Paths of Joy and Woe

Part 2/2

Anxious faces looked at Yutong as he stomped into the living room following Zhao Zhen. Well, Bai Chi was clearly anxious, Zhao Zhen was subtly anxious and immediately walked to the couch to hover over Bai Chi, and Zhan Yao wouldn't have looked anxious to anyone else, but was obviously on edge.

Yutong held up a hand before they could speak. "This is going to sound really fucking insane and I need you to give me a break before you have me committed."

This statement did not noticeably decrease the anxiety in the room, but Yutong went on. "A guy appeared in my office today claiming I'm his missing and kidnapped twin brother. He certainly looked like me. Then..." He took a breath. "Then he proved to me that he could teleport around my office."

Bai Chi looked impressed, the other two less so. Which wasn't really surprising for the master magician and master hypnotist.

"He gave me a paper he said his—our sister had written, predicting a highly improbable incident involving Ma Han and Wang Shao. This incident occurred about 30 minutes ago right in front of my eyes. At this point I'm provisionally ready to listen to what he has to say."

"I could have—" "You know it's—" Zhao Zhen and Zhan Yao started speaking at the same time, then stopped, looking at each other.

"I know," Yutong said to both of them. "That's part of why the two of you are here."

"What's the other part?" Zhan Yao was looking closely at him and stood, taking a step toward him.

Yutong looked between him and Bai Chi. "He claims that the two of you were kidnapped as well. That all three of us have...powers that our parents have hidden."

Zhao Zhen crossed his arms, looking uncomfortable. "It sounds like a cult recruitment."

With a half-smile, Zhan Yao glanced at him. "Can you imagine two less likely recruits to a cult than Bai Yutong and myself?"

Bai Chi nodded firmly, then scowled. "Wait..."

Everyone ignored him. "I told you it sounds insane," Yutong said with a shrug. "He's on his way and you can evaluate for yourself."

It was only a few minutes later that a doorbell rang and Zhao Zhen stood, motioning the others to stay put. He returned in a few moments with Qi Xun and two young women.

For a few moments, everyone was staring between Qi Xun and Bai Yutong, until the former rolled his eyes. "Yes yes, we're identical twins. Moving along..." He gestured to the two women next to him.

"Hi, I'm Qi Tian," the younger one said with a happy grin.

"And I'm Feng Shuang Shuang," the other one said.

"You don't have to introduce yourselves," Qi Xun said before the others could open their mouths. "We know who you are."

Shuang Shuang sighed, looking up at him. "You probably shouldn't be rude if you want to convince them."

Qi Xun glanced at her, then his expression softened. Well now, Yutong thought, he's brought his girlfriend along. That's certainly interesting.

"Bai Yutong tells us that you can teleport," Zhao Zhen said with a smile that clearly showed his distrust.

Shuang Shuang smiled at Qi Xun, then made a little shooing motion with her hands. Qi Xun disappeared in the puff of red smoke and appeared behind Zhao Zhen, who whirled, looking surprised for the first time Yutong could recall. "I can," Qi Xun said.

Zhao Zhen's brain was clearly working so hard that it seemed as if steam might come out of his ears. "Hmm," was all he said.

Yutong glanced at Zhan Yao, who was doing his best to look unimpressed but clearly was surprised, if not actually shocked.