Pilgrim 3, page 37
Danzen recalled the very scribes Jelmay had mentioned, and how they worked tirelessly in one of the buildings at the Diyu Brotherhood’s main compound. It was to the point, at least when he was leaving, that the Brotherhood had curated enough funds over the years to also give out loans, another thing they contracted out. Anything to make a profit.
“Let us hope that yokai don’t start using these kinds of contracts. Can you imagine Usagi with one of these contracts in his filthy little rabbit feet? Paws? What do rabbits have? You know what I’m trying to say here.”
Jelmay quieted down once the food started to arrive, which consisted of small game birds and summer vegetables, as well as the catch of the day, a pan-fried bass with a lemon and garlic butter sauce that made Danzen’s eyes water. This was followed up by ale and a rice pudding dessert that was the perfect amount of sweet.
Not needing to watch Yato like he had the last time they’d been on a boat, Danzen slept peacefully with his back against the wall, the Sakai River gently rocking him into a deep slumber while Jelmay snorted loudly, and Kudzu and Yato shared the larger bed, sleeping head to foot. He awoke to the sound of chirping outside the window, a bell ringing along the river banks as a local fisherman tried to flag down their ship to sell his morning catch.
Danzen had seen them do this before, and they had a clever way of transferring the fish to the boat and the money in the reverse direction by using bamboo poles that had been strung together. It was certainly something to watch, so he headed up to the top deck and observed the exchange, the smell of the water, the cool breeze, and the lush green scenery beyond the riverbanks invigorating him. It was a far cry from the nearly barren north and its arid landscape, a welcome change.
By the time he returned to his cabin, Yato was awake, and while he wished they could have bent their echoes, there simply wasn’t enough time before Jelmay woke.
****
Danzen tried to suppress any thoughts that the relaxation he was feeling was somehow the calm before the storm, that things were going to kick up once again upon his arrival in Genshin Valley.
There was always the chance that something terrible and sudden would happen, and this was something he would simply have to learn to live with. He had a goal in mind, and he knew that there would be obstacles, both familial and tied to his past as an assassin. Soko was still alive, and there was a plethora of assassins that would gladly see to his demise, especially now that he had really done some damage to Penumbra. He still didn’t know if Jinkai was alive either, which would complicate things. Word would get out eventually, someone would connect the dots and realize that the Penumbra clansmen’s deaths had something to do with him.
Over the course of the next day and a half, Danzen thought about his past, and circled several times back to Sumi and what happened, why it had been necessary. A very small part of him questioned if he had made the right choice in killing the young woman. He had, after all, spared Yato’s life. What made Sumi’s any different? Even without his Demon Speak power, could he have reasoned with her?
There was no way to know now, but he seriously doubted that she would have changed her mind.
While Danzen kept to himself in their room, Jelmay ended up teaching both Kudzu and Yato some of the strategies when it came to playing dice. Danzen liked being in their company, able to simply relax in a corner by himself while they entertained each other, Kudzu’s playful disdain for Jelmay a match for his overt enthusiasm meant to tease her to some degree, and strangely enough, how Yato fit into their dynamics, which worked much more smoothly than Danzen would have anticipated.
He was feeling more and more that they were his family, and while he had first found a semblance of companionship in his relations with some of the Suja Villagers, it was through Jelmay, Kudzu, and Yato that he understood what friendship actually was, and to a greater extent, how one could form a family with people that weren’t blood related. They were more like him than the villagers in their individual ways.
It turned out to be a breeze of a trip, Danzen well-rested and well-fed by the time they docked in the outpost of Tudan. As they gathered their belongings, Jelmay tried one more time to ask Kudzu if they could stick around the outpost for a little while so he could do what he did best.
“We’re not waiting for you to gamble,” she told him as she fixed the robes she had received from the nunnery. She continued to get better at her human disguise, Danzen wondering if having another woman around had helped her to some degree. He had noticed that Kudzu paid a bit more attention to her hair, and there were a few times that she had put on a cream similar to one that Yato wore, which was one step away from makeup. Even Jelmay hadn’t commented on this—he knew better than to tease her on the subject.
