“Do you swear to do nothing to harm the headmaster of this school?” Demanded the largest of a powerfully-built pair of cultivators guarding the entrance to the headmaster’s own tower. The pair were dressed in matching crimson lamellar with a guandaos held casually at their sides, glaring at a smiling Alex and Yinzi while demanding the same oath far more belligerently than they had from all the other guests and nobles that had just made their way inside.

Alex solemnly dipped his head. “We will obey the oath we all took upon entering the academy,” he said, discretely tapping a treasure neither fool could see.

The pair gave satisfied sneers, quickly waving him into the tower before taking far more cordial tones with the well-dressed lord and lady just behind them.

Yinzi flashed a mischievous smile, squeezing Alex’s hand as they made their way inside. “Those fools have no idea.”

Alex grinned. “Come on. Hao Chan and the others are getting ahead of us, let’s go.

“Can you believe they’re binding absolutely everyone to that oath?”

Alex nodded. “Actually I’m kind of relieved that our paranoid friend insisted upon it, for all sorts of reasons,” he said as they found themselves in a magnificently appointed reception hall decorated with gold filigreed wood paneling that reflected the lamplight with a warm golden hue, highlighting silken tapestries depicting ancient battles, and numerous portraits of numerous former headmasters and other cultivator of note benevolently looking on.

The corridor quickly opened into a grand hall filled with both up-and-comers as well and the well-established power-houses of Baidushi and the province as a whole.

Countless elites dressed in noble finery glided across marbled flooring bearing the weight of not one but three tables groaning under the weight of roasted, grilled, and sauteed spirit beast meat prepared in dozens of scrumptious dishes filling the chamber with such heavenly odors that it was both a delight and a torment to the senses such that even Alex’s stomach was growling. The meat-rich fare was complimented by trenchers of steamed rice and carefully stacked piles apples, oranges, and more exotic fruit all but bursting with spiritual energy, making it clear that no expense had been spared for the occasion.

Best of all, Alex detected no poison or infernal taint of any kind.

Alex’s appetite immediately fled, however, when he caught sight of none other than Dongfang Hong himself, flanked by two no-nonsense looking Gold tier wujen covered in arcane enchantments, spiritual treasures, and deadly artifacts blazing so brightly to Alex’s Qi Perception that he could barely get a clear look at the cold-eyed men in their shimmering hauberks of mail. Yet Dongfang Hong himself was dressed in the same cross between a king’s regalia and reinforced lamellar armor as he had been wearing while glaring down at Alex from Cui Zhe’s palace, right before the perilous waters from the palatial moat had begun to overflow, flooding the courtyard with at least a glimmer of the waters from the River of Souls.

Alex felt a lurch in his gut when the man’s cold, soulless smile took in the crowd of elites that were as much Gold as Deep Silver, saluting them all with a jeweled chalice, never mind that the prince who had seized control of a nation the size of Earth itself never once looked Alex’s way.

Nonetheless, Alex froze where he stood, heart hammering as his eyes were captivated not by the prince but the figure standing next to him.

Liu Li. The first friend he had ever made in this world. Alex could so clearly recall the memory of a cheeky smile and stained alchemists attire underneath the heavily made up features of a kitsune girl weighed down by grief, finery, and despair. She was dressed like a crown princess, if a crown princess were a doll. A figurine that smiled at the slightest gesture of her master, before deferentially lowering her gaze as Dongfang Hong spoke.

“Greetings, contenders. As your host and headmaster of Royal Phoenix Academy, it is my pleasure to welcome all of you whose status has earned you the warm regard of the heavens and our fine institution as well. To your health, and to victory in the days ahead! Princess Cui Li, my fiance, will also be looking upon you all with great favor, eager to see what the youngest generation of greats is capable of in the days ahead!” As if on que, Liu Li solemnly bowed her head. “We will host two more days of free challenges between all of those who have made the first cut, armor and weapons wielded at the discretion of the challengers. The trial rings will be open to the active use of heaven and earth spiritual energy as well, and I look forward to measuring the skills and creativity of your clan’s elites! Save for our edict against killing, the contests may be as elegant or furious as you choose. In two days time we will begin the final rounds, and I believe we will have much to discuss as your favorites compete for some of the greatest treasures to be found in the entire kingdom! In addition to elite spiritual treasures, your weight in gold, and a thousand spirit pearls the prizes will include over a dozen cultivation tomes worthy of the imperial court, including a pristine copy of YanTu’s most prized Jade tome for the most worthy of champions who would swear their allegiance to a patron who will reward them like no other!”

