Hong stood on the stern of the weathered wooden rowboat, working the oar as she drove the boat up the river. Her motions were casual, almost effortless, but the boat was going fast enough to make passers-by blink and narrow their eyes before they determinedly looked away. Tian was sitting up in the bow, keeping a casual eye on the crane and answering questions about West Town for Little Treasure.
The crane was keeping a steady pace, flying up the river, over the canyons and darting boats. Tian and Hong knew it well enough to see that it was hunting. Which was odd. Cranes did not hunt from the air. At least, not as far as Tian knew.
Another thing he didn’t know was where this increasing feeling of wrongness was coming from. It was as if he would become irritated if he happened to be looking in a particular direction. That direction happened to be up river and on the right bank. And it was getting worse the further they went up the river.
He got a flash of memory from the Snow Grace Crane- there was an inn up ahead, just outside a little village. It looked quite ordinary, except that it had a bright green roof. Not painted or glazed, it appeared to be sheets of green metal formed into a roof. Accompanying the memory was a feeling of discomfort and a sense of wrongness.
“Interesting.”
“Hey, Sis Liren?”
“Yeah?”
“Random question, but how do you feel about staying in an inn tonight? An inn in exactly that direction.”
“Huh. You too?”
“And her Highness.” Tian pointed towards the sky.
“I would love to stay in an inn tonight.” Her face was still veiled, and yet the sunny smile shined right through.
From the river, the village seemed quite ordinary. Some houses had thatched roofs, the nicer, newer ones had tiles. The paths between buildings weren’t wide enough to be called proper streets, but you could fit a cart down them. Fish, silver, green, grey, some faintly striped, others dappled, dried on racks under the setting sun, as fishermen dragged their boats ashore. The women of the village came out to help carry the day’s catch, or to lead visiting travelers to the one inn just outside the village proper. There weren’t many visitors. There weren’t many women. There were no children at all.
Tian and Hong didn’t need to share a look. The way the women looked at Treasure then quickly looked away was entirely enough. Other visitors to the village were led by women. In their case, it was a gruff, older fisherman who ‘volunteered’ that the best inn on this stretch of the Agate River was the Copper Roof Inn, just outside the village.
“You will like it. Clean sheets, warm beds, good food.” The old man spoke only to Censor Henshen. It took Tian an embarrassingly long time to realize why. The slim man was the only adult in the group. At the very least, the only visibly adult man. Tian had gotten used to the deference of mortals.
He sighed silently. He still owed the daoist masters a report on how to fix the situation in the Broad Sky Kingdom. As he watched fisherwomen shuck freshwater oysters and pack them into brine barrels, he really wished all his learning hadn’t led him to the same sorts of ideas the Monastery had already come up with. The old way was entirely understandable. It just couldn’t keep happening.
Yelling at people to make better choices wasn’t likely to be useful. They were, after all, making the best choices they could from the limited options available. What were they supposed to do? Not eat salt? Not preserve food? Get sick? Starve? Die? Pray to be born in a better run kingdom?
Maybe they should file a petition.
He should ask Censor Henshen why it was hearing about a petition being filed that alarmed him so much. Tian racked his brain, but couldn’t come up with an explanation that made any sense. Wouldn’t a full-scale assault on a city deserve more concern? Tian let his eyes wander as his brain wrestled with the absurdness of the situation.
There was an old woman peeling burdock roots, sitting on a bench next to her front door, tan toes digging into the rich yellow earth. Tian smiled. The woman was real. The earth was real. Judging by the burdock root, dinner was likely real too. Better to focus on what was in front of him, rather than being lost in his wonderings. The crane agreed.
The Snow Grace Crane flapped away, having no desire to trap herself in a box with no food and a lot of humans. There were a few fishermen who thoughtfully picked up nets or slings, but Tian wasn’t worried about them. The crane was functionally level nine. The mortals couldn’t hurt her unless she let them. Besides, she really didn’t like the inn. Something about it revolted her.
The inn was a long, three story building coated in white plaster. The green metal roof was rather dark under the deepening red sky. Heavy wooden shutters were propped open, ready to be closed in case of rain or wild animals. Horses were kept around the side of the inn in the stables.
Tian glanced at the stables, feeling a little odd. He didn’t know how to ride a horse. Why would he ride a horse, when he could run faster and for longer? But for mortals, a coach or a good horse was the fastest way to get around the country. That didn’t involve rivers, anyway.
Little treasure tugged on Tian’s robes. “Immortal Tian?”
“Yes, Little Treasure?”
“There is something wrong with this inn. I don’t know what, but it looks like there is a black cloud over it. Really, really dark. Like it’s on fire.”
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Sin. Not exactly the opposite of merit, but it’s the best word for it. The place is steeped in sin and evil. Grandpa Jun murmured. How interesting that all three of you sensed it, and from so far away. If it had just been you, I’d have half expected it, but all three of you? Hmm.
“En. This is a dangerous place, Little Treasure. Assume everyone here is a bad person. Actually, if you see someone who isn’t, someone who is glowing like Sister Hong or I, let me know, okay? Just nudge me and nod at them, don’t point or say anything.”
They were greeted at the door by a waiter in a simple green gray robe and soft cloth cap, pinched face and narrow fingers with boney knuckles. His small eyes lingered on Little Treasure for half a moment too long before shifting to Censor Henshen. “Table for the Sir and his son? Will your attendants be dining as well? We can feed them in the stable if you prefer.”
Censor Henshen, to Tian’s utter amazement, didn’t so much as blink. “Dinner and rooms for four. My guards will dine with us.”
