Chapter 61

Noise

Chen Er woke to full daylight.

He sat up in a daze and found that he'd fallen asleep in the changing room. In the room where they'd brought him to change clothes, the night before. He'd slept the whole night there — since when did he sleep that soundly?

"Cough, cough." He stepped down from the bed. His chest ached and itched at the same time, a deep unpleasant feeling, and he coughed hard several times. The back of his throat filled with the taste of blood.

He'd slept a full night, but he felt exhausted — the way a person felt after going several days without sleep.

He pulled open the door. No one outside. Walking down the stairs cost him so much effort that by the time he reached the bottom he was already breathless, one hand pressed to the dull ache in his chest, the other shaking as he tried to bring up his phone to call an ambulance.

"Young Master Chen Er." A servant in uniform appeared. The same one who had brought him here last night.

Overnight, the servant's manner had undergone a complete transformation — not the smallest trace of warmth remained. "It's time for you to leave."

Chen Er assumed he'd offended Master Chen by falling asleep in the changing room. He made himself smile. "I was hoping to say goodbye to my great-uncle — if he's not occupied at the moment—"

"That won't be necessary." The servant's gaze dropped past Chen Er's face without interest, unwilling to look at him for even a second longer than required. "The master says: go straight home when you wake up."

The smile nearly collapsed. He didn't dare ask further questions. He put his phone away and began shuffling toward the exit.

The servant made no move to help or accompany him, simply watching him labor away step by wheezing step.

Chen Er wandered the garden for most of the morning without finding his way out. Eventually he gave up and lowered himself onto a decorative rockery stone to rest, back against the rock, trying to recover enough strength to try again.

In the distance, a bodyguard passed along a covered walkway with two middle-aged women. The bodyguard's clothing was identical to those who had been stationed around Chao Musheng last night.

He pressed himself against the rock and made himself small. He had developed a comprehensive fear, he realized, of anyone connected to Chao Musheng.

"Are you all right, sir?"

A broad-shouldered man appeared in front of him, holding a large pair of unwieldy pruning shears.

"I'm a guest. I was staying here last night." Chen Er patted his pockets and pulled a thick stack of cash from his wallet. "Take me to the exit and this is yours."

"Oh, I couldn't possibly." The man smiled — the smile of someone perfectly honest and easy to take advantage of.

He hauled Chen Er upright with one hand. "It's about ten minutes to the main gate from here. Follow me."

Chen Er, yanked up like a pulled radish, was half-dragged, half-walked out.

It was still early. The path was quiet.

"Cough, cough, cough." The chest pain was getting worse. He addressed the man supporting him: "Slow down."

"Sir, your color is very bad." The big man slowed. "You look like you might be anemic. Do you want to see a doctor?"

"I can't possibly be anemic—" Chen Er stumbled, nearly going down.

"Sir, careful — there's a step here." The big man released his arm, took out his phone, opened the front-facing camera, and held it up to Chen Er's face. "If you don't believe me, look for yourself."

"My face..."

Chen Er stared at his own reflection in the camera with horror. Ashen complexion. Sunken eyes. He looked as though everything had been drained out of him.

He'd only slept one accidental night in the Chen family's estate. Why did he look like he'd aged several years?

How could this be happening?

He turned to look back, in his terror, at the carved eaves and painted beams behind him — and the sight of it filled him with a revulsion he couldn't explain.

"Go. I need to go." Fear sent adrenaline flooding through him, and energy he hadn't known he still had surged up. Chen Er, who had barely been able to walk, suddenly moved at something close to a run, covering the last stretch to the main gate in half the time.

He pushed every last bill from his wallet into the big man's hands. "Quick — drive me to the hospital."

"Sir, we servants aren't permitted to leave our posts." The big man declined with friendly regret, and added helpfully: "You could call an ambulance here, if you'd like."

"No — no." Chen Er was afraid the Chen family had something to do with what had happened to him, but also afraid he was imagining things, and calling an ambulance to their front gate would cause offense. He pulled out his phone and ordered a premium car instead.

"Stay away from me." He had remembered that the big man helping him was also a Chen estate servant, and suspicion snapped back into place. "Don't come near me."

The sentence hadn't finished leaving his mouth before his vision went black and he crumpled to the ground.

Tiger stared at the man on the ground for two seconds, picked up the phone that had fallen from Chen Er's hand, and called emergency services.

This man had a red ring above his head. Whatever he was, he wasn't good.

Bad people who didn't want to call an ambulance — that had nothing to do with him.

He was just an ordinary, kind-hearted servant who'd helped a guest to the door.

The ambulance came quickly. The sirens, however, wailed all the way in, which meant roughly half of Chen Garden became aware that one of the previous night's guests had collapsed at the main gate and been taken away.

Master Chen had not anticipated this. The man's fate had been insufficient for the ritual — fine, that was manageable — but now he'd gone and collapsed at the front gate, in front of everyone. What were the other guests going to think of the Chen family?

Inauspicious.

