— The Emperor’s Imperial Record, Entry No. 22 —

  The supervisor, field Overseer Liang, was here.

  I’d hoped that just fulfilling our agreement would be enough.

  I should’ve known better.

  All three of us shot up. I moved more slowly than the others—because, well, my injuries had a say in the issue. But that didn’t matter, before I could say anything, he bellowed, “That’s the little thief!”

  I wasn’t a thief, of course, but what did I expect from a man who had tried to extort me while I was still at Huo Qianlei’s home? I retorted, “I didn’t steal from you!”

  Which wasn’t the wisest of all my current ideas, but I was not going to play at being polite. I didn’t almost die trying to kill a spirit beast to bow to a man who couldn’t even control his appetite.

  I’d heard the stories. He oversaw all the farmers in his section—the wheat and grains part of the city: the Fields. He had power over all those sun-lashed, brow-beaten peasant farmers. I’d been told the stories of when the power got to him, it was rarer to hear of when the power didn’t get to him

  That’s what the thugs were for—to make sure that no one fought back.

  As if summoned by my thoughts, more cronies poured in—even more than last time. They were big, strong, and looked like they had never smiled a day in their lives.

  The overseer stepped forward, trying to be menacing, but Big Randy wasn’t having it. There was a reason he was called Big Randy.

  He was taller than even the hired thugs the overseer brought. Big Randy looked like he’d been forged on the same anvil he worked on—broad, burned, and barely contained by his coveralls.

  I don’t know why there were so many, but he had burn marks all over his body—like skin paintings clinging to the muscle.

  Decades of beating metal didn’t leave him a weak man.

  “Hold there, Liang.”

  Overseer Liang turned red, like a child that was told he couldn’t play with his favorite toy.

  “What is your business with the boy?”

  Igor was circling to the side of the hired force and Overseer Liang.

  He wasn’t trying to run.

  That was where the tools were. Pikes, tongs…hammers.

  They didn’t notice.

  Or maybe they just thought the fat, balding guy with the nice belt wouldn’t put up a fight.

  Overseer Liang tried to calm Big Randy down, but for some reason, he didn’t feel that confident, especially with his help starting to look wary.

  I was glad they decided to help me.

  “The child stole a spirit beast from me!” Liang snapped. “Surely you’re not defending him? Let me take him off your hands.”

  If I didn’t hear it myself, I wouldn’t believe my ears. How shameless could one man be? To have such thick skin!

  Big Randy immediately shot him a skeptical look, then turned to me, “ Aren’t you the one who went hunting the beavers?” I nodded, “Yes”

  “You hunted the spirit beast, right?” I nodded again, raising my right arm to show the proof.

  Overseer Liang started sweating. Visibly.

  You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

  “W…wee…well, he was supposed to come to me first. He hunted in my jurisdiction, everything done there has to be done with my permission.”

  He looked around, noticing the disbelief in the eyes of everyone, even his people.

  It seemed, seeing the person who managed to kill a spirit beast would be enough to make anyone wary. Even if he was hurt.

  The supervisor stepped back with only one leg.

  “It is my right!”

  This man was a child. Overgrown with bribed meat, silver, and power.

  “You and I both know, I am allowed control over everything past the start of the fields.”

  Igor spat on the ground, and the glob of saliva landed next to the field overseer’s feet. “And it ends where the forest starts. The only ones foolish enough to lay claim to the forest are the cultivators. And only the young ones.”

  Igor had two hammers in his hands now. I hadn’t realized how menacing the man could look.

  I almost stepped back, he didn’t look like a serious, plump, old man anymore, he looked dangerous.

  The overseer took one large swallow. It looked dry, like he was swallowing down tree roots and figs.

  Igor tossed Big Randy a hammer. Then picked up a tong.

  This couldn’t have been the first time things had gone wrong in this room.

  They were too prepared.

  Overseer Liang looked at his men. All 6 of them. They didn’t look confident.

  Neither did the overseer.

  “They are spirit beasts!!”

  “And?” I chimed in, I couldn’t sit back while my own business partners defended me.

  ‘Would this harm our relationship?’ I laughed internally—there was no bridge here to be burnt.

  “I hunted those things. They are mine. I get to decide how I use them.”

  The look of rage that infused him almost made me scared. Not of him. But because I thought his head would implode.

  His thugs weren’t as menacing when they were up against people who could—and would fight them back.

  This time, the overseer was staring at me alone. “You wait and see, you’re with the hunchback, right? Let’s see, then, I’ll make sure you regret this.” He pointed at everyone in the room one by one. “All of you.” He huffed. Then, stomped out, his men left first before him.

  Maybe it was my memory, but it looked like he was walking faster, like there was something at his heels.

  “Wait,” Igor had his tongs out in one hand and a hammer in the other. “I heard screaming before you came in here. You didn’t hurt any of our apprentices, right?”

  He didn’t ask it like a question. It sounded like a threat. Like a wolf growling at you for coming too close to its territory.

  Overseer Liang put his hands up with jittery speed, “N-no, he just fell, look, I’ll go fetch him for you.” He left, this time before Igor could get in another word, “Men—!!!”

  Big Randy turned to me, but he didn’t relax. Hammer still in hand.

  “You’d best take care of him. He doesn’t seem like he’ll leave you alone.”

  “Aye. Who’s this hunchback he was stalking about?” Igor put the tongs back in their place. But kept the other weapon.

  “Huo Qianlei. He’s the man who took me in when I first got to the city. “

  Igor looked at Big Randy, “Is he the man who took the lashings?”

  Big Randy looked at him like he had said something stupid, “Yes, Igor. Would you also like to tell us about his family situation?”

  “Ah? Are you sure? Wouldn’t that be inappropriate for the situation?“

  Big Randy tightened the grip on the hammer's handle.

  Igor looked at me. “If you have any money, it’d be best you move them. And, if the hunch—Huo Qianlei, still works in the fields, it’s best if he doesn’t anymore.”

  “Liang is a petty man.”

  “I understand,” I looked to both men, bowing at a corner angle, “Thank you for the help.”

  Big Randy turned to me, hand still tight around the handle, “ Don’t worry, we can’t leave our best business partner hangin', eh?”

  He clapped me on the back and I rocked forward. Forgetting how heavy his hands were.

  “Let’s go check on the apprentices, Igor. That bastard doesn’t have a single truthful bone in his body.”

  —Meanwhile, miles away, far from the heat of the forge—

  Huo Feng’s feet hit the earth.

  They struck the forest terrain with a force strange to mortal men.

  Now, the man, no longer a boy, was running, his clothes were in tatters, leaves and mud coated his exposed skin.

  Inhale.

  Exhale.

  Were they behind him? He looked back. No one. They hadn’t caught up yet.

  He had been fleeing from these people for the past 3 days, and he wouldn’t let himself be caught by—

  Huo Feng snagged his leg against a protruding root. For someone like him, that should have been no problem. But his pursuers weren’t ordinary people.

  *Whizz*

  A spear, long and thin with a serrated, jagged tip, soared towards him. Liquid wicked of it as it whistled through the air, he turned around….