The trip took them only two days with the cart and horses. As they entered the town of Rizhao and slowly made their way down the central street, a crowd began gathering behind them. The townsfolk could not hide their pitying glances as they saw the women huddled together in the back of the cart. Word spread quickly, and soon, the mayor was seen running towards them, a group of armed men in tow.

Lu Yong saw him heading their way. He held up one hand to his companions, stopped his horse, and dismounted. Wu Chen and Chu Haoyu both reined in theirs as well, but only Wu Chen dismounted. He and Lu Yong waited patiently for the official to reach them.

As the mayor approached, it became apparent to him that this was something that was going to have to be dealt with very carefully. He had his men disperse the crowd and walked over towards the three men who bowed politely in greeting.

Standing next to the cart so the driver could be included, he called the riders over and tried to keep his voice low.

'What am I looking at here?' the mayor asked once they were together. Their combined auras were quite frightening. They had to be cultivators. He stiffened his spine. He had a job to do.

'We cleared out a den of bandits after they attacked us and rescued these women from the cells in their cavern.' Lu Yong said quietly. Wu Chen and Chu Haoyu nodded in agreement, their faces grave.

The mayor wasn't a young man. He was in his late 40s after all, so he'd seen and heard a lot of things in his life, but this?

'You cleared out the Red Talon Bandits?' he looked incredulously at the three young men before him, his eyes widened in shock. 'All of them?'

'Well, most.' Wu Chen shrugged. 'A few ran out of the cave and disappeared. We caught some of them as we traveled, but probably not all.'

'And some ran deeper into the cave, but we were busy,' Chu Haoyu indicated the women, 'so we didn't chase after them. We did get that leader, though. The one with the scar.'

The mayor looked at each of the men in turn and then at the abused women in the back of the cart. His mind was reeling at the implications. He knew they were waiting for instructions, but he was having difficulty processing what his own eyes were seeing.

'I think our first priority is getting these women to a healer and finding out where they belong.' His face broke into a huge smile. 'Then we'll have to hear all about what happened. Are you all agreeable to that?'

They nodded, and the mayor had a quick chat with one of his men. When he was done, the guard's face was all smiles, and he asked them politely to follow them.

The women were quickly settled into a group of rooms in a nearby inn where a few competent healers and an official were brought to them. Guards were left at each door. Satisfied that they were in good hands, the three men and the mayor were led under escort to the mayor's own home. He asked the guards to wait outside, and he ushered them in.

Wu Chen was expecting some type of mansion, but he was surprised to find it was only a little larger than the others in town. It did have a second floor, at least. The rooms he could see from the entry were warm and comfortable despite the furnishings being of modest quality. It was decorated tastefully with calligraphy and landscape art and boasted tall bookshelves filled with a pleasing mix of both books and sculptural pieces. He was impressed.

As they were introducing themselves formally, a couple of men rushed in smiling and greeted each of them with a polite bow.

'Lahn Shi, Gu Ming,' the mayor spoke politely to his servants, 'please escort Lu xiansheng, Wu xiansheng, and Chu xiansheng to the guest rooms. See that they are taken care of properly.'

He turned to the three men. 'I'm sure you have all had a hard time of it the last few days. Please, take your time refreshing yourselves. Have a nice bath, and a hot meal. When you're ready, just send Lahn Shi to let me know you're ready to talk, and Gu Ming can bring you to the library. Does this suit you?' They agreed with thankful bows and were led to their rooms.

*********************************************

Wu Chen shut the door after the servants had left him a full steaming tub. He stripped his dusty clothes off quickly and sank down, sighing into the warm water. He scrubbed every inch of the filth off himself, including his long hair. It felt so good to be clean again. He laid back in the tub, letting his mind wander.

Things had been so hectic the last few days. It was nice to just relax for a bit. As he did so, the memory of Lu Yong grabbing and holding him to his chest suddenly appeared. He sat straight up in the bath, in more ways than one.

He was thoroughly embarrassed by his reaction. It wasn't as if Lu Yong had feelings for him. He had just overreacted to the situation at the time. Completely understandable considering what he'd gone through 300 years ago when he couldn't save the other Wu Chen. He'd only be fooling himself if he thought otherwise.

He shook his head and refused to let his emotions cloud his judgment. It was difficult, but with some light meditation exercises, he was able to calm his body down enough to get out of the tub with his dignity intact. He really needed to concentrate more on his cultivation if his mind had time to think of such nonsense.

He dried off and got dressed in his clean clothes, leaving his others on the partition for the servants to clean as Lahn Shi had suggested. He transferred his pouch and swords and dried his hair as well as he could before tying it in a low ponytail with a ribbon.

He leaned his head out of the door, where he saw Lahn Shi and Gu Ming waiting patiently for instructions. He indicated to Gu Ming that he was finished with his bath and more than ready for something to eat. The man smiled and gave a quick bow, then he ran off. The tub was quickly removed, as were his dusty clothes. Wu Chen smiled as they left. He thought Yang Hao would be happy to know that he was being cared for so well.

He was just pouring himself a cup of tea when there was a light knock on the door. Lu Yong stood on the other side with a small smile.

'Come in,' Wu Chen offered, relieved that his voice sounded normal, 'I was just having tea and waiting on my meal. Would you like some?'

'Yes, thank you.' Lu Yong entered the room and completely filled it with his presence. It wasn't something he did on purpose. It was just something that happened naturally. Wu Chen swallowed quickly and poured him a cup.

He had just had time to take a sip of his own tea when the food arrived. As the servants set up the table, Lu Yong casually requested that they bring his meal to this room. He lifted a brow as if to ask his permission. Ears reddened slightly, Wu Chen nodded his approval, quickly taking a sip of his tea.

Lu Yong noted the reaction and smiled, quite pleased. Picking up his own cup, he broke the silence, 'Staying in the mayor's house wasn't in our travel plans, but the accommodations are certainly better.' He took a sip, as Wu Chen simply nodded.

'Did you get a chance to look through your Void pouch?' He asked, trying to draw him out.

'I did.' Wu Chen set his cup down and began looking over the dishes on the table. 'I was quite surprised, actually. There were a lot more taels than there were before. I didn't count them, but it wasn't an insignificant amount.'

Lu Yong considered, 'Not surprising, really. The leader was a greedy man.'

'True.' Wu Chen nodded, filling his bowl with mostly vegetables. 'It is so nice to eat something besides meat cooked over a campfire.' He sighed contentedly.

After a light knock, more dishes were brought in, and the table became quite full. Once again, they were left alone.

Wu Chen laughed at the sight. 'How are two people supposed to eat so many dishes?'

Lu Yong grabbed his bowl with a grin, 'Is that a challenge?'

Wu Chen's fox eyes sparkled, 'En,' he replied, grinning right back. His chopsticks flew over the dishes to add to his now empty bowl.

Lu Yong laughed and began filling his. In no time, the food had disappeared. Full, but relaxed in each others presence once more, they both turned at a light rapping on the door.

'Enter.' Wu Chen called out, assuming it was the servants.

Chu Haoyu stepped through. He was no longer wearing his red robes, as they had been quite ruined. He was now in black, his hair in a half topknot, and the favored red ribbon the only evidence that he had worn such a daring color at all. His gaze swept the empty dishes, and the two men sitting so close together. His insides boiled, but he merely smiled.

'Looks like you're finished here. If you are, should we go and meet with the mayor?'