《The Stories They Tell (Shuli Go Vol. 3)》


 Part 1

    In the final decades of the Shan dynasty, the Shuli Go ¨C magic-infused lawmen and women who had kept the peace for two thousand years ¨C were disbanded as a caste. With their unique skills they were often sought out as bounty hunters and private investigators. Of all the locations they travelled to looking for work, none were more welcoming than the Great Cities of the Empire.


    Fa 6, 3279 CE ¨C Ming Kingdom ¨C Three years after Wamai


    The Screaming Goat Wine House was famous for many things, but its fame started with the name. Legend had it that the original owner picked it after making a drunken wager with two friends as to who could find the most nonsensical name for a tavern that could last a thousand years. In truth the wine house had only stood for four hundred years thus far, but the name had not changed in that time. Liangyong, the Great City in which the tavern was located, had burned twice in that period, yet somehow the Screaming Goat managed to avoid destruction.


    Some owed its longevity to the fact that it never turned anyone away and never kicked anyone out, meaning that there was never a drop of wine spilled outside its doors ¨C wine that would have caught fire when the city burned, the thinking went. Others owed its survival to the series of politicians who had performed illicit dealings in the place, and seen to it that this one institution remained protected at all costs. Still others chalked it up to good luck and divine intervention. Zhao Lian, often the only sober person within a hundred feet of the place, had her own theory about the survival of the Screaming Goat, but it mostly revolved around blood magic, a thousand year old curse, and an actual screaming goat that had been inhabited by a celestial spirit. Even though they were the drunks, everyone she had shared her theory with regarded her as the incoherent one, so she eventually stopped relaying it at all.


    That night was a particularly boisterous one at the Screaming Goat, and Lian sat in the middle of the laughter and wine and bad food because she was sitting across from the star of that night: her good friend Tan Yaling, who had just performed the last show of her twenties.


    ¡°Tonight!¡± Yaling slurred as she held up a cup of wine in each hand, her coordination already hampered enough to slosh drops of the wine onto the table. ¡°I become an old maid!¡±


    Most of the usual suspects who often lingered around Yaling ¨C the lovesick, the horny, and the would-be muses ¨C found she had crossed into a level of drunkenness far less alluring than the woman they imagined they had fallen in love with. The few more lecherous ones who had stuck around after Yaling¡¯s performance had taken a look at Lian¡¯s two swords and thought better than to try and take advantage of Yaling¡¯s intoxicated state. Consequently, the cheer that her announcement initiated was far less boisterous than might be expected.


    The cheer came mostly from Lian and Chen An ¨C their shared friend who was exactly halfway between Lian and Yaling in terms of drunkenness. It was a cheer for their friend¡¯s inevitable slide into depression, halted, however fleetingly, by bowls and bowls of alcohol.


    Even past the point she would remember the next day, Yaling had a grace and beauty that had brought men and women from hundreds of miles to witness her. A poet, bard, and storyteller, Yaling was first and foremost a musician and singer. One of, she claimed, the ten greatest who had ever lived, alongside Bao the Builder, who forged the first metal instruments, and Wu the Windtalker, who it was said could sing a note loud enough to shatter a mountain. While one of the most talented musicians Lian had ever seen, and more than enough to draw an audience to the Screaming Goat, both women knew the real reason people came from all over to see her: she exuded a type of artistic sexuality that drove people to impulse. Lian had seen men who had never so much as spoken to Yaling propose on the spot, women present gifts of jade and silk on plates of gold, and spontaneous fights break out over the right to carry her kanbo five feet. Usually being around Yaling was like being in the presence of a God. The only difference was Lian knew just how far the real Yaling was from the divine interpretation of her fans.


    ¡°Thirty years old and not a thing to show for it,¡± Yaling lamented after she¡¯d downed both cups of wine and sat back down at the table, falling into An with a thud.


    ¡°You have plenty,¡± An reassured her, pushing her upright and handing her the half-empty decanter. ¡°More gold than some kings, and more parishioners than some Gods. Not to mention the men.¡±


    ¡°Bah!¡± Yaling replied, ¡°men are worthless. But still worth twice the gold and parishishine¡­¡± she stumbled at the thought of polysyllabism ¡°¡­the fans.¡±


    ¡°Is that what you¡¯re worried about then?¡± Lian asked. ¡°A man? You¡¯re truly worried about being unmarried at thirty?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s just so hard¡­¡± Yaling turned from boisterous and defiant to crying mess instantly, ¡°I mean¡­ when you¡¯ve had them all, like I have, how are you supposed to find one? Just one? The one?¡±


    She tumbled onto An¡¯s shoulder, tears running fast and free down her face. ¡°It¡¯s not like your songs and stories,¡± An reassured her, ¡°real life doesn¡¯t have one true love and riding off into the sunset.¡±


    ¡°But why not?¡± Yaling wailed from deep in her strong lungs. Someone two tables down threw an empty cup in their direction to indicate she should shut up.


    Not naturally a depressed drinker, within another two cups Yaling was back on top of the table, leading the whole bar in a choral rendition of Liangyong¡¯s favorite drinking song ¡°To the Floor¡±, which inevitably devolved into its chorus:


    Drink, and drink, and drink, and drink some more,


    Drink, and drink, and drink, and drink the floor.Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    Repeated ad nauseam, until the song became literal. A drink imbibed every round, the song traditionally ended only when the first singer vomited. The Screaming Goat had been designed for just such ejections however, and each table had numerous tin buckets called vomitoriums set aside for the task, as well as a set of sloped grates fashioned into the floor that carried the sickness down to the sewers below the city.


    Ten minutes after ¡°To the Floor¡± Yaling was passed out next to An, her face sideways on the table, her hair splayed across her face and a vomitorium near at hand just in case. It was getting late, or early, depending on how one assessed the situation, and the din of the Screaming Goat had fallen into a murmur, many of the others in the great hall in a state similar to Yaling. This quiet was what allowed An to lean on the table and speak to Lian in something resembling confidence, her head low and her eyes afire with a secret.


    ¡°I have a lead¡­¡± Lian barely heard, prompting her to lean onto the table too, the shared act between her and An screaming conspiracy, the type of which had been started more often in the Screaming Goat than almost any other place in the Central Empire.


    ¡°On what?¡± Lian asked back.


    ¡°Something that could make us both very rich women.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m already rich, or haven¡¯t you heard the stories of me walking out of Wamai with ten baskets full of gold?¡± Lian asked, joking. The truth was she had successfully managed to hide her wealth mostly in plain sight, through investments and a number of small bank accounts across the Empire. Still, rumors had persisted of a woman with two swords who had left Wamai with riches beyond measure, and Lian did have two swords. Mostly she played the part of a poor wanderer and joked when the rumors caught up with her.


    ¡°I¡¯m talking wealth enough for us to buy a Slave Island. Each. This isn¡¯t some hustle. This would be Imperial gold, right from the Empress¡¯ hoard. Word is the reward for this is ten thousand gold and a million silver.¡±


    ¡°So twenty thousand gold?¡± Lian asked, already dubious of the story because of the dubious duplication of measures. Real rewards, in her experience, weren¡¯t poetic enough to obscure their true value in multiple currencies.


    An, too drunk to do the math in her head quickly, took a moment to confirm that Lian was right, then continued. ¡°Yes, yes. The point is, enough for us to retire, with a host of servants to feed us every day for the rest of our lives. Even your life, Lian.¡±


    Lian knew An well ¨C they had met years earlier during an unfortunate run in with a corrupt former Shuli Go in the Northern Shu Kingdom ¨C and Lian knew An was not the type of woman to buy in to bullshit and lies. An was a plain looking, thicker woman, too muscular to be curvy and too fat to be lithe and graceful, who had realized early in life she had no desire to get married. That she had had a series of cruel family members and young men in her home town tell her she would have even less luck finding a decent man to marry had most certainly influenced that decision, but An had made the best of it. She had left her home and become one of the Empire¡¯s best hunters: she could shoot the eye of a sparrow from three hundred feet away with a bow, and four hundred with a crossbow. Her tracking skills were better than Lian¡¯s own, even with Lian¡¯s enhanced Shuli Go senses. And for tight spaces An kept a pair of long daggers up the back of her leather vest. Lian had seen first-hand what those daggers were capable of and felt sorry for anyone who met them: whether they were animals being hunted or cruel men on the hunt themselves.


    Still, as much as she trusted An, Lian knew better than to believe twenty thousand gold pieces were just waiting to be claimed. But the body language of the two of them ¨C bent head to head, elbows on the table, voices low, led her to ask anyway: ¡°What is it then?¡±


    An smiled, took a small sip of Lian¡¯s water, and whispered. ¡°A book.¡±


    ¡°What book?¡± Yaling piped up from her position on the table.


    ¡°I thought you were asleep,¡± An lectured.


    ¡°I am.¡± Yaling¡¯s jaw barely moved as she her words slipped out. ¡°¡­What book?¡±


    An¡¯s voice dropped even deeper, her body matching the motion, all three of the women sinking low as she uttered, ¡°The Book of Dragons.¡±


    Yaling twitched, then wretched, then threw up into the vomitorium. Lian didn¡¯t feel far off.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t exist,¡± Lian informed them both.


    An, helping Yaling with her hair as she heaved into the bucket, shook her head. ¡°I have it on good authority. Not only does it exist, it¡¯s right here in the city. And if I¡¯m right, just think of what the Empress would offer for it.¡±


    Everyone in the Central Empire knew Empress Wei III had been fanatical about installing her daughter as the heir, only to see that same daughter die from an illness. Everyone also knew that the Book of Dragons supposedly carried a spell that could bring back the dead so long as their body was carefully preserved. And no bodies were more carefully preserved than the Imperial family in the mausoleum in Nianjang. Everyone knew that, too.


    What only Lian seemed to know at their table was that the Book of Dragons was as mythical as any of the other fairy tale talismans people across the Empire told their children about: the Blue Phoenix sword that could cut through diamond, or the Endless Gourd that had once tipped and flooded the world in wine. As far as physical things Lian could touch and sell to royalty, she had more faith in the bones of Yaling¡¯s musical ancestors.


    ¡°You should probably put an arrow through whoever sold you that shit,¡± Lian encouraged An.


    ¡°That would be Zu, the Plague of Liangyong,¡± An replied with the tone of a verbal blow well struck.


    It was just such a blow. Zu the Plague was Liangyong¡¯s greatest criminal mastermind. Wealthy enough that he could have bought himself the Mayor¡¯s post ten years ago, and so feared he had once put down a peasant uprising fifty miles away with a single letter addressed to its leader, Zu was not the type to buy into half-baked ideas. A ruthlessly practical man, if anyone was capable of doubting the existence of the Book of Dragons more than Lian herself, it would be Zu.


    ¡°You talked to him?¡± Yaling asked as she wiped bits of crusted vomit from the corners of her lips and put her head back on the table where it would stop spinning.


    ¡°I did,¡± An confided. ¡°He called me and three other trackers in to his office last week. Told us he¡¯d split the proceeds fifty-fifty, and then gave each of us a lead. And I think mine¡¯s the right one. I¡¯m going to see him tomorrow, and I want you two there with me.¡±


    Lian had been used as muscle before, but never quite so blatantly, and never by a friend. Still, when dealing with someone like Zu, she could see why An would want Lian there with her. Yaling however, was a different story.


    ¡°Book of Dragons?¡± Yaling suddenly sat upright before tipping slightly to the left. ¡°Isn¡¯t that the one¡­?¡±


    ¡°Yup,¡± An agreed, ¡°the one with the curse of eternal youth and beauty.¡±


    Lian bristled. If anyone didn¡¯t need to be cursed with eternal youth and beauty, it was Yaling. And if anyone was more likely to ignore the ¡°curse¡± in the description itself, it was Yaling. Lian was sure the Book of Dragons was not real, but if there was any truth to the rumor, she¡¯d have to keep an eye on Yaling. Lian felt herself giving in.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be there,¡± Yaling answered, before looking Lian in the eye and adjusting her vow. ¡°We¡¯ll be there.¡±


    ¡°Yeah?¡± An asked, excited.


