Uncle Chiyin (2)

"Well, it's just us now. You said you have news." Hushiyi pulled the window shutters close and turned around.

Chiyin was already sitting in Hushiyi's chair facing the small desk, busy smoothening the creases on his flaming red sleeves. He landed on the ground from the beam without making even the loose wooden floorboards creak.

If Hua Dushen wasn't around, Chiyin would be unmatched in using the infamous Qisha's signature martial arts skill — the Ghost Steps. The Ghost Steps at its peak form allowed a person to appear behind an enemy like a quiet shadow. It required agility and the ability to predict a noiseless opening.

Yinyue achieved the speed needed, but not the silence in executing the move. Hushiyi fell behind his sister at the speed of execution.

"Aren't you cold?" Hushiyi reached out for the teapot on the warmer stove atop his side table. "You wear nothing but a couple of layers below that damn gown of yours."

Chiyin snorted in amusement. "Kid, internal strength, if strong enough, can be the oven warming your body in freezing temperatures. Besides, the snow is melting."

Hushiyi rolled his eyes at his brag.

"Don't tell me you hiked up the mountain?" Hushiyi poured a cup of warm tea and offered it to Chiyin, only to be refused with a tap of his fan on its clay body.

"No. By horse, just left it around the last turn of the mountain route," Chiyin replied and glanced at the open bamboo scrolls. "Accounts?"

"Managing a region needs money." Hushiyi shrugged as he walked over and rolled the open scrolls close. "Speak up or leave. I need to review the officials' year-end reports for the region."

Chiyin shuddered at the stacks of scrolls in a small wooden trunk. Numbers and words on the open scroll already made his head giddy. He didn't envy the princely positions of his niece and nephew. One went fighting bloody battles, and the other ended up with stacks of reports.

Then he thought of how his father, Hua Dushen, often yelled at him for being a useless wastrel. He preferred being scolded over being swamped by accounting books.

Besides, he ranked as one of Qisha's best assassins and ghost physician. Just not as their best accountant.

"Well, it's about Yinyue's bodyguard 01," Chiyin said as he fiddled with the writing brush left on the table.

"What about him?" Hushiyi asked with a sense of dread.

He always suspected 01's intentions, especially involving Yinyue. The way 01 looked at his sister made him uneasy — the look radiated a deep resentment. Like 01 was bidding his time to bite Yinyue when he could.

The only problem was Yinyue. She dismissed Hushiyi's well intended hints to delegate 01 elsewhere.

"His men died in an ambush."

Hushiyi stopped rolling the bamboo scroll in his hands. He didn't care about 01. Dead or alive. Not his business. His immediate thought turned to Yinyue and her safety.

Given Chiyin's lack of concern and his earlier antics when he mentioned the deaths, Yinyue should be fine. Their uncle wasn't heartless.

"And Yinyue?" He asked Chiyin.

"E-sha sent me a message. She's fine, but shaken from the incident."

"What exactly do you know?" Hushiyi eyed Chiyin with suspicion. His uncle wouldn't make the trip in person unless there was something bothering him.

"The ambush targeted Yinyue. Do you have a clue about Yinyue's relationships and their extent in the Black Mountains?"

Hushiyi frowned at Chiyin's question. It didn't sound like a question, but a cautious hint.

"Border prince meetings are for Yandi's trade and some matters regarding Qisha syndicate," Hushiyi replied. Nothing else came to mind.

Ambushes and assassinations formed part and parcel of their lives in the constant power struggle between the Grand Princes.

Chiyin fumbled in his sleeve and pulled out a small flying dagger. The design caught Hushiyi's eyes. On the slim recurved blade, he could make out a strange script. Nothing he had seen before.

"Those assailants who killed Yinyue's men are your seventh half-brother's men. One of our men who used to serve as Yinyue's bodyguard confirmed it," Chiyin added while twirling the dagger with his fingers. "However, someone else wanted to leave a clue."

"Who does the dagger belong to?" Hushiyi asked.

"This?" Chiyin held it up by the blade. "It's Xirong. Designed to pierce through armor if thrown with enough force."

"Anything connected to the ambush? A third party involvement?" Hushiyi took a deep breath. He didn't want to know more, but he needed the information.

Any mention of the Xirong never brought good news. The Xirong Empire posed the greatest danger to the Dayan Empire. Their military strength and their weapons manufacturing matched the capabilities of the Dayan Empire.

The blade itself bore the testament to the Xirong's talent at forging effective weapons against any armor — a major threat to Dayan defenses. Even its metal alloy was something the Dayan blacksmiths couldn't duplicate. No matter how long or hard they tried to copy the process with the Xirong scimitars scavenged from battlefields, their alloy couldn't match the Xirong's alloy in durability.

Chiyin placed the dagger on the table and fumbled through his sleeve. He pulled out a fish shaped token with a loop knot at the top. Hushiyi recognized the token — it was a pass to move out of the Dayan borders.

"Someone plunged this dagger and hung the token from it near the bodies of the assailants. Besides, those fatal injuries on the assailants were inflicted by a curved blade," Chiyin said as he placed the token next to the dagger.

Hushiyi knew the curved blade referred to the Xirong scimitar, a curved blade sword designed to slash with deadly force. It was deadlier when used on horseback.

"What about Yinyue's men?"

"That's the funny part - they had injuries which come from the assailants' swords. None had the classic slash cuts of the scimitar," Chiyin replied. "The scimitar isn't designed to stab."

Hushiyi understood what he meant. The curved blade of the scimitar could stab a person but rendered useless by being stuck in the victim's body. During a fight, a fighter with a stuck sword was as good as dead.

"The dagger belongs to the Simurg," Chiyin continued. "The Simurg doesn't help for no reason."

Over fifty dead assailants bore the scimitar inflicted wounds. Even the Qisha syndicate didn't kill for free.

His words sounded like an accusation thrown at Yinyue. Hushiyi kept quiet while fuming inside. Their uncle should know them best.

"What are you trying to say?" Hushiyi asked with caution in his voice.

"All of 01's men are dead, but we can't find his body," Chiyin said.

He went to inspect the area in person with the scouting group. From the trail, the trail of blood and the thickness told him that 01 suffered serious injuries. Traces of 01 vanished at a small cliff. Only a large pool of frozen blood remained on the boulder. No signs of struggle.

Chiyin had smelled the blood. If the blood belonged to 01, 01 would have bled out. Yet when the scouting group took him down to the area below the cliff. Other than some scattered animal bones, they didn't find a human body or blood traces there.

Chiyin could only conclude that the Simurg must have rescued him.

"I remember 01 looks very Xirong… those eyes and his features…plus that height…" Chiyin trailed off once he saw Hushiyi's expression.

He could see the anger flashing in Hushiyi's eyes.