NOVEL SIMPLE 5 – Time to go rat hunting
Gou Dzing's face lit up like a puppy being offered a treat. “Really?”
Sek Gon, on the other hand, had a face like one of the Four Heavenly Kings1四大天王 (sei3 daai6 tin1 wong4) – Four Buddhist gods who protect the world, one at each cardinal direction. In Chinese depictions, they always look very serious, if not downright pissed off. about to enter battle. He maintained a cold, dignified silence.
“Hey.” Gou Dzing threw a friendly arm around Sek Gon's shoulders. “It really isn't so bad.”
“Easy for you to say.”
“What made you change your mind?”
“We need information.”
“So why didn't you ask me to investigate?”
The two men stared at each other.
For the first time, Gou Dzing caught a glimpse of Sek Gon's eyes. A dark grey, flecked with chips of silver that flashed and glittered, like a winter lake. “Pretty...”
Sek Gon slammed his forehead straight into Gou Dzing's nose.
Gou Dzing, flat on the floor with his hands clutching his bleeding nose, looked up to find a murderous glint in those 'pretty' eyes, and that Sek Gon had half-drawn his dou.
“It seems like you have a death wish, Young Master Gou...”
“ACK! I'M SORRY! IT JUST SLIPPED OUT!”
“What are you two doing?” Chan Bik demanded when she left the children's room a few minutes later to find Sek Gon and Gou Dzing apparently playing a game of tag around the courtyard, although Sek Gon had his sword out and Gou Dzing was frantically dodging swipes by hiding behind pillars.
“Lady Bik! Help!”
“Wha... Sek Gon! Cut it out!”
The courtyard was chaos. The restless sleepers were awakened by the noise, and half-relieved, half-infuriated, they emerged from their sleeping quarters to watch.
“Wait... Sir Sek... Everyone's here now – shouldn't we take advantage of that and interview them?”
Sek Gon finally re-sheathed his sword with a loud clack. “... you're doing it.”
“... okay.”
Just don't kill me!
“It's not me,” Se Sue said anxiously, tugging at the sleeve of the robe he had thrown over his sleepwear.
“We're not saying you are,” Gou Dzing replied placatingly.
“Aren't we?” Sek Gon muttered.
“...”
The three of them were sat in one of the side rooms of the house, or more accurately, Gou Dzing and Se Sue were sat opposite each other while Sek Gon sat dramatically by an open window, the early dawn breeze stirring his hair.
“Is he alright?” Se Sue whispered to Gou Dzing, who had a wad of cotton in each nostril to stem his nosebleed. “Are... you alright?”
“Uh... I think I offended him earlier. Anyway, have you been experiencing these dreams as well?”
“Yes... Gods... I...” A haunted look appeared on Se Sue's face. “The mice eat me alive... starting... starting with...”
Gou Dzing and Sek Gon blinked at him, uncomprehending.
Se Sue made a gesture, something between a downwards sweep and an indication of something long. Gou Dzing's expression immediately became one of highly uncomfortable comprehension.
“What?” Sek Gon frowned.
“Ahem, so in the dream the mice eat... When does the dream end?”
“Well they eat... uh, and then my hands, and then my face... and I... just... just lie there bleeding out... until I wake up.” Se Sue's attractive face had lost its colour.
“... send Yeung Sue in.”
Gou Dzing shot a curious look at Sek Gon, but bowed to Se Sue to indicate he was free to go. As the man disappeared across the courtyard towards the hall where the rest of the family was gathered, Gou Dzing removed the cotton wads and opened his mouth to speak.
The shutter of the window that Sek Gon was leaning against suddenly fell from its hinges with a crash, the young man almost falling with it.
“Sir Se-!”
“OW!”
Two servants, a familiar-looking bearded man, and an equally familiar-looking older woman whose face was covered in moles, hastily scrambled away from where they had been hiding in the gardens below the window, holding their sore heads. Gou Dzing had grabbed Sek Gon's arm to stop him from falling any further, and they both watched the servants' escape. Gou Dzing climbed onto the sill, preparing to jump. “I'll catch them.”
“Don't bother.”
“... Is everything alright?”
The two at the window turned to find Yeung Sue had entered. Her finely plucked eyebrows arched at the sight of them crammed together in the window.
“Lady Yeung.” Gou Dzing stepped down from the window and bowed courteously. Sek Gon resettled himself, making sure he was displaying a cool angle.
Yeung Sue's eyebrows creased even further.
“So what is this all about?” she asked coldly. “What authority do you have to question us?”
“It is the mission of the Mount Fa Sect to maintain peace and justice in the world,” Gou Dzing said with a winning smile. “A request has been made of us, and so, of course, we must follow through.”
Even the frosty Yeung Sue coloured a little at the sight of the smiling Jade Exorcist, but she rallied. “Hmph. Fancy words and a handsome face won't get you everything. It was that little girl, Chan Bik, that asked you for a favour, right? She's not the head of this family, or the successor. She has no say.”
“You're also not the successor, and the head of the family has clearly indicated there are no issues,” Sek Gon replied icily. “Are you interested in Se Sue?”
“WHAT?!” Yeung Sue shrieked. Gou Dzing winced, certain his ears were now bleeding to match his nose.
“That snake? He came crawling into Mother-in-Law's bed and just leeches off her money without even-”
“Oh, so it's Lady Yan's money you're interested in.”
Yeung Sue's sharp face slackened with shock.
“Hm... Unfortunately, that makes sense, Lady Yeung,” Gou Dzing agreed, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. “A new lover turns up, young enough to potentially inherit Lady Yan's belongings, and they also have two children together. If you get rid of that lover...”
