Wu Jian and the others had spent two days in Shengshi City. That was the name of the Sui Kingdom’s capital, he had discovered. The city had been named after the first emperor, Shengshi Sui, who had founded the city after being driven from his original home in the Han Dynasty. He had been unable to find out what caused the man to flee. He supposed it didn’t matter, however, as they were not here to learn about the country’s history.
He spent most of his time with Hou Jingshu, Zhou Lihua, and Zhou Wen, traveling through the merchant quarters and eavesdropping on conversations. Through them, he learned about the economic disparity, corruption, and inequality. However, he had also learned about something even darker.
“I swear, it really happened! My best friend’s daughter said she kept hearing a flute playing right outside her window! He didn’t believe her, but then she vanished without a trace. Nobody has seen her since.”
“And this happened here in the city?”
“No, it happened in one of the villages west of here. My friend is a farmer. Owns himself a nice rice paddy that stretches out for several li. There ain’t nothing there, or there shouldn’t be, and yet his daughter disappeared into the night.”
“Couldn’t she have just run away from home? That’s not unusual for a young woman to do such a thing. They crave excitement and think about things like destiny and chance romantic meetings.”
“I mean, it’s possible…”
“So there you go. It’s probably just a case of a young woman running away because she was enthralled by the glamor of the city.”
Wu Jian sat on a bench a short distance away from the pair who were chatting, holding a steaming cup of tea in his hand. He was listening into their conversation with his enhanced hearing.
The two were of average height, build, and appearance. There wasn’t anything special about them. Even their hair was a similar shade of brown and their eyes were dark black. They were the kind of people you could find anywhere on the Xiao Continent. Between the two, the younger one expressed more skepticism over the story the older man told.
That man’s younger companion might have been skeptical, but Wu Jian had been hearing other people telling similar stories--tales of young women vanishing into the night. Most of them happened in small villages, but a few had happened in Shengshi City as well.
The fact that so many people were telling similar stories told Wu Jian that there was some truth to them. If one person was saying something, it was a lie. If two people said it, it was a coincidence. And if three people said it, it must be the truth. Knowing that the dark sect, Soul Eclipse, was working in the shadows of the Sui Kingdom meant Wu Jian also had a strong reason to believe these kidnappings were real and not just rumors.
“Master! Look at what Big Sis gave Youmei!”
Wu Jian smiled as Youmei, Zhou Lihua, Zhou Wen, and Hou Jingshu came back from checking out some of the stalls. Youmei held a bright necklace in her hand. It looked like it was made from a shell of some sort. It was large and shaped like a spiral. There were a lot of fresh water crabs and crustaceans that had shells like this. He assumed it came from one of the many rivers that flowed through the Sui Kingdom.
Since they were pretending to be a wealthy merchant family, the girls would go around and look at the items being sold while he relaxed or mingled with some of the stall owners. He would have been talking to the stall owner he sat next to. However, the conversation between the two men had caught his interest.
“That looks very beautiful. Do you want me to put it on?”
“Yes! Put it on for Youmei!”
Wu Jian had to pull aside Youmei’s exceedingly long hair, which drooped all the way down to her butt. He asked Hou Jingshu to hold it as he placed the necklace around her and hooked the clasp at the end. Youmei stared down at the necklace dangling from her neck.
“Youmei’s never worn jewelry before.” She looked up at Wu Jian and gave him a grin of such irrepressible innocence that it felt like staring directly at the sun. “Now we match.”
“Yes, we do,” Wu Jian smiled back.
His necklaces were very different from hers, but indeed, they were both wearing necklaces. The fact that she was so happy about that was something he found heart-warming. He was also a little surprised that Youmei was getting into jewelry. She hadn’t seemed all that interested in anything except food for as long as he had known her. Even after getting a human form, the young magical beast had hated the idea of wearing clothes. He still remembered chasing this naked girl through the Shang Kingdom’s Imperial Palace.
“We should meet back up with the others,” Hou Jingshu said. “I’m sure they’ve finished doing their research as well.”
“You’re right.”
They traveled back to the inn, where they met up with Shuchang and Mei Xilan. Like last time, Shuchang was with a couple of women. There were more of them this time than there had been before, and they were different women to boot. Wu Jian could only shake his head when he saw the man surrounded by a bevy of beautiful women. None of them were more beautiful than his women though. They were just of average attractiveness.
Shuchang had been flirting around with a bunch of women because, according to him, women loved to gossip. This meant they heard tons of rumors. In fact, many of the rumors about women disappearing into the night came from the women Shuchang spoke with. While the women in his party, minus Youmei who was too innocent to understand such things, looked at Shuchang like he was a worm, Wu Jian could not deny the efficiency of his methods. Out of all the people in their group, his best male friend had gleaned the most information.
Not that he would ever tell his women that.
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***
Wu Jian shared a room with Hou Jingshu and Youmei. It was a room with two beds that were soft and comfortable, but not very large… sadly, only one of those beds was actually in use.
Youmei had been using the other bed, but she constantly slipped into the bed he shared with Hou Jingshu during the night. This was an old habit from her time as a panther. She used to sleep with Wu Jian all the time back when they were living with the Wu Clan, and of course, when they were traveling, they had slept together whenever she wasn’t inside of his shadow.
He wouldn’t normally be bothered by this. It was fine if she wanted to sleep with him. However, Wu Jian had really been hoping he could be intimate with Hou Jingshu during their time here. They had only been able to have sex a few times since their reunion and he was really craving more. He felt deprived.
However, that was neither here nor there. All of his complaints were internalized since he knew it wouldn’t do him any good to voice out loud.
