"I'm Chan Bik."

"... Bik as in 'jade'?"

"Yes?"

"..."

"..."

Sek Gon lay down where they had stopped and closed his eyes.

"Hey! What... what are you doing?"

"... Sleeping."

"HERE?"

Her voice was so loud that those people nearby who were not already looking turned and stared.

The pair had stopped at one of the entry gates to a small city along the Jade Road, and Sek Gon was currently lying down right in the middle of it all. People trying to get in and out were staring in bewilderment.

Chan Bik pulled at Sek Gon, highly embarrassed. He responded by flopping face-down on the ground, barely budging as she hauled at the back of his robes.

"I... I'm leaving you here!"

Good.

Sek Gon lay obstinately on his face. Chan Bik dropped down beside him, pleading, "Please get up! I... I'll treat you to some good food, how about that?"

Immediately, Sek Gon climbed to his feet. "Okay."

"..."

Half an hour later found him once more stuffing his face with food. Chan Bik watched with annoyance and sighed. She was no great beauty, but she had a pretty, roundish face, with a button nose and sprinkling of freckles. Her dark brown eyes stared at the freeloader before her.

"If I didn't need to... So who are you?"

"... Sek Gon."

"As in...?"

He explained his name.

"Right... And why are you disguised as the Jade Exorcist?"

"I'm not."

"Are you saying you are the Jade Exorcist? I find that very hard to believe."

"I'm not."

"Do you know who he is?"

"N-"

"Sir Sek!"

Sek Gon, his mouth full of pork dumpling, sighed very deeply within his heart, and wondered when everything had gone wrong.

Gou Dzing came striding into the restaurant and pounced upon the other man with his usual enthusiasm. "I've been looking for you everywhere! Wait, who's this?" He peered closely at Chan Bik. "... Sir Sek, are you sure you're not a fan of mine? Are you a member of a fan group that likes to cosplay as me?"

Sek Gon swallowed down his inner tears and focused on his food.

"This lowly Chan Bik greets a great Master."

"My humble name is Gou Dzing."

The other two greeted each other politely. Chan Bik spoke first, looking a little flustered. "Then... you must be the real Jade Exorcist?"

"That's me." Gou Dzing's handsome face split into a good-natured grin. "Senior Disciple the Way of the Mountain School of the Mount Fa Sect, first son of the Gou Family."

Sek Gon watched him narrowly, a pork bun in each hand, but said nothing.

Chan Bik poured tea for the newcomer. "Have some tea, please. Great Master, would you please listen to my story? Of course, there is no obligation for you to even listen-"

"Not at all. Let me see if I can help. My skills are not great, but I always wish to assist if I can." His hand shot out and caught Sek Gon, who had finished his food and was trying to quietly slip away. "Sir Sek, please don't run away again. It took a good while to find you."

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Sek Gon, dangling in Gou Dzing's hand like a kitten, caught a glimpse of the other man's arm inside his sleeve. He could see a tight bandage, freshly applied, it seemed, but already a few spots of blood were seeping through.

"... I'll stay."

Gou Dzing lowered his arm and released his hand, and Sek Gon flopped back in his seat.

Chan Bik began to speak. "Forgive my strange attire, I... I was actually trying to attract your attention, Great Master.”

“Is that why you started that fight?” Sek Gon interrupted.

“What fight?” Gou Dzing queried.

Chan Bik fussed with her teacup and didn't answer the question. “I need the assistance of someone such as yourself, with your skills, because... You see... I... You see, your skills..."

Her words quickly became jumbled and she seemed increasingly distressed. Gou Dzing tapped the table firmly to retrieve her attention. "Stay calm, Lady Chan. Close your eyes, breathe in through your nose, then out through your mouth. Let your djing circulate counter-clockwise in your lower daan-tin."

Chan Bik did as she was told. "I... I'm so sorry. I've shown a very undignified side of myself."

"Not at all, Lady Chan. Are you able to continue?"

"Yes... Yes. Great Master, in short, I highly suspect that my family has been infiltrated by demons." Her voice had dropped very low.

Gou Dzing frowned, his strong dark brows drawing together. "I see. Why do think so, Lady Chan?"

"Please, 'Lady' is too much, and I... I don't know if the Chan Family even exists any more."

"We'll see about that. Please continue, Lady Chan."

