The double door next to us opens. Nan walks out with a grin. From the corner of my eye, I see Xiao return to her normal demeanor.
"Mr.Lee. Your employer's waiting for your report." A please gesture is made. I stand up from the bench following Nan to finish my last battle tonight.
Miss Qin is sitting behind the desk with a smile on her face like before. Her gray eyes are like when I first saw her. Unreadable just like her expressions. Xiao and Nan stand respectively on her left and right. Nan looks slightly more serious, while Xiao looks stoic at first glance but I can see she's frowning subtly. Bet even she didn't notice she was doing it.
Wonder what got her work up like this?
The atmosphere here is not much better than the last time. I'm still feeling like I'm in the den of snakes and foxes, the only difference being I'm a bit more accustomed to them. But now as I stand alone in front of, and being watched by all of them like this. Makes me want to laugh out loud.
I observed all of their eyes and faces carefully. Both Nan Shi Pei and Xiao put on the face of stoic and distant strangers like we never met before, both got their masks on. Some more obvious than others. Of course, I know how these kinds of things work, as small and unimportant as it is. I still find it sad and funny at the same time. Act like this here, act like that there. It's like watching a movie with shitty stunts supported by visible cable slings.
I take a deep breath. And smile.
Joining the act.
"Run, Pheidippides! Run and race, reach Sparta for aid! Persia has come. we are here. Where. Is. She?"
I said every word slowly companies by a grin bigger than Nan's on my face. Xiao still has her unmoved expression with a hint of anger like I first met her in the hallway. Nan looks a lot more serious than usual but there's still a smirk hidden behind, as a few traces of crow's feet appear at the edge of his eyes. The emperor's daughter covers her mouth while a chuckle slips out.
"Mr.Lee, glad to see the little......trouble on the way didn't stop you from finishing the task." After listening to the recordings with Ivan, their sound of hers sounds extra eerie than it was before, the tone she used while arguing with her father still stains my mind. She sounded like a viper on the recording. "I supposed everything went well except for it?"
I crack my neck to the left and to the right. Looking straight down her stormed color eyes where all emotions and agendas hid. And with a taunting voice, I speak.
"Smoothly. As I promised, it's done. He got the message."
"And his responses to it are?" She tilts her head forward in a very hard-to-notice motion. Her eyes slightly narrowed, if it weren't because I'm standing right in front of her I wouldn't realize it. Eager eh?
"No." I smile. "Not before you fulfill your part first." Miss Qin stares at me for a moment, she learned from the last time we spoke. Her eyes remained the same, not showing any sign of emotions.
"Very well, I'll transfer the....."
"Ha! You can do that later." I slowly inhale. "You haven't forgotten what you swore to me.......have you?" I take a step forward. Half a meter from her, Nan frowns as he sees I'm not joking. Xiao's left-hand flinches as she stares at me. The intents in my eyes are unmistakable.
"Nan......prepare the set." Miss Qin says in Chinese. Xiao turns her head for the first time, looking at her mistress and me in disbelief.
"Miss....." She didn't need to finish her question, Xiao's expression had already spoken for her. Qin Yan turned around and gave her a warm smile.
"......understood." Nan's voice sounds like nothing I'd ever heard before, he sounded ...... tired and helpless. As he walks up to the door next to the sofas, his steps are heavy, pace is slow. Contrary to his strides and prance earlier. Before opening that door he turns around and gives us a glance. The smirks and uncaring attitude are all gone. I'm reminded once again, what this man is like without his usual demeanors and grins. The door closes without a noise
The air in this room is so thick it feels like I might get crushed by them. Xiao changes between multiple expressions not knowing what to think. Miss Qin looks at peace with whatever order she just gave.
"Xiao." Qin Yan looks to her right, and she says in Chinese. "You'll be the witness. Since you were not a part of it, your neutrality is valid." Surprisingly, Miss Qin gives her bodyguard a sorry smile with sincerity in her eyes and tone.
