Chapter 1: The First of Three

  Dai Xi-Wang lacked many things. Warmth was one such scarcity. No matter how fast Xi-Wang ran across the slum’s splintered stone paths, the cold would find him. But the peacock man could not. Xi-Wang didn’t like the peacock man the moment he felt his presence. The fear Xi-Wang felt wasn't similar to when he had been cornered by the local shop owners for a failed steal. Instead it felt like being trapped in an alley by a rabid dog. Xi-Wang would rather take his chances with an angry man rather than a rabid dog. The dog would always kill you. A man would at least beat you until he was satisfied.

  And yet, Dai Jia always told Xi-Wang that with great fear came greater rewards. So Xi-Wang stalked towards the source and into the mass of sweating boisterous bodies of the richer market. The peacock man was who Xi-Wang found. He flaunted clean green robes embroidered in gold shaping the twelve divine beasts, a silver sword of less grandeur sheathed the most potent source of danger to his waist. But the reward, a bulging red silk pouch dangling alongside the sword, whispered promises. Xi-Wang couldn’t hear the excited rustling of the sword as the peacock man sliced through the crowd, all he could hear was the tiny jingle of the pouch.

  Dai Xi-Wang crept closer but found that his thick cover of swarming bodies lessened as he neared. Few dared to cross close to the peacock man and those that did kept their heads bowed and hastened their pace. Xi-Wang knew the peacock man would have a chance to catch him when he neared, but the surrounding mass seemed content in keeping the peacock out of their vision. Then the peacock man turned, head tilting away from Xi-Wang to observe the local wind chimes with a slight grin while his side holding the pouch dangled in clear view. Xi-Wang moved before he could think. He tumbled into the man’s side and snatched the red pouch. Xi-Wang risked a glance and found the peacock man’s green eyes widened in surprise alongside his grin. Xi-Wang’s skin crawled as the man barred his teeth at him. He felt his sweaty skin stick and scratch against his rough brown fabric as his feet glided across the smooth road. His right shoulder burned hard from the impact against the peacock man and the weight of the pouch grew with each stride.

  Xi-Wang clutched his rewards tightly between his thin fingers as he sprinted past the disinterested crowd. The heavy pouch jingled pleasantly like the wind chimes that warded off evil spirits. Perhaps if the pouch didn’t contain the chill of winter, binding his frozen fingers to the pouch, Xi-Wang would’ve dropped it during his escape. Although the rewards warmed Xi-Wang’s soul, he didn’t like the sting of cold through the thin fabric. He knew that sting. He’d felt it before.

  A lucky steal had earned him a single Jǔ once. Xi-Wang didn’t know what it was at first. It was larger than the typical rectangular bronze Qián coin but made of silver instead. Jǔ didn’t feel so nice to hold like Qián, but everyone, including his older sister, wanted it more. Dai Jia had showered him with love and warmth for a month while the ugly Dai Xuilan was tucked away in a tiny corner trapped by the power of Jǔ.

  Jǔ, a currency inscribed by immortals, contained the power to ward off evil. At least, that was what Dai Jia had told Xi-Wang. There wasn’t much Jǔ in the slums so maybe that was why there was so much evil around Xi-Wang. How much evil can this pouch ward off? Would Dai Xuilan disappear forever? Could Dai Jia and me be happy forever!

  Xi-Wang's eager sprint took him deep into more familiar streets where his callused feet scraped against loose stones. He squeezed into busy streets of uneasy bodies squashing near. If the peacock man had chased after Xi-Wang, then the early morning rush in the city's slum would hide the rest of his tracks. Xi-Wang tucked the pouch tight to his stomach and curled his body around it to hide it from preening eyes. Xi-Wang didn’t trust the adults to not steal from him, but he also knew that the ones who’d notice his catch would be the other kids. That was why Xi-Wang risked going through the crowded streets of working adults rather than the unknown paths littered with needy rats ready to tear open his share.

