At first, I could not recognize who the stranger was. It was only when my eyes fell upon that dirty and crumpled shirt that used to be mine, then I knew who he was: Na San!

He looked just as soiled and haggard as a farmer, with that shirt of mine that looked as if it could do with a washing that it has been owed since I gave it to him last time we met. Nevertheless, Na San seemed to love it very much. Despite the many stain marks, there were two parts where he had patched it up meticulously. His hands caught some oil when he grabbed the chair and when he was about to just flippantly wipe his hands on his shirt, he paused, only to reach further down and wipe the oil of his pants instead.

I was rather surprised at his unbidden arrival and he noticed my puzzled expression. With an abashed smile, he croaked sheepishly. “Urm… Greetings, Young Lordling.” His voice was just as raspy as ever like a broken tin gong.

Edelweiss and Lin Feng began to notice him too, and they looked just as surprised as I was to see him. But knowing what happened to him the last time he came to my home, they were neither afraid nor apprehensive of him. The race between Big Sister and Chongxi was still ongoing with a white-hot intensity that they did not even realize that we had a guest.

The owner of the restaurant came back out of the kitchens, carrying some ribs, chicken wings, and sausages. He stopped in his tracks when he saw Na San and quietly, he asked, “A friend, Shiyan?” I saw Na San blushing with embarrassment and answered, “Yep. A friend. He’s in construction, so he doesn’t really care much about appearances. I hope you won’t mind.” The proprietor smiled at Na San apologetically. “Oh, apologies, young man. Apologies. I did not know you are a friend of Shiyan’s.” Na San could only manage a weak smile, saying nothing.

As the restaurateur turned to leave, I fished up some barbecue skewers and stuffed them into Na San’s hand. “Something wrong between you and him?” I asked, nudging my chin at the leaving figure of the restaurant owner. Na San gulped hard and clenched the sticks of meat in his hand and began gnawing them hungrily. After finishing them, he wiped the grease off his mouth and said, “To be truthful, Dear Lordling, it has been days since I last had a meal.” I nodded, gesturing him to dig in. He must be so starving that he looked just as voracious as Chongxi and Big Sister.

Chewing his food, Na San told us what happened, “Well, when I came just now, the owner mistook me as a beggar and he refused to let me in. So instead of coming in here to wait for you, I could only wait outside.” “Wait for me?” I uttered and Lin Feng tensed at once, growling warily, “How did you know we’re coming here?” Na San smiled benignly. “Shamans like me can still communicate with the kin of the Wudaxians even if we’re within the China Proper. The mice told me you’d be here, Young Lordling.” I nodded again with an “Oh” and asked, “So, what brings you here? How’s your prince?”

Na San was just finishing the last barbecue skewer in his hand when I popped the question and he stood to his feet abruptly, his face sullen and gloomy. Then, without a word, he fell to his knees before me, surprising everyone in the restaurant especially me since every pair of eyes in the restaurant immediately trained upon us. None of us knew what was going on and even Chongxi and Big Sister paused from their race, staring bewilderedly at Na San.

The rambunctious clamor in the restaurant immediately died down. “What’s with this dirty beggar?” A voice asked, “Wait, isn’t that Murong Shiyan, the famous medium from that paranormal agency? Is the beggar begging him for forgiveness?” “Come on, don’t tell me you don’t know about that open secret? They say Murong Shiyan has supernatural abilities… That beggar must be possessed and now is apprehended by him!”

The hushed buzzing around me was enough to make my face flushed completely red. This is the price of being famous, I suppose… Some of the other customers were already taking out their phones to record videos or take photos. I rushed forward and took Na San’s arm to help him up, but he flung my arm away and knocked his head on the floor, the dull thud sounding extraordinarily ringing and clear in the silence backdrop inside the restaurant, eliciting suppressed waves of wows and oohs from everyone around us.

“God!” Lin Feng slapped his forehead and said, “And that’s another one for the headlines tomorrow!” Xiao Yu and Yuanyuan were utterly flabbergasted, still hardly grasping what was going on since this was the first time they saw Na San. To them, he looked no more than a pitifully demented tramp. The soft-hearted Xiao Yu poked Chongxi in the ribs. “Help him up please! He looks so awful!” Yuanyuan, however, sounded more cavalier. “Leave him be,” she said, “Look, none of Shiyan and Edelweiss are doing anything yet! Relax!”

