The intersection of corridors was one of the many to be found in the estate, entirely unremarkable except that one of its passages led to a quiet courtyard. The buildings within it had gone unused for many years, but were now occupied by the family’s dūtóu and his people.
Yong’s sister had told him that the only way to participate in the upcoming raids on the Rock Knives was alongside those people. She’d seen their skill at arms first hand and trusted them to protect him, which meant he needed the dūtóu’s permission.
But how should Yu Yong phrase the request, so that it would be accepted? Hong Fei had been the one to rescue him from the ruby swift, after all. He’d seen Yu Yong at his worst.
The Yu’s young master would’ve bristled in the past at the suggestion of bodyguards, but he wasn’t that foolish boy anymore. The guilt of his misdeeds burned within him. They drove him to make amends.
Ning, with her quick mind, no doubt also thought of bringing him closer to Sun Han. She’d admitted to Yu Yong that she believed the scholar hadn’t been entirely forthcoming about his expertise. His skill in manipulating qi in another person’s body was extraordinary.
Chen Wenbin had reported it so. The xiàowèi had witnessed Hong Fei using qi, even though the dūtóu was only at the Body Forged realm. That qi had apparently been loaned to Hong Fei by Sun Han, which the dūtóu then knew how to use because of his prior experience in the Qi-Gathering realm.
Ning’s suspicion was that this regular exposure to qi was helping to restore the dūtóu’s cultivation, or at least to speed its recovery. Hong Fei hadn’t admitted to it, but Chen Wenbin had told Yu Yong that the dūtóu’s cultivation was likely at tier six or seven. At that pace, Hong Fei would break through to Qi Gathering by the end of the year, which was an unheard of pace.
Yu Yong didn’t dare expect his own ability to ascend to be restored… but regaining his previous cultivation? That was a thing he longed for, a small dream amid his myriad shattered ones.
He’d been such a tremendous fool before, his trust placed in the wrong people. Yu Yong’s rage flared at the memory of him storming into the library, demanding an explanation for why he’d not been told of the raid on the Dreaming Ox.
To answer him, Ning had gone to one of the secret compartments, retrieved a set of documents, and laid them out on the table. They’d been found at the Ma residence and described his dearest friend Zhengyi’s dealings with the Ma family—about the advice he’d sought from them on how to lead Yu Yong onto a path of debauchery.
“We didn’t want to risk it,” Ning had said. “There was the potential for too many things to go wrong. That raid was a test, as much as it was a way to strike at the Rock Knives and add to our treasury.”
Zhengyi had snuck Yu Yong out of the estate to visit the brothel only once. His memories were foggy—partly from drinking too much and partly from the injury he’d received in an altercation in a nearby alley afterward, the one that had forced him to use his Life’s Bounty pill.
There would’ve been hardly any chance that that experience would’ve interfered with his participation in the raid on the Dreaming Ox, but Yu Yong had felt incapable of making that argument. In his mind, his sister had been right to be wary of his judgement.
If Zhengyi, the Ma family, and the Rock Knives had had their way, Yu Yong would be lying in a dream-blossom den, his mind lost in the wine’s illusions.
Ah, he wanted to scream so badly, to punch the walls, and strangle Zhengyi. But the Mas and the Rock Knives had panicked. They sent an assassin to kill Zhengyi and remove the link between Yu Yong and the advice they’d provided.
Yu Yong needed to join this next set of raids. How would he get his revenge otherwise? How else could he learn to not become what he feared—
A sound spun him around to see a giant badger approaching. Hong Fei’s Ling was there, waving for him to follow her. Yu Yong’s face burned. The badger reminded him of his folly in trying to capture a spirit beast of his own.
Is it my eyes, or does she seem more robust than before. Her claws look even sharper.
The giant badger simply waited for him until he could shake off his thoughts and do as he was asked to do.
At the courtyard doors, Yu Yong saw the entire household present and training.
