1: Yue ain't your hero
Cursing Yue Qi’s damn hero complex, Shen Jiu chased the tall kid through narrow and refuse-filled backstreets. They heard it before they saw it. A young master in rich robes atop a beautifully groomed horse had been about to teach one of their street brethren a lesson in daring to exist while unworthy. Of course, Yue Qi would try to save the boy, Shen Jiu groused as he watched his ‘big brother’ rush the armed retainers. This was nothing new.
“You made me do this, Qi-ge,” Shen Jiu mumbled as he clenched his skinny, dirt-covered fists. “This is your fault.”
There was a power in Shen Jiu, something that Yue Qi had always told him to keep hidden.
Right now, Shen Jiu did not care about being seen and summoned this strange energy, infusing it with all the fury and resentment the years begging and fighting for food on the streets had given him.
A broken metal spoke became a sharp spike and rushed towards the horse as if possessed with its own will. The direct hit sent a fountain of blood from the smooth, muscled flank and the horse rose on its back hooves. The young master’s horsemanship was surprisingly good and he remained in the saddle. A second hit with a spiritually charged nail caused the horse to buck and fling at least one person down the narrow alley. The shouts gained an edge of panic.
Shen Jiu ignored the tension that came with using his power and sent a last projectile
towards the beast. His aim was no longer true and sweat ran down his face. His vision blurred and he could only hope that he hit something. The horse screamed its death throes.
Suddenly an arm grabbed Shen Jiu and whipped him around.
“Run! We have to run!” Qi-ge’s voice barely carried over the noise although he was right next to Shen Jiu.
Yue Qi dragged him along, down winding alleys and through jagged holes in broken fences.
If not for the iron grip on his bony wrist, Shen Jiu would have gotten lost a dozen times over. Finally, Yue Qi pulled him through a hole under another nondescript crumbling brick wall and into a dark warehouse full of crates.
The air smelled of mildew and old spices. The only sounds were the boys’ labored breaths. Shen Jiu felt his way around until he found a large box to lean against and blinked in the darkness.
“Xiao Jiu...” Yue Qi gasped for breath holding his ribs. Despite being older and freakishly tall, he had never had enough food to build anything resembling muscle or endurance. His handsome face glistened with sweat and his black hair was grey with dust.
“I’m here,” Shen Jiu replied, just as much out of breath. The smelly of the warehouse mixed with his usual layer of grime and added new smells to his already interesting aroma. He fanned the air with his hand, wishing he had a proper fan.
“Are you okay?”
Shen Jiu shot Yue Qi a razor-sharp glare. “I am not the one that got nearly trampled to death.”
“Xiao Jiu,” Yue Qi groaned. “They saw you. They saw you use your power.”
“I had to! He was going to kill you!”
“You don’t know that.”
“I do,” Shen Jiu said sullenly and looked down at the straw covered ground. “I felt it. He wanted to kill you.”
Yue Qi knitted his brows and looked away. He rubbed his rag covered shoulder where a nasty bruise bloomed past the dirt. In the near-darkness, his face was unreadable.
“Damn you,” Shen Jiu gritted out, fighting back tears. His voice came out squeaky, with none of his usual sharpness or ferocity. “Why do you always have to save other people? Shi Wu is a rat, he…”
“Shi Wu is dead,” Yue Qi interrupted. “We can’t go home. The… young master… on the horse…. dead, too.”
“Qi-Ge?” Shen Jiu stared at him with wild eyes.
“They saw you use your power. We need to disappear before they find you. There is a caravan leaving soon from this warehouse. We can use it to get out of town.”
“Qi-Ge…” Shen Jiu repeated softer, moving closer to touch the tall boy’s arm. His vision
blurred from the tears that gathered but refused to fall. He could not express the feelings that welled up inside his chest. He had never been a touchy-feely child.
Yue Qi caught Shen Jiu’s wrist before his hand could reach him. “This way,” he commanded with a tone that sounded nothing like the big brother Qi-Ge that Shen Jiu had known all his life.
Without looking back, he pulled the small boy towards a connected warehouse where carts stood already loaded with dusty carpets and wrapped packages. “Cover your mouth with your shirt against the dust,” he advised as he pushed Shen Jiu underneath the merchant’s’ goods. “Stay hidden until I come to get you.”
Darkness fell around Shen Jiu as he lay slowly breathing through his sweaty shirt. His
stomach clenched with fear.
Qi-Ge left him behind?
He wanted to rush from his hiding place, to chase after his dumb big brother.
Voices right next to his cart made him freeze. He suppressed his instincts and forced himself to lay very still. His breathing took on a measured rhythm. In through the nose, out through the mouth. Breathe deep into the belly.
Be hidden, be invisible, wait for Qi-ge.
The power within him reacted to his wish and spread around his tiny body like a warm cocoon of silence. His breathing slowed. Everything slowed. The power sang inside his mind and he slumbered to its lullaby.
Yue Qi said a silent prayer to whoever would listen to somebody like him. He did not know any gods by name, after all that was not part of the street beggar curriculum. His literacy began and ended with letters of blood, telling fake tales of misery to gain sympathy and open the purses of good-hearted people. How often had he wished his masters had shown even a shred of humanity towards the real misery under their roof.
Slaves were named in the order their masters acquired them. Yue Qi’s name was the number seven. Shen Jiu was number nine. Of course, there had been the numbers one through six and eight but those children were long sold off or dead. Only his Xiao Jiu remained.
Voices from the warehouse gates woke him from his thoughts.
“Those cursed no-good workers,” a bearded middle-aged man in a dusty hanfu complained. “The moment the magistrate shows up, they are all gone!”