“No, that's not...” Yeung Sue sat down abruptly with a rueful laugh. “How cliché, right? The jilted previous successors are passed over when a lover arrives... Only, that wasn't how it was. Everything was going to be divided evenly between the sons, with enough for Se Sue and the twins to live comfortably should Lady Yan pass away first. But then... these dreams showed up. And now... the whole family is falling apart...”
“Tell me about these dreams.”
“They're horrible! All these mice just pour into my room. They eat my hair and bite my arms and legs. I keep... I call for someone to help me... but no-one comes.”
“How does it end?”
“Just... just like that. I wake up with the mice still b-biting me.”
Her voice trembled. Gou Dzing patted his sleeves for a handkerchief before remembering he had given it to Chan Bik the day before, but Yeung Sue had begun to dry her eyes with her sleeves anyway.
“I see... so you're playing the victim.”
“PLAYING? VICTIM?” Yeung Sue screamed, blasting Gou Dzing's ears once more.
Please, Sir Sek, stop provoking her. My ears will never recover.
Yeung Sue stood violently upright, her teeth gritted with fury. “You've been saying all kinds of rubbish right from the beginning, without any evidence. What have you got against me?”
“... Your name is Sue2Reminder: 曙 (sue5) means dawn, but 鼠 (sue2) means mouse/rat.?”
“...”
Wait, all of this is because of her name?
With another scream of rage, Yeung Sue rushed over to Sek Gon and shoved him with all her might, causing him to tumble from the window into the garden below. There was a yelp as another group of eavesdropping servants scattered frantically, including the first two who had apparently not learnt their lesson, as they were once more caught listening in. Yeung Sue swept angrily from the room, calling for a guard to catch the servants, while Sek Gon, extricating himself from the very crumpled bushes, watched their disappearing backs.
Gou Dzing hopped down to join him. “Are you alright, Sir Sek?”
“... hm.”
“So did you find out what you needed?”
“... what do you mean?”
Gou Dzing flashed his usual grin. “Are you really going to be like this?”
“Like what?”
Instead of responding with words, Gou Dzing tucked Sek Gon's head under his arm and began to ruffle his hair energetically.
“GAH! STOP! STOP!”
“Well?”
“... ugh. I'm not... sure yet.”
“So who do you want to talk to next?”
“Don't want to talk. You speak to them.”
“Yes, yes. Who is it?”
“Ask Chan Bik who's a Rat3Sek Gon is not using 'rat' as an insult here. He's referring to a person born in the Year of the Rat. in this household.”
“You're a rat.”
“... the way you talk to me seems to have changed.”
“Has it? I wasn't aware.”
“Go away.”
“Yes, sir.”
There were two Rats in the Chan Family. One was long gone, the father, Chan Taam4潭 (taam4) – 'Deep water'.. The other now sat in the interviewee seat, smiling nervously.
“So... what is it you want to know?” Chan Ngan asked meekly.
“What does your wife think of Se Sue?”
Chan Ngan stared blankly at Sek Gon. Gou Dzing tried not to let his thoughts show on his own face.
“Tou Tou? I... wouldn't it be better to ask her?”
“It may seem a bit strange, but please answer as best you can,” Gou Dzing urged gently, without mentioning that he, too, really wanted to know what on earth Sek Gon was thinking.
“Um... well... Tou Tou and I didn't really have an opinion on Mr Se before... with these dreams. Now it just seems... Well, it has to be him, right? The dreams only started after he arrived, and um... he's not a nice person. He leeches money off Mother, you know.”
“Tell us about the dreams. Make it quick.”
“Uh... well, there's a lot of mice. They fill the bedroom and start biting at my hair and my hands and feet. It's...” His peaceful face blanched, and he shivered. “... it's scary.”
“And the end of the dream?”
“That's it... I just wake with them biting me like that.”
“Send your wife in.”
“... um, okay. You want to ask her what she thinks about Mr Se?”
Gou Dzing nodded politely, since, having made his order, Sek Gon seemed more concerned about maintaining his cool and manly pose at the windowsill. “Yes, please, Third Young Master Chan.”
They bowed to each other and Chan Ngan left to find his wife.
“Hey. Sek Gon.”
“... what?”
“Are you going to explain to me what's going on?”
“... no.”
“Right, I thought not.”
The round and sweet Leoi Tou-Fa trotted into the room and straight to the chair where she gazed at Gou Dzing and Sek Gon appealingly. “Ngan Ngan said you wanted to know what I thought about Mr Se? He seemed okay at first, but I don't think he's a nice person. He leeches money off Mother-in-Law, you know?”
“What does your husband think of him?”
… What?
“Um... well, wouldn't it... shouldn't you ask him that? I don't understand...”
“It may seem a bit strange, but please answer as best you can,” Gou Dzing said, for the second time in half an hour. His eyes were dead.
“I don't really know? I mean... like I said, he leeches money off Mother-in-Law so Ngan Ngan doesn't like him...?”
“What have your dreams been like?”
“Oh, goodness, they're...” Leoi Tou-Fa turned a shade of green. “So... so many mice. When I wake up I have to rub my limbs to make sure they're still intact. And check my hair. They chew on all those things, you see.”
Sek Gon seemed to have lost interest. “Chan Gam.”
“Could you please send in the First Young Master, Lady Leoi?”
“Oh... yes... yes...” She bowed and fluffed out of the room.
“Are you going to ask him what his wife thinks of Se Sue?”
“... Did I ask his wife anything like that?”
Gou Dzing slumped in his chair. “I understand that you're asking different questions of different people, but I'm afraid I can't work out why. You're barely asking them anything. How are you learning useful information?”
“All I've heard is garbage so far.”
“…”
Everyone just give up on trying to understand!