Crimson Qi, Exiled Beautiful Lady Falls in Love with a Shy Demon

For a Song (2 of 2)

~TIEN LYN~

Mother Xho herself emerged from behind Jiang, screeching: "Come, come, come!" and grabbed her shirt with knobby fingers. Well, if anything, it was an excuse to leave the nets and stretch her aching back. Tien Lyn stood up stiffly and without a glance at her jailers let the old witch lead her away. The witch, in turn, followed Shan Jiang.

In the daylight, Shan Jiang turned out to be an entirely ordinary-looking man of maybe thirty, more than slightly worn for wear, and vicious sunburn despite a wide-brimmed hat, oversized shirt, long baggy pants, and a large silk neck-tie hiding nearly every inch of him. But any patch of skin that came into view was angry pink and peeling. Even the tips of his ears were angry pink and peeling. No wonder he hurried his two ladies away from the docks down the path cut through the abundant greenery to a small palm-leaves roofed hut.

By now, Tien Lyn was used to the gruesome decor of the Islands, so she barely glanced at the poles that skewered a dozen of demon skulls between them by the witch's hut. Once inside though, she gaped.

The middle of the hut was given to boxes covered by mysterious powders, roots, dried sea creatures and living plants. The walls were lined with shelves stuffed with rows and rows of jars, each sealed with wax and inscribed with mysterious symbols.

"Are any of them poisons?" Tien Lyn asked Shan Jiang shakily.

The man laughed: "Not very subtle, are you, Gracious Lady? But no, not really. The old dear is the pirate's venerable priestess, not their healer."

He picked up a jar, rotated it, and proffered it to her for closer scrutiny. It was crudely glazed and dusty. Tien Lyn traced the symbol on the wax seal with her finger. "So what is it? Can you read these symbols?"

Shan Jiang shook his head: "No. It may mean something to her, but it's not in any language I know. I copy them to the best of my ability on her command. So, if you wish to gamble on your vengeance amounting to severe indigestion, it's your choice."

Tien Lyn's patience with his antics grew short. "Then why did you bring me here?!"

He took his hat off and fanned himself. "I thought you needed a break from that awful sun, Lady."

Tien Lyn sighed. "But they must have real herbalists, no?"

"Surgeons and herbalists, aye. They sail with their ships."

She caught his sleeve: "You go on their ships, don't you? You're welcome there?"

Shan Jiang carefully disentangled her fingers from the fabric: "Yes and yes, but I am here on my own volition and on Jung Hwa's forbearance. Don't forget that, Lady."

Tien Lyn dropped herself on a box of yet more mystery jars with a sigh. "Well, maybe there is another way. A knife?"

"A knife for whom, I might ask? Yourself? The fortunate groom?" Jiang scratched his cheeks leaving bits of dead skin stuck in his short, patchy beard.

"Jung Hwa." Tien Lyn replied darkly and looked away.

Both Shan Jiang and Mother Xho cackled. Ancestors, she'd forgotten the witch was even there, she was so quiet and small. But now she swirled around the hut, lurching on her old feet, and belting out in a strangely loud voice: "Jung Hwa is strong! She drinks sea urchin tea!" over and over. There was no talking over her yelling.

Shan Jiang sat next to Tien Lyn and propped his cheek on his fist. When Mother Xho's chant finally turned to quieter cackles, he said: "Well, I suppose that answers one riddle. The fighting women here aren't built like any other woman I've seen. Maybe it's the urchin tea."