By the ti dawn seeped grey and heavy through the dirty windows, Jiang was leaning against the wall and trying to suppress his urge to yawn. Figures he'd finally stop feeling wired as soon as the sun ca up. One night without sleep wasn't the end of the world, but his body still felt leaden, his eyes gritty, and there was an ache lodged right between his temples.
Fun tis.
Honestly, it was the restless frustration that gnawed at him more than the lack of sleep ever could. He glanced over at Lin, curled beneath a ratty blanket, sleeping as deeply as though she were on a feather mattress instead of a pile of old sacks. If nothing else, his inability to sleep gave him plenty of ti to consider things, and he'd finally decided how he was going to handle her desire to ride his coattails off the streets and into a better life.
The fact that she provided a potential link to Old Nan – and her cryptic mutterings – was rely an added bonus.
"You staring at for a reason?" Lin muttered, startling him a little. He hadn't noticed she was awake. "Because it's a little creepy."
Jiang coughed a little awkwardly, but otherwise ignored the jab. "Lin, when Old Nan wakes up, I need—"
"Whoa, hold on," she cut in sharply, suddenly seeming more awake as she propped herself onto an elbow and frowned at him. "Who said anything about waiting until Nan wakes up? You were lucky enough to get a spot on the floor for the night. You don't stick around after."
Jiang blinked. "I thought you said she helped—"
"Yeah, helped," Lin said impatiently. "Past tense. You don't stay for breakfast and make small talk about how lovely the weather is. You leave."
"Why?" Jiang asked, more sharply than he'd ant to. "Isn't it safer here than outside?"
Lin groaned, pushing herself fully upright. She rubbed her face with both hands, then fixed him with a tired glare. "Look, this isn't complicated. You got a place like this, sowhere to hide for the night, maybe get out of the cold? Great. You co here if you're desperate. But once morning hits, you leave. Staying around longer than you have to is like... admitting you've got nowhere better to go. You get it?"
"No," Jiang replied flatly.
She snorted, pushing tangled hair out of her eyes. "Of course not. You're new. Look, people don't co here because they want to, okay? You don't see anyone here bragging about how they needed Nan's charity last night. It's embarrassing. Like—" She paused, searching for the right words. "Like admitting you're too weak to hack it alone. No one wants to admit that. You have to keep at least a little pride, you know?"
"Pride," Jiang repeated, a hint of incredulity slipping into his voice. "You'd rather risk freezing than be embarrassed?"
"Yeah, pride," Lin snapped, eyes narrowing. "It's easy to judge from up there on your high horse. You've obviously never been in a spot where pride's the only thing you've got left. It's the one thing no one can ever take from you – and to us, that matters. Maybe it sounds stupid to you, but it's the difference between giving up and keeping going."
Jiang fell silent, caught off guard by the sudden sincerity in her voice. Lin seed to realise how much she'd revealed, because she quickly shook her head, her voice sliding back into the casual indifference he'd co to expect.
"Anyway, the others'll clear out as soon as they wake up. They always do. Last thing they want is to face Nan while she fusses over them, acting like so grandmotherly saviour. Nobody needs that kind of guilt trip at sunrise." Lin snorted again, softer this ti, almost amused. "Trust . It's easier this way."
Jiang considered her for a mont, unsure what to say. Lin had made it clear she wouldn't change her mind, and though his questions about Old Nan burned hotter than ever, even he knew pushing now wouldn't help.
"Fine," he relented at last. He could get his answers later. "We'll leave."
Lin's shoulders relaxed a fraction. "Glad you're seeing sense."
They rose quietly, Jiang stretching out stiff muscles while Lin straightened her clothes. A few of the youths were stirring as well, but most remained stubbornly asleep. Lin gestured toward the door with a tilt of her chin, stepping carefully over the sprawled limbs of sleeping figures, and Jiang followed without another word.
The cold air outside hit them both like a physical slap, though it clearly affected Lin more than it did Jiang. Perks of being a cultivator. To her credit, she didn't complain, rubbing her arms briskly and moving quickly down the alley to get her blood pumping.
"Hey," Jiang said suddenly, catching up to her side. "About Old Nan—"
Lin groaned, tilting her head back dramatically. "Are you still on about her?"
"Yes," Jiang said bluntly. Just because he wasn't going to push for seeing her imdiately didn't an he was going to give up entirely. He was honest enough with himself to know that he was in way over his head when it ca to… pretty much anything to do with cultivation, really, but even more so when it ca to the raven. Even Elder Lu hadn't noticed anything related to the bird construct, and Jiang had been too suspicious to share anything with him of his own volition. In hindsight, it was a mistake – and not the first one he'd made, "When's a better ti to talk with her? Later today?"
