Chapter 18 #2
An unseen force knocked me aside, and I crashed into a stall selling jewelry.
As I pushed myself onto my hands and knees, limbs aching with newly blooming bruises, my head swiveled around to see Ren hovering in midair.
He winced as he strained against the invisible hand at his throat.
From the ground, Master Zhang studied him with black-abyss eyes.
Fear choked my own throat, stealing the breath I’d fought so hard to keep.
I was brought back to the forest in Fuzhou when I’d recklessly fallen into Liu Chunhua’s trap.
But I’d been unprepared then, impatient.
This time, I’d taken more care, planned out my methods, and even approached the spirit with respect.
So why had I failed again?
“Please,” I gasped, reaching toward Master Zhang. I didn’t care that I was begging. All I could think of was Ren.
Instead of acknowledging me, the spirit narrowed his eyes at Ren and murmured, “Die.”
Ren’s body flew backward, slamming heavily into the storefront’s scaffold. Having been struck one too many times, the structure’s integrity failed, and the wood began to collapse—falling toward the girl frozen below it. Too late, Master Zhang realized his error and cried, “Feilin!”
But even he couldn’t react quickly enough.
Screams erupted across the street as the columns and boards tumbled to the ground, burying both Ren and Feilin in a pile of shattered wood. The townsfolk shuddered from the outskirts, torn between rushing to help and staying far away from their terrifying leader.
I hobbled to the ruin, batting away dust and debris. Ren, where are you? I grasped the edge of a long plank and shoved it aside. There were so many pieces, each as heavy as the last. Splinters dug into my skin, and iron nails scraped my hands as I continued to remove the scaffold remains.
“Ren!” I pleaded, receiving no response in return. “Miss Li!”
Eventually, I came across a board that was too massive to move, no matter how I pulled or pushed.
On the verge of screaming, I spun and glowered at Master Zhang, who stood immobilized by his own horror.
The darkness had receded from his face and eyes.
The whites, visible once again, revealed his sheer panic.
“What are you doing?” I seethed. “Make yourself useful and help me!”
Too dazed to snap back, he compelled the rubble to rise. Ren’s face-down form came into view. I ducked under the wood and grabbed Ren by the shoulders. Rolling him over, I discovered Feilin curled up underneath, coughing dust from her throat. Ren had shielded her body with his own.
“Miss Li,” I said, patting her back, “are you all right?”
“I—I think so,” she wheezed. “What about—”
“Feilin!”
Her mother’s distraught voice rang across the street. The older woman soon appeared by my side, reaching for her daughter to pull her from the wreckage.
“What happened?” she screeched.
“Mama,” Feilin murmured, squeezing her mother’s arm. “It was an accident. I’m all right.”
While mother and daughter wept into each other’s arms, I focused on Ren, who’d yet to wake.
Blood covered half his face and the back of his shirt.
His breathing was so shallow I had to lean in to feel it.
The mala beads around his neck were dusted in dirt and more blood.
I didn’t need to touch them to know that Ren’s qi was much too weak.
“Ren,” I whispered, my forehead throbbing from stress and barely restrained terror. “Stay with me. I won’t let you die here.”
A raspy laugh escaped his lips, his eyes opening halfway. “Controlling as always.”
I placed my palm on his chest, driven by desperation. But even while wounded, Ren found the strength to clutch my hand and shake his head.
“Don’t,” he murmured. “It isn’t safe.”
“This is my fault,” I protested. “Let me help you, please.”
“How is this your fault?” He sucked in a shaky breath. “Perhaps you’ve imagined throwing a hundred-pound weight of wood at my head, but I know you’d never actually do it.”
I didn’t smile at his joke. “Ren, without my qi, you’ll die.”
“That isn’t a new threat.”
I clenched the lapels of his jacket, crushing the fabric in my fist. “Will you be serious for one moment? This isn’t a game—this is your life!”