“Not even for a couple hours? Surely the three of you could entertain yourselves. Hell, if you wanted to, you could join me. I taught you some of my best tricks; don’t you want to put them to the test?”
“Keep talking, and I will bite you next time I’m in my fox form,” Kudzu said, which elicited a laugh from Yato.
“You’ll bite me? I’ll… I’ll bite you! My teeth are sharper than yours.”
“No, they’re not. And besides that, you have a flat face, meaning your teeth are in a straighter line,” Kudzu explained with a hand gesture to demonstrate what she meant.
“I’d whip you with my tail if… if I had a tail…” Jelmay made a sour face, which caused both Kudzu and Yato to crack up.
The two continued to playfully argue as they left the ship, Danzen leading them straight to the exit of the outpost. From here it would be a simple walk to Chutham, then Suja Village, then finally his monastery. He would leave for Abbot Monpo’s shrine the following morning, and the next chapter of his journey would begin.
Summer was in full effect, with fields of flowers around them putting off such a strong fragrance that it forced Jelmay, who was now in his human form, to pinch his nose from time to time and complain. “Another reason we should have stayed in the North,” he grumbled. “I have allergies, you know.”
“You’ll be fine,” Kudzu told him.
It was a familiar walk, one that Danzen made several times now, the three stopping once they came to a roadside vendor selling meat pies, a particular vendor that Jelmay hadn’t sampled before. He had his kip out in a matter of seconds, and bought enough for everyone to enjoy, Danzen noticing that there was something sweet and savory about these particular meat pies that he hadn’t tasted before.
“It’s honey,” Jelmay said as they continued, the bakeneko now with a meat pie in each of his hands, alternating between them. “Honey and animal fat and…” He smacked his lips. “Kudzu? What’s that other flavor?”
“I would prefer fish.”
“That’s not the answer I was looking for. Ah, yes. I’ve tasted the seasoning before, on the grilled ribs they serve in Chutham at some of the breweries over the summer. That’s what it is, sort of a lemongrass flavor. Interesting mixture. Lady Pilgrim?”
“They are good.”
“That’s all you have to say? They’re better than good…”
As Jelmay kept the conversation light, Danzen settled his eyes on the horizon.
He expected to see Diyu, that familiar red of the sky, but they were still too far away from that, nor did they see much of the mountains on the horizon, especially once they reached the outer limits of Chutham, the tall trees of the Asura Forest obscuring the view.
It was clear from his current vantage point how the humans had simply cut their way through to build the small city, Danzen noticing new details now that they reached the city gates, like the age of the wood that had been used, and how the construction of the buildings differed from what he had seen in Odval, many of the places here with flat roofs and built out rather than up.
The four were just passing through the gate when a young girl ran out to them, Danzen nearly withdrawing his blade, his first instinct being that it was an ambush.
The girl, who was no older than six years of age, skidded to a halt once she saw Danzen’s hand on the grip of the sword. She wore clean robes, her hair combed over to one side and held to her head by a bone clip, clearly groomed. “Eva Yin needs to see you,” she said after a quick bow. “Please, follow me.”
Danzen paused, considering what he should do next.
“I mean, it’s kind of on the way,” Jelmay said.
“Kind of…” Kudzu said.
“Fine, fine,” the bakeneko said, taking charge. “Let’s see what our favorite madam has to say.”
.Chapter Two.
As she had before, Eva Yin greeted Danzen at the door, no crack in her current appearance due to her hermit brother’s medicine. Danzen was well aware of the echo power it took for her to maintain her youthful form, Eva Yin no older looking than Yato, her face tinted white, lips cherry blossom pink, the makeup around her eyes hiding even a subtle hint of crow’s feet. Her black hair, which had been combed to the side and clipped like the young girl who had greeted them at the village entrance, had a sheen to it, to the point that it almost looked fake.