Dongfang Hong toasted the distinguished guests already raising filled cups handed by harried looking servitors who only now got to Alex’s group, everyone raising there glasses in turn, a breathless hush over even the most powerful guests as the ruler of an entire nation measured them all with his gaze, before his cool lips curved in the slightest of smiles. The Red Prince dipped his head once, his only concession to his new role of headmaster being the golden phoenix badge he now wore, before turning back the way he had come, Liu Li walking deferentially in his wake, the pair leaving the guests to mingle, save for a silently chosen handful who raced to keep up with the prince and his retinue, men wearing the faces of awed children, and the demeanor of Golds.

Immediately the crowd broke out in breathless whispers, yet Alex hardly paid any attention at all, even when Hao Chan squeezed his hand.

Liu Li. Here. Not with Cheng Lei at all, rather the declared fiance of the Red Prince himself, Liu Li wearing the same horrified rictus of a fox caught in a trap from which there was no escape. Alex gazed down at his shaking hand, finding it a miracle he hadn’t already shattered the cup.

Before it was gently claimed by Hao Chan, gazing up at him with concerned silver eyes. “Alex, what’s wrong?”

Alex only dared to speak because Hao Chan’s voice was strangely soft, free of all echo. Her words slid right off the scowling Silver who had been making a beeline for Alex, before shaking his head with a frown and heading back to the closest buffet table.

Alex took a deep breath, sensing Yinzi, and Panheu as well in Jidihu’s cloaking bubble.

“That was Liu Li. Standing by his side.”

“We know,” said Panheu, tilting his head with a curious smile. “Are you looking to collect a third wife already, disciple?”

This earned dark looks from both Jidihu and the girls as Alex shook his head. “No, I… you don’t understand. She was my first friend when I first came to.” He swallowed. “When I found myself wandering the streets of Yidushi, my last memories had been of waking up in a cargohold full of nasty chemicals and helping to take out a fleet of invading ships.”

“One of the oldest legends of our founding city,” Jidihu softly whispered.

Alex nodded. “That’s what Liu Li thought too. But she was kind enough to humor a deluded lost Ruidian Boy and coaxed her father into giving me a chance to prove myself as an apothecary’s assistant.” He sighed and shook his head. “We became friends. Good friends. Then I discovered I really could cultivate, and we dared the highroads for a harvest like no other. After that, well, we encountered very evil people doing very evil things. There was a battle. I might not have exactly survived it, but I woke up all the same...”

He swallowed, catching their eyes. “Ten years later. Looking just as I am now, if not quite so… muscly. Anyway, it seems the world changed even if I didn’t age a day.” He frowned shaking his head. “The oddest thing is that neither did the first enemy I ever made in this city, the nephew of the alchemist who forged your ascension. He too acted as if the space of ten years had just been a season,” he said with a nod to an intently gazing Panheu. “Anyway, the last time I saw Liu Li, she was gazing at me with horror when the palace courtyard in the city below was sort of flooding with the waters of eternity. Shortly thereafter, I was daring to ascend a certain flight of golden steps and making what would turn out to be really some close friends while doing so, including a prince in disguise who was a hell of a lot nicer than Dongfang Hong, and from what I could tell, was well on his way to winning Liu Li’s heart.”

Alex clenched his jaw. “Yet for some reason, Cui Li is now with the Red Prince, and Blue is nowhere to be found.”

Panheu gazed at Alex for long moments before snorting. “You’re saying a girl couldn’t have a change of heart?”

