Auntie Ling looked over his shoulder. She made a soft clicking sound whenever he used a word she didn’t know so that he knew to read it aloud. The badger’s lessons in the People’s language with Little Ruyun were ongoing, but it was a long road to becoming fluent, even with a mind sharpened by cultivation.
The two of them looked up when Sun Han came through the doors, still dressed in his wood-worker disguise from the raid earlier.
“I apologize for being late,” the scholar said, bowing. “The Chen family had many questions for me.”
“Come in and close the door behind you,” Hong Fei said. “We have much to discuss.”
With a huff, Auntie Ling left his side to make herself comfortable on the settee.
Hong Fei waited until his summonses were ready. “Let’s start by you telling me Xiàowèi Chen’s condition.”
Sun Han nodded. “The xiàowèi’s health isn’t in jeopardy. Neither is his cultivation, which is a testament to the orderliness of his practice. I’d dearly love to know the details.” The scholar reached up as if to straighten his hat, but caught himself partway when he realized he wasn’t wearing one. With a slight frown, he continued, “The treatment plan I offered should ensure that he can continue ascending, should he desire to do so.”
“The arm’s loss is permanent, then?” Hong Fei asked.
“There are medicines and spells that can regenerate limbs, but access to those is notoriously difficult and expensive. The people who can create those kinds of miracles tend to demand much in return.” Sun Han gestured to a covered bowl on the table. “Is that for me?”
At the dūtóu’s nod, Sun Han bowed in gratitude before making himself comfortable. He smiled in anticipation of the soup.
Hong Fei gave him a few moments to warm himself with the food before asking his next question: “When can the xiàowèi be returned to fighting strength?”
“Physically, he’s fit right now. How well he fights, however, will depend on how quickly he can adapt his martial arts.” Sun Han paused to consider the state of Chen Wenbin’s cauldrons and meridians. “And the same is true for his spell arts. Mid-summer, perhaps? Assuming he isn’t slow.”
“The xiàowèi is most certainly not slow,” Hong Fei observed. “He will likely dedicate himself to the quickest recovery possible.” He tapped a finger on the table, slotting the information into place. “You will assist if asked and comply with any reasonable request.”
“We need him,” Sun Han noted.
“We do,” Hong Fei confirmed. “Zhang Dehua is already stretched thin managing the family’s people and interests on the mainland. More than that, he’s not a fighter, not like the kind we need here on Wild Green Island.”
Sun Han’s head tilted in thought. His spoon tapped the rim of the bowl. “In a way, the xiàowèi’s injury might’ve saved his life.”
Hong Fei’s brows rose in disbelief. “In what way?”
“I found a wrinkle along one of his meridians. A small thing really—I didn’t give it much attention at the time. No cultivation path is perfect…” Sun Han paused to eye Hong Fei. “Well, there is one. But outside of the magic provided to Fate’s Attendant, distortions are common occurrences. They’re one of the reasons why the climb in power becomes more and more dangerous over time.”
“This wrinkle would’ve jeopardized the xiàowèi’s life?” Hong Fei asked.
“I can’t help thinking…” Sun Han set his spoon down. “It occurs to me that Chen Wenbin had been cursed for some time.”
“But that curse is gone now,” Hong Fei pointed out. “It was removed when we killed Ma Zhi.”
“I’m aware,” Sun Han said, “but think it through with me: the curse creates a hidden trap within the xiàowèi. Perhaps it’s the same hidden trap that affected the Yu family elders, the one causing them all to fail in the ascent to higher realms. Then, when the curse is removed, there comes an opportunity to discover the trap and have it removed.”
“And lose an arm in the process?” Hong Fei asked, doubtful.
Sun Han nodded, the eagerness of it making clear he was convinced. “Yes, because the curse on our duchess is still active, which causes the arc of fate to bend toward misfortune. A good thing for Xiàowèi Chen is turned into a bad thing for Duchess Yu.”
Auntie Ling barked, and Sun Han translated for her. “Cause and effect aren’t simple. Pull a thread here, and the weave weakens elsewhere. Fate is rife with hidden connections.”
“The web,” Hong Fei said, thinking about one of the badger’s early lessons on the numbers above people’s heads.
“A web, an ocean swirling with mysterious currents, the very air we breathe—there are many ways of understanding the Dao of Fate.” Sun Han sighed and pushed away the bowl in front of him. “They all point to an unfathomable truth our minds can’t grasp in its entirety, not at our realm of cultivation.”
Auntie Ling huffed in agreement. She pointed to Hong Fei and grunted, her tail rising as if stressing an important point.
Sun Han shrugged in reply. “That’s obvious, isn’t it? The problem is that we don’t know who or what the source is.”
“Translate for me,” Hong Fei commanded. “That was more complex than I could interpret.”
