Part 2, Chapter 26

Ch 26

“Of course I’m going,” Xun reassured Leng Zai as she wrapped her blanket around her travel clothes. “Renping doesn’t know what’s going on and you’ll need someone to help you steal that pendant.”

Leng Zai sat on the bed in the abandoned guest palace that had become almost a second home at this point. “We could just tell Renping about it.”

“No,” Xun disagreed. “We don’t even really understand what’s happening to you. How are we supposed to explain it to someone else?”

“Xiaomin and Shun…”

“Were in on it from the beginning,” Xun interrupted him. She slung her bag over her shoulder. “Look, you need me so I can’t just leave you. I’ll disappear for a few days. Mother will expect me to sulk after she told me no and it wouldn’t be the first time she couldn’t find me for a while. I’ll go stay with the twins and then meet up with the detachment as it leaves the city.”

Leng Zai felt a brief stab of jealousy at the mention of Xun’s cousins, but his anxiety at the thought of her absence brought drove it out of his head. He wrapped his arms around her from behind. “Please don’t go,” he whispered.

Xun patted his arm absently as she pushed various items into her bag, “Stay close to Renping. She’ll watch over you. If my mother is watching me I’ll never be able to sneak out.” 

Xun looked over her shoulder and finally seemed to notice his distraught expression. She turned in his embrace and wrapped her arms around him, patting his back as if she were comforting a child. 

“It’s only for a few days, Leng Zai. I promise I won’t be that far away. Xiaomin is a hawk, she can come find me if you need me, okay?” She held him for a few moments longer before she slipped out of the room.

Leng Zai sat on the bed and stared after her. It was not okay. The room felt colder and more empty without Xun. He stayed on the bed until Xiaomin came to find him and led him back to the kitchen.