A few days after Lin Liqiu had departed. The anchor point for Tomo's library was now located just outside the capital of the Gaian Empire at a nearby town. They could have used the anchor point that Ku Wei escaped through, but there were concerns that Ku Shen may have the area under surveillance.
“Safe travels Cousin,” said Ku Wei with a mischievous look as he tousled the young girl's hair. “Say hi to Cousin Zemin for me. And be careful around my brothers. Crown Prince Ku Xue may be working with us at the moment, but he isn't officially on our side and Little Shen is not to be trusted,” he reminded.
Ming Jia Ying gently removed the youth's hand from her head and held it for a moment. The brief flash of concern hiding behind his smiling eyes didn't escape her notice. “Don't worry Cousin. Grandfather and my mother will be there if we get into more trouble than we can handle. There are few in the capital that could defeat them, even less could stop them from escaping. I honestly think your father would have to step in if the guards wanted to stop them,” she said, but she wasn't sure if it was meant to reassure the boy or herself.
Lin Liqin felt as if the current conversation would jinx their trip and attempted to change the subject. “You have such a large het[1] Wei, yet it must be full near to bursting. It is kind of you to take a break from your studies to see us off. I hope Guptios[2] offers up what you seek and more,” he interjected in near perfect Coptic[3].
Ku Wei smirked. He could tell Lin Liqin was anxious about the trip and despite the compliment he'd just received he couldn't help but reply with some mild ribbing. “I admit I am jealous of your ability to pick up new languages Liqin, I will have to redouble my efforts after you depart. I hope your first visit to the capital is as interesting and exciting as mine was.”
Lin Liqin just sighed in response, feeling that this trip was truly and thoroughly jinxed by this point. They'd all heard the story of Ku Wei's first trip into town with his brother Ku Shen.
Tsubame seemed to be enjoying the show as she giggled off to the side, before deciding to join in the fun. “This may not make sense at the moment, but you're getting to the age where you'll feel the urge to make 'mistakes'. Now just because it was a 'mistake' doesn't mean it was the wrong choice,” she said as she moved even closer to Ku Wei, kissing him on the cheek before continuing, “While you're in Egypt don't hesitate to contact your Big Sis Tsu or Big Bro Qin, we'll help you make the right 'mistakes'.”
Seeing Ku Wei silently nod with a flush face made Lin Liqin and Tsubame chuckle. As they turned to leave with Ming Jia Ying they noticed that she was frozen and her face was beet red. Still laughing, Lin Liqin nudged Tsubame, “We may need to have a talk with this one before we meet up with her fiance. I thought it was just an innocent arrangement they had, but she seems to have something on her mind.”
Tomo, who'd been waiting silently, spoke up, “I didn't bring you on the team so you could be a bad influence on the children.”
“It's too late for regrets, Grandfather,” said Lin Liqin as he attempted to copy Ku Wei's cadence.
“That's teacher to you.”
“Whatever you say Teacher Grandfather,” Lin Liqin responded over his shoulder, along with a quick chortle, as the three of them stepped through the door.
Ku Wei also left, presumably to continue studying the Coptic language before he arrived in Egypt. Alone at last, Tomo slumped into his chair as he sighed, “Sometimes it feels like all I have are regrets.”
Landing in a small back alley, Tsubame, Lin Liqin, and Ming Jia Ying all made their way out to the main street in order to orient themselves.
Lin Liqin was the first to notice the rather inviting building down the street. “Perhaps we should see if anyone at the tavern has a wagon headed for Gaia, what do you think?”
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“I know we were teasing the kids and Tomo a bit, but I'm not sure we should be taking Jia Ying into a...”
Ming Jia Ying cut off Tsubame, “My mother has taken me to several taverns before. They are a good place to find Siege opponents. I'll be fine.”
Tsubame was still unsure, “Okay... but if we can't find anyone leaving soon we'll head out on our own. It's just a few days walk and we have plenty of provisions.”
“That's fair. But if we can find a wagon, or better yet a coach, we could make the trip in a day. Then we'd be there in time for the tournament Zemin mentioned,” Lin Liqin reminded.
