Adventures of Fu: Fu Helps A Black Fox To Chase Raw Liver, Justice Prevails

Trigger Warnings: If you have triggers, better don't read.

 

The Four Southern Winds, before being executed for their crimes, had informed us (under duress, of course) that the chest taken from the noble family had been given to some guys who were dressed mostly in clothes that were better made than they seemed.

The Wolf's spy network had also concluded that they had, most likely, left for the capital. They'd been tracked to a bit, I think. The advantage of near-instant communication for your spies!

Of course, we travelled via teleport. So after arriving, we concluded that they're probably still behind us, for a day or so.

 
Thus Fu suggested that we should split. (Not splitting the party? He doesn't know what you're talking about!)
 

Namely, he suggested that Black Fox should take us to the nearest inn, where Silver Cat and Fu would try to intercept whoever was travelling. Besides, with Silver Cat being one of the best thieves in the Empire*, we could just check their luggage if they stopped at the inn!

Black Fox agreed, though the girl still seemed strangely reticent. Fu still tries to give her space, but is starting to get slightly tired from all this.
 

Either way, he just ate some "candy" (actually Miraculous Restoration Pills, which heal a body instantly, but Xiaomei literally handed him a handful and told him it's candy, so the name stuck), because his head is still ringing slightly, and took two modest rooms.
 

He also moved on to practice in the inn's courtyard - the Wolf's lessons were precious, and shouldn't be wasted by negligence! - and at some point Silver Cat joined him. After all, they're masquerading as xia. Well, only he is masquerading, and Black Fox say he's actually a xia, anyway. So the major difference is that Silver Cat isn't using her family name.
 

The Jing family is too well-known!
 

Fu, however, introduced himself as "Fu the Falcate Spear", reasoning that the men had left Middle City before he became famous.

This seemed to pay off later, when three traders with a simple buffalo-pulled cart arrived in the inn. The men, who looked nothing like each other, claimed to be brothers, but took quite expensive rooms.
 

Both Silver Cat and Fu tried to point the other at the guys with eyes. Then something said in Fu's head "distract them when they go to drink tea, I'm going to check now".
 

Seems like she believes they're going to be most negligent while taking their own rooms, during the late afternoon, and that they're going to leave a guard in the night. Thus, it seemed she'd be having the easiest time now!
 

Fu, not seeing it as wise to argue with an expert, went to the three men's table and asked them who their leader is.
 

One of them said that it should be him this time.
 

So Fu immediately offered them his and his sister's protection!
 

His reasoning was simple: the men seemed to lack a clear leader, so of course none of them would leave when a decision was taken! Friends decide together, the elder brother decides for the younger brothers!
 

Thus, he offered them his and his sister's help. Upon being asked, he improvised on the spot, naming her Golden Tigress.
 

The men seemed hesitant, but one of them asked to see who Golden Tigress was. So Fu just pointed at her, and assured them that there's a giant ogre between them and the capital! A trader had informed him, Fu explained, and speculated that the man hadn't been eaten due to performing...well, indecent acts for the ogre's benefit.
 

The men laughed at the idea, but didn't question it, and one of them, who kept looking at "Golden Tigress", told Fu they're hired.
 

One of the others asked whether they really had time, but the third agreed that they deserve some fun time, too, and the two xia were hired.
 

Which was good, because Silver Cat had nodded approvingly, and a voice said in Fu's head that yes, these were the traders they were looking for...
 

"Cool. Be ready at dawn, we travel with them".
 

Of course, Fu had just asked a silver piece for the services of both of them. One of the men had handed it to him like it wasn't enough to buy two decent meals!
 

Fu tried to buy a meal for Silver Cat, arguing that our employers were paying, but she instead paid for both of their meals. He just shrugged, and noted it towards paying his dues in the Beggars' Brotherhood.
 

We also spotted them sending a kite. A kite that disappeared shortly after flying off!
The enemy also had instant communications...

Long story short, the men offered Fu and Golden Tigress some wine while travelling. The voice in his head warned him immediately to "only drink if you can make it seem like it's getting in your throat, but it shouldn't, this is a drug".
 

Fu has no such abilities, so he just said it's too early for him for either tea or strong spirits. "Master Pei says that after one has just risen, one doesn't need tea, and alcohol makes one sluggish in a fight".

Silver Cat, however, accepted, and Fu could swear she actually drank! She also seemed sluggish soon after, and climbed on the cart.

At the same time, Fu started slowing down, as if his feet had started to hurt after so little walking. Two of the men, however, stayed with him.
 

Soon after, they pulled knives! But as soon as they did, Fu slapped one of them with his walking staff, and the man's defence only prevented part of the strikes!
 

He also tried casting some sort of spell, but seemed unable to finish it.
 

Also amazed by the assault, his friend swung his knife, catching the xia in the ribs. 

The strike, however, only cut the cloth!
 

After that, hardened muscles slowed it, while still bending inwards, and the man, amazed, saw Fu being pushed away by the knife, like a leaf on the wind! Have you tried cutting a leaf on the wind? The harder you cut, the faster it flies away!
 

Somewhat afraid, the guy started casting a spell, but Fu looked at him hard, and merely said the immortal words:
"Shut up, unrighteous magorast!"
 

And the man almost felt as if he had just received a stinging strike on the wrist by an unseen teacher's ruler...
 

That spell never went up!
 