“Ah, my apologies. Our auntie said that turning around the Yu family’s fortune requires undoing the curses upon the household. That would stop fate from bending against them and empower you at the same time, the points earned in the process making you a more potent defender.” Sun Han sat back in his seat. “If there was only a way to trace the numbers above people’s heads back to their sources.”
Auntie Ling grunted, pointing toward the satchel on Hong Fei’s belt.
“I understood her this time,” the summoner said. “She’s wondering if there’ll be a milestone that helps with doing that.”
Sun Han nodded. “It would be helpful, wouldn’t it?”
“Which brings us back to Fate Points,” Hong Fei said, stroking his beard. “I have four now, and there will be another three once I reunite Rock Head and Ugly Dog. That’s a start.”
Auntie Ling huffed. “A healthy one,” Sun Han translated for her. “And there will be many more than three in the future. It is the fate of Fate’s Attendant.”
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
“I do like the sound of that,” Hong Fei said, smiling wryly. “My plan is to draw cards, then decide on how to proceed once I know my options. Agreed?”
Both Sun Han and Auntie Ling nodded. They watched eagerly as Hong Fei took his card from the satchel.
Hong Fei
Fate Points: 4 | 18
Realm: Qi Gathering 1
Cultivation: 16
Alignment: N/A
Attributes
- Body: 6
- Mind: 4
- Soul: 6
Traits
- Sword Prodigy
- Fate's Attendant
Milestones
- Three is the Direction
- Five is the Journey, Together
Cards
- Uncommon Badger
- Scholar Sun Han
Not seeing any reason to delay further, Hong Fei poked the number of Fate Points available with his finger. The cost was two points, which he paid willingly, and five cards were then painted into existence—each a night sky with stars shimmering in the darkness.
At his touch, the first to be revealed was a sword, seemingly plain to the eye and yet the longer one looked, the more one noticed a depth hidden among its features. There was a heft to the weapon that forced a closer look.
Hong Fei choked at seeing it. His thoughts tilted at the impossibility of what was before him. He didn’t need the text at the bottom to be translated. He already knew what it said: “Fortune’s Favor.”
“Heavens,” he muttered. “How is this possible?”
Meanwhile, Auntie Ling and Sun Han also stared wide-eyed at the card.
The scholar eventually cleared his throat. “Indeed, it seems objects can have ghosts. Or at least experience regret.”
Offense and defense were both listed at 1 each, which matched Hong Fei’s understanding. The sword was exceptional, but it wasn’t magical. That effort had put into the scabbard. It’d been a subtle message from the emperor. The Hong family had spent decades debating its meaning, with no definitive conclusion reached.
On the back, the card read “Equipment.”
Auntie Ling pointed to the other cards, which roused Hong Fei from his surprised state. He shook his head and wondered if it was even necessary. What could he do other than choose the sword? His shame—at least this aspect of it—could be erased with a single gesture. And yet, the Yu family’s dire situation needed more than what a single sword could provide.
“She’s right,” Sun Han said. “If nothing else, we’ll learn more about the nature of what can be summoned.”
Hong Fei took a breath and stood up. He set his card down before pacing around the table. He went around twice before he settled his emotions.
When the next card was revealed, he jumped like he’d seen a ghost, which of course he had.
The card was another 1 and 1, and it featured a fine-looking stallion with a rich brown coat and bright intelligent eyes. His mane was braided in a style common to the imperial cavalry. The name at the bottom read “Desert Rain” and on the back of the card was “Gallant.”
“Gods,” Hong Fei whispered.
Auntie Ling approached the card’s projection so that she was snout to muzzle, looking intently at Desert Rain.
“You know this beast?” Sun Han asked.
Auntie Ling shook her head.
“He is—he was my horse,” Hong Fei said. “The Askalousans killed him instead of taking him for their own use. They did it to spite me.”
“I see,” Sun Han said, looking at the card in this new light.
Auntie Ling’s eyes narrowed.
“What’ll appear next?” Hong Fei asked. “My old comrades? My… my father and mother?”
“Perhaps…” Sun Han licked his lips. “Perhaps this is a reward.”
Auntie Ling grunted a question at the scholar.
Sun Han shook his head in response. “That’s only a conjecture. It might also be the nature of the web or something else entirely.”
The badger nodded resolutely. She backed away from the horse’s image floating in the air, and a moment later gestured to the third card.
“What do I do if it’s one of my parents?” Hong Fei asked, the question dominating his thoughts.
Auntie Ling looked him in the eyes, simultaneously tapping her chest with a paw.
Hong Fei snorted. “Do what’s right, is it?”
She held her head up high and nodded.
A wry smile spread across Hong Fei’s face. He took a long breath and recalled what the eyes of a dūtóu should look like. He brought back that aura of command to use on himself. What did he face if not another challenge? This was simply something else to temper his warrior’s heart against.
