "A-Niao, maybe you should go keep an eye out with An Yu and Chan Yu?"

Lin Moniao slides his eyes over to Shi Jia, wondering what he's thinking. This is the first time since they met yesterday that Shi Jia has tried to get rid of him. But, by the way he's scanning the room, he probably has the same worries as Lin Moniao, and he probably knows better what sort of trouble to look out for.

"Not a bad idea," says Lin Moniao, and goes to return to the stables, but not without downing a drink first.

An Yu has allowed Chan Yu a bottle of baijiu and they are both fanning each other with the new fans, but hot is hot is hot. Time passes without much incident for a while in the stableyard, and then a dirty street kid beckons at the gateway. A stable boy descends to chase him away. "I've just got a message, friend!" the boy protests. "A message for those guys!" He points at the three of them.

Lin Moniao approaches the kid. "You have a message for us?"

The kid pushes past the stable boy and presses a note on a piece of paper torn out of a book that seems to be an analysis of one of Confucius's parables. On it, in old and complex characters dashed off in a hurry, is this message: Kidnapped by three idiots. So sorry. They're asking for the cargo. Black carriage on the street. One unarmed, one with a sabre, one with iron teeth. Very important: get the prettiest girl in the brothel and bring her with you. She won't be harmed, probably.

Lin Moniao shakes his head, exasperated and fond. Shi Jia would apologize for getting kidnapped.

But then, he should apologize for getting kidnapped. Damn! Lin Moniao can't leave him alone for a minute. They've been trying to avoid people trying to steal the bat, not walk into their arms. And what about Shi Jia's bodyguards? Aren't they supposed to be guarding his body, or something? More exasperated than fond now, he looks past the gate into the street, seeing if he can spot the black carriage.

It sits on the opposite side of the street, just a little away, so it is not directly visible from the stables. The back of it is a box, not unlike their own Handan Escort Company carriage, but it is entirely enclosed on every side, with a door and a shuttered window on the driver’s seat side. It's a little worse for wear, and the horses look tired. There is a sturdy man with a hood pulled over his head sitting in the driver's seat.

Lin Moniao gives the man a glare, and then turns back to go inside and find Xiaonan, and this other girl--did Shi Jia have a specific person in mind? Or is Lin Moniao just supposed to pick someone? Is meeting with kidnappers the sort of service that the girls here offer?

He's going to have to explain the situation to An Yu and Chan Yu too, before they set out, but he'd rather put that off. It occurs to him that they might blame him for losing track of their charge.

The uncle from before meets Lin Moniao in the lobby. "Oh, I am happy to see you. Your friend left so suddenly with that black-clad customer-- This one did not know where you had gone to-- He forgot to settle his bill..."

At the heart of the brothel's downstairs is a dining hall with doors leading to the kitchen and a pair of staircases leading up. Wang Xiaonan had gone up one of them when she went to pay respects to Madam Ji.

"Yes, I'll take care of it--" Resignedly, Lin Moniao reaches for his string of coins. Now he has to pay Shi Jia's bills as well as Wang Xiaonan's, it really isn't fair. "But I really must speak with Wang Xiaonan, it's a matter of some urgency."

How long can it take her to pay respects, anyway?

The uncle collects happily with many bows. "This one will go inquire at once. And would gongzi like company while he waits? We have many beautiful flowers who are charming company. They can fill your pipe and recite poetry at the same time."

Lin Moniao is about to say that no, he would like not to wait, but then he remembers that he would, actually. "What an excellent thought, Uncle. Please send me the prettiest girl you have. If I see another prettier one later, I will know," he warns. "And I do mean it, about the urgency."

"The prettiest?" He taps his chin and bows again, then shuffles off down another corridor into the maze of the brothel.

After a minute or so, he is still gone, but there are voices from above and Wang Xiaonan descends the staircase. She spots him and comes down two steps at a time. "I'm so sorry. Madam Ji wanted to recite a letter..."

The relief that Lin Moniao feels when he sees her surprises him. Surely he didn't think that something awful had befallen her, just because Shi Jia's gone missing. And surely he doesn't expect her to solve all his problems now that she's here. "Never mind. Some ruffians have grabbed Shi Jia."

Quickly, he relays the contents of the note--he would give it to her to read, but even if she's not totally illiterate, he doubts she'd be able to decipher Shi Jia's archaic writing.

As he does, it occurs to him that he might have it backwards, and that the "prettiest girl" might be Shi Jia's coy, teasing way of referring to Xiaonan herself. But that doesn't seem right--why get her and bring her, of course she would be coming along? And why the assurances that she (probably) wouldn't be harmed when Xiaonan is capable of handling herself?

Anyway, it's not a possibility that he wants to bring up with Xiaonan; he doesn't think she'd like it, anymore than she liked Wan Lang calling her Wang-guniang.

"Do you know the girls here?" he asks instead. "Do you have any idea why Shi Jia would be asking for her? And is your--authority, whatever it is--enough to get her to accompany us? I was thinking of using money, and my unfailing charm, but--"

"Lin Moniao!" she moans. "It's hopeless! Send their prettiest girl out into a dark carriage waiting outside, with no assurances? We'd have to buy the entire girl! I don't have that kind of money or influence! I'm just a messenger!"

She tugs on his sleeve. "Forget about it! Even if she is important, he said there are three kidnappers--well, there's four of us! And Madam Ji's people wouldn't like it if they found out someone's hanging out there trying to steal their girls. Maybe that's his game? Get help from the security here?"

Just then the uncle shuffles back, a silk-wrapped beauty in tow. She really is stunning with her carefully painted lips and highlighted brows, though perhaps a little taller than ideal. She makes up for the height with sweet and graceful motions and demurely lowered eyes. Even if he didn’t know she was a courtesan, or if she wasn’t dressed as she was, Lin Moniao would recognize the practiced grace from the way his mother carries herself.

"Uncle, you have not disappointed me," says Lin Moniao, and then, addressing the beauty directly, "You see, I asked him to bring me the prettiest girl here, and clearly he has. I don't need to see the rest of them to know that. Will you join my friend and me for a moment? We have some business we'd like to discuss. Privately," he adds, looking at the uncle again.

The uncle, perhaps already counting silver in his head, smiles and retreats. The courtesan takes over, bowing before them. "Gongzi is very kind. Please follow Die-er."

Well, there are plenty of private burrows down here, so they duck into a silk-shaded corner with pillows. Wang Xiaonan follows anxiously, hovering in the doorway and glancing both ways down the corridor before coming in. She's toying with the string on her neck that holds Madame Yan's token, but looks at Lin Moniao, waiting to see his strategy first.

Everything that Wang Xiaonan said makes sense--but surely Shi Jia knows it too, and still he expects Lin Moniao to bring the girl along. This suggests that either he knows something about the situation that Lin Moniao and Wang Xiaonan don't, or just that he has boundless confidence in Lin Moniao's abilities. If it's the latter, Lin Moniao will just have to do his best not to disappoint him.

"The situation is this. Our very good friend, the gentleman scholar Shi Jia, has been invited to a conversation with some impolite individuals--" here Lin Moniao gives a brief description of Shi Jia and the man in black he saw, as well as the details Shi Jia told him, in case it's her familiarity with any of them that will persuade the beauty to come along. "And he believes that it's important that you accompany us on our errand to clear up this misunderstanding. Now, my friend here," acknowledging Wang Xiaonan with a bow, "thinks that it's hopeless to ask you. She's very sensible, and in most cases I'm sure she'd be right. But you strike me as a brave and stalwart girl who would not fail to help a gentleman in need, especially if such help proved remunerative. My friend and I can only offer you a little, besides the protection of our blades." He displays the last full string of coins he has left. "But Shi Jia, once we retrieve him, can offer you much more."

And if Shi Jia doesn't like him being so generous with his money, next time he shouldn't get kidnapped, is what.

Die-er listens politely, then her eyes grow distant, as if she is making a calculation or a prediction.

Wang Xiaonan kneels beside her and pulls out her token to show her. "Please. I am a disciple of Yan Muxue and a servant of Madame Yan. I will not let anyone take you."

Die-er inclines her head sweetly. "Die-er will accompany you to the street. There is no need to tell Madame or Uncle. I hope this will be enough to help your friend."

Lin Moniao bows. "Die-er is just as brave as she is beautiful. Let's go, then. We just have to collect a couple more friends from the stables, as well as an item." He catches Wang Xiaonan's eye. "In a box."

Die-er loops her silks up around her, hiding her hair and face, and the three of them walk quietly out to the stables. An Yu stands up, alarmed, and looks around. "Where is he?" she demands harshly.

"Lost," says Wang Xiaonan mercilessly and explains, collecting the bodyguards. They make quite a group now, against just three, even if they hold an advantage.

"What do you think?" she asks Lin Moniao. "Do we all go? Some of us could block the carriage's route up ahead?

