"Don't you dare," Yang Xing hissed into the shadows. Despite the brightness of the sun outside, the stable remained dark. "I swear on the life of the emperor, if you come near me I'll hurt you. Badly." Two eyes glowed from the corner of the stall, and she could see a laugh forming behind them. "Damn," she cursed under her breath. In an instant, the eyes pitched forward at her, moving at lightning speed. She barely had time to get out of the way before it ran past her and out the door. Xing whipped around, screaming, "Nightwind! Get your sorry butt back here this minute!" The horse whinnied just outside of the stable in defiance.
Her annoyance grew when she realized she had an audience. Ma Chao was standing near the doorway, straw in hand. He had to lean against the frame to keep from falling over. Laugher poured from his mouth. "My lady, from here you look most comical." It was true. Her clothes were now splattered with mud from her horse's escape, and bits of straw were sticking out of her ponytail. He laughed harder when she glared at him.
"You could have stopped her."
"Now why would I do that?" he asked, calming down enough to deposit his hay in a nearby stall. "You know more than I do how much Nightwind loves freedom. The sun is warm. Let he roam for a bit. She will not go far."
She put her hands on her hips and frowned. "Are you going to keep an eye on her personally?"
"No. I have my hands full keeping an eye on you," he said. She smirked, but it wasn't because of his joke. Ma Chao watched as she moved from Nightwind's stall to Storm Runner's. The stallion seemed anxious. In one, graceful motion, she threw the stall door open and let the other unruly horse join its friend in the stable yard. A couple of people yelled as they ran around outside, but she knew they would refrain from causing any damage. Ma Chao was about to protest, but stopped as she turned around and shut the stall door again. "There. Now I feel better with someone watching out for her."
"What was wrong with just chasing her?" Chao mumbled.
Xing walked over to the stall he was in and jumped up on the beam that separated it from the next stall. She pushed up another beam that was leaning against it, allowing her friend to position it to support the half finished roof. "If she wants to go out, then she will go out. I had hoped my yelling would prevent that for a moment. And why should I let her roam free when Strom Runner is also dying to go outside?"
"Because I had already situated him in his stall. Clearly, I have more control of my horse than you."
He ducked as she aimed a kick at his head. "As you should. And I have noticed that even you, the God of Horses, have trouble controlling my own when she is in one of her moods."
Ma Chao chuckled as he threw her a piece of rope to fasten the beam at the top. This bantering back and forth had become common between them since she offered to help rebuild Cheng Du. He had been worried that nearly ten years of separation would hurt the friendship they had formed when they were young. A decade can change a person dramatically. He knew that personally. Yet the transition for them had been seamless. It was as if they had never been apart.
"Lord Ma, I would give much to hear your thoughts right now," Xing said from above him. "When you think, it makes one nervous."
"Lady Yang, I believe you are the only one who finds discomfort in my silences. Contemplation never hurt anyone."
"You are hurting my pride," said Xing. "I like knowing what is going on."
He stood and punched the beam. It didn't move. "You seem to get along perfectly well without knowing everything." He held out a hand to help her down from her post. She smiled and landed next to him. Chao felt his heart beat a little faster as she put a hand on his chest for support. He hoped she didn't notice. Ever since she had come to Cheng Du, he'd noticed changes in the way he behaved. He was more playful, more laid back. Small things failed to annoy him as much as they used to. He had yet to figure out what this feeling was. But he was too much of a warrior to tell anyone about it. Even Xing.
She straightened herself and smiled. "Thank you, Chao. Shall we go and see if the roof looks better with that additional support?" He nodded and followed her outside. The sun was indeed warm. Not far away, both of their horses were resting in the shade. He turned his eyes towards the stable, which was now only missing a piece of the roof. "I think we should celebrate," she said, excitement written across her face. "We shall be done with this by tomorrow, I think. It would be today, but I promised Lord Man Zhu that I would help in the fields."
"I need to check in with Zhuge Liang anyway," Chao said. "We should be nearing completion of the reconstruction soon."