The next card didn’t need to be touched, responding as if reading his intent. He and the others watched in fascination as the colors poured from the glittering stars. Just as the cards had learned that Hong Fei’s touch indicated a choice, now they had done something similar with his intentions.
Hong Fei soon saw with relief that it was not one of his parents. Nor was it an old comrade. The card displayed a spear of ice against a background of esoteric symbols and geometric patterns. The offense value was 4, and defense was 0. The words on the front read “Ice Spear,” and on the back were “Spell” and “Piercing.”
These were English words he didn’t know. Testing the card, he found that it turned over in response to his thoughts, and placing his attention on the keywords brought up their tooltips.
“Fascinating,” Sun Han remarked, peering closely at the card.
Hong Fei didn’t know whether such magics were easy or difficult. The fact that it worked was what mattered and so, choosing to focus on the practical, he reminded Sun Han to translate the text for all the tooltips, which the scholar did.
Gallant: “A brave and noble soul willing to face adversity for the sake of others, never retreating. At death’s brink gains bonuses to stamina and endurance.”
Equipment: “An item to be worn or wielded. The burden on the summoner’s soul is halved unless otherwise noted.”
Spell: “Magic to be invoked at will. The specific cost in essence, qi, or shen will depend on the specific spell, with energy conversions taking place to make up for deficits. The burden on the summoner’s soul is halved unless otherwise noted.”
Piercing: “Highly efficient at penetrating armor and defensive arts.”
“This is magic?” Hong Fei asked, pointing to the Ice Spear card and seeking clarification. “The cards can teach this spell to me?”
Auntie Ling gestured, as if placing a box over her head. He took her to mean that Ice Spear wasn’t something learned, but worn like equipment.
Another thought came to him: “I don’t understand how a spell can feel regret.”
Auntie Ling shrugged and looked to Sun Han. The scholar also seemed to not know the answer. “It’s possible that since the cards are based on a pre-existing system of magic from another world, Fate is replicating that system and providing the same kinds of tools. The spell is useful and nothing else.”
“What a strange, strange world that Earth must be,” Hong Fei commented.
Auntie Ling barked in agreement. She’d apparently had the same thought.
Hong Fei pondered the cards’ magic, reviewing the information he’d learned. “So if I’m understanding this correctly,” he said, “then me picking this spell would occupy one point’s worth of my Soul attribute. And for Fortune’s Favor, it would be half a point?”
“That’s how I read it, too,” Sun Han replied. “But like any other summons, you can choose whether a card is active or not. A day will come when you have more cards than your soul can carry. You’ll need to decide which to use at any given moment.”
Auntie Ling nodded in agreement.
Hong Fei continued to consider the projection floating in front of him. “This is… not simple.” He ran a hand through his hair, feeling like he was finally understanding the complexity the cards represented. “Thought must go into creating an overall strategy, as well as the different tactics required for the scenarios we’re likely to face.”
His heart fell as he realized... “I can’t pick Desert Rain, can I?”
His summonses gazed at him with pitying eyes. That was all the answer he needed.
“Or at least… not yet,” he said, his mind working to find a solution. “I have the milestone Five is the Journey, Together, which means cards aren’t dismissed until I’m ready for a new draw.” He held up a hand to stall Sun Han’s protest. “I understand the situation we’re in may require a new draw before then. What I’m asking is this: do we know if cards can become available again after they’ve been previously discarded?”
Sun Han and Auntie Ling looked at each other, and the badger was the one who answered. She ducked her head, the meaning: “It’s uncertain.”
Hong Fei blew out the breath he’d been holding and shook his head at the vagaries of fate and fortune. A wise man would be content with what he’d already gained from the cards, except that Hong Fei couldn’t consider himself wise—not with Desert Rain’s soulful eyes looking at him.
He reached for the fourth card in an attempt to banish the temptation from his heart. Light seeped from the stars, swirling in a way that he’d not seen before. The result was a vortex, not unlike a whirlpool but in a myriad of colors, and at its center a multi-faceted crystal appeared.
The numbers were 1 and 1, and the text at the bottom read “Advancement Stone.”
Hong Fei mentally bid the card to turn over, and he saw the keyword “Advancement.”
The tooltip read:
“Permanently increase the offensive and defensive values of a card, adding to the burden on the summoner’s soul as appropriate. Can be applied to all summoned cards, including those with the keywords Equipment and Spell. One-time use only.”
Both Sun Han and Auntie Ling sat up, like a puppeteer had suddenly pulled on their strings. Their gazes turned excited. Hungry, even.
“What does this mean?” Hong Fei asked.
“You can…” Sun Han clenched his hands to keep them for taking the summoner’s card. “You can ascend us toward the Dao.”
ten chapters ahead.
Auntie Ling, a summons
Scholar Sun Han, a summons
Chen Wenbin, the xiàowèi of the Yu's soldiers
Little Ruyun, Kang Lian's daughter