5 Chapter 4 - A Rocky Start

Fourth Line of Nine: The dragon looking as if he were leaping up, but still in the deep. There will be no mistake.

---Book of Changes

I am the one who will crush the Qing utterly. With the power of sun and moon I will smash through the boundaries of Helanshan pass. With fire and fury I shall come to the city of the Nanluo kings, and the might of the Yanhuang will rise again.

---President Sun, Legacy of the Hegemon

///////

Jia Xu ran a hand through her hair, mulling through Feng Xia's report.

The pair from the Flying Dragons had given the shamanic equivalent of a middle finger to both her and Taeyun, openly mocked their inability to deal with the spirits, dropped the bombshell that Mohan was back, defeated a plague spirit, and then went on to eat lunch, set up their apartment, and watch TV for the rest of the day.

Is that what the Europeans meant by all in a morning's work? The two hadn't done anything of note today either, other than meeting with Taeyun for what she supposed was a similar rundown of the information they had given yesterday.

Feng Xia had been particularly indignant about Joyce's single-handed defeat of a plague spirit they had been struggling to contain for weeks. The fatalities had increased as it continued to stay at large, but to her relief, the patients lying in the quarantined hospital ward were now likely to recover.

But what bothered Feng Xia was that Joyce had defeated it by pouring...salt. And then Spade had banished it with more salt. Salt. Not even something of spiritual value.

Jia Xu sighed. It was a big enough problem that the Flying Dragons were really back, and not just as imposters who would have to lean on the Council. Now they were using salt to get rid of demons.

Was the salt some kind of conduit for their power? Was it from a holy lake or blessed by Mohan in some capacity? They had apparently used almost half a kilogram, so it couldn't be something rare or expensive unless Mohan had acquired a mine or an oil-well.

Or maybe they noticed Feng Xia's tracking spirits and used the salt as a distraction. But given their open disregard for security systems, they surely would have ripped the spells apart by now if they knew...or cared. For all purposes, they probably didn't have any concern about being watched, and they certainly didn't expect anyone to be capable of stopping them.

All things considered, the two were shaping up to be a real headache. However...Jia Xu looked at the stack of reports on rogue spirits and inexplicable occurrences that had overwhelmed her subordinates. They could be useful for now. She was pulled out of her solo brainstorming session by a knock on her door.

"Chairman!" Feng Xia called. Jia Xu shook off the last of her thoughts.

"Come in," she called.

///////

Pania silently snarled in annoyance as Feng Xia yet again used a tracking spell on Pania to find and destroy the tracking spell Pania placed on the tracking spell Feng Xia placed on Joyce and Spade.

Maybe she was being lazy and completely unsubtle, but Pania didn't feel like weaving her own spells into the fray when a specialist like Feng Xia was already on it.

Joyce and Spade didn't have any contracts with spirits, she was sure of it. Pania frowned, musing over what that meant. Shamans drew spiritual energy from their surroundings by using their contracts with spirits as a conduit and channel, not for convenience but for necessity.

Even Taeyun and Jia Xu, two of the most powerful shamans of their time were no exception to the rule. But if Mohan was still alive and actively training students, rules lost their significance. After all, hadn't Joyce and Spade banished a plague spirit with only a bit of salt?

The two shamans had come and left a few hours ago, stopping for Joyce to buy something from a Hokkienese vendor near the building.

"Is that even good?" Spade asked. Joyce nodded vigorously.

"Tastes like tax evasion," she replied.

Pania watched them leave the range of her wards, an additional layer of tracking spells on them going unnoticed. But now that Pania's tracking spells were gone, the spirit hiding in her collar like an upset cat, she would have to resort back to placing tracking spells on Feng Xia to get the latest updates.

"Are you tracking them?" Taeyun's voice broke Pania's train of thought. She stood up as Taeyun entered, Luco trailing behind him.

"Yeah, to be specific, I'm tracking Feng Xia's tracking-" Taeyun raised his hand and she fell silent. Her boss looked out the window in the direction Joyce and Spade had left, a thoughtful look on his face.

"It's fine, just leave them be for now." Taeyun smiled at her. "What do you think about them?"

Pania blinked. She shot Luco a questioning look. He closed his eyes. Jerk.

"To be honest, I think they're crazy and we should get rid of them. Or kick them out. The situation here's volatile enough and neither of them seems to be very sane," she said. Taeyun nodded for her to go on.

"They took down both our wards and the Shaman Council's for no good reason," Pania continued, mentally running through the events, "And then came to ask us for work. They're either desperate or arrogant enough to risk being throttled just to show off, and we don't need an uncontrollable element hovering around right now....Not to mention, they both feel off."

Taeyun nodded slowly. "Off?" he muttered to himself. "Off." He looked at Pania. She looked back. It probably wasn't what he had wanted to hear, but it was true.

