“I listen and I appreciate your advice, Mother Huiling,” Leander said.“If you could suggest a guide, I would be eternally grateful.”
“I will call the youngest son of the Huang family.”
Leander bowed his head.
“Fuck, I’m never going to get the taste of that terrible tea out of my mouth.Even this congee tastes like it,” Xi complained quietly.
Mother Huiling’s mouth curled at the corners, and Leander’s face warmed in embarrassment.“You are still speaking Chinese,” Leander warned.
Xi studied him and then Mother Huiling, and then Leander again before he blushed.“Sorry.Still not used to the language pill,” he said in a pathetic attempt at an apology.Leander sighed, and Mother Huiling laughed.
Chapter Nineteen
“That’s the White CloudRiver.”Huang Yuan pointed to a lazy river at the bottom of a steep slope.To the left of the path, the deep shadows hid the bottoms of majestic trees that soared so high into the sky the tops seemed to vanish.Poisonous vines and shade-loving flowers filled every inch of space.This place felt magical and dark and dangerous.Leander loved it.It felt safe in a way the city never had—the way the Ring City didn’t.He felt protected by the rich tapestry of flora that surrounded them.
“How do we get down there?”Xi asked.
“You walk until you reach the path that leads down to the riverbank.”Yuan seemed unconcerned as he stared at them.Xi stared back.
Xi broke the silent standoff.“And where would these paths be?”
“Walk long enough and you’ll find one,” Yuan said in a flat voice, “but my father requires my help today.Now that I have shown you the river, I must get back home.”
Alarm rose in Leander’s chest.“Wait,” he said, but Yuan was already trotting away on the well-worn path back to the Ring City.
“He doesn’t like us,” Xi said.“Did you piss in Yuan’s congee this morning?”
“I told you there were cultural assumptions around adoption.”Leander let his magic run through the nearby trees as he searched for any dangerous wildlife.He wanted to believe Huang Yuan wouldn’t have left them if a nian or dragons or poisonous animals were nearby, but he had very little trust left.His magic warned him of birds with their talons sitting in the trees and snakes sliding across branches and toads hopping through the leaf litter, but he couldn’t tell if any of those were poisonous.
“That doesn’t look like a cultural assumption.That looks like he hates you,” Xi said in a thoughtful tone.
“His culture teaches him that adoptees are greedy and dangerous.If he wants to protect the Nie family, it’s not surprising that he would dump us in the woods.He probably wants to reenact Hansel and Gretel.”
“Are you saying we’re going to find a gingerbread house?”Xi’s fingers twitched, but no shadows moved.
“He might expect us to run into something dangerous, but he underestimates my magic.With this many plants around, we’re perfectly safe.”Leander started down the path, watching the river to find the path that led down to the riverbank.