"That's not a bad notion," says Lin Moniao, impressed. "We wouldn't want them to drive off with our friend. It might be best if I did whatever talking was required, and of course you've promised your personal protection to this lady. That leaves you two," he says to An Yu and Chan Yu.

This is quickly agreed on. There is only one way the carriage can drive, so the bodyguards go up ahead in that direction, as casual and nondescript as they have ever been. Xiaonan sticks close behind Die-er as they approach.

The hooded man on the carriage shifts in their direction, throws his hood back, and grins at them. It's a familiar face--one of the three badger-bandits from the road to Cizhou.

"Really? Again?" says Lin Moniao. "If you do have our friend, I would like to see him, please. Then we can have a conversation." He holds up the box, hidden from view of the street by his sleeve.

The bandit knocks on the door and slides it open. "They want to--"

"Yes, I heard," says the voice of the Bat King. "Don't try anything, you." The next thing, Shi Jia is half-shoved out, a hand still tight on a piece of rope in a noose around his neck and a hand on his collar. He does not seem quite as bothered as he probably should be. He takes in their group, winks at Die-er and does a motion with his hand as if to pull something off his face.

Die-er looks confused, then nervously pulls the silks back to reveal her face. Shi Jia is yanked back, and the badger holds out his hands.

"Sir, they only brought a box," Shi Jia's voice comes from inside the carriage. "Don't you want to see for yourself if it really has your Bat inside?"

The badger stares at Die-er for a moment, cogs turning. "Boss," he calls out. "Boss, don't, it's a trap!"

Lin Moniao doesn't know what's going on, but whatever Shi Jia's plan is, it seems like it might be working? He holds up the box enticingly, prepared to throw it in the man's face and run, if necessary, as long as Shi Jia and Wang Xiaonan are also running with him.

"The fuck," the Bat King snarls loudly. "Get out of the way, you idiot."

Shaded from the sun with a weimao, which also hides his hideous face, the Bat King pushes through the badger on the driver seat. Even crouched like this, he is large and formidable, and the sliver of his face visible through the gap in the veils is set in a snarl. His eyes lock on the box. "Open it. Show me you have it, or your friend--"

Then he sees Die-er, and stares. The courtesan shrinks back, and Xiaonan pulls out her weapons, stepping forward to protect her.

"No, boss," the badger groans. "Boss, it's just some whore."

"Get--get us out of here," the Bat King croaks, shrinking back. "Forget it!! Get us out of here!"

"But boss--"

"Do it!"

Is this what was supposed to happen? An Yu and Chan Yu are waiting in the street ahead, so they won't get far, but– No time for second thoughts. Lin Moniao chucks the box into the Bat King's face and leaps up onto the carriage, hoping to get to Shi Jia before someone strangles him.

The Bat King dodges to the side, and the box hits the carriage, rolling on to the driver’s seat. His expression grows ugly as he realizes the bat was never in there.

It is dark inside the carriage--of course, all the light filters through narrow cracks between the planks that make up the box and from the doorway now blocked by three bodies--but inside there is another badger-bandit, who is holding the other end of the rope that is tied around Shi Jia's neck. He also has the young man by the shoulder, pushed down to a seated position on the floor of the carriage.

Lin Moniao pushes past the Bat King and his henchman into the carriage, letting his momentum carry him, dodging the latter’s attempt to grab him. The Bat King opens his mouth and tries to take a vicious bite out of Lin Moniao's side with his iron teeth, but he is too slow, and ends up chomping empty air.

Lin Moniao lands between Shi Jia and the bandit holding his noose. As he does, he draws his dagger, hoping to cut Shi Jia free, but the bandit blocks his movement and he can't quite bring it to bear.

It all happens in a moment. There is a saber hanging on the side of the bandit holding Shi Jia’s rope. Shi Jia shoots his hand out and attempts to grab it from him, but his fingertips only brush the handle. Enraged, the bandit tightens the noose, making him gasp, and pulls the blade out himself. He slashes at Lin Moniao, but in the dark tight confines of the carriage, the slash goes wide.

Out in the street, Die-er stands closer to Wang Xiaonan, but makes no move to run or attack. Wang Xiaonan shields her with her body and shouts down the street. "Chan Yu! An Yu!" She risks a quick jump forward to slash at the bandit’s legs. It connects, but the badger merely stumbles as his trousers are torn and his calves bloodied. Die-er cries out, covering her eyes.

Hearing Shi Jia start to choke, Lin Moniao desperately dodges the bandit’s flailing arms, and this time manages to get his dagger into position. Quickly but precisely, he slides it under the rope circling Shi Jia's neck and draws it back. The rope parts, and Shi Jia's skin isn't even nicked. "Get that girl back to her house," Lin Moniao tells him. "I promised you'd pay her a lot."

Shi Jia nods.

"Stop it!" bellows the Bat King. "Stop the fight!"

The bandit with the saber ignores him and slashes again at Lin Moniao but it goes completely wide, making a cut in the wall. Light streams in as the wood splits. Shi Jia takes the opportunity to dive out of the carriage and scurry nimbly off to Die-er's side.

On the driver’s seat, the other bandit makes a move as if to jump on top of Xiaonan, but the Bat King kicks his own man on the back and he stumbles into the ground. "I said stop the fucking fight! You're scaring the lady!"

Inside, the bandit yanks his saber from the wood but only holds it between himself and Lin Moniao, grunting with frustration. "But boss!"

Outside, Shi Jia rubs his neck but leans in to speak quietly in Die-er's ear. Her eyes widen and flash to him, then to the Bat King. The bandit so unceremoniously kicked into the ground picks himself up and stares around in mute fury.

People have started to gather around to point and stare. Chan Yu and An Yu push past them, An Yu with a nasty-looking knife in her hand and Chan Yu wielding a pair of throwing axes.

Well, that's... Lin Moniao can work with that, probably.

"It's true, she does seem quite alarmed," he says, straightening up and brushing off his clothes. "Why don't my friends and I escort her home so she can recover, and we can continue this discussion later?"

The only problem is if they don't continue the "discussion" now these guys probably will come back again to be pains in their asses later. But right now Lin Moniao would rather see Shi Jia safe--and Die-er too of course--and at least try to get ahead of whatever other pursuers they have.

There are several credible threats around the Bat King--four armed individuals, a street full of people who might choose to raise the alarm or swarm the carriage--but the only thing the Bat King stares at is Die-er. She steps forward with a glint in her eye and addresses him. "So uncouth! So noisy and annoying! What do you think you're doing?"

The Bat King crumbles into a mess on the driver's seat. "I'm sorry, madam! I am so sorry! Please take what you want! Please don't come closer!"

The bandit on the ground kicks the dirt of the road and swears. The other one sighs, sheathes his saber, and gives his brother a hand up back onto the carriage. "We're going! Show's over!" His voice has gained an edge of authority now his boss is done for.

The Bat King unhooks a bag from his belt with shaking hands and throws it into the street at Die-er's feet. "Please, madam..."

Die-er swoops down gracefully, picks up the bag and weighs it in her hand. It makes a satisfying clink. "Hmh!" She gives the Bat King a withering glance, and he shrinks further. The badger-bandit gathers up the reins.

Lin Moniao picks up the box and jumps down from the carriage, but as he goes to rejoin his friends, seeing the staring crowds, he thinks again. The box is useless as a decoy to this group now, but he can still use it to muddy the waters a bit.

"Keep it," he says, placing the box conspicuously on the driver's box. "Pleasure doing business with you." Then he rejoins his friends, hissing under his breath, "Let's go, let's go--"

Wang Xiaonan nods in fervent agreement. She grabs Die-er's arm and rushes her to the brothel, where staff have gathered at the door. She delivers her into their arms with her new-found wealth.

Shi Jia's bodyguards surround him and march him towards the stables; for once, he doesn't complain, but with one last look back at Lin Moniao he breaks into a jog with them, and Wang Xiaonan is at their heel.

The Bat King picks up the box, hisses at the crowd, sweeps his cloak in a dramatic way and goes back into hiding inside the carriage. The carriage lurches forward, the horse hesitant in the face of the crowd. With a flick of the whip, the horse whinnies and breaks into a trot, the crowd thankfully thin enough to part and let it pass in a slow, undramatic fashion.

"Let's just get our horses and go, eh?" says Lin Moniao. "Wang Xiaonan, when you were talking to Madam Ji, did you happen to arrange for the carriages?" She was in there long enough, anyway.

"Yes! That's agreed on, though we didn't pay-- I-- She won't get rid of them, anyway!"

The horses have already been uncoupled from the carriages and saddled up, so getting on them and getting away is no big deal. Shi Jia even has his bag of books. The street is also far less crowded, as the show is over now, and so they can trot at a good pace through the square rigged streets out towards the southern gate. No one stops them.

