De lay on the couch and swung his foot up and down; this continued for two hours. And for those two hours, the weight of uselessness piled itself onto his shoulders. Being useless had been a constant for the past two weeks. The search for his friends had made zero progress. They seemed to have been transported to a different place than he had. Agents scoured the countryside and everywhere else in the empire; but they found nothing; a research team traveled to the strange transporting fog in the Misty Mountains and studied it in the hopes of learning how it functioned; no news of their research had arrived yet. That left De with nothing to do. Everything related to his friends was out of Dragon Fire City, and he couldn’t leave, for his da forbade him to; De’s father had said a week ago: “Stay here. I need to know you’ll be safe as I go to the frontlines. Hear me?” De had nodded his head, and his father left a couple days later.

Feng’s mother, Yue, had arrived a week ago. She took charge of the rescue operation as soon as she landed, ordering around soldiers and spies—well, De didn’t know for sure if the shadowy types he saw Yue speak to at times were spies or not, but they certainly acted like it—like it was only natural for her; and to top it off, they were afraid of her. Their voices wavered every time they spoke to her, their spines shook every time she moved, and they avoided her eyes like a rat’s did an elephant’s. But even with the fear, or maybe because of it, they worked hard and well. They were a strong bull with a good plow; De and his dumb feet would only get in the way. Especially when most of what they did was read reports all day; he was too much of an idiot for that.

Laying and laying and laying and laying grew tiring. De’s body began to ache. His shoulders were stiff, and his stomach started to growl. He needed to get up. But his body was sunk into the cushions. And they would drag him in further the longer he lay. If he couldn’t stand, he would be there—on the couch—for the rest of the day. He would have to roll. De rolled off the couch. He bonked his forehead on the hardwood floors. Pain seared into him, and his skull pulsed. His eyes felt like they would bulge out of his head. The pain lessened as time moved forward. It didn’t disappear completely; but it was quieter, like the whisper of a bloody knife. De sighed and cursed his own stupidity. Then he walked out of the mansion.

The sunlight stung his eyes; when they adjusted, De saw that the clouds were missing. They left a bright and unforgiving sky. A sky where the sun could be as cruel as it wanted. The sun’s heat wrapped itself around De’s body and breathed onto his neck. The clothes that stuck to him because of his sweat didn’t give any comfort. But he couldn’t complain, not when he saw gardeners and street-sweepers working hard in the heat. The streets appeared like they were built yesterday, and the gardens seemed like they were taken from paintings. All of it seemed like a waste to De. A waste of time and effort. Why didn’t the gardeners farm? Food was more important than a pissing contest between nobles, right? But what did nobles have that could make someone work for them, money. He guessed that answered his question. What didn’t answer his question were the street sweepers. He knew they couldn’t have been paid that much. Not when he saw that they were wearing rags. De saw an old street-sweeper with a bad back and a hole in his robe on the left side of his chest; and that old street sweeper smiled as he dusted already dusted cobblestones. Why? These city folk were strange.

In the Blue Water District, the district he was in now, mansions lined up like trees. The streets were almost completely empty besides the street-sweepers, gardeners, and the occasional noble. De could tell they were nobles because of the way they dressed and the way their faces screamed privilege. De didn’t much like nobles, at least not the ones he had met. They were self-absorbed and arrogant. His father said that they served a vital function in the empire; they managed lands and whatnot. But De hadn’t seen anything like that. All they seem to do to him was party and scheme. De was just a farm boy though. What did he know?

On the way to wherever he was going, he had no idea where he was going, De passed statues. They were beautiful. They lined the streets with marbled excellence. The male statues were picturesque. Their muscles were chiseled, and their faces were perfect. They had sharp jaws; piercing eyes, for a statue; and a general air of handsomeness. The female statues had soft lips, for marble; an enchanting gaze; and full cheeks. The statues were in the nude. That brought a blush to De’s cheeks for he had never seen anyone in the nude besides himself. These city folk had no morales!

Twenty minutes passed as De roamed around the Blue Water District; it was a boring twenty minutes. He searched for a food stand, or better, a food court; but the district featured none. Just more mansions and gardens. He then decided to go to the inner city. The parts where danger crept more freely, people were less snobby, and most importantly, where food gathered in great plazas. Ah, he would risk a stabbing for a kebab any day.

The journey to one of the plazas, for there were many, was unnoteworthy. Arriving at the plaza was different. The sheer number of people always surprised him. They all seemed to be in a rush, dashing here, running there, all while shouting vendors and innumerable conversations served as a background. De followed his nose—which could be dangerous in a gathering of so many people, who knows how long ago some people bathed—and ended up in a medium length line. People at the front of the line left holding steaming buns and meat skewers. Two things De’s stomach would agree to.

When De reached the front of the line, the vender who had a wide smile and brown hair greeted him. “Heya there, young fella. What can I getcha? A steaming pork bun? A juicy chicken skewer? Or maybe both? You are a big lad, after all.”

“Both, with two extra buns and two extra skewers. No, wait, make that three extra buns and three extra skewers. I am big lad, after all,” De said.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

The vendor laughed. “That you are. A young man like you ought to be big and ought to eat. It’s not till your my age that you should eat small and plain.” The vendor grabbed the skewers and buns then put them in a brown bag. “Here you are.”

De paid and walked away looking for a bench to eat at. He found a sturdy wooden one that would support his heft. When he sat down not a single creak came from it. ‘Now that’s a good bench,’ De thought to himself. He then began to eat. The bun had a spring to it as De bit down on it, and the skewer was salted just right. The only thing was, he was eating too fast. If it continued, De was afraid he might drop dead in the next couple of minutes with a pork bun lodged in his throat. That was only if no water came. And so, De got up, grabbed some water, and gulped it down. The pressure in his throat and chest lessened. He averted death. De then rubbed his stomach and lay back on the bench. The meal was good and so far, like the past days, at the current rate, he would achieve nothing. That angered him. His uselessness would kill him before any pork bun did. De launched himself up and walked. To where, he had no idea. He just needed to do something.