“I am serious,” he said, patting my knuckles. “I won’t risk your health for mine. You can do so much more than I, Siying. I’ll tell you where to find my father’s seal and what to say to my brother. Help me fulfill the promises I’ve made.”
“Fulfill your promises yourself, you fool!” I would’ve hit him if he wasn’t already wounded. “Stop trying to be a martyr!”
“I’m not trying to be a martyr.” He covered my fist with his hand and squeezed gently. Though he smiled, his eyes were unusually still and serious. “Don’t you understand by now?”
No, I don’t, I wanted to say. But as my gaze sank into the warm, dark pools of his irises, I understood something else.
It wasn’t just gratitude for saving me at Jing Mansion that I felt for him.
It was also true, deeply rooted care. I cared about his pain and his joy.
I cared that he lived another day to share meals with me, to burn the hours away just talking, to color my afternoons with the sound of his voice and laughter.
I cared about him, even if he didn’t.
More calmly, I said, “I can control my qi if I try hard enough. I know it.”
Ren closed his eyes, his energy dwindling. “I forbid you to do it.”
“You can’t forbid me.” I tried to spread open my hands, but he held my fists tight.
“I said no.”
My temper flared. “Ren, listen to me—”
“I’ll do it,” a new voice interrupted.
I stiffened, turning to face Master Zhang. He drifted forward, his gaze flitting to Feilin and her mother, still collapsed on the ground, then settling back on me. Gone was the rage he’d worn like armor. Now his shoulders drooped in shame, his face resigned.
“You’ll do what?” I asked, my body angled protectively over Ren’s.
“I’ll offer him my qi,” said the former town leader. “In return for saving Feilin’s life.”
“He wouldn’t have had to do that had you not attacked him.” I nodded at the shambles of the marketplace, the residents cowering in their midst. “Had you not harmed everyone here.”
The old man bowed his head. “I was wrong. I understand that now.”
“I’m not the one you need to apologize to.”
He turned to the residents he’d once called friends, seeing in their eyes the same thing I saw—fear, hurt, grief. They stared, pained, at the man whom they’d considered a hero. Now he was a thief who had robbed their strength, albeit unknowingly, and brought chaos to their town.
Master Zhang fell to his knees, face crumpled by remorse. “Forgive me,” he said, his voice echoing through the street. “The last thing I wanted was to hurt you. I was so angry … I didn’t realize the harm it brought.”
The people shrank into themselves, silent and afraid. I almost pitied the spirit. But he had no one to blame but himself.
A frail voice broke through the tense quiet. “Master Zhang.”
All eyes turned to Feilin, who was untangling herself from her mother’s anxious arms.
“Feilin,” Master Zhang whispered. “I’m so sorry.”
“I know.” She smiled wanly at the man she’d once admired. “But what’s done is done. Perhaps, as Mistress Kang said, the only way to fix this is to move on—for you and everyone here.”
“How can I leave you all in such a state?” he asked brokenly.
Feilin hesitated, then reached forward, her hand hovering over his. “You’ve always treated me like a daughter. Now I need you to trust me like one—trust all of us. We’ll recover and become strong enough to protect ourselves. But you must first let us go, as we must you.”
He nodded and sighed. “You’re young, and yet you have much more wisdom than this old man.”
Feilin’s eyes crinkled lovingly.
Master Zhang straightened with newfound determination. The resentful energy that had once anchored him to this earth gradually faded, and the tension in the air eased as a collective sigh rippled across the town. Even the sun had reappeared, peeking over the edge of a cloud.
Master Zhang turned back to address me. “You needn’t forgive me for what I’ve done, but please allow me to do what’s right.”
I studied Ren’s peaked complexion and weakly rising chest. Now wasn’t the time to be bridled by my own pride. As incensed as I was with Master Zhang, Ren’s survival was more important.
I stood to meet Master Zhang’s stare. Removing a new purification talisman from my bag, I said, “Where is your spirit anchored?”