I could see Na San, a loyal servant of his master to a fault, would never get up. I crouched beside him. “What’s this, Na San?” I asked, “You’re making things difficult for me in public.” He brushed aside what I said and pleaded, “Please, Dear Lordling, I need your help! I need your help to save my prince!”

As if on a cue, the mob of curious customers crowding around us boiled into peals of anxious whispers. No one understood what Na San was saying, but everyone knew full well from his tone that he was begging for something. A few voices began coming from all directions, “Help him then!” A few others spoke on his behalf gallantly, “Come on, Murong Shiyan! Here’s a man on his knees begging you! He’s laid aside his pride to ask for your help! Help him!”

Chewing on a toothpick, Chongxi asked Na San, “What has happened to that Prince Beile of yours? You should know that we are enemies with your prince. So what gives? Why us?” Na San did not lift his head. His forehead was still on the ground when he answered, “Please, Young Lordling. His Highness has been taken! They knew about His Highness’ treachery in telling you about them and they have abducted him! With me alone, I can’t do anything against them. Especially since we’re in China Proper where the Wudaxians have no influence here! I have only you to beg for help, Young Lordling! Please!” “Who are ‘they’?” I asked and Na San replied almost immediately, “The people who told him about you!” “Are they one of the three factions he told me about?” But Na San could only shake his head with a baffled look on his face. He did not know who took his prince; whether it was they who were still lurking in the dark at Shanggu or the descendants of Chiyou.

“What do you know about them at least?” I prodded again. Na San paused to think and said, “Ah, yes! They felt the same. They have the same air and poise about them. One would have thought they were clones if not for their different looks.” “I see. And they have the same cold and aloof demeanor with that same frosty stare, no?” “Yes! Yes! That’s them!” Na San nodded his head furiously. I nodded in response. I see… At least Na San is not utterly a stupid oaf… But of all places… He could have come to us at the Center… Not here in the wide-open public before so many eyes… But he wants to kneel in front of me in public so that I could not refuse him… He’s hoping for some onlookers to speak on his behalf…

I sighed. I turned to my companions and asked, “Any thoughts? I’m all ears.”

Lin Feng shrugged and was the first to speak. “Well, sooner or later we’d still be knocking on their doors anyway. I won’t mind bringing the fight to them soon.” Chongxi nibbled morsels of flesh of a chicken wing, saying, “I’d like to see for myself if this Prince Beile really has the makings of a king.” “That Jin Qichen?” Big Sister quipped, “He sounds negligible to me, at best. We can save him if you so wish. Or not.” Edelweiss looked at me, as dutiful a wife as she had been a daughter to Aunt Ulan, uttered without a shred of doubt, “I’ll follow you.” Yuanyuan did not answer, her mind fully devoted to the chicken wing she was nipping on while Xiao Yu, with tears brimming her eyes, choked and said, “I feel sorry for him, Shiyan! Please help him!”

I smacked my lips and turned charily to face Na San. “All right then!” I declared, “Your prince has at least supplied me with useful information. I shall consider this a repayment for his favor!” Na San broke into a joy to hear this. With another loud thud, his head banged on the floor again. I reached down and lifted him up and eased him into a chair.

Whoops and cheers of delight erupted across the entire restaurant, accompanied by uproarious claps of hands! Some, in their euphoric mood, even began hooting and howling like animals!

I raised a hand and gestured for silence. When the clamor finally stilled to silence and every other pair of eyes in the restaurant rested on me, I bowed to them and said, “Please listen to me, everyone. As you have seen, I have agreed to this friend’s request for help. But…” I paused to look at the one who yelled just now. “Yet, this friend here speaks truly. This man here has set aside his pride to kneel for my help. It’s something not all men are capable of spelling, much less perform. So, I implore every one of you here today. Please keep this under wraps. Moreover, this matter involves some issues of privacy and secrecy. As you all well know what I do for a living, I hope you can keep this matter today to yourselves. I know many of you here have taken photos or recorded videos. Please, I say. Please do not allow any word of this to leak outside. With that, I thank you all!” And I ended my speech with another bow to everyone.

Another wave of applause ensued with the strength of crashing waves. “Relax, my friend!” A voice yelled over the cacophony, “None of this will reach outside!” “Indeed!” Another man shouted, “Rest assured that we’ll keep this a secret! I sank back into my seat with a satisfied look on my face that Na San noticed, looking both relieved and moved to tears himself.