cw: Corpse (a different one) and period typical noble politics.

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  “Then I believe it is clear.” Flowing Silk's eyes narrowed as he turned to the butler, “Jing, why did you kill Ren?”

  Flowing Silk's words were so firm and his eyes so piercing that there was no doubt that the priest was telling the truth. Sheng had seen that unshakable conviction on other faces, but everyone else seemed to recognise the same thing.

  Jing paled as he looked around, then flung his arms up with hands curled downwards. That was the Shadow Mantis Style. Jing's outline started to blur as most of the people in the courtyard took up their own martial art forms.

  Baozhai looked at the horde of people glaring at Jing, shrugged and stepped backwards into the kitchen. Sheng couldn't really blame her.

  Yi applauded excitedly before Xiong ushered her into the kitchen right behind Baozhai. With a slam they were kept safely away from the fight and Xiong could look accusingly at Flowing Silk. “You couldn't have done that before I went through the painful change?”

  “You were the one who found the final piece.” Flowing Silk said apologetically as he drew the Wheels and let their flames blaze. "Jing's alibi was that he was seen leaving early last night, but if he was drinking with Baozhai he was here the whole time. Not only that, but her sleeping late gave him one less witness."

  Xiong growled, but cricked his neck and his muscles rippled once more. Fur grew and his nose lengthened as he took the hybrid bear form, his legs shifted apart and he held his paws up in a ready stance.

  Sheng sighed and savoured his last mouthful of tea before setting the cup aside. "Then I suppose we'd best get to it."

  A leaf drifted to the ground, beautiful in its simplicity and a natural starting signal.

  It landed and Jing rushed forward. In his wake the shadows jumped and leapt, tiny shadow-demons leaping out to attack everyone. He reached Silk Petal in a flash, grabbing her arm and wrenching it up behind her back. She simply rolled with it, doing a full cartwheel over him to stop the lock going on, then elbowed him in the kidneys.

  The shadows rolled and he disappeared in a swirl, reappearing behind Flowing Silk and trying to loop a cord around his neck. Flowing Silk dropped in a neat spin with a whirl of flame from the wheels.

  As he turned, the demons mobbed him from behind, balls of claws and teeth flying toward him. Flowing Silk flicked a wheel up behind him to block their attacks. He glared at the demons and the flame flared even brighter to force away the shadows.

  Jing used the cover to dart towards Sheng, grabbing at him with a hand covered in black shadow.

  Before it could get close a massive bear claw slapped it away. Suddenly the assassin had Xiong's enormous muzzle in his face and growling menacingly.

  Sheng took advantage of the distraction to dodge out from under the bear. With a quick moment he borrow a spare cane against the wall and struck Jing in the leg on the way past. The assassin stumbled and cursed, immobile for just a moment, but that was all Sheng needed to be behind him and striking again, his hand forming the distinctive claw of the Eagle Talon.

  Jing ducked and rolled forward into the shadow, his form phasing out. He reemerged near Xiong, spearing a hand coated in darkness at the bear's side. “You fool. You've left yourself open!"

  The shadow leapt like a living thing, striking and then spreading over Xiong’s side. The bear roared in pain as he lashed out wildly, one paw catching Jing in the jaw as the other tore at the darkness on his skin, uncaring of the fur and blood ripped away alongside the shadow.

  Jing spun far more than he ought to have done from the blow, revealing that it was a clone as the colour leeched away and the body dissolved. With the destruction of the clone the real attacker reappeared a few feet away.

  Xiong looked over Jing's shoulder and glared at Seven Feathers, snout wrinkling in a disgusted snarl as he raised big shaggy eyebrows and tilted his head towards the assassin meaningfully.

  Seven Feathers in return rolled his eyes but turned away from the shadow demons he was fighting. One foot traced out a circle on the floor in front of him before he stepped into it, turning a circle, then another and another until he was spinning toward Jing. His arms flew out and the sleeves spread wide like the wings of the Swan. Suddenly blades emerged from the feathers of the robe. They bit into Jing with a spray of blood that Seven Feathers ducked under, not a single droplet touching him.

  The man straightened and raised an eyebrow, “Will that do?”

  Xiong wobbled a paw in a 'was okayish' way, a pretend unimpressed look on the big muzzle. Jing tried to take advantage of the exchange to strike back at Seven Feathers, but he blocked with a sleeve and spun, driving a backfist into Jing's gut.

  The impact caused Jing to stagger, then crumple. His face fell off to land on the floor with a clatter of wood.

  Underneath there was only blank black nothingness.

  A soundless scream tore out of the void and the shadows flowed up his limbs, twisting them into giant claws. With a single backhanded swing he sent Seven Feathers tumbling backward into a wall.

  Sheng looked at the man, then his eyes flicked around the courtyard. There were torches spread around the walls, and if he knew anything about how a Pure Flame Stylist operated... He walked a few short steps into the courtyard, calculating angles as he went.

  The thing which had been Jing almost went for him, but stopped at a cough behind him and turned to find Big Lo using one hand to swing a sledgehammer at him. The two giant shadow limbs caught the sledgehammer, then grabbed hold, claws screeching on the metal satisfactorily before wrenching upwards and lifting the enormous man over him with inhuman strength.

