Shuli Go Stories Vol. 2: A Large Debt

Part 7

The next morning they left the gambling den just after sunrise – Mei having promised double his losses plus interest to the owner – and set off towards the docks, where Mei promised he still had a deal with a merchant ship heading east.

"You mean the one that sold you out to the guard when you couldn't pay?"

"No, that was a different ship, after the captain of the one I did pay for found me trying to sleep with his sister."

"So our escape relies on a man who's already turned you out once and whose sister you bedded?"

"Tried to bed. And yes. That was three days ago now though, I'm sure he'll be fine."

"And what about passage for me?"

"Well, you'll probably have to work for your keep, but it shouldn't be hard for a Shuli Go..."

Lian wanted to let him know just how terrible his plan was, but she didn't have a better one, and she wanted to leave Chongqing as quickly as possible, preferably without any conflict. Working her way east before coming back to the Empire wasn't the worst solution she could think of.

They reached the shore and hid atop a low roofed building adjacent to the docks, then surveyed the situation. The docks were already filling up with men and cargo coming and going, the usual dockside vendors also opening their stores. Most importantly, there were only four city guard on watch, each on two slow, leisurely patrols. Lian did not expect it to be difficult to avoid them.

"That one over there," Mei pointed to the ship second farthest from them – a medium sized one with one large sail painted the eastern merchant blue. "We need to get aboard quickly, the captain said he was leaving at first dawn."

"Ok," Lian responded, wrapping her sword in a cheap piece of fabric that they'd stolen from the room the night before.

"You ready?" Mei asked.

Lian nodded, and they descended the side of the building, then waited for a set of laborers making their way to the dock for a day's work: their clothes and appearance as haggard as Mei's and Lian's. The pair fell in behind the laborers, hoping to blend in. The laborers headed to the first available ship, and Lian went as if to follow them, but Mei pulled away, heading straight to their target. Lian paused momentarily between the two paths before quickly trotting to catch up with Mei. She glanced around nervously to see if anyone had noticed the oddity of her path, but it was still too early for anyone to care. The two pairs of guards were each interacting with the merchant stalls a hundred yards away from the piers, and the way was clear. Lian and Mei both picked up their pace as they reached the halfway point to their ship.

Then a full division of the city guard came around a corner from the other end of the dock, near their ship. Twenty soldiers in armor, spears and swords, walking on a direct path to intercept them.

Mei grabbed Lian's hand and whispered, "We need to run!"

Lian squeezed his hand back in warning, "If we run, they'll notice and stop us."

"If we don't run they'll spot us anyway. That's the same group of guards that arrested me..."

"Just keep walking, nice and calm, keep your head down—"

But Lian knew it was too late. Mei was panicking, his entire body vibrating through to his hands. More than anything he wanted to avoid capture, and for once he was not clever enough to know how to get what he wanted. So he let go of her hand and sprinted, straight towards the ship, still a hundred and fifty yards away.

"Shit," Lian cursed, jogging to catch up to him, hoping that their pursuit looked like two lovers in a fight and not two escaped convicts making a run for it.