“Pay him one hundred and sixty yuan,” he ordered before he lifted the basket off the donkey and marched into the house.The manager quickly counted out the money and handed it over to Leander before leaving with a small bow.Leander bowed back and turned his attention to Auntie Daiyu.
“I must wash the vegetables I gathered before Shanlin returns from school.”
“From learning,” she corrected him.
“I apologize.”Leander knew that school was a term for those learning magic, but his brain continued to get stuck on trying to translate English directly to Chinese.The pill master ten years earlier had warned him that only time and practice with the language would overcome the flaws of a magical pill, and still he made errors.
“Teacher Zheng will release Shanlin on his schedule.But before you go home to wash vegetables, you must come with me.”
“For what purpose, Auntie Daiyu?”As much as Leander knew he was safe here, the idea of going somewhere unfamiliar with someone he didn’t know well still made him think about secondary crime scenes and kidnapping and revenge.His chest even felt tight.
“Follow me,” she said before walking away.
Leander followed, the unease still souring his stomach.“Auntie Daiyu, I had hoped to ask you where I could wash my clothes.”
“Separating dirt from fabric is such a simple task that even those who are still refining chi can manage it.”
“Does everyone clean their clothes with magic?”Leander hadn’t seen a laundromat in town, but the answer surprised him.
Auntie Daiyu stopped and studied him.“How did you think we washed clothes?”
“I was divided between people using the river or them having washing machines.”The answer probably made him look like a fool, but trying to hide his ignorance wasn’t likely to work.
Auntie Daiyu blinked at him before muttering something under her breath.“There is a young woman.She is simple, and she will never cultivate enough chi even to begin the body foundation stage, but she can clean your clothes.Watch her magic while she does so, and you can quickly learn for yourself.”
“Thank you.”
“Pay her with meals, and remember your gratitude toward me when you see who I have brought you to see,” she said.Leander had three seconds to feel alarm before Creek stepped out of a small house with flower boxes on the windows.
Leander stepped back.If Creek was allowing himself to be seen, the trap had already closed and police would be in the village, but Leander’s instinct to fight made him call up the plants he could find.Vines burst from the houses and darted across the ground.The flowers in the boxes threw clouds of pollen into the air, and the tree on the corner swayed ominously.
“Leander.It’s just me.I’m alone.I didn’t bring anybody.You’re safe!”Creek rushed forward only to be tripped by a vine that curled around his leg.Creek’s shadows raced forward and caught at Leander’s clothing, pulling him to the ground.
Leander cursed the ridiculous robes and kicked against the foreign magic that clung to him, cold and sharp and unfamiliar.
“Both of you stop!”Auntie Daiyu shouted.Lightning cracked in the sky, white across the blue field, and a clap of thunder crashed into the village so violently it knocked down everyone except Auntie Daiyu.That was the first time Leander had realized they were not alone.In fact, a dozen people had been watching from behind corners, stumbling and falling at the force of the sky magic that blasted the area.
All Creek’s shadows dissipated, and Leander’s vines collapsed, cut off from his magic.
“You children are lucky that I am old enough to have learned patience for disagreeable younglings,” she said.
Leander flinched as he climbed to his feet.
“Both of you, inside.I swear.Humans lack any sense at this age.Inside.Both of you.”She shook her finger, and Leander had the feeling she was seconds away from slapping both of them upside the head.It turned out he was more afraid of Auntie Daiyu and her impressive magic than the authorities, so Leander bit down on his protests and headed to the house.Creek was still cutting vines away from his feet when Leander passed without looking at him.
“Ass,” Creek whispered.
When Leander walked into Auntie Daiyu’s house, he forgot to breathe.Of course, he’d heard of storage rings that could hold entire farms in their magical space and paintings that people could step into, but those were myths.Stories.The idea of a space being infinitely larger on the inside was in the realm of science fiction.
Only it wasn’t.
Inside, Auntie Daiyu’s small cottage had a vast reception hall with double doors open to an exterior garden courtyard that was not part of the village outside.
“Hey,” Creek said.Leander whirled around, horrified that he had lost focus on the current problem.Creek lifted his hands in the universal gesture of surrender.“I come in peace and alone.Promise.”
“You are both ill-behaved,” Auntie Daiyu said.
Leander bowed to her.“I apologize for my poor judgment and for using dangerous magics around you.”