  However, Xi-Wang still had to worry about one particular group that prowled through the streets early in the morning. Min Hong and his gang roamed the streets like hungry Yakshas, even the adults made way for them. Min Hong’s gang always taxed any pickpocket they could get their hands on. Hong taxed Xi-Wang more because Xi-Wang had a sister to care for him. Xi-Wang had endured the tax since Hong had taught Xi-Wang how to pickpocket, he had allowed Xi-Wang to keep his big steals, but Hong broke his word a month ago and began to steal all of Xi-Wang’s earnings.

  Six months. Xi-Wang grinned at the thought. In six months Hong would turn sixteen, then the orphanage would sell him to the military. Xi-Wang’s clutch on the pouch tightened. With the power of Jǔ the moment might come sooner. Then all of Xi-Wang’s problems would be solved. Poverty, bullying, Dai Xiulan, all would be banished because Xi-Wang was brave enough to follow the danger for greater rewards.

  Xi-Wang’s breath grew in weight from his long sprint until the mist that spewed from his lips clogged his throat. His stride stumbled and he began to burrow through the tight bodies rather than carefully slip in between. His vigilant watch narrowed into thin slits of light. If he could reach it, if he could continue, then all the evil would vanish in his life.

  A hand snatched his hair and other pairs joined in to drag him away from the flittering brightness of the bustling streets and into the dark bowels of a lonely alley. Xi-Wang curled tight into a ball to hide and guard his vitals from spilling out.

  “Whatcha got, Wang?” Hong whispered.

  Xi-Wang trembled. He felt his body warm ever so slightly to prepare itself for the bitter cold to come.

  “You know the deal, Wang. Give us our share and we’ll leave you alone. Fair and simple,” said Hong.

  Xi-Wang did not uncurl. He did not want to give Hong’s gang a single Jǔ. Hong wasn’t fair. Not anymore. He’d rather risk the beating to hide a single Qián than come out unscathed without the cold sting of a coin. A kick cracked onto Xi-Wang’s spine and his body began to burn hot and fast. At these moments Xi-Wang felt like a lit candle, one moment there was a tiny bit of warmth but after the wax had fully melted there was nothing but the yawning cold that killed the flame.

  “Open up or I’ll split you open, Wang.” Hong clawed at Xi-Wang’s body trying to tear him apart but Xi-Wang was resilient. Dai Xuilan had tempered his body like steel from all the beatings he endured.

  Blow after blow rained down on Xi-Wang. A fist to the head made his mind reel, a kick to his side caused his nerves to wail, but as long as he clutched the Jǔ all evil would be warded away. Jǔ, cold as winter, ate all his warmth but offered nothing in return. The evil remained and surrounded a cold body on the brink of death.

  Hong wouldn’t kill me. He wouldn’t cross the line. Would he? I… don’t know anymore.

  A big burly kid picked up Xi-Wang like a sack while Hong and another pried open Xi-Wang's arms. The boys wrenched away the pouch clutched against Xi-Wang’s stomach and the silver guts spilled. The Jǔ screamed as they clanged onto the stone floor, their voice no longer a clean ring but a grinding wail. Xi-Wang heard Hong bawl, heard the others yell and howl. These sounds twisted and turned into animals squealing and roaring. The world shifted and fell. Xi-Wang felt for the floor but could not make sense of his limbs. Every attempt left him floundering on the cold wet stone.

  Slowly, the world returned to normal as the shrill cry of Jǔ quieted its tantrum. Xi-Wang felt the nausea assault his body but he held his stomach back. He couldn’t afford to waste food, he had to keep everything. Xi-Wang heaved himself from the ground. His sore shoulder exploded in pain and his face and fingers whined along. The snot and tears fed into the sharp wounds and the pain grew. But Xi-Wang continued to move.