    Lian convinced herself she was more interested to see what Zu was up to than anything else, so she nodded, lifting her cup of water in the air. ¡°We¡¯ll be there.¡±

 Part 2

    The next day was already upon the three women when they stumbled out of the Screaming Goat, so their trip to Zu was delayed until the afternoon, after Yaling had completed her requisite beauty sleep and Lian had dipped into the cash reserves she swore she didn¡¯t have to buy each of them a late lunch.


    Zu¡¯s estate was palatial, at least three dozen rooms on three floors, with a courtyard fifty yards by fifty yards landscaped to perfection: a fountain and waterfall pouring into a pool filled with gold and blue fish ¨C each one bigger than a human head and with voracious appetites. Nestled in the fashionable Freehold district of Liangyong next to the Ancient Castle, it was almost indistinguishable from the dozens of other estates in that slightly terraced piece of the city. Almost.


    The instant Lian walked past the gate, she knew she was in a home fundamentally different than any other in the city. But it wasn¡¯t the threat of a professional gangster¡¯s violence that differentiated it ¨C all the houses, whether owned by nobles, merchants, or successful bureaucrats, had ample armed guards to keep out riffraff and thieves ¨C it was the relaxed nature of that threat. Zu had bodyguards every twenty feet, but they barely paid attention to the three women as they explained their business and walked in. One or two gave Lian an appreciative look as a Shuli Go, but even with her two swords she wasn¡¯t really considered a threat. Not that she couldn¡¯t kill a few of them, but they were so numerous and so well trained ¨C and paid ¨C that her eventual defeat would be certain. But not her death. Unlike the other palaces that reached three stories high, Zu¡¯s also reportedly reached three stories below the ground, at the bottom of which was a torture chamber so overstocked, so over soundproofed, and so zealously overstaffed that death was not what assassins or thieves feared, it was continued life. Lian had heard Zu had kept one man alive for two whole months, although to call him anything resembling a human after the first two weeks was to denigrate the poorest conditions of human existence.


    Despite An being the invited guest, Yaling naturally took the lead, her intricately woven dress dragging two inches of material along the ground behind her, the eyes of every mercenary, servant girl, and visiting noble on her as she led their group to Zu¡¯s office on the second floor of the estate. The doors were shut and a beautiful woman who introduced herself as Zu¡¯s assistant politely asked them to wait until Zu was finished his other business. The trio were directed to a set of reclined chairs, where servants brought them fruit tea and sweets.


    ¡°This is the life we could have if this pans out,¡± An dreamed, relaxing and stretching out on the chair.


    ¡°My island would have servants with fewer clothes,¡± Yaling said, tilting her eyebrows suggestively at one of the serving girls and eliciting an excited giggle. ¡°Those slave islands are so far north, it¡¯d be too hot for clothes.¡±


    Lian shook her head. ¡°And who would admire your performance? Or would you perform any more? You wouldn¡¯t need to¡­¡±


    ¡°And deprive the world of my talent? No no, I¡¯d still perform. Except instead of travelling all over the world to find my audiences, they would come from all over the world to see me. Me in my custom built auditorium. Stone risers, well designed acoustics. The way I¡¯m meant to be heard¡­¡± Yaling drifted off into her perfectly formed future.


    ¡°Forever and ever, right?¡± Lian asked, keeping the jest in her voice despite the serious implication in her mind.


    ¡°Well, I imagine I¡¯d outlive the risers and the audiences. When the Gods come back though, they¡¯ll be very happy to see someone as gifted as myself ready to perform for them.¡±


    Lian and An both snorted derisively. ¡°I doubt even someone as conceded as you could keep from going crazy with immortality,¡± Lian sighed.  Yaling paid no attention and sipped her tea, daydreaming.


    When the doors to Zu¡¯s office opened again, a large fat man walked out with an army of attendants behind him. Zu smiled as the man left, then motioned for the women to enter his office. It was arranged like the rest of his home, immaculate and intimidating. He stood behind his desk, raised above the floor by nearly a foot, the window behind him overlooking the courtyard. He clapped his hands together and addressed them all as they walked in: ¡°Well then, to what do I owe the honor of a visit from three of the Empire¡¯s most precious women?¡±


    An stood closest to him and performed the ceremonial bow, then moved to introduce the women who stood behind her. ¡°Mr. Zu, I have brought two dear friends¡ª¡±


    ¡°Yes, I would recognize the beauty of Tan Yaling from as far as her voice could carry,¡± he smiled, his eyes flitting with the border between respectful and lascivious as they met Yaling¡¯s. ¡°And Zhao Lian, the Shuli Go with two swords and Wamaian riches at her fingertips. I hope you are aware your reputations do precede you these days?¡± Yaling smiled boastfully at the thought, Lian cringed; her job was easier if no one knew who she was.


    ¡°I am glad you approve,¡± An continued, ¡°because I will need their help to complete the contract you¡¯ve given.¡± Here An paused until Zu¡¯s eyes gradually made their way back to her. ¡°I have found it.¡±


    Zu was not an impressive man in many respects, but he was expressive. In his late forties or early fifties, the suffering and violence of his early years as a street criminal had been buffeted by the success and riches of his later ones. The result being that his face carried its newfound fat awkwardly, always hinting at the scavenger who had prowled the streets of Liangyong picking pockets and defending his earnings with rusty blades. Dressed in the flowing, utterly impractical red and black robes of a noble, he moved with the deliberation of the wealthy and reasonable. High cheekbones and scar-riddled eyebrows naturally hung close together but split apart at the mention of the Book of Dragons, allowing his younger side to pry itself into the open. ¡°Is that so?¡± He asked, leaning on his desk.


    An smiled, keeping her eyes on his, ¡°Yes. The reports were true. I have seen four of them myself. Each one drained of blood and movement, yet still alive. Paler than the moon and eyes as hollow as empty graves. What you assumed was correct.¡±


    ¡°He is concocting the spirit of eternal life¡­¡± Zu nodded sagely, as if the rest of them were privy to the conversation he and An were continuing.


    ¡°Who?¡± Lian asked, not caring if she was interrupting.


    Zu was broken from his reverie and glanced disapprovingly at Lian. ¡°Prefect Tai,¡± he said flatly.


    Lian had heard only vague mention of the man before, but Yaling was much more up on her local gossip. ¡°You mean the Prefect of Liangyong prefecture? Tai, one of the richest men in the Central Empire?¡±


    Zu¡¯s nod was weary but still tinged with excitement. ¡°That¡¯s right. Just as I thought. If anyone would have it, it would be him.¡±


    ¡°Nobody has it,¡± Lian interjected, a douse of cold water that succeeded in returning the scowl to Zu¡¯s face. ¡°Because it doesn¡¯t exist,¡± Lian continued. ¡°The Book of Dragons is a myth.¡±


    ¡°A skeptic,¡± Zu spat and shook his head, leaning forward over his desk and towering over the women on the floor.


    ¡°All my friend Zhao is saying,¡± An interjected, ¡°is she¡¯d appreciate the information you shared with me last week. I¡¯m sure that would convince her, just like it did me.¡±


    Zu stared at Lian long and hard and Lian stared back. They held their stare long enough for An to grow nervous and for Yaling to consider using her charms to defuse the tension. Eventually though Zu just smiled and said, ¡°Of course. Anything for the virtuous Shuli Go.¡±


    Zu nodded at a large bodyguard in the corner of the room, who turned to a small locked chest on the floor which he opened, pulling out a small tray covered with a thick red drape of silk. The bodyguard approached the desk and placed the box on it. Zu¡¯s hands hovered over the silk for a moment as he looked at the three women, his mischievous, younger smile returning to his face. ¡°You are three very lucky women, to see what I¡¯m about to show you.¡±


    He pulled the drape up to reveal a single sheaf of paper. The women had to crane their necks up to see it, but even then they couldn¡¯t make much more than the edge of it, thick and yellowed with age.


    ¡°A piece of paper?¡± Lian scoffed.


    ¡°Not just any paper. A piece from the Book of Dragons itself.¡±


    ¡°And how do you know that?¡±


    Zu¡¯s smile deepened and he recited part of an old poem:Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    Dragons¡¯ bones turn to diamond,


    Dragons¡¯ tongues burn to sapphire,


    And dragons¡¯ hearts rot to jade.


    ¡°You¡¯re saying you have the page of the Book of Dragons that just happens to have the poem every child learns by the time they¡¯re six?¡± Lian scoffed. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t that be more than a little convenient?¡±


    Zu¡¯s eyebrows lifted again and his eyes lit up with delight. Then he read right from the page.


    But dragons¡¯ souls last forever,


    Dragons¡¯ minds burn eternal,


    Dragons¡¯ books belong in heaven.


    He then tilted the page down so the women could see it. All three peered up and looked at the page, its characters written in gold, the poem just above an image, which was also burned into the paper in a thin, delicate ink made of gold. The image was of a dragon, and the last three lines had never been part of the childhood poem.


    ¡°Not just any page. The cover page,¡± Zu¡¯s smile reached completion, his giddiness evident, as though he was about to start stabbing and stealing all over again. Which, in a sense, he was.


    Yaling¡¯s breath escaped her, and An beamed at the sight of the paper again, but Lian was still unconvinced.


    ¡°That¡¯s a pretty good forgery, but it doesn¡¯t change a thing,¡± she said.


    ¡°It¡¯s not a forgery,¡± Zu insisted. ¡°Do you know Master Wuching with the Encyclopaedia Institution?¡±


    Lian did know him ¨C had actually met him when he was a much younger man. There wasn¡¯t a better or more rigorous scholar in the study of books anywhere in the Central Empire. ¡°You¡¯re saying Master Wuching confirmed its authenticity?¡±


    Zu¡¯s grin reached a new level of giddiness, and he actually laughed aloud, a thin crackle that snapped the air apart.


    ¡°Apparently,¡± Zu started, ¡°this page has come from something as close to a real Book of Dragons as anything ever could be in this world.¡±


    The comment made Lian pause. If Zu had said Wuching had confirmed it was real, she would have laughed. Wuching would never say such a thing, because he knew, as well as Lian did, that the Book of Dragons was mythical. But perhaps there had been a real book that had given rise to the myths. Lian had heard of stranger things in her time. Had seen them up close.


    ¡°Furthermore,¡± Zu continued, laying out his evidence, ¡°when Master Wuching and a Madame Fay in the Institution¡¯s magic department looked this page over, they confirmed it had been protected by a potent mix of magic, which she said she¡¯d never seen before. Whatever it is, someone thought it important enough to protect with magic that called for nothing less than human blood and organs.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re saying it¡¯s protected by blood magic?¡± Lian asked.


    ¡°That¡¯s right¡ª¡± Zu started, before Lian interrupted him by removing her longsword, taking three steps, jumping onto his dais, and slashing at the page with her sword.


    The room erupted into a flurry as Zu recoiled to avoid the sword, a dozen bodyguards appeared and rushed towards Lian, while An turned to face them with her daggers drawn. There was a split second of absolute pause as everyone assessed the situation before beginning a fight to Lian¡¯s inevitable death by torture, in which moment Lian eased the tension.


    ¡°Well fuck me.¡±


    Zu laughed as Lian lifted her sword to reveal the paper, looking exactly as before. The tray it had sat on had been completely demolished, and a slice had been taken out of Zu¡¯s desk, but the paper was impervious to steel.


    ¡°A true skeptic,¡± Zu chuckled as he waved his bodyguards away, each of them looking at Lian and An with something more like the respect Lian usually expected.


    Lian stepped off of the platform and rejoined her friends, putting her sword back in its sheath on her back. She was searching her mind for the kinds of magic that would protect a piece of paper from steel ¨C there weren¡¯t many, and none of them were cheap. Lian knew most of the spells people attributed to the Book of Dragons were not real, but whatever book the page had come from had been valuable enough to write in gold and protect with magic that had been illegal for over a thousand years.


    ¡°Sorry,¡± she muttered, though she was not still convinced.


