Hu and Little Thief left the Red-Wind Pavilion. If they proceeded down the street they were currently on, they would arrived at the city lord’s estate. The estate was not open to the public, and the banquet itself was exclusive, only the most influential figures in the city and their families were invited. Needless to say, Hu and Little Thief were not on the guest list.
By now, only a sliver of the sun remained visible. Soft evening rays made one final push over the treeline as shop owners entered the street and hung lanterns outside their storefronts. Merchants from the lower districts pushed carts laden with goods ranging from foodstuffs to antiques. This was usually not permitted, but as was the trend on such days, exceptions were made.
For their work, Madam Hua highlighted the importance of one man—and he was not scheduled to make an appearance until later that night. Until then, they were instructed to… do as beggars do, vanish into the street.
Shortly after leaving, they peeled off to the side. Little Thief’s hair stood on end. The street was full, but it was unnaturally quiet, like everyone was holding their breath.
A group shaped like an arrowhead approached, moving in the direction of the city lord’s estate. It was too disorganized to be called a procession, but the way attention gathered at the arrow’s tip suggested that that it was not just a random group either, but an entourage. Two people walked side-by-side at the front, both wearing the red-black robes characteristic of the Murong clan, one of the five great martial clans.
The Murong pair consisted of a girl and a young man with similar reddish-brown hair, like fruit from the same tree. The girl looked to be mid-teens with a small amount of stubborn baby fat clinging to her face.
“Brother, do you think the Nangong clan will be there?” she asked.
“Silly girl,” The young man walking by her side smiled, causing those followers arrayed behind him to all smile too. He looked Hu’s age or older, “The Nangong clan is headquartered in Anhui. Why would they make the long trip just to attend our little city lord’s banquet?”
The Murong girl pouted, “I am engaged to their heir, am I not? Surely—”
That was not the end of their conversation, but Hu was done hearing it. As other onlookers remained frozen, he grabbed Little Thief and pulled him off in the opposite direction. There was no need to actively stick to the shadows, beggars were beneath the notice of even the lowest-born among the Murong clan’s followers.
Hu limped faster than usual, wanting to be anywhere else. They rounded a corner and proceeded through a narrow alley to a residential street lined with merchant stalls. The sound of celebration was louder here but more importantly to Hu, there was no sight or sound of any great clan members.
They slowed to an easy pace and explored the merchant offerings. Eventually, Hu stopped in front of an antiques trader of some sort, still setting up his cart. He felt a spike of phantom pain around the left side of his chest, near and above his heart. There was something here. Something that belonged to him.
Feeling his gaze, the trader spun around with a smile on his face, hands rubbing together, “Welcome! I deal in...” His words hung in the air and his gaze stopped on the scarred side of Hu’s face, “curiosities...”
Hu pointed at an item. In his other hand was a coin pouch, signaling that he was a paying customer.
The curio trader’s eyes focused on the coin pouch and then followed Hu’s finger to an unremarkable looking stone on the bottom shelf. He glanced back and forth between Hu’s finger and the stone like he was confirming the course of an imaginary line, “This one...?” He sounded surprised, like it was rare for a customer to express interest, unprompted, in one of his wares.
Hu nodded stiffly. Nearby, Little Thief tip-toed through a stall where a variety of noisy, caged animals were for sale.
The trader retrieved the stone, manipulating it in his hands as if here were an expert on such things, “It’s not exactly my finest, but I like the...” He searched a list of words in his head, “shine.”
Hu was unsurprised by his behavior. Successful trinket salesmen were usually liars, “Let me hold it,” Something inside him wanted the stone like a starving man wanted bread.
“Absolutely not. Some of these are more fragile than a young maiden’s wrist. You touch it, you buy it.”
“How much?” Hu was not looking at the trader anymore, he was hyper-focused on the stone.
Little Thief looked over, revealing a worried look.
The trader sensed something was strange about this customer beyond his physical appearance, “For you...” He read the desperation in Hu’s face and increased the price to match, “twenty silver.”
Hu knew he was being scammed, but he didn’t care. He needed to possess that stone as soon as possible, price be damned. He shakily emptied one of Cheng’s pouches into the man’s waiting palm. The small pile that formed had the height and volume of twenty silver but Hu lacked the mental focus to check, “Give it here,” he extended a hand to receive the stone, callused fingers twitching, “Now.”
“You’re serious?” the trader weighed the silver, happy to find it was more than what he had asked for.
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Hu’s bloodshot eyes briefly left the stone and traveled up to the trader’s neck. If the trader wouldn’t give it, he was going to take it.
The trader was taken aback by the intensity of Hu’s stare. If he wasn’t dealing with a cripple, he might have even felt fear. He handed the stone over, “Thanks for the business.”
Hu received the stone and his twisted expression eased. Blue spilled across his vision.
Essence absorbed. Acquired (1) status point. Remaining status points: 1
Thoughts like ‘I can’t believe my luck!’ or ‘this must be fate!’ did not occur to him. He never questioned it when he found a silver coin lying on the ground.
