Chapter 14 - Elder of Wintersweet Sect

Lu Na followed Sun Ren out of the mud home. Only Mr. Gan followed behind them.

An enormous head appeared in the sky. This one wasn’t made of fireworks, but some type of spirit technique that showed a man’s face. He had long white hair and a scar over his left eyebrow. The rest of this face was heavily creased.

“Citizens of Jianye. We are looking for an individual named Lu Na. She is a terrorist. She destroyed her own home and is very dangerous. If anyone sees her, let our sect members or the magistrate’s yamen runners know. She needs to be found before nightfall. She is a threat to the city.”

“Well, this went from bad to worse,” Lu Na said.

Sun Ren was eying Mr. Gan and the others in his home.

“I think we should leave now.”

Lu Na looked at them and other than Mr. Gan, the rest of his family’s face turned to fear. They had hurried away from their window.

Mr. Gan laughed instead.

“Anyone who thinks you two girls are dangerous has something wrong with their head.” Mr. Gan peered down at Lu Na and Sun Ren. Lu Na hadn’t noticed how tall he was outside his home. “You two take care of yourselves. If you ever run into trouble again, please find me for help.”

Lu Na clasped her hands and bowed deeply, followed by Sun Ren.

“Thank you, Mr. Gan, for your hospitality and aid,” Sun Ren said. “We will go now.”

“Wait, I don’t think we got your name. So that way, in the future, I can get my father to repay you for your help,” Lu Na said.

“It’s Gan Jiang,” he said. “And repayment is unnecessary. The amount of gold you’ve given us is more than what we make in a year. But if you are looking for a blacksmith, I’d be more than happy for the business.”

Lu Na and Sun Ren bowed again before walking away.

“I think we should split up,” Lu Na said. “They’re not after you.”

Sun Ren shook her head.

“We go together. All we have to do is hurry along in the alleyways out of the major streets. We should get to Blossom Scent Parlor before nightfall. Also, before I forget, here.”

Sun Ren passed a lump of metal to Lu Na.

Lu Na felt the cool metal in her hands and quickly placed it into her chest pocket.

“When did you get this? I forgot about this with the announcement in the sky.”

“I took it when they were all distracted. It’s important for your work. Hopefully, we can make it home safely for you to do something with it. I look forward to finding out with you.”

The streets were empty. They were the only two people walking. Eyes tracked them as they walked by. If someone didn’t report them by now, it would only be a matter of time.

Lu Na didn’t understand why this summoner sect was after her in particular. She was nobody. Her father was rich, but anyone who knew their family would know that he prized his younger brothers, not Lu Na. If her mother was still around, then they might have kidnapped Lu Na to lure her out. But she had been gone for years. So why her?

It was such a shame, too. Normally, the streets would be filled with people and peddlers celebrating one of the biggest holidays of the country. Lanterns would be lit all around and children would run around laughing and setting off fireworks. Instead, this enormous city felt like home to the underworld.

Of course, it didn’t take long before they were discovered. Two groups of Wintersweet disciples walked toward them from both ends of the street. Pairs of yamen runners walked in from the alleyways, holding staves to block their way.

“There is nowhere to run,” a man called out. It was the same face that showed up in the sky earlier. The man was older, judging by the gray in his hair and beard. He had a muscular physique underneath his loose tunic. “My name is Hen Shimin, an elder of the Wintersweet Sect. I am here to invite you to our sect.”

“And what if we don’t want to go with you?” Sun Ren asked.

Hen Shimin walked forward, but still far enough away from the two ladies.

“Then I will be forced to capture you and bring you in.”

“Why are you after me, anyway? What did I do to your Wintersweet Sect?” Lu Na asked.

Hen Shimin scrunched up his nose as if he smelled something awful.

“It is for your protection. I shouldn’t be telling you this, but our diviners told us of a prophecy where Lu maidens like you need to be protected before nightfall happened. Or else our sect will face a major catastrophe.”

“I was safe in my own home. I didn’t need protection from your sect,” Lu Na said.

“If that were true, then we wouldn’t have been able to breach it so easily.”

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“So if your diviners told you to go kill yourselves, would you?”

Hen Shimin frowned.

“No, we would not. Our diviners have been very accurate and have brought our sect prosperity and safe from harm. We are doing as they tell us.”

“Then tell me this, wise Elder of the Wintersweet Sect. What gives you the right to attack the home of a merchant and take its people?” Sun Ren took a few steps closer to Hen Shimin.

“The same right that the strong have over all. We don’t bow down and pay taxes to the Imperial court because we like them.” Hen Shimin crossed his arms across his chest. “Besides, they’ve got bigger issues at the moment than to deal with a city so far from their control. So do us all a favor and don’t think that because you’re the daughter of the Marquis, that we should fear you. He’s not here and by the time he comes back, we will be done with this business.”

Sun Ren reached down to her sword at her waist.

Lu Na couldn’t have Sun Ren risk her life for her again.

“Can you guarantee you won’t hurt us?” Lu Na put a hand on Sun Ren’s shoulder. “If we follow you back to your sect, can you guarantee our safety?”

Hen Shimin didn’t respond.

“We can’t guarantee anything,” a female disciple said. She was wearing a deep blue uniform. “Nor would we. We have you surrounded. If we gutted you two right here, no one would lift a finger to save you.”