“Yes, the Tomorrow's Court Contest starts in two days. Zemin made it sound like it was a competition where the young masters of the Ku Clan show off their leadership skills,” explained Ming Jia Ying longingly.
Tsubame lightly nudged Ming Jia Ying, “You wanna see your betrothed show off in front of everyone?” To which the young girl just smiled and nodded.
Upon entering the tavern the trio made their way to an empty table. After taking their seats Lin Liqin suggested, “How about you two order something to eat while I ask around?”
Before Tsubame could respond Ming Jia Ying spoke up, “Wait a moment. Something odd is happening here.” She had continued to refine her Breath of the World technique and kept it active at all times. She'd noticed that if she reduced the area of effect the strength of the shock waves passing through the earth and air would be diminished to the point of being nearly imperceptible.
As such, Ming Jia Ying was aware of everything that was happening within the tavern. The first thing she noticed was several people scattered around that were communicating using Wind Whispers. Sadly, her cultivation hadn't reached the point that she could listen in on these whispers. The second thing she noticed was a puddle of water that someone was guiding across the floor.
As the puddle arrived along the waitress' path it was suddenly frozen. Ming Jia Ying realized what was about to happen. “They are trying to start a tavern brawl. When it happens we'll leave the immediate fighting to you Liqin. Tsu follow my lead.”
Lin Liqin thought to himself, -I knew this trip was jinxed. Ah, to hell with it, lets have some fun!- He and Tsubame just smiled at each other. They'd oddly missed the fighting during their peaceful time in Tomo's library. Meanwhile, Ming Jia Ying was staring at an individual sitting at a table in the corner that was acting as the nexus of all the Wind Whispers. It was the last person she had expected to see here.
As predicted, a waitress came out carrying a tray of food and slipped on the patch of ice. To her credit, she regained her footing and avoided falling, but not before dumping the food all over several customers. One of them was a member of the group Ming Jia Ying was monitoring. He immediately started escalating the situation by accusing a nearby bystander of shoving the waitress and demanding he pay for the damages.
Once the fighting broke out Ming Jia Ying released a mist to obscure the view of the other patrons. Lin Liqin, bathed in the glow of his Ki aura, was like a frightening specter as he darted around in the fog. The boy that had been directing the Wind Whispers, though his sight was obstructed, could sense two individuals approaching him through the wind currents.
He released several wind blades to try and scare the two off, but they were countered with other wind blades. The strength of the opposing wind blades wasn't great enough to nullify his, but it was sufficient enough to scatter them, reducing their effect to little more than a gentle breeze. This breeze was enough to disperse the nearby mist, revealing the two women, one adult and one child.
The adult raised her leg and placed her foot on his table. As she slowly pushed down the legs buckled until it reached the ground. The boy waited for the woman to speak after her display, but to his surprise it was the young girl that took the initiative, “I'm surprised to find a prince here. Don't you know that the countryside is home to all sorts of ruffians, your highness?”
At that moment one of the prince's men that had been guarding him in secret jumped in between them in an attempt to block their path. Tsubame lifted her foot off the table and released her Chi technique. This caused the table legs to snap back into position launching the newcomer into the ceiling. His dangling legs now serving as a bizarre chandelier. As the rest of the fog began to dissipate it revealed Lin Liqin pouring himself a drink. After downing the drink, he casually made his way over to them as he stepped over several bodies along the way.
To his credit the young prince did not seem intimidated by this display of force, rather he seemed quite excited. “You seem to have me at a disadvantage. May I know your names?”
Once again the young girl was the one to answer, “I'm Yingying. These are my retainers, Tsu and Qin.”
“You've made a dazzling first impression! As you seem to already know, I am Prince Ku Shen. I have a job that requires outside help. Now tell me Yingying, would you three be interested?”
Author's Notes:
[1] Het is a Coptic word, pronounced “heat”, meaning both heart and mind. They make no distinction between purely logical thoughts and emotional ones. Lin Liqin is using it to make a pun saying that Ku Wei's mind is large and full because he's been studying but also that his heart is big and full because he took the time to see them off
[2] Guptios is the Coptic word for Egypt, similar to the German language's Deutschland
[3] Coptic is an ancient language that was once popular in Egypt