The group split up and went to their respective homes for the night, with the wanderer taking over the unused Xin family home for now. Everyone was tired due to both stress and how late the disruption started, with Willow in particular passing out almost as soon as he was placed into his father’s waiting arms.

  The following day Willow stood with his family in the communal building, morning chores either rushed through or forgotten as everyone decided a feast was just the thing to celebrate the defeat of a demon. It would also give a venue for them to discuss what the group would be doing next now that they were free to leave. The death of Old Ping wasn’t brought up at all and it made the boy decidedly uncomfortable.

  The central table was packed with hastily prepared yet delicious looking dishes. With the centerpiece being a venison and vegetable stuffed flatbread that had used up the last of the smoked meats, since Uncle Lin wasn’t around to hunt and cure more. People stood around and ate the tasty treats from small plates, eager to forget their worries and stress from the previous night.

  Willow was, of course, firmly scolded by his father this morning for his reckless actions yesterday. There were even talks of both him and his brother not being present for the feast as punishment, but their aunt talked him out of it eventually. Saying that she might’ve given in had Willow not arrived when he did.

  So maybe he was a little bit of a hero, despite his plan ultimately failing. He was still less of one than the wanderer in a wide hat, but that’s fine, he was still small and had plenty of room to grow.

  Willow still felt bad for worrying his father of course, and he felt even worse when he discovered that his father had to have his leg removed below the knee to get rid of the rot infecting the limb. It was at the insistence of their saviour as she was quite adamant that if the limb remained connected to him he’d soon grow sicker and sicker with there being nothing she could do to stop it.

  She was able to remove the infected appendage and healed the stump well enough that Da felt comfortable to join the festivities, even if he was confined to a chair the whole time. His son could feel how morose he was at the loss of a limb, but the man tried to hide his emotions like everyone else and plastered a smile on his face, pretending to enjoy the food, and being optimistic about the future of their group.

  Willow didn’t know how to feel about Scholar Mu overall. He still considered her a hero for her actions, but the way her emotions grew muted whenever her curiosity burned bright made the boy uncomfortable. He also just didn’t know her well enough to trust her with his secrets.

  And he had a lot of those, much as it bothered him. So he kept far enough away from the strange woman, while still being able to keep an eye on her so that he wouldn’t be surprised when inevitably she wound up causing trouble for him due to her growing interest.

  Said trouble took the form of Mu asking the Faber’s an uncomfortable question.

  “So what’s the deal with the boyo in a dress? Seems awfully perceptive for one so young.”

  The mentioned boy froze in place upon hearing the woman’s question. He hadn’t told his other aunt he was currently a boy yet, and if Aunt Jieun was right it meant that this conversation could end quite badly.

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  Aunt Sarah blinked at him. “Do you mean Willow?”

  “Unless there’s another child in a dress round here I’m assumin’ yes.” She said as she took a drag on her pipe, glancing in the boy’s direction.

  “Well why’d you call her a boy then?” She said with a small laugh. “I was there when she was born and can assure you that Willow’s a little girl.”

  Why did he insist on correcting the wanderer last night? Would’ve made this whole situation so much less awkward.

  “That right?” Scholar Mu said through a cloud of sweet smelling smoke that Sarah wrinkled her nose at. “Because last night she was quite insistent that she was a boy.”

  Jieun intervened before things could get worse. “It’s something I taught her to say when she doesn’t trust a strange grown up.”

  Willow wished Aunt Jieun wasn’t dragged into this, she was already in a foul mood due to her aching core and the loss of her spirits. She shouldn’t have to cover for her nephews' oddities as well.

  “But you also called her a boy when you tried to get that flower beasty to make a deal with you.” She said with a light smile. “Somethin’ about “let the boy go”?”

  Okay this wasn’t going anywhere good. He decided on a story that wouldn’t push his friends into the spotlight.

  “I like to pretend I’m a boy sometimes.” Willow interrupted the adults' conversation. “My family goes along with it. Yesterday was a boy day, so Aunt Jieun was still calling me a boy.”

  Scholar Mu looked down at the child, sensing something was off, but deciding not to push right now. “Odd past-time, but I’m not one to judge.” She points at Aunt Jieun with her pipe. “Why was she tryin’ to hide it though?”

  The boy glanced up at his Aunt Sarah, then quickly back down, fidgeting all the while. “Aunt Sarah didn’t know I do that.” He mumbled this last part. “Was scared she’d not like it if she found out.”

  Because he was looking down he couldn’t see the expression on his fair haired aunt’s face, but he could feel her confusion shifting a bit to anxiety and something darker.

  Emotions she tried to hide with a false smile as she knelt in front of the child, placing her hand on his head.

  “Willow, sweetie, why’re you pretending to be a boy? You know that’s not normal behaviour, right?”

  “It feels right.” He said, still refusing to meet his aunt’s eyes. He wasn’t even lying here. While in his boy form it felt weird to be called a girl when that wasn’t currently the case. It was why he had corrected Scholar Mu the previous night even though it had wound up causing this mess.

  Apparently that was the wrong answer as anger was added to the cocktail of his aunt’s emotions.

  “Look at me when I’m talking to you, Willow.” A small amount of venom crept into her voice, though the false smile remained.

  “Sarah, maybe now’s not the right time for this.” Uncle Lucius interjected for the first time in the conversation, placing his hand on her shoulder. “We’re all here to forget our worries, not to cause a scene.”

  Willow’s uncle managed to drag his wife away while apologising to the boy and their guest of honor. She went away mostly quietly, though her intense gaze never left her niece turned nephew.

  And all the while the wanderer stared at the current object of her fascination, curiosity burning bright.