Fu merely looked at them, and slapped his staff in his palm.
 

"Now you should be starting to understand who you tried to take by surprise. Shall we continue, magorasts?"

At this point, and upon seeing that their friend actually had a knife next to his throat - Silver Cat had also reacted quickly, almost as if she wasn't as sluggish as expected! - the two broke and tried to run!
 

However, no decision-making was involved, as the guy Fu had not attacked ran into the huge giant ogre that was just arriving at the clearing!
 

"Whose sister were you staring at?!?", the ogre bellowed, and delived him a punishing strike, which knocked him out. Then he - Black Fox, of course** - delivered a kick to the other as well, which definitely broke some ribs!
Then Black Fox merely sealed their acupuncture points, knocking them unconscious, and we got them and the chest from the cart to Middle City via a portal. Fu, however, remained behind with the cart.
He made slashes into the cart with the tools Black Fox provided***, and pushed it to the side of the road. Let them investigate an ogre's attack near the capital!
The buffalo Fu - after leading the animal across the hardest terrain he could find - gifted to a poor peasant in the nearest village.

What was in the chest, you ask?
 

Well, first, it was a chest from which cold emanated.
 

Second, the only thing it contained was a raw liver. Black Fox started looking at it like, well, a fox...
 

Remember, he's half a fox demon?
 

"Eh, man, I don't know if we're allowed to eat this", Fu frowned.
 

"Definitely not!", Black Fox broke off. "First, it should remain intact, or its essence would go elsewhere. Second, it's 500 years old!"
 

"You sure? It seems fresh!"
 

"That's why we're keeping it in this chest! It can't be allowed to perish! It's the liver of the last Min sorcerer!"
 

Fu realized that the liver was alive, somehow.
 

Then he remembered the stories about Min sorcerers feeding demons with babies, and merely shrugged.
 

"Sounds fair. So since we're here, maybe we should go and see who's going to meet those guys?"

It turned out to be some horsemen. But their emblems were covered up!
 

Fu suggested that this would change when they start riding, though. So Black Fox hired a room in an inn near the capital's gate, got into it, disrobed, and turned into a hawk.
 

He followed them for half an hour, and soon after both Silver Cat and Fu started hearing dirty, elaborate curses, most of them referring to "That Bitch".
 

Then the hawk calmed down enough to say the name Su Yan, and Silver Cat stated cursing as well!
 

Fu was the only one who didn't know. When the two calmed down enough to explain, turned out it was one of the many wives of their father, but the worst one!
 

How is she the worst one? Well, she had tried to kill him not only before marrying - it seems the majority of Wolf's wives had tried that, including the diviner girl he's planning to marry next - but also during the marriage, and after the divorce!
 

"I'm sorry to say, but your father has a gift for picking the wrong girl if so many of them tried to kill him", Fu said.
 

"But they also stop once they know him!"
 

This obviously hadn't helped with that one. And now she was trying to, obviously, release the last Min Sorcerer!
 

"Figures. She's always been a major bitch", Black Fox commented.

 

That's rich coming from him, since foxes are also canines! Or does it mean he's an expert?!?

Either way, Fu still believed Wolf needed counselling regarding his choice of partners - though he'd have suggested talking to an enlightened monk - but the two Jings explained that Wolf had only married her for political reasons, anyway, so it really wasn't his fault! The previous emperor had believed that it might stop the feud existing between her family and the Jing family, and imposing peace between two noble families should be a good thing, right?
 

Except it didn't quite work...

 

Fu tried to learn more about the Su Yan chick from the local beggars. Black Fox told him to go to the same inn where they'd hired a room so he could change into a hawk, the next evening, if he wants a portal to Middle City.

However, intelligence gathering didn't work very well for him: it turned out she's one of those nobles that hate seeing any beggars near her holdings! She even orders them lashed, if she does.

"OK, she's a bitch", Fu agreed, remembering Black Fox's descriptions.

 

On the other hand, at least the locals liked the fact that he'd "visited them after coming from the Middle City" (remember, nobody knows IC that Wolf can basically teleport - it's a spell that the Jing family is keeping secret).

One of the beggars actually gave him a box to bring to the blind kung-fu teacher in Middle City. The box is tied with elaborate knots. 

 

Fu left it for a time in their compound and went to try and win a tournament "for his age group".
 

Turns out, the Phoenix society puts the fighters in brackets to prevent mismatches with fatal consequences.

This didn't help him much, though: there were 8 people in his bracket (he elected to fight empty-handed), and he lost to the first competitor, a Red Tiger Clan stylist.

Fu was doing his best, and using his techniques to mitigate the damage, but it turned out, his opponent was just as skilled as him! And where Fu had a great defense, he was tying up with a rain of blows. Where Fu had defensive abilities, his opponent was hitting like a bronze hammer!
 

At the end, both of them were reeling, literally. But his opponent, who had been faster the entire fight, manage to regroup, and put him on the ground with one last mighty punch!

 

Fu went asleep, and thus endeth this session!

*No kid of the Wolf is allowed anything else than excellence. Fu is starting to realize that this is actually a terrifying notion.
**The guy is a master of illusions, and the magic communication had told him about the story Fu made up earlier. It is unclear whether he was planning to offer to the trio a chance to escape via indecent acts, but given that Fu hasn't noticed him being into men, it seems unlikely.
***There's a magic spell that does that, too.