by J C Kang
Thank the cloth for hiding his blush.
Jie turned to Naya. “You wait here.”
Tian followed the scary half-elf out, stepping over the unconscious guards.
She came to the door to the dispensary and put her ear to it. “One man, just like Naya said,” she whispered. “What do you suggest we do?”
“I’ll draw him out, and you knock him out from behind.”
Jie pointed at him, then curled her finger as she traced a hook in the air. “You draw him out.”
Tian held up a hand, pointed at her, then wiggled two fingers. If he were right, that meant…
“Close.” Jie’s eyes widened. “Where did you learn that?”
“Wen used it in the market. She let you know when to pick my pocket.”
She gave a slow nod. “You are perceptive to have noticed it. You just told me you’d be setting up an opening.”
So Wen had distracted Tian at the moment Jie had swapped out the coins.
She now gave a subtle twitch of her thumb. “This assigns the attacker, non-lethal force.”
“All right.” Tian pointed at her and imitated her hand motion.
Smiling, she gave a single nod, and then flicked her pinkie. “That means, execute the plan.”
Tian opened the door. “Hello? I need help.”
“Hey!” The man in the same red tunic as the other gang members lowered himself from where he was leaning back in a chair. “You’re not supposed to be back there.”
Tian took two steps back into the hall. “I’m lost.”
“You’re going to be more than lost.” The man rose and tromped toward him.
As soon as he cleared the door, Jie stepped into the back of his leg. He fell to his knees, and she wrapped her arms around his neck. Her own knee must’ve been pinned into his lower back, the way he arched back as he clawed at her arms. In just a few seconds, his eyes rolled back into his head, and his body went limp.
No sooner did he hit the floor than Jie burst into the room. Tian followed.
“Interesting,” Jie said, studying the space under the counter.
Tian leaned in and looked over her shoulder.
A large window opened up onto the main room, where eight patrons—one more than when he came in with Naya—reclined on beds, eyes glazed over as they smoked.
A wooden counter ran along the lower edge of the cutout. Beneath it was two separate chests of waxy brown yue balls. The one marked Official contained fewer than the other. While the balls were exactly uniform in shape and size, the ones in the other container had a more yellowish tinge.
“They’re different,” Tian said.
Nodding Jie picked up two of each and wrapped them in separate silk kerchiefs. “And we’re going to find out how.”
Chapter 10
Jie stood in the clan’s main apothecary, located in the back of an herbal pharmacy near the capital’s center. Her trip here had two purposes: first, to find out why there were two different types of yue balls; and second, to get Cleaners sent to Yue Heaven.
With Tian’s help, they’d already left Naya in a temple, rich and drugged with a musk toxin that would leave her with hazy memories of tonight. The Cleaners would stage the yue den to make it look like the Red Dragon’s rivals, The Fangs, had raided it.
With a pair of tongs, the clan’s local Poisoner held the different yue balls up under a light bauble, and studied them through a dwarf-made monocle. A wizened old operative with bushy white eyebrows that might’ve been caterpillars arching across his brow, he’d concocting toxins for the clan’s legendary Architect, Surgeon, Beauty, and Steel Orchids.
He indicated the yellower ball that came from the non-official crate. “I won’t know without further testing, but the lighter-colored ones match some of the others we’ve gotten ahold of. It’s much-less refined, and for whatever reason, that makes it addictive.”
“Oh?” Jie peered at the ball.
“Yes, Old Lu was investigating tax shortfalls in Honggang City, and found the populace’s productivity had dropped because of yue addiction.”
Jinjing Lumber—if Tian was to be believed—was behind this. It had sucked one city’s economy dry, and was now looking for new markets for a controlled substance. And somehow, it was tied to the murder of Lord Ting, Lilian, and an unaccounted for assassin. Jie sucked on her lower lip. “Our new recruit says that these yellower ones aren’t perfectly round.”
“Really?” Squinting, the Poisoner looked from one to the other. He ran calipers over the illegal one. “Hmmm, that little lordling is right.”
