Chapter 128: Almost There

The evidence sat on the low table between them long after Han Lin had gone to change out of her dusty robe and Ye Chenxue had retreated to the training hall, her expression unreadable in the way it always was when something had actually rattled her.

Lu Feng stared at the folded paper for a long while, at the crude sketch of Han Lin’s face, at the small chained fang inked into the corner, and felt something in his chest go very cold and very still.

Iron Fang. Not scouts this time. Not men testing a barrier from a safe distance. Men sent to grab someone from his household in broad daylight, in the middle of a crowded market, as if the consequences of doing so meant nothing to them at all.

He had been so consumed by that thought, turning it over from every angle, that it took him almost an hour to notice the second thing gnawing at the back of his mind, the thing that had actually been bothering him since midday.

He hadn’t heard from Lin Laifu.

It shouldn’t have meant anything on its own. Lin Laifu was a busy man, always chasing one deal or another, always disappearing for a day or two on some errand that only made sense to him.

But the auction of the pills had concluded tw days ago, and Lin Laifu, true to his nature, had sent word the very same evening bragging about the final price, promising to visit with the full ledger of proceeds within a day. That had been two days ago. Since then, nothing. Not a note, not a runner, not even the usual complaints about how hard he’d worked to secure such buyers.

Lu Feng set the folded paper down and rubbed at his temple.

Two threats surfacing on the same day was either an unfortunate coincidence or it wasn’t a coincidence at all.

He rose from his chair with enough purpose that the female servant dusting the far shelf startled and nearly dropped her cloth.

"Find Bai Bao," he said. "And tell Old Ma to have the carriage ready."

The servant bowed and hurried off without asking questions, which was one of the things Lu Feng appreciated most about the staff Lin Laifu had assembled. Nobody in this household asked unnecessary questions anymore. They had all learned, in one way or another, what kind of house this had become.

Bai Bao arrived first, still wiping training grime from his hands, a solid wall of a man with a scar along his jaw that Lu Feng had never asked about and Bai Bao had never offered to explain. He had come with Lin Laifu originally, on loan as a guard, and had simply never left after the estate’s defenses proved more interesting than his old employer’s warehouses.

"You called for me," Bai Bao said, not quite a question.

"We’re going to Lin Laifu’s residence."

"Now? It’s nearly dusk."

"Now," Lu Feng said. "Something is wrong. I can feel it."

Bai Bao studied his face for a moment, the way he always did when deciding whether an order was worth questioning further, then simply nodded and turned to check the short blade at his hip. He didn’t ask what evidence had brought this on, and he didn’t ask why the young master looked so pale about it either. In the months since he’d switched employers, he’d learned that Lu Feng’s instincts were worth more than most men’s certainties.

"Should I find more men from the guards?" he asked instead. "If it’s trouble, three of us might not be enough."

"If it’s already happened, more men won’t help him." Lu Feng’s voice was flat, tired. "If it hasn’t, showing up with a small army will only frighten his household and draw eyes we don’t want on us. We go quiet. We go fast. That’s all."

"And if there’s an ambush waiting?"

"Then it’s already waiting whether we bring three men or thirty." Lu Feng finally looked up at him. "I’d rather find out quickly than sit here guessing until morning."

He also revealed to Bai Bao the fact that Han Lin had almost been kidnapped while she was with Ye Chenxue earlier during the day and how he was relieved that they were safe.

Lu Feng wanted to move but then he stopped and made one last statement to Bai Bao. "Besides, I’m more than enough if there’s an ambush."

Bai Bao didn’t argue further. He simply nodded once, the way he always did when a decision had been made, and went to fetch his outer coat.

Old Ma was already waiting by the carriage when they reached the courtyard, an older man with a weathered face and hands that had steadied more nervous horses than he could count. He had also come as part of Lin Laifu’s original staff, assigned to Lu Feng’s household as a driver once it became clear the young master preferred discretion to spectacle.

Old Ma didn’t ask why they were leaving so late either. He simply climbed up to the driver’s bench once the two of them were settled inside, clicked his tongue at the horses, and guided the carriage out through the gate as the last orange light bled out of the sky.

The city changed character as evening deepened. Market stalls folded their awnings and dragged their goods indoors. Lanterns flickered to life along the main avenues, casting long amber shapes across the cobblestones, while the side streets grew darker and quieter with each passing minute. Lu Feng watched it all pass through the carriage’s small window without really seeing it, his mind still circling the same worry over and over.