    ¡°Perhaps,¡± An cut in again, ¡°you could tell the sceptic among us,¡± her voice seethed at Lian, ¡°about the other information that you shared with me.¡±


    Zu picked up the page and swept the debris of the tray from his desk before setting the page down carefully back on the desk. ¡°Of course. You must understand Madame Zhao, I too was sceptical. I purchased this sheet five years ago. I assumed I was being scammed, but it was beautiful and I have a soft spot for beautiful things,¡± a glance at Yaling, as was customary among men who discussed beauty in her presence ¨C she didn¡¯t even blush or seem to notice.


    ¡°Then the storeroom it was in burned to the ground,¡± he continued, ¡°but the page remained untouched. That was when I took it to the Encyclopaedia Institution. After that I began to keep an eye for other pages, or even the rest of the book. Just on the off chance it turned out to be what it claimed to be. I also had my men keep their ears and eyes open for rumors. And in the last few months rumors have been flying.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s when he contacted me,¡± An said. ¡°To listen to the rumors and then see if they had any truth.¡±


    ¡°¡­And I assume you found truth,¡± Yaling filled in.


    An just nodded, and Zu resumed his explanation. ¡°Rumors often start with a germ of truth ¨C whether they grow into disease or food depends on the care taken in their sharing. Madam Chen here is one of the few I trust to taste my rumors for me. She has quite the palette.¡±


    ¡°What kind of rumors?¡± Lian asked.


    ¡°All sorts, and too numerous to keep track of. With rumors its best to cross-reference them. Rumor had it Prefect Tai had purchased a ten-thousand year old relic from the Slave Islands. Another that he and the Duke of Wu had found a different artefact during the latest war with the Eastern Countries, and Prefect Tai¡¯s possession of it explained how Wu had met his death on the return journey. Finally there were the rumors of Tai¡¯s former servants showing up in hospitals, comatose or worse. Which sounded a lot like he¡¯d been capturing the fabled requirements for eternal youth.¡±


    ¡°So you were sure it was him who had the book?¡± Lian tried to keep the doubt in her voice, but had to admit it was faltering.


    ¡°No, of course not. There were dozens of other rumors too, all of them sounded convincing in their own way. So I took the expense of arranging a Conjoining.¡±


    Finally Lian¡¯s doubt broke. Conjoining was probably the most expensive type of magic imaginable. Essentially it could create a link between any two things which had once been one thing: a branch from a tree, a child and its mother, or even a father if enough energy was invested. Connecting a page to a book would not have been the most difficult form of the magic she¡¯d heard of, but it would have been costly. Conjoining required the melting of gold, the breaking of expensive stones, and their disposal into a large body of water, forever irretrievable, amongst many other, simpler sacrifices. Even for a man of Zu¡¯s means, it would have been a sizable investment. Whatever the specifics of the rumors, he must have believed enough of them to spend a small fortune building a Conjoinment between the paper and its origin.


    ¡°And the Spectral Compass, what did you do with it?¡± Lian asked. The Compass was what made the link visible to humans, usually by inserting a small sliver of the object on the magnetic end of the compass. It was crude, but it could eventually lead someone directly to the missing connection. This required an even larger investment ¨C only diamonds would pry off a piece of the magically-infused paper.


    ¡°I found four connections in the city. Which led me to believe not only that one of them was the book itself, but that others may have pages and may have heard the same rumors I had. One of the four was Prefect Tai, but that didn¡¯t mean his lead was the correct one.¡±


    An then completed the story. ¡°Once he¡¯d picked out the four locations, he had me and three others focus on the rumors around them. If we could confirm the specifics, it would point to the location of the book. It turns out mine was correct.¡±


    ¡°You have seen them then?¡± Zu¡¯s voice was filling with excitement, a sense that, despite everything, Lian couldn¡¯t help but feel herself.  ¡°Men and women whose bodies have been drained of nutrients and blood? Just like the stories say.¡±


    ¡°I have,¡± An, never one to get too excited, responded with care. ¡°Three men and one woman. One I managed to save right before the hospital was going to kill him. I had him stretchered to an inn where I examined him thoroughly. All the signs are there. His breathing is so shallow and slow it almost seems as if he¡¯s not breathing at all. He blinks once every five minutes, and each time it takes nearly ten seconds for his eyelids to open and close. I consulted with the doctors at the hospital and brought in two more ¨C none of them had any idea what could cause a condition like that. They all suspected magic, but nothing they¡¯d ever seen before.¡±


    ¡°Well to be sure you should have him brought here. I¡¯ll bring in the best doctor in the city to confirm,¡± Zu instructed. An bowed slightly in approval.


    ¡°If he just needs their blood, why does he let them go afterward?¡± Yaling asked. ¡°Why not just kill them and take the last little bit?¡±


    ¡°The spell acts by Conjoining the blood with a living host,¡± Lian explained, aghast at herself for not qualifying the statement with an ¡°allegedly¡± or any other remark.


    ¡°Then why let them go? Why not keep them comatose in his home? If the hospitals are killing them, the men¡¯s blood wouldn¡¯t be any good.¡±


    ¡°That,¡± Zu admitted, ¡°is the one thing I don¡¯t know. It could be the spell doesn¡¯t work exactly as the legend says. Or maybe he¡¯s performing another, similar spell first. The Book of Dragons was filled with blood magic. It¡¯s from a time when demi-gods were plentiful in the Central Empire. Perhaps blood magic wasn¡¯t quite so terrifying back then.¡±


    Lian was not particularly fond of ¡°perhaps¡± and ¡°maybe¡± littered across investigations she undertook, but the prospect of the Book of Dragons, or even the closest non-mythical equivalent, was powerful enough that she was willing to overlook them. She turned to face her friends, who each gave the silent look of affirmation, and Lian, by virtue of her earlier disbelief, spoke on behalf of them all. ¡°We¡¯ll get it.¡±


    Zu smiled, his face settled into the fat of an older gentleman who was used to others doing the dirty work. ¡°Good. My offer still stands. 50-50. However you split your half amongst you three is up to you.¡±


    Yaling stood up and bowed to Zu, ¡°My pay will be the spell of immortal youth. With that I¡¯ll have more than enough to last until the end of days.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll take the money, if it¡¯s all the same to everyone else,¡± An chuckled. ¡°That island has my name on it.¡±


    The women all bowed towards Zu and he nodded gratefully back to them. ¡°Bring it here as soon as you get it.¡±


    They left then, but Lian stopped in the doorway to his office, turned to face him, and left a parting apology. ¡°Sorry about the table. I¡¯ll pay you back.¡±


    ¡°Madam Zhao,¡± Zu swept his robe up in his arms as he sat down behind the desk, his servants already bringing the next piece of business, ¡°if you are successful, you can have the desk and the house it¡¯s in. I¡¯ll be buying much nicer accommodations.¡±


    Lian paused, something about the honesty dripping from Zu¡¯s voice unsettling her. Still she set the thought aside: there may actually be enough gold in the reward to warrant Zu¡¯s optimism.

 Part 3

    The next day Lian, Yaling, and An strolled alongside the walls of Prefect Tai¡¯s palace, within the gates of the Ancient Castle. They were dressed in a primary color triptych of Yaling¡¯s bourgeois dresses, playing the part of three friends out for a tourist¡¯s stroll through the oldest quarter of one of the Empire¡¯s oldest cities. Even if they had deliberately posed as three women looking to rob one of the great estates, there would have been enough real tourists to render the three of them more or less invisible to the guards that walked alongside them.


    The Ancient Castle of Liangyong had served as the capital for at least three different dynasties, and though travel across the Empire was too expensive for the great majority of the population, those who could often listed the Ancient Capital as the one place they would visit. The residents of Ming Kingdom were particularly fond of their own capital, and for his fiftieth birthday the King had actually offered to pay for a trip to the capital for every person in the Kingdom who could prove they¡¯d never seen the Ancient Castle or the rest of Liangyong. As far as state subsidies went, tourism was an odd industry to pander to for a politician, but it had briefly made him the most popular official in all the Empire. Rumor had it that the Empress had briefly considered a similar Empire-wide edict for the capital of Nianjang.


    The Ancient Castle was less a castle than the original core of Liangyong, perched atop the southern cliffs above the Harmony River. Like a true castle though, it was defined by its walls, a haphazard semi-circle that had protected Emperors and the city from invaders, rebellions, and other, now mythical creatures that had threatened the Central Empire over the centuries. Within those walls the city had been gradually refitted into a few sprawling palaces, a smattering of expensive shops, and the Imperial Throne.


    The Imperial Throne was the actual Imperial castle that had been rebuilt and renovated at the start of the Shan dynasty, even though the capital had been moved to Nianjang. It was sixteen stories high at its tallest, made of gleaming white sand-brushed stone from across the Empire; its main doors were painted Imperial red, over fifty feet tall, and embroidered with a golden tapestry describing the birth of the Empire after the Intersection between Heaven and Hell; its windows the first glass ones in the Empire, then the first stained glass ones, then the first to open and close with seals strong enough to keep out the wind and rain. Inside was even more lavish, and each day thousands of tourists walked alongside the Imperial Throne, gawked at its immensity, and toured its insides with state-appointed guides whose fees scaled along with the quality of their clients¡¯ clothes.


    The Imperial Throne loomed just a few hundred yards to the right of the three women as they stopped to rest their feet and fan themselves. Their eyes weren¡¯t on the huge tower or its red doors however, but the much smaller, similarly painted doors of the Prefect¡¯s own palace.Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.


    ¡°Only two guards,¡± Chen noted as she sipped from a water skin a few dozen feet from Tai¡¯s door and the guards. ¡°That¡¯s no problem.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s only outside,¡± Lian said. ¡°Probably a hundred inside. Besides, those ones aren¡¯t really guards...¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Yaling asked from behind her fan, looking guardedly at the guards: rotund and pink faced, their armor barely fit and their weapons were dull and grimy. Just then a family approached carrying a toddler, who pointed to one of the guards. The guard picked the child from the arms of one of the tourists and put his helmet on the child. Everyone laughed.


    ¡°I see. They¡¯re the pretty ones in the windows of the whorehouse,¡± Yaling commented.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think walking in the front door is going to work,¡± Lian said.


    ¡°I haven¡¯t seen any other way in, and we¡¯ve been around the whole grounds twice,¡± An replied, picking at all the various places on her body Yaling¡¯s too-small dress chafed and discomforted her.


    ¡°Well then, I guess that takes the ground out of the equation,¡± Lian said, then stared at An until the implication set in.


    ¡°Oh no¡­¡±


    ¡°Hold on,¡± Yaling said, staring at the guards, who had sent the tourist family on and had caught sight of the three women. ¡°Time to move on,¡± she whispered at the same time as she smiled and waved at the guards, who naturally smiled and waved back.


    Lian and An began a slow saunter away from the Prefect¡¯s doors, Yaling a few steps behind.


    ¡°You¡¯re not thinking the sewers?¡± An whispered angrily to Lian.


    ¡°Of course I¡¯m thinking the sewers.¡± Lian responded.


    ¡°Of course you¡¯d say that, you¡¯ve never walked through them.¡±


    ¡°Hardly anyone has. Except you of course. That¡¯s why it¡¯ll work. They won¡¯t expect it.¡±


    ¡°The sewers don¡¯t even extend into all parts of the Ancient Castle. I don¡¯t even know if they connect this far out.¡±


    ¡°Well we¡¯ll have to do some subterranean investigating then won¡¯t we?¡±


    ¡°By ¡®we¡¯ you mean ¡®me¡¯ though.¡±


    ¡°Well, yeah.¡±


    ¡°Ok see that¡¯s where I have a problem.¡±


    ¡°What about you Yaling, do you have a problem?¡±


    But Yaling was no longer behind them, and when Lian turned around she found Yaling at the red painted doors, talking with the guards.


    ¡°Shit.¡±


    The guards were, of course, already putty-like in Yaling¡¯s hands, but they nonetheless retained a semblance of a guard¡¯s instinct, remembering that Yaling had had two friends, they scanned until their eyes rested on Lian and An.


    ¡°Quick, hold up your fan like you can¡¯t believe she¡¯s talking to them,¡± Lian instructed.


    Both their fans shot up as if covering two sets of conspiratorial giggles. ¡°I can¡¯t believe she¡¯s talking to them,¡± An raged.