As they ride out into the open road, Lin Moniao brings his horse level with Shi Jia's, just bumping his leg with his own. Without trying to make a big show of it, he looks Shi Jia over to see if he's suffered any ill effects from his rough treatment by the bandits. At the same time, he asks, "What on earth was going on with that bat fellow? And how did Shi Jia know?"

Shi Jia has been acting subdued ever since he was freed, and he has something of a hangdog look about him now. He touches his neck, though there is only the faintest line of pink-scraped skin over his collar. "Shi Jia didn't. They were idiots. The two brothers argued openly about how to make sure their boss didn't see any of the girls. I thought he might have some eccentric lustful urges that might distract him, but... he looked scared, not lustful. I joined that up with some rumors I heard in Handan... Shi Jia was at least three fourths sure it would help."

He hangs his head and avoids Lin Moniao's eyes. "It was stupid to get caught. I thought I'd do some asking around. I couldn't even get started before there was a sharp point pressed in my side. He just marched me out. It was very stupid and arrogant and Shi Jia is very sorry. He does need babysitters." He mumbles to himself, "Useless!"

Lin Moniao doesn't know what to say to this, any more than he knew what to say to Xiaonan's tears. He'd only meant to make Shi Jia feel better--well, that and to satisfy his curiosity about the Bat King's truly bizarre behavior.

"Well, I thought it was clever," he says inadequately. "And it worked."

"Um. Thank you. And thank you for coming to the rescue, like a big hero." Shi Jia flushes, but sits up a little taller and sets his jaw. "I'll be cleverer next time. You could have got hurt, or that girl-- I'll make sure next time no one else is in danger." He taps his foot on the side of his horse and trots ahead, leaving Lin Moniao behind. The bodyguards trot behind him. They're not letting him out of their sight now.

Wang Xiaonan sidles up on Steady. "Want to ditch them?" she asks quietly.

This surprises a laugh out of Lin Moniao.

"No," he decides, after considering it for a moment. "Those bandits had been chasing us since Handan anyway, they were likely to catch up sooner or later, and now, maybe they'll be less of a problem. Shi Jia may be a liability in a fight, but that doesn't mean he's not useful to have around. And those two--" with a disdainful look at An Yu and Chan Yu-- "may have failed at their job, but they do seem to be able to handle their weapons, anyway. We should take the allies we can get, at this point, eh? And, well, I may have just shown all of Anyang that I'll come for Shi Jia if they threaten him, so... best to keep him close until this is over. Those two certainly aren't going to keep him out of trouble."

Also, Lin Moniao likes having Shi Jia around. He doesn't say this, but he thinks maybe Wang Xiaonan can tell.

"It's quite romantic, really," Wang Xiaonan muses. "Maybe they'll compose a ballad. Though probably then the Bat King will also become a handsome youth desperately in love with Die-er." Courtesans are practiced in the arts of entertainment, after all, and what's better than material involving their own house?

Lin Moniao blushes and laughs again. "Oh, it is not," he says. But Wang Xiaonan isn't wrong. He knows that as well as she does, and the thought isn't entirely unpleasant. It's not what he meant when he said he wanted to be a legendary warrior, but perhaps it's a start. "I'm glad you're not ditching the rest of us, Wang-er."

Wang Xiaonan blinks, as if it had never occurred to her. "But I signed a contract. And I need to go to Ao Town."

"And? If you walk out on your contract, who is the Handan Escort Company going to hire to hunt you down? And what are they going to pay them with?" Lin Moniao says, before he remembers that he's not actually trying to convince Xiaonan to walk out on him.

"Well, I'd know," Xiaonan mutters.

"Never mind. What's in Ao Town?"

"Madam Yan has another sister in Ao Town, and she needed a letter delivered. It's quite far and confidential, so she didn't want it getting lost on the way. And I think my master told her I need to get experience in the world?" She blows out a puff of air. "I don't know what for. I've got plenty of experience."

"I'd guess that the last few days have included some experiences that were new even for you," Lin Moniao says. "Even I, older and wiser in the ways of the world, have never been attacked by a man dressed as a bat before. Why this would be considered beneficial is a different question."

Wang Xiaonan hides her mouth and snorts a laugh. "As a bat, no. Not a bat."

"Well, there you are," Lin Moniao says solemnly. "You shouldn't question your master's wisdom, Wang Xiaonan."

 

Immortal Sword Manor

 

Rations are distributed to the riders on horseback, and the dried meat and rice cakes supply energy without the need to stop, save to water the horses. Chan Yu gets into his hidden stash of baijiu and, though he rarely speaks, it turns out he has a handsome and tuneful singing voice. An Yu doesn't even seem to mind, and joins in on the choruses. Miles disappear under their hooves.

Even so, they can only ride for so long before bodies tire and bellies grumble. By the time the day is turning to evening, Xinxiang comes to sight, standing rigid and smoky between them and the Yellow River. It's time to decide where and how to bed down for the night, or whether to press their horses and push on through it.

"I suppose we should find a place to rest," Lin Moniao yawns. "Haste is all very well, but it won't do us any good if we're attacked and we're all dead on our feet. Not the city, though. Cities have given us enough trouble today."

"Let's find a village and pay to stay at a barn," Wang Xiaonan suggests.

"No need," says An Yu. "We can shelter under those trees over there." She points at a copse of trees growing densely together not far from the road, before being cut off on the other side by farmland. "Chan Yu can hunt us some fresh meat, too."

"Inn," says Chan Yu.

An Yu scoffs, "Inns are as bad as cities!"

Lin Moniao is inclined to agree, about inns. "A village and a barn isn't a bad notion. But the trees are right here." He yawns again and more deeply. "It's only for one night, anyway."

"The trees, then," says Shi Jia, and the vote is complete.

They pick a path through some craggy ground and dry grass. At least the heat is finally letting up. As they approach, there is another fortunate discovery--a travelers’ well not far from the road. Footpaths here are recent and when Chan Yu pulls up the bucket, the water is clean, so he fills up their empty bottles with it.

"Tea," says Wang Xiaonan with satisfaction. It will have to be cooked in a kettle and served from a bowl, however.

"Tea sounds good," Lin Moniao agrees, trying to find as comfortable a seat as he can on a layer of dry pine needles. "We should probably arrange watches as well."

"I suggest Wang Xiaonan sleeps first, since she didn't get much sleep last night," Shi Jia says. "Then it should be Lin Moniao first, then Chan Yu, me, then An Yu. Agreed?"

Lin Moniao nods. "That seems fair." He isn't looking forward to having to stay up when everyone else goes to sleep, or to having to try to sleep on the ground, for that matter. But at least this way no one will be waking him in the middle of the night. Unless there really is an attack.

There are plenty of dry leaves and twigs after such a hot day, so getting a fire started and a kettle going doesn’t take long. The spot turns out to be ideal, shaded and hidden from view from the road, save for their telltale smoke, but anyone approaching through the open areas around would be easy to spot long before they get near.

Shi Jia is on his second cup of tea when he starts shifting uncomfortably. He soon excuses himself and goes deeper into the copse. Chan Yu follows; proper protocol for once.

Wang Xiaonan is next, turning slightly green as she bends to stoke the fire. "Oh, god." She presses a hand to her stomach. She runs off into the cover of trees, in another direction.

An Yu gives Lin Moniao a look and a shrug, and bites into her cured meat.

Lin Moniao shrugs in return, but he begins to feel a little concerned when they don't come back right away.

Shi Jia comes back first, without Chan Yu. He looks pale and is covering his mouth with both sleeves. "If I die, please let my father know." Then he curls up in a heap on the dry grass, not even bothering to lay out a blanket. Lin Moniao rubs Shi Jia's back sympathetically.

Wang Xiaonan comes back next, pushing her hair back from a sweaty forehead. "H-headcount. Who is not sick?"

"I feel fine," he says. "We all ate and drank the same things, didn't we?"

Shi Jia buries his face further in his sleeves. "The roadside wine shop. The spoons. Crusty with grease. Uggghh."

"Do you think so? The noodles were so good," Lin Moniao says. "Well, if so, take comfort in the thought that somewhere the Sword Goddess may be feeling the same way."

An Yu tuts. "Weak stomachs. Folk like me and Chan Yu--"

Chan Yu totters back from the woods and flops on the ground next to Shi Jia, holding his belly.

"...It's because he's a drunkard," An Yu defends, and finishes her meat in a gulp. Wang Xiaonan sees it and turns around, running back into the trees.

"I guess that sorts out the watches." An Yu yawns. "If they won't sleep, I will."

Lin Moniao nudges An Yu with his foot. "I'll wake you at midnight anyway. How well do you think that people are going to spot enemies if they're puking their guts out in the woods?"

"Hmh. Fair." She's already up and picking up a blanket from one of the saddlebags.

"I'm so sorryyyy," Shi Jia moans. "Goddess of Mercy..."

