Ajing looked at the black pigeon circling above. He had seen it the day before, then it vanished, and now here it was again. He raised his hand, and as if responding to an invisible command, the bird swooped down and landed neatly upon his palm.
He frowned. He didn't recognize this pigeon, and his uncle didn't know where he was, so who could have sent it? Wait… could it be from...
His eyes widened. He untied the folded paper from the bird's leg, his pulse quickening, and watched as it flew off into the gray distance.
The dagger, go to the hospital and find Bailu. Ask him to take you to the old man's hut. Try to find the golden dagger shaped like a snake.
You must find it, or Yunxi will be in great trouble.
---
Ajing blinked in confusion, tilting his head as though trying to read between the lines.
"God, this is making me insane," he muttered.
He swung himself onto his horse and took off.
---
Just a day before, Ajing had been wandering aimlessly around the market when a strange woman had pulled him into a deserted alley. He had struggled to free himself, but she was surprisingly strong, far stronger than she looked... and her grip humiliated him.
"Heyh— let— let go!"
He tried to speak, but her hand pressed hard against his mouth. When he finally managed to catch a glimpse of her, her face was mostly covered, leaving only a pair of sharp, feminine eyes framed by striking eyeliner that seemed to shout Boy follow me
When they were deep enough into the alley, the woman finally released him. Ajing spun around, anger burning in his eyes.
"You! How dare you touch me like that! Do you even know who I am?"
Yeah, right. As if that mattered anymore.
The woman didn't respond. She simply reached into her chest pocket, took out a scroll, and handed it to him.
"Yunxi asks for your help," she said, her voice muffled behind the veil. "This was given to you by a friend."
"A friend?" Ajing repeated, frowning. "I don't know any friend of mine or my family's who uses a physician's seal. And honestly…" he snorted, "I have a thing with doctors."
His tone carried mockery, but she ignored it.
"You need to help him," she said. "Or I'll have to stop my master from interfering."
She stepped closer, and Ajing instinctively backed away.
"Your friend will need backup," she continued, "or a scapegoat. And I'm not letting my master take the bait."
And just like that, she turned and disappeared down the alley.
When Ajing finally recovered his senses, he ran after her but she was long gone.
"Shit…" he breathed.
---
"Young master, I don't think you should interfere. This is beyond you now."
He Ju stared at his personal guard as though the man had just asked him to end his own life. The guard stepped back under that glare.
His father had ordered him to escort the Emperor on his mysterious journey. He had tried to refuse, but his father warned him sternly not to burn their family along with a man who could destroy the whole world and still not feel avenged.
He Ju had persisted, until his sister told him that Yunxi might as well be one of the reasons the Emperor had personally decided to travel. Then, without another word, he agreed.
They embarked on the journey and when they finally arrived, He Ju was assigned to the royal soldiers tasked with inspecting and securing the area before the Emperor's arrival. He went through the motions, helpless, he couldn't act. One mistake and he'd be executed before he could even blink. Yet Yunxi was somewhere in those walls.
After the patrol, he expected they would return immediately, but instead, the army chose to camp and move at daylight. He wanted to reach that boy before the Emperor did, but because they camped overnight, by the time they set off in the morning, the Emperor had already arrived.
He Ju clenched his fists, frustration burning through him. Yunxi was in there, trapped, surrounded by soldiers coming in and going out, none speaking a word of what happened inside.
He thought of fighting his way in, of what would happen if he did. The Emperor's wrath. His father. His sister. One reckless move could destroy them all. The more he thought, the heavier his head felt.
He slumped down, weary. He didn't even know what kind of feeling he carried anymore. Ever since Yunxi had left, he had felt hollow. Empty.
Yunxi had risked sneaking out of the city. So why couldn't he risk sneaking into house before leaving? That question weighed on him.
He Ju could do anything for that boy. Anything.
But Yunxi… seemed to think otherwise.
---
"Please stop! Please— he wasn't part of this! Please!"
A scream tore through the inn.
"Did you hear that?"
He Ju turned sharply to his guard. The man's eyes pleaded for him not to go, he could destroy himself if he badged in on the Emperor. He Ju shoved him aside and ran through the inn doors.
The soldiers by the stairs eyed him warily as he looked up toward the second floor, silently praying to see through the walls, just to know if Yunxi was safe.
Then the cries grew louder.
A figure emerged first, the Emperor.
His robe was splattered with blood, dark stains marring his hands and face. He Ju's breath caught. He prayed that it wasn't Yunxi's blood.
And then… Han Ji's hand dragged a limp body into view, a man in white robes now dyed red. He rolled down the stairs like a discarded doll, long black hair framing his bloodied face.
"Brother Nim!!"
Yunxi's scream cut through the air like a blade. He thrashed toward the stairs, tears streaming, but Han Ji's hand shot out, seizing a fistful of Yunxi's red hair and yanking him back.
This was familiar,
It was all too familiar.
This.....this was just like the day Han Ji had made him watch his mother die in agony.
And now, history repeated itself. Yunxi's mind broke under the weight of it, the memories flooding in. How he'd lied of Nim forcing himself on him, how he'd accused the man falsely, how he'd stood silent while the he was punished for something he hadn't done.
But back then Yunxi had trembled. He was terrified, not just of Han Ji's wrath, but of what would happen if he saw him with another.
Han Ji didn't own him. They weren't bound by relations or anything if that sort. Yet Yunxi felt trapped, as though he had no right to form any other bond, friendship, love, anything.
Perhaps it wasn't Han Ji's chains that held him. Perhaps it was his own fear.
Maybe he believed Han Ji would destroy him if he ever reached for someone else.
Perhaps he believed Han Ji would leave if he didn't stay still.