  A ripple of firelight on white robes caught the shadow thing’s attention and the void hissed angrily at its darkness being disturbed. It lost interest in Big Lo and tossed the enormous man behind him like a discarded toy. Instead it thrust its claws towards Flowing Silk, black tendrils swarming out to try and grab hold of his arms.

  Flowing Silk’s hands moved in a complicated pattern, the blazing wheels locking the tendrils in place before Flowing Silk tilted the wheels and cut through them with a spin. The wheels blazed as he leapt, flame rippling out from him in a spiral that lit the torches arrayed along the courtyard walls. He landed neatly then leapt again, the fire knitting itself together into a corkscrew around Flowing Silk to hit the thing that had been Jing blades first.

  The shadow thing dropped to the floor, clearly not wanting to get anywhere close to the blazing fire. He rolled underneath Flowing Silk to come up next to Sheng, lunging at the apparently oblivious old man.

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  Perfect.

  Sheng half turned and brought his cane around in a quick jab to the gut, then an overhand strike at the shoulder. The shadow thing dodged away and then retreated a half-step, wary of the way Sheng was smiling slightly.

  "You're an opportunist and assassin." Sheng explained, "There was no way you'd ignore an open back."

  Too late the shadow thing realised it was a trap. By following Sheng he'd moved himself away from every exit, those final few steps carrying Sheng across the gap where the corner of the laundry would block the light.

  Jing tried to dash away only to find its path blocked by Big Lo. Another direction was blocked by Xiong. Seven Feathers and Silk Petal stood in the last doorway, the torches lit by Flowing Silk penning the shadows into the centre of the courtyard as surely as Sheng had penned him.

  Sheng darted backwards as Xiong lashed out with a paw, catching the thing that had been Jing in the chest and leaving long, if not particularly deep, diagonal claw grooves across its torso, following it up with a backpaw across the face.

  Then an evil grin split the muzzle, revealing sharp teeth, and he held out a paw, all claws clenched but the one that pointed over the shadow thing's shoulder. It turned just in time for the sledgehammer that Big Lo swung to connect squarely with what had been its face.

  The legs of thing that had been Jing gave way and it flew back a foot or two. It skidded, twitched, then fell still as shadows seeped out of it like blood. Once everything was still the man and face underneath were entirely different. With the sorcerer's death Jing's discarded 'face' faded too, living flesh morphing into a wooden red devil mask lying next to him.

  “Them again.” Flowing Silk stepped forward, the wheels still burning as he checked for danger. Satisfied that there was nothing immediately likely to attack him he tucked them away and knelt to check the man’s pockets.

  Xiong wobbled slightly, then flumped onto the floor with his head between his forepaws and gave a great whuff of a bearsigh. Sheng put a comforting hand on his grandson’s shoulder.

  Mei, Tai and Wan finished off the last few shadow demons as Flowing Silk pulled out a tuft of what looked like Jing’s hair - not this man underneath, but what he had looked like as Jing - from the man’s pocket.

  Tai limped to stand next to him and looked down at the body, surprisingly quiet despite his injury and the fight, “That was my son's killer?”

  “As far as we can tell.” Flowing Silk said as he pulled two copper coins from his own sleeve and closed the killer’s eyes one handed, his other hand coming across to place the coins on them with the fluid ease of long practice. His tone was similarly practised, the voice of an investigator giving a summary of the events of a crime. “The shape-taking is the darker side of the Fury of the Ogre. I imagine the real Jing was kidnapped during the break-in, the magic only works as long as they're kept alive."

  Tai looked down at the body, and Sheng saw the moment his former subordinate acknowledged the young priest's skill by the way his shoulders sagged. "And the murder?" he asked softly.

  "They went in through the woman's bathhouse, through the streams out into the men's and took him by surprise.” Flowing Silk confirmed.

  There was a gasp as Yi revealed she’d had the kitchen door open a crack to watch the fight, “He went in the women's baths?!”

  “He gave Ren grave money, then escaped through the waterfall. The circle is- Yes, Yi, the woman's baths - probably somewhere near the yellow mud, made either by one of his compatriots or him." Flowing Silk shook his head, "Unfortunately, he then went into town, so anything he took from Ren is probably long gone, but we can at least ask Ren about the contents.”

  Seven Feathers frowned, “Yellow mud?”

  Mei raised an eyebrow, “Yes, that’s oddly specific.”

  “Big Lo pointed it out. See his boots for yourself.” Flowing Silk indicated the corpse.

  Seven Feathers thought for a moment, “There's a cave outside town that I passed on the way in - and the gully leading up to it was filled with yellow soil.”

  Mei looked sideways at Wan, “I told you the butler did it.”

  Flowing Silk closed his eyes, seemingly feeling the emotional exhaustion now that the end was in sight. He looked up to Seven Feathers, “Would you mind leading me there?”

  The man nodded and turned to Silk Petal. "B- Petal, are you coming too?"