The night passes without any major incident. After a couple of hours, Chan Yu rolls over and goes quietly to sleep. Wang Xiaonan barely leaves the trees for the first few hours, and then comes back to the fire to fall into an exhausted pile, before waking up and pushing herself up with a groan to go back. After some initial moaning, Shi Jia suffers quietly, sleeping in fits.

When her time comes for An Yu to relieve Lin Moniao, she wakes up grumpy, but then that is no different from her usual demeanor. It seems whatever demon is gnawing at the others’ guts has passed her and Lin Moniao by.

In the morning, most of them are tired, but better. Only Shi Jia still looks like a ghost, and he commandeers a bucket of water from the well to pour into his bowl and brush his teeth over and over again. When merciless An Yu starts cooking spicy rice congee for breakfast, he declares he's going for a walk.

"A walk sounds like a fine idea." Lin Moniao pushes himself to his feet. In truth, he's still a little tired from only sleeping half the night, and on the ground at that. And the rice smells good to him. But he doesn't want to make a big deal of not letting Shi Jia wander off on his own; he heard enough self-recriminations yesterday.

Shi Jia hides his entire face in his sleeves, which now have some leaves stuck to the material, but nods and leads the way. At the edge of the farmer's fields, they can see the wheat is high and in early maturity, and Shi Jia steals a few stalks instinctively, stuffing them into his bag. At least he has stopped apologizing.

"So..." says Lin Moniao. "Today this will all be over, one way or another. And then Wang Xiaonan will be off to her errand in Ao Town, and you will be having your meeting in Kaifeng..."

"Will you be in a hurry, A-Niao?" Paranoid about his breath, he holds his hand over his mouth as he speaks. "Shi Jia is not appealing company now, but... Maybe then?"

"Shi Jia is always welcome company." Lin Moniao plucks a stalk of wheat and flicks Shi Jia's cheek with it. "But yes. Maybe then."

Shi Jia is still pale, but that makes him smile. He whacks at the wheat stalk. "Then, it is agreed." He draws a deep breath and finally drops his hand and speaks quickly. "You and Wang-xiaojie, you haven't known one another for long, have you? That Madame Yan, and Madame Ji--they are part of some kind of an information network, but I don't know who for or why. That's why I was in Handan, and going to Anyang, and what I'm going to see my chief about in Kaifeng. That's what I wanted to tell you. It had nothing to do with the Escort Company attack. I really just heard about that in Handan and got curious. And it's a coincidence that you were traveling with one of their messengers. Her... I'm going to have to report." He winces. "Unless you don't want me to...?"

"I've only known her a few days," Lin Moniao confirms. It was easy to explain to Wang Xiaonan why he trusted Shi Jia: he could have betrayed him, and he didn't. But how can he explain to Shi Jia about Wang Xiaonan? How she fought like a tiger, and cried on his shoulder about Wan Lang, and said he looked like he'd crawled out of a bottle of the most expensive pepper wine, and sat up all night like a mother hen with a box that didn't even have the bat in it. "Shi Jia--don't."

Shi Jia searches his face, and nods slowly. "Then I won't." He steps up and grabs Lin Moniao's robe to keep him still, and drops a quick kiss on his jawline.

Lin Moniao wraps his arms around Shi Jia's waist, holding him there. His robe does have a lingering sour smell, but he himself smells fine. "Thank you," Lin Moniao whispers into Shi Jia's ear. "And I will refrain from mentioning anything Shi Jia has said to... anyone I might be expected to mention things to. And I will tell you one more thing: I don't believe your father needed to bribe anyone for you to pass your exam."

Shi Jia squeezes him and hides his face at the compliment. "What a terrible pair of unrighteous, disloyal people we are." He lifts his face to give Lin Moniao's jaw and neck a few more kisses. "Ah, let's go back before I forget I'm indisposed and attempt something scandalous and ill-advised." He draws away and takes Lin Moniao's hand to pull him along.

"Terrible," Lin Moniao agrees cheerfully, and lets himself be pulled. Not that he's blind to the appeal of something scandalous and ill-advised, but it would probably be uncomfortable in practice, not to mention that if An Yu and Chan Yu come looking for Shi Jia again, there's not even a door between them this time.

Back at the campsite, An Yu is ladling out rice and more water for tea is boiling over the fire. The temperature this morning is perfect, neither too hot or cold, with a breeze in the air, but with the heat of the previous days, that may signal a storm to come later in the day. Immortal Sword Manor is still a full day's ride away.

Wang Xiaonan is sitting by the fire. Her color has returned, and she waves at the young men as they return, mouth full. She gestures at the tea and the bowls and them; Shi Jia looks doubtful for a moment, but nods, and she sets about pouring. The scholar thanks her very prettily when she hands him a bowl.

"Yes please." Lin Moniao accepts a bowl of tea and a bowl of rice. Warm food and drink are better than hard rations on horseback, which is all he has to look forward to for the rest of the day, but he's not much tempted to linger over them. The noodles yesterday were delicious, but did Wang Yan have to send them his aunt's thunderstorm on top of that awful sickness? Maybe if they're fast and lucky, they can outrun it.

Everyone can see the signs in the weather, so everyone understands the urgency. They set off early at a good pace and keep at it, riding past Xinxiang to avoid the traffic in the city itself. They take a short rest to water the horses and check the time and their direction, but then move on directly.

By the time they reach the tall packed-earth dikes surrounding the Yellow River's low summer trickle, it is late afternoon, and the horses (and some riders) are showing signs of exhaustion. Even Steady is sweating and breathing hard. There are still miles to go to Immortal Sword Manor, and dark clouds hang heavy in the sky above.

Wang Xiaonan is the first to say it. "We have to stop. This is cruel. They need a longer rest."

With the sky so threatening, and their destination so close, Lin Moniao wants to insist that no, it will be fine, they can press on a little further--but he can feel in the laboured breathing of the horse beneath him that it isn't true.

"Yes. All right."

Traffic is congested here where imperial guards are letting carriages on to the bridge at a controlled rate, using the artificial bottleneck it creates as an opportunity to do spot checks for restricted goods. The system is, of course, fairly corrupt--bribes and tokens will get your carriage through uninspected. It's the poor honest folk who clog up the bridge.

On the other side looms the top of a watchtower. On this side, there are shaded stalls set up on the side of the road: money lender, food seller, and some fellow with an eye for opportunity selling bamboo umbrellas, to name a few.

And yes--horses, for rent or sale.

"How attached are you to your horses?" Lin Moniao asks Shi Jia, including An Yu and Chan Yu as an afterthought. "The ones Wang Xiaonan and I are riding are from the Company, and if we bring back others in their place, the Company won't be in much position to complain. But I imagine it would be possible to arrange for these horse traders to return yours to you, provided you bring theirs back undamaged and promptly, it will probably just cost a little more."

"I don't think we have much choice." The others nod their agreement, and Shi Jia goes to negotiate the exchange of their tired horses for some fresh ones, and to pay the difference.

The new mounts are short-legged and sturdy Mongolian horses, with saddles to match. The way the seller smiles as he waves them off, Shi Jia likely paid way too much for them.

Shi Jia leans in to speak softly in Lin Moniao's ear. It is conspicuous, but he must have judged it worth it. "If they stop us, I can show my badge. It will get us through faster but it would draw attention."

"If it means riding through less of this," Lin Moniao mutters back, "do it."

The first drops are starting to fall. Wang Xiaonan flips her hood up. An Yu has bought a questionable oilskin hood from a stall.

Some delay cannot be avoided, but in the end they are waved through, because their saddlebags don't look particularly laden and because the rain has started and the guards want to get a break from it like everyone else. They are through the throng, and raindrops are falling heavily. It is still daylight, but it no longer looks like it, with the sun completely obscured by storm clouds.

There are still several li to go. Normally, it would take two or three hours at a walking pace, but now they have Mongolian ponies. "Come on, then!" Wang Xiaonan cries and urges her horse forward. She still has the hot potato in her bag and plenty of reason to get rid of it.

Lin Moniao laughs and puts his heels to his horse's sides, trying to overtake her. He's not actually happy about riding through a storm, while the Heartless Dagger and her disciples might descend on them at any moment. But at least he doesn't have to do it on a cart horse anymore.

They follow the road east and ride through the storm. In the distance, the storm flashes and crackles in turn and the rain whips their faces. It instills a bone-tiredness in the riders, but the ponies press on as if it was nothing. The worst of the storm passes as they ride, and the rain has turned into a trickle by the time they get to the road turning south towards Immortal Sword Manor. As the clouds recede, however, it does not get much lighter.

The lanterns of the manor show up ahead at last as the sun hangs low on the horizon. It is a collection of buildings lifted up on a packed-earth hill, the main gates facing the road. Walls rise on either side, closing in the inner courtyards. As they approach, they see that though the three doors of the main gates are newly built, they are hanging on the frame that resembles a Buddhist temple entrance. All three doors are firmly closed and latched. More lights shine within, and two watchtowers look over the gate and the environs.