She put a hand on his shoulder. His heart rate increased again. "I suppose we shall have to find something else to occupy our time, with the stable almost finished." Xing frowned suddenly, and her grip on his shoulder tightened.
"Xing? What's wrong?" He tried not to sound panicky, but after seeing what happened to her because of the curse, he couldn't help but feel concerned.
"My back aches. But…its strange."
"What is?"
"It is not the same ache I have had before. Something is coming, but it must not be as serious."
Ma Chao was interrupted by the sound of shouting in the distance. Two peasants from the village were running towards them, waving their arms. Xing straightened herself, but he could tell she was still in some pain. "Lady Yang! You are needed in the fields!"
"What is the problem?" she asked, concern in her eyes.
"There has been an accident. Lord Man Zhu asked us to find you at once. He needs your help."
She took off running before the peasants had time to finish. They merely stared, shocked at the speed with which she flew. "Follow as quick as you can," Ma Chao said to them before taking off after her. Despite her pain, he had difficulty in keeping up with her. The fear of something happening seemed to give her more speed than her pain could take away.
There was a commotion on the other side of the gate. Most of the villagers that Xing had helped before were gathered in a circle, distraught. She pushed her way into the center and found Man Zhu and Liu Bei leaning over another person. It was Teng. He was pale and sobbing, but he reached out for her as she knelt beside him. "What happened?"
"Wei," Liu Bei hissed under his breath.
Man Zhu clarified. "We were walking down the road when we heard Teng scream. Both of us ran back in time to see someone wearing the colors of Wei running into the trees. My guess is that Teng saw him moving towards the gate and shouted to alert everyone. The man broke his leg." Xing looked down to see that it was bent in an unnatural direction. It was also bleeding heavily.
"He must have thrown something at him. With force, too, otherwise his leg would be intact." She looked up at her friend, malice in her eyes. "I will go track. You take him inside and reset the bone. If I am not back by sundown, close the gate. I will contact you when I have information." Before anyone could protest, or even absorb what she had said, she jumped up and vanished into the woods. Liu Bei began shouting orders. Soon, Teng was safely inside the walls and most of the villagers had returned to their homes in fear of another attack. Ma Chao followed Zhu into the gate, which was promptly shut behind them.
"Do you think she will return by nightfall?" he asked.
Zhu frowned. "It depends on how swiftly Wei's spy moves. She should be back within the hour." He took a deep breath to compose himself before continuing. "Things like this are how the rumors began. You know how rare it is for a woman to have any kind of leadership role, much less one such as hers. Xing has had to prove herself many times to win the trust of her people, as well as ours. One way she did this was tracking and spying. She knows how to find someone, extract information, and relay it with precision. She also leaves no trail, and no body. This is why people are skeptical about how she retrieves information, and her knowledge of magic was only detrimental to this at first. Xing will be ruthless to the spy when she catches him, and I highly doubt anyone will know what happened to him after she kills him."
Xing felt like an animal as she moved silently through the woods. She used as many senses as she could to pick up the man's trail. For a moment, when she had first passed the trees, she wondered what those of Shu would now think of her. Xing's abilities were known throughout the provinces, but she doubted that they were more than legend outside of them. Her fears were overwhelmed by instinct as she caught the man's scent and took off after him. His trail zigzagged several times. He was well trained; that much she could tell. And that meant he would be tough to get information out of.
As his trail became stronger, she pulled herself up into the trees and watched for any kind of movement. Part of her training as a child had been scouting, using the magic that her father forced Jiang Si to learn. Zhang Jiao may have cursed her body, but he had also instilled the qualities of a beast inside of her. Zhang Rui had sensed this, teaching her everything he knew to hone her magical gifts in a beneficial way after Yang Shui's death. Outsiders would have seen a mercenary in training. Perhaps it was true. But no one would know that if they had kept their noses out of Jiang's business.