  He overturned the large burly boy and searched his body for anything of use. He found a gourd to swipe. He found the scrawny boy spasming. The scrawny boy’s throat was sore from screaming, now it was content moaning. Xi-Wang kicked him. The scrawny boy stilled and his hollow eyes gazed at the morning sky. Xi-Wang took the boys' robes. They were a bit big for him but that just meant there was more to stave off the cold with. Finally, Xi-Wang glanced at Hong. He was huddled in a ball of tight nerves rocking back and forth. Tears struck down his face and festered into clawed wounds. Xi-Wang and Min Hong shared short panicked breaths and a wince or two from their self-inflicted wounds.

  “Min Hong?” Xi-Wang croaked. His voice, hoarse and weak, did not reach anyone. Min Hong’s trembling eyes were glued to the fallen Jǔ. Carefully, Xi-Wang began to make his way towards the Jǔ. One by one, Xi-Wang collected it back into the pouch. Hong made no effort to stop him. Slowly the pain faded and so did the last of Xi-Wang's warmth. The numb chill helped to support Xi-Wang's arduous task.

  Xi-Wang's body was cold, cold as a corpse, but at least his mind was warm. A fragment still hoping that the evil in his life would be shunned away by the mystical Jǔ.

  “Interesting,” a voice deep but soft and mellow rang out and the peacock man appeared before Xi-Wang. His colored green and gold robe, a beacon in the dark, hid a calculating gaze of emerald eyes beneath its gleam. Xi-Wang’s mind cowered in fear. The clasp he had on the Jǔ trembled and spilled.

  “Perhaps you are worthy of an apology, young one.” The peacock man spoke to himself. Xi-Wang knew it. He’d heard Dai Jia speak in the same manner to solidify a decision. “Come with me, child.”

  Run. Xi-Wang felt his frozen limbs thaw from a simmering warmth. RUN! Xi-Wang bolted to the side. He tried to dive past the peacock man but a firm hand gripped his bad shoulder and held him back.

  “I offer you a chance, child. Do not squander it. Come with me.”

  The burn in his shoulder crawled into his spine and fueled his body with an explosive fury. Xi-Wang struggled. His feet tangled and ripped against the stone floor, pasting blood onto the peacock man’s robes as Xi-Wang kicked and screamed. He punched the peacock man and felt his fingers crumple into limp lumps against an immovable force.

  Xi-Wang watched as his body was consumed by the warmth and moved according to its will. Help me fight! The warmth wailed but Xi-Wang did not listen. He cowered and retreated further into his mind uncaring of what the warmth did to his body.

  “My patience runs thin, child.” The peacock man’s voice rang clear and steady. “Do not test it for long.”

  The warmth controlled Xi-Wang’s body and made him snarl and bite. He clawed and grasped at the sleeves of the robe, but he couldn’t even crumple the fine silk. His teeth glided off the skin and his hands felt like it was trying to knead iron. The warmth tired Xi-Wang’s body and the cold was left to fill in the gaps it left. Speak. The cold spoke to Xi-Wang. Tell the peacock man why we want to stay.

  “I won’t go,” Xi-Wang felt the words slip out of his mouth as he regained control over his body. “My sister, I want to stay with my sister.”

  The peacock man smiled. Xi-Wang didn’t like that smile. It felt similar to Dai Xuilan’s in which the beautiful smile would forebode a vile act. “Then let us see if your sister reasons the same. Let us see your worth.”

  The peacock man let go of Xi-Wang and the boy stumbled to the ground.

  “Walk with me. Fall behind and I will take you by force, boy.” said the peacock man.

  Xi-Wang tried to move but his body wouldn’t listen. He tumbled to the ground. Limbs stiff and cold. Think of our sister, Xi-Wang. Move. We can move. Work with me. The cold encouraged Xi-Wang.

  If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  I can’t. Xi-Wang replied to the cold. My body won’t listen. The warmth had sapped all his energy. There was none left. All Xi-Wang could do was give up.

  Don’t give up you bastard! The warmth bellowed and Xi-Wang felt his limbs thaw and pain spasmed through his veins.

  Good. The cold spoke. We can work with this, Xi-Wang. Don’t mind Xi-Feng’s screeching. Just use his help to move. I’ll bear the pain. You just focus on moving.