Lin glanced at him with a look of genuine bafflent, as if she were trying to decide how anyone could possibly be this stubborn. "You're seriously overthinking this. She's just an old lady who takes in stray idiots. You're acting like she has so great wisdom to share."
"Maybe she does," Jiang said quietly, frowning. He hesitated, then pressed on, even though he felt faintly ridiculous. "Last night she said sothing that—"
"Let stop you right there," Lin interrupted, holding up one hand. "Old Nan says lots of things. Last week, she told I was cursed because I stepped in a puddle. The week before, she swore pigeons were spies for the Emperor. She's... Nan. Don't get wrong, the odd bit of crazy talk aside she's pretty smart, but that doesn't an she's always right. It doesn't an anything."
Jiang opened his mouth to protest, then closed it again with a resigned sigh. Lin wasn't going to be convinced, at least not right now. "Fine," he muttered. "Forget I said anything."
"Already have," Lin replied cheerfully, clearly unbothered. She stretched, rolling her shoulders before shooting him a sidelong glance. "So? What next? I assu you're not just planning to wander the city until sothing interesting happens."
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It was as good an opportunity as ever. Jiang briefly considered the best way of approaching the conversation before deciding subtlety was overrated.
"Actually," he said slowly, "I wanted to talk to you about that."
Lin eyed him warily, suspicion clear in her gaze. "Yeah? Go on."
"I have a proposal for you," Jiang said simply, eting her gaze evenly. "It involves you getting paid."
Lin's eyes narrowed again, this ti with sothing approaching disgust. "Not interested," she snapped.
Jiang blinked, taken aback. "What?"
Lin crossed her arms, expression darkening. "Look, I don't know what kind of assumptions you've made here, but I'm not exactly the type to—" She broke off, glancing away sharply, jaw clenched. "Look, just because I'm stuck living on the streets doesn't an I'll do anything you want just because you throw so silver around. I've got limits."
"Whoa," Jiang spluttered, holding his hands up defensively, suddenly getting what she was referring to. "Wait, wait—no. Stop. That's not at all what I ant. Not even close. I would never—I an, you're—I wasn't—"
Lin's scowl eased slightly as Jiang fumbled over his words, clearly flustered. She cocked her head slightly, suspicion lingering but mixed now with curiosity. "Then what exactly are you suggesting?" she asked warily.
Jiang took a deep breath, forcing himself to speak slowly and clearly. "I just ant… look, I think it's fairly obvious I'm not from around here, right?"
Lin gave him a flat look, gesturing impatiently.
"Honestly, I'm just… really bad at finding my way around the city. It's too crowded, and every street looks identical. And, as you may have guessed from last night, I'm going to need to be… discrete. At so point, I'll probably have to find my way around the… less pleasant parts of town."
He didn't know for sure, but from what the Broker had said, it was likely he was going to be… well, essentially a hired killer. No point calling it anything other than what it was – and while he would be sure not to target the innocent… well, that probably left the majority of the city.
Lin's expression shifted instantly from discomfort to wary suspicion. "Less pleasant parts?" she echoed, eyes narrowing. "Those are the parts you stay away from, as a rule. Exactly what kind of places are we talking about, and what would you be doing there?"
Jiang hesitated. "I don't actually know yet," he admitted honestly. "But given what little I know about the jobs I'll be doing, I doubt the people living there are going to be happy with ."
"That's… not giving much incentive then, is it?" Lin asked. Her tone was cautious, but there was an unmistakable light of curiosity in her eyes.
In truth, even telling her as much as he already had was probably not the best idea – but if she was going to be showing him around it wouldn't exactly be feasible to hide it later, so better to be upfront.
"I wouldn't ask you to fight," Jiang assured her quickly. "I wouldn't involve you in the jobs at all. Just… getting there and back. Maybe pointing toward the right people or places. All you'd really need to do is give advice and directions. Nothing dangerous."
Lin studied him for a long mont, visibly wrestling with herself. Eventually, she sighed, so of the tension easing from her posture. "Fine. Let's say I buy that – and let's also say I ignore the many ways this is incredibly shady. How much?"
"I don't know," Jiang shrugged. He'd half expected her to blow him off before he got this far. "What's fair?"
Lin grinned imdiately, and Jiang realised belatedly he'd walked straight into trouble. "A silver a day," she declared, holding up a single finger like it was a profound declaration. "Upfront."
He stared at her incredulously. "A silver? You realise I'm basically paying you to walk around and answer questions, right?"