“Ah! My apologies, my apologies! I should have known better. All the true experts these days are keeping a low profile. Sorry again. We are serving Grass Carp tonight, roasted or stewed, as well as our famous wok charred long beans…”
The waiter rattled off a list of dishes and wine available, as well as promising two very fine rooms for the honored guests. “Lucky, we only have a few rooms left. Busy night. The air feels disturbed. A bad night to be on the road.”
Tian cast his senses out, and had to agree. It seemed quite pleasant, but there was something that said “Get inside now.” No storms on the horizon, though. Odd.
Odder still was the way he didn’t sense the breath of four immortals in the dining room until he was actually in the room with them. Hong and Tian stutter stepped, each moving to sweep the room in blood and violence, stopping a half second after they started.
They weren’t in the desert anymore. A surprise wasn’t necessarily an ambush. Though in this case, it certainly was a trap of some sort. It was a large dining room, not as big as the mess hall at Depot Four or the Temple, but larger than anything on Windblown Manor. Tian quickly counted forty five people, forty one of which were mortal, thirty of which were male.
Stout shoes or boots were a must for the diners. Sensible, tough trousers in coarse silk or, more often, thick linen paired with the shoes, and spoke of a hard life on hard roads. Men had their hair in simple buns or short braids down the back of their necks, falling over the collar of sturdy robes and tunics. A very few wore silk robes, the fabric looking luxurious in the rough crowd. Nobody disdained the wearers. In a room where everyone carried long knives or stout sabers, the silk wearers sported red tasseled swords. A sword expert skilled enough to afford silk was to be respected.
Tian quietly ran Counter-Jumper, passively absorbing what the room was telling him. The immortals were four level sevens and a level nine, all of the Earthly Realm. The level nine was a seemingly blind old man playing an erhu on the small stage at the back of the room, plucking the two strings and sawing away with his bow, gently rocking back and forth as frost-clouded eyes looked blankly over the crowd.
The four level sevens, three men and one of the rare women in the room, sat well apart and openly kept an eye on each other. Each wore simple robes that, with a bit of extra ornamentation, could pass for uniforms. The woman was in brown and green, a saber carrying man wore grey, and a man with a short hatchet tucked into his belt wore a dusty red. The last wore black faded almost to grey, and the unadorned knife as his waist looked heavily used. Little Treasure did his best to be discreet when he nudged Tian and glanced over towards the lady in brown and green. Under such sharp eyes, he might as well have jumped up on the table and pointed.
The immortals immediately spotted Tian and Hong. Cold eyes examined them from head to foot, carefully weighing them up. Two more Level Seven’s in the mix might not seem like much with a Level Nine holding the fort, but two Level Seven’s working together were a different story. Of course, to kill the bandits you first capture their king. Tian could feel the strange cultivator’s attention drift to the mortals they were escorting. He got their message.
Hong pretended to ignore them, her back and shoulders straight and wide. Tian politely smiled at everyone in the room, silently cupped his hands and nodded in greeting.
The two men looked away, seemingly fascinated by their wine cups and the elder’s music. The woman narrowed her eyes, then she too turned back to her meal.
“Scholar Henshen, everyone here seems like a martial expert.” Little Treasure’s voice was mosquito buzz quiet. Tian could understand why the boy imagined it would be inaudible over the noise of the dining, conversation and music. Naive, but he was just six or so.
“They are martial experts. I recognize a few of them, and have guesses about a few more. I am far from being knowledgeable about these things, so you should assume everyone here is a crouching tiger or hidden dragon. A good time to practice minding one’s own business.” The censor’s voice was also near silent, and he had mastered the ability to speak without moving his lips. A strong step in the right direction.
The song ended, and bits of copper and silver flew through the air and landed in a bowl placed in front of the old man’s stool. It quickly became a competitive activity- some of those coins traveled the width of the room to land with a pointed chime. Tian nodded to Hong, who rolled her eyes and flicked over a silver coin. Silver or gold wouldn’t matter to that elder, but if he wanted to play at being a mortal, who were they to stop him?
“Here, have some warm water. Tea? Wine?” The waiter asked.
“Tea, and some snacks. Have the kitchen send out dinner and a few side dishes too.” Censor Henshen nodded and lightly tapped the table. Everyone settled in. Tian caught Hong’s eye and quickly drew the characters for “Bamboo” and “Woman” on the table. She barely wiggled her left hand from side to side as her right lifted the water cup. She lifted her veil lightly, took a sip, and set the cup down. Tian thought she put it down a little too firmly.
Tian sipped his own water. It did taste off. Not quite the wrongness of the “roots” being cut away, but it was headed in that direction. He chuckled silently. A collection of mortal experts wouldn’t gather for no reason, and seven immortals wouldn’t arrive silently without cause either. He was very interested in finding out what that reason was.
“I wonder if that senior knows how to play the flute.” Tian spoke quietly, but didn’t bother whispering. “You always complain about me trying to teach myself how to play. Maybe I could get some pointers.”
“The phrase ‘read the room’ does leap to mind, Brother.”
“I am reading the room. The room is saying that if anyone does anything remotely funny, the room will do all sorts of un-funny things to that person. I’m going to quietly sit here and make the best of dinner, enjoy the music, and maybe talk to some people. Not in a funny way. Just in a ‘Hi, I get a lot of crap for trying to learn a new skill, help a junior out?’ kind of way.”
“You don’t think that counts as funny behavior under the circumstances?”
“What circumstances? We are all here because the weather is threatening, aren’t we?” Tian’s innocently spread hands didn’t fool Little Treasure, let alone anyone else. “If I’m wrong, someone will come and tell me. I’m a great listener.”
Liren softly laughed into her fist, as night pulled in around the inn.