Written for the DMBJ Lunar New Year festival for Snowy who requested: What if Hei Xiazi and Liu Sang knew each other before they meet in Mute Village? What if Hei Xiazi went to Liu Sang's hearing mentor for help with his blindness/eye condition?
This is my new backstory for these two characters with so little canon information.
~~~Part 1~~~
The throaty growl of an approaching engine pulled Liu Sang from a deep sleep way too early in the morning. He scrunched his eyes more tightly closed and pulled the blanket over his head. But the engine, a big heavy motorcycle he noted angrily, kept coming until it rumbled to a stop in front of the cottage. Moving his blanket enough to see the clock, Liu Sang scowled at the time. Seven! Seven in the goddamn morning! On a bike like that! Waking the whole damn neighborhood. He was a teenager and needed his sleep dammit. He pulled the cloth more fiercely over his head, willing himself back to sleep, but now he could hear the voices of his master and a man with a deep voice talking.
Shifu had warned him that she would be taking on a new student briefly. She’d told him to expect this person soon and that they’d be staying in the guest room but… Today? Now? On that terror of a bike? With a growl, he stuck his hand out and groped around on the bedside table for his earplugs. Finding them, he stuffed them in his ears and grunted in satisfaction. This was his morning off and he was going to use it - for sleeping.
A while later he surfaced, stretching hugely as he opened his eyes to see the sun bright in his room. Liu Sang laid there for a moment until his stomach made its emptiness known. With a groan he swung himself up and off the bed and shuffled to the bathroom for a shower. After, he dressed, brushed his long bangs from his eyes and slid into the empty kitchen for food.
Shifu had left him a plate of steamed buns and he devoured them as he sent his hearing out to find her. The house, he noted immediately, was empty. Expanding his area of perception he noted a car and several scooters coming down the street. Mrs. Han next door had the radio on. Mrs. Yang’s twins across the street were crying. Little Ming’er’s dog the next block over was barking. Nothing else notable. That meant that Shifu and the new guy had to be in the small sound-proof training building in the backyard.
Liu Sang sighed and settled down at the table with a school workbook. This wasn’t the first time shifu had accepted a short term student. He’d never had a problem before with someone splitting his teacher’s attention; the grumpy mood was probably from the obnoxious early morning wakeup. Everything would be fine. He'll be nice and polite. He might even make a new friend, or at least a future contact.
He worked for a while and then, checking his phone for the time, got up to prepare a light lunch for everyone. The door of the training building opened as he was putting the last bowl on the table, revealing the familiar sound of his shifu’s heartbeat and voice and the sound of the man’s heartbeat, slow and steady, his footsteps coming wide apart, indicating that he was tall. When the door was opened, Madame Zhao came in with… Liu Sang blinked at all the black. The man was indeed tall and was covered in black: boots, jeans, t-shirt, the only variation a silver dog tag hanging from his neck. Liu Sang assumed that there was a matching leather jacket in his room to complete the look. The man’s shoulder-length hair looked a lot like his own, since Liu Sang was letting it grow. He had a handsome chiseled jaw and cheekbones but his eyes were covered by wide, dark glasses. This was probably one of the most attractive men Liu Sang had ever seen in his, admittedly short, lifetime.
“Ah and here is my apprentice, Liu Sang,” Madame Zhao gestured and Liu Sang stuck out a hand.
“Hello.”
The man returned the grasp with a firm but gentle grip, his hand rough with callouses. “Hei Xiazi. Or Yanjing. I answer to either.”
Liu Sang blinked in surprise and scowled, dropping the handshake. “You come for teaching with my master and can’t give her your real name?”
Hei Xiazi, or apparently Yanjing, slouched into a chair and cocked his head. Liu Sang could feel the stare behind the glasses but wasn’t deterred. “Which Sang character are you?”
Liu Sang’s scowl morphed into a frown of confusion and he answered with a vaguely sullen tone. “Sang as in grief.”