Alex glared at his smirking mentor for long moments.

“Stop it, husband. You saw her eyes,” Jidihu said.

Panheu sighed. “I did. But it’s a question any other noble eager to think the absolute best of the prince will ask you, with no small amount of contempt, should you dare put forward your theories and speculations to anyone, save for us.”

Alex clenched his fist. And this time his silver chalice did crumple, earning a glare from Panheu and Jidihu both. “I have to find her.”

“You have to keep your cover, and not put your disciples in danger!” Jidihu hissed, before taking on a more placating tone as shadowy hands replaced spilled crumpled goblet for whole, and crimson wine was wicked from clothes as if never splattered. “We will talk about our next steps after the soiree. But for now… you need to be the YanTu noble playing at being a naive mixed-blood that everyone expects you to be! Keep your cool, and only accept challenges that are in your favor!” Her glare hardened. “And don’t act like the jealous idiot when nobles of Silver and Gold attempt to court either of your future wives. They’re no more fools than you are, but as their guardians, we’d stick out far more if we didn’t appear to be showcasing their abilities to find the best match possible for daughter and ward, as opposed to actually competing for prizes.”

With those words of admonishment. The cloak of shadow abruptly left to find Alex and his companions smiling and chuckling at shared jests and conversation, Hao Chan having deliberately pulled away with an apologetic smile as Alex played the dutiful protege of his master while Jidihu played matchmaker for her supposed daughters and Alex did his best not to focus on the handsome trio of men with Deep Silver potential coursing so clearly through their bloodlines, all of them making a beeline for the most eligible girls in the room as Alex filled a silver plate with food like a good disciple would.

Finesse Check made!

Before almost losing the whole thing when a smirking Silver Giant deliberately rammed into him. Or tried to, Alex adroitly pivoting and turning so it seemed as if dodging the seven-foot-tall cultivator had been the most natural thing in the world.

The man glared. Alex could feel his killing intent, holding back a smile and refusing even to look the man’s way, making it clear that not only had near disaster been skillfully avoided, but Alex wouldn’t even bother acknowledging the annoyance any more than he would a pebble in his path.

“Careful, fool. You almost stained my fine attire with your gluttonous heaping of food.” The man sneered. “I believe an apology is in order. An apology before all of your betters, after you dared to insult the noblest families in CuiJing Province by humiliating their chosen!” The last was roared deliberately, so as to get maximum attention, and Alex did his best not to roll his eyes as at least a few people looked on curiously.

Alex continued to ignore the man as he presented his plate to Panheu. “Master.”

Quickness check made!

“You dare to turn your back on me, common filth? I challenge you to a bloodmatch, no limits, no tricks, here and now!” The man’s lips curled in a feral smile as he took out a silver talisman with three gold bars. “In fact… I insist.”

Alex exchanged a quick glance with Jidihu who nodded as he turned around, facing the smirking giant, who was of course fully kitted in enchanted regalia, with weapons at his hip, when Alex, like most, had been forbidden armor or armaments at all when entering the dining hall, even if such treasures were only a storage ring away.

The smirking giant’s eyes widened with surprise when Alex casually held his talisman under the giants deep silver… only for it to fade to utter insubstantiality as Alex’s own deepened to a jade so black it was obsidian. Yet from any observer’s angle, all they saw was silver over the lacquered challenger’s sigil, standardized at mid-silver.

“Well look at that. I guess you tapped into all it’s stored energy with a previous match?” Alex said with mock curiosity.

“Impossible. I’ve fought no one since I arrived!” The man hissed.

“Yet you deferred an entire day of challenges and chances to go up the ranks in order to pick a fight with me here and now? How curious!” Alex said with a too wide grin. “And still your talisman pales to utter insignificance. Perhaps more is needed than simply riding on your family’s inherited talisman, no?” Alex smirked at the man’s look of apoplectic outrage.