  She snorted, but nodded as Flowing Silk stood and bowed to Tai. The priest's voice was far too calm to not be drawing on his training to keep his composure. “Did you have any messages you wish me to pass onto your son? If you do not wish to see his body yourself.”

  Tai looked at him for a long moment. “... Bring his grave-goods back. I would see him laid to rest in the family crypts.”

  Flowing Silk bowed, “I would be more than willing to assist you in funeral preparations after speaking with him, if you would allow me. It would be…” the young priest tried to find the right words and failed.

  Tai seemed to be struggling with himself as well. Eventually he spoke. “Perhaps - when you speak to him… see that his spirit is at ease.”

  Flowing Silk bowed deeply, grateful for what was probably the closest to acceptance that he was likely to get. “I will do all that I can.”

  Sheng stepped up next to Tai, voice respectful but firm. “I see that your leg is troubling you and that you have had far too long a day. Would you care to have some tea with me? I find a cup of tea and a calm conversation can solve many of the worlds ills.”

  Tai’s expression flickered and his head dipped. “Yes, honoured elder. I think that the wisdom of your years may be precisely what I need.”

  —

  The pair retreated to his office, Tai signalling for a tea set to be brought up as he hid how stiffly he was moving. Sheng settled on a cushion on the floor without question to force Tai to take the chair. He politely said nothing until the tea set had been delivered and Sheng promptly set to making the tea before Tai could try to move.

  The Zhou chuckled weakly, “I see that you have seen straight through me as usual, General.”

  Sheng lifted his hand and shook his head, “I am a General no longer my friend, just an old man travelling with his grandson.”

  Tai nodded, “I see.” He was quiet for a moment, “How is your daughter?”

  Sheng breathed out, “I lost the right to call her my daughter when I let myself be taken by the Huns in my grief over my wife’s death. Even more when I missed my Grandson’s birth and the death of my son in law to pirates.” His hands were as steady as his voice as he prepared the leaves, “I curse myself that I knew nothing of it until I heard it from my Grandson less than a month ago.”

  The Zhou looked up at him, his mask finally falling away, voice raw, “What did you do when you found out?”

  “I cried.” He poured the pot of boiling water, “And then I resolved to be there for my Grandson, to do everything I should have done for her.” He set the pot down to meet Tai’s gaze, “We cannot change history, nor can we change what we have done. All we can do is apologise and keep walking forward on the path of honour to try and redeem ourselves for our failures.”

  Tai’s hands balled into fists on his lap, then relaxed. “ ‘In doing so we pray that what we have learned prevents us from future regrets.’ The teachings of the First Tortoise. I had not realised how relevant those teachings would be.”

  “None do until they have experienced it.” Sheng placed Tai’s cup in front of him. “To lost loved ones.”

  “To lost loved ones.” Tai sipped it, then let his eyes rest on the liquid, “Was I wrong to forbid his association with that boy?”

  “I assume you mean Flowing Silk Ribbon?”

  Tai nodded, replacing his cup on the table as his voice rasped with held back tears, “The last conversation we had was an argument. He wanted to send people to find him or find him himself. He told me that he didn’t care what the opinion of the Zhou was, that Flowing Silk Ribbon had a worth beyond my blinkered vision.”

  He let the tears fall, “And then after all those arguments he just… appears, and helps without a question. Despite everything I’ve put him through, despite everything my family has done. Did I make a mistake in thinking poorly of an honourable man?” He looked up at Sheng, “You have travelled with him, tell me, what is he like?”

  Sheng studied his tea for a moment, “I have not travelled with him long, but he is as gentle with my tea set as he is with Grave Money.” His eyes flicked up, “He is young, but perhaps that clarity of sight works in his favour as much as to his detriment.”

  Tai sighed and put his head in his hands, “I feel I have made a dreadful mistake, and yet I cannot fault my decision. Ren is the heir to the Branch Family, he knew that and he understood his duty, but he refused to let go of him.” He suddenly looked up to Sheng as if begging forgiveness, “I cannot face my son. All I was doing was trying to protect my family and him from the censure of society, but I cannot bear to see his face when they meet again. I cannot bear to see the happiness I snatched from him.”

  “Then you shall have to trust Flowing Silk to pass on your goodbyes.” Sheng said calmly, “I know I could never face Sun-Li’s ghost, so I cannot blame you for your decision.”

  “And the other one?”

  Sheng pinned his former subordinate with a calm look every bit as sharp as twenty years before, “Then I repeat the teachings of the First Tortoise.”

  Tai broke his gaze to look back at the tea. Eventually he picked it up to drink again, “You are right as usual, Honoured Elder. Thank you for being here to set my feet back on the right path.”

  “What else is an old friend for?” Sheng smiled, “I am sure you would have found the way back to it by yourself eventually.” He finished his tea and set the cup back down, a wicked glint back in his eye, “Now, tell me about what I have missed these last twenty years. Your courtship must have been quite a thing to get into the Zhou…”

  strictly required for inheritance, but the couple would be expected to adopt a blood relative like a nephew or cousin once removed. The problem with Ren and Flowing Silk being associated at all is primarily the class divide plus the inability to reproduce. One or the other could be worked around, but both makes it a lot harder.

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