Yun Tian was expecting the constant smell of bloodshed and death when he woke the next morning. Already strapping the new spirit sword Qing Yu had gotten for both he and Shang Wu around his waist and adding daggers to his robes. He was out of his chambers before the sun could peek beyond the horizon.

Even Shang Wu, who is the deepest sleeper Yun Tian had ever known, had beaten him on their way down the halls.

"What if he eats us?" Shang Wu whispered, hand never leaving the hilt of his sword. Yun Tian had his by his side, he would not let his paranoia get in the way of his mission. The spirit was to be treated with respect, just like any other concubine of the Emperor would be.

Yet the chill in the air refused to disappear, little strands of hair on his neck stood on end as they willingly walked towards their doom.

"I feasted upon your wives and husbands, the kind who'd leave a child orphaned amongst their parent's corpses."

"Did you not hear the Emperor? Our safety would guarantee him his freedom." Yun Tian responded, bowing slightly at a group of maids who had just emerged from the servant's quarters. He offered them a kind smile and they giggled behind their sleeves.

"Really? We could be walking towards our deaths and you'd still find it in your heart to flaunt your charms?" Shang Wu hissed, jabbing at Yun Tian's sides with harsh fingers. "Perhaps you should use those charms of yours on our dear spirit master, hm? We're dying, Yun Tian. He's going to eat me, damned what the Emperor says."

Yun Tian cursed, grabbing at his throbbing sides. "I told you to watch your tongue-"

"Dammit. He's one of those perverted spirits, isn't he? Feasting on handsome men." Shang Wu cried out, burying his head in his hands. Yun Tian's words seemed to have flown right through his skull. "I knew I should've listened to my mother, kept to myself and hid this beauty from the cruel, cruel world."

"If beauty was the case, I can assure you you'd be the last on his list."

Shang Wu glared up at him. "You wouldn't even be on that list."

"That isn't the insult you think it is."

"Yes it is, I'm saying you're ugly."

"Well you'll be saying it from the grave. So really, who's winning?"

"So you agree." Shang Wu's eyes widened dramatically. "You think I'm pretty."

"I think you're stupid." Yun Tian responded. He placed a hand on the top of Shang Wu's head and turned his friend's mocking eyes away from him. "Walk."

Pleased with his victory, Shang Wu finally faced forward as they turned a corner, heading deeper into the little palace. The silence gave Yun Tian time to think back towards his family, to his mother who must be busy running household matters in his absence. His brothers, carrying on the hunt without his lead.

The talisman around the palace was subtle in its state, hidden in forms of jewellery and ribbons worn by the maidservants.

He was so concerned with memorising the map of the little palace on his tour last night that Yun Tian failed to have noticed that the carvings on the walls and ceilings were not pictures and paintings depicting the Empire's history. But ancient charms, carved by hundreds of shamans to keep spirits away or in this case, locked inside without the use of their magic.

It created an illusion of a palace of luxury, devoid of any danger when in fact, it was the worst place a spirit ought to be. A suffocating prison, for a spirit without their magic was akin to a bird submerged in deep waters.

Once they made it to the main chambers, the little palace had come alive, a faint glare of morning sun easing their eyesight. Yun Tian let out a sigh, relishing the cool air of dawn before his shoulders stiffened in a jerk when the loud sound of objects being thrown rang from behind the doors.

"What-"

He did not wait to hear what his friend had to say, pushing through the doors with sudden urgency, his sword already drawn. But there was no enemy in sight.

Qing Yu was standing near the doorway with his hands clasped loosely behind his back, still as a statue and Shang Wu shrieked behind him at the sight of the silent swordsman. There was a piece of cloth hung on his shoulder and face as if recently thrown. The rest were scattered on the wooden floor throughout the room, shoes, robes and belts on every possible surface.

Yun Tian's eyes ran over the swordsman's body, not a single charm or talisman in sight.

Amidst the colourful chaos was the spirit himself. Bai Li stood in front of the opened wardrobe, throwing out cloth after cloth, this time an emerald green robe as he continued to hunt for whatever he had in mind.

The robe came flying straight for Yun Tian's face. At the last second, a pale hand snapped forward, snatching the robe in one hand before it could make contact.

"Be careful." Qing Yu said softly, gently folding the robe in his hands and walking forward to place it on the nearby counter. The swordsman did not step on a single piece of cloth as he did so. "Come in, I've been waiting for you both."

