Kofi

Things didn't go according to plan, but that didn't make him sad. Continuing to act like he was wounded, he barely held back a smile, covering its shadow with his palm. The fun seemed successful, and he, putting his other hand on his stomach, exhaled heavily. Teasing the master seemed fair, the young man had never even tried to use his artifact or at least get acquainted with it, as was proper.

— Master, if the sword doesn't hurry, I'll die of hunger right in your arms, and you'll never know what I was capable of.

Shoe Sheng Lang (Bai Hu)

Sheng Lang anxiously placed his hand on one of the centers. The energy was flowing smoothly.

— Don't worry. You won't die anytime soon.

How long has he owned xiao? He remembered the day when, returning from one of his first independent hikes, he found a dying spellcaster in the forest, and that spellcaster gave him this instrument, without having time to tell him anything about it.

Back then, he, still a young man - only a year had passed since Sheng became a spellcaster and received a second name - was not very interested in the features of the new spiritual weapon. The exam in all clans is held upon reaching 20 years of age, which means that the flute has belonged to him for 65 years. Sheng remembered Shin Su's words and looked at Kofi searchingly, maybe there was some clue here.

— Is your magic related to fire?

Kofi

The young man smiled. The sword had noticed correctly, if you look at the color of the skin, it seemed as if his own had really fallen under the influence of fire. However, he didn’t want to show all the cards from his wide sleeve. Since that was how it turned out, he would personally demonstrate his magic, and then, perhaps, the master would appreciate it.

Having settled himself more comfortably, he paused and forced a smile, as much as he could manage.

— Master, I feel tired, let me sing my favorite song. Maybe it will help me cope with my illness.

Shoe Sheng Lang (Bai Hu)

The request sounded strange, but there was no reason not to agree. Besides, the spirit of the flute simply had to sing well. Smiling, he stroked his hand.

— Of course, sing. I'll listen to you with pleasure.

Kofi

Sitting down on the blanket, xiao began to sing a lullaby. The master will get to know the real Kofi on his own skin, that is the goal. However, even noticing that the caster was already asleep, he continued to sing and, getting up from his place, went outside.

The adepts slept soundly. Some were near the almost harnessed horses, and some were near the fire on which porridge was being cooked. It was lucky that the detachment was small and everyone was within earshot. Approaching the pot, he only shook his head. Still the same tasteless concoction.

Having quickly looked around, he found the necessary herbs and threw them into the food, stirred, sniffed. Now it should be delicious. Returning to his place, he settled down as he had been lying before and, closing his eyes, stopped singing. Quietly snoring, he pretended to be asleep.

Shoe Sheng Lang (Bai Hu)

As expected, the young man had a beautiful voice. The simple melody carried his thoughts in a completely different direction, and Sheng did not even notice how he plunged into sweet dreams.

He found himself in a forest. On the shore of a lake overgrown with lotuses, over which colorful butterflies hovered. There was something elusively familiar about this, although he was sure that he had never been to this place. And somewhere far away, harmoniously intertwined with the singing of birds, the voice of xiao still sounded. The enchanting scent of flowers mingled with subtle notes of foliage and herbs. Stopping at the edge of the water, Sheng watched the shadow of the clouds on the surface of the water. It was difficult to say how much time had passed. The voice died down, and after it, the birds fell silent. It seemed to him that the surrounding reality trembled and became covered with ripples, like a reflection in water under a breath of wind.

And at that moment he felt a warm hand on his shoulder. He smiled and turned around, wanting to greet the one he didn't expect to see for a long time, but only managed to notice a blurry image before he finally disappeared. Following him, the rest of the elements of the pastoral picture melted away. Opening his eyes, the spellcaster looked around in bewilderment. It was just a dream. And here it is, reality. Kofi is sleeping and Shin Su has not returned. Deciding not to think about the reasons for his sudden drowsiness now, he checked the flow of qi once more and left the tent, intending to hurry the sword. The picture that appeared before his eyes made him rub his eyes. Maybe he was still sleeping? The adepts were lying on the ground in various poses.

Kofi

The game didn't work out, for some reason the master decided to leave instead of speaking. Heavedly inhaling air, stood up and, leaving the tent, stopped behind him. The picture before his eyes was quite familiar to Kofi, but judging by his reaction, not to the master.

Quietly, barely audibly, he said:

— Master, look how sweetly they sleep. Do you really want to interrupt their sleep?

Quickly running to the still boiling cauldron, he took it off the fire and, sitting down more comfortably, pointed with his hand to the free space, of which there were not so many left. The sleeping adepts had already managed to fall apart as best they could, and each one was snoring in unison with the others.

— Please, sit down, they will wake up soon. Do you really have no questions for me.

Shoe Sheng Lang (Bai Hu)

— Are they sleeping? — Sheng quickly checked the nearest ones, made sure that xiao was right and frowned, — they are good, nothing to say, but we will deal with this later.

Approaching the fire, he sat down on the ground next to Kofi and looked closely into the light blue eyes, which looked so strange on the black face.

— I understand that you are feeling better. That is good. It means that we will be able to reach the Order without stopping. What was that song?

Kofi

Without ceasing to smile, he listened, and his eyes sparkled with genuine joy. Now they were completely alone, regardless of the sleeping ones. And for the first time he can communicate with his master, who should have had this conversation decades ago.

Extending his hand with the dark side, he turned his palm upward.

— Look, it's the same as yours. There is no need to worry about the color of my skin. Tell me, did you ever plan to meet me? Of course, — he pointed at himself, — if I hadn't acquired a body.

Shoe Sheng Lang (Bai Hu)

Looking at the outstretched palm, he only sighed. Its color was almost normal. He quickly glanced at the well-built figure, stood up and extended his hand.

— Let's go to the tent, we need to check something.

Kofi

The already bright eyes became even bigger. Probably, at this moment the stars would have fallen from the sky and decided to disappear, if it were night now. Kofi stood up, without trying the food, and put his hand in the other. Hoping for the prudence of the master, he still decided to remind about breakfast.

— The food will get cold.

Shoe Sheng Lang (Bai Hu)

Looking dismissively at the bowler hat, he walked quickly towards the tent.

— He won't have time. Of course, you and I would have met, as is proper, in any case. A little later.

Having reached the entrance, he pulled him in after him and, letting him go ahead, suggested:

— Take off your clothes.

Kofi

On the way, he wanted to be indignant, trying to imagine when this should have happened later, but the last phrase knocked out of his head everything that had been so carefully collected into the complaint. Kofi froze in surprise and blinked several times, smiling. Embracing the thin waist, he looked into the gray eyes.

— Master, I didn't even count on such an acquaintance…