Jinxing House was as fabulous and exquisite as its reputation suggested. The main hall was huge and open, with elegant young men and women dancing atop small stages set into the walls. Sliding paper-covered doors led to private dining rooms all around the edges, each one painted with different and brightly colored flowers. A set of stairs at the far end of the room led to a balcony wrapped around the main hall, where more doors concealed what Shun guessed were private dining rooms.
Led through the main hall to a smaller but still elegantly painted one below the staircase, Shun noticed the noise from the main hall faded to nothing once they passed a delicately carved archway. A silencing array, to keep the riotous noise from the constant party behind them from disturbing those beyond, no doubt.
The hall was straight, but it had several side passages, each with a half dozen unmarked doors. Further on, their guide led them up a set of stairs and into an open area where several dozen well-dressed men and women sat or wandered around, talking quietly amongst themselves.
"This is private function space," their guide told them, his voice soft and well-trained to be inobtrusive. "All those here are invited guests to the Grand Auction." There was a faint note of warning in the young man's voice. At a guess, he meant to remind Shun that these people were his rivals, not his friends.
"And which rooms are ours?" The hall beyond the open area had more doorways, these painted with stylized spirit beasts.
"Can I have the fox?" Liang Ren asked, before their guide could answer. "It'd be so appropriate."
"You may choose any empty room." The young man handed each of them a gemstone dangling from silver chains. "They will glow red if you touch a door to a room already selected. Blue if empty. Take it inside your chosen room and there'll be a statue of the city Guardian, Lord Tang Shi Jun, in an alcove. Set the gemstone in his hand and once it glows purple, you'll have marked the room for yourself."
"What if we wish to share a room?"
"There are two beds in each room, each big enough for two. If you wish more, I can send for an extra bed." The young man pointed to the gemstone in Shun's hand. "As for marking it yours, all you need to do is have everyone sharing the room repeat the process. Just be aware, once you've set your choice, you'll have to request assistance from the Head Keeper to change it."
That made sense. Shun looked at fake Shirong. "You and I share a room with Auntie Green. Master Tong? Young Master Liang? It's up to you." Truth to tell, he'd rather not be in the same room with either of these two. He wasn't sure he dared trust them yet."
"I prefer my privacy," Tong Si said and headed up the hallway to choose a room.
At the same time, Liang Ren grinned at Mo Qingshe, cocking an eyebrow inquiringly. She sneered, obviously amused but equally obviously not interested. "You're a thousand years too young for me, child. Go look for a fox kit your age."
Shun ignored the pair, leading fake Shirong down the hall until he found an empty room at the furthest end. Inside was as elegant as everything else in this place, too elegant for Shun, really.
"Reminds me of the rare bow.... Ah that's another of those words, isn't it? Flower language never comes out right. It keeps translating literally."
Shun reflected that he was going to have to learn some of whatever language it was fake Shirong used, if only to understand him better. "Try sounding it out."
The younger boy frowned thoughtfully. Then, "Hii lu ton."
It still didn't make sense, but at least it didn't make sense because it was a foreign word, not because it was a string of nonsense. "Heeltan?"
"Close. It's a hotel, back where I came from. Very expensive."
"And flower language?"
"Eeenguleesh."
Shun repeated the word. "From here on, if I look at you strangely, sound the word out for me. I'd rather not break my brain on your chopped up language."
Fake Shirong inclined his head. Turned his attention to the beds. "So, should we ask for a third bed for Mo Qingshe? Or shall I sleep on the floor."
The floor was covered in a soft carpet of a sort that made it difficult to walk. Anyone could sleep there comfortably enough. However, "You can share my bed... why are you blushing?"
Fake Shirong turned away, going to the window and opening it so he could gaze out into the courtyard below. "I... ah... you know how men and women shouldn't touch?"
"Do not even try to tell me you were a woman in that other life, Shirong Shidi. I'll know you're lying because you would have mentioned it a long time ago."
Fake Shirong's shoulders shook as he struggled not to laugh. "No. No, this Shidi wouldn't dare. But... this Shidi is...." he faltered.
"Another of those words?"
"Yes." Fake Shirong sighed. "Remember what Young Master Liang asked you, back at the arena? If you had something against 'doubling up'?"
Doubling up was slang for someone who loved their own sex better than the opposite. Liang Ren had offered simply to put him off his game, same-sex lovers being uncommon and a little looked down on. Shun said as much, adding, "What does that have to do with anything?"
