Chapter 35: Sachet
"Thank you, Senior Brother Hwong," Lordi Payne said, his voice steady. He offered a slight bow, then turned on his heel and strode back toward his courtyard.
Hwong Hyen's sharp eyes tracked Lordi Payne until the younger man vanished through the courtyard gate. Only then did he said to darkness. "Junior Sister Chen, did you hear what he just said?"
From the tangled bushes flanking the path, Chen Mave emerged. The moonlight spilled over her, dappling her cold, beautiful face with silver flecks. "I'll send the Tracer Bee now."
Soon, they retrieved the sachet Lordi Payne had ditched in the bamboo grove.
"We passed through here on our way back today," Chen Mave noted.
Hwong Hyen leaned closer as he examined the sachet. It was unremarkable—a plain mortal trinket, its stitching loose, its contents mundane. "That brat didn't bring a weapon," he muttered. "Seems he really was just chasing this worthless thing. We'll return it tomorrow."
"Fine!"
——
Meanwhile, within Lordi Payne's courtyard suite. Lordi Payne sat on the edge of his bed, his brow creased deep, fingers digging into the blanket as if anchoring himself against a rising tide of dread.
Hwong Hyun showing up wasn't a surprise. He'd laid his plans carefully—scattered trinkets, a mussed bed, the sachet lie—all to test the waters.
Chen Haunt's crew, if they meant him harm, would naturally keep tabs on him.