For all the boy’s shortcomings, he noticed everything.
“The imperial alchemists use a dwarf-made machine to precisely refine the yue and give it a uniform shape. The fake is slightly oblong. I’ll have to see if the other yellower ones share this inconsistency.”
Had Lord Ting’s assassination been over illegal yue, and not the opening salvo of a rebellion in the North? If she knew who was behind Jinjing Lumber, she’d have a better idea of their goals. Jie wrote a coded missive requesting an operative in the Imperial Treasury to find Jinjing Lumber’s registration papers, and put it in the hands of a clan courier. Satisfied there was nothing else to do tonight, she returned to the safe house near the Floating World, expecting Tian to be fast asleep on a cot.
Instead, he was in the evidence room, still wearing Yuna’s ill-fitting dress. He paced around, studying his chalk lines while subconsciously practicing the disappearing coin trick. And getting better at it.
“You should be asleep,” she said.
He startled, his wide eyes shooting to her. “I… I didn’t hear you come in.”
“That’s what it means to be a Black Fist. No one knows of our comings and goings, either because we move with silence, or we meld into the crowds.”
He gave a slow nod. “Like Wen and Yuna in that mansion. They match all the other pretty girls.”
Jie sucked on her lower lip. Just a week ago, she’d belonged to the Floating World, as well. The most talked-about Floret in living memory. Whose exotic looks had vaulted her virgin price to dizzying heights before it had been stolen away. “It’s a little different in the Floating World. Our Sisters are meant to be seen and to stand out, so that they can attract the richest, most powerful men in the realm.”
The boy tapped his chin. The quirk—a telltale giveaway that those dwarf gears were grinding in his head—was becoming quite endearing, really. “Is it good for our Sisters to kiss powerful men?”
“Men who’ve been, uh, kissed will sometimes tell secrets. Secrets that might be threats to the realm.”
His mouth rounded for a split second. “But, why would they risk telling anyone?”
Jie leaned in closer. “Don’t you have some secret you are dying to share, but you can’t?”
If she’d blinked, she would’ve missed his expression brightening. He shoved his hands behind his back and hung his head.
She chuckled. “You see, sometimes a secret can be a burden, and you just have to tell someone. There’s a saying, What happens in the Floating World, stays in the Floating World. Do you understand?”
He looked up from the floor. “It means that the Blossoms can keep secrets.”
“Exactly.”
He shook his head. “But that’s… that’s dishonorable. Our clan is breaking the rules.”
Oh, he was just too adorable. “Remember your duel with Yuna? We don’t play fair.”
“But—”
“Because the Tianzi’s enemies don’t play fair.”
He gave a tentative nod, then pointed down at her mock-up of the diagram. “I rearranged it. Your size was off.”
Jie cocked her head. The mock-up didn’t look any different from before.
“Had your dimensions of the common room been accurate, I could’ve told you that the second assassin shot from the opening to the veranda.” He pointed at the chalk lines he’d used to represent the walls.
“Yes, you left a trail i
n the Chrysanthemum Pavilion ruins.”
He flushed.
“I’ve thought about this.” She pointed to the bracelet which marked herself, on a table near Lord Ting and the accountant, Wei, who’d been like a mother to her. “I would’ve seen or smelled the second shooter if they shot from the archway. Would the assassin have been able to hit Lord Ting at the correct angle, not from the archway, but from the edge of veranda?”
Tian tapped his chin, his eyes staring up for a moment. “I wondered, too. It would be very hard. Almost impossible, because of the archway’s height.”
Anywhere closer, and Jie would’ve smelled the second shooter; but there’d been anecdotes of such impossible shots. Three hundred-year-old historical records noted Wang Yuxiang, consort of the Wang Dynasty’s Founder, making dozens of impossible shots with a bow, crossbow, and even a child’s slingshot.
“You did a good job.” She patted him on the head. “I found the climbing claw marks at the assassin’s insertion point because of the trail you left.”