    ¡°We have to get out of here, they can¡¯t remember what we look like,¡± Lian stressed as Yaling stepped through the red doors escorted by one guard, while the other kept his eyes on Yaling¡¯s co-conspirators.


    They trundled off, An¡¯s gait uncomfortable on account of the dress and Lian¡¯s too fast on account of wanting to be anywhere else but under the eyes of the public relations specialists that doubled as Tai¡¯s guards.


    ¡°That bitch,¡± Lian muttered to herself as they exited the Ancient Castle, An already twenty feet behind her muttering a similar expletive towards their shared friend.

 Part 4

    It was almost exactly a week later when Lian and An finally set about enacting their plan to retrieve the Book of Dragons and, they were agreed, save Yaling from herself if at all possible. Unless, they both also agreed, she had already taken a dose of the potion of eternal youth and beauty. Then they¡¯d agreed to just kill her. For the sake of future generations, they agreed.


    An had spent most of the week in the Liangyong sewer system, which was more a labyrinth of former city ruins, natural underground caves, mining sites, graveyards, as well as actual sewers that had been built at the start of the dynasty several hundred years earlier, only to be abandoned as too expensive to maintain compared to the natural flow of excrement and rain through city streets that had serviced for the entirety of the previous Bu dynasty. After a week of dealing with decayed shit, stagnant water, and more (and larger) rodents than she¡¯d ever be able to forget, she had confirmed there was an entrance to Prefect Tai¡¯s estate, specifically that connected to what smelled to An like a torture chamber. Exactly where they had to go if they were to snatch the Book of Dragons in mid-use.


    After that week, An was downright gleeful about Lian finally having to fulfill her uncomfortable part of their agreed upon plan.


    ¡°You think this is really necessary?¡± Lian asked pitifully. They stood outside a barber¡¯s shop only a few blocks away from the Screaming Goat Wine House.


    ¡°Oh, yes. Definitely.¡±


    Lian was not convinced, but she had agreed to it earlier in the week. She sighed. ¡°¡­Fine.¡±


    They went in, the male barbers were surprised to see two women walk in, even two dressed as plainly as Lian and An.


    ¡°You lost, ladies?¡± One of the barbers not already stooped over a customer asked them.


    ¡°Not at all,¡± An nudged Lian forward. ¡°My friend here is starting accounting school later today, and she needs the haircut.¡±


    A bout of laughter came from both customers and barbers. The one who had spoken earlier grinned but had a few reservations.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t she a bit¡­ well-armed to be an accountant?¡±


    Lian wore her swords, and had worn them all week as she¡¯d completed her own investigations into Prefect Tai. During that week the sword, and more importantly the haircut of a Shuli Go ¨C a single long braid that usually reached just below her shoulder blades ¨C had been rather helpful in her gathering the required information. But now that it was time to implement their plan, it had been decided that Lian¡¯s hair had to go.


    ¡°You won¡¯t be needing these for a little while,¡± An gently foisted Lian¡¯s Shuli Go and Wamaian swords off her shoulders and waist, then nudged her forward again. ¡°Go on, tell them¡­¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s right,¡± Lian swallowed something that tasted like a mixture of pride and dignity. ¡°Today, I become an accountant.¡±


    The barber chuckled and wiped off the customer stool, inviting her to sit. Accountants, across the Empire, had a single haircut, regardless of gender or age. Even the balding were forced to try and keep a semblance of the Accounting Guilds¡¯ Glorious Crown: a straight, even bob that hung just above the eyes and past the ears. Lian sat, and as the barber started to take out her braid, she kept reminding herself that the hair would grow back. She had a deeper worry the pride and dignity may not.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    ¡°This should have been Yaling¡¯s job,¡± Lian spat.


    ¡°Like she¡¯d ever let anyone touch her hair¡­¡± An chuckled, absent-mindedly playing with her own hair ¨C which she also kept short and straight, though with enough layers and contours to at least provide some personality to her face. Lian couldn¡¯t remember a single accountant she¡¯d met in her entire life. Their entire existence seemed composed of overwhelming blandness. Lian had to admit she could not picture Yaling agreeing to let someone decimate her character by shearing her locks into the accountants¡¯ circle of ugly.


    ¡°True.¡±


    A few of the unemployed barbers had congregated along the edge of the shop¡¯s wall, where they gawked at Lian and An. At the mention of Yaling¡¯s name though, a chorus of murmurs had started.


    ¡°I heard she was performing at the Screaming Goat.¡±


    ¡°I heard it was the Aging Ox.¡±


    ¡°You idiots,¡± Lian¡¯s barber scoffed. ¡°She never announces where she¡¯s going to perform or the place would get stampeded. But I heard it was Madame Li¡¯s tea house. A ballad set.¡±


    ¡°It was the Screaming Goat,¡± Lian interjected, happy to have the conversation for distraction as the barber roughly brushed some of the wave out of her braid.


    ¡°That so?¡± The barber asked. ¡°Who do you think we¡¯re talking about?¡±


    ¡°Tan Yaling, the singer.¡±


    The men were almost aghast that she¡¯d seemingly read their mind. It wasn¡¯t sorcery though: Yaling liked to plant rumors of her future performances in multiple venues in order to keep up a mystique of unpredictability. Lian herself had helped spread the promise of the tea house performance. One of the men asked, enthralled. ¡°You saw her?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, the whole show. It was pretty good too. She got a bit too drunk at the end though.¡±


    ¡°Wait, you made it sound like you knew her.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, we¡¯re friends.¡±


    A silence fell on the room, held for a brief moment, before a burst of mania.


    After the shouts and constant shaking of their shoulders had abated, Lian spotted an opportunity.


    ¡°I¡¯ll tell you what. You give me the haircut for free, and I¡¯ll introduce her to you all.¡±


    After Lian and An had left the barbershop ¨C Lian¡¯s hair shorn to the proper length and Lian feeling appropriately invisible on account of it ¨C An commented. ¡°You shouldn¡¯t have told them that.¡±


    ¡°Why not?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s just cruel. You¡¯ll never get her there.¡±


    ¡°After what she did to us, assuming she¡¯s alive of course, I will pick her up and carry her over my shoulder if need be. I might even marry her off to one of them.¡±


    An chuckled again, the threat having put on a much more hollow cloak owing to Lian¡¯s now featureless face, enmasked by the haircut of anonymity. ¡°You look the part now at least.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t look like anything.¡±


    ¡°Exactly. Urban camouflage. There¡¯s nothing more anonymous than an accountant in a city like this.¡±


    They re-entered Lian¡¯s tiny private room in a boarding house where they¡¯d spent the week planning their entrance into Prefect Tai¡¯s mansion. The sparse nature of the room had gone a long way to convincing An that Lian¡¯s wealth may have been exaggerated after all. Unknown to An, Lian was actually the majority owner of the boarding house, and the deferential approach the manager of the building had shown to Lian over the course of the week had played on the border between excellent customer service and fear of one¡¯s boss to the point that An hadn¡¯t thought to question the relationship. Her ownership of the place was what made Lian comfortable enough to leave her swords and other belongings under a loose floorboard in the room. After she put them away, she changed into a second hand accountant¡¯s robe ¨C wide, billowy, completely formless and androgynous to the extreme ¨C and turned to An.


    ¡°How does the part look now?¡±


    An looked her up and down quickly. ¡°Bland.¡±


    ¡°Good. I think I¡¯m ready then.¡±


    ¡°Good. I¡¯ll see you in there.¡±


    ¡°You better.¡±

 Part 5

    Lian stood in Prefect Tai¡¯s waiting room: a gargantuan hall off the main entrance that was lit by a triangle of fireplaces in the center pillar and a larger hearth on the long wall. That wall was adorned by a mural depicting the Prefect¡¯s family history, and Lian pretended to examine that history with her hands behind her back and her body hunched over to take only half the space she normally would. An had suggested the stance while they walked towards the estate.


    ¡°You still look too¡­ strong. Hunch over¡­ you know, like this.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°Lian, you¡¯re an accountant now. You spend all day at a desk looking over papers. Lose the backbone.¡±


    She took the advice, and finally felt like the character she was to play became complete with the hunch. She waited patiently in the large room with two of Tai¡¯s security men, somehow more confident on account of her crunched physical stature.


    When Tai arrived to speak with Lian, his appearance was as extravagant as that of his waiting room. A tall, handsome, and imposing man, with a thick, carefully kempt head of hair and a stride that wasted nothing, he swept into the room with a trail of servants tailing him. He stopped beside a table that had been set up for their meeting, swept up his luxurious robes, turned to Lian and performed the short, tilted head bow of greeting between respective bureaucrats. Lian returned the favour and then approached in her hunched gait.


    ¡°You say you¡¯re from the Tax Commission?¡± Tai sat down on one side of the table and motioned for Lian to join him. She did, slowly. ¡°And there¡¯s some sort of issue that needs resolving?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Lian kept her head low but made sure to make eye contact with Tai. ¡°Commissioner Wei himself sent me. It appears there are some irregularities in the receipts from last year.¡± Tai¡¯s eyes did not flinch or buckle in the least. Lian couldn¡¯t tell what part of her lies he was seeing through. ¡°Some very serious irregularities.¡±


    ¡°I see,¡± Tai responded before snapping his fingers and having one of his servants ¨C an accountant, based on the haircut ¨C saddle up to him carrying a rather large book of what was sure to be the accounts for the past year. ¡°Shu, did you receive a notice about this re-assessment of last year¡¯s receipts already?¡±


    Before the other accountant could even begin to protest, Lian hoisted her own book onto the table ¨C an old ledger of one of Zu¡¯s front businesses she¡¯d hastily mocked up as a tax ledger. ¡°As I said, senior Prefect, the irregularities were so serious that the Commissioner wished to avoid the possibility of suspicion unfairly falling on your impeccable record. Hence no letter, nothing that a prying eye could unfairly copy and use in an unflattering way.¡±


    Tai¡¯s eyes remained locked on Lian¡¯s, and for a long moment neither said anything more. Lian worried he might try and have her killed right then. But instead he smiled and repeated the short head nod of civil service. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, madam, I failed to introduce myself properly. I am Tai Wulai, Prefect of Liangyong.¡±


    ¡°And I am Zhu Zhuyang,¡± Lian replied with the reciprocal nod once again, ¡°supervisor class accountant with the Ministry of Treasury, Tax Commissioner Office.¡± Even though she had not been an agent of the state for decades, she remembered the proper introductions easily enough.


    Tai¡¯s smile widened, and Lian knew her fate was sealed. His smile was that of a sadistic child about to crush an insect under his foot. ¡°I see. A thousand graces on you and your ancestors.¡±


    ¡°And a thousand generations of prosperity for you and your family.¡±


    ¡°Thank you Madame Zhu. It was my understanding that Commissioner Wei and I had already worked out this year¡¯s irregularities. However, I¡¯m sure my lead tax assessor here will be able to sort out any issues you may have. I trust his oversight in these areas absolutely.¡±


    ¡°Of course, glorious Prefect. I would not wish to waste any of your time. I¡¯m sure we two accountants will be able to sort out the Commissioner¡¯s problems.¡±


    ¡°It is no waste, I assure you. My duty as Prefect includes clean books and clean lines of communication with Nianjang. I take very seriously every message I receive from the capital.¡±If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    Lian just bowed again, finally dropping her eyes and admitting that she¡¯d been caught in the lie. Tai swept himself up and away from the table, all the servants but the accountant following him. After he reached the exit, he pivoted back towards Lian and remarked in his powerful, booming voice. ¡°I trust we may meet again, but if not, I hope you have nothing but the most comfortable stay in my estate.¡±


    Lian stood and bowed formally towards him, working hard to keep the hunch in place. ¡°Thank you for your kindness and generosity, honourable Prefect Tai.¡±


    He smiled again, glanced quickly at the security guards, and then left. Within seconds the room was empty except for Lian, the accountant, and the two security guards.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t we find a more appropriate place to work?¡± Suggested the tax assessor, not even daring to make eye contact with Lian.