It was Mo Qingshe who clarified, giggling as she watched them from the bed she'd obviously chosen for herself. "You may or may not be a doubler, nephew, but it seems our little Chosen One here is. And he likes you."
Shun blinked. Thought about it. Thought a bit harder and finally said, "You're my Shidi and you're not an adult. I'll go ask for a third bed."
#
Sleep came with difficulty. The unfamiliar and overly elegant surroundings bothered Shun. Their reason for being where they were worried at him. As for the sudden realization of why fake Shirong was so adamant about sharing his fate? Well, he wasn't sure how he felt about it.
Shun hadn't ever bothered thinking about romance. Half-demons like himself had no business hoping for any sort of relationship beyond friendship. Besides, he'd been so focused on training his power that he'd paid little attention to the eternal courting dance that surrounded him.
Even if he'd kept his thoughts away from such matters, he still felt oddly heartened. Knowing someone liked him that way was unexpectedly good for his morale. When that someone was the one who was prophesized to be his enemy it made him feel oddly smug. It'd never occurred to him that he could be liked for who he was, despite being - probably - the next King of Demons.
The idea of being liked that way set other interesting thoughts in his head. Ones he was going to have to shove straight back down where they'd come from. Shun had only just turned twenty, the official age of adulthood. Fake Shirong was barely nineteen; too young to court, at least by Leifeng sect standards. Not to mention neither of them had achieved a proper core. Until they did, distracting each other with romance was risky. Dual cultivation just wasn't safe yet.
An odd scent drifted through the room. Odd but also familiar. His Shizun was Master of the Alchemical Branch of Leifeng Sect and he'd long since learned to recognize the herbs and roots of his discipline. He recognized that odor, a blend of herbs that had a narcotic effect on most people. It was particularly effective on snakes, leaving him to wonder if someone had recognized his and Auntie Green's true natures.
Gathering his bedding over his nostrils, he shifted around so he could see the window. It was open, when it'd been closed before they'd gone to bed. Outside was dark, but the light from the courtyard below was enough. He spotted smoke drifting through the window and into the room.
Another shift let him look at Auntie Green. Her eyes were wide open, but something about the way she lay told him she was out cold. Snakes didn't have eyelids and apparently she didn't tend to use them when she slept in human form. He turned his attention on fake Shirong and was relieved to see him staring back, expression worried.
[Intruder,] Shun wrote in the air. [Be ready.] The smoke would knock a human out too, but it'd take longer. Likely whomever it was attempting to put them to sleep had more than enough time to do whatever they meant to do.
Fake Shirong's greatest advantage over his predecessor was his quick intelligence and willingness to do what he was told. He closed his eyes. Turned in his bed so he was pretty nearly face down, covering his nose. His body moved slow and peaceful, as if he were simply shifting in his sleep and resettling.
It took a while before a sound at the window told Shun someone was climbing in. He remained still, feeling the slight vibrations as they pulled themself over the sill and stepped onto the thick soft carpet. Shun regretted the stuff immediately. Its presence made it difficult to follow the intruder's movements.
A dark red-tinted light glowed, soft and barely visible. An answering glow formed on Shun's finger. His spatial ring's seal gem brightening slightly against his finger. Automatically he spun it around, hiding it inside his fist, and was pleased to see Fake Shirong doing the same. It was so pleasant, so refreshing, having a Shidi who actually used his brains for something.
The intruder moved towards Auntie Green, holding a small red gem in their hand as they examined her carefully. She was glowing slightly herself, telling Shun that the gem found things of magic. No doubt Shun would be glowing too, if the seal on his demonic power weren't still in place.
Shifting in his bed, forcing the intruder to freeze in place, Shun glanced at fake Shirong. Interesting. He was glowing too, though the shade was different. Paler. A blue tint that seemed impossible in this dim red light. Was this because he was transmigrated, or due to his status as Chosen One? There was no real answer.
Nor was this the time to worry about it. The intruder had stopped to stare at fake Shirong, as puzzled by the faint light as Shun was. If there was a moment to act, it was now, and Shun didn't hesitate. He spun out of his bedding, right behind the stranger, one arm sweeping around their neck, the other catching their elbow and pulling it back.
A moment later he was nearly flung to the ground by the heavier man's reaction. If he hadn't twisted just a bit harder, forcing the man into an even more painful position, he'd have been thrown.
Fake Shirong joined him, taking the man's feet out from under him with one of those odd twisting attacks of his. Sometime, Shun was going to have to have his Shidi teach him what he knew. The moves were obviously effective and definitely useful.
