A flurry of sounds, of words, burst from the demons. Harsh hisses and growls were directed at the image.

“Seems they've met her,” Gou Dzing said lightly.

“Is that excitement or anger?” Maan Dzi King muttered, her dark blue eyes narrowed.

Cheng Baak-hap bravely approached the table of demons alone. Everyone's eyes were on her, and almost imperceptibly, Gaam Yuk Ying shifted his weight in preparation.

She placed the two pieces of paper on the table.

The red demon snatched the page with the likeness of Tim Djeung-bak, and tore it to shreds.

“Anger, then,” Wong Tang remarked.

Cheng Baak-hap was beginning to back away from the table when the red demon stood up. Before she could even blink, she was suddenly standing next to Gou Dzing again, Gaam Yuk Ying on her other side. His arm was around her waist; he had pulled her back in less than a heartbeat.

The red demon stood with its hand still outstretched, long-nailed fingers partway through a grasping motion around the height of Cheng Baak-hap's head.

Gong Lau Yan strode forwards, so firmly and rapidly that the red demon took a step back. It caught itself almost immediately, and so the two were almost nose to nose, equal in height. The loong smiled brazenly, without blinking. An air of tense caution blanketed the still-seated demons.

Sliding past the red demon, Gong Lau Yan approached the table. She picked up the picture of the red-haired woman and tapped it.

“Ling Gwong,” she said. “Where?”

The demons exchanged looks. The bright blue demon rose and floated out through the entrance of the room. It returned not long afterwards with several objects – boxes, pots, baskets. It presented them to Gong Lau Yan, pointing at the interiors.

Empty.

Empty.

Empty.

“They want something.” Maan Dzi King sniffed. “A bargain, huh?”

Chan Bik pulled her pack from her back, but Gaam Yuk Ying stayed her hand as she tried to open it.

“Gaam Si hing-”

“We need to discuss this first, Bik Si mui,” Cheng Baak-hap said. “You want to give them food, right? Of course, we can see that they're suffering, so you'd want to help them. But we don't know what might happen. What if we give them food, and they don't tell us where Lady Ling Gwong is? What if they demand more food? The food we have, too, isn't very much. Who gets food and who goes without?”

Gou Dzing groaned and scratched his head. The demons eyed Chan Bik's backpack avidly.

“Well, what do we all think?” Wong Tang asked. She sounded less certain than usual.

“I think we should give them food,” Chan Bik said. “We might not be able to help everyone here, but we can help some of them, at least.”

“I don't think we should give them anything,” Maan Dzi King disagreed. “We can't communicate with them properly, and know very little about them. How can we trust them?”

“Maybe if we show trust, they'll also show trust back?” Gou Dzing suggested. “I think we should try.”

Gong Lau Yan grunted. “I don't know. I can understand what you are all thinking. I too want to give them food, but at the same time, it may not be the best idea. A-po? Little Gaam?

Wong Tang's troubled eyes drifted over the waiting demons. “Why do you think I'm asking you all, brat?”

“Give them food,” Gaam Yuk Ying said plainly.

Gou Dzing looked like he was going to explode with pride.

“Why do you say that, Little Gaam?”

The young man was clearly still not well, his skin pale. His hand passed briefly over his stomach but dropped quickly back to his side. “Being hungry is... not good.”

“So three yes, one no, two... unsure. Little Cheng?”

“I'm like you, Lady Gong. My head says it's a bad idea, but my heart...” She rubbed at her face and neck, looking at the red demon. Its dark eyes met hers hungrily.

“... Give it to them.”

“And then what?” Maan Dzi King snapped. “What if they demand more, and attack us to get it?”

“They could, but it would make more sense for them to keep us alive so we can get more food for them.”

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“They could take some of us hostage.”

“I believe in everyone's strength,” Cheng Baak-hap said simply.

Chan Bik opened her pack, drew out the package of food inside, and marched to the table, placing it in the centre. She unwrapped it to show the demons the contents.

There was a collective hungry swallowing from the demons around the table. Gong Lau Yan retrieved her food parcel from her pack, gestured to it, then tapped the picture of Ling Gwong again. This time, the ghost-like demon stood and drifted to the doorway. It paused, looking back at them. A foot-like appendage grew and tapped the floor. By now, the travellers had determined that this gesture meant 'follow'.

And so they did. Higher up the mountain they travelled, past another large room, past houses with the window spaces blocked up by rough cloth or rocks. At last, they reached a platform in front of a small cave. The entrance was filled with floating red shapes, like those that had been daubed on the walls of Ming Yuet. The ghost-like demon took a deep breath and blew on these shapes. They instantly turned white and scattered.

The doorway clear, they could now see the person within. She had bright red hair, but she was nowhere near as plump and round as she was in her drawing. Her skin sagged where she had evidently lost a lot of weight in a short time, but the eyes that looked up at them were fierce and hot and widening with recognition.

“Leoi Wa? Leoi Wa!” Her high, bird-like voice cracked. Wong Tang stepped quickly inside, leaving the others to watch the escorting demon suspiciously.

“Leoi Wa, thank the heavens. Please, get me out of here before that demon comes back!”

“It's alright, Ah Gwong. We're taking you away from here. Did they mistreat you?”

“Only that one demon, the one that likes to wear a skin of a human! The others just... Well, they didn't really feed me, but I don't think any of them are really eating around here. Just that human-looking one!”

“What human-looking one? The one with red skin?”

“Oh no, he's alright. He's a bit mischievous, but we get along alright. No, that girl with the huge eyes! I'm so ashamed!”