“Master… Master… wake up. Youmei hears something strange…”
“Mmmm… ngggg…”
Wu Jian cracked his bleary eyes open. He was lying on his back in the bed, dressed only in his underwear, which consisted of briefs and an under shirt. Warmth and a soft body on his left filled him with an indescribable sensation. Hou Jingshu was dressed in a pink nightgown as she snuggled against him, her head on his chest, hand caressing his skin. She had slipped her hand inside of his shirt sometime during the night.
“Master, pay attention… Youmei hears something.”
Blinking several times, he looked at the child sitting on his chest. Youmei wore a black nightgown that looked like shadows spun into threads of fabric. It covered her entire body. She looked very cute in that outfit. He was glad she no longer fought against wearing clothes.
He rubbed his eyes and addressed her with a tired sigh. “What do you hear?”
“Music. It sounds like someone is playing music.”
Wu Jian cocked his head to the side and strained his ears, listening, but he didn’t hear anything. Just the soft breathing of the young woman beside him.
“Do you really hear something?”
“Master, you think Youmei is lying, don’t you? You don’t believe Youmei, do you?” Youmei’s cheeks swelled like a pair of balloons.
“I believe you, but I don’t hear anything.”
Wu Jian’s hearing was greatly enhanced by Byakko’s blood. If Youmei could hear someone playing music, then he should have been able to hear it as well.
“Where is it coming from?” he asked.
“It’s coming from out the window.” Youmei pointed at the window.
Careful not to wake Hou Jingshu, Wu Jian slipped out of bed with Youmei, opened the window, and peered outside. The city at night was fairly quiet. Cool air blew in through the window as a few lanterns hung from the eaves of buildings lit up sections of the city. Only one part of the city remained bright and vibrant. He could see the telltale signs of the red light district in the distance.
Red light districts were an important part of any city. They served as a hub for entertainment and leisure activities, offering a wide array of attractions such as theaters, gambling houses, taverns, tea houses, and restaurants. It provided a place for people to unwind, socialize, and indulge in various forms of pleasure after a long day of work.
Of course, the primary function of a red light district was to cater to adult entertainment, offering services such as brothels, massage parlors, and establishments specializing in companionship. These services were meant to satisfy the desires and needs of individuals seeking intimate or sensual experiences.
Wu Jian had once heard that, long ago, red light districts had been outlawed on the Xiao Continent, but that hadn’t stopped people from pursuing pleasure. It also meant various governments had been unable to capitalize on the money such places could generate. Once the governments of various nations realized how much revenue brothels and various forms of adult entertainment generated, they began allowing it under the condition that all red light districts were regulated and overseen by whatever government controlled the nation. In the case of the Sui Kingdom, that would be the Undying Sun Sect.
Channeling chi into his ears, Wu Jian listened to the sounds carried by the wind.
“I still don’t hear anything,” he said after several minutes of silence.
Youmei furrowed her brow. “The music is gone.”
“You can’t hear it anymore?”
“Yes. It’s gone.”
“Hmmm.”
Youmei tugged on his sleeve. “You believe Youmei, right?”
Wu Jian ruffled Youmei’s hair. “Of course. Let’s inform the others of what you heard tomorrow morning.”
“Okay.”
Early the next morning, Wu Jian informed the other members of his group about what Youmei had heard as they sat around the table eating breakfast.
“Hmmm. The sound of someone playing an instrument.” Zhou Lihua took her tea cup and brought it to her lips, buying herself some time to think before continuing. “I did not hear anything like that last night.”
“I didn’t either,” Hou Jingshu confessed. Mei Xilan, Zhou Wen, and Shuchang all confessed the same. They hadn’t heard anybody playing an instrument last night.
“Youmei is telling the truth though!” The little panther said with a grumpy pout.
Hou Jingshu smiled kindly at the girl. “We’re not saying we don’t believe you. We just didn’t hear the same thing. As a magical beast of the feline variety, your ears are much more sensitive to sound than ours are.”
“That doesn’t explain why Wu couldn’t hear it though. His ears should be just as good,” Shuchang said, and he had a point. He had thought the same thing last night.
“Either way, this reminds me of the rumor about young women vanishing into the night,” Wu Jian murmured.
“Ah. That rumor. Yeah, I’ve heard it too,” Shuchang added. He twirled his chopsticks around before cutting a slice of his breakfast and sticking it in his mouth.
The food they had been served was called Banh Xeo. It was a crepe or pancake made from rice flour batter infused with turmeric powder, coconut milk, and water. The ones they had were filled with shrimp, pork, bean sprouts, and green onions and served with fresh herbs and a dipping sauce.
“Do you think the music is a technique?” asked Mei Xilan.
“It could be,” Zhou Wen said. “I have heard of techniques that can target specific people using sound. These techniques involve infusing chi into an instrument and directing the sound at the subject. The music incorporates hypnotic rhythms and soothing harmonies that lull the listener into a trance-like state. Such techniques normally cannot be heard by anyone except the target. I suspect the reason Youmei could hear it and Wu Jian could not is because the technique targets women.”
Wu Jian had never heard of a technique like that, but he couldn’t claim to know everything either. There were surely as many techniques as there were stars in the sky.
Later that day, Shuchang informed them of a rumor that several women had gone missing the night Youmei heard the music, allowing them to conclude that a technique had been used to kidnap them. There was no telling if this was a lead that would help them accomplish their goals. However, since they didn’t know what else to do yet, they decided to confront the person kidnapping these women.
Wu Jian just hoped it would lead to discovering something that could help them.