Lin Moniao swings down from the saddle, and, since no one stops him before he gets there, pounds on the gate.

The others follow, with An Yu and Chan Yu gathering protectively around Shi Jia. An Yu has her hand on her dagger, but hides it when a peephole opens in the gate. "It's after nightfall, the gates are closed," pipes a rather young voice.

"We're messengers from the Handan Escort Company, with an important delivery for your mistress," says Lin Moniao. "I believe we're expected. Go ask, please."

There is muffled conversation from within, then, "Wait right here."

Xiaonan shakes water off her trousers and wipes some off her pony's nose. Chan Yu offers everyone a gulp of his baijiu, which does some good work chasing away the chill. At least it's only summer rain.

It doesn't take very long before the voices return and the middle gate is unlatched. Under the roofed gate there is a dry area, with slightly worn but still impressive limestone statues of bodhisattvas on either side. The disciples who meet them are young but athletic, with long swords at their sides, dressed in pale blue robes with golden embroidery and highlights. "Come on in. The mistress has been waiting for you."

Lin Moniao files in with the rest of them, nudging Wang Xiaonan to the front. "I suppose this is your moment, Wang-er," he says under his breath. She's the one with the bat, after all.

Wang Xiaonan draws in a breath and nods, clutching the bat, wrapped in a bundle, a little closer to her side under the half-cape.

The disciples lead them through a garden area behind the gate and then to an entrance hall, where a giant statue of the Buddha sits serenely in the middle, greeting all comers. They round the venerable image and enter the first of the courtyards.

It's an open area surrounded by four buildings, with a pagoda at the center of it. The bottom level of the pagoda has four large open archways on each side, while the top layers are enclosed. It is under this pagoda that a group of people are waiting, and turn to look as they approach. Two identical young women wearing more gold than blue part and reveal a tall woman in white and gold.

She lifts her chin and lays a hand on her sword. There is no doubt this is the Sword Goddess, the way the young women and the two older men who had crowded her shrink back as she steps forward, a small satisfied smile on her lips.

"So, the old man did come through.” Tall and slim, with willow leaf eyes and an oval face, Liu Xiuling's age is difficult to determine as often is the case with practitioners of internal arts, but she carries herself like a queen. Whether she is beautiful or not does not seem to matter; she is impressive. She is quite obviously skilled, far more so than any of the people gathered around her. Far more than any of the group facing her.

“Chief Ban Fei is indeed honourable." She holds out her hand. "Well?"

Wang Xiaonan stops forward and bows low, bringing the bundle or cloth out from under her cloak. She holds it out without raising her eyes, but also without saying a word. Likely, the girl who gets tongue-tied around every new person she meets, cannot force a single word out in front of this great lady.

"The packaging leaves something to be desired," Liu Xiuling muses, but picks it from her hands, opens it to have a quick look, and then bundles it up again to pass it on to one of the young women, who bows and steps aside.

Liu Xiuling joins her hands before her. "Well done. I see you have ridden hard and fast, even through the storm. That is impressive. I invite you to enjoy the hospitality of Immortal Sword Manor for the night. You will find we are generous hosts, and all money matters can be settled in the morning. What are your names, warriors?"

Wang Xiaonan looks up, but manages barely to stutter out the first sound of her name. She purses her lips with determination and tries again. "Wang Xiaonan!" It comes out too loud. "Of the Fragrant Blossom!"

Lin Moniao bows very low. "Lin Moniao, madam." A dozen excuses spring to his lips about the state and integrity of the bat, but since the Sword Goddess seems satisfied for now, it's probably best to keep his silence.

"Shi Jia," says Shi Jia.

She focuses on him. "Son of...?"

"Shi Minshan, madam."

She nods. The bodyguards bow so low they are almost touching the ground. Liu Xiuling's expression changes to mild disgust when she looks at them. She does not wait for their names, but turns to the young women. "Jinzhu, take over. Yinzhu, with me."

The young woman with the bat follows the Sword Goddess across the courtyard to the other direction, the old men following at their heels, and they disappear inside the building. Jinzhu faces their group with an incline of her head. "Honoured guests, you are too late to dine with the disciples, but I will instruct the kitchen to provide you dinner. Come with me, I will show you to rooms where you can rest and dry up."

She has a round and ordinary face, with thick hair tugged around her head in braids, and the build of a young calf. She, too, is armed. She, too, is skilled. She smiles at them and gestures for them to follow.

Everybody, for some reason, looks at Lin Moniao.

Lin Moniao bows to Jinzhu. "Thank you, you and your mistress are very kind."

He's definitely not going to say no to rooms and dinner.

She leads them after the Sword Goddess, but they enter through a different door into the reception hall under the main residence. Here is a throne on a dais, an ostentatious thing that certainly does not date from the manor's days as a temple, and hanging silks on either side. But Jinzhu leads them through it to the second, larger courtyard. In the center of it an enormous building--the main temple. It is closed and shuttered.

From there, Jinzhu takes them to one of the buildings on the right, which, when entered, turns out to be four guest rooms in two stories. They are clean and well-kept, elegant in an austere way, with incense set aside for meditation and canopied beds in each room. Wang Xiaonan goggles at it a little and tugs her cloak closer to herself. She is much dirtier than anything in these rooms, but so would anyone be, after days on the road.

An Yu scowls at everything. Shi Jia bops a bow of thanks to Jinzhu. Lin Moniao bows as well. "Your hospitality is truly impressive."

Then he turns to the others. "We may as well stay together until after dinner. Then we can choose rooms, I suppose."

He catches Shi Jia's eye. This would seem to count as after all this is over.

Shi Jia is biting his thumb, frowning in thought, but when he notices Lin Moniao looking at him, his expression shifts, and the thumb-biting no longer looks quite so innocent. Lin Moniao blushes and hides his smile behind his sleeve.

"Junior disciples will come along shortly." Jinzhu bows and retreats.

When she is gone, Chan Yu sits down heavily on the floor and strips off his wet outer layers with a grunt. An Yu also relaxes, shrugging off her oilskin cloak. All of them are wet and filthy.

"She really did it, didn't she?" Wang Xiaonan says, sounding slightly shocked. "Did you hear her just now? She was expecting us, she knew what we were delivering, commended Chief Ban Fei on his honour. All those people. Wan Lang... For what?"

Lin Moniao can only shrug. He hates the way she's looking at him, like she expects the world to be better than it is, and for him to explain it to her in a way that will make it make sense. "At least we're out of it. And hopefully we'll get paid. That's the best you can hope for, when you're dealing with powerful people and you're not one, whether they're the Sword Goddess or the Heartless Dagger."

Maybe that's what Xiaonan's master sent her out in the world to learn. Lin Moniao just wishes he didn't have to be the one to spell it out to her.

Wang Xiaonan deflates. She can't argue, though she looks like she would like to, so she falls silent.

Soon, there is a knock on the door, and An Yu lets in two young disciples. One is carrying a container of water, the other, a large tray laden with food and a few bottles of drinks. For a moment, bustle and activity fill up the space instead of exhaustion and gloom. There is enough water for tea and to fill in bowls to wash their hands and feet before eating. The food is plentiful and delicious, too, and the disciples bring in a second helping once they see how much Chan Yu alone is eating. Never let it be said that Immortal Sword Manor scrimps on its guests.

A disciple with a face made for laughter offers hot water for baths, and Wang Xiaonan cries "Yes!" almost before he is done talking. Shi Jia is almost as enthusiastic. An Yu, under her breath, declares full-body baths unhygienic.

"More hot water for the rest of us," Lin Moniao says to An Yu's carping. Truly, a bath sounds heavenly.

"Two baths, then," Shi Jia says. "You don't mind sharing, do you?" he asks Lin Moniao innocently.

"How very economical of you," Lin Moniao says with a grin.

Wang Xiaonan snorts.

The guesthouse is structured so that a small foyer opens up into two identical rooms below, with a staircase up into the top floor, where the pattern repeats. The second story seems to have been added later, another modification to the temple when it was adapted as a school for future warriors. The rooms are divided with Shi Jia (and by assumption, Lin Moniao) and An Yu at the top and Wang Xiaonan and Chan Yu in the rooms below. The hot water comes in kettles and the cold in buckets, and soon there is a steaming bath with bathing oils for body and hair set aside in both the upstairs right and the downstairs left.

Wang Xiaonan opens both bottles and smells the contents, dips her hand into the water, making sounds of delight and excitement. She gives the quickest of goodnights before slamming the door shut on her room, locking everyone out. Alas Wan Lang, Yang Tao, the men of the Handan Escort Company! Your fate is momentarily out of her mind.

"Well." Lin Moniao tugs on Shi Jia's sleeve. "Let's go get out of these filthy things, shall we?"

