Legend of Fei

13. How About 4 Imperial Coins?

Xie Yun pulled A'Fei along as the two of them set off running after the parade. The flower printed outfits took longer, than he thought, to find and longer to wear. They were late because he wanted to make A'Fei's hair. He was only midway when the parade passed by their inn.

They watched the procession from the window on the first floor.

"This is the best view we could have." Xie Yun was really elated to be able to see all the activities all at once. He wanted to paint it later; his feelings of elation and joy. At the end of the parade were flower dance and gong show that he wanted to see up close. So, A'Fei pulled her hair into a simple bun despite his many protests and they set off running. A'Fei was a bit stiff, often pulling back on his hand, which had become a signal between them of some presence. Someone was following them. It has been a mild relief that their room was empty though the inn was not, upon their return. 

They didn't bother nonetheless. They mingled with the crowd that was skittering around the end of the procession. Once Xie Yun found a good spot to watch, they went about enjoying the festivities, only to return to the inn past midnight.

"What is this technique called? I didn't get around to asking the name." A'Fei did a quick sweep of the room, looking for any physical hindrances that were not visible to the eyes. Nothing.

"Reveal. It can be used for a wide variety of things. Not many know of this technique. It was a dying technique. Luckily masters knew of it, so we could learn." A'Fei only nodded looking at the things Xie Yun had spread out on the table.

"Not sleeping?"

Xie Yun smiled, "I want to paint the procession."

With that, they ended their day and A'Fei drifted to sleep, looking at Xie Yun painting. The next morning, she was woken up with a rattle on the door.

"Early breakfast." The announced voice jerked her awake. She looked at Xie Yun's sleeping peacefully and pulled herself out of bed, dragging her legs with effort and opened the door. The server smiled, despite the pre-dawn time.

"Sorry to disturb your sleep, Miss. You requested early breakfast." The man motioned to the tray and A'Fei moved aside, too early to move her tongue from the base of her mouth. The server walked in and A'Fei felt the prickle at the back of her neck, along with a slight brush to her right. On instinct, she threw her hand out and felt the unseen person collide and heard them fall.

"Get out." her threatening words sounded groggy. She closed her eyes, joined her hand, pulled them up with effort, collecting qi and forced it towards the point she heard the person crash. She felt the intrusion in her qi and kicked the person, hard. Keeping her hands aligned, she kicked them once again. 

In all the commotion, Xie Yun had woken up and was by her side at once, aiming his sword, still sheathed to jab at the blank air and A'Fei felt the person being pushed out of the room. One look from A'Fei and the server scrambled out a moment later and she shut the door.

A'Fei was awake now but Xie Yun yawned widely. A'Fei pushed him back towards the bed, "Go sleep."

"No. We better set out. It's not safe here anymore," he mumbled but A'Fei just shook her head and pushed him on bed.

"Sleep." He smiled, nodded and drifted to a light sleep, hearing her going around the room.

They had planned to leave early morning for Nanping but did not expect the procession to go on late into the night. A'Fei freshened up, sat down for breakfast, barely ate anything and got up. Unwilling to step out of the room, she sat on the edge of the bed by Xie Yun's feet, put her head against the wall and closed her eyes to practise in Zen. Her aim was to not make use of Poxue skills.