“I have a new idea.” Tian held out a small metal cylinder. “I found this at the Chrysanthemum Pavilion, near the insert… insertion point.”
The color… “It’s made of bronze.”
“Yes!” His expression brightened. “And the best bronze foundries—”
“Are in Jinjing County.” Jie nodded. There was a connection to Jinjing Lumber, but… “What is it?”
“A Repeater’s cranking pin. I think the assassin took the crossbow apart and threw the wood parts into the fire.”
Jie shook her head. “We would have found them. We found the other crossbow.”
“Made of eldarwood. What if this one was made of yue, like the crossbow bolt which killed the nice man.”
She suppressed a shudder. Lord Ting was hardly nice. His depravity had helped turn Lilian against the clan.
Tian motioned to said bolt. “The only thing I don’t understand is why this one didn’t burn. I’ve seen yue wood used to start fires.”
“I retrieved it before the fire.” She’d pulled it from Lord Ting’s body and used it to stab one of Lilian’s accomplices through the eye, but Tian didn’t have to know the gory details.
He searched her eyes, mouth moving. Then he held his hand flat, about half a foot above his head. “Our second assassin was short. Enough to need climbing claws to scale the wall. He wasn’t strong enough to carry the crossbow over the wall. So he destroyed it.”
It was all coming together, thanks to an untrained boy. Still… “That could be a lot of different people.”
“With the climbing claws, it was someone trained in Black Lotus Clan ways. A traitor, like the first assassin?”
Had Lillian recruited another clan member? In the aftermath of her betrayal, all clan sisters in the Floating World had been debriefed, their loyalty confirmed with the Tiger Eye technique. Maybe a member assigned outside the entertainment district? None in the immediate area were that short. Jie shook her head. “The clues might have been intentionally left there to throw us off. And, we’re not the only ones who use climbing claws.”
“Who else?”
Who else, indeed. “Thieves, assassins…”
Tian afforded her dubious look. “I… I… never mind.”
Knowing what he was going to say, Jie sucked on her lower lip. Lilian had warned Jie of her blind spot. Maybe she was subconsciously exonerating clan members. Maybe she just didn’t want to believe it possible. But no, it was more than that. Every Black Lotus who operated within striking distance was accounted for that night. “Nobody from the clan could have been the second shooter. All of the girls were questioned. Anyone else’s whereabouts made it impossible.”
Tian tapped his chin. “What about former members?”
“There’s no such thing. We are Black Lotus for life.”
“Nobody just… leaves?” His brow furrowed.
“We can’t allow our secrets to leave the clan.”
“What happens when someone is too old?”
Jie shrugged. “They will work making poisons, or planning, bookkeeping, or teaching initiates. There’s always something to do.”
The secret door between the herbal pharmacy and safe house whispered open, though Tian showed no sign of hearing with his human ears. Drawing a knife, Jie shuttered the bauble lamp. She corralled Tian into a corner, then crouched and waited.
Footsteps padded up the stairs, the visitor’s breaths even despite his attempts at stealth.
Jie relaxed. It was just Old Qin, a tough clan Cleaner. Clan members always tried to sneak up on each other, though usually revealed themselves before anyone got hurt. As soon as he peeked into the room, she withdrew a light bauble.
Cursing, he shielded his eyes. “Was that necessary?”
“No.” She grinned. “But it was fun.”
Tian muttered something unintelligible, but his meaning was clear: these games didn’t make sense to him. In time, if he survived, they would.
Qin surveyed Tian, eyes pausing on his dress, before turning to Jie. “I came to say the job is done. As you instructed, we were dressed as Fangs, and let Yue Heaven’s guards escape. At least one headed to the Red Dragons’ headquarters, and I’d expect more of the gang to come to investigate within the hour.”
Jie looked out the window to where the Iridescent Moon waxed to its second crescent. “I am going to go stake out Yue Heaven to see who turns up.”
“What about me?” Tian said.
With his lack of stealth skills, he was a liability in this case, and it was way past his bedtime. “You’re going to change out of that dress and go to bed. You are dueling Yuna again tomorrow.”