She smiled as the man came into view. He bore the unmistakable colors of Wei, and the grin on his face reminded her of the one Cao Cao frequently used. Clearly, he was one of Wei's more trusted spies. Only those who were constantly in the leader's presence would have picked up his mannerisms. As he paused to take a breath, she fell into place behind him.
He was more well trained than she thought. Her feet had barely hit the ground when he whipped a small knife around. She dodged it and fell into a warrior stance, her own knife in her hands. He looked surprised, but managed a grin. "Ah, I wondered who Liu Bei would send after me. I did not think an honored guest would be the one."
"You injured a friend. Now you get to deal with me."
"I am excited to see how many of the rumors are true, Lady Yang." He lunged forward and attempted to stab her in the chest. She dodged it easily and moved behind a tree. He followed, but stopped when he realized that she disappeared. "You do not fail to show your true colors."
"I can be swift without magic," she said from behind him. He slashed again, but met only air. Her voice appeared again from the trees. "But I am impressed with your own quickness. Who trained you?"
He slipped into a defensive pose, listening for her. "It will take more than that to get information out of me. I was trained by the best. That is all you need to know."
This time, she caught him from the side. He winced in pain as she grabbed his arm and threw him to the ground. By the time he was up, she was gone again. "You do not need to talk. Just let me observe. People think I obtain my information through torture. But all I need to do is listen. Watch. Learn. By the time you are dead, I will know what I need."
Fear gripped his heart. But he refused to show it. "Then you are wasting your time. My mission was to watch, just as you are doing now. I know nothing about what it is for."
Xing darted out from behind her tree and disappeared again. "I know," she said. Her voice echoed in the woods, making it impossible to tell where she was. "Cao Cao would be a fool to fill you with information and then send you here. It would be distracting."
The man was gripping his knife tighter. "Why do you not come out and talk to me, face to face? Stop using your magic, witch."
"I use magic only to track. What I do once I find my prey is purely instinctual." She stepped gracefully out from behind another tree. The man felt more fear wash over him. "Let me tell you what I know, besides what I have already told you. You have been watching Cheng Du for many moons, keeping your lord updated with the reconstruction. You pride yourself on your skill and always push yourself to do better. But I see vanity in you as well. That would mean there is some benefit for you back in court. A woman, perhaps. Or the opportunity for a promotion. You are also curious and wish to prove yourself by fighting against those Cao Cao fears. That is why you came here. You hoped to fight myself or Man Zhu, or even one of Liu Bei's famed officers. How am I doing so far?"
He said nothing, but she could see sweat glistening on his brow in the remnants of sun. She was late in hunting. This needed to end in time for her to make it through the gate. Otherwise she would spend the night on guard duty, outside of the castle walls.
"How….how could you know so much?" he asked, trying to sound braver than he felt.
"I already told you how I gather information. And now I am going to show you how I kill." He was dead before he could comprehend what she was saying. As she was talking, she had taken small steps closer until she was within striking distance. As he was listening, she leapt over him and stabbed him right through the heart with her knife. The man's body slumped to the ground.
Xing knew that he would not carry anything incriminating on him, but she searched him anyway. All he had were a few coins, another small knife, and a flint. She tore the symbol of Wei from his kimono and stuffed it in her pocket. The only thing that remained was body disposal.
She closed her eyes and began to chant, bringing her hands together in front of her face. The man's body began to smoke as if it was on fire, but no flame touched it. Slowly, the flesh melted away until nothing but bones remained, soaking into the ground to give back what it had taken from the earth. Then the bones began to crack. Soon, there was nothing but a pile of ash. A gust of wind blew all that remained of Wei's spy into the air. Xing sighed and began her trek back through the woods, this time following her own scent back to Cheng Du. Along the way, she prepared what she was going to say in her mind. Her magical gifts were already somewhat known. Man Zhu would surely have said something about her hunting abilities. But there was no need for Shu to know the whole story. Her curse was enough for them to handle. She couldn't bear the thought of them seeing her as she truly was - an animal.