— The Emperor's Imperial Record, Entry No. 40 —
Everybody had left. It was just me now. Watching the unconscious boy drool a mixture of saliva and blood onto the dirt.
'Should I help him?' I thought to myself, I had large amounts of money with me and still had to go tell Wan Cheng I had delivered what he wanted me to. This would be a waste of time.
I wanted to leave. But, something about seeing him fight and fall, then fight again, had grown a sort of respect for him in me.
I sighed, and went over to him, there didn't even seem to be a healer's tent in the whole of the camp, so I asked for some directions and they pointed me towards the unconscious twig's tent.
When I arrived, there was nothing there but the mat I lay him down on, a small cloth bag filled with clothes, and a few pots with rice in them. The only thing worse than the smell coming from his body was that of the sorghum wine in the place.
I turned to leave, but he was able to open his eyes. "Who are you?"
"I'm Khan, I brought you here after…"I wasn't sure whether to bring up the fact that he had been beaten so badly, so I glossed over it, "that little disagreement you had."
*Ahh,* "Thank you, benefactor, I Shen Hui, will never forget this…" and he fell asleep again, but I was already moving. I had spent too much time here, not to mention that I had to go back and get my bow and arrows.
Who knew if some wild animal had already gotten them? I had made sure they were well hidden, but you could never be sure.
Moving with a lighter weight made me a lot faster, so I got to the boulders I placed my weapons under in less time than it took me to go to Camp Yi.
Quickly, I took them from under the boulder and checked around to see if there were any wild beasts nearby. Thankfully, there weren't. I put them on and headed back to Wan Cheng's camp. This time, using the proper road. Only ducking into the forest whenever I saw people coming from afar.
Even if they were nice, I couldn't risk bandits or some sort of ambush on the way. I didn't want to imagine what would happen to me if I lost the silver of a commander. I shivered.
The cold was starting to get to me, but I had to keep moving, especially since it helped get rid of the chill.
###
After another week of travel, I was back at Wan Cheng's camp. This time, when the guards saw me, they led me straight to him. They didn't take my bag again this time, and I was guessing it was because it wasn't bursting to the brim with goods as before.
One guard just held my bag and weapons as the other let me in.
Wan Cheng sat at the center of the tent like before, but today he wasn't with his bodyguard, and was carving a block of wood into the form of some beast, with a wickedly carved knife.
"That was very fast," he looked at me, the knife still carving the wooden beast. "How," a piece of the wood chipped off, "am I to be sure you did as I said?"
"The commander of Camp Yi gave me a token."
*Hmm?*, "Is that so, Khan? Well, show it to me."
I took it out and tossed it to him, and he caught it with a boorish grace. Like you might expect from an elegant bear. Wan Cheng looked at it, then held it up to the candlelight before biting into it.
"He said to tell you-message received."
Wan Cheng nodded, "How much did I agree to pay you?"
"You promised, 3 silvers. And that you would throw in some rations and good clothes as well." I was fidgeting now—I was doing my best to keep it from being noticeable, but I didn't like the feeling Wan Cheng gave me.
I don't think I had ever seen him smile so much.
"Why so antsy? It couldn't be that you think I'm a bad employer?"
I tried not to stare him down. I was starting to pick up bad habits from staying around so many dangerous people.
He laughed, "Fine, here's your money." Wan Cheng counted out three silvers one by one, letting each one drop down onto the table with a *chink* and a noticeable delay before speaking again, "That's a lot of money for a boy your age. What do you plan to do with it?"
This time, I glared at him. Did he think I had forgotten the agreements we had made?
The commander peered at me like he had done me a great favor, that fake smile still adorning his lips, "Fine, we all have secrets, don't we? Carry on."
"You forgot the rations and the warm clothing."
"Aah, of course…but, don't tell me you'll be needing some rations?" Now he frowned, but on him, it looked like a grimace, "That's for the poor, poor, peasant boys, who'll be going off to war soon. You know? Dying and whatnot. Don't tell me you want their rations?"