To one side was the Kang family along with Hong Fei’s newest servant, a rough-looking woman called Ugly Dog, of all things. She demonstrated a knee to the groin, followed by a toe kick to the groin, a stomp to the groin, and lastly a kneeling punch to the groin.
“A strike to the crotch will stop most men,” Ugly Dog said. “It’s also a good first step to putting them in their graves if that’s what you want to do. Works on women too. If you’ve never been kicked in the baby-maker, I can tell you from experience that it hurts like nothing else.”
“You’ve been kicked in the… baby-maker?” Little Ruyun asked, her eyes wide.
Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
“A time or two, yes,” Ugly Dog replied, scratching her misshapen nose. “But I paid ’em back as good as I got.” She chuckled. “I tell you… there’s nothing like watching grown men cry, snot running down their faces like the river itself.”
The woman’s mouth snapped shut when she spotted Yu Yong at the door, and she hurriedly bowed in his direction. A breath later, Ugly Dog closed on the Kangs, so that their lesson could continue in whispers. Perhaps it was a secret technique to be shared next?
On the other side of the courtyard, Hong Fei and Sun Han exchanged fist techniques, the spar a slow-moving one as they explored the relationship between directionality and deflection. The scholar appeared wary, however, while the dūtóu had a half-smile on his face. He must be pleased with the dedication of his people.
“Well?” Hong Fei called out to the giant badger. “How far did you get?”
Ling shuffled beside Yu Yong.
“He heard you, did he?” Hong Fei pressed.
The badger barked in reply, and somehow the dūtóu knew what the spirit beast meant to say. He stepped back from his spar—to the scholar’s visible relief—then bowed in gratitude for the exchange.
Hong Fei nodded to Yu Yong in greeting before turning his attention toward Ling. “I know the spell’s not an easy one to learn,” the dūtóu instructed, “but it’s necessary. You’ll be fine on the next raid, because you’ll be there to break down the door, but what about the next covert mission? Do you want to be left behind? If not, then you must learn to use your qi to silence your steps.”
The spirit beast was trying to sneak up on me, Yu Yong realized, and he’d caught her doing so. Instead of feeling angry, however, the young man felt envy. There was obvious care in Hong Fei’s voice. The whole courtyard reeked of it; there was something here that Yu Yong was outside of.
He’d almost been a part of it, sitting in front of the cherry tree along with his sister and his friends to listen to the dūtóu’s lectures. And now, he was a supplicant begging for a place in the upcoming raids.
“Let me show you,” Hong Fei said and gestured for Sun Han to approach.
The scholar came forward to touch the dūtóu’s back, then a moment later when Hong Fei stamped his feet, no noise was heard. Even the wind rustling the man’s robe was silenced.
Hong Fei gestured again, and Sun Han placed his hand on the dūtóu’s back once more. The scholar’s eyes closed in concentration. Hong Fei must be demonstrating the spell to him, which was… which was an immense amount of trust, sharing what must be a family secret art.
Yu Yong felt sick from the jealousy.
“There,” Hong Fei said. “Now show her again how to do it. Try those refinements to see if they help.”
Sun Han nodded and took Ling aside so that they could work together while out of the way. That left Yu Yong facing a Hong Fei.
“Young master,” the dūtóu said.
The jumbled words Yu Yong had collected fled in the face of those mild and dispassionate eyes.
“Are you here for your lecture?” Hong Fei asked.
A hope kindled in Yu Yong. Perhaps those earlier days of sitting before the cherry tree hadn’t been forgotten?
“It’s been somewhat delayed because of your convalescence,” Hong Fei added. There was a pack nearby, from which he retrieved a thin, leather strap that looked like the kind used in the family’s horse tack.
Yu Yong took a step back in alarm. He wasn’t sure why, but there was a concerning look in the dūtóu’s eyes.
“Let me tell you about the proper treatment of horses,” Hong Fei said.
And it turned out to be a lesson that Yu Yong would never forget.
###
Yu Yong sulked, which was normal, Hong Fei told himself. No youth wanted to be whipped, especially in the presence of others, but the dūtóu had made a promise and now he’d kept it. He hoped the spirit of the horse Yu Yong had ridden on the night of the typhoon would rest easy.
