Before him sat Sun Han, neatly poised on a stool under the cherry tree in Hong Fei’s courtyard. Though branches shaded the two men, sweat beaded the scholar’s forehead. His brow was also furrowed in pain and concentration.
The man’s back had been burned badly in the process of saving Yu Yong. That grace had earned him a Life’s Bounty pill from the medicines recently looted from the Rock Knives, but the fool Sun Han was refusing to take it.
“I’ll save the pill for Dūtóu Hong,” the scholar said.
Yu Yong leaned forward on his own stool. “There’s no need—we’ve set aside a pill for him too,” he argued. “Nearly a dozen Life’s Bounty were added to our stores this morning.” He paused to swallow his pride; the bitterness caused his throat to bob. “I know—I know I’m not the best person to say this, but do not let your stubbornness keep you from caring for yourself. Your dūtóu needs you healthy.”
Sun Han’s eyes snapped open. A moment later, it seemed that a wave of relief moved through him: his face lost its tension, and his shoulders slumped. “That’s better.”
“Did you take the pill without me knowing?” Yu Yong asked. He rose from his seat to walk around the scholar, but the red, blistered skin across the back of Sun Han’s head and neck were just as visible as before.
“Hmm? Oh no, nothing like that. I’ve merely used my internal energy to sever the nerve endings along the damaged areas.” Sun Han nodded to himself. “I wasn’t certain about adapting the technique so that it could be used on myself, but fortune was apparently on my side.”
“You what?” Yu Yong exclaimed.
Sun Han looked at him steadily. “Did not Dūtóu Hong invite you to become part of this courtyard? You’d best get used to the idea that we have our own ways of doing things.”
“But you’ve mutilated yourself,” the young master said, gazing at the scholar in horror.
“Only temporarily,” the scholar replied. “A more… thorough healing will take place later. Surely you’ve noticed how some of us can heal much more quickly than should be possible.”
In fact, Yu Yong had noticed, as had the house’s other senior leaders. Tentatively, he asked, “Is this something you’re allowed to say?”
“Dūtóu Hong left it to me to decide in case it ever became necessary,” Sun Han explained. “I can’t tell you how, but there is a way for Auntie Ling and I to heal from even the severest injuries within a day.”
Hong Fei was a man of many skills—he’d accomplished enough in his life to be called a hero many times over—but what the scholar was describing was something only the imperial palace or the most powerful of sects could regularly accomplish.
“Can this healing be used by others?” Yu Yong asked, his voice cooling, his thoughts drawn to his grandmother’s injuries. His father and grandfather were already dead by the time Hong Fei had arrived at the family’s gate, but not Yu Hui. Could she have been saved by the dūtóu and wasn’t?
Sun Han shook his head. “No matter how much we wish it, the answer is no. Not even Dūtóu Hong himself can benefit from this process.”
A knot loosened in the young master’s chest. Hong Fei hadn’t been callous. Of course there’d hadn’t been anything the dūtóu could do for Grandmother Hui. “And you’re sure he’s alive?” Yu Yong asked.
“Very much so,” Sun Han replied, an eyebrow arching. “Just like the last time you asked.”
From the kitchen, Little Ruyun walked out with a tray of tea and refreshments. Ugly Dog joined her a moment later, carrying a small table, which she placed between the scholar and the young master.
“We’ve only been recently released from defending the walls,” Little Ruyun explained, “so lunch will be delayed.”
Besides the tea, there were small plates of nuts, dried fruit, and hard-boiled eggs cut in half and with the yolks blended with a fermented bean paste.
“Go get a seat for yourselves,” Sun Han told Little Ruyun and Ugly Dog.
The young girl shook her head. “I have to help Mother in the kitchen.”
Ugly Dog gulped. “Me too.”
Little Ruyun glanced sideways at the courtyard’s newest member. Was that mischief in her eyes or something sterner? Yu Yong couldn’t tell, but what he heard was the young girl saying, “No, you don’t. Do as the scholar instructs. Mother and I will have lunch ready shortly.”
Ugly Dog stood a moment in indecision, and Yu Yong wondered at the courtyard’s peculiarity. Little Ruyun was only twelve years old or so, and yet this servant felt comfortable giving orders to a former gangster of the Body-Forged realm. And that command was to join the young master for tea and refreshments! Which she shortly did! Ugly Dog went into the salon to retrieve a chair.