I grit my teeth. "We made a deal." All of a sudden, the sounds of metal being removed from cloth bled throughout the tent, and I was hyper aware of all the weapons and soldiers surrounding me.
That I was unarmed.
A gentle whoosh resounded whenever a guard moved. Their swords cried out for a fight.
I tried not to look at them.
"What do you take me for? A liar?" His smile had grown wider, and the skin on my hands started to form little rashes as I tried to stomp down on my emotions.
"I'll get you your rations, just not now. They have to get to the soldiers." A servant came in from behind the guards with a tray filled with roasted duck and cheese, and grape wine, another came in just behind her with a whole roasted pig, and a large apple stuck in its mouth. They laid them all before him on the table like he was a king. "Oh, and the clothes too. Don't worry, I'll make sure to send them to Big Randy. You work for him, right?" He took a large bite out of the pork.
'This bastard. Big Randy was right.'
The man removed the fake smile from his face and put on an unreadable expression. "Get out. Be happy you even got the silver, I'll send a message next time I need a courier."
The guards moved to drag me out. In my stubbornness, I stayed as stiff as possible, making sure it was harder for them to do as I stared the feasting thief in the eyes.
He didn't notice.
They tossed me onto the ground, then tossed my equipment at me. I didn't know of a way to get out of this.
If he came calling for me to do another courier mission for him again, I doubted he would take well to a no. I should have talked to Big Randy about this first before taking such a deal.
—-
Field overseer Liang sat in front of the long-robed man, quietly. He had come in clean attire and tried to look as nice as possible before sitting in front of the man.
This was the head of the Cloudshow gang. They did whatever they wanted and took whatever they wanted in Lunis City. Only in the mudfoot district of course.
Overseer Liang was here on business. Lately, a little bug had been getting to him. A slippery hunter, and he didn't like it. In the mudfoot district, when had he ever faced such a loss?
The thoughts clawed at his already oily insides whenever he went to sleep, or had a meal, or looked at the field hands. He couldn't do anything without that boy's face appearing in his mind.
He had to get him. And what better way than the Cloudshow gang? As long as you didn't outright show you were associated with them, you could get away with doing whatever illicit things you wanted.
The overseer wanted Khan gone, and this was the man to do it.
"Fifty silver."
Overseer Liang trembled, fifty silver? Where would he get that kind of money? Any excess he got from bribes and "favours" went straight to food and gambling. Whatever was left over went to women.
"My lord, but how can you charge that much?" His voice was thin and somber, nothing like the attitude he had with those peasants on the fields
"For just a hunting boy? Surely you are not being serious."
The man sitting across from him, somehow turned his already strict face even more harsh, "Who's not being serious? Could it be that you want me to remind you of our status?"
"No, sir, i-it's just that, he's a peasant. All he does is hunt and find food. There can be no way it costs that much."
The other man's expression softened, anyone who knew the difference between two twin pebbles would have noticed.
"Yes, but he's hanging around a lot of influential people. He even has ties to Wan Cheng."
"Wan Cheng! How could he even…?" Overseer Liang slumped in his chair.
"Are you asking me? That information is worth 5 silver."
'This pursehearted maniac.' But the overseer kept his face clear of his thoughts. "No, no," He took the hat from his head and held it between his hands, "Is there any way I could pay later…or less?"
The man nearly reached over and smacked him, but he kept his cool. It was for moments like these that his master had devised a payment plan.
"You can pay 30 silver now, and the 20 silver later. Just be aware, we do not take kindly to late payments."
"Of course, of course, sir. Do you want the money now?"
"..."
"Of course," the overseer counted out 30 from the 35 silver coins he had on him and gave it over.
"When can you get it done by?"
"Whenever you bring the rest of the money."
Overseer Liang slumped in his chair again, but otherwise kept his spirits. It was to be expected working with a gang like theirs.
"I'll get the money as soon as possible."