“Of course, you can always challenge me tomorrow. In the arena sands, where everyone can watch and enjoy, and of course place bets. What are you willing to bet, I wonder?” Alex flashed the man a cold smile. “I look forward to finding out.” He then completely turned his back on the man, presenting his plate to the others as the deep silver fumed behind him, before stalking off to several snorts, including the cultivators trying to court his Hao Chan.

“What a fool. As if any disciple of the lovely Hao Chan’s master would be so easily trapped,” snorted one cultivator to another as they tried to butter the girls up by giving face to their obvious friend.

Alex carefully kept his face neutral as he offered the silver plate of gustatory delights to everyone present, as would be expected of a favored but socially insignificant disciple of a reclusive master, Panheu nodding his head several minutes later. “Very good, disciple. Your performance today was adequate. You may leave until the morrow.”

Alex wasted time for only a single blink before sensing Jidihu’s presence, her voice carrying to his ears alone.

“Don’t worry, my husband will look after the girls. Now it’s time for us to make our exit, Alex.”

Alex covered his relief with a deferential bow to a beaming Panheu now talking up the girls under his care to a handful of admiring Silvers as Alex slipped through a discrete passageway being used by more than a few servants and dismissed hanger-ons, putting on the hurried yet bored air of someone who was exactly where he belonged before he was lost in shadow altogether, cloaked by one of the deadliest assassins in the Province.

“Where to?” Jidihu asked, as soon as they slipped past a single bored looking guard who clearly expected no trouble in tunnels inhabited only by harried servants, so far from the elite personages above.

Alex swallowed his suddenly parched throat as he pointed to a plainly furnished side corridor that led down to the servants tunnels honeycoming the school entire. Tunnels he was familiar with both as a student… and now intuitively understood the layout of, thanks to his recognized status over the school entire.

A single moment of closing his eyes and orienting himself, and his eyes glowed with fierce resolve as he locked gazes with the frowning kitsune before him.

“Now we head for tunnels I was so foolish as to ignore once… but never again.”

Heart twisting with equal parts dread and determination, Alex began leading the kitsune assassin by his side through clearly neglected tunnels that had once been full of servants, but were now bereft of anything, save for domed passageways, tiled floors, and the occasional distant, far off scream.

That turned out to be nothing more than the whistling wind down long vacant tunnels, Jidihu’s furrowed brow turning to a look equal parts exasperated and sympathetic when Alex glared at a wall that had once hidden so many secrets.

Yet when they entered the hole Jidihu found cloaked in tattered Shadow Qi, what greeted them was not a state of debauchery and horror, but the sheer desolation of a long abandoned storage area, swept clean of every last scrap of fabric, dust, or trace of Qi, long ago.

“Come on, Alex. It’s getting late, and you’d best be well rested for the fights tomorrow. I saw the way those young bulls were looking your way even if you were too focused on your lost friend.”

Alex turned his imploring gaze Jidihu’s way. “But it makes no sense!” he said, hurrying back to the food prep station where once Liqin would single-handedly cook up a delicious storm of food in a billowing cloud of steam so attuned to her element. But now? Now the kitchen areas were haunted by the sheer loneliness of abandonment, the echo of cheerful servants no more than a distant memory.

Now there was nothing save eerie stillness. A sense of vast endless space, and a distant scream… that again, was nothing more than wind whistling through the far wall slot that kept Earth and Air in balance so food wouldn’t spoil too rapidly down here, showing the contrast of underground tunnels on a mountain plateau that simultaneously commanded a glorious view of the majestic landscape below, including forests, fields, and the wide road leading from Baidushi proper to the academy nestled on the mountaintop just above it, and Alex couldn’t hope but note all the jade green banners snapping in the wind.

He instantly froze, never having felt so close to peril, since the Jade Titan that had so nearly crushed him, feeling an endlessly deep and deadly probing presence…

and then it was gone.

Heart pounding in his chest, Alex gasped and turned to Jidihu. “There’s an entire regiment camping in a clearing between Baidushi and the school!”

Jidihu nodded, and far from looking alarmed or dismayed, she was positively beaming. “They are indeed, and it’s all thanks to you.”

