“So, you want me to take you to a town in the middle of nowhere with the possibility that people are after you?”

“I’ll pay you well.” 

“You’d better.”

“Does that mean you’re taking the job?” 

“It means I’m thinking about it.” 

“I’ll pay you more when we make it to the town.”

“I said I’m thinking about it. I don’t like babysitting.” 

“I promise you won’t regret it,” she pulled the pouch of coins out from her sleeve again to hand to the swordsman.“My real name is Shu Yan.”

“Keep that tucked away safe. You can pay me later,” Li Ming said, holding out a hand to stop the girl. 

“Yes, sir.”

“And none of this ‘sir’ crap either.”

“Yes…” she trailed off, unsure how to address him. 

“There’s bandits, you know. And robbers. And criminals. And thugs.”

“I’ll…stay out of your way and let you do your legendary thing.”  

“I’m already regretting this,” he grunted. 

But her mood seemed to improve, and she settled into the chair across from him with confidence. Li Ming sighed. Babysitting. Fifteen years on the cold trail of his master’s murderer, and he was now babysitting. How had it come to this? 

“Are you going to eat all those?” she said, eyeing the four remaining dumplings on his plate. “I haven’t eaten all day.” 

“Yes,” he said, reaching for another dumpling.

But before his chopsticks reached the plate, the girl made her move. In a motion that was more surprising than swift, she snatched a dumpling from the plate and popped it into her mouth. The shrill laughter of a woman flirting with a merchant cut across the restaurant as though mocking the swordsman. 

“Ok, you’re just a kid, so you may not know this: it’s a dangerous thing to come between a man and his dumplings,” Li Ming warned. “I wouldn’t—” 

She grinned at him and snatched two more dumplings and shoved them into her mouth.

“What…what…” Li Ming sputtered. “You…you’re paying for more dumplings, you brat!” 

The girl, mouth full of dumplings, struggled to chew. Her eyes shone with impish delight.