“Tim Dzeung-bak?” Chan Bik demanded, rushing inside as well. She stared down at Ling Gwong without a single thought for etiquette. “That bitch has been here?”

“Ashamed of what, Ah Gwong?” Wong Tang asked.

Ling Gwong didn't seem to have heard either of them. She was staring at Chan Bik with a mixture of wonder and horror. “Oh... Oh... Oh no...”

“Ling Gwong!” Wong Tang said sharply.

“I... I'm sorry Leoi Wa, I... Who is this girl? What lovely Fire tendencies she has... If only I'd met her sooner...”

“What do you mean?” Chan Bik asked, her mouth going dry.

“You would have made a wonderful disciple... But... that demon girl... she tricked me into giving all my secrets to her. She's already inherited my practice.”

“Can you not have two direct disciples?” Cheng Baak-hap asked quickly, keeping her voice even, but she glanced at Chan Bik's back, the only thing she could see from the cave entrance.

“Not at the same time. It wouldn't be right,” Ling Gwong said fussily.

“Ah Gwong, surely-”

“No, Leoi Wa, I'm sorry. How can I give my disciple the best when I have more than one? I must focus-”

“But she tricked you!” Chan Bik cried furiously. “That bitch got your spiritual practice out of deceit! How can you consider her your proper disciple?”

Ling Gwong shifted uneasily, but looked away stubbornly. “No! You're... I'm sorry! I wish I could, but no!”

An ear-splitting crack rent the air. Below Chan Bik's feet, a hairline fracture had appeared in the rock. A white-hot aura wrapped itself around her entire body.

“Bik Si mui!” Cheng Baak-hap cried in alarm. “Bik... Ah Bik! Bik Bik, stop!”

Gong Lau Yan backed up with a hissing intake of breath. Gou Dzing pulled Gaam Yuk Ying behind him, shielding them both with his spiritual power. Maan Dzi King's eyes narrowed.

She was already sweating, but Cheng Baak-hap rushed into the cave to stand in front of Chan Bik. “Bik Bik... Look at me. There is always a solution. Believe me, there is always some other way.” Her skin hurt and her lips had dried in a instant. “Bik... Ah Sing, Little Star... I promise you... I promise I'll find another way. You always say I'm so smart, right? Trust me, please. We'll find a way together... Ah Sing?”

The heat had gone. Chan Bik stood shaking and bereft, tears of disappointment and anger pouring down her cheeks. She fell into Cheng Baak-hap's arms, wailing. Ling Gwong tried to act like she wasn't there.

Gaam Yuk Ying held out his food rations to the ghostly demon, who, after pausing for a split second, developed an arm-like appendage and enveloped the food, apparently absorbing it into its body. The young man opened his other hand, revealing the torn pieces of the image of Tim Dzeung-bak. Her eyes stared madly at them from odd places, but her huge smile remained intact.

He tapped the pieces.

The demon turned a circle and returned to its original position. Gaam Yuk Ying frowned. Seeming his response, the demon's eyes moved up and around, then it began to drift back down the stairs. It paused to ensure they were following. Ling Gwong and Wong Tang emerged without incident from the cave.

“I think... we can safely split up,” Gong Lau Yan decided. “A-po, I'm going to go with Little Gaam and Little Gou. I think the rest of you should head back. Auntie Ling and Little Bik will need some rest, I think.”

“I'll come with you,” Maan Dzi King said, with the air of someone providing a favour with mild reluctance. Nobody thanked her.

“Yuk Ying, maybe you should rest too,” Gou Dzing suggested, but Gaam Yuk Ying had already began to descend the stairs, hand on stomach.

“Has this happened before?” Gong Lau Yan murmured to Gou Dzing as they followed.

“A few times. It seems to affect him every few months, but he won't get it treated. Perhaps if I prodded him enough...”

“That child doesn't have enough yin energy,” Maan Dzi King announced, apparently not caring if she spoke loudly enough that Gaam Yuk Ying would easily hear her.

“And you've got too much,” Gong Lau Yan said under her breath.

“What do you mean, Lady Maan?” Gou Dzing asked through gritted teeth.

“Well of course, why do you think he's like that? Are you really so foolish that you haven't noticed that-”

“Maan Dzi King,” Gong Lau Yan snarled in her face. The other loong almost fell backwards in shock. “Don't you dare. Little Gaam is who Little Gaam wants to be. You have no right.”

Gaam Yuk Ying kept walking. Gou Dzing looked from the two loong, glaring fiercely at each other, to his boyfriend, rapidly disappearing downwards, and chose to loyally follow the latter.

As his footsteps faded away, Maan Dzi King spoke again, “Now that we're alone-”

“What alone? Maan Dzi King, we're through. Over. If you're just hanging around to try and get back together with me, you're wasting your time. Go away before I force you to go.”

The beautiful loong's face stiffened, but she hid the expression with a sneer. “Huh. Well, I gave you plenty of chances, but I see you've made your decision. Don't regret it!”

“I never have, Maan Dzi King. You're the one who's doing the regretting.”

Gong Lau Yan turned on her heel and raced down the stairs, two at a time. She caught up with Gaam Yuk Ying and Gou Dzing quickly. Before she could even speak, Gaam Yuk Ying turned towards her.

“I don't like that woman.”

It was a little surprising to hear Gaam Yuk Ying express his feelings unprompted, but Gong Lau Yan gave him a smile. “Honestly? Neither do I. I have no idea what I was thinking before.”