Alex blinked. “Wait, you mean…”

Jidihu’s sultry chuckle was like a weight of worry suddenly off his shoulders. “That’s right. Your absolutely mad gambit of ringing every bell of legend tied to the golden steps actually worked! Or it worked sufficient to actually earn an imperial eye suddenly glancing in this direction. Because when an elite imperial inquisitor is considering paying any city or cultivation academy a visit, you’d best be ready.

She flashed a bemused smile. “Of course, all Dongfang Hong can do is guess that trouble was coming. Because our dear inquisitor and his men are hidden by one of the best Shadow flag formations I’ve seen in quite some time.”

Alex gazed slackjawed at a beaming Jidihu. “Wait, you mean the men below are hidden from Dongfang Hong’s eyes?”

“That is correct,” she said, tilting her head thoughtfully. “Indeed, I’m surprised you can see through the flag formation so easily.”

Alex grinned and was about to say something flippant when he felt an odd shiver. Because he intuitively understood that there was no way anyone not affiliated with those inquisitors should be able to see or understand those flag formations at all.

Alex gazed at the Jade flag waving regiment of soldiers below for long moments. “By WiFu’s whiskers… they’re all Silver. Hundreds of Silvers!”

“Of course. They represent the imperial legion and the direct interests of the emperor and his chief inquisitor.” She gave his arm a reassuring pat. “I have no doubt that they will do a thorough reconnaisance of Dongfang Hong’s activities in both the city and the academy before paying the man a visit. And won’t our dear headmaster be in an awkward position when he can’t deliver the three jade prodigies so clearly signified?”

Alex couldn’t help chuckling at the thought. “What a shame.” He then turned to the diminutive kitsune, features solemn. “Jidihu, if there’s any chance they could help me find my friends...”

The beautiful kitsune’s gentle smile immediately hardened. “Careful, Alex. Daring to cross words with an imperial inquisitor, no matter how noble your intentions, might cost you far more than you’re willing to pay.”

Alex winced at those words unable to deny that she was probably right. “I know. It’s just that...”

Jidihu gave his arm a reassuring squeeze “Come. We still have a few days at least before any inquisitorial move is formally made. Plenty of time for me to make use of my own contacts and skills.” She flashed him an impish smile. “Have faith, Alex. We’ll find the answers were looking for, and we’ll begin the hunt tonight. What you need right now is patience. If nothing else, our contacts around the High Road gates should at least tell us if your friends have at least left for other cities.”

Alex winced. Because far from feeling assured, he found himself more worried for Cui Li than ever, and he couldn’t quite say why. “It’s for the best,” he said for his own benefit as much as hers as they used the cover of her shadows to slip back out of the tunnels and make their way to the city below.

Slipping out via the servants entrance was surprisingly easy, especially considering the Servant’s Robes Alex still had in one of his storage ring. Not only that, the pair of guards guarding the road leading down to Baidushi proper hardly paid them any attention at all, chatting up a pair of farmers bringing in massive wagons filled with produce, grain, and livestock, Alex realizing he shouldn’t be surprised at all that the school had its own arrangements with local farming communities, though he was surprised to find the incline on this side of the school actually shallow enough for an easy descent by servant or wagon.

“Alex?”

he turned to smile at Jidihu’s concerned look as they quickly descended the hardpacked dirt road shaded by the overhanging branches of the forest rustling in a cool afternoon breeze.

He shook his head in bemusement. “I recall ascending so many flights of golden steps to get to the top of the mountain that it just feels weird being able to walk so quickly to the city proper,” he said, pointing to the grand gates of Baidushi now just a five minute walk away.

Jidihu snorted. “You were ascending flights of mystic steps in a reality only loosely tangental to this one. And how inconvenient would it be if your school truly was on a soaring mountain top miles in the sky? How would you ever get food, servants, or supplies up there in any reasonable amount of time?” She flashed a reassuring smile. “Not that the view of the city and valley below isn’t magnificent when looking out from the sheerest face. Still, I think everyone that works here is grateful for the shallow slope to the east. Now come! The gates are before us, and I do believe I recognize one of the guards.”