  Xi-Wang felt his nerves numb as he stumbled onto his knees. The peacock man watched, his grin returning as Xi-Wang stood.

  “Good,” said the peacock man. “Very good. Now, follow.” The peacock man turned his back to Xi-Wang and slowly stepped away from the alley. Xi-Wang risked a glance behind him and saw the bodies of Min Hong and his gang now sprawled on the floor drooling with glazed eyes.

  They’ll live. The cold reasoned.

  Xi-Tang’s right. Min Hong won’t die. He’s strong. The warmth called Xi-Feng encouraged.

  Now move. They both urged.

  Xi-Wang looked towards the peacock man and saw him waiting patiently, his gaze and grin unchanging.

  Don’t do anything else. Hurry. Who knows when his patience will run out and he’ll take us by force. Xi-Tang, the cold part said.

  No. Continue Xi-Wang, he can wait. Make him wait. Xi-Feng laughed.

  Xi-Wang wobbled toward the silk pouch and collected the remaining Jǔ. After hesitating for a brief moment Xi-Wang stashed a couple into Min Hong’s pocket. Xi-Wang did owe him and this was his repayment. No debt should be left unsettled. That was what his sister always said.

  “How noble of you to share your earnings with the dead child.” The peacock man spoke.

  “They aren’t dead,” Xi-Wang spat.

  Nothing can kill Min Hong. The warmth agreed.

  The cold stayed silent, waiting.

  The peacock’s grin widened. “Perhaps we might have a surprise later on. But I won’t wait for them. They aren’t worth my time. But out of the kindness of my heart, I will give you one more chance to retrieve the Jǔ. You earned it and you deserve the chance to do what you please with it while having the full knowledge of this situation.”

  Take it. They're dead. We’ll need it. The cold reasoned.

  “They’ll wake up,” the warmth and Xi-Wang snapped at the peacock man and the cold.

  “Very well then,” the peacock man began to walk.

  Cold and warm. That is what Xi-Wang felt as he stumbled alongside the peacock man. Xi-Wang didn’t like the cold. It reminded him of when his older sister, Dai Xuilan, beat him. Xi-Wang preferred the warmth. It reminded him of when his other older sister, Dai Jia, would cuddle with him two years ago when he was six. She’d rub his feet when he was cold before she’d bundle them together in their thin blanket tight together during the chilling nights. Xi-Wang’s body was always cold despite his sister’s best efforts, but at least his soul was warmed. Now Xi-Wang’s soul felt cold and warm. Xi-Wang didn’t know how to describe it, but he knew that both wrestled control with him over his body.

  The warm fragment gave him strength to walk beside the peacock man, but too much control given would cause the pain to flare and cripple him. The cold gave him the ability to endure the pain but too much control and his body would collapse. Xi-Wang's fear and panic spiked everytime the peacock man paused to wait for him.

  We aren’t weak. Move, Xi-Wang. For our sister. Please, move. The warmth encouraged Xi-Wang.

  Give more control to me, Xi-Wang. The cold spoke. The burn in our shoulder is too much for you to endure alone.

  He can endure it, Xi-Tang. The warmth quipped.

  He can. But it’s better to endure together, Xi-Feng. The cold sighed.

  Xi-Wang listened to the cold. Better not bite off more than he could chew. Especially since he already has a hard pill to swallow.

  “Is this your home?” The peacock man asked. He didn’t find disgust or pleasure in finding the shabby hive of shops, apartment rooms, and brothels. The residents shied further away from the man after hearing him speak. Their heads kept down, not daring to meet his gaze.

  Face him. Don’t show weakness. The warmth ordered.

  Don’t act hotheaded. Who knows what he’ll do if we keep sparking his interest. Just nod. The cold reasoned.

  Don’t you dare retreat again, Xi-Wang. Running and keeping our head down will do nothing for us now. The warmth roared.

  Xi-Wang met the peacock man’s emerald eyes and nodded his head. The peacock man smiled and waltzed into the mix of dim rotting wood with faded peeling paint and tired busy bodies caked in sweat and dirt from all kinds of work. Xi-Wang didn’t have to lead the peacock man to their apartment room, somehow he knew where it was.