He smiled faintly. “This entire town was my life’s heart. Place your talisman anywhere, priestess, and you’ll free my soul.”
His love for his neighbors filtered through me in visions of him sharing a meal with a friend, walking through the fields with fellow farmers, visiting a newborn child with a basket of fruit for her parents. Beautiful memories, born out of true affection.
I nodded, glancing at Feilin. “Will you please hand me my staff?”
It had landed on the ground amid my frenzy to tear apart the scaffold remains.
The young woman reverently brought the staff to me with both hands. I murmured my thanks and knelt on the ground, preparing to place the talisman on the cobblestones.
“Wait.”
Everyone’s attention fell to Ren, who’d reopened his eyes and was looking directly at Master Zhang. He motioned for me to help him up into a sitting position. I reluctantly obliged, afraid he’d faint and never wake again.
But he spoke to Master Zhang in a quiet, steady voice.
“I apologize for all the pain my family has brought you. I didn’t come here to cause more hurt.
This town is made up of good people who are rooted in kindness and loyalty.
They deserve the same in return.” He swallowed.
“And although I know it doesn’t make up for anything, thank you …
for giving me the chance to amend my family’s sins.
I swear that when I return to the capital, I will personally take care of reparations for Xiatang. ”
I traced the lines of Ren’s profile, considering his earnestness. Despite his battered condition, he carried himself with an air of solemn resolve befitting his title.
Master Zhang similarly studied the broken prince before him, his countenance gravely serious.
But perhaps he saw what I did. Perhaps he believed Ren’s conviction.
After a long pause, he lifted his chin and grumbled, “Just make sure you follow through with your promises, boy. If you don’t, I’ll be reborn as a rat and chew through all your belongings. ”
Ren coughed out a laugh. “Understood, sir.”
Satisfied, Master Zhang nodded at me. “If you please, mistress. I believe I’m ready to retire from this life.”
I glimpsed the townsfolk behind him, all watching their former protector with mournful eyes.
I could only imagine the love and pain they must be feeling.
But whatever Master Zhang’s mistakes, he’d dedicated his life to serving these people.
It was fitting for them to be here now as he finally accepted the peace he’d earned.
Without further ado, I gently placed the purification talisman on the ground and rattled the iron bells on my staff. The reverberations amplified my incantation, a spell that for once could be spoken slowly, prayerfully.
Warmth filled the air. When I looked up, Master Zhang’s spirit had changed into a single mass of glowing white smoke, the purified form of his qi.
“Go ahead,” I whispered, touching Ren’s arm.
He reached out with both hands, head inclined in deference, and absorbed the qi into his body. The stiffness melted from his muscles, the blood coagulating against his temple. As the qi’s light faded, he breathed out a relieved sigh that matched my own.
“How do you feel?” I asked, glancing at the mala beads below his collar.
“Better.” He looked past my shoulder and bowed his head at the astonished townsfolk. Certainly, they’d never before seen a spirit purified or its qi transferred. “Thank you again for your kindness. I assure you I’ll compensate you for all the damages.”
Li Feilin stepped forward, smiling lopsidedly. “We’re just glad you’re all right. Thank you for saving my life.”
He returned her smile. “You saved mine as well.”
I examined the destroyed marketplace and said, “First, we must clean everything up. Then you and I need to return to the capital as quickly as possible, so you can fulfill your promises.”
Ren nodded, moving to push himself up. As I stretched my arms out to aid him, my hand brushed against the ox-bone necklace.
Curious, I held the beads in my palm and counted how many were warm.
Twenty-seven. My heart plummeted to my stomach.
I’d hoped that Master Zhang’s qi would be powerful enough to fill Ren’s body, so he could finally live without the aid of talismans. But it had warmed only half the beads.
“What’s wrong?” Ren asked, catching my expression. “Siying?”
I looked at him, stumbling through my response.
“I … I don’t know what to do.”
The truth of my words sat heavy on my chest. We were out of time.