The summoning ritual had failed last night, and he'd been worrying ever since that bad luck would follow. He hadn't expected it to manifest quite so quickly.

"Master Xuan." Master Chen summoned him, and found, startled, that several strands of white had appeared in Master Xuan's hair overnight. "What happened to you?"

"Chen Er's fate wasn't strong enough. The ritual's failure rebounded onto me." Master Xuan delivered this information, then promptly brought up a mouthful of blood. "It's fine. I can manage."

Master Chen, who had been nursing some resentment toward Master Xuan since last night, found the grievance evaporate at the sight of him. He was worried the man might follow Chen Er's example and collapse on the floor, so he invited him to sit down first.

"Master Xuan — the Chen family has already begun to feel the rebound. I need your counsel." He looked at his own hands. He was convinced his skin today looked older than yesterday's.

"Master Chen, this kind of fortune-borrowing is a divine art to begin with." Master Xuan curled one hand into a fist and held it to his lips, coughing quietly. Even now, drained of color, his air of elevated authority remained intact. "Without a suitable sacrificial offering, the divine will not answer. Three days — if no offering can be found that satisfies the divine within that window, even my own master coming in person could not change the outcome."

"The birth dates and horoscopes of every Chen family relative are here — please look through and tell me if anyone is suitable." Master Chen heard the three-day window and immediately grew anxious. He produced a yellowed notebook, dense with names and birth data going back generations.

Master Xuan did not take it. "Master Chen — your family's fortune is already at a very prosperous point. Perhaps it's wisest to leave things as they are."

"I cannot." Master Chen pressed a hand to his face, feeling for the elasticity that was still there. "Master Xuan, you're young — you don't yet know the helplessness of old age. I have money. I have position. But the body has already begun to fail."

"I don't ask for immortality. I ask only for length and health." He placed a wooden box on the table in front of Master Xuan. "A small token of my gratitude."

Master Xuan opened it. Neat rows of gold ingots.

Bank transfers over a certain amount attracted scrutiny. Master Chen was not the kind of man to invite trouble over something so manageable.

"Ah." Master Xuan looked at the box for only a moment before dropping his gaze. "Very well. I'll help you one more time."

He opened the horoscope register and turned through it page by page. His eyes finally settled on two entries.

"Your two grandsons, Master Chen — both have exceptionally auspicious fates." He closed the register and placed it back in Master Chen's hands. "Perhaps you might reconsider."

He stood, leaving the box of gold ingots on the table, and turned toward the door.

"Master Xuan." Master Chen stopped him, and pressed the heavy box into his arms. "This matter is genuinely difficult for me. Allow me two days to think on it. Please take this in the meantime."

Difficult.

Master Xuan looked down at the gold in his hands. If it were truly difficult, the man wouldn't have pressed this into his arms.

He had already made up his mind. He simply needed a small curtain of decency to stand behind.

"Then come to me when you've decided." Master Xuan raised an eyebrow. "But please remember, Master Chen — if you haven't resolved yourself before midnight on the final night, there will be no further opportunity."

Master Chen looked down at his two grandsons' names in the register and sighed.

They were both his own flesh and blood. It was difficult not to feel something.

*

"The cat is in good health — nothing significantly wrong." The two female veterinarians completed a thorough examination of Ink Blob and finished the deworming treatment. "If you'd feel better having a more detailed workup done at a pet hospital, you're welcome to — but my personal opinion is that it's not necessary. Over-examination can itself be a source of stress for animals."

"Thank you." Chao Musheng looked at Ink Blob, who had only been willing to cooperate with the examination while lying in his arms. "This is my first time keeping a cat. There's a lot I don't know yet — do you happen to have any basic care guides?"

"Of course." The vet handed him a cat care booklet with the ease of someone who deeply appreciated a responsible new owner. She glanced at the small cat settled in his arms. "It likes you very much."

"Does it?" Chao Musheng smiled and rubbed one small ear.

"After more than ten years in this work, I rarely see a cat with fur this purely black — almost a sheen to it." After the vet finished packing her kit, Ink Blob — who had been hiding in Chao Musheng's arms throughout — finally deigned to peek out.

"In the classical period, cats with fur as black as ink had a particularly fine name: Wuyun Xiao Tie — Iron Howl Beneath Black Clouds." The vet showed no offense at the cat's avoidance of her; animals and children both feared doctors, and she understood perfectly.

"Thank you — that name sounds genuinely formidable." Chao Musheng lifted Ink Blob up. "Doesn't it, Ink Blob."

"Meow!" Held up without warning, Ink Blob gave its tail a lazy, satisfied wave.

Yes. Yes, exactly. That's precisely what it was.

*

The bodyguards saw the two vets out. Secretary Liu came in at a brisk pace, caught sight of his employer cooking in the kitchen, and stopped — then redirected his gaze to Chao Musheng, who was sitting on the floor playing with the cat.

"Brother Liu." Chao Musheng got to his feet. The cat got up too and followed him.