"Yeah, but information is expensive," Lin chirped, rocking back on her heels. "Besides, I know how to duck the city watch and get almost anywhere unseen. I know which streets to avoid if you don't want trouble, or how to spot a cutpurse, or where the local toughs hang out. My information's useful, trust ."
She hesitated for a mont. "Besides, I'm not an idiot. I already told you last night that I want off the streets, and this is the best chance I've seen at actually making it happen."
That… said very depressing things about her options. Despite himself, his atrophied sense of empathy for people who weren't imdiate family tugged at him. One silver wasn't exactly cheap for a street rat's daily help – in fact, it was downright exorbitant – but he couldn't deny he had plenty of funds. That didn't an he could afford to waste them, of course, but then he did need soone who knew what they were doing in this city.
"You know what?" Jiang said finally, making sothing of a snap decision as he reached into his coin pouch. "Deal."
If she took the money and ran off… well, he'd feel pretty stupid, to be honest, but then again it wasn't the first ti he'd been an idiot, and it sure as hell wouldn't be the last. Still, no reason not to tip the scales a little.
Lin's eyes widened slightly, then narrowed again as he pressed two silver coins into her palm. She glanced sharply up at him, suspicion warring openly with confusion. "Are you... bad at math? Because I said one silver, not two."
He shrugged lightly, forcing his expression neutral. "Consider it an apology for last night. I did ruin your 'impeccable plan', after all."
She stared at him, eyes sharp and assessing, clearly reading between the lines. They both knew what he was really doing – a bribe, plain and simple – but for a brief mont, Jiang was genuinely uncertain if she'd accept. He felt a brief flash of discomfort at how easily he'd slipped into the Broker's thod of paying extra to ease suspicion or guarantee goodwill, but he pushed the feeling aside. It was too late to second-guess himself now.
Finally, Lin's fist closed tightly around the coins, her expression smoothing into a practised, casual mask. "If you insist on throwing extra money at , who am I to complain? But don't think that ans I owe you anything extra, got it?"
"Wouldn't dream of it," Jiang assured her dryly.
"Good," Lin said, relaxing a little as she slipped the coins into a hidden pocket. She fixed him with a questioning look. "Alright then, boss, what's the first task?"
Jiang didn't know which one of them looked more awkward at Lin calling him 'boss', but pushed through. "I need directions to the Leaky Kettle Inn."
Actually, what he needed was directions to the tavern that the Broker's office was hidden under, but the only way he had to describe the place was a sign with a foaming tankard on it. In a place like Qinghe, that probably described half the bars in the city, not to ntion that he didn't actually have any way of knowing whether the Broker would even be there or not. He sowhat doubted the man lived under the tavern, which ant he needed to find Han and ask him when he could et the Broker.
Except that he didn't know where Han was either, aning he first had to go back to the Leaky Kettle and hope that the caravan guards were both still there, and knew where Han was staying.
Honestly, the whole thing was stupidly complicated already, which was most of the reason he'd decided to say 'screw it' and pay Lin.
Lin blinked, then gave him a long, dubious stare. "You sure about that? You know it's mostly sailors and caravan guards who stay there, right?"
"Yeah," Jiang said simply. "I know."
Lin raised an eyebrow. "Look, you're new, so maybe you don't realise it, but for people like us, those kinds of places pretty much are 'the bad parts of town'. Guards, sailors—anyone who makes a living hitting people tends to see street rats as easy prey."
"I'm sure," Jiang repeated, eting her eyes evenly. He hesitated, considering how much to say, before deciding the details weren't necessary. "It's just where I need to go first."
She watched him skeptically for another mont, clearly debating whether or not to press for details, before sighing in resignation. "Fine. You're paying, you call the shots. But just so you know, if anyone there starts trouble, I'm gone."
"I'm not expecting you to fight," Jiang reminded her flatly.
"Good," Lin replied bluntly, turning and heading down the street without further argunt. Jiang hurried to follow. She threw him a quick glance over her shoulder, her tone grudgingly neutral. "Try to stay close. If you get lost and I have to find you, I'm charging extra."
Jiang rolled his eyes, quickening his step. "Noted."
They lapsed into silence, weaving carefully through streets rapidly filling with morning traffic. Even this early, Qinghe already buzzed with restless life, but Jiang barely noticed. His mind was still turning over the strange interaction with Old Nan, his unsettling Qi discoveries, and the uncomfortable ease with which he'd found himself mimicking the Broker's thods.
He didn't particularly like the path he seed to be walking, but he was starting to accept it was probably too late to change directions now.
He let out a soft sigh, resigned, and followed Lin deeper into the city.
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