    The two guards approached and the larger of the two said, ¡°We have a room that should suffice.¡±


    Lian smiled and acquiesced happily. ¡°Of course. Please. Lead the way.¡±


    The guards led the way out of the room and began to take Lian and the other accountant down a labyrinth of corridors. Their path twisted and turned, going up and down stairs and through short anterooms, obviously to confuse and further complicate any escape on Lian¡¯s part. Every hundred yards or so the accountant would say ¡°Almost there¡± as if they were going to a real place and not a prison. Lian continued to play the dutiful accountant, even as the hunch began to hurt her back and she realized they had actually gone through some hallways three or four times. After twenty five minutes of this, one of the guards stood in front of a door at the end of a very short hallway, the other guard fell behind Lian, and the accountant turned to her and said: ¡°We¡¯re here.¡±


    The one guard opened the door as the other guard scooped Lian up in his arms and tossed her into the pitch black room. She landed hard on her hip and elbows as her nostrils were instantly flooded with the stench of stagnant air, feces and urine. As far as dungeons went, it was pretty standard.


    She took a moment to stretch out her back on the ground, then remembered she should probably at least play her part for a little while longer. ¡°What are you doing?¡± She shouted weakly. ¡°I am an official of the Imperial Tax Commissioner! This is treason.¡± She quickly heard the guards lock the door and leave though, the accountant presumably behind them, after which she let herself relax, twisting the kink out of her back and letting her body adapt to the lower oxygen in the air. All she had to do now was get taken to the torture chamber. Compared to acting like an accountant, it¡¯d be easy.


    She couldn¡¯t tell the size or shape of the room ¨C it was truly completely dark, not even a sliver of light came around the door. It was a few minutes before she heard a few someones approaching up nearby stairs, and almost another minute before they appeared with a single torch in hand. It was two relatively average looking guards, whom she could have easily beaten in order to go looking for the book on her own, but she had no idea how large or complex the dungeon would be, so she turned back into her Zhu Zhuyang, wrongfully imprisoned accountant, and plead her innocence.


    The first guard slapped her across the face. While Lian had literally been hit harder by thirteen-year-old girls, the urge to snap his neck right then nearly boiled over her in an instant. Yet she managed to keep it down and even work the rage into her character. She cried in agony and begged them not to hit her again, which seemed like something an accountant would do. The one without the torch grabbed her by the newly cut hair and dragged her after him, the two wordlessly leading her down the nearby staircase, which twirled down at least twenty five yards before opening onto a huge, typically dark and ominous dungeon. All the usual implements and accoutrements were present ¨C the wheel, the rack, the flaying knives, the bamboo shoots and the wooden horses ¨C nothing Lian hadn¡¯t seen before.


    What Lian hadn¡¯t seen before were instruments so clean and rarely used. She¡¯d imagined a man like Prefect Tai had more than enough enemies to keep a place like this working most of the time, but it wasn¡¯t until her guards shackled her wrists in chains that she managed to take a look around and confirm the existence of the Prefect¡¯s numerous victims: some in tiny locked chambers, some in cages that dangled above the ground, others just standing still along the edges of the room, bound by no visible ties whatsoever. There were men, women, old, young, well dressed and shabby. The only things they shared was an absolute stillness ¨C their chests¡¯ glacial rise and fall their only hint of life ¨C and the fact that their eyes were closed tight, as if to keep out some terrible vision that haunted them all. None of them made a single motion or emitted a single sound, and not one of them appeared to have a single wound. By the time the guards brought her to a tiny cage and shoved her inside, she realized that these two appeared to be the only servants in the entire dungeon. She¡¯d expected to be wrong about parts of the plan, but something about the scarcity of screams and begging, and the scarce resources dedicated to the victims, deeply unsettled her.


    The rectangular cage was tiny and uncomfortable ¨C too high off the ground for Lian¡¯s feet to reach the damp earth and too cramped for her to do anything but continue her hunched position ¨C but she¡¯d managed worse. Given she appeared to be the only fresh victim, she figured she wouldn¡¯t be there long before someone came to investigate. She pulled her legs up and sat cross-legged on the bars of iron, meditating away the discomfort and waiting for her appointment with Tai¡¯s staff.

 Part 6

    Lian estimated it was one day later when the appointment came due. In that time she hadn¡¯t seen or heard from another soul. She¡¯d called out to the other prisoners a few times but received no reply. She could barely even hear their breathing, quiet as the dungeon was. No other prisoners were delivered, and nobody did a thing to any of the existing victims. She expected a day without food or water was enough to wreck most people, especially given the soul-deadening conditions of the dungeon and its eerily silent denizens.


    Shuli Go, however, could go days without water and weeks without food and still survive, and in a meditative trance that could be stretched out even further. Lighter and more attentive than sleep, but deeper than conscious meditation, the Shuli Go practice was closest to remaining perpetually in the mental space just before one falls asleep: the signals of the body numbed and the mind drifting back and forth between darkness and activity. Lian had gone into the trance for days at a time when food was scarce or her body needed to recover without the risk of falling asleep.


    The result was that Lian was little worse for wear when her two guards returned, searing her eyes with their torch for a moment, then pulled her out of the cage and roughly dragged her along the ground.


    ¡°Water, please,¡± she begged, adding a hoarseness to her voice she hoped was convincing. All she received was another slap across the face however. She again held back the urge to kill them both, realizing that they were moving her with purpose further down the dungeon. She was about to meet the one in charge of using the Book of Dragons.


    That one wound up being a tall, thin, bespectacled man, in his mid-twenties, no older. He had the thin wrists and gaunt cheeks of an academic, and as he stood over Lian she saw he had the eyes of a soft-spoken, gentle and kind scholar. The guards tied Lian down with thick ropes at the thighs and stomach to a hard bamboo chair, but left her hands bound in chains on her lap above the ropes.


    Aside from the torch the guard carried, there were a series of candles on a long stone table in front of Lian and behind the scholar. It was more than enough light for Lian to make out a number of books, alchemical implements, and surgical tools on the table. But she couldn¡¯t spot the characteristic golden reflection from the supposed Book of Dragons on the edges of any of the tomes.


    ¡°Zhu Zhuyang,¡± the scholar said with a smile shallow and deeply unsettling. ¡°Although I assume that¡¯s not your real name, it is a pleasure to meet you.¡± He held his hand up to his chest and closed his eyes softly. ¡°I, am Wong Gafung.¡± He smacked his lips lightly as if savoring a tasty meal, and that¡¯s when Lian realized he was truly, absolutely psychopathic. It was her torture he was savoring, pre-emptively.


    ¡°I¡­I did nothing wrong,¡± Lian stammered, the fear in her voice no longer an act. She could tell before he¡¯d even laid a finger on her that the intellect in his face had been turned towards something so inhumane he no longer thought that existing in a dungeon and working by thin candlelight was odd or extreme. Wherever he¡¯d come from ¨C University, refugee camp, another dungeon ¨C he had found an environment in which his natural tendencies could thrive. Lian pulled against the ropes holding her and found they were too well tied for her liking. Her pulse quickened involuntarily, and at once the stench of the dungeon air reappeared in her nostrils, almost making her gag.


    ¡°It does not matter what you did,¡± Wong replied, an easy-going nature in his voice. ¡°All that matters is what you will do.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± She asked, allowing her natural urge to resist to sneak out of her voice as she tugged against the ropes and tested the slack on her wrist chains. She could reach the ropes on her thighs easily enough, but the ones on her stomach were just out of reach on account of the wrist bindings.


    ¡°You will soon pay back the Prefect for your transgression, with a lifetime of service.¡±


    ¡°But what transgression? Did he even tell you?¡±


    ¡°It does not matter. All transgressions are punishable the same way. Service. A lifetime of service. When you are suitably prepared, you will work for the Prefect, and help him to make Liangyong a better place.¡±


    ¡°Uh-huh,¡± Lian gave up all hint of her character, allowing her mind to focus on the logistics of how she could escape in a moment¡¯s notice. ¡°Prefect must be a pretty great boss. Seems like you enjoy working for him.¡±


    ¡°Oh no, he¡¯s quite the¡­ slavedriver.¡± Wong¡¯s voice inflected the last word before he burst into a thin peal of laughter that froze Lian in her chair and forced her to look up at him, his face flushed with glee. She remembered the motionless forms of the other prisoners. Their eyelids shut like vices. The thought that had first registered somewhere deep in her mind surfaced all at once. She would need to escape quickly, if the thought was correct. But she had to be sure first. She stared Wong in the eye and tried to control her breathing.


    Wong didn¡¯t take long to confirm Lian¡¯s suspicions. He turned to face his table, pulled open a drawer, and removed a heavy, wide-set tome, then placed it on the table. She watched carefully from behind his back as he flipped to a marked page and re-examined it, even though he knew the incantation by heart at this point. The book was part of his ritual, part of the exactitude as he began mixing some of the elements, powders, and liquids on the table. He intoned something in ancient Imperial, quiet and with purpose. Lian couldn¡¯t hear it all, but she heard enough.


    ¡°Huono-waitu¡± she used her own bit of the old language to draw forth fountains of fire from her palms, one directed to each batch of ropes. The ones at her thighs burnt through almost instantly, before either the guards or Wong could even understand what was happening, but the ones around her torso were too far away from her hand to burn immediately. The gap between palm and ropes meant that the fire licked outwards, singing her breasts and stomach slightly until the second set of ropes burnt free. The searing of the fire hurt, but Lian was acutely aware of how much more the guards¡¯ short spears would hurt if they were allowed to come into play.


    She rose up from the chair and moved towards one of the guards, kicking him as hard as she could in the groin, then wrapping her bound wrists behind his head and pulling his face down to her uprising knee. She felt his skull collapse as blood exploded onto her leg.


    The other guard shouted something and attacked, but too slowly to catch Lian off guard. He thrust his spear in her direction, she dodged with ease, closed the distance between them, grabbed the spear and wedged the back end of it against his throat, ending his cries and crumpling him onto the ground.


    Wong was absolutely terrified at this turn of events, and had stood motionless while Lian had dispatched the two guards. When Lian turned to face him however, a burst of adrenaline came over him and he began quickly rambling more of the ancient tongue and shaking the vial of mixed chemicals he held in his hand, attempting to finish his conjuration.


    Lian wasted no time though, bounded the three steps necessary to close the distance between them, and smashed her combined fists into his face, breaking teeth and knocking him unconscious. She took a brief moment to exhale and let her blood calm slightly in the sudden silence. Then she swung into action, rifling through the dead guard¡¯s belt for the keys to her bindings. Her hands free, she stepped over the slumped form of Wong and folded up his heavy book, then grabbed the dropped torch from one of the guards, and set off to look for An.


    The sewers had never been a way into Tai¡¯s compound. An¡¯s first rule of breaking in anywhere was that breaking in was easy. Breaking out was always the harder part. With book in hand, Lian walked down the halls of the dungeon, examining the walls for signs that An had been pushing against the sewer entrance. Lian knew it would not be much ¨C a slightly thinner level of mold on the wall, or a few crumbs of plaster An had successfully dislodged ¨C but her Shuli Go senses would reveal it easily enough.This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.


    The problem was Lian had lost all sense of direction and scope after being dragged through Tai¡¯s estate and then dropped in the dungeon. According to An, the entrance was likely at the end of a long wall. But Tai¡¯s dungeon went on for almost two hundred yards, and the sewer entrance was no more than half a yard wide. It took Lian almost five long minutes to carefully examine a single wall. While she doubted either the guards or Wong would be able to stop her, she didn¡¯t know how long it would take before Tai sent someone to investigate if Wong didn¡¯t return quickly. A bit of panic crept into her, and she began shouting out An¡¯s name as she reached a corner and started on the second wall.


    Finally, as she passed the second corner, she found the spot, made evident by An¡¯s repeated striking of the wall. ¡°An!¡± Lian shouted as a small piece of the brick wall began to disintegrate in front of her. She waited as more and more of the wall came apart, and that¡¯s when the hands grabbed a hold of her.