Even more striking was the skill with which Little Ruyun hid her concern for the courtyard’s missing master. There were hints of her fear in the tension around her eyes and mouth and the paleness of her face, but she seemed determined to do her duty despite the anxiety.
Yu Yong’s own gut was in turmoil. Surely, he couldn’t falter when a young girl like Little Ruyun was carrying on so admirably. There was a thought he’d had before, and it came to him again: None of these people are simple. Then a new thought arrived, his breath catching on it: If I join them, doesn’t that mean I’m not simple either? No, how could I be when I’ve gone to such great lengths to cripple myself—
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He shook his head, refusing to let the last thought run its course. Yu Yong noticed Sun Han observing him, and he continued to do so as Ugly Dog sat on proper furniture, while the young master and scholar each sat on stools. The former gangster shifted nervously on her cushion. She probably realized some of the impropriety, but not all of it, or else she would’ve offered to change seats.
This is a test, the young master realized. Or I’m being hazed, which… I don’t mind. In fact, this small slight to his honor was much better than the stories he’d heard about soldiers being forced to eat bugs, hunt all night for imaginary beasts, or pull carts loaded down with the whole squad’s gear while on march. And a test meant that they really were examining his qualifications for becoming one of them. Dare he hope he was right in understanding Sun Han’s motives?
Yu Yong’s nerves wouldn’t settle. But in that moment, he tasted the eggs filled with fermented bean paste and found them delicious. And he told Ugly Dog, “Go on and eat.”
The poor woman looked like she might vomit. Yu Yong had heard about what had happened in the library when she’d met Yu Ning for the first time, and he shifted aside so that his shoes were pointed away from the former gangster. Meanwhile, Sun Han ignored the dreadful burns along his back to enjoy the refreshments provided by the Kang family.
Yu Yong faced these peculiarities, as well as the courtyard’s mysteries, and chose to accept them.
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He Huizhen licked her lips. She wiped her palms dry of sweat before re-gripping her crossbow. The mask and hood she wore were suffocating in the heat, but the misery was worth the discomfort. Earlier, she’d felt her brother’s death.
The ongoing, niggling feeling of his blood dripping into the space between and behind her eyes had vanished in a burst of energy, the remnants of which lingered within her like a moment of enlightenment held in suspension.
Stone Mountain Ox had made it clear: the death of a Fateful One was less efficient than drawing out every bit of their fortune over time. Yet, He Huizhen didn’t mourn the loss of efficiency, not when she was now her house’s new heir.
Besides, there was another Fateful One currently being refined on her behalf. When given the opportunity—only recently, in the aftermath of the assault on the House of Yu—she’d cursed both of her worst enemies. The strength of their fates was and would continue to be turned into her good fortune.
He Huizhen scanned the rooftops across the gorge, her eyes glittering with magic. The spell Eyes Like Ten Thousand Stars would let her pick out individual particles of dust in the air if she wanted. Hong Fei had played havoc with the people of the Rock Knife Gang, but he would not escape her.
A heaviness crept upon on He Huizhen and steadily grew in intensity. That could only be Stone Mountain Ox approaching her from behind. The meeting’s finally done, she thought. The rest of the family will fall into line now that they know what they’re dealing with. The man might be a peasant and a ruffian, but he is immensely powerful.
The ground trembled under the weight of the gang leader’s anger. He Huizhen knew that the House of Yu’s counterattack against the Rock Knives had struck him deeply—his brothers killed and the organization he’d built wrecked and looted.
Stone Mountain Ox had hinted in recent days that he would be leaving Ruby Swift City. He’d mentioned how the gang was meant to be a legacy for his family and others who hoped to rise in the world.
He Huizhen didn’t think there was much chance left of that happening, which was just as well. People belonged where they belonged. The only ones who got to say differently were those who shook off their constraints and seized the power meant for them. People like me, she thought. And I’ll rise even higher now that I’ve joined the Conclave.
The ground’s trembling stilled as Stone Mountain Ox stopped by her position behind the bridge’s abutment. She had to crane her neck to look up at him. The man was seven-chi tall, with shoulders broad enough to carry a calf and a face as pale and angular as the marble he’d once mined.