Joyce had called the banishing "exorcising a demon with salt", and that could have been her lacking Chinese, considering how many words she mispronounced and her inability to read, but Pania had a nagging feeling she had missed something. Something important.

"Well, that's certainly difficult for you," Taeyun said. He had a compassionate look on his face and Luco was looking at her with pity. Alarm bells went off in Pania's head.

"Me? Why would that be difficult for me?" Pania asked. Taeyun smiled sympathetically.

"I want you to act as the liaison between Hengshan and the Flying Dragons," he said.

Pania's jaw dropped. "No. Wait. Boss!" Luco shook his head mockingly, barely suppressing his laughter. Taeyun put a hand on her shoulder.

"They specifically mentioned you, Pania. This is an important role and I know you will do it well." His expression grew serious. "Jia Xu will be acting soon, and I have no doubt that Feng Xia will be assigned to a similar role. Your job will be to watch her as much as it will be to watch those two." Behind him, Luco nodded with fake solemnity.

"So you want me to get them on our side?" Pania asked, steadily ignoring Luco.

Taeyun shook his head. "I want you to keep them off Jia Xu's side. I've no doubt that the news about Mohan will spread like wildfire. We can't afford to have people thinking that she has that man on her side. Anything else...will be up to your discretion."

Pania nodded slowly. "So I definitely shouldn't track them."

"You definitely shouldn't track them," Taeyun said firmly. He glanced at Luco. "And since Luco seems so pleased with the arrangement, I'll have him help you."

At Luco's shocked expression, it was all Pania could do to stop herself from laughing.

///////

Joyce walked into the kitchen in her loose lounge clothes, refilling her cup to 25% capacity for a fourth time before ambling back to the couch.

"For god's sake, can you just fill the whole cup and stop going back and forth?" Spade snapped as she plopped down across from him. Joyce rolled her eyes.

The tracking spirits behind her flew in circles around the knot they were tied to, sending waves of cool wind over the room. As the spirits grew increasingly frantic, the wind picked up and sent Joyce's ponytail flapping in every direction. Spade stared as strands of hair continued to slap her in the face.

"Let them go already," Spade said. Joyce looked at him with a betrayed expression.

"But we don't have AC, I'll die of heat without them!"

"Maybe you wouldn't be hot if you stopped moving around and washed your face," he said, letting his hands drop to his lap with a thud. Kids these days and their inability to deal with extreme weather conditions. He shook his head.

Joyce relented and began loosening the threads slowly and with much reluctance. The spirits stilled, waiting for her to release them. They both looked up as a knock sounded on the door.

Spade sighed, standing up wearily. "I'll get it."

Spade opened the door to see Pania standing before him with a twitching eye. Whatever the young woman was going to say had evidently lost her as she stared at Joyce.

"Hi, Pania!" Joyce said cheerfully as she finally undid the knot. The spirits fled, leaving a gust of wind in their wake.

"Were those..." Pania began warily.

"Oh, it was getting too hot in here so I kept them around for a bit. I think they were from that girl back at the Shaman Council," Joyce said as she plodded over, "What was her name again?"

Spade thought for a moment and snapped his fingers. "Feng Xia," he said, recalling the name the receptionist had addressed her by when they first entered the building.

Pania made a strangled noise. She shook her head viciously and straightened, visibly forcing herself to stay calm.

"I came here to inform you that I will be acting as your primary contact in the Hengshan Association," Pania said, "I look forward to working with you."

"Likewise," Spade said, "We will be in your care." They bowed slightly to each other, Joyce following suit a beat too slow. She straightened, positively beaming at Pania.

"I'm so glad I get to work with you," Joyce said cheerfully, "You have no idea how cool your muscles are."

Pania nodded wordlessly, and Spade ignored the bewildered glance she cast in his direction. It wasn't as though he had any answers either. Evidently, Joyce simply liked gushing over tall, well-built women. Nothing he could do about it.

After all, it had served her well enough in the past when buff vigilante ladies had given Joyce a meal and a semi-automatic rifle in the twenty minutes it took for Spade to negotiate with a border guard. The incident that had resulted in a coup was a little less promising, but at least it hadn't caused much trouble for the two of them. Spade had no reason to believe this would be different.

"Would you like to come in and have some tea?" Spade offered for the sake of politeness. Pania nodded and offered her thanks mechanically, moving in to sit on the couch. Another knock sounded on the door.

Joyce flung the door open to the barely contained anger of Feng Xia. The young woman looked like she wanted to punch someone in the face, her newly-returned spirits huddling in the wide sleeves of her robes.

"Greetings," Feng Xia grit out, "I come on orders of Chairman Jia to inform you that I have been assigned as your contact with the Shaman Council."

"Oh," Joyce said in a small voice, "Hi."

Spade internally groaned, barely refraining from shaking his head. He could already tell that this wouldn't be easy.