"You think something happened to him," Bai Bao said eventually, breaking the silence. It wasn’t quite a question either. ⅇℓ.

"Two days of silence after an auction that size isn’t like him," Lu Feng said. "He would have come himself if only to gloat about the price. Or sent Old Ma with a message, at the very least."

Bai Bao’s jaw tightened slightly. "You think it’s connected to the men who came after Han Lin today."

"I don’t know yet. That’s what worries me." Lu Feng exhaled slowly. "Lin Laifu handled the auction publicly. Everyone in the merchant circles knows he’s the one who’s been moving my pills. If someone wanted to disrupt what we’ve built, cutting him off would be one of the easiest ways to do it."

"And if he’s just busy negotiating some new deal and forgot to send word?"

"Then I’ll have wasted an evening, and I’ll happily apologize to him for doubting his manners," Lu Feng said, a faint, humorless smile crossing his face. "I would much rather be wrong."

The carriage rattled on through the darkening streets, past the lantern shops closing their shutters, past a pair of city watchmen leaning against a wall sharing a joke Lu Feng couldn’t quite hear, past the narrow alley where, only hours earlier, Ye Chenxue had put four grown men on the ground without breaking a sweat. He glanced toward that alley as they passed it, jaw tightening at the memory, and forced himself to look forward again.

Old Ma called back through the small window near the front of the carriage. "Young master, we’re coming up on the merchant quarter now. Should I take the main road or the side route?"

"You know the paths better but still, I’ll suggest the side route," Lu Feng said without hesitation. "Fewer eyes."

"As you say."

The carriage banked left, wheels bumping over a stretch of uneven cobblestone, and the sounds of the main avenue faded behind them, replaced by the quieter lapping of canal water against stone embankments and the distant croak of frogs settling in for the night. Lu Feng found the change in noise almost unsettling.

Lin Laifu’s district was rarely this quiet, even after dark. The man practically ran half his business out of teahouses that stayed lit and loud until the small hours.

Bai Bao seemed to notice it too. His hand drifted, almost absently, to rest against the hilt of his blade.

"It’s a little too quiet," he muttered.

"I noticed."

"You still think we’re overreacting?"

Lu Feng didn’t answer immediately. He watched the dark water slide past the window, watched a heron startle off from the reeds at the sound of their wheels, and felt that same cold stillness from earlier settle deeper into his chest.

"No," he said finally. "I don’t think we’re overreacting at all."

"Old Ma," Lu Feng called. "How long have you worked for Lin Laifu?"

"Nearly eleven years, young master," came the answer from the driver’s bench, a little breathless from concentrating on the darkened road.

"Has this district ever been this quiet at this hour?"

There was a pause before Old Ma answered, long enough that Lu Feng could picture the old man frowning at the road ahead. "Not once that I can recall. Master Lin likes noise around him. Says silence makes a man’s enemies bold."

"He’s not wrong," Bai Bao muttered.

Lu Feng said nothing to that. He simply reached down and checked that the short dagger he kept hidden along his sleeve was still where it should be, a habit he’d picked up somewhere in the last several months without ever consciously deciding to form it. 𝐟𝒓ℯⅇ

Old Ma guided the carriage around a final bend, where the canal path opened up into the wider lane that led toward the walled compound Lin Laifu called home, a modest but well-guarded estate he’d built up over years of careful dealing and careful bribery in equal measure.

Normally there would be lantern light spilling from the gatehouse by now, a guard or two exchanging idle words by the entrance, maybe even the smell of whatever Lin Laifu’s cook had going for supper drifting out over the wall.

Tonight there was nothing. No light. No voices. Just the dark shape of the compound wall rising ahead of them against a sky gone the color of old bruises, and the distant outline of the gate standing closed and unattended in the gathering dark.

Old Ma slowed the horses without being asked, some old instinct telling him that this was not an evening to arrive at a gallop.

"Young master," he called back, voice lower now. "We’re almost there."

Lu Feng leaned toward the window, eyes fixed on the silent gate ahead, and felt Bai Bao shift beside him, blade now fully unsheathed and resting across his knees.

Neither of them said anything more as the carriage rolled the last stretch toward Lin Laifu’s gate.