Alex blinked, surprised by how the bored-looking guard letting through a steady stream of produce-laden farmers, lone travelers and merchant caravans through, immediately stiffened upon catching sight of Jidihu, using the cover of the now passing wagon to flash his hand in an alarming series of signals, before waving them both through.

“This is bad!” Jidihu hissed as they made their way under the massive portcullis that always sent shivers down Alex’s spine, for all that his heart was racing for other reasons at the moment.

“I know,” Alex said as they both slipped into deepest gloom, Alex having caught at least a bit of the handsigns the guard flashed.

JiangHu Purge.

His mind spun with the implications as Jidihu grabbed his hand and they lost themselves in bustling crowd of hawkers and street vendors and countless scores of citizens taking advantage of the front gates much like a miniature market, lamplights already lit with the coming dusk, the air alive with raucous calls and the scents of grilled meats and lard fried rice cakes to name just a few.

Yet the delight Alex would have otherwise had, just losing himself as a tourist along Baidushi’s lively boulevards had been frozen to desperate worry as he and Jidihu raced through the shadows without saying a word. And when Alex felt her tug he didn’t hesitate to turn of arterial boulevard to one of the many far more sedate streets dividing the massive city, and from there, to an impressive looking building boasting glass window panes, finely carved wooden lintels, and multiple lanterns of both paper and glass, giving an air of both welcome and privacy, close enough to the main thoroughfare to be convenient, yet out of the way enough to be discrete.

Alex immediately pegged it for a high class inn, and Jidihu waiting less than a minute for a soberly dressed man smelling strongly of Saki to open the door, Jidihu and Alex slipping through in his wake to behold a cheery looking foyer and a dining hall right beyond.

Yet when Alex caught sight of the cheerful looking kitsune girl who popped up out of nowhere to offer them seating before her eyes bulged and she immediately flowed into a bow before darting off for the back of the inn, his heart began to pound. Having recognized that face the moment he saw her, very much like the face of the worried-looking middle-aged kitsune woman, still beautiful despite the faint lines around her eyes, who seemed to step right from the shadows to greet Jidihu with a heartfelt squeeze.

“Thank the heavens you came!”

Jidihu gave the trembling woman who looked so much like Zhu Bi a heartfelt hug. “Fret not, Mayumi. How bad is it?”

The woman looked furtively around, yet the dozen or so patrons were paying them no mind at all. Nonetheless, Alex found himself in dimly lit backroom in short order filled with sacks of rice, grain, and beans. So many beans.

“It’s bad, my lady. Dongfang Hong now controls the palace and the city’s soldiers march to his command, poor Cui Zhe nodding her head like a marionette on a string with every pronouncement he makes! A dozen informal accords Cui Zhe honored for decades are now disregarded like trash. This inn is no longer sacrosanct, and there are black whispers of a purge against all our kind.

Alex clenched his jaw at those words. Things were just as bad as he had feared.

Jidihu’s gaze was sharp enough to cut steel. “What is the fate of our people, Mayumi?”

“They have fled!” she whispered, voice equal parts relief and despair. “Fled, along with most of the Ruidian population, and it required our entire organization to assure everyone escaped in time!”

“But they made it?”

Here Mayumi flashed a defiant smile. “We did indeed. And what a sight it was, to hear Dongfang Hong’s furious howls when the High Road he had done everything he could to regulate and control was suddenly missing all its guards, guards that have been loyal to us for years, and now the Blue Kingdom will be up several thousand loyal, hardworking people of mixed heritage, assuming our charges aren’t waylayed along the way.”

Jidihu slumped over in relief. A sight which shook Alex to the quick, to see the woman he associated with such poise, confidence and deadly killing intent crumple so utterly, her face a strange mixture of relief and dismay. “So our final contingency plan was actually activated.”

“Yes, my lady.” Mayumi nodded. “Our allies our safe, our organization intact. The Blue Prince made good on his promise.”