Yun Tian sheathed his sword, blinking to try and diffuse the confusion in his mind as he walked in, Shang Wu behind him careful not to step on the robes.

"What is he doing?" Yun Tian asked, sure to keep his voice as low and quiet as possible. It would have worked, if his master was a mortal.

"What am I doing?" Bai Li snapped, whipping towards him and Yun Tian found himself straightening like a soldier at war. "What does it look like I'm doing? I am having a crisis at the crack of dawn and you have the nerve to shove your way into my chambers to ask what I'm doing?"

"Forgive me, my Lord." Yun Tian bowed his head slightly, Shang Wu bowed his whole upper body.

"Useless, all you humans. Utterly useless. What use is it for clothing if I can not wear a different one everyday? Do you see this, Qing Yu, do you see this?" Bai Li continued, clutching a blood red robe in his hand and waving it towards their faces. "I have worn this three times. Three times."

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"I see." Qing Yu responded and Yun Tian gave him a strange look, Shang Wu was still bowing.

Bai Li threw the piece of delicate cloth onto the floor, turning back towards the wardrobe dismissively. "Perhaps I should have accepted that Li Gu's offer. Maybe then I would have received the treatment I deserved."

"The Ge family, though rich in their business, is nowhere near the royal family's treasures, my Lord. Perhaps a trip to the markets?" Qing Yu offered, bending to retrieve the robes on the floor. Yun Tian followed his lead, watching closely as to how the man folded the robes before following with clumsy, calloused hands.

This suggestion seemed to have satisfied the spirit as Bai Li's shoulders slumped, stopping midway through his rummaging. "Yes, a trip would do wonders."

"Where are the maidservants?" Yun Tian asked, picking up another robe lying nearby. Qing Yu's pile of folded clothes were already twice as high as his own.

"Probably eaten." Shang Wu mumbled.

"No one other than his guards are permitted inside." Qing Yu explained, tapping a finger on the floorboards before grabbing at another robe. "They were here to help in the beginning, but the fewer people around master, the better."

Yun Tian made sure to remember this information, humming thoughtfully. "He doesn't like company, then."

Qing Yu shook his head at this. "Oh he does, just in fewer doses than most. Having a lot of humans around usually sours his mood."

"Has he ever told you why?"

"They smell."

"Ah."

Yun Tian was glad he showered that morning.

"I thought I was going to die." Shang Wu whispered from beside them, movements so quiet his voice made Yun Tian jolt. His friend turned a sharp eye on him. "Why must you incur the wrath of death, have you learnt nothing? Or are you so eager to use me as a sacrifice that you simply don't care?"

"I'm pretty sure we established the fact that if any of us were to be eaten, it wouldn't be you."

Shang Wu placed a hand on Yun Tian's shoulder. "Be in denial all you want, brother."

"I do believe he's correct." Qing Yu joined, a small frown on his face and Shang Wu's smile was about to grow when he continued. "If my Lord were to feast on us, you'd be safe." The swordsman said it with such reassurance Yun Tian couldn't help the laugh that escaped him.

Shang Wu stared in disbelief. "You are such a cruel man."

Qing Yu's face fell slightly. "I meant no disrespect. My Lord just has a preference for beauty, you see-"

They were silenced by the sharp sound of rustling and a harsh thud. "You." The sweet eerie voice came from behind Yun Tian, he didn't move. "Come assist me with this."

Yun Tian glanced up when Qing Yu tapped at his shoulder. "He means you." The swordsman said softly and Yun Tian nodded with a shaky breath. He stood up, turned towards the chambers only to find it empty, the spirit nowhere in sight.

"Must I come get you myself?" The voice came from behind the folding screen and Yun Tian's feet moved before he could convince himself the spirit had not in fact called for him. His footsteps were light on the floorboards as he crossed to where he could still hear that rustling from behind the screens.

Stepping around it, Yun Tian came to a halt. Bai Li stood before him wearing nothing but the inner robes, there was a small frown on the spirit face as he toyed with the cloth. Yun Tian blinked, now completely certain he was mistaken.

"Did you call for me, my Lord?"

"Dress me."

I misheard. Yun Tian was sure of it, but he dared not open his mouth to question the spirit so he merely moved forward.

"All these layers.." Bai Li mumbled, still messing with the robes before thrusting it harshly against Yun Tian's chest. He caught it before it could flutter to the ground, at a loss of what to do as the spirit turned his back on him.