Shi Jia takes Lin Moniao's hand and pulls him up the stairs. As soon as the door closes behind them, he pushes him against the door and lifts his head to kiss him on the mouth.

Well, that works too. Lin Moniao returns the kiss, opening his mouth eagerly against Shi Jia's and running his hands down his back.

Shi Jia's hands go to the back of his neck, then in his hair, as he melts into the contact. When he withdraws, it is to tug at Lin Moniao's belt, undoing it and taking a step back at the same time, pulling him back towards the bath. "Let Shi Jia take good care of you, hmm? You deserve it."

"Mmm." Lin Moniao shrugs out of his robes, though Shi Jia's grip on his belt stops them from falling to the floor. Damn, it's good not to have them sticking to his skin anymore. "It's true, I have been very good."

"Brave and kind and heroic..."

"Oh, A-Jia," Lin Moniao sighs, half-laughing. It may be the first time anyone's called him kind and meant it, the best he got from Xiaonan was nicer than you act.

Shi Jia helps him out of the rest of his clothes, the belt hitting the floor. His eyes slip low for a moment of shameless admiration. His hands want to follow, but he pulls them back. "In the tub. Shi Jia will wash your hair. Yes? Or..."

He steps into the tub and undoes the tie on his hair at the same time, using both hands to fan it out behind him. "Yes. Please."

Shi Jia rolls up his sleeves and gets to it, pouring oil on his palms and combing it through the hair with his fingers. He rubs circles into Lin Moniao's scalp while he is at it, and almost, but not quite, resists the urge to kiss his shoulder.

For a moment he seems happy just to be of service to his lover and enjoy the feel of hair coming untangled under his hands, but soon his thoughts start turning, as they always do. "We should probably get out of here as early as we can, tomorrow." He sighs. "I hope not too early..."

Lin Moniao has been floating very pleasantly in the feeling of Shi Jia's hands in his hair, but the words of tomorrow come like a bucket of cold water, even though the actual buckets of cold water sit untouched in the corner.

"Shi Jiaaaaa." He takes Shi Jia's hand and presses a kiss to the palm, then continues kissing up the inside of his wrist and to the elbow. "What do I have to do to make you focus?"

"A thousand apologies." Shi Jia breathes out a helpless laugh when the kisses reach his elbow, and leans in to hug him, splashing them both. "I'll focus, I will. How's this?" He retrieves his hand in order to pull all ten fingers back along Lin Moniao's scalp, from the top of his head to the back of his neck, and give the base of the neck a little rub.

"Much better." Lin Moniao snuggles contentedly back against Shi Jia. The front of his robes is soaked again, but that's his fault for wearing clothes at a time like this. "Shi Jia is forgiven." And tipping back his head so that he can look at Shi Jia, he adds, "For anything he might need to be forgiven for. Truly, it's all right."

Shi Jia meets his look with naked emotion. Then he drops his eyes and presses his forehead to his. "Well then," he says after a moment of this, "make room."

Off come the layers of clothes and then Shi Jia splashes into the tub. It's a little tight for two people, but they'll make do. It's a good thing Shi Jia is so slight. Lin Moniao sits up straighter, half emerging from the water--his blood is hot enough by now that he doesn't mind the sudden chill of air against his skin--to give Shi Jia room to straddle his lap. He makes a half-hearted reach for the bottle of body oil, but it's too far away, and he certainly doesn't want to move now. Instead, he puts his hands on Shi Jia's waist and kisses his throat.

Shi Jia jumps a little, but opens his neck for him, looping his arms around Lin Moniao's shoulders. He has found one of Shi Jia's weak spots. He lays his hand lightly on the back of Lin Moniao's head to keep it there just a little longer, as the symbolic surrender of showing his throat works loose several of his habitual tensions. "I like you so much," he says, a little out of breath now. "I'm so glad we met again."

Then he laughs and guides Lin Moniao's face up to lay kisses all over it. "I want to have you in this bathtub, and after, and again and again until we need to call for more hot water." Though, realistically he may be overestimating his own fortitude after a long ride.

The relaxing effects of the hot water, and the slow pace Shi Jia has been setting, mean that Lin Moniao isn't fully hard yet, but he's getting there as he rocks up against Shi Jia, sending a wave of water from the over-full tub splashing to the floor. "I've always admired A-Jia's ambition," he breathes.

Shi Jia is a rather ambitious young man. He rocks with him, hardening against his stomach, and then shifts his hips back and then forward again to frot more effectively. "Like this? Like this is good?"

They're going to spill so much water. And after everything they've done for the Sword Goddess and whatever her stupid plan is, her disciples can clean up a little spilled water. Or a lot of spilled water. Lin Moniao clings to Shi Jia, moving to his rhythm, heat building in his groin as urgency overtakes lazy pleasure. "Good. So good."

Encouraged, Shi Jia picks up speed, resting his forehead on Lin Moniao's. His eyes are glassy with desire. "Yes, good, I want it to be good for you too, Shi Jia is so selfish, Shi Jia just wants A-Niao all the time, it's ridiculous, A-Niao is too good..." He moves as he talks, and takes Lin Moniao's hand by the wrist to push it lower on his hips, so he can press down and guide him.

Lin Moniao gladly takes Shi Jia's direction; his hips make very satisfying handfuls as he pulls Shi Jia closer, again, and again, and again, the slide of their bodies together in the warm water close to overwhelming him. His lips part and his eyes start to flutter closed, and he struggles to keep them open so he can see the intensity on Shi Jia's face as the lovely babble of words washes over him.

The only articulate sound Lin Moniao manages to make, between soft cries and moans, is: "More."

"A-Niao." Shi Jia's voice breaks. He nips at Lin Moniao's lip and reaches between them, wrapping his hand around Lin Moniao's cock as well, adding it to the stimulation while fervently rubbing up for his own. A moan escapes his mouth and his face scrunches up in need. "You are so beautiful, this Shi Jia can't take it... More? Pay you back, for the inn? A-Niao, ah."

"Yes." Lin Moniao thrusts up into Shi Jia's hand, unable to keep his eyes open any longer. "Yes, like that." He can feel himself approaching the edge and he forces himself to hold back, to make the next thrust slower, shallower. "Yes, but A-Jia--whatever you're going to do, do it quickly--"

"Yes, yes!" Though he seems to give up on one idea, he has another, and leans back in the tight confines of the tub to take them both in hand together. "Like this," and it's not a question this time.

He strokes them firmly, a first slow experiment to get his fingers in position then faster, curling up as he starts to come, which is almost immediately. He chokes a little as it gets him, knees squeezing Lin Moniao between them.

With Shi Jia's legs bracketing him, his hand working him firmly and steadily even as his cock softens against his own, the darkness behind Lin Moniao's eyes lights up with stars and fireworks, and he comes with a groan that seems to go on and on until he finally collapses against the edge of the tub.

It's another few seconds before he opens his eyes and takes in the mess they've made of the bath and the room around. "Shi Jia was right," he says. "We're going to need more water."

Shi Jia has gone boneless and doesn't seem to be in a hurry to untangle from him, even as the edge of the bathtub must be digging into his back. He hums in shameless agreement.

-

At the crack of dawn, a bell rings outside. High up, in the watchtowers, they are ringing up the disciples for their morning practices. Inside the guest house, nobody is stirring. Even Shi Jia is snoring lightly, face smushed into a silk-covered horsehair pillow.

Lin Moniao gathers the blanket more firmly around his ears and turns over, muttering darkly. Waking him up when Shi Jia is still asleep is truly inhuman. He wishes he'd given the Sword Goddess's lousy bat to the Bat King after all.

The bells ring for a while. Shi Jia raises his head and shoots the window a dark look, but elects to ignore it and just curl into a tighter ball. The bells' insistent clanging subsides eventually, and they both fall back asleep.

Lin Moniao is in a memory. It's an overcast day on Poyang Lake, raindrops making craters on the lake. He is lounging about with Hua Haoyu and Dong Yuan, waiting for Yu Long to return from his meeting with Master Gao. When he does, waving at them, Lin Moniao's fellow disciple-candidates breathe a sigh of relief. Dong Yuan punches Hua Haoyu on the arm. They've all passed their tests and background checks and have been found trustworthy.

Nobody told them what would happen if they hadn't been. They only heard about the practice later.

The scene shifts to the sound of whacking and cries for mercy coming from outside the window at the dorms at Qilin Villa. In the dream, Lin Moniao watches himself get up out of bed and look out. Helpless, he floats closer. This isn't a memory. This never happened. But he knows what he would see.

The cries become determined shouts to guide the qi, rhythmic counts. He wakes up to the sound of Immortal Sword Manor disciples' morning exercises.

Shi Jia is gone, though he can't have gone far, since his precious bag of books and even his hat lie by the table. Through the door comes the faint sound of conversation from the hallway below.

For once Lin Moniao isn't tempted to go back to sleep. The details of the dream are already fading, leaving nothing but a sick sense of guilt and dread, but he knows he doesn't want to go back there.