"Let go you little...."
"I don't think so. Shirong Shidi, light the lamp. I want to see who it is who thinks it wise to come poking around in a Leifeng Sect disciples' chamber."
Fake Shirong obeyed quickly, so a moment later Shun saw he was holding down the same young man who'd brought them to this place. Only now he was dressed in dark charcoal grey and looking very illicit indeed.
#
It took a little while to get Mo Qingshe woken up enough to help keep an eye on their captive. Shun sent fake Shirong downstairs to fetch one of the guards and, if he could, someone in charge. Jinxing House's reputation surely couldn't stand for one of their servants intruding on a guest. Even the fact that they were really guests of the auction, not Jinxing House itself shouldn't have mattered.
The servant looked downcast and embittered. Shun had covered his mouth with a length of cloth and used a rope from his spatial ring to tie the man down. He didn't struggle, though Shun kept close eye on his movements, watching for any attempt at magic, spiritual, or martial power. "I'm not going to bother questioning you," he told the man, once he'd finished waking Mo Qingshe. "We'll wait until the house guard comes."
A pleading look entered the man's eyes. He shook his head. Made a begging sound rather like a dog hoping for scraps. Was he afraid of losing his job? Or was there more to it than that? Jinxing House wasn't a death inn like that place they'd passed on the way to Tang City, but it wasn't impossible for it to have more to it than just elegant entertainment. The rich and powerful came here, after all, and while they certainly wouldn't be killed, or robbed, here, they might well be spied upon.
"Why shouldn't I?"
Mo Qingshe raised a brow. "Do you actually expect answers with his mouth covered, my Lord?"
"He can nod or shake his head. Anything beyond that will need me to trust him a great deal more than I do now." Shun eyed the man. Smiled sweetly. Patted his head like a puppy. "Now, do you have any reason why I shouldn't hand you over to the hotel guards?"
A vociferous nod.
"Because they'll kill you?"
Another nod, this one not quite so certain.
"Liar." Shun didn't know that for certain, but it certainly looked that way. "Sell you?"
An uncertain shake of the head. So the man wasn't a slave, or at least not a slave to Jinxing House. "Beat you?"
That got an absolute nod. Not that it'd surprise Shun at all. "You did put my aunt here to sleep and break into our room. A beating would be in order for most servants. Or is it that you got caught?"
Yet another nod and this one was quite honest. It also told Shun something important. "So they did send you in here?" Seeing agreement, he continued, "Is it because we're with Leifeng Sect?"
A frown. A shake of the head.
"All right. Is it because my companion is a snake-demon?"
Another shake of the head, though there was a thoughtful air to it that suggested the answer wasn't precisely true. "You knew she was, though. Did you recognize her?"
A nod.
Interesting. Shun leaned forward and lifted the gag. "Why is that important?"
"She was in Master Lu Yechuang's ring. He disappeared a month ago and we've been searching for him it ever since."
Shun didn't know who Master Lu was, but he did know one thing about the type of ring fake Shirong was wearing. "This Master Lu held her as his slave?"
Mo Qingshe sniffed. "The old man thought he was my master, just because he had me under control."
Ignoring her. Watching the young man nod agreement as if he'd forgotten he could talk, Shun asked "He's dead then?"
"You don't think he'd have given that damned ring of his up willingly, do you?" Another sniff. "Though the thief never did realize what he had. More's the pity. I could have beaten him and broken my bondage."
The young man stared at her. "Why didn't you protect him?"
"He didn't ask me to. You know perfectly well I don't do anything without orders."
Anxiously, the servant turned his attention back to Shun. "I recognized the ring and wanted to retrieve it for the Young Mistress."
Returning the ring to Master Lu's family wasn't possible without force. It'd been bound to fake Shirong and would remain so until the fake got himself killed. "The one who stole it attacked us and we claimed it as spoils." Shun narrowed his eyes at the servant. "Were you planning on killing my Shidi for it?"
"I...." The servant wilted. "I believed he'd murdered Master Lu and he's obviously too weak to do so honorably. I wanted...."
"What you wanted was obvious. But it makes no sense. Why didn't you just report us to the city guards?"
Asigh. "Because, the Young Mistress wanted to keep Master Lu's disappearancesecret until after the auction. He was, after all, the one in charge."
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The author has something to say:
Shirong: Nineteen's old enough where I come from.
Shun: You're still my Shidi. I can't do you.
Shirong: Any rule against my doing you?
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