  Loud creaking, hushed breaths of exhaustion, and faint whispering came from behind the door. Xi-Wang's older sister, Dai Xuilan hard at work never to be interrupted lest her temper flare. The peacock man knocked firmly on the door. The echoing knock was as controlled as his voice.

  “Open the door, mortal. I do not like waiting. Yet, I understand the value of a mortal’s time compared to mine so I shall reimburse you properly for my demand.”

  The creaking sounds stopped and it took a minute for the door to open.

  “Who the fuck are you,” Dai Xuilan’s sharp tone exited. Xi-Wang’s sister stood glaring at the peacock man, her robes barely covering her curves, her thick makeup smeared from sweat and labor revealed faint dark spots of all sizes splattered all over her skin.

  The peacock man entered past Dai Xuilan and sat at a prepared tea table that held a singular chair. He pushed away the cold tea cup and surveyed the room. His gaze landed on Dai Xiulan’s fat client, who lay naked half under the sheets clutching his clothes with grubby fingers.

  “Leave.” The peacock man ordered.

  The man nodded and dragged the sheets along with him out the door, leaving behind some of his clothes in the rush. Xi-Wang offered control to the warm fragment and found his steps inside to be steady as he ground the fat man’s clothes beneath his soles. He never liked Xuilan’s clients nor her job. Her clients always passed their violence onto Xuilan and after she took the job of an escort Xi-Wang was forced to sleep alone and cold, far away from Dai Jia.

  “Who are you?” Dai Xuilan asked, her tone biting at the end. A bite Xi-Wang felt whenever Xuilan was scared or angry.

  “You know what I am, mortal. You feel it so acknowledge it. I don’t wish to find that your resilience is mixed with foolishness.”

  “Esteemed cultivator,” Dai Xuilan whispered. Hesitantly she reached out her arm and hooked it gently around the peacock man’s shoulder. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

  The peacock man was a cultivator, a defier of heaven, a pursuer of immortality. Dai Jia always scared Xi-Wang with stories of cultivators whose values on mortal life were twisted from the pursuit of power and Ascension. The only rules the cultivators respected were those of the first Emperor– the Architect, but that did not mean they did not break them. Afterall, they started every war, they rebelled against the Emperor, and they opened the gate to the Descended, releasing the evil Yakshas that eat, kill, and haunt the world.

  “I come here not for your services, but for the boy.” The peacock man took hold of Xuilan’s waist and guided her onto his lap. “I will offer you ten Jǔ. That is, if one Jǔ still equates to one year of peasant prosperity.”

  Xi-Wang saw Xuilan’s eyes glint with greed akin to Min Hongs but as Dai Xuilan turned to stare at Xi-Wang, he saw Dai Jia start to take control. Her hungry eyes softened the longer she gazed at Xi-Wang and he saw the evil Dai Xuilan be banished beneath Dai Jia’s love. Dai Jia tried to lift herself off from the peacock man but he held firm to her waist.

  Xi-Wang couldn’t hear the cold and warm voices as rage swept him. Don’t touch her. Don’t hold her. Those weren’t human hands, they were something else, something horrid. The only thing that cooled Xi-Wang’s sweltering nerves was the cold pouch clenched tightly in his hand.

  “And what would a cultivator want my brother for?” Dai Jia questioned. “Why pay a small fortune for him?”

  The peacock man’s eyebrow arched. He paused, then his mouth parted to speak until he thought better of it. An evil glint came across the peacock man’s eyes and so he replied, “Must I answer the question?”

  Before Jia could answer the peacock man’s presence flared and Xi-Wang’s grip on the pouch slipped. Fear nailed Xi-Wang's feet to the floor but he tore it away. Xi-Wang knew that if he let the fear take over then Dai Jia would be gone forever. Xi-Wang charged forward, bloody feet tearing away from the creaking floorboards, but the pressure the man exerted crushed his body into the groaning rotting wood.