"I hope this arrangement is acceptable to you Mr.Lee. I know you don't trust me and my words mean little to you........ but I've not leaked the information to anyone else. Only I and Nan Shi Pei know it." There's a notable pause. She clamped her lips tightly for 5 seconds.
"No matter the results. I would like you to know I'm thankful for your work. And I always keep the promises I made." The determination I once saw before returns. A glint in her gray eyes.
I remain silent, watching her closely. I still think she's younger than me, in her early 20s I suppose. Yet there's no mistaking that she's the daughter of that old fuck. Solicit and get into people's heads. Makes me wonder..... what will piao jie become in the future?
Will someone like her care about stopping bloodshed?
All these thoughts keep popping out of nowhere in my brain making me dizzy all of sudden. Fucking inhaler, I have to decrease doses next time. I squeezed my eyes shut.
***
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
The door behind me opens silently, I turn around hearing Nan's footsteps. He's holding a wooden tray with a red, heavy-looking book with leather board and two wine bowls on it.
He places the dragon-carved tray between me and Miss Qin. Taking a step back. Miss Qin stares at the book for a minute, her defenses shacks again but she kept herself focused. She gives Nan a nod, he returns her with one.
Nan proceeds to clear out a space on the desk, moving the papers to the other side. He moves the bowls to the left and right edges of the table. The one in front of me is jet black, hers with white liners with blue cracks.
Then, he opens the book in a very gentle way as if it will disintegrate if he's not careful. The pages are filled with Chinese names and dates, all written in a scribbled fashion, I can't even be sure if some of them are actual words as it looks more like spells or 'Fuzhou'. Nan presses his thumb on the text block from start to middle. As he turns a stack of pages, an urn appears. The last 500 pages of the book was hollowed out in its shape to contain.
He takes out the jar with his left hand holding the neck, and his right hand supporting the bottom. It's a Jade color porcelain urn, the size of a regular teapot. Pear shaped with a small handle on its lid.
Nan gives the lid a twist before he starts pulling it with quite an effort. With a loud 'pump' sound the lid was removed. The smell of aged wine fills the air, not many places provide that stuff nowadays. I heard it's called 'Shaoxing', a cellar spirit from a different era and a different land.
The amber color liquid slowly drips down from its mouth. Filling both bowls half full. Nan put the lid back where it is and placed the urn back into the red book like a mother putting her infant baby to bed. After closing the book he takes a step back.
"My family and our organization value traditions greatly." Xiao moves silently behind me, Nan is still standing next to Miss Qin. "When a person within the family decided to make a vow or swore on a certain action. We performed a 'blood oath' or 'Xui Shi'." A mischievous smile forms on her face.
"Nan told me you speak and understands Mandarin, correct?" I nod.
I know what she's doing now.
She pulls a sheathed blade out of her suit jacket. Gripping the upper part where the guard is missing.
It's extremely hard to tell if that is a dagger or a sword. It's close to the size of a wakizashi but it's straight, not curved.
Miss Qin reverse grip the handle extremely hard, her knuckles turned white. She closed her eyes, lip's moving but no sound came out of them. Nan put his hands behind his back, Xiao's hands clenched into fists. For a moment complete silence haunts the room.
The blade was drawn the second she opens her eyes again. Making almost no sound at all as it leaves the sheath. It looks like a ruler. Entirely straight except for its tanto point, single edge, and glint of unnerving pale light shines as Miss Qin drew it out completely.
"I, Qin Yan. Vow it in the name of my father and his ancestors." My eyes widened out of reflexes as I heard her words. "The living in this room, Shall be my witness." She says in a tone that greatly resembles her father while looking at Xiao.
"I will never use Lee's close friends and those he holds dear against him, coerce him. Or hold ill intentions towards him."
Her eyes look almost scary. The gray inside her pupils seemed to be dragging me into the storm within. Shattering me in its rain and thunder.
Qin Yan grips the blade with her palm against the edge, five fingers on the spine. In a swift motion. She slices her left palm with the blade, blood immediately pours out of the wound but the blade remains clean.
She clenched her left hand, squeezing it. Letting the blood drips down between her slim, pale fingers, dropping into her bowl. Then she extended her arm and do the same with mine.