Alex’s eyes widened at the last. “So you know Cheng Lei, then? Was here? Did he leave with the evacuees?”

Mayumi furrowed her brow ever so slightly as she turned Alex’s way. “I am sorry, we have not been properly introduced,” she said, and Alex felt his cheeks blaze, immediately sensing his faux pass in a moment of anxiety, not needing Jidihu’s glare to know he had spoken out of turn.

He immediately bowed. “This one apologizes for his rudeness and interruption,” he offered.

“He’s a newly forged liutenant. Still has plenty of burrs to polish,” Jidihu declared, before hissing with surprise. “Mayumi?”

Alex looked up, sensing Jidihu’s sudden alarm.

Then he suddenly understood, for all that his cheeks heated up with sudden awkwardness under the intensity of the kitsune’s gaze as Mayumi’s soft brown eyes pinned his own. A trembling hand slowly brushed his cheek. “Is it true?”

Alex gazed into the hopeful eyes of the beautiful woman before him who did indeed have his mother’s high cheekbones and chin. A hot flush came to his cheeks as he gently took Mayumi’s trembling hand. “I think… yeah. I think maybe it is.”

The woman sobbed and wrapped her arms tightly about his chest as he exchanged a poignant look with a shocked-looking Jidihu.

“Honored Elder, beloved grandfather, you have returned to us! In our hour of greatest despair… just like in so many tales!”

Alex swallowed the unexpected lump in his throat, humbled to find himself holding a woman who might just be a small handful of generations away from being his own child in a life lived long ago.

He couldn’t help chuckling softly at her proclamation, however. “Careful, Mayumi. A lot of those tales have really dark endings, and sometimes the fools starring in so many of them are the farthest thing from heroes.”

Mayumi choked back her sob, stepping back, gazing deeply into Alex’s eyes with the eyes of a loving mother and a desperate daughter all at once, before flowing into a kowtow and dipping her head thrice before him, thinking nothing of dirtying her exquisite silk qipao as she clenched his fist once more. “Dare I hope for a heroic end to your latest tale?”

Alex flashed a bittersweet smile. “One can dream, little Mayumi. My tales already taken a bit of a dark turn.” He then swallowed at the despairing look he caught in her eyes. “But I will do whatever I can for you and your family. I promise you that.”

Mayumi swallowed, bowing her head once more, eyes still shining with hope and reverence both. “I can’t tell how grateful I am to hear those words, and how ashamed I am to be such a poor hostess, to immediately place the burdens of three generations of our clan upon your shoulders, when I have only just been informed of your existence with Cheng Lei’s heartfelt counsel, just days before he left us for good.”

Alex’s gaze grew intent. “Can you tell me where he is now?”

Mayumi jerked a nod. “He promised to lead my people… our people, to his kingdom the very night the purge begun, his cousin, a Wujen master of flame, by his side.”

Alex nodded. “Caojin. Counselor and friend.”

Mayumi smiled. “And the look of hate flashed their way by a full dozen Dongfang Hong’s elite when they attempted to pincer hundreds into a trap. Only to have Prince Caojin declare them his servants and promise to ignite half the city if they dared interfere with his property.” She chuckled softly. “And however despicable The Red Prince’s officers are, they still knew better than to piss off a Gold. Not until the last kitsune and JiangHu associate and their families had fled using the High Road or, for those lacking the cultivation foundation, fled the city to start farming communes besides thousands of Ruidians who’ve been trickling out of the city along trade caravans for the past several weeks. And we all thought it the luck of the fox that so many of us managed to flee to safety.”

“But not everyone,” Jidihu quietly noted when Alex abruptly heard a pounding on the front door.

Mayumi swallowed, shaking her head. “No, my lady. For our enemies have kitsune of their own. ‘Brother’s who made it clear that my clan’s freedom and good behavior depends on our continuing to serve to run an inn once known as neutral territory to all. Should we abandon our post, then all accomodations and leniancy shown so far shall be stripped from us.” She flashed a bitter smile, before pointing to the rear of the well-ventilated storage room. “That was made abundantly clear. Now shift those bags of beans over there, and you’ll find a trap door with an entrance leading to the cellar of a building I own across the street. Because the soldier pounding on the door at this very moment has a collared kitsune boy of his own and would certainly love to catch you both, under my roof.”