While he changed and went to bed, Jie donned her stealth suit, packed up Yuna’s dress, and set out for Yue Heaven. At the late hour, festivities in the Floating World had gone indoors, leaving only a few men wandering the streets. That, and her stealth suit, made the trip fast and easy.
Lights shining through the windows of Yue Heaven, and flickering shadows, suggested some activity. Two of the burly men in the tunics of the Red Dragons from earlier flanked the gate, turning away the occasional straggler who considered a visit.
Had the Red Dragon enforcers already arrived? Jie looked up at the Iridescent Moon, now waxing halfway between its third and fourth crescents. The trip to the Trench should take almost hour, assuming a brisk pace and taking into account the need to bribe the guards at the city wall to open the gates; Jie should’ve had a half-hour to spare. No, it had to be the other men she’d left alive.
She climbed to the sharply-pitched roof of the shrine across the street, and crouched low. While waiting, she considered Tian’s assertions. Jinjing Lumber had made enormous purchases through the Floating World in the run-up to Lord Ting’s assassination—including renting the Peony Garden to do a soft-run of the hit. Likely using the money they’d made through selling illegal yue. Could it be, the plot had been all about profits, and had nothing to do with an attempt to seize power in the North?
Lilian, whose father had lost everything to an opium addiction, would’ve been mortified to have been involved.
The door to the den burst open, revealing a short figure. His heavy cloak and light behind him made it impossible to discern much about him; but limited clan intelligence revealed the leader of the Red Dragons was short. Faceless Chang had taken control of the Red Dragons in a power struggle six years ago. Rumor had it his face was so scarred, he always wore an opera mask which depicted Yanluo, God of Death. It would be odd that he was here without a cohort protecting him, though perhaps they were still in the den.
Faceless Chang stormed to the gate, his stride long for his stature. His voice came out gravelly. “Those fucking Fangs. They seized all our product and every tael. You’re worthless.” He backhanded both guards in a smooth motion.
“Sorry, Boss.” Both recoiled and set their fists into their palms.
Faceless Chang looked up. As his gaze swept over the area, the lamplight from
the streets glinted off the horns of a red mask with black-lined eyes. They froze on Jie’s position.
She ducked beneath the ridge of the tiled roof. No, it couldn’t be. A human shouldn’t have been able to see her in the dark. She crawled laterally and peeked again.
Faceless Chang’s gaze had shifted elsewhere, his body language not suggesting he was concerned by her presence—if he’d seen her. He gestured toward one of the guards. “Come with me.”
The man bowed, and they disappeared back into the den.
Climbing down, Jie kept to the shadows as she darted to the narrow alley along Yue Heaven’s east side. She stopped at the latticed shutters to the office and peeked in.
Faceless Chang stood with his back to her. He leaned down and studied Big Brother Xi’s corpse, then looked up at the guard. He lowered his hood, revealing glossy black hair and the scent of lavender. “Tell me again what happened.”
Jie’s jaw dropped, her expression no doubt as surprised as the guard’s.
Faceless Chang’s voice belonged to a woman.
And not just any woman.
Head abuzz with racing thoughts, Jie thrust out a hand to brace herself against the wall. Yet another betrayal.
Little Wen.
Chapter 11
Reeling from the revelation of Faceless Chang’s true identity, Jie fought the tears threatening to blur her vision. Of all the clan sisters, Wen. Lilian had been a lover, but Wen was like a little sister. She’d always displayed puppy-like admiration for Jie.
But it all made sense now. The veneration had all been an act. Lilian had even pointed out Wen’s supposed admiration for Jie as a means of drawing suspicion away from the young Blossom. The two had been working together the whole time.
Jie closed her eyes, remembering. At the time of Lord Ting’s assassination, she had sent Wen to light the Black Lotus Shrine’s light, to summon all clan sisters; but it still would’ve left enough time for her to be the second shooter.
“—I don’t remember,” the guard was saying inside the office.
Jie forced her eyes open and peeked back in.