"You still... Alright. At the start of autumn..."

The Chan Family were relatively well-off. There was a single matriarch, with six children from two different fathers, one of whom was her current younger lover. Chan Bik was the youngest child (of four) from the first marriage. Her mother ruled the family powerfully, and was little concerned with what others might have to say.

The lover, a handsome man named Se Sue, had joined the household several years ago. Chan Bik's elder siblings generally viewed him with some suspicion. Her half-siblings, a boy and a girl, were too young to have well-formed opinions, being three-year old twins.

She herself thought Se Sue was an easy-going and relatively simple person, and wasn't too concerned. He made her mother happy, and that was all that mattered.

And then the dreams began.

With the start of the harvest season, when the Chan Family began to direct farmers on harvest loads and trades, they all began to dream of mice.

Lots of mice.

In their dreams, the mice numbered in their thousands. They swarmed the fields and ate the crops, and invaded the barns where the harvest was stored, and ate everything there too, sweeping across the entire farming district. Even the young twins dreamt of mice. They would wake crying and screaming, convinced they were covered in mice that bit at their flesh.

The shared dream was strange enough. In addition, crops actually began to disappear.

A rice paddy, that was full of ripe rice during that day, would suddenly be stripped by the next morning. No one saw how it was done. No mice were seen. The farmers began to post guards, and these guards either found themselves unable to resist falling asleep, or their vision went dark and they heard tiny, whispery voices that made them run, terrified, back to their villages.

Only the farms managed by the Chan Family were impacted. The family was losing their income, and their rationality.

"Great Master, my siblings are somehow convinced it is the doing of Se Sue, that he's trying to take our inheritance. Even Second Sister, who seemed to be getting along with him at first, has now changed her mind and is now urging Mother to make him leave. I just... can't believe it's him. But I also don't know who it could be. I've never seen my family fight so much. Eldest and Third Brother are threatening to leave if Mother doesn't give Se Sue up. Mother is furious and threatening to disown them anyway. This can't be how things end!"

Gou Dzing fiddled with the tassel on his jade sword thoughtfully. "It sounds like demons could be involved here. Some kind of dark or demonic mischief is certainly happening."

"I don't know what payment I can offer, but Great Master, we desperately need help. If it's you..."

"Of course, I can't let something like this go," Gou Dzing replied cheerfully. "I will go with you. And you'll come with me, right, Sir Sek?"

They turned to find that Sek Gon had fallen asleep in his chair at some point and was quietly snoring. Gou Dzing barely paused. He cheerfully pinched the other man's nose until Sek Gon woke, coughing.

"Sir Sek, we're going now."

"... Okay? Bye?"

"I mean, all three of us."

"... No."

"I'll feed you."

"... Okay."

"Alright! Let's go!"

Gou Dzing vigorously hustled Sek Gon through the door, paying on the way out despite Chan Bik's bemused protests. She did, however, notice that Gou Dzing was using his left arm rather stiffly. "Great Master, are you injured?"

"Oh, this...?" Gou Dzing moved his arm airily and winced. "I... Well, I had a friendly little discussion with a friend of Sir Sek's. It's nothing, it's nothing."

Sek Gon's eye twitched.

"Sir Sek, how did you meet her, by the way? She's an... interesting person."

"... She tried to kill me."

"Ah. That seems to be in character."

Chan Bik's eyes were full of questions, but no one chose to answer them.

"Which way are we headed, Lady Chan?"

"The Chan household is about half a day's walk south of here. I'll lead the way. Thank you once again, Great Master."

"Please, just call me Gou Go," he said easily.

"Then, you have to call me Chan Mui," she replied, excited.

Sek Gon rolled his eyes.

"What about you, Sir Sek? How should we address you?"

"... Whatever."

"What's the matter with him?" Chan Bik whispered to Gou Dzing. "Is he always like this?"

"As long as I've known him, yes."

"How long have you known him?"

"We met for the first time a couple of days ago."

Chan Bik's face clearly showed what she thought of this. She hissed under her breath, "... Why did you chase after him if you barely know him?"

"I had a good feeling," Gou Dzing whispered back with a strong grin. "I'm a great judge of character. Sir Sek may be grumpy, but he's a good person!"

Trailing behind them, Sek Gon's eyelids flickered briefly, but he said nothing.