She flashed Alex an apologetic, heartfelt smile. “I’m sorry, grandfather. Our entire clan would honor you, but...”

And before Alex could say a word, she was gone in the blink of an eye, the sound of a placating innkeeper reassuring belligerent guards now echoing along the hallway.

“Come, Alex. Mayumi has thing well in hand. Best we make our exit.” She flashed a bemused smile while Alex effortlessly moved the massive stockpile of dried beans. “So, how does it feel to be a grandfather?”

“Ha ha,” Alex smirked, before his eyes grew soft, gazing fondly down the corridor where Mayumi was no doubt placating the local patrollers. “Honestly, it’s the strangest thing, to be greeted so warmly by people I’ve never seen before in my life. Yet however many decades or centuries back… our paths had most definitely crossed.”

He swallowed, shaking his head. “Honestly, it’s a lot to process. And after what happened to my friend… descendant, Zhu bi...”

“I understand,” Jidihu said with a gentle smile. “Come. Let’s be off as discretely as we can. It’s clear that we’ll be able to do very little investigating with all my contacts fled, and this final outpost too fragile to dare risk with unnecessary questions. We’ll meet up with everyone else at Lotus Blossom Inn after a bit of light shopping, appearing as the contenders we are getting in a little bit of sightseeing to any spies that might be sent our way, one final courtesy to our friend here.” She sighed and shook her head as they slipped into the tunnel. “That bastard of a prince will clearly let nothing stand in his way of claiming this city. Let’s just be grateful so many of our number managed to flee in time.”

Alex nodded his head in agreement before freezing in horror, realizing what was wrong.

This was too easy. To be allowed effortless entrance and find himself face to face with unexpected kin, which he really should have expected considering who both Zhu Bi and Jidihu are… now effortlessly slipping free of patrollers, in the rare position of being able leave a scene without ruffling a single feather, avoiding disaster so completely?”

He glared Jidihu’s way, slowly shaking his head.

Her eyes widened, then she cursed softly under her breath. “Damn it, why are you going back?”

Alex flashed a bitter smile his companion couldn’t see as he loped back into the storage room.

“Because I don’t believe it. Because nothing’s ever this easy.” He blinked away the hot sting in his eyes. “Because that bastard Shalu chortled like the vindictive monster he truly was when he thought my death was inevitable, gloating about how greatly he enjoyed killing my kin at every turn.”

His fists shook as he turned his focus back to the mission at hand as they made their way down corridors darkened by Jidihu’s shadow. “And here I was, about to leave without even checking to make sure she truly had things in hand. That she wasn’t simply saying that for our benefit. And I hadn’t even offered her a way out!” He hissed, shaking his head in dismay.

Jidihu was cursing softly under her breath about idiots and fools, but Alex didn’t care, even as the hallway lamp they passed dimmed and flickered in the comforting gloom now covering them both, Alex knowing damn well he was an idiot as he approached the dining room once more.

His eyes flickered across the room as he paused for a single long moment in the shadow of the bead curtains demarcating the public and private halves of the inn. Beads that made no sound over Jidihu’s hiss as they both spied the chamber beyond.

There was no blood, no scent of ruptured bowels, offal or death. The patrons had all left, in surprisingly short order, as one would expect of savvy customers and the Red Prince’s men, clearly having business of their own inside.

Instead there was a coldly smiling man with a warrior’s build and the armaments of a captain in Dongfang Hong’s army, open-faced helm doing absolutely nothing to hide the pencil thin mustache or the smirk as a half dozen soldiers entered the dining area from the opposite entrance, with not one but four wide-eyed youths trembling in their grip.

Mayumi’s eyes widened in horror. “No, please! We did everything you asked. Everything! You promised to leave us be. You promised to return my husband!”