Guard Captain Chen slipped into Minister Han’s study room. "Young Master has left the residence, sir." Minister Han didn't look up from his papers.

"With half his medical supplies and three ancient texts on void energy."

"…"

"And he told me he was 'getting herbs.'"

"And?"

"He didn't even try to make up a convincing lie, sir."

Now Minister Han did look up, his brush pausing mid-character. He gave Chen a look that screamed, seriously?!

”I’ll gather a few guards and go after him.” And Chen took off.

----------------------------------------

The meeting point was an abandoned shrine half a mile outside the city. Rowan arrived slightly out of breath, his robes askew from running. Hui Fan stood in the shadows of the shrine's entrance, still as a statue. Beside him was a sewage rat-looking man who made Hui Fan look even more built. Next to Hui Fan’s long, jet-black hair, his scalp seemed to be covered in seaweed. Despite both having green eyes, Hui Fan’s eyes shone like emeralds while his looked like vegetables left out.

"Rowan Han," Hui Fan's voice was as quiet as ever. "This is Liu Shen." And then the man in question ripped off his facial disguise.

"This is our doctor?" Liu Shen didn't bow. He just stared at Rowan like someone assessing whether a particularly small rabbit was worth hunting.

"I told you he's young," Hui Fan said. "Young is one thing. This one looks like he'd trip over his own medicine box."

Rowan just smiled and glanced at the skin mask, now on the floor. “Do you mind?” He reached down to pick up the mask.

Liu Shen clicked his tongue. “I won’t be using that one again anyways.”

"The texture's incredible. What's it made of? Some kind of treated leather? The pigmentation is so natural, and the way it adheres—" He caught himself as both men stared at him.

"We should move," Hui Fan said, already turning away. "The city guards—"

"Will be here in approximately twelve minutes," Rowan finished cheerfully, still studying the mask. “

Liu Shen's eye twitched. "And you know this because...?"

"Oh, I've escaped three times before. Well, four if you count that time with the merchant caravan, but I was technically kidnapped then, so—"

Hui Fan’s eyebrow twitched ever so slightly. "Rowan Han, your... previous adventures aside, we need to—”

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

Hui Fan and Liu Shen exchanged glances as Rowan continued examining the mask. "Young Master Han," Hui Fan said quietly. "Ten minutes."

Rowan finally looked up, blinking as if just remembering where he was. "Oh. Right. Escaping." He reached for his medical supplies, managing to pick up three bags at once before promptly dropping them all. As he bent to gather them, a few scrolls spilled out of his robe.

Rowan attempted to reorganize, somehow getting tangled in his own sleeve while juggling books and medicine boxes. A jar of something suspicious-looking rolled away.

Without a word, Hui Fan moved. In one fluid motion, he had Rowan tucked under one arm like a parcel, the scattered supplies gathered in the other, and the suspicious jar balanced on top of the pile.

"I can walk—" Rowan squeaked out, then yelped as Hui Fan adjusted his grip, somehow managing to catch another falling book without dropping either his human cargo or the towering pile of supplies. "This is completely unnecess—eep!"

"Six minutes," Hui Fan said flatly, already moving.

"But my books—"

"Five minutes."

"When did minutes become seconds? Those herbs are temperature sensi—" Another undignified sound escaped as they cleared a fallen log in one leap.

Liu Shen whistled, and a covered wagon emerged from the trees. Hui Fan leaped in, depositing his human-and-supplies bundle in one corner. A book fell on Rowan's head.

"Ow." He rubbed his head, then immediately got distracted by something in his medicine box. "Oh, I forgot I had this..."

Hui Fan and Liu Shen shared another look as the wagon pulled away. Behind them, they heard Uncle Chen's distant voice: "At least he packed properly this time."

----------------------------------------

So turns out adventuring involves a lot of waiting around. Rowan didn't mind though - he'd spent most of his life waiting in the Han residence, nose buried in medical texts. At least now he could read about exotic herbs while actually seeing them in the wild.

Currently sprawled across the back of their supply wagon, he held a book above his face with one hand while the other absently sorted herbs by scent. They'd skipped past three towns already. Liu Shen had mentioned something about needing cold-resistant supplies before they head up the mountains.

"Young Master." Liu Shen's voice carried from the front of the wagon. "That book's going to hit your face if you fall asleep again."

"That was one time," Rowan protested, not looking away from his page. "And I made an important discovery about the relationship between gravity and facial bruising."

"You mean you got a black eye from your own book."

"Like I said. Research."

Up ahead, Hui Fan made that noise that might have been a suppressed laugh. It was happening more often lately, though he still tried to maintain his serious facade. Three days of traveling together had revealed that their mysterious employer was probably younger than he acted – especially when Rowan caught him secretly feeding sugar cubes to the horses.

The wagon jerked to a sudden halt.

“Ga!” Rowan's thoughts were interrupted by the book actually hitting his face.

"Told you," Liu Shen sneered.

"That doesn't count," Rowan said, rubbing his nose. "I was distracted by important observations about our leader's secret sweet tooth."

"We're here," Hui Fan announced, ignoring both Rowan's comment and Liu Shen's poorly concealed snickering.

Rowan peered out from the wagon. They'd stopped at what appeared to be a trading town, the kind that served as the last stop before the more treacherous northern routes. The streets were crowded with merchants and travelers, all haggling over furs, preserved foods, and equipment for mountain traversal.

"Is this where we're getting those special boots you mentioned?" Rowan asked, already cataloging the different medicinal herbs hanging from shop windows.

"Yes," Hui Fan was glancing around. "But first, we need information."

"About the mountain paths?"

"About who else is asking about them."

Something in Hui Fan's tone made Rowan look away from the fascinating fungus display he'd been examining.