    Five sets of them, almost as if in a hive-mind, grasped onto her arms, her shoulders, her legs, and pulled Lian backwards, onto the ground. She struck the back of her head and saw the familiar explosion of bright lights in her vision as she involuntarily released the book, torch, and guards keys¡¯ she¡¯d brought along. When her vision returned a second later, she saw five faces standing over her. She brought her hands up to protect from a guard¡¯s weapon, but these were not guards. These were the other prisoners. Five of the largest, youngest men, all fit and strong, looming over her with menace in their eyes. She knew at once she had made a mistake ¨C she hadn¡¯t killed Wong, merely incapacitated him. Because the book he was using, and had planned to use on Lian, was not the mythical Book of Dragons, but the less-mythical, though almost as powerful, Book of Terrors.


    ¡°Keep her there,¡± she heard Wong command the prisoners. A heavy foot pressed against each of her forearms and ankles, pinning her under their weight. She considered the spells she had under her own command, but there was nothing that would incapacitate that many men all at once. Instead she called out to her friend.


    ¡°An! Quick!¡±


    The wall finished crumbling and An emerged a few feet away, her daggers already drawn.


    ¡°Get her,¡± Wong commanded, but to Lian¡¯s displeasure, the command was not directed to the five standing on her, but to another group of prisoners who sprinted towards An, bearing the guards¡¯ spears and a set of other makeshift weapons.


    While they weren¡¯t soldiers, and An managed to fell two of them, there was simply no way she could defend herself against so many. She was struck across the back of the head with a spear and stumbled, before being grabbed by the remaining prisoners and thrown on the ground not far from Lian, then held down in similar fashion.


    ¡°Well¡­¡± Wong said, towering over his two new prisoners, blood dripping from his mouth and a reinvigorated lust for pain twinkling in his eyes. ¡°Two women who know how to fight. The Prefect will be very interested in seeing you become a part of his collection.¡± He then turned to yet more of the prisoners who had come to life. ¡°Bring me my mixture and the book.¡±


    Lian turned her head to follow the prisoner, but another foot came down and pressed on her skull, holding her head flat against the ground. She strained involuntarily against all the weight pressing down on her, but most of her concern was for An.


    ¡°An, are you ok?¡± She asked.


    An just moaned a long, disoriented shudder, then shouted out the confused ¡°What?¡± of someone with a fresh concussion. Guilt wracked Lian, not just for the pain An was in, but for what she knew was to come next.


    The prisoner handed Wong¡¯s book to him, then held the mixture of chemicals aloft beside the magician. Wong started to repeat the same incantation he¡¯d begun earlier, though this time he swept his arms across both Lian and An as he did so, wrapping them up in the pre-emptory tailspin of magics of which the concoction would be the final mixture.


    ¡°An!¡± Lian shouted, even as the men all around her pressed harder on her bones, sending tendrils of pain into her every appendage. ¡°Close your eyes! Close your eyes An!¡±


    Wong finished his incantation, tucked the book under his arm, and took the completed potion in his hand. He then smiled a bloody smile at Lian. ¡°This one,¡± he told the prisoners, ¡°hold her eyes open.¡±


    Two large pairs of hands reached down towards her face, and Lian was held in place with more weight than ever as she tried to avoid them. She felt the skin on her ankles and wrists tear under the extra pressure, blood and skin trickling out, but that was not at the top of her list of concerns. She closed her eyes tight and tried to wiggle her head to keep the hands from prying them open. It took a few seconds, but eventually the foot on her forehead pressed down so hard Lian thought her skull might give way, and she let the thick fingers of the prisoners tug on her eyelids and cheeks until they were held open.


    Wong¡¯s smile reached its greatest width yet. Lian screamed, and he showered her with the potion.


    Lian¡¯s body froze as the liquid touched her, and her mind expanded within the confines of her body until it was in every corner, intensely aware and conscious of every muscle, every bone, every cell in her organs. This was the Curse of Living Stone: her entire body petrified into rigidity except for the very tiniest breathing, while her brain was severed from the sending of signals, meaning its every resource was dedicated to receiving them.


    The weights on her arms, legs, and head ¨C already agonies beforehand ¨C were amplified into absolute, screaming, alarm-filled terror. The heinous scent in the dungeon was amplified a hundredfold, giving Lian the deepest desire and instinct to vomit, without her body being able to do so. Worst of all though were her eyes. Kept open, unable to blink, it took only thirty seconds or so before the pain started to arrive. When they failed to water ¨C even that involuntary action was restricted by the curse ¨C that agony multiplied over and over again, every second a thousand painful knives digging into her skull.


    What truly amplified all her pain though, was that she could not even convulse or react in any way ¨C the bodies¡¯ natural reaction to experiencing pain of that magnitude. Denied even that freedom of reaction, Lian¡¯s entire mind emptied of thought and pain took it over entirely. If she had been able to react, her scream would have broken her lungs, and she would surely have thrashed hard enough to break her own bones. But she couldn¡¯t. She could do nothing but experience the pain in its horrible, maddening fullness.


    Wong waited a full minute ¨C it felt like a year in Lian¡¯s mind ¨C before he instructed his guards to at least release her rigid frame from under their weight. Then he stood over Lian¡¯s torso and looked into her eyes, frozen open.


    ¡°You¡­ knew what this was,¡± he seemed genuinely impressed. ¡°There are only a few hundred people in the Central Empire who know what this book is. You are not a mere thief,¡± he surmised, his eyes alive with a fresh problem to be solved. ¡°You are a saboteur. The Prefect will want to know about this.¡± Wong wiped his mouth free of blood, revealing gaps where Lian had knocked his teeth out. He considered something for a moment, then nodded in satisfaction. ¡°If you know this book, then you know the Curse of Living Stone cannot be broken. I can freeze you at any moment with but a word. From now until your death. No matter where you are, or what you are doing, I own you entirely.¡±


    Wong savored the slow delivery of the information, knowing that inside her motionless body Lian was undergoing an agonizing absence of movement, and even without the extra pain points provided by the weight of the prisoners, she was surely suffering immensely. ¡°Yes,¡± he continued his soliloquy, ¡°you belong to me now. Which means you will belong to Prefect Tai. You are a saboteur who will pay for her crimes. And perhaps, if you prove your value. Prefect Tai will keep you alive and allow you to serve as he intended.¡±


    Lian heard little of his speech and made sense of even less. She had reached the point of absolute delirium from the pain in her eyes, which had in turn prompted a headache of such proportions that it made her wish the prisoner had successfully crushed her skull. Inside this state, time and words meant nothing. She only knew that should she ever regain control of her body, she had to close her eyes as hard as possible and never leave them open again.


    ¡°Suono shen.¡±


    They were the only words she heard clearly ¨C ancient Imperial for ¡°lock¡± and ¡°body¡± ¨C which freed her to close her eyes and finally allowed her to complete the scream she had initiated earlier, this time magnified by all the variety of pains she felt. She curled into a ball and grasped her wrists, silently begging for tears. The prisoners picked her up in this weakened state and dragged her back to her cage. It was only then that she heard An¡¯s own screams ¨C whether because she¡¯d failed to keep her eyes closed or they had inflicted some other pain on her, Lian couldn¡¯t tell. Though Lian dared not open her eyes again, she heard An being thrown into a cell nearby.


    ¡°Get comfortable,¡± Wong told them both. And Lian did as she was told, returning to her meditative position.


    ¡°Suono shen,¡± he said again. Lian froze in her cross-legged pose, her eyes shut tight, and prayed that next time she was unfrozen, she could do something about it.

 Part 7

    Time, like all other aspects of conscious thought, became warped and stretched in Lian¡¯s mind while she remained frozen: but based on the comments of passing guards, she understood it was two days later when Wong returned to see her again, this time with Prefect Tai at his side.


    The torture of being frozen in place was not exactly what Lian had expected. There was pain, to be sure, but it was the dull ache of pressure points where the cage met her body. Granted, those pains were amplified into maddening proportions by her body¡¯s immobility, the unceasing nature of the pain, and her mind¡¯s resolute focus on them, but they were not the kind of pains one expected in a torture chamber of a man as powerful as the Prefect of Liangyong. After the first day Lian realized she was not even that hungry ¨C the freezing placed the victim into a physical state very similar to Shuli Go meditation, the fuel of the body preserved and most other processes slowed down.


    The greater torture was entirely mental. Unlike Shuli Go meditation, the Curse of the Living Stone kept the mind unaffected, forcing it to turn over and over itself in unending cycles of suffering. It was impossible to sleep with the amplified pains and the inability of the body to shift in any way. For two full days, all Lian could do was to look forward to Tai¡¯s visit, and the chance that they would unfreeze her in order to ask her questions. If she did not have that to look forward to, she was sure she would eventually go insane, locked in stasis and never able to move freely again. Given the choice between obeying Wong and being trapped in her own mind, Lian could start to see the appeal of Wong.


    As far as torture went, it was fairly ingenious. The point of torture was never to change a victim¡¯s body, but their mind. This achieved that goal without mutilation, or even the screams of the victims. Lian saw that the people An had found were not physically drained, but mentally destroyed. Their pallid forms were not lacking blood but the mental energy to run their bodies efficiently. Prefect Tai did not want immortality, he wanted an army that would do his bidding. Men and women spread across important posts around the Empire, awaiting his instructions or facing a slow descent into insanity in a body that will take years to die.


    Tai was a very dangerous man. And Lian had underestimated him. Zu too. Everyone had.


    ¡°So,¡± Tai said after two days of Lian¡¯s suffering, his voice loud enough Lian knew he was close to her, looking at her. Despite that presence and his danger, her head was filled with excitement at the thought that Wong would free her, even if for a second, to respond to his question. ¡°Who do we actually have here?¡±


    ¡°Suono shen,¡± Wong said, and a flood of relief came over Lian as her body came alive and the pain dissipated. She quickly readjusted her legs to take the pressure away from where the cage had been pressing against her. She opened her eyes, just slightly, but they had not seen light in two days and even the small torches of Tai¡¯s guards burned her eyes, causing them to water all over again. She could not hold back an audible gasp of pain, nor the sigh of relief. It was the most exquisite feeling after two days of immobility to move her fingers again, to control her own breathing, and stretch her tight muscles. She could see why the men who had grabbed her had been so willing to do Wong¡¯s bidding. He was both torturer and savior.


    ¡°Well,¡± Tai continued, ¡°who are you, really?¡±


    Lian looked him in the eye, but said nothing.


    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s right. You know what it is Wong does down here. You know about his book. And so you probably know that he can¡¯t lock you up if you¡¯re far away, without your real name. So you¡¯re not likely to give it, because you think you may get out one day and you want to keep your freedom.¡±


    Tai then approached Lian¡¯s cage and brought his face close to the bars. He was close enough she could reach out and throttle him in seconds, but she knew it would be useless if Wong froze her.


    ¡°Let me tell you something though. You¡¯re never leaving here. Not without your name.¡±


    Lian swallowed, itself a painful process after two days of dust and vile air had coagulated in her throat, then responded. ¡°I am Zhu Zhuyang, supervisor class¡ª¡±


    ¡°Bah!¡± Tai pushed away from her cage and laughed. ¡°I had my accountant go through the ledger you brought with you. Apparently it was all nonsense numbers that looked to be from a bar or a brothel or something. You should have spent more time on your props if you were going to stick with that lie.¡±


    Lian was panicking inside, trying to devise a way to keep her name without being refrozen, or worse. But two days of constant pain had left her without much in the way of quick-thinking resources. She simply stared at Tai and swallowed again.


    ¡°You weren¡¯t too bad at it, you know. You were smart enough to almost have me believe you were an actual accountant. But you break Wong¡¯s nose, and your friend kills two of his men. You¡¯re no accountant, and you weren¡¯t doing this on your own. I need your name, and the name of whoever sent you.¡±


    Lian had no compulsion about giving up Zu ¨C who¡¯d most certainly lied about a great many things to have put Lian in this position ¨C but she did hold out hope she¡¯d get out of there one day, and she didn¡¯t want to give her real name. If she was going to be sentenced to die, she¡¯d do it there and then, before she could be used to hurt anyone else.


    ¡°You know,¡± Tai said, quieter this time, almost as if he was sharing a personal secret with her. ¡°If you¡¯re that smart, then you probably know what I¡¯m trying to do here. I¡¯m not interested in hurting anyone. Not really. But I will.¡± He smiled at her, their minds joined in this terrifying secret. ¡°Let¡¯s give her an example,¡± Tai said to Wong.