“Criminals, the lot of them,” the bald, heavy-set man next to him agreed. “Who cares for some young master’s imagined offenses? We have a caravan to load.”
Yue Qi rubbed some dirt out of his face with a corner of his short robe and rearranged his face into his habitual big brother smile. He rounded a corner to appear as if he would come from outside the warehouse and approached the two men openly.
“Esteemed Masters, this humble one wonders if he could trade labor for a meal and a ride,” he said, bowing politely at his waist.
“A skinny brat like you? Do you even have any strength in those sticks you’re trying to pass for arms?,” the bearded man laughed.
“This humble one promises, he is stronger than he looks,” Yue Qi replied without losing his smile and channeled some of his own power into his muscles to lift a box that was heavier than he was.
“Aya, impressive!,” the bearded man clapped loudly. “You’re hired, boy. Get to it quick.”
Yue Qi set the box onto the carpet wagon, adding to Shen Jiu’s concealment, and bowed at his waist again. He had never been good at deception. To keep himself from glancing at the other boy’s hiding place was already hitting his limits. However, he was strong thanks to his ability to channel his power into his arms and legs. Honest work suited him more than the usual fare and so he was no stranger to bargaining his labor and worked fast to secure all the marked boxes on the wagons.
Having helped with the horses, he was finally allowed to climb on a cart along with one of the mercenaries hired to guard the trip. It was not safe outside the city perimeter. The town was just far enough from the border to the demon realm that demon attacks were unusual but far enough from any big cultivation sects for law to bother with it. Although a magistrate existed, it was just a nice name for taking money to look away whenever something unlawful happened. And so, Yue Qi felt a proverbial stone lift from his chest when the city gates disappeared behind him.
“Ay, boy, aren’t you scared?,” the ruddy mercenary next to him asked. The short man’s face was marred with pock scars and his dry hair was pulled up in a tight bun. He wore some leathers that passed for an armor in a place like this.
“Yes, sir,” Yue Qi answered truthfully. Of course, what he worried about was the motionless lump underneath the carpets and not some creatures they might encounter on the road.
“Don’t worry, Da-ge will protect you!,” the man grinned familiarly and put his calloused hand on the boy’s shoulder. “You know, there used to be proper law in these lands, a local cultivation sect made everyone feel safe but they haven’t bothered doing anything in a long time now,” he continued as the wagons made their way up the badly maintained road.
“Does Da-ge know what happened to them?”
“Aya, no,” the mercenary sighed. “They just stopped taking care of things and it all fell to us, the common folk.”
Yue Qi nodded and continued to idly listen to the man prattle on about the good old times when the women were pretty and cultivators were righteous. His mind eye wandered and he directed it to scout the darkening forest along the road. For a long time, all he sensed were small animals and the occasional woodworker. He jerked upwards and sent his mind eye towards a certain direction. This was the third time he had sensed the same woodworker.
He sharply tugged the mercenary’s sleeve. “Da-ge, someone is following us!”
“What? How do you…?” The man sputtered and peered into the darkness beyond the thick maple trees lining the road.
“I just know,” Yue Qi urged and jumped off the carriage. “Get ready while I pass it on to the other wagons.”
It did not take much convincing to get the twitchy merchants to call to arms. And it was just in time, too. The first wagon came to a sharp halt as it narrowly avoided a collision with some fallen trees across the road. Leaves rustled in the darkness around them and soon a group of armed men appeared in the narrow circle of the caravan’s lanterns.
The mercenaries were ready for them.
Without the element of surprise, the forces were evenly matched. Yue Qi picked up a bandit’s spear and joined the fray. With the weapon’s range advantage and subtle empowerment through his secret ability, he quickly skewered a burly figure that had been approaching Shen Jiu’s hiding place. He kicked the still twitching body away and ran the spear through another bandit’s neck, eliciting a wet gurgle. Narrowly avoiding a third bandit’s strike, he rolled underneath the wagon.
The bandit ran around the wagon to catch Yue Qi on the other side but stopped in his tracks. A moment later, his lifeless face was on the ground, staring right at Yue Qi, who hadn’t gotten up yet.
“Is that all you’ve got?” The mercenary who called himself Da-ge hollered after the retreating robbers. He reached under the wagon, offering his hand to Yue Qi. “See, kid, there is nothing to be scared of as long as Da-ge is here.”
Yue Qi saluted the man in gratitude. “Many thanks to Da-ge.”
The ambush was over but his strength was still needed to clear the roadblock and he politely smiled at the gushing merchants, who were insisting he stay with them until they reach their destination. Noncommittally, Yue Qi thanked them and returned to his wagon as the caravan was ready to continue.
With a heavy sigh, he wiped the sweat from his brow and leaned back to subtly send a wisp of spirit energy underneath the stack of dusty carpets. Shen Jiu remained in deep slumber, still exhausted from using so much of his power back on the street, Yue Qi reasoned. Just as well. The small boy only needed to remain hidden.
The pock scarred mercenary sat heavily on the wagon bench and cracked the horses’ reins.
“You know, kid,” he elbowed Yue Qi after a while. “You have some talent there.”
“Mhm” Yue Qi felt tiredness settle in his limbs as the stress from the ambush subsided.
“This caravan is headed to the Tian Gong mountains,” the mercenary continued without waiting for a coherent answer. “There is a cultivation sect up there and every time they choose disciples it’s a huge event. Merchants make a killing from all the tourists and hopeful parents, is why these masters are going there.”
“Mmm…” Yue Qi was slipping away, barely listening.
“What I’m saying is: you should try.”