I watch the crimson little drops falling into the amber wine in front of me. The amount is not enough to change its color. But as it swirls and expands slowly until disappearing I can't help but think it's more turbid than before.
With her bloody hand holding the wine bowl Miss Qin raises it over her head. Peering into my eyes. The corner of her lips curls upward into a smirk.
Tonight just gets better and better.
I raised my jet black wine bowl over my head as well.
"Mr.Lee." She tipped her head towards me.
"Miss Qin." I do the same.
Her eyes shine with a certain something. A mix of mischievousness, greed, excitement, and joy. Like when you found a hundred dollar bill under an ATM or your first time drinking a bottle of whiskey you stole from the liquor store.
As if there's a signal others can't see, the two of us drop the bowl to our mouths, throwing our heads back glopped down the wine.
The rich taste of herbs almost made me cough, then the smell only a well-aged wine could create hit both my nostrils and the bottom of my nasal cavity. A faint taste of iron ligers on the edge of my tongue. As the thick liquid washes down my throat, I find it surprisingly smooth, with not much burning sensation a spirit usually creates. And there's a subtle sweet aftertaste.
Do they sell this downstairs?
Xiao rushes next to Miss Qin after it is done. She gently takes her left hand to wipes off the blood and bandages her hand with ........ what appears to be Nan's handkerchief from earlier. Xiao pulls the knot again to make sure it's firm and tight. Then she do it again. And again. Until Qin Yan puts her right hand on Xiao's.
"That would be all." Xiao lowers her head and step behind me again, she looks conflicted. Miss Qin picks up the blade on the table and wipes both sides of the edge with a clean part of the handkerchief on her hand even though there's no visible blood on it. She slides it back inside the sheath and a silent 'clink' rings.
The daughter of the emperor slowly inhales. Her cheek has a hint of blush because of the 'Shaoxing'
"If the oath is to be broken by me in the future ......Thou shall be my executioner."
With a solemn voice, she speaks. Right hand on the handle left hand on the chape. She percent the blade to me.
I glance at Nan and Xiao behind me. Their faces look distant, courtly and motionless. Miss Qin the same as them. I felt like I'm surrounded by marble sculptures of legends in a mythical temple. My mind hit a brick wall while racing 100 miles per hour. As there's no reason not to comply. I ask for this after all.
I extended both of my arms to receive the weapon the same way she holds it. Our fingertips grazes momentarily, the tender skin and warmth made a mental note in my brain. I lower my head as a gesture of gratitude.
I examine the thing with caution. Its length exceeds a dagger by thin margin. About 40 maybe 45 cm. Plus the handle is about 60 cm full length. 4 cm width. Wooden handle with a golden pommel at the bottom, reinforced to be use as a blunt tool. Patterns of a dragon and a tiger are carved on its gold locket, and the tip of its handle respectively. Their mouths are wide open, and sharp fangs howled at each other. This part also glitters under the banker's lamp with its gold color. Probably glided.
The sheath is ebony color just like the handle. But there's a metal chape at the tip, which appears to be reinforced too with an extra lair of weight. So even when sheathed, it can still be used as a weapon.
The wooden handle feels comfortable even when I'm gripping it hard and not too slippery. I don't know shit about swords and blades, all the common sense I know came from books in the central library.......and getting chased by Japanese security. But feeling the well-balanced, light weight of it even I can tell it's an excellent murder weapon.
Ivan's laughter appears in my head as I remember his joke.
His bullshit actually came true for once.
Putting it in my inner pocket the cold steel of the handle slightly pressures against my chest. I take a step back from the desk. Nan and Xiao return to the left and right behind Miss Qin who sits back comfortably on her chair once again. The same smile I saw when I first walk in here blooms on her face. A bit tired, but it's there.
Nan's grin crawls back on his face but I can see there's a small sign of respect in his eyes now, Xiao looks stoic enough to fool most people but I can see her mind is racing on what went down.
Business as usual huh? I take a deep breath. And smile. Rejoining the act.