    Wong stepped between Lian and Tai and smiled, finally able to do what he enjoyed most. Lian backed away and shut her eyes just before Wong froze her.


    ¡°Her friend, the fat one. Bring her here,¡± Tai instructed.


    Lian couldn¡¯t even focus on the new exquisite pains that were spreading across her body as she froze in an awkward position ¨C instead she was overcome with terror for her friend. She listened through the pain as the guards pulled An¡¯s body nearby. She could only imagine what An herself was thinking and fearing.Stolen story; please report.


    ¡°Take off one of her fingernails,¡± Tai said, as if it was nothing. And Lian knew for Wong it would be even less.


    Lian sat, her mind already reeling at the thought of how much something like that would hurt in the middle of the curse, how intense and amplified the agony would be without the ability to even scream through the pain. She didn¡¯t really need Tai¡¯s reminder when he whispered into Lian¡¯s ear: ¡°Think of just how much this will hurt. And then remember that you have ten fingernails yourself. And ten toenails. And then ten toes, and ten fingers we can take right off.¡±


    Then she listened to Wong perform the disturbing surgery: the sharpening of a bamboo point, the initial spurt of blood as it was wedged into An¡¯s finger, then the sickening pop as he wedged the fingernail off entirely. And Lian knew then she was doomed. There was no fighting back, just an endless agony that awaited she and An both. The least she could do was tell them quickly, and save them both from the worst of it.


    Lian wanted nothing more than to cry ¨C not just at the thought of her friend in so much pain, but from a deep well of her own shame ¨C they hadn¡¯t even touched her yet, and she was already prepared to give in. But this was not like any pain she could be expected to resist. It wouldn¡¯t matter if she even managed to escape, there would be no end to the control Wong had over her.


    Wong had been right. She belonged to him now.


    ¡°What is all this then?¡± A faint voice came in from somewhere far away in the dungeon.


    There was a brief hubbub, and Tai¡¯s voice raised to respond to the first. ¡°My dear, please, this is no place for such a¡ª¡±


    Yaling. That bitch. Lian¡¯s shame and suffering spiralled into an explosion of anger at her former friend, who had left her and An to be captured and suffer. It was the most extreme pain she experienced that day ¨C the desire to shake with rage at Yaling but denied even that tiny expression.


    Lian¡¯s mind drifted above her anger somewhere in the middle of Yaling and Tai¡¯s conversation, catching as Yaling was saying something to Tai in her most love-tainted of coos, ¡°¡ªbut Wulai-jan,¡± she used his first name and the affectionate suffix reserved for pets and lovers, ¡°you promised me a tour of the whole castle. Every nook and cranny you said.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Yaling-jan, but¡ª¡± Tai¡¯s voice was drenched in embarrassment at being infantilized by his lover in front of servants, but he was sufficiently wrapped around her finger to allow it to continue.


    ¡°But you promised,¡± Lian could see the pouty look Yaling would be giving right then. ¡°And this!¡± Yaling continued, ¡°is this the book you were telling me so much about?¡±


    Lian¡¯s anger died in an instant. If Yaling were to see that the book was not the Book of Dragons, she wouldn¡¯t have any reason to stick with Tai. Looking past her pain, Lian listened intently.


    ¡°It is, Yaling-jan. It¡¯s the magic book.¡±


    ¡°Ooooh, you know I adore magic. I had a friend once who could make sparks fly out of her hand.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s nice dear, but we really were busy here and¡ª¡±


    ¡°Oh, and you. You must be the Mr. Wong I¡¯ve heard so much about. Doing such good work for Wulai-jan.¡±


    Even Wong wasn¡¯t totally immune to Yaling¡¯s own brand of magic. ¡°Ye¡­yes, that¡¯s¡­that¡¯s right.¡± He stammered.


    ¡°Yaling-jan, please, we really must finish¡ª¡±


    ¡°Oh, Wulai-jan, you can spare a few seconds to have your servant here explain a few things to me.¡±


    Lian could tell Tai was about to interrupt based on the deep breath he took in, but Yaling just continued on.


    ¡°So, Mr. Wong. This book, it¡¯s one of those ancient ones the Demi-Gods left behind, right?¡±


    ¡°If¡­ if one believes the leg¡­the legends. Yes, yes that¡¯s right. Um, my lady.¡±


    ¡°I had a teacher, once, who told me that magic from the Demi-Gods was always very private. More of a contract than the magic we little humans can use.¡±


    If Lian could have shouted in joy, she would have.


    ¡°Ye¡­yes, that¡¯s. That¡¯s basically it.¡±


    Yaling¡¯s voice turned on the allure, and Lian knew she was getting right next to Wong.


    ¡°And if one of the parties of the contract were to¡­ say die¡­ the contract would be over, right?¡±


    Lian hoped she would be close enough to help.


    ¡°That¡¯s. That¡¯s right, my lady.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡±


    Lian listened as Yaling¡¯s hair pin was driven into Wong¡¯s skull ¨C up, straight through his jaw, just like Lian had taught Yaling years ago. Lian was the teacher ¨C had been Yaling¡¯s only true teacher, as far as Lian knew. And against all odds, Yaling had turned out to be a decent student after all.


    Tai erupted into a crazed shout as Wong gurgled his own blood, spitting, chirping, and burbling before his body hit the ground. In the time it took Wong to die, Yaling was grabbed by one of the guards and Tai was screaming at her, threatening her with death and worse.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you see Wulai-jan,¡± Yaling was pleading, begging for time. ¡°He was in control of all the men. He could have betrayed you at any minute.¡±


    ¡°I cast the spell on him first!¡± Tai shouted in a powerful boom. ¡°He was mine! I owned him! Like I own you! You fucking bitch!¡±


    Wong coughed one last spurt of blood then died, the Curse of Living Stone lifted, and Lian could open her eyes just in time to see Yaling smile her most coquettish of grins at Tai and reply, ¡°Oh, Wulai-jan, you idiot. No one could own me.¡±


    An screamed ¨C mostly out of pain, but also from a surge of adrenaline as she, too, became free of Wong¡¯s spell ¨C and rushed the nearest guard, her left pinkie finger bleeding profusely as she grappled with the man for his spear. Lian was disappointed to see she was too far from the action to do much, but she did manage to shoot a stream of fire towards Tai, who was inching closer to Yaling and looked ready to kill. The fire caught on his robe, near the bottom, and the guard holding Yaling tossed her to the ground to help Tai take off the outer robe and stamp out the fire.


    An was fighting valiantly, but the guard was bigger than her, hadn¡¯t recently been wounded, and had eaten in the last few days. He tripped her and shoved her hard to the ground before stepping on her wounded hand, causing her to scream even louder. The guard lifted his spear above An to impale her.


    Before he could though, the first of the prisoners reached him, literally flew into him in order to save An. Then another prisoner joined the first. Then another, and another. The trickle turned into a flood of them, pouring down and over the guards and Tai, literally ripping the men apart limb from limb with their bare hands. These weren¡¯t the larger ones that had fought for Wong a few days ago ¨C the beaten down individuals who had already lost all will ¨C but the fresher victims, the weaker and skinnier ones Wong had left frozen because they didn¡¯t serve any particular purpose. They¡¯d been captured and left to go mad in their own minds, for no good reason. They were wiry and frustrated, and more insane than Lian had thought possible. And they showed no pity. Bits of flesh, blood, and skin flew out from the mob, but there was no controlling them ¨C they were free of a prison they¡¯d never imagined had a route to liberty, and more importantly they had a chance to avenge their captors.


    Yaling helped An to her feet and out of the path of the prisoners, picked up Wong¡¯s copy of The Book of Terrors, then scrounged through the scattered remains of the first guard before locating the keys. She set about opening Lian¡¯s cage, then moved through the rest of the hall, opening the cells of any prisoners who looked halfway salvageable.


    The big ones, the ones that had held down Lian, remained frozen in place. Without Wong to impose a will on them, they were mere husks. Functioning, yes, but they would never again think or feel for themselves. The ones on the other end, who were merely terrified and scared and wounded, Lian and Yaling rounded up, then headed towards the secret entrance An had carved out.


    The mob continued its frenzied run up, towards the Prefect¡¯s house. Lian knew they¡¯d be cut down before they could do too much damage, but their bloodlust allowed the women to escort the survivors out, into the sewers under Liangyong, and then on to freedom.

 Part 8

    Surprisingly, it was An, who had lost the most to Zu¡¯s scheming, that vetoed paying a late night visit to him with a dagger between her teeth.


    ¡°We kill him, we can never come back to the city again, if we even make it out alive,¡± she said, two days later in Lian¡¯s room. ¡°Forget the city, we can¡¯t even come to this Kingdom, most likely. And I like it here. Besides, if we kill him, we won¡¯t get any money.¡±


    ¡°Fuck money,¡± Yaling responded, ¡°look at your hand.¡±


    An¡¯s smallest finger had become infected, and the doctor they¡¯d taken her to had instructed the only way she could avoid losing the whole hand was to cut off the finger. They¡¯d taken it in one chop, and An had barely even grunted. Compared to having the fingernail removed under the curse, the pain was minimal.


    ¡°I can still use it at least, and I was never going to win any contest for ¡®most beautiful hands¡¯ anyway. Zu will pay for my finger, but not with his life. I want my slave island.¡±


    ¡°But Zu didn¡¯t promise us anything ¨C he was counting on the Empress¡¯ money. Zu¡¯s rich,¡± Lian said, ¡°but not slave island rich.¡±


    ¡°Maybe not, but we didn¡¯t all just walk out with Wamaian gold one day, did we?¡±


    And there was the thing Lian had been ignoring ¨C the truth that her gold had separated her from her friends in some way. If worse came to worse, Lian could always move back to Three Paths and live out her days in the hotel she owned. Or to any of the other cities in which she owned businesses and homes. An didn¡¯t have that choice. Not that An was especially poor ¨C and Yaling only ever lacked money because she couldn¡¯t help but spend everything as soon as she earned it ¨C but she didn¡¯t have a safety net, and each year she grew older, was a year her decision not to marry would hang over her larger and larger. She wanted a rich husband without the husband, and Lian couldn¡¯t fault her for that.


    ¡°Ok, fine. But we don¡¯t take his shit. We¡¯re getting paid, and paid well. Agreed?¡±


    ¡°Agreed,¡± Yaling and An both nodded.


    They walked back in to Zu¡¯s estate without an appointment or care. Lian happily acted as the muscle to push security out of the way where necessary, before they kicked in the door to Zu¡¯s office. Lian drew her Shuli Go sword and waved it at the security rushing up behind them, ready to fight if need be. It was Yaling who spoke first. ¡°Mister Zu, I believe we have some things to discuss.¡±


    Zu, sitting behind his desk and hunched over a number of papers ¨C a confused and terrified retinue of hangers-on to each of his sides ¨C laughed. The news of Prefect Tai¡¯s death had spread quickly, but none of the newspapers or criers could agree on what had caused it. Zu, obviously, had a better idea than most.


    ¡°Yes,¡± he agreed, ¡°yes we do. Please, come in.¡±


    He waved off the security behind the women, and then ordered chairs and refreshments be brought in for the four of them.


    ¡°I see our mission was a success,¡± he said as he sipped his tea, smiling the whole time.


    ¡°Our mission?¡± An was incredulous. ¡°I thought our mission was to retrieve the Book of Dragons.¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­ perhaps you¡¯re right. My mission. My mission was to see Prefect Tai dead. Your mission was to recover a book that doesn¡¯t exist.¡±


    Lian couldn¡¯t help herself. She chuckled. ¡°I knew it. All that show and all those stories, just to get us to go in there and do your dirty work for you?¡±


    ¡°So you knew the book wasn¡¯t in there?¡± An was confused.


    ¡°My dear,¡± Zu replied, ¡°there¡¯s no such thing as the Book of Dragons. Your friend here was quite correct.¡±


    ¡°So you enchanted a protection over a nothing piece of paper?¡± Yaling asked.


