3seed

Fate's Attendant 1.20

Added 2025-08-29 20:34:08 +0000 UTC

A tame spirit beast wasn’t so rare as to be unheard of, especially in a remote city surrounded by wilderness, but they were uncommon enough to cause a stir. People stopped to stare, and word spread about the fierce creature.

There were faster routes to the Yu estate, yet Hong Fei chose the busiest instead. Auntie Ling also did her part by scowling at those passed by. The Rock Knives would surely hear about her presence. She might even give them pause before they attempted something foolish. That was what Hong Fei needed—a point of deterrence, a chance to put them on the backs of their heels so as to give him the momentum.

Hong Fei had already thought to bring Auntie Ling’s existence out into the open, and the encounter with the gang had solidified that plan. He nodded to himself as he walked. Let the people look all they wanted; everyone who did became his unwitting ally.

A glance to the side showed him that Kang Lian’s face had regained most of its color. The woman stared straight ahead as she walked. Her daughter clung to her like a limpet. Little Ruyun’s bright eyes peeked at Auntie Ling from around her mother.

Their little group gained in elevation as they moved from low to middle city. At the Swift Wing Bridge, Hong Fei paused to take in the view. Down below was the low city, the Tistkil River running through the center of it. Downstream was the city gate and beyond it the green forest sea leading eventually to the real sea.

The area was clear, since the night market didn’t start until the fifth bell, but there was constant traffic across the bridge as people traveled between mid and high city. When Hong Fei felt enough time had passed, he continued onward. The Yu estate was situated at the farthest end of the high city, at its most elevated point.

###

Auntie Ling’s arrival at the Yu’s gate caused a similar commotion. The shízhǎng on duty’s brow furrowed so deeply, Hong Fei thought a farmer might find the lines suitable for planting. And the rest of the morning gate patrol clustered around the doors as if to defend them with their lives. They tensed when the giant badger shuffled closer to sniff them.

These were the same soldiers who’d greeted Hong Fei when he’d first washed up at the estate’s gate. The shízhǎng, named Cai Shi, was the one who’d escorted Hong Fei inside. The man had been curious and friendly up until the gambling-ring fiasco. Afterward, he’d grown as cold as the other shízhǎngs.

Hong Fei thought he would be a good place to start winning people to his side.

So, when Cai Shi stepped forward to ask, “What’s the meaning of this? We can’t let a dangerous creature through the gate.”

Hong Fei replied, “You can. The spirit beast’s name is Ling, and she already has the duke’s approval.”

Cai Shi eyed Hong Fei, then the creature, and rubbed at his forehead. It’d been a calm morning previously, but suddenly there was this surprise. “Truly?” he asked.

Hong Fei nodded. “It was a chance encounter when I was on my way to Ruby Swift City. I saved the badger’s life, and she formed a contract with me in gratitude. I didn’t think she’d want to live at the estate, but when she learned I was ambushed this morning, she was determined to come with me.”

The nearby soldiers exchanged looks. Cai Shi asked the question for them: “That explains the cuts on your face, then. You were ambushed? Here in the city?”

“I was in the process of hiring servants for my courtyard.” Hong Fei gestured to the mother and daughter with him. “When I was assaulted by nearly a dozen people, including the Yang brothers.” He paused to watch the soldiers’ reactions.

The shízhǎng sucked in a breath. “They dared?”

“Indeed, they did,” Hong Fei answered, “and their bravery seemed to have come from being members of a local gang called the Rock Knives.”

“I know of them,” the shízhǎng said grimly. “To think the Yangs would betray the Yu family this way.”

“The brothers are dead now,” Hong Fei said plainly, “but the duke needs to know.”

“You’d interrupt his seclusion?” Cai Shi asked in surprise. “No, you’re right. If the Rock Knives have grown bold enough to attack a family retainer…”

Hong Fei placed his hand on the giant badger’s shoulder. “The Yang brothers had been rotting the estate from the inside,” he said.

Tentatively, Cai Shi nodded. What had been a simple case before—the gambling ring—now seemed more complicated. Even if the Yang brothers hadn’t been members of the Rock Knives at the time, the knowledge they were the kind of people capable of it meant they were untrustworthy to begin with.

The shízhǎng eyed Hong Fei. Though the furrows remained, he gestured for one of his soldiers to alert the steward.

###

Zhang Dehua came himself to the gate and stared at Auntie Ling for a long moment before giving Hong Fei an unreadable look. The steward then shook his head. “We shouldn’t keep the duke waiting.”

As it’d been in the city, so it was in the estate. People stopped what they were doing to gawk at Auntie Ling as she passed through the main courtyard. Silence fell over the training hall, and the corridors emptied at her approach. Wherever she went, however, murmurs surged in her wake.