He hasn't actually done anything wrong. If he were going to do his job, using his beauty and charm to ferret out imperial secrets and report them to his superior, he would have made exactly the promise to Shi Jia that he did. The problem isn't that he said it, the problem is that he meant it. The problem is that he's already been mentally composing a report of his mission to Master Wu in which Shi Jia is an itinerant scholar, and An Yu and Chan Yu are some of his father's retainers, and Wang Xiaonan is a bouncer at a brothel who happens to have some skill with weapons.

But just because he's been composing that report doesn't mean he has to give it. He could give a different one, a true one. Realistically, isn't that what Shi Jia will do when he meets with his chief, despite all his flowery words? Isn't Wang Xiaonan too simple to even think of lying to her master? Why should he be the patsy who protects them, when they won't protect him?

The problem is that he doesn't believe it.

With a sigh, he swings his feet out of bed and pulls on a robe. Shi Jia's books are right there. If he's going to--well, if he's going to keep his options open, he should at least look through them. Only if Shi Jia comes back while he's doing it, that would be bad. Hesitating near the bag, he stands very still and listens. He can't make out what is being said downstairs, only the tones of voice. A door opens and closes. It doesn't sound urgent.

Lin Moniao only feels sicker with himself as he, very gingerly, keeping half an eye on the door the whole time, opens Shi Jia's bag and takes a look inside. Like Wang Xiaonan said, it is just books. There is a long case that looks like it houses a brush and inkstone, maybe a seal. Three slim volumes are in blue and two more in green. At random, Lin Moniao selects a volume, a blue one, the first one his hand falls on, and slides it carefully out.

At first glance, it's a modern commentary on The Book of Changes, going into the kind of excruciating detail Lin Moniao remembers from his own go at the exams. Knowing what he knows, however, there is a kind of a rushed feeling to the brush work. It isn't printed. A hand-made copy, perhaps. Those are often produced by students as a guide to memorization.

Perusing through the book, he can soon tell it is not real. He can recognize two, maybe three different texts mixed together without being differentiated in any clear way. Going back and forth, he starts to find empty sections, and sections that have been filled in later in different hands. That's where the code will be.

Someone is coming up the stairs. Two people, one thread heavy. Shi Jia's voice.

As if it was burning his fingers--but quietly! And carefully!--Lin Moniao slides the volume back into the bag.

Look casual, he thinks desperately, and settles on unshuttering the window and looking out at the disciples doing their exercises. That way he won't be facing the door when Shi Jia comes in, and it will give him a few more seconds to compose himself.

There is a knock, but the door opens almost immediately after, and Shi Jia pokes his head in. "Oh good! You are decent. I am once again beset by bodyguards." He opens the door wider to let Chan Yu see there are no assassins waiting in the room, then comes in and closes it in Chan Yu's face. "It's time to get dressed, I'm afraid. We have been invited to breakfast."

"Hmph! To think the day has arrived that Shi Jia thinks it's good that I'm decent, and tells me it's time to get dressed." Lin Moniao turns around, the slight pout on his face turning into a sunny smile at the sight of Shi Jia. "Breakfast does sound good."

Shi Jia laughs brightly at this and comes up to squeeze him around the waist. "Send up a prayer, it's with the Sword Goddess herself." He presses a quick dry kiss on Lin Moniao's lips. "Come, I'll put your hair up."

They gather up downstairs, where a disciple is waiting politely by the door, looking bored. As she might--none of them have exactly hurried, since the bell has not rung and they only have a few steps to go to the reception hall, where breakfast is to be laid out. An Yu and Chan Yu, it turns out, are not invited, but are going to come anyway, An Yu with her hair freshly done up in neat buns. She may not believe in baths, but some washing has happened, somehow.

Wang Xiaonan is the only one who looks like she has been ready for a while, and is playing with her chicken sickles, tossing them up and down and maneuvering rather dangerously close to a painted wall. She puts them away as the others gather. "Lin Moniao, did you really sleep so long or did it take all this time to make yourself pretty?"

"I am always pretty, Wang Xiaonan said so herself," Lin Moniao retorts, which doesn't exactly answer the question, but he doesn't need to dignify it with an answer anyway.

The disciple is gesturing for them to go, so they file out of the guest house. "The jiejies where I work say beauty is a trick," Wang Xiaonan says, "so you must just be extra tricksy." It is a kind of a compliment, at least?

Jinzhu and Yinzhu are both waiting at the door of the reception hall. They bow, smile, and indicate the guests should enter, while the junior disciple runs off before she can be punished for the guests’ tardiness.

Inside, at the foot of the dais, is a table set for three guests. It is laden with dishes--bird's nest, rice, freshly fried fish and crab cakes, with ale and tea to drink. Above, the Sword Goddess sits on the carved-wood and gilded throne in an elegant, relaxed pose, a small table before her carrying trays of delicacies. She gestures and smiles, beckoning them closer. "Oh good. I was hoping to see you brave warriors again before you left. How do you find the hospitality of Immortal Sword Manor now?"

Wang Xiaonan's light mood dissipates at the sight of her, and she gives her one of her stiff bows in lieu of any other greeting. Shi Jia executes a more graceful one. "Perfect, thank you, madam. This unworthy one is truly impressed."

Chan Yu and An Yu do not bother greeting one so high above them. An Yu makes a bow almost as stiff as Xiaonan's, while Chan Yu doesn't even do that. The Sword Goddess takes no notice of them whatsoever, but turns curious eyes to Lin Moniao.

Lin Moniao bows deeply. "The rumors of the Sword Goddess's generosity do not even begin to do her justice."

This seems to please her. Shi Jia and Wang Xiaonan sit, the girl looking back at An Yu and Chan Yu repeatedly, awkwardly. The Twin Divinities stand beside the doorway quietly as statues.

"I would like to hear more about your journey," Liu Xiuling says. "I must admit there is a question or two that I should like to have answered." She smiles, her eyes crinkling, and she picks up a pork ball with her chopsticks, toying with it.

Lin Moniao stops with his chopsticks halfway towards a crab cake. Everything looks delicious, even better than dinner last night, if only they'll get a chance to eat it. "Of course. We are at madam's disposal."

Wang Xiaonan is tucking in. It keeps her from talking, and also, waste not, want not. Shi Jia holds out a cup for her, and she pauses long enough to pour for him and for herself.

"Please go on, Lin Moniao," the Sword Goddess urges. "We are only making chit-chat. I notice you made good time. Did you have any trouble on the road?"

"Some, madam," Shi Jia answers for everyone. "Nothing more than one might expect."

Liu Xiuling makes a noncommittal sound and eats her pork ball. "Well, I am glad of that. If you'll permit me, a question I am curious about, but perhaps a little less invested in than another I have in mind..." She reaches beside herself on the throne and picks up the Obsidian Bat, which had been hidden in her skirts. "Why exactly have you delivered me such an obvious fake, when I already know the real thing was left in the care of Handan Escort Company less than a week ago?"

And there it is. "A thousand apologies, madam," Lin Moniao says, bowing his head. "Fake or real, how are humble couriers to say? We delivered to you what was given to us."

You lying bitch, he doesn't add.

She rattles the thing with some evidence of displeasure. Then she throws it over her shoulder. It bounces off the dais and crashes on the floor of the reception hall behind her. "The original is worth more than all your miserable little belongings... Nevermind. I'll get it back. My second question is..." She hesitates, her mouth forming an ugly shape. "You said you had no more trouble on the road than could be expected. Let us be clear. Did... anyone... accost you on your way? Demand to know your business? Ask questions?"

Shi Jia swallows his mouthful of drink and breaks protocol to pour himself another to hide his face in. Someone did ask questions; he did.

Wang Xiaonan starts eating faster.

"A group of bandits ambushed us on the road. Peculiar fellows. Their leader dressed as a bat. He seemed to feel some affinity for the item in question. They were quite persistent." Lin Moniao hesitates for only a moment; Wang Xiaonan won't like it, but as she's wisely left the talking to him, she doesn't get a say. The list of people he will stick out his neck to protect is already too long. Wan Lang is not on it. "The Company man traveling with us, Wan Lang, seemed to be in league with them, although... There was some disagreement. A falling-out. We didn't stick around long enough to fully understand it."

"Dressed as a bat?" Liu Xiuling frowns, and looks at Shi Minshan's son.

"Yes, madam," Shi Jia says meekly and touches his neck. "I believe he styles himself 'the Bat King'."

Wang Xiaonan chews quickly through her mouthful to say, "Wan Lang didn't take it. He tried but... he didn't take it."

Their host's expression is growing impatient.

"We also," Lin Moniao ventures, "encountered a disciple of Xie Lijuan's--or at least a young woman dressed in her colors--at an inn in Cizhou. An odd coincidence, we thought, after the rumors of that lady's appearance in Handan, but since she didn't actually approach us, this one thought it not worth mentioning."