Hen Shimin turned and slapped the female disciple across the face.

“Be quiet. You have disgraced us enough. If you invited her in the first place as I asked instead of attacking their home, I wouldn’t have needed to personally come here. Leave us.”

The female disciple held her face, glaring at Hen Shimin. But she didn’t dare say anything as she clasped her hands, bowed low at the waist, and walked away. A group of other disciples followed her.

“I apologize for attacking your home. We only need to have you spend one night at our sect and you will be free to leave tomorrow,” Hen Shimin said.

“That sounds a lot like your problem,” Sun Ren said.

Lu Na tugged Sun Ren’s shoulder toward the right. She had noticed it earlier, but one of the yamen runners was someone she recognized. It was the young man from earlier that helped her. Maybe he would help her again.

“Still, you can’t guarantee our safety if we follow you back to your sect. Why should we follow you? What’s stopping us from running through your disciples and the yamen runners?”

“The only thing I can promise is no needless pain,” Hen Shimin said.

“I’ve heard that before. That could mean killing us painlessly,” Sun Ren said.

“Fine. If I go with you, then would you allow Sun Ren to go?” Lu Na asked.

Hen Shimin nodded.

Lu Na reached into her belt and pulled out three of her earthen wards and one of her spirit wall wards. She let go of Sun Ren’s shoulder and tossed all the wards around them, creating a wall blocking the Wintersweet’s vision.

“Run,” Sun Ren said. She whipped out her sword from her waist in one fluid motion. The tip of it hit one of the yamen runners on the side of the head.

The younger one Lu Na recognized pointed toward the north side.

“Go that way. They won’t be guarding that side and the north gate is not much farther away. You can leave the city fast.”

Lu Na nodded her thanks.

Before they could run, the earthen walls broke down. A tall and lean horse spirit kicked the rest of it down until it disappeared completely. It was a plain brown horse with a light purple mane.

“Run and don’t stop Lu Na.” Sun Ren and the younger yamen runner turned to face Hen Shimin. “I’ll hold him for as long as I can. Tell my brother everything.”

Lu Na wanted to stop this. She was tired, injured, and wanted it to just end. But there was no stopping Sun Ren as she saw her charge the stronger summoner with her sword. She couldn’t allow Sun Ren’s sacrifice go to waste and there was that deep-rooted fear of what Sun Ren said before: there was nothing stopping the Wintersweet Sect from killing her, even if it was painlessly.

So Lu Na ran.

Lu Na followed the yamen runner’s instructions and ran north. There was no one there. But the loud footsteps behind her told her it would only be a matter of time before they caught up. A loud scream up ahead made her pause.

There were two women who were being kidnapped by Wintersweet disciples. They couldn’t be the women they were looking for, so why would they attack them? Lu Na was standing right there. There were men standing around staring, but not intervening.

Lu Na wanted to, but knew that those women would be let go eventually, as they weren’t the ones they were looking for. Not to mention, what could she do anyway?

“No time to stop now, Na Na. Keep going,” her spirit said.

Lu Na turned away from them and started running east instead. She couldn’t go that way now. As she ran, the mud homes turned into abandoned huts. There were people hanging around these homes on the outside. They all looked like homeless people, some of them had entire families sitting in the street looking up. A few of them carried long sticks beside their begging bowls.

“Over there,” a woman yelled.

Lu Na had to stop to take a breath. She turned and saw it was the same disciple that attacked her home. Even though it was dark, she still recognized that face that fought her brother. She wore a dark blue uniform that differed from the other disciples. She was also the same one that Hen Shimin slapped.

Well, Lu Na knew her lucky streak had to end sometime. Now, without Sun Ren, she could not fight them off. Maybe now would be a good time to surrender.

The Wintersweet woman seemed like she knew it too. She slowly sauntered over toward Lu Na with her hands held behind her as if she was surveying an animal in a cage.

“Come now, Young Miss Lu. You don’t need to keep running from us. I won’t make it hurt too much.” The woman caressed her own cheek. It was still a little red against her jade skin.

“Leave… me… alone,” Lu Na gasped. She looked around to see if there were any other ways out of there. She wasn’t expecting any of the beggars to help and the last thing she wanted to do was force this crazy woman to unleash her spirit. Lu Na didn’t dare consider using the phoenix hairpin either.

“I can’t do that. My sect leader has told me to capture you or kill you. I’m leaning toward the latter for all the trouble and dishonor you’ve given me.” The Wintersweet woman took a few steps and stopped.

“Little Wintersweet disciple, do you know where you are?” a man asked.

Lu Na scooted forward when she heard the voice right behind her. She almost collapsed from fright when she saw a large man standing above, peering down at her with one eye closed. He wore mismatched clothes that seemed to be knit together. He held a wooden walking stick in hand.

“Are you okay little one?” the large beggar asked. He kneeled on the ground. So close, Lu Na could see that he was bigger than her brother. Yet, as he got closer, she almost flinched from the smell.

Lu Na shook her head.

“Then do you need our help?”

Lu Na nodded. There was something about this large beggar that put Lu Na at ease. Maybe it was his fatherly face. There was something about his eyes that reminded Lu Na of her mother. For the first time in the last few days, she felt as if everything was going to be alright. She didn’t know why or how a beggar on the streets was going to solve this, but Lu Na felt safe.