The streets blended into one another as he passed by them in a haze. A voice broke him out of his stupor. A woman’s voice. A woman’s voice that came from an alleyway, and it sounded like she was in trouble. “Get away from me. You stink.”

A burly voice responded, “Now, now, don’t be like that, Meixiu. I’m not going to hurt you. C’mon, let’s be friendly about this. You owe the boss, and I’m here to collect. It’s just business. Ain’t no violence have to happen. Just give me the money, and I’ll be on my way.”

“And I told you, I don’t have it.”

“Are you sure this is how you want our talk to go? Lying ain’t going to help ya.”

“I’m not lying.”

“Then I guess I’ll have to break ya. I don’t like doing this to women, but debts need to be paid.” The man sighed. “Which knee do you want broken?”

“Neither. You’re not going to catch me.”

At that moment, as soon as it was sounding dangerous, De leapt into the mouth of the alley with his hands up and ready to do damage. There, he saw a brown-haired girl and a man whose muscles were as bulging as a pregnant cow’s stomach.

“Stop right there!” De yelled.

Both heads swung towards him, and they said the same thing. “Who the hell are you?”

“A man who’s tired of being useless,” De said.

“Okay…? What does that have to do with…” The man was beginning to say before De charged.

The sudden movement caught the man off-guard, and De used that split second to close in and swing the mightiest punch he could. Too bad the man appeared to have regained his senses at the last moment and dodged. The weight of De’s fist flew over the man’s head; he lost his balance. The man, spotting his opportunity, tackled him; De’s head slammed onto the cobblestone floor. Everything turned black for a second. The second afterwards, stars filled the night sky of his blacked vision. And the second after that, color returned. The man was laying atop of De, and his hands were about to swing down. De tried to dodge; it worked at first until it didn’t. Fists landed upon De’s face, and they kept on landing. De could feel his lip split, his nose break, and his eyes tear up. He raised his arms in an attempt to block; the punches broke through his guard in an instant; the pummeling continued.

“Shouldn’t have gotten involved kid,” The man said as he threw another punch.

The pain continued for a breath, then two, then three, and then it ended. The man beating him grunted out in pain and his weight disappeared from De’s stomach. De was afraid to open his eyes, but he gathered the courage to do so; and when he did, the man lay face down on the floor next to him. A kick flew at the man as De stared; it crashed into his head. It landed so hard that it spun the man around. De saw that his eyes were rolled back.

“Got my damn shoes dirty, you bastard.” A wad of spit crashed onto the man’s face, and it dripped into his mouth. Another kick flew and landed. There was a pause till a fury of kicks landed into the man’s gut. “Bastard, oaf, piss-drinker,” The voice said as each kick landed. That was the last thing De saw and heard before his consciousness left him.

“Hey, hello. WAKE UP ALREADY!”

De regained consciousness, and above him was the woman he had been trying to protect. “Are you okay?” De asked.

“I’m fine. No thanks to you. You idiot. What were you trying to do? Be a hero? You almost got yourself killed.”

“I did. I’m sorry. I wanted to help, but I just became a burden, didn’t I?”

“Yeah, you did. Lesson learned; don’t pick a fight you can’t win. It’s dangerous. You even had to be saved by a girl.”

“I’m useless,” De said.

“If you feel good enough to cry, leave before somebody comes looking for that piece of shit.” The woman pointed at the unconscious man that beat his head in a few… how long ago was it?

“How long was I out?”

“A few minutes. I was going to slap you awake if I had to. I’m kind of depressed you woke up so quickly. I wanted to give you a good one. Actually, do you mind if I slap you right now? I did save your life and all. It would only be right, right? The Green Dragon Gang is going to be after me now too. Even more so than before, since I took out one of their lackeys. Really, it’s my right to slap you. I’m going to have to leave the city because of you.”

“I can help.” She looked at him skeptically. “I know I’m not much help, but my Da knows the captain of the guard. I can ask him to help. I’m sure he will. He’s a good man.”

“The captain? Your dad knows the captain? Hmmm, who’s your dad? He must be a big shot if his son can order around a captain.”

“He’s a general. General Niu Wei. I guess he’s well known in the city; the council knew him.”

“Niu Wei, huh? Yeah, I think I’ve heard that name before. A war hero or something. And you’ve met the council? Hmmm. You really think you can protect me?”

“I’m sure of it. I’m not going to leave a defenseless girl like you at the mercy of thugs. A man ought to protect the weak.”

“Weak? I seem to recall me saving your ass, not the other way around.”

De’s face flushed red in embarrassment. “You’re right, you’re right. I didn’t mean it that way. I’m sorry. I just meant that as a man I should protect, that’s all. You’re not weak. I’m sorry. I was stupid to word it that way. That’s why my da’s always calling me an idiot.”

She cracked a smile. “Relax, it was a joke. I’ll take the help.”

“You will? No, I mean, I promise to protect you. I swear it on my life,” De said.

“Your life? You don’t need to go that far. I’ll be fine with an arm or a leg. But hopefully, I won’t have to take them. Since you seem to have strong people around you, daddy’s boy.

“I’m not a daddy’s boy.”

“Whatever you say, daddy’s boy.”

“I have a name.”

“And what is it, daddy’s boy?”

“De,” De said.

“Well, I’m Meixiu, nice to meetcha,” Meixiu said.