Liu Xiuling's eyes light up at the mention of Xie Lijuan and she sits up a little taller.

"Oh, and--as I'm sure madam is already aware--Shi Jia and his retainers were not with us from the beginning. This one simply thought that you were referring to anyone who approached us on business." Lin Moniao drops his eyes and hardly has to force a blush; the truth of his words will be obvious to anyone unfortunate enough to have been trying to sleep in a dormitory around the same courtyard last night. "As we were short a man, and as we were all traveling in the same direction anyway, he graciously agreed to accompany us."

The Sword Goddess stands up and starts to pace the short length of her dais. "I see! I see! Shi-gongzi, did you know about this disciple of Xie Lijuan's?" She stops and looks down at him with a smile. "Don't be shy, were you working with her?"

Shi Jia stands and bows to her. "Madam, I can find her for you."

"What?"

"Xie Lijuan. Let me find out where she is, and I will get that information to you." He keeps himself bowed, folded hands before him. "To make up for madam's disappointment."

"We are all," Lin Moniao adds, looking uneasily at Shi Jia but willing to follow his lead, "terribly sorry to have disappointed the Sword Goddess."

She waves a hand. "Yes, of course. Hmph. Well, if I'm lucky, you won't need to go find her. There were enough rumors, I made sure of that. When she hears them, she will come. Won't she?"

She looks around for someone to answer her, and her eyes fix on Lin Moniao again. "You're very pretty, did you know? And you have Shi-gongzi following you around, do you? You're not secretly a Xie Manor disciple, are you?" She jumps daintily off the dais and leans over Lin Moniao curiously, her hands behind her back. "Those people have their tricks to help them worm their way into a person's affections..."

"Madam, I swear to you, I am not," Lin Moniao says with complete sincerity. And then, because he can't help himself, he grins and adds, "And yes, I've been told I'm pretty--but never by someone with such a reputation for absolute honesty as the Sword Goddess. Now I know it's true."

She tilts her head at his daring, but with a smile and a raised eyebrow. She straightens herself. "What helpful people you are. Very well, I am somewhat impressed, and so I will compensate you for your trouble." She gestures lazily at Yinzhu, who bows and disappears.

"If Shi-gongzi manages to trace Xie Lijuan for me, if he is instrumental in bringing her to me, then he can name his price, within reason. Should any of you have some idea on where to find my Obsidian Bat--the real one--they may be assured of a reward and no questions asked. I would expect results within months, however, and prefer them in weeks. Without results, you ought not bother darkening my doorway again. Are those not fair terms?"

"Madam is exceedingly gracious." Lin Moniao rises to his feet and bows. Privately, he's withholding judgment until he sees what compensation they get. He didn't even manage to eat a single crab cake.

Wang Xiaonan has cleaned her plates, and hides a burp behind her hand as she, too, stands and bows.

"Then enough has been said. I hope you seriously do mean to keep your promises, but for now I will reward you twenty silver tael each." Wang Xiaonan's eyes grow large at this. So much money! "However," she muses, twirling as she paces, "I do also have a shipment going south, on a boat I don't think I will be needing in the future... If you take my cargo all the way, you can keep the boat. I believe that must be worth two hundred tael, at least."

Lin Moniao bows again. Twenty silver tael is very generous, especially as he's made no promises to Liu Xiuling and doesn't intend to keep any. "This one deeply regrets that he cannot oblige madam. It's been some time since I saw my mother, and she particularly expects a visit."

"Filial. Well, it is your decision." She looks at Wang Xiaonan, though she does not look impressed by what she sees.

Wang Xiaonan wipes her mouth on the back of her sleeve again, to make sure there is no more food on her face. "I... I have a task set by my mistress that I cannot neglect, down south."

"Shifu," says Yinzhu softly, returning. She pads up from behind the throne. She is carrying a bag slung over her shoulder, but in her hands, she carries the pieces of the fake Obsidian Bat. The lock had shattered as Liu Xiuling had tossed it aside, and from inside spill small explosives and leaf-packets tied with string.

"Well!" says the Sword Goddess, taking the pieces from her and inspecting them. "What should we make of this?"

"I think we can conclude it would have been a bad idea to light incense in there," Lin Moniao says, a bit taken aback as he remembers suggesting that they might do just that, back at the inn. "However, as a trap it relies on whoever is lighting the incense not to look inside before they do, or notice there was anything there. I cannot imagine madam or her disciples doing such a thing."

Shi Jia comes closer, curiosity once again overcoming caution. The Sword Goddess lets him look as she pulls out a black-painted wooden container with holes on the sides from inside the bat. "May I?"

She hands it to Shi Jia, who packs the contents back inside along the sides of the incense burner, then lowers the container over them and peers in. "Lin Moniao, look." He holds it out for him to see. Only blackness is visible inside. A careless person might have lit a fire in there.

The Sword Goddess collects the incense burner and sets it aside on the dais. "Well, that is certainly a lead."

"Chief Ban Fei," Wang Xiaonan blurts.

The Sword Goddess's eyes grows flinty. "Arrogant old man!"

Lin Moniao inclines his head and says nothing. He certainly doesn't intend to mention that the other people who might have set such a trap were the Sword Goddess herself, and, well, Shi Jia. Quite likely it was Chief Ban Fei, and if not, Lin Moniao doesn't particularly care. The Sword Goddess's consternation over her lost bat may be genuine, but Lin Moniao still doubts that she's being honest about the circumstances under which it was lost. Why would she leave the genuine article with Chief Ban Fei, only to have it delivered to herself?

"He had a reason to do it, and opportunity..." Wang Xiaonan trails off. "Poor Wan Lang," she says under her breath.

"So, twenty tael to each of you, and Shi-gongzi, perhaps I will see you again not long from now. Little girl, you said you were going south? So is my cargo. If you wish, you can travel with them and help guard it, for a few more tael. They leave at dawn. You can talk to Yinzhu or Jinzhu about it."

Wang Xiaonan puts her hands together for another bow.

The Sword Goddess turns her back to them. They are dismissed. Yinzhu hands Shi Jia, Wang Xiaonan, and Lin Moniao each a heavy cloth bag. An Yu and Chan Yu get nothing, but don't stick around to wait, either, hurrying to get out into the sunlight.

Shi Jia sticks close to Lin Moniao, tugging his sleeve to hurry up. Wang Xiaonan looks uncertainly at Jinzhu, who smiles and approaches her. She looks at Lin Moniao, then back. "I'll be back," she says and hurries after the others.

Outside it's a sunny morning, and Immortal Sword Manor disciples have formed neat rows in the yard, each following the same complicated sword routine, over and over again under the instruction of one of the older men in more gold than blue.

Wang Xiaonan runs at Lin Moniao and hugs him tight around the waist.

Lin Moniao is startled for a moment before he hugs Xiaonan back. She's a warm, solid armful, and like everything else about her, she doesn't give her hugs in half-measures.

"Oof, let a man breathe, will you, Wang-er?" he laughs. "Maybe we'll meet again someday, who knows? Until then, keep your claws sharp and your powder dry. I will miss you."

She rubs her face on his robes. "If you want to find me, you can send a message to the Fragrant Blossom. I would see it eventually! But I don't know where to find you." Which means they probably won't meet again, and she knows it.

She lets him go and steps back with a little sniffle. "I'm going to go with the ship, it makes sense, but... Lin Moniao, I thought you were some kind of a silly peacock when I first saw you. But you're not, you're fine. I'm going to miss you so much."

Shi Jia tugs at Lin Moniao's sleeve again. Sticking around will only make the goodbyes harder.

With no more to be said, Lin Moniao still stands a few moments in silence with Wang Xiaonan before following Shi Jia.

"Did you hear that?" he says to Shi Jia smugly. "I'm fine."

"You are fine." Shi Jia smiles, eyes crinkling. He is lucky, he thinks, that jealousy is one of those parts of himself he has locked away in a box and dropped down a deep, black well somewhere.

The entire manor seems to be conspiring to push out the interlopers, because senior disciples rush up to guide their way back through the hall of the Buddha statue to where their Mongolian ponies wait, saddled and ready to go.

"Well, here we are," Shi Jia says as he mounts. "My offer still stands. I'll be in the capital a few days at least and where I go then depends on what I hear. Is Lin Moniao going to ah... south as well immediately, or..."

It isn't that he is heartless. He just knows his place; he has been shown it often enough.

"I was telling the truth about my mother, you know," says Lin Moniao. "I'll also be in the capital for a little, and then... as you say. It depends on what I hear."

Shi Jia lets out a breath and smiles. "Then we won't say goodbye yet." Yet; but they will. They both have ambitions in the world, just like they did the last time they parted.

Shi Jia urges his horse into motion. "Let's go before they change their minds."

- The End of The Cast-Iron Bat -