    ¡°Well the paper wasn¡¯t nothing. I really did buy it five years ago. And it did survive a fire, but only after I set it on fire to make sure I got my money¡¯s worth on the spell. Which was quite expensive, I have to say. I almost wasn¡¯t sure it was worthwhile, but I figured eventually I may eventually require the services of a Shuli Go, who would see through an outright lie with ease. I never truly lied to you, you see.¡± Zu shook his head and chuckled. ¡°I¡¯m glad I paid extra for the spell, actually.¡±This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    ¡°The professors at the Encyclopaedia Institute?¡± Lian asked.


    ¡°Confirmed that yes, it was a piece of paper written in gold ink, and that yes, the Book of Dragons doesn¡¯t exist.¡±


    ¡°And the conjoining?¡± An asked.


    ¡°A slice off an apple I had tossed into his courtyard. Would point you in the right direction, but wouldn¡¯t be much help after that.¡±


    ¡°Did you know anything about what he was doing in there? With the Book of Terrors?¡± Yaling asked.


    ¡°I had some idea. And I have to say, the way you killed him was just perfect. It¡¯s all rumor and conjecture, and nobody inside his office can say a thing. Now I can place the rumor that he was planting sleeper agents across the Empire ¨C which I¡¯m pretty sure he actually was. Madam Zhao, you were an officer of the law: what¡¯s the punishment for attempting to overthrow the Empire?¡±


    ¡°Death. For you, and three generations in every direction.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right. There won¡¯t be a Tai in a thousand miles with a claim to his prefecture. And I just happen to have completed all the necessary paperwork to be considered for just that post.¡±


    ¡°That was your game?¡± An was incredulous. ¡°You wanted to be the Prefect? But you¡¯re a gangster.¡±


    ¡°Who better to rid the prefecture of organized crime? I already speak the language of the criminal. I can learn the language of the bureaucrat. And it¡¯s my belief that communication is a much better path to peace than inquiries and witch-hunts.¡±


    ¡°You already sound like a fucking politician.¡± Lian spat.


    Zu laughed. ¡°Yes, I suppose I always had it in me.¡±


    ¡°Enough,¡± An stamped her foot. ¡°We have to talk about rewards.¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Zu cupped his chin in his hand. ¡°Yes, I thought you might ask about that.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not asking,¡± An menaced.


    ¡°Well,¡± Zu lifted his shoulders, ¡°as I recall, I promised you half the profit from the sale of the book. Since there¡¯s no book, I don¡¯t see any profit that I can possibly share.¡±


    ¡°A book you knew didn¡¯t exist.¡± Yaling replied fiercely.


    ¡°That may be, but our agreement was very clear. No book, no profit, no sharing.¡±


    ¡°Our agreement was not clear,¡± An explained, trying very hard to be rational but the anger seeping through her voice, ¡°because you did not explain the realities of the situation to us. That makes the agreement useless.¡±


    ¡°Well if we have no agreement,¡± Zu spread his hands wide, ¡°then what reason would I offer you anything?¡±


    An and Yaling groaned in exasperation, then continued to try and argue with him. But Lian saw something in the middle aged man: a sliver of the old pickpocket peeking through the scars on his face ¨C scars he was trying desperately to hide, to mask in pretty words. Lian knew the politician in Zu could respond to words for days, but the gangster in him would respond to something else entirely.


    ¡°Zu,¡± Lian said, standing up and placing her hand on her Wamaian sword ¨C at her waist, better and easier to draw in small distances. ¡°You¡¯re going to pay us each 25 gold pieces for our work. And then you¡¯re going to pay An 25 more gold pieces for the finger she lost doing your dirty work.¡± She paused. ¡°This is not a negotiation. This is me telling you what¡¯s going to happen. And if you consider it a negotiation in any way, I only need to tell you that It took me three steps to get onto that desk and cut your magic piece of bullshit paper. It will take me two to cut your head off your shoulders.¡±


    Zu¡¯s face narrowed and his grin grew sinister. Lian had succeeded at drawing out the young thief from the aging politician. ¡°That would not be very wise of you,¡± he threatened.


    ¡°You forget, I was tortured by Tai for three days in ways that are a million times worse than anything you¡¯ve dreamt. I¡¯m not scared of your chicken-shit men and their bamboo spikes. Plus, you¡¯ll be dead. Which will make the whole experience worthwhile.¡±


    An and Yaling held their breath, while Zu and Lian stared at each other. It was theater of course ¨C Lian was terrified of Zu¡¯s torture chambers ¨C but she knew she was asking a reasonable sum. And she knew that in his heart, Zu was a complete asshole. And assholes like him only responded to one thing. Violence, and the threat of it.


    Zu blinked first. ¡°A hundred gold, you say? I¡¯m not sure I even have that much in all my accounts at the moment¡­¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t care. Borrow it if you have to. You¡¯re about to come into a lot of money as the Prefect of Liangyong. You won¡¯t have trouble paying off the debt.¡±


    Zu leaned back in his chair, seeming to evaluate the situation, but Lian knew she¡¯d beaten him already. Whether he saw through her bluff or not, didn¡¯t matter. He respected the possibility that she might kill him. And that was enough.


    ¡°Fine, a deal.¡± He stood up and bowed to the women in the formal fashion of a completed business transaction. They each rose and bowed in return.


    ¡°We are staying at the Xiaoyang. You can send the money there.¡±


    ¡°Very well. And thank you for doing such an excellent job.¡±


    Lian looked at An and Yaling, ushering them out of the room before anything could go wrong. But An had one final question for Zu.


    ¡°How did you know we¡¯d kill him, once we were inside?¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t. I knew Tai was a very paranoid man though, and that you¡¯d likely have a chance.¡±


    ¡°And if we didn¡¯t? If we just brought the Book of Terrors back?¡±


    ¡°Then I¡¯d probably have you killed before you walked in here, and sold the book for a profit.¡±


    An experienced the same rage that Lian had in Tai¡¯s dungeon, but there was no magic spell to hold back the vibrations through her body. Lian ushered her out before she could draw a dagger and get them all killed.

 Part 9

    Zu followed through on his word, and the first thing Lian did with her money was rent out the Screaming Goat for a private performance.


    ¡°Don¡¯t make me do this,¡± Yaling begged. ¡°It¡¯s embarrassing.¡±


    ¡°You almost cost us our lives in there,¡± An reminded Yaling.


    ¡°But then I saved them, so doesn¡¯t that mean we¡¯re all even now?¡±


    ¡°No, not even close. At the slightest hint that you could have gotten access to perpetual youth, you ditched us. Even saving our lives doesn¡¯t make up for that.¡±


    ¡°I was just trying to get the book peacefully. It¡¯s always elaborate plans and swords and arrows with you two. Sometimes walking in the front door and charming the pants off someone works too.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not going to help you,¡± Lian explained. ¡°Your audience is waiting.¡±


    With a shove Lian ejected Yaling onto the stage at the Screaming Goat, the entire hall ¨C built for hundreds ¨C empty except for the barbers who had cut Lian¡¯s hair. Their awed expressions as they saw Yaling ¨C in full performance makeup and clothing ¨C was priceless. Yaling, always a true professional, bowed then began the show. Lian and An joined the audience a few tables away, Yaling¡¯s sonorous voice echoing in the too-empty hall.


    ¡°So it¡¯s not quite Slave Island money,¡± Lian said as she poured An a small cup of expensive sorghum liquor, ¡°but you can do a lot with fifty gold pieces. You got any plans for your newfound wealth?¡±


    ¡°I may actually go visit the Slave Islands,¡± she chuckled. ¡°I want to sit on a warm beach for a few months I think.¡±


    ¡°As one relatively wealthy woman to another,¡± Lian made a sweeping gesture with her arm to indicate she was trying to impart some very valuable wisdom to her friend, ¡°don¡¯t blow it all on prostitutes and expensive meals.¡±


    ¡°You speak from experience?¡±


    ¡°I do.¡±


    ¡°Ok. Message received.¡± An paused a second, then cocked an eyebrow to her friend. ¡°A few prostitutes are ok though, right?¡±


    Lian laughed. ¡°Just make sure you don¡¯t fall in love with any of them and you¡¯ll be fine.¡±


    An downed her shot of liquor and inhaled deeply, airing out the burn in her throat. ¡°I could get used to drinking this well, at least.¡±


    Lian smiled, turned to watch Yaling singing one of her audience¡¯s favorite songs about two star-crossed peasant lovers who were both actually the rightful inheritors of two Kingdoms, whose love conquered all and saw them rise to their rightful places and marry, forming a bond that lasted a thousand generations. It was called The Ballad of Zhou and Tan, and Lian had always thought it was utter bullshit on every level. But that day, she wanted to believe in something positive and impossibly happy. Especially after how close she and An had come to a very terrible fate.Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.


    ¡°Hey,¡± she turned back to face An. ¡°I¡¯m sorry about¡­ you know, costing you a finger. I should have given him my name.¡±


    An played with her glass with the wounded hand, but was looking right into Lian¡¯s eyes. ¡°You didn¡¯t cost me anything. That asshole did. You helped me get paid.¡± She raised her drink and then swallowed it whole.


    Ten songs later the barbers were all drunk out of their minds, crying and pleading for Yaling to marry them. She promised them she would, one at a time, sending them into pure bliss for the few minutes they stayed awake. Then it was the three friends sitting alone in the Screaming Goat, enjoying the cavernous hall as their own small taste of the riches they¡¯d been promised.


    ¡°I would never let him hurt you if I knew you were in there,¡± Yaling told the other two, her voice loaded with sincerity and apology. ¡°He didn¡¯t tell me he¡¯d caught two women ¨C it was a fluke that I managed to tag along just then.¡±


    ¡°When did you figure out he didn¡¯t have the Book of Dragons?¡± An asked.


    ¡°Like two days in. He told me everything, all his agents, all his plans, everything. He was quite a terrible conspirator actually. I spent the rest of the time looking for a way out, or a chance to set his people free.¡±


    An and Lian exchanged a look.


    ¡°Really?¡± Lian asked. ¡°You couldn¡¯t find a way out of there in a week?¡±


    ¡°Well¡­¡± Yaling backtracked slightly. ¡°He may have promised me my own performance hall here in the city, too¡­¡±


    An put her good hand on Yaling¡¯s shoulder. ¡°And you gave it up for us?¡±


    ¡°Of course.¡±


    An was truly touched.


    ¡°Thanks for saving us,¡± Lian said, realizing neither she nor An had done so. ¡°When I told you how to kill someone, I never thought you¡¯d actually have to do it.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, well¡­¡± Yaling¡¯s head dropped and she drank another deep cup full of wine. ¡°Hey! Did I tell you I¡¯ve been writing a song about our little adventure?¡±


    Lian rolled her eyes. ¡°Really? I don¡¯t think Zu will appreciate us spreading word of his plans.¡±


    ¡°Well of course I¡¯ve sanitized it a bit. Removed Zu from the equation, and kind of, you know, turned us into valiant heroes set on saving the Empire from the evil Prefect wielding the evil Book of Terrors. You know, basic storytelling stuff.¡±


    ¡°Hey, where did the book go, anyway?¡± Lian asked.


    ¡°Oh I burned it as soon as we got out of there,¡± Yaling responded. ¡°Remember that public bonfire we passed on our way to the hospital? I threw it in there.¡±


    Lian remembered no such bonfire, but An ¨C by this point four drinks in ¨C nodded sagely and congratulated her friend on her quick thinking. Lian made a mental note to keep an eye on Yaling all the same.


    ¡°You think it¡¯ll be a big hit?¡± An asked Yaling about her song.


    ¡°Of course. And we¡¯ll all be big stars because of it.¡±


    Lian groaned. Yaling clearly did not understand that fame was not a comforting thought to a Shuli Go.


    ¡°You think they¡¯ll remember us fondly?¡± An asked, looking into her empty cup. ¡°I mean, when we¡¯re all dead and gone?¡±


    ¡°Of course!¡± Yaling stood up on the table, downed her drink and threw the cup on the floor. ¡°Who needs a husband? Or an entire island? They¡¯ll all disappear with us when we die! But we can live on in the stories they tell!¡±