{"id":6336,"date":"2021-08-26T22:04:01","date_gmt":"2021-08-26T14:04:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.benjamincheah.com\/?p=6336"},"modified":"2021-08-26T22:04:01","modified_gmt":"2021-08-26T14:04:01","slug":"the-wind-blows-from-the-west-part-8","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kitsuncheah.com\/?p=6336","title":{"rendered":"The Wind Blows From The West Part 8"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Lee led Tung to his room. It was just large enough to fit a cot, his luggage, and a wardrobe. She leaned against a wall, and he stood opposite her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI peeked inside Cheung\u2019s trade goods,\u201d she said. \u201cThey were Bibles.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lee breathed sharply, and exhaled just as hard. \u201cExplains a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYes. He\u2019s a smuggler and a traitor.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhy would he do that?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDoes it matter? You fought in the Uprising. You saw what happened when the Abrahamites were allowed to spread their beliefs unchecked.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe cause of the Uprising is a lot more complicated than\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 \u201cThe imperialists were engaged in cultural warfare, with their missionaries and their converts. They were carving us up like a watermelon, and now they\u2019re doing it again.\u201d She sighed, shaking her head. \u201cFuhsia miehyang<\/em>, remember?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Support the Hsia, destroy the Westerner.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI wasn\u2019t part of the I Chuan Tui,\u201d Lee said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She shook her head. \u201cLook, regardless of how you feel, our client committed a capital crime. If we\u2019re caught with him, they\u2019ll expel us from the Risk Takers\u2019 Guild at best. At worst, they chop our heads off right next to him.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLet\u2019s go confront him, see what he has to say for himself.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no time for that. The Imperial Guard is on their way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His heart stilled. An eternity later it restarted with an audible DUB-dub.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou tipped them off.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYes. I borrowed the telephone before dinner. The Imperial Guard is sending men to arrest Cheung. Come with me and we\u2019ll leave before they get here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhy did you come to me then?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 \u201cWe fought the foreigners together. We have to stick together.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat\u2019s it?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She bit her lip. \u201cI respect you. You chose to fight the foreigner when your skin would have made you welcome in their ranks. Now we have to go. Unless you want to take your chances with the Guardsmen.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He sighed. Nodded. \u201cFine. Give me a few minutes to get packed. In the meantime, go downstairs and warm up the boiler.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She smiled. \u201cI knew you\u2019d see things my way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The moment the door closed, Lee swung into action. He snapped on his belt and hurriedly patted down the pouches and holster and sheath, checking that everything was where they were supposed to go. He withdrew his rifle from his scabbard, rolling up the cloth and tucking it under his knapsack\u2019s straps. He shouldered the bag and slung the rifle and left. Everything else was replaceable, and therefore dead weight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He crossed the narrow hallway to Cheung\u2019s room. He pounded on the door. Twice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The door opened immediately. \u201cYes?\u201d the merchant said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lee pushed his way through. The smuggler fell on his ass. \u201cWhat\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMs Tung told me about your goods,\u201d Lee said in Liangkuanghua, pointing at a trunk next to Cheung\u2019s bed. \u201cOpen that trunk. I want to see for myself.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lee rested his hand on the butt of his revolver. \u201cSee this hand? If it moves, you die. Now open the trunk.\u201d His voice was as clear and sharp as a knife of ice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The merchant opened the trunk. Inside were neat stacks of black leather-bound books with Anglian titles. Lee squinted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Testimony of King Solomon. The Book of Abra-Mellin the Mage. Conversations with the Magus Constantine.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

He blinked. \u201cShe told me they were Bibles.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cheung chuckled, and switched to Anglian. \u201cDid she say shengching<\/em>? It means \u2018holy script\u2019. The Emperor said these include the textbooks the Westerners use to train elementalists and ritualists.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhy did you smuggle them here?\u201d Lee didn\u2019t realise he had switched to Anglian until the words left his mouth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cheung stood up. Straightened. \u201cI wasn\u2019t lying when I said \u2018textbooks\u2019. The Yemai are coming, Mr Lee. They nearly conquered the Northeast during the I Chuan Uprising. Give them half a chance and they\u2019ll come back to finish the job. I\u2019ve seen their magic first hand; it\u2019s similar to what we use. You\u2019ve said so yourself that Western magic is superior to ours, and doesn\u2019t take as long to learn.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lee shook his head. Took a deep breath. Switched to Kuoy\u00fc. \u201cTung called the Imperial Guard. They\u2019re coming to arrest you. Take your backpack and grab Mr Ayan. Meet me downstairs at the wagon.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWait, what\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Imperial Guard are coming,\u201d he repeated, very slowly. \u201cCome with me if you want to live. And leave the books; they\u2019re no use to you now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Want more free stories like this? Sign up for my newsletter here<\/a>!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lee led Tung to his room. It was just large enough to fit a cot, his luggage, and a wardrobe. She leaned against a wall, and he stood opposite her. \u201cI peeked inside Cheung\u2019s trade goods,\u201d she said. \u201cThey were Bibles.\u201d Lee breathed sharply, and exhaled just as hard. \u201cExplains a lot.\u201d \u201cYes. He\u2019s a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[102,143,253,289,303],"class_list":["post-6336","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fiction","tag-cultivation","tag-free-story","tag-pulprev","tag-singlit","tag-steampunk"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kitsuncheah.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6336"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kitsuncheah.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kitsuncheah.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kitsuncheah.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kitsuncheah.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6336"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kitsuncheah.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6336\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kitsuncheah.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6336"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kitsuncheah.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6336"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kitsuncheah.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6336"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}