This was where he'd strike his sword through the spirit's back, had he been on a hunt. Or perhaps if he was too far, he'd use a rope to tie its neck before slitting its throat. But he was here to serve, so Yun Tian casted those thoughts aside.

Yun Tian looked down at the layered robes, a nest of white feathers in his hands. Trying to remember how his own maid servants had clothed him growing up, Yun Tian made quiet work. Sliding the spirit's arms through the sleeves.

Bai Li had his eyes closed, the furrow erased from his brows as he simply complied.

Like a doll. Yun Tian thought, and immediately wanted to slit his own throat at the comparison.

"You are the eldest." Bai Li stated and Yun Tian's fingers halted slightly as he added on the outer robes, its hems darkening from pure white to pink.

"Yes, my Lord." Yun Tian replied, he steadied his breathing as he walked around the spirit to his front, carefully sliding a pink belt around his master's slim waist. Yun Tian had an inkling feeling the spirit wanted him to speak, so he opened his mouth once more.

"Am I that obvious?"

"You are clumsy with chores, quick to defend." Bai Li replied. Being this close, the spirit's voice alone sent shivers throughout his body and Yun Tian understood why maid servants were prevented from entering.

If the Empress was a jealous woman, it was no wonder he was locked away like a bird in a cage.

Or a wolf with clipped fangs.

"I apologise."

"Your eyes say otherwise."

Yun Tian made the mistake of looking up, meeting the spirit's eyes. He was right about one thing, the spirit reached near his height.

It was odd, to stare at the golden eyes he'd see lose their light of life. The golden eyes that would fade into total darkness once he'd kill a spirit and send it to the afterlife.

I'd lose. Yun Tian stared down at his Lord. If I were to fight him alone, I'd lose.

"Such coldness, indifference." The spirit spoke, snapping Yun Tian back to reality. There was an odd fire in its golden eyes that couldn't be explained. The familiarity that was there then gone the next. "How many spirits have you sent to their next life with those eyes of yours?"

Bai Li's hand reached up and Yun Tian took a subconscious step back, but the spirit was faster. Gripping his jaw between its fingers, Bai Li pulled his face down, impossibly close to its own and Yun Tian's hand went to his sword on instinct.

The spirit glared at his face, the same scowl he'd seen mere minutes earlier and Yun Tian realised then that the spirit was searching for something.

Whatever it was, Bai Li did not find it. Roughly, the spirit let go of his face and turned sharply away.

"Draw that sword upon me again and you will not have hands." Bai Li stated, not once looking back as he rounded the folding screen and Yun Tian realised he had a hand on his sword, an inch of its steel having been flickered out by his thumb.

"Where is my meal?." He heard the spirit speak as his jaw throbbed, there was warmth on his cheek and Yun Tian reached up to feel the small droplets of blood. The spirit had cut him with its claws.

Yun Tian frowned again and wiped his face but there was no traces of dirt or leaves. His skin still felt smooth and clean, so what was the spirit looking for?

A few seconds later Shang Wu appeared behind him, quickly rounding to face his front and his friend's eyes widened at the cut on his cheek.

"What did he do?" Shang Wu hissed, swatting Yun Tian's hand away to take a proper look at the cut.

"It's fine, the cut was shallow."

"And you didn't think to dodge it?"

"Dodging it might've gotten me killed." In truth, he couldn't even feel it.

"I knew he wanted to eat us." Shang Wu whispered urgently, peeking around the screen. "Didn't Qing Yu say he'd only go for beauty?"

Yun Tian sighed, completely forgotten as he walked past his friend and rounded the screen. Maid servants entered the room carrying trays of food and refreshments. Yun Tian's stomach growled as he smelled the spices flowing in the air.

That is, until he saw the golden carp sliced opened on one of the plates. Its raw meat is decorated with spices, herbs and flowers.

"He's eating a national treasure." Shang Wu whispered behind him and Yun Tian watched the maids lay the plate on the table.

Bai Li was already seated on the chair, staring out the window and into the mountains beyond with an elbow posed against the window's ledge. Not caring in the slightest about to feast laid out before him.

Qing Yu stood behind the spirit, smooth, quick hands working his Lord's hair into a braid.

"Yun Tian, they're bringing in another carp."

Shang Wu's words didn't even reach his friend's ears. Yun Tian was just hoping he'd never have to braid that spirit's hair. He found himself joining Bai Li's gaze, staring at the mountains back where his home would be enjoying a nice cooked meal.