"Where did the cat come from?" Secretary Liu bent down to make overtures. "Here, here, here."

Ink Blob did not acknowledge him. Supremely composed.

Humans were so very dull.

"I found it last night." Chao Musheng, afraid of accidentally stepping on his new shadow, scooped it back up. "It's my cat now."

Secretary Liu looked at this cat — which had ignored him completely and was now melting into a liquid in Chao Musheng's arms — and felt a compound emotion he could only describe as envious sourness. Two personalities in one small body.

He went into the kitchen. "Sir — I'll take over."

"There's no need." Xu Chenzhu turned off the heat and began transferring the cooked cat food into the bowl. "What's happened?"

"Master Chen has asked to inform you that his sixty-ninth birthday is in two days. He hopes you and Mr. Chao might be willing to extend your stay."

Secretary Liu looked into the bowl and understood: this was cat food.

Boss.

Your Xiao Chao got a cat. You are personally cooking the cat's meals. Where does your dignity live?

Xu Chenzhu added two drops of pet-specific fish oil to the bowl. "His sixty-ninth?"

"Master Chen is fairly superstitious — he follows the tradition of celebrating a man's ninth-year birthdays rather than the round tens." Secretary Liu moved to carry the cat food out, and was gently intercepted.

"Don't give it to the cat yet — it's too hot. Let it cool first." Xu Chenzhu dried his hands and came out of the kitchen. He looked at Chao Musheng. "The Chen family would like you to stay a few more days. Do you want to?"

Yesterday afternoon, Chen Fang's appearance had cut the garden walk short before Chao Musheng had seen much of anything. Hearing the question, he asked, without thinking about it: "What about you, Mr. Xu?"

"Either way suits me." Xu Chenzhu bent down and touched the top of Ink Blob's head. Ink Blob did not respond — but did not move away from the hand either.

The human's servant was someone the Cat King was willing to grace with marginal acknowledgment.

"Going home, I'd be alone." A quiet, unhurried statement. "Here, I have your company." A faint smile. "You still have two and a half days of leave remaining."

"Then I'll stay two more days." Chao Musheng had the feeling, from something in the way Mr. Xu had said it, that he would like him to stay.

"Good." Xu Chenzhu touched one fingertip to the top of Ink Blob's head, lightly. "The cat food is nearly ready — let Ink Blob stay in and eat. We can go for a walk."

"Yes — let's." Chao Musheng had no intention of bringing Ink Blob outside, not wanting any unnecessary friction with the Chen household.

"Ink Blob the Great General — you stay in and be good. We'll bring you something nice when we get back."

He had picked up some pet treats from the vet.

"Meow." Ink Blob hopped down from Chao Musheng's knee, padded to the corner cat mat, and sat down to await its meal.

The human and his servant were going out to hunt for it. A clever cat did not stand in their way.

"What a smart cat." Secretary Liu shook his head in admiration. "Xiao Chao — you found treasure. Go out with the boss. I'll keep an eye on it and make sure it doesn't wander."

A perceptive secretary understood that his role was to create every possible condition for the boss.

*

Morning in Chen Garden — the air still fresh, dewdrops on the petals.

Chao Musheng and Xu Chenzhu walked side by side.

"On a normal holiday, I'd still be asleep at this hour." Chao Musheng said.

"Sleeping more is how you grow tall — it means you've been taking good care of yourself." Xu Chenzhu said this with complete sincerity.

Chao Musheng felt vaguely embarrassed on his own behalf for how much he had enjoyed hearing it. He turned away and took a photo of the garden scenery, and posted it.

The likes came in almost immediately. He scrolled through the list — and didn't find the profile picture he was looking for.

Xu Chenzhu stopped and looked at him. "Something wrong?"

"Nothing." Chao Musheng shook his head.

The one who used to be first every time — where was he today?

Sleeping in, maybe.

"Mr. Xu, Mr. Chao."

Chen You came down the path in a light blue suit, smiling pleasantly. "Good morning."

He noted the two of them walking almost shoulder to shoulder, and let his gaze rest on Chao Musheng's face a moment longer than necessary. "Are you taking a turn around the garden?"

Chao Musheng glanced at Xu Chenzhu. Xu Chenzhu gave the smallest nod.

"Would I be so fortunate as to show you around?" Chen You explained: "The estate has a lot of buildings and the paths can be confusing — I'd hate for you to get lost."

"That's very kind, but we're just wandering nearby." Chao Musheng read Xu Chenzhu's silence and understood immediately. "Young Master Chen must have many things to attend to — please don't feel you need to stay and look after us."

Chen You waited two beats. No word came from Mr. Xu. He produced his business card and handed it to Chao Musheng. "My card — if you find yourselves lost, please don't hesitate to call."

"Thank you." Chao Musheng accepted it, turned — and saw Chen Fang coming their way with Lian Hai in tow.

"Xiao Chao!" Lian Hai's green was visible from a hundred meters.

At Xu Chenzhu's brow, a faint, cool shift.

This world was too noisy.