  “Yes,” Dai Jia spat her answer between gritted teeth. “You must answer the question.”

  “Hm,” the peacock man’s finger tapped onto the table. His finger nail carved into the wood. “What if I make an offer? I will pay double if you allow me to take him without question.”

  “You want an offer? Fine then, one hundred thousand Jǔ. I’d only sell my brother to you for a hundred thousand Jǔ.” Dai Jia’s voice exploded in mockery. “And I won’t bargain for any less.”

  The pressure faded and Xi-Wang was flooded with relief.

  “Very well then,” the peacock man took out ten golden rectangles engraved with the twelve divine beasts of the zodiac from his robes and slid them into Xuilan’s hands. “One hundred thousand Jǔ, or in this case ten Bùxiǔ Jīn. Now then, will you keep your word, Miss Dai Xuilan?”

  Xi-Wang saw the hunger return to Dai Jia’s eyes and Dai Xuilan began to take control. The pressure returned to Xi-Wang, this one internal rather than external.

  “I don’t have a choice do I?” Dai Jia whispered. “I’ve heard about your kind. You young masters always take what you want.”

  “I am not a young master, Miss Dai Xuilan,” the peacock man responded. “And I can assure you that your choice does matter.”

  “No. I don’t have a choice. My choice doesn’t matter.” Dai Jia folded under Dai Xuilan’s pressure, and so the greedy devil clasped tightly onto the Bùxiǔ Jīn.

  The peacock man gently lifted her off him and gestured his arm towards Xi-Wang. “Say your farewells now, I’m afraid I must leave soon.”

  Xuilan crept closer to Xi-Wang, mimicking the times Xi-Wang would cautiously tread around Xuilan’s fiery temperament. The brother and sister hugged each other. Xi-Wang felt fragments of Jia rumble in sorrow as she clutched tightly to him, but he also felt Xuilan’s greed impale his back as the Bùxiǔ Jīn were still within her grasp. Xi-Wang let the cold take over. He felt the fear of the future wash over him, felt the sorrow and rage be caged alongside the small warm fragment, and thought, Dai Jia deserves this. She deserves this.

  Dai Jia let go of Xi-Wang but Dai Xiulan kept hold of the Bùxiǔ Jīn. Dai Jia propped up Xi-Wang, but Dai Xiulan nudged him towards the peacock man. The peacock man took hold of Xi-Wang’s fingers. Xi-Wang was cold to the touch, on the brink of death, mind shattered and soul wounded badly, but resilient in living.

  Xi-Wang felt the warm fragment and himself be consumed by the cold force. Whatever emotions Xi-Wang had began to slip from his rigid grasp as he became one with the winter frost to endure his abandonment. It would all be easier if I gave everything to you, Xi-Tang.

  The peacock man smiled. His young clean-shaven face so serene and content with what he achieved– had cracked as the sound of the Bùxiǔ Jīn screeched against the molded wooden flooring.

  “Give him back,” Dai Jia wailed and she tore Xi-Wang from the peacock man’s grasp “I’ll never sell him. Never. You wanted a choice and this is mine!”

  “Everyone has a choice, Miss Dai Xuilan.” The peacock man responded. “But a cultivator’s choice matters more in this world.”

  Dai Jia froze. Her warmth trapped by a force thin as silk but hard as stone. The peacock man flicked his fingers and Dai Jia’s hands were thrown off her brother. Xi-Wang stumbled towards the peacock man. His tiny hands bashing against the man with the last of his strength.

  “My name is Jing Yan, mortal. Use my name as you see fit. Flaunt it with vanity, enact revenge over those who slighted you, I don’t care how you use what you’ve earned.” The peacock man threw a medal onto the floor before picking up the squirming boy whose cold body and soul began to thaw by a slight warmth transferred from sister to brother.

  The warm fragment had regained its spark and fought against the biting cold. Cold and warm, that was what Dai Xi-Wang felt. He had no other way to describe it. But he knew he needed both to survive. He knew he needed both to fight.