“The matter is settled,” he said, his voice rumbling. “The He family will take over as the Conclave’s primary allies in the city.”
“I thank you,” she replied. “We will not disappoint you.”
“You must address me as senior brother. Do not let your attachment to your family cloud your loyalty. Otherwise…” He sighed, a surprisingly soft breath for such a large man. “Otherwise, a painful lesson awaits you.”
He Huizhen nodded and forced herself to say, “Of course… Senior Brother.”
“You doubt me,” he noted, “but you will learn. There is a reason why fate is the enemy that must be destroyed.” He lifted a hand to gaze it, then made a fist. “We must crush it completely.”
She cleared her throat and asked, “When will the transition happen?”
One side of his mouth turned up, as if amused by her. “Lady Ash and the Myriad Blade were called away to help the Earth Master settle her matters in the south. With the death of the Water Dancer, I have been given the honor of joining their fellowship, watching over their interests until their return.”
He Huizhen’s envy felt like ants crawling through her meridians. “How fortunate for you that your sister Guo Lin returned so powerful and—”
Stone Mountain Ox raised a hand to stop her; the wind from the motion ruffled the hood she wore. “Do not speak her name. You have not earned the privilege.”
“My apologies, Senior Brother. I only meant to express my admiration for her and you.” He Huizhen set aside her crossbow. She wiped her palms dry again. “If you’ve joined the Earth Master’s fellowship, that means you’ll go with them when they leave Wild Green Island?”
“I will. To do the Conclave’s bidding.” Stone Mountain Ox turned his attention fully toward He Huizhen, and the surrounding heaviness intensified. “You have aided me for nearly four years and been rewarded for those efforts. You are being trusted now with a great responsibility. Do not fail it, or else you will regret deeply the day you aspired to cross fate.”
“Yes, Senior Brother. My family will serve with utmost devotion. I will make it so.”
“See to it,” Stone Mountain Ox said. He cast his eyes toward the buildings across the bridge. “He’s over there, is he?”
He Huizhen felt herself being pressed into the ground by an implacable anger. Word from her spies within the Yu household was that Hong Fei had been responsible for the plan to attack the Rock Knives’ operations. He’d also been directly a part of the raid on the Dreaming Ox, where both of Stone Mountain Ox’s brothers had died.
She felt pleased this pest-like dūtóu would finally be squashed. Though resourceful and cunning, Hong Fei could only be helpless when facing a Qi-Blossoming fighter ascending to the upper reaches of his realm.
That kind of overwhelming strength will be mine too one day, He Huizhen thought. Nothing will be able to hurt me then.
“That Hong Fei is up on the rooftop,” she said.
“And my people?” he asked.
“More than half are dead,” she replied. “Only the ones on the ground still live, and they don’t know he’s above them.”
Stone Mountain Ox grunted. “The Dao is cruel. I should’ve known better than to think the gang would survive me. It would’ve been better to cut ties completely to gain the detachment demanded of me.” He glanced down at He Huizhen, crouching behind cover. “Remember this, Junior Sister: To destroy fate, we must sever its roots. Now, go back to your family, but prepare for the day when you must do as I do.”
The new heir of the He family bowed. “Yes, Senior Brother. I thank you for your guidance.”
Carefully, she released the tension in the crossbow’s arm, then with even more care she stowed the envenomed bolt in her quiver. As soon as it was polite, He Huizhen fled using her family’s Iron-Clawed Jungle Dragon art to power her steps.
She took immediate cover in a nearby alley, then continued sprinting without looking back. He Huizhen didn’t need to. She’d felt the earth tremble when Stone Mountain Ox stepped out onto the bridge.
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Sun Han, Scholar 2 | 2
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He Huizhen, deputy clerk at the Department of Crime and Punishment, sister to Wenming
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Little Ruyun, daughter to Kang Lian, a servant
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Stone Mountain Ox, the leader of the Rock Knife Gang
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Ugly Dog, former Rock Knife guards, recently poached by Hong Fei, RED 3
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Yu Hui, former head of the House of Yu, deceased
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Yu Yong, brother to Ning, young master of the House of Yu