Cāng Jì sat on a fallen log at the edge of the village, his arms crossed, his golden hair falling across his face.

He looked like he was suffering.

No one was looking at him.

The young and foolish chased each other through the trees, pretending to hunt, pretending to care about anything except each other.

Cāng Jì did not care about any of it.

He had refused to participate shortly after the original announcement. He was a Prince of the First Generation. He did not dance. He did not give cords. He did not wander through forests making moon eyes at people he had just met.

He rotted.

Han Shān found him first. He stood in front of Cāng Jì and crossed his arms.

"You are still here," Han Shān said.

"I am rotting," Cāng Jì said.

"I can see that."

"It is a dignified rot."

Han Shān said nothing in response.

Yàn Shū arrived a moment later, slightly out of breath, his glasses fogged from walking too fast. He stopped beside Han Shān and looked down at Cāng Jì.

"The children," Yàn Shū said.

Cāng Jì looked up. "What about them?"

"They need to fly."

Why? This was the arrangement. Zhao Yan and Bai Yue would handle Hong Ye and Li Jing, the other two husbands would handle the smaller children.

Cāng Jì stared at him. Then at Han Shān. Then back at Yàn Shū.

"I am not a service," he said.

"No one said you were."

"You just said they need to fly."

"Because they do."

"Then find someone else to fly them."

"There is no one else."

Cāng Jì’s eye twitched. He looked at Han Shān. Han Shān’s face was carved from ice. He looked at Yàn Shū. Yàn Shū’s glasses were slightly askew, his expression earnest, his tail flicking nervously behind him.

"Why should I do this?" Cāng Jì demanded.

"Because," Han Shān said, "they are miserable. Both of them. And they are too stubborn to fix it themselves."

"They are children."

"They are your family."

Cāng Jì rolled his eyes. "That is unfair," he said.

"It is true."

Cāng Jì looked away. His jaw tightened. His golden hair fell across his face, hiding his expression.

"Fine," he said reluctantly. If they needed his help, he wouldn’t refrain from helping.

Cāng Jì glared at him. Han Shān did not flinch.

"How are we doing this?" Cāng Jì asked.

Han Shān and Yàn Shū exchanged glances.

"We have a plan," Yàn Shū said.

Cāng Jì did not like the way he said that. The way his voice pitched slightly higher than usual. The way his tail flicked faster.

"What kind of plan?" he asked.

"The kind that involves kidnapping," Han Shān said.

Cāng Jì stared at him.

"I am not kidnapping children."

"You are transporting them."

"Against their will?"

"Temporarily."

"That is kidnapping."

"It is intervention," Yàn Shū said. "If you don’t help us, we’ll tell Bai Yue."

That did the trick.

Cang Ji gritted his teeth and clenched his fists. "That’s just diabolical."

Han Shan huffed. "We’re just following her orders. Are you going to help, or not?"

Cang Ji said nothing.

~

Zhen was playing near the river.

She was not thinking about Tao Zi. She was definitely not thinking about Tao Zi. She was thinking about the game she was playing with Miao Miao and Fēng Yá, which involved throwing smooth stones at a floating log and pretending it was a monster.

Miao Miao’s stone hit the log. Fēng Yá’s stone hit the water. Zhen’s stone hit nothing at all because she was not paying attention.

Her eyes kept drifting toward the village.

She was not looking for anyone.

She was just. Looking.

Miao Miao noticed.

"You are thinking about him again," she said.

"I am not."

Fēng Yá watched this exchange with his green eyes wide and curious.

"Who is she thinking about?" he asked.

"No one," Zhen said.

"Tao Zi," Miao Miao said.

"I am not thinking about Tao Zi!"

"You said his name."

"I said his name because you said his name!"

"That is not how that works."

Zhen opened her mouth to argue, but before she could, a shadow fell over them.

Han Shān stood at the edge of the riverbank, his white hair catching the light, his expression unreadable. She almost smiled at the sight of her papa, but he looked a little scary.

Nothing like his usual face.

"Zhen," he said. "Come."

Zhen blinked, her eyes widening. "I should come? Where? Is something wrong papa?"

"Come."

He did not answer her question. He simply stood there, waiting, his icy blue eyes fixed on her face.

Hmm. That’s strange.

Zhen looked at Miao Miao. Miao Miao shrugged. She looked at Fēng Yá. Fēng Yá was already throwing another stone.

"But we were playing a game. Maybe papa can—"

"This is not a discussion, Zhen." Han Shān immediately cut her off. "You will follow me this instant, is that clear?"

Zhen frowned a little. Why was papa being so strict today? Had she done something wrong? Only one way to find out.

"Alright papa. Coming," she said, and followed her father.

~

Tao Zi was helping Yǎ Lì sort herbs, and just like someone that had been stubborn to admit they were thinking about their friend, he was in serious denial. He was definitely not thinking about Zhen.

He was thinking about the herbs, which were dry and brittle and smelled like the spice. He was sorting them into piles, one for medicine, one for cooking, one for the compost pile.

His hands moved automatically. His mind was elsewhere. He couldn’t help it.

He wasn’t old enough to go on a hunt alone, but he could watch them from a distance.

Yǎ Lì watched him from the corner of her eye.

"You are thinking about her again," she said.

"I am not."

"You have sorted the same herb three times."

Tao Zi looked down at his hands. He had, in fact, sorted the same herb three times. The pile was lopsided. The leaves were crushed.

"I am distracted," he said.

"By what?"

He did not answer.

Yǎ Lì sighed. She reached out and patted his head, her scarred hand gentle on his dark curls.

"Go," she said.

"Go where?"

"Wherever your feet take you."

Tao Zi opened his mouth to argue, but before he could, a shadow fell over him.

Han Shān stood behind him now, looking extremely terrifying.

Tao Zi’s ears went flat.

"Come," Han Shān ordered him, using the same word he had used on his daughter.

Tao Zi swallowed as he looked at Yǎ Lì. Yǎ Lì nodded. He stood up and followed.