Hong Fei went from being the man responsible for soldiers being punished to the one who kept a tame spirit beast. By formally introducing Auntie Ling to the estate, he’d changed the story people would tell of him.

That had been his plan from the beginning of the day. The Yang brothers adding themselves to the story only made it stronger. The dūtóu was not simple. Perhaps, he’d been right all along. Some of the soldiers and the servants would have to be wondering that now.

###

Zhang Dehua propped himself against his favorite wall in the duke’s office. To one side, Yu Hui sat on her bed. A quilted red robe embroidered with small colorful birds hid the frailty of her body underneath. She’d been sleeping when he’d come to disturb her. Only the people who knew her best would recognize the scowl she hid.

“You made a change to your plans,” she said to Hong Fei. The words had been spoken mildly, yet there was question lurking beneath them.

The giant badger, apparently named Ling, approached the bed for the duchess to scratch its head. That seemed to mollify Yu Hui, the tension fading from her face and shoulders.

Zhang Dehua noted that his lady seemed unusually comfortable with the spirit beast. He’d been aware that Hong Fei had a hidden ally nearby, but for it to have been a spirit beast was a surprise. The man must’ve been somehow sneaking it past his office regularly.

Carefully, Zhang Dehua eased the tension in his own body. It wouldn’t do to distract the duchess from the dūtóu’s report. While he listened, his mind was already planning the family’s response. He also wondered if the dūtóu was perhaps more competent than he’d originally anticipated.

###

Hong Fei returned toward the pavilion where he’d left Auntie Ling, Kang Lian, and Little Ruyun waiting. He paused out of view, however, when he saw the attention the trio was garnering.

People from throughout the estate had come to stand in the other corridors to stare, including notably Ma Zhi. The shízhǎng seemed mystified by them being there. Her face went through the most amusing contortions—alternating between perplexity, concern, indignity, and anger.

It appeared she thought that the Kangs’ presence at the estate was an insult toward her, yet she couldn’t figure out how. She looked like she wanted to confront them, but not with the spirit beast sitting at their feet.

What was most interesting, however, was the change in the number above Ma Zhi’s head; it had gone back down from 8 to 6.

Hong Fei had briefed Auntie Ling earlier on the fight with the Rock Knives, but there hadn’t been time to question her about the connections between numbers. It was looking more and more likely, however, that Hong Fei needed to understand those connections. The matter touched upon his duty, in addition to his cultivation.

Ma Zhi left, but not before casting one last look at the trio sitting in the pavilion. When nothing else happened, Hong Fei strode forward into the open.

Kang Lian’s eyes latched onto him with obvious relief. Alas, he couldn’t offer her a reprieve yet. Hong Fei picked out a pair of senior staff from those watching nearby. The man was responsible for noodles in the main kitchen, while the woman maintained the house’s furnishings in the storerooms.

“You two come here,” he commanded. “Take my servants on a tour of the estate and make sure they’re given uniforms. When that’s done, escort them to my courtyard.”

The senior staff approached with trepidation. “Sir,” the man began. “There are others who might—”

A low growl from Auntie Ling shut him up, and he stepped back.

“Sir,” Kang Lian said, taking her daughter’s hand. “We can do this ourselves, if needed.”

“On another day, I’d agree, but what I need right now is efficiency,” Hong Fei replied. And privacy, he added in his thoughts.

Hong Fei then handed to Kang Lian the money he’d looted from the Rock Knives and said, “You’ll need to purchase some of what’s needed. Your quarters are empty of everything except beds. The kitchen has only basic utensils for eating and nothing for cooking. Start there, and we’ll add to the list later if we must.”

Kang Lian gripped the money pouch tightly, yet she acknowledged his orders with a determined, “Sir.”

Hong Fei was throwing her into an unfamiliar river, she thought. She would attempt to swim as best she could and hope the teeth of the local fish weren’t overly sharp.

“Should we take Ling with us,” Little Ruyun asked, “so that she learns the estate, too?”

Kang Lian considered this a marvelous idea, but Hong Fei shook his head and replied, “I need to work with her for now. It’s a good thought, though, and I’ll show her around myself later.”

The senior staff had shuddered at the question, but now their relief was obvious. Suddenly, it didn’t seem so bad escorting just the mother and daughter around the estate. One might, in fact, use the opportunity to ask questions and learn more about them and their relationship to Hong Fei and the spirit beast.

Little Ruyun hugged the giant badger before leaving. She rubbed her face in the fur almost as if marking herself with Auntie Ling’s scent. If the girl’s hands were clenched to keep them from trembling, no one noticed—not the swordsman and not even her mother.

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