“Mm, yeeaah. That’s not great.” Hei Xiazi picked a pair of chopsticks from the cup and pointed at him. “But it’s five times better than my actual name. These names are what I use, kid. No disrespect intended.” He plucked some greens from a bowl and stuffed them in his mouth with a slight grin. “You can call me something else and if I like it, I may even answer.”
Liu Sang got the impression he was being winked at and he practically choked on his outraged gasp. Madame Zhao sat down and looked at him with a hint of an eyebrow. Lui Sang pressed his lips together and sat. He ate quietly, listening to them talk and excused himself as soon as possible.
Retreating to his room, he spent a couple of mindless hours killing things on his gaming system, headphones on to muffle outside noises. He was definitely not sulking or hiding. Tired of gaming, he decided to catch up on a few episodes of the drama he was watching and when he looked up again, it was late in the afternoon and he could smell the evening meal cooking.
Feeling somewhat better, Liu Sang was able to chat at dinner and try to be a little bit charming to make up for his earlier actions. When they were finished eating, he stretched a hand out for the dishes when Madame Zhao reached over to touch his wrist. Startled, he paused then sat back.
“Sang’er, I need you to listen and obey.” Madame Zhao’s face was calm but held an attitude of authority and he just blinked at her in surprise. “I have to go to Beijing for a week for tests. Hei Yanjing will be staying here with you.”
Liu Sang froze, hardly knowing what part of that statement to react to first. Unable to contain his surprise, he leaped up to pace around the kitchen. “You’re sick? What’s wrong? How bad is it? I thought he was here to be your student? He’s staying when you’re not here? Why? I can be by myself and take care of the house? I’m sixteen. I promise I can cook and go to school reliably.” He was bubbling with so many emotions.
“Sang’er!” Shifu’s voice cut through the spiraling mass of teenage humiliation, anger, worry and fear and he stared at her with wide eyes. “Sit.” He sat but he couldn’t help the angry look he shot at the man in black, calmly sipping tea.
“You already know the basics of it. But my doctor wants me to see a specialist. It may indeed be serious.” Her tone softened. “I know you can stay by yourself, but I would feel better with Heiye here to help. I’ve known him a long time and he’s a lot of fun. Give him a chance. There are a lot of things you can teach each other.”
Liu Sang sucked in a breath and held it. Her heartbeat showed no lies and Heiye’s was as slow and steady as it had been all day. There was really only one answer he could give, so he dipped his head and managed through gritted teeth, “Yes shifu.”
He didn’t sleep well that night and, after seeing Madame Zhao off at the train station in the morning, he moped around the house, unable to get interested in anything in particular. Hei ‘Suibian’ seemed to be staying out of his way and that was both nice and infuriating.
After a while, he wandered out into the neighborhood, annoyed and kicking rocks, hands in his pockets and generally acting like a stereotypical grumpy teenager and that annoyed him further. He meandered to the field where the kids generally collected to play and spent some time tracking various heartbeats as they ran screaming from one end to the other. Moving on after about fifteen minutes, Liu Sang went into the library and made his way to the basement. He practiced mapping the pipes and air vents for a few minutes by tapping on things, making sure to stay undetected by tracking footsteps of the people above, but it was a familiar building and an old exercise. Finally, in desperation, he ended up at the movie theater and went in to see whatever was starting shortly. He wasn’t even sure why he was out. There was no reason the new guy should be bugging him this much.
Was it because shifu was treating him like a child? Bringing in a babysitter basically. Or because she lied to him about having a student, when she was planning to leave all along? Did he really have the right to complain? She had taken him in, after all. But it still seemed unnecessary. And this guy! Something about his attitude just rubbed Liu Sang the wrong way. Nothing about this was good. And what if the tests turned out badly? What if shifu was actually really sick? What would he do then? The movie went mostly unseen as his thoughts swirled and swirled.
Eventually Liu Sang trudged back home. The situation was the way it was and he