As he had already done once today, He tried to allocate the status point to [Coin Flicking] aptitude, but he felt the command wouldn’t form properly, like it had gotten half-way and then failed. After some consideration, he chose the only worthy alternative.
Iron Bones 2 → 3
Hu fell forward, startling the trader, “Damned street rat, be careful!” he shoved Hu’s wavering form away with one arm and protectively shielded his cart with the other. Little Thief leaped over and supported Hu as he fell. Feeling the gathering weight of curious gazes, he dragged Hu’s convulsing body a short distance away to a secluded part of the street.
.
Hu woke up to the sight of Little Thief hovering over him, a redness about his eyes. He sat up and had the sudden realization that the stonework covering the ground no longer dug into his bones, now it felt the other way around: his bones dug into stone. The world around him felt softer.
He found the stone still lodged in his tight grip. He eased open his fist, fingers protesting as tension released. He held the stone up to a nearby lantern, searching for any identifying features... Nothing. The stone was completely nondescript; all features were rounded down from weathering over an indeterminate amount of time. It was just an empty husk now that its essence had been absorbed, but he still pocketed it.
“All good,” He showed Little Thief a reassuring smile, although a face like his was only ever half-readable.
Little Thief’s furrowed brow relaxed somewhat.
They had not traveled far from the curio trader, who by now had finished setting up his stall and was hawking his wares at the passersby. Hu limped back over. He needed to gain as much information about the stone as he could, starting with where it came from.
…
The curio trader shrugged “That old thing? Couldn’t say. It was part of an exchange with another trader, some years ago. He said he was from… Oh, where was it again?”
Hu flicked a silver coin which arced over into the trader’s waiting palm,
The trader grinned, “So close now. Its on the tip of my tongue...”
Another silver flew over, this time harder. The trader shook his hand like it stung, “...Right, he mentioned he was from coastal Yunnan, traveling north. He had the complexion of an islander, dark and tawny.”
“He visited Jeongye?”
“No, we met on the road,” said the trader, organizing some items on the top shelf of his display, “I can’t provide details, doesn’t matter how many silvers you pelt at me,” He paused, “for a few gold...”
That was the end of their conversation.
Little Thief scampered over from the live animal stall, bouncing on his toes. In all the excitement, something normally wound tight had shaken loose inside the boy. They exchanged glances.
Different from their usual formation, Little Thief led and Hu followed.
As they walked, it quickly became clear that Little Thief was just following his nose. They bounced fitfully from restaurant to food cart. Little Thief wished his stomach was bigger, he just couldn’t decide. There were so many choices, and so many coins in Gullible Cheng’s pouch. Eventually, after doubling back repeatedly, he settled on grilled fish skewers.
Hu stepped forward, silver changed hands, and before long Little Thief was licking his fingers for the umpteenth time, eyes glazed over in satisfaction. Hu was pleased overall, the oily fish was good, but he had eaten something much better at the curio shop.
After eating, they loitered around until a shopkeeper chased them away with a broom. From then on, Little Thief still moved with more courage than usual, but habits resurfaced. He would would veer off into the gutter whenever large enough groups approached and his preference for heights continuously led them to odd places, like rooftops and private balconies. Hu accidentally let the second habit go unchecked for a longer period than usual, which is how they arrived at an isolated pavilion overlooking the city’s west side.
With nothing better to do, and some time remaining before the banquet, they approached the railing, giving them a wide view into the night. Although, there was a thick cloud layer that hid the stars and spoiled the view of the moon.
They were disturbed by the sound of drunken sobbing coming from further down the overlook. Hu looked over, and saw a scholar draped over the rail, like a saddle on a horse.
“Finished. Our great city, Jeongye is finished!” the drunk scholar cried out to no one in particular, maybe the whole city. He shook his head, which brought Hu and Little Thief into his sight, “Poor, ignorant beggars.”
Hu didn’t flinch at the drunk man’s babbling, “Why are you shouting on such a good night?”
“Good...?” the scholar pulled himself off the railing, “There is nothing good about tonight! This is the calm before the storm—and by the Elders it will be a long one.”
“Is that so?” Hu didn’t argue with drunks, unless he was drunk.
“Yes! It is so!” The scholar gulped down more drink and then dropped the liquor bottle into a hip-mounted scroll carrier, where it didn’t belong, “On this terrible night, the most righteous man in the city will be tossed into a pit of vipers.”
“I'm a beggar, good sir."
The scholar raised his fist at Hu and shook it angrily, “A wicked lord, a foolish city… The heavens blessed us with one good man!”
Hu detected genuine anguish in the scholar’s voice, but he wasn’t in a position or of the mind to do anything about it. He was just about ready to leave when his ears suddenly perked.
“Resent me, magistrate, this servant is unworthy of your forgiveness…” The scholar beat his chest and fell to his knees, looking like he had forgotten their presence entirely. It was unclear if he noticed the beggar kneeling beside him.
“The magistrate, what’s his surname?” Hu asked. An individual that Madam Hua had described at length appeared in his mind.
Clarity briefly returned to the scholar’s eyes, “Guo...”