5.

“Fain, your cooking skills have improved so much.” Yao chomped away at a plate of egg fried rice. “And you still eat so fast.”

Fain smiled and handed Yao a tissue. 

“Take your time, there’s no rush.” Fain closed the curtains. 

The old light on the ceiling flickered, whilst the wind blew violently outside. 

“I’m so full.” Yao slumped down into the bed. “Fain, it wasn’t you, right?”

Fain sat down on a stool beside the bed, then took out something from inside his waist pocket and tossed it to Yao.

The object landed accurately into Yao's lap. 

Beneath the tightly wrapped black cloth, Yao felt something thin and hard. 

As he unwrapped the cloth, a wooden hair pin fell into his hand. He held it up to the pale light, the smooth body showed bright golden. The end was carved out into an intricate lotus shape, however, a tiny crater amongst the petals destroyed the wholeness of it. He held it to his nose and sniffed carefully. Up close he noticed the chatoyant streaks and pleasant, calming fragrance. “Nanmu.” He concluded. A type of precious wood that came from the Southeast.

He wasn’t unfamiliar with such hairpins. This specific one was a “Ji”, a hair ornament from the East, used commonly in ancient times when the Han dynasty was at its height. His family had roots back there, he knew Fain’s did too. He suddenly remembered that Fain used to have waist long hair which was always tied up in a high ponytail. He thought Fain’s buzz cut shaved just a while ago looked clean, yet made those sharp features appear more cold and unapproachable.

Suddenly, a hint of magic vibration from the hairpin caught his attention. “Where did you find this?”

“The governor’s room,” Fain replied.

Yao hovered a palm over the hairpin. “Was it big?”

“Very. I almost lost my way inside the mansion.” Fain leaned forward. “Want to know how I found the right room?”

“What?” 

Yao felt Fain’s warm breath brush against his ear.

“I saw him fucking a maid in the hallway, so I waited until they finally decided to go fuck in the bedroom.”

Yao stared at Fain’s pretty face. Back when he was still in the academy, people had always told him he was one of those pretty boys. Thanks to his soft facial features and large almond eyes inherited from his mother. Yet Fain's pretty was different. Like a rose that bloomed from the crevice of a frozen cliff face. “Irrational yet undoubtedly beautiful” was how people had described him. Now, those amber eyes looked at him innocently.

“Sounds like you.” He pushed Fain’s face away. “How much money did they offer you?”

Fain tilted his head, then slowly put out five fingers. “Fifty thousand. Not for the hairpin though. It was for something else, but I didn’t have the time to find it because another group came.” 

“And killed the governor,” said Yao.

“Mhm, and whilst he was still having sex,” Fain added. 

“Did they see your face?” Asked Yao.

“Nope. But they certainly wanted me dead,” Fain replied. “I tried to talk some reason with them, then all three of them came for me.” He rolled his eyes, then looked down at the hairpin in Yao’s hand. “They dropped this whilst fighting, I thought it would be something valuable.” 

Yao stared at the hairpin. He was never that close to Fain. It was his brother and Fain’s sister that were close. He and Fain were like the younger siblings that only saw each other when following their older siblings around. It wasn’t until they became classmates at the academy, that they started talking more.  

“Did you really just happen to find my apartment by coincidence?” 

“You figure it out. I don’t know.” Fain looked away.

Yao wasn’t sure why Fain was annoyed out of the blue. It was a reasonable question. Maybe he had forgotten something.

Suddenly, he noticed the hairpin was much warmer than before. Bursts of magic vibrations flowed towards him aggressively, as if trying to break through an invisible barrier.

Black incantations appeared on the body of the hairpin. With one glance Yao recognised them. “Spirit seal,” he muttered. An old, forbidden spell from a line of eastern sorcery that had been banned after the Null War.

Yao flipped his hand and held two fingers out, as he swiftly chanted through obscure lines of spells.

The light from the hairpin faded, then peaked. Finally, after a final bright burst, the light disappeared completely.

Yao opened his eyes. A sharp throbbing pain in his head made him clench the bedsheets beneath. 

“Yao, don’t force yourself.” Fain's worried voice sounded from above. 

Yao shook his head slightly. “I’m alright. I just haven’t used my spirit medium powers in quite a while.”

“I could only see a blurry figure. But the hatred and resentment from this spirit is strong.” Yao leaned forward and pushed Fain’s half pulled out blade back into its sheath. “It doesn’t seem aggressive, but we should be careful. Your blade has the remnant scents of the dead, it might irritate the sealed spirit.” 

Yao knew that sometimes spirits would refuse to leave when they had unaccomplished wills or grievances, yet normally they just stayed longer, a few days at most. Anyhow they eventually disappeared themselves, whether they liked it or not. Sealing a spirit was difficult, it required a strict, complicated process. The only person whom he knew could do it, was long dead. Yet obviously, someone was practicing this banned spell. A high-level mage, most likely.

He slapped Fain on the back. “I got it!”

Fain raised an eyebrow. 

“Whoever sealed this spirit had a secret they wanted to keep preserved, for whatever reason, only they’ll know,” Yao explained.

“We could sell it on the black market,” Fain suggested.

“Or we’ll more likely end up in jail. You’re a wanted criminal and there’s a bounty on your head silly.” Yao poked at Fain’s arm. “I should just turn you in and buy myself another apartment.”

“You won’t.”

“You owe me an apartment Fain. And all my money that was in there.”

“That wasn’t me though? And I saved you. So we’re even.”

“True.” Yao sighed and plunged into the bed. “Fuck those rebel groups. I’m so tired.”

The fatigue and aftereffects of using his powers too much kicked in aggressively. He blinked hard yet his vision started to blur. Why did it come so early this time? He tried to focus his thoughts, yet they drifted into broken pieces. Fain’s distorted panicked voice came through. He tried to reach for Fain’s hands, yet couldn’t feel anything. His head throbbed with a familiar sharp pain. Everything around him started to fade, until his consciousness finally surrendered, and he fell into darkness.