The others of his courtyard eyed the lad where he sat on the salon steps. Yu Yong leaned forward so that his sensitive back didn’t press against the wall behind him. Hong Fei felt a twinge of guilt. He’d perhaps laid into the lad more than ought to.
Yet, Yu Yong was a cultivator. Though he’d fallen to the third tier of Qi Gathering, he’d still recover much more quickly than someone Dustborn could. The next morning should see him fully recovered.
Hong Fei sat beside Yu Yong so that the lad could speak his mind.
“I want to go with you,” the young master said, “on the next raid against the Rock Knives.”
“I know,” Hong Fei replied.
“You do?” Yu Yong asked, surprised.
The dūtóu nodded, “We all heard you pacing in the corridor. The floors squeak out there.”
The young man blushed. “That just means I was walking by.”
“Was it your cultivation that was crippled or was it your wits?” Hong Fei asked, exasperated. “No one ‘just’ walks near this courtyard, and the only reason for you to visit is if you want to join my part of the raid tomorrow.”
Yu Yong lowered his head. “When you put it like that, it sounds obvious.”
“Because it is,” Hong Fei noted, eying the lad next to him. “If you want something from me, just say it. Others might appreciate dancing around with words, but I prefer a direct approach.”
“Then teach me,” Yu Yong blurted.
“Isn’t that what I just did?” Hong Fei replied. “Do you need me to get the strap again?”
Yu Yong backed away, then winced when he bumped into the wall. “No, no. Once was enough. I meant…” He gestured toward the courtyard, unsure how to describe what he wanted.
Hong Fei shook his head in frustration, the exasperation growing within him. Yu Yong mistaking his response for a denial looked miserable as a result.
“You fool boy,” Hong Fei said. “What do you think we’re already doing? You’re here, aren’t you? That’s all it takes. Just be here, and then you get this…” he gestured to the courtyard. “I’d kick you out if I wanted otherwise. Don’t think I wouldn’t. Or won’t, if you do something stupid and worthy of it.”
“Oh,” Yu Yong said. He swallowed, then again: “Oh.”
Hong Fei’s people sent glances his way. They knew about the supposed drill planned for the next day, and now they’d overheard mention of raids instead. He’d speak to them about keeping the information secret. He trusted them to do that, even Ugly Dog, but he’d stay in the courtyard until the time came, just in case. There was planning to do, anyway, which now included Yu Yong by the looks of things.
No doubt, Yu Ning had sent the lad his way, which showed uncommon wisdom on the duchess’ part. No one knew how to fix a broken man better than another broken man.
Yu Yong licked his lips. “What about the spell to move quietly? Can you show it to me too?”
“No,” Hong Fei replied plainly. “That’s a line I won’t cross.”
“But you showed it Sun Han,” Yu Yong protested.
“He’s sworn his life to me,” Hong Fei explained. “It’s mine to use as I will.”
“What if I—” Yu Yong began.
Hong Fei interrupted him. “I’d bring out the strap again and whip you ten times harder than before.”
“No one dares talk to me like that, not even Chen De.”
“Your head servant cares more about you than you know,” Hong Fei replied. “If you’d paid more attention to him, you wouldn’t be in this situation.”
Yu Yong swallowed. The back of his neck turned red, but he didn’t lower his head this time. Instead, his eyes darted to where Hong Fei’s people trained and said, “I understand.”
ten chapters ahead. :)
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Auntie Ling, a summons
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Scholar Sun Han, a summons
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Chen De, Yong's head servant
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Chen Wenbin, the commander of the Yu soldiers at the estate
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Chen Zhengyi, Wenbin's nephew, deceased
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Kang Lian, Ruyun's mother
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Little Ruyun, Lian's daughter
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Ugly Dog, a new servant in Hong Fei's courtyard, former Rock Knife
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Yu Ning, the duchess, Yong's sister, BLACK 13
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Yu Yong, Ning's brother