“I was wondering when you would return,” Eva Yin said with a prim smile aimed at Danzen. “And I see you have a new traveling companion as well.”
On the walk over, Jelmay had caught Yato up as to who Eva Yin was and what the woman was capable of. This didn’t seem to faze Yato, who was clearly growing used to the numerous oddities that had made their way into Danzen’s life and those that surrounded him.
“Can I go, milady?” the young girl asked. She stood off to the left, teetering on the balls of her feet, her hands behind her back.
“Yes,” Eva Yin told her. “Be back before sunset.”
“Yes, milady,” the girl said before she took off running.
“Please, come in. I have a request that I believe you may be able to help me with. I’m just lucky that it has happened so recently; had it taken you longer to get back to the Valley…” While Eva Yin was generally expressionless, Danzen noticed a flash of sadness behind her eyes. “Please, come in.”
The hint of perfume hit Danzen as soon as he stepped into her establishment, a stronger smell than the myriad fields of flowers that separated Tudan and Chutham. As there had been every time he visited, a large man stood guard at the opposite end of the hallway. Rather than go to the normal place they sat when they met at her pleasure house, Eva guided them through a side door that Danzen hadn’t noticed before, the door fashioned to look just like a wall and nearly invisible. What he assumed was her office had several expertly upholstered sofas made of a green silk, as well as a desk against the wall with a lantern hanging over it. Eva sat on the sofa in the center, Danzen and his companions taking places across from her.
“I don’t expect you to get my affairs, but with that said, I am afraid for the life of one of my pillowers. Oyuun has been with me a long time, and I raised her as a daughter, so she means even more to me. She is not what you think,” Eva Yin told them once she noticed the skeptical expression on Kudzu’s face. “Calling her a pillower isn’t exactly the right term; she’s more of an entertainer. She has a wonderful voice, she can play multiple instruments, and Oyuun is quite funny, which is why some of the richer men in Chutham and Tudan enjoy her company. From what I can gather, she has fallen in love with one of these men, a youth named Tenan, who is the son of Luran.”
“The Luran?” Jelmay asked. He was in his cat form now that they were in the privacy of her office, the bakeneko now leaned back on a sofa, his paws crossed over his belly.
“So you are aware of him.”
“Of course I’m aware of him,” Jelmay said. “His family has been running much of the textile trade in Genshin Valley for decades. He has a considerable amount of political power as well.”
“He does, and he has recently become one of the Elders of Chutham, which complicates matters even further.”
“Why’s that?” Kudzu asked.
“From what I’ve been able to gather, Tenan, Luran’s only son, has disappeared with Oyuun. I have sent my men to ask Luran if he has any idea where they might have gone and this led to a…” She bit her lip. “Let’s call it a skirmish. I believe Luran may know more about their location, and it is my goal to protect Oyuun from what will inevitably become of her if she stays with his son.”
“What would be so bad about her marrying into a wealthy family?” Kudzu asked.
“For one, Tenan is already married,” Eva Yin said. “And he already has a concubine, all of which was arranged by his father. Oyuun was an orphan, and she has no family name, nor does she carry any weight here in Chutham. I’m trying to protect her. Not only is she talented, but she may one day be the person that takes my role, once I move on. From what I’ve heard, Luran has his men looking for them as well. If they find Oyuun, they will kill her, or worse…”
Jelmay grunted. “So you’re asking us to go talk to Luran, get some information, and see if we can’t find them first?”
Eva Yin nodded carefully. “To get straight to the point, yes, that’s what I’m asking you to do.”
“You have some power; why don’t you enchant him?”
“Luran knows better than to speak to me directly,” she told Jelmay. “The only way I could get him to do so would be through more violence, and that is something I would like desperately to avoid.”
“Next question: what’s in it for us? We’re coming back from a long journey, and were looking to rest, to eat, and not be sent to fetch a pair of hopeless lovebirds.”
“Does something have to be in it for you for you to do it?” Eva Yin asked the bakeneko.
Danzen answered this one. “No, it doesn’t. We will see what we can uncover. Where would we find Luran?”
****
It was only as they were making their way to Luran’s home, on the opposite side of Chutham, that Danzen understood why he so readily offered his assistance to Eva Yin. Oyuun was an orphan, similar to him, and she had come into an issue with a father, even if this father belonged to another person. There was a connection there, and with his Demon Speak ability, Danzen knew it wouldn’t be very difficult for him to get to the bottom of what was going on.
Luran’s estate was several times larger than the place Elder Sonders lived in the Third District, the sprawling home surrounded by a stone wall with moss growing on it and protected by a pair of guards. Beyond it were several fields of fruit-bearing trees.
“Take us to Luran,” Danzen said before the two guards could say anything to him or his companions.
And just like that, Danzen and his companions were led up the cobblestone pathway marked by shrubs that had been cut into cylinders, and from there to a patio at the side of the lustrous home, where they found a man in a set of parted ropes seated on a wicker bench, Luran sipping ale while he skimmed through a scroll.
“My lord,” one of the guards said once Luran didn’t acknowledge him.
“What’s the meaning of this?” Luran came alive with a growl, his bushy eyebrows flaring up as he looked at Danzen and his companions. He had the jowls of a boar, and what was left of his hair was tied back into a puny ponytail.
“The two of you can go,” Danzen told the guards, “and you will remain quiet unless you are asked a question.”
Luran glared, but remained quiet as his guards left.
“Where is Tenan, and where is Oyuun?”
The businessman snorted at this question. “You think I know? Wouldn’t my foolish son be here if I knew where he was? And that whore, wouldn’t she be dead by now?”
Danzen sensed Kudzu tense up to his left, but she didn’t say anything as he continued his interrogation.
“What do you know about their disappearance?”
“I know that my men certainly showed Eva Yin who was in charge around here, and that they tracked Tenan and that filthy whore to the Asura Forest, but they haven’t been able to find anything since.”
“Which direction?” Jelmay asked.
“Which direction?” Danzen repeated, using his power.
“To the north. My men would have continued further but they got spooked by something, some pack of dogs with wings, according to them. I’m currently getting a militia together to lead through the forest. I don’t care if I have to burn it down, nor do I care which species of yokai we have to kill. I will find my son, and I will break that whore’s spell over his mind.”
“You will do no such thing. I will find the two of them, and you will forget that I ever visited you. You will cease your fight with Eva Yin, and you will disband the militia.”
Luran squinted at him for a moment, a hint of defiance twitching his pupils. Seconds later, he was nodding, entranced by Danzen’s power. “Fine,” he said almost casually. “I already arranged my son’s marriage and selected his first concubine. He can afford another, but it can’t be a pillower. Over my dead body.”
Rather than say anything else, Danzen simply turned away. They now had a direction, and if they hurried, perhaps they would be able to find Tenan and Oyuun before they got too deep in the Asura Forest. He would have to rely on Kudzu and Jelmay’s tracking ability, but Danzen was certain that wouldn’t be a problem.
“You know what he was talking about right, the winged dogs?” Jelmay asked Danzen once they reached the front gate.
“I vaguely remember you arguing with Dalan about them, yes.”
“Arguing? Pfft! We were just having a heated discussion. Anyway, those are hainu, and if his men ran into them, these two doomed lovers could very well be dead by this point.”
“Then we will fetch their bodies,” Danzen told him.
****
They needed to travel lightly, so before they moved directly into the Asura Forest, Danzen and his companions stopped by Eva Yin’s pleasure house to store some of their items. This mostly included robes, Danzen’s field diary which he had neglected as of late, and even his sugawara armor, also something he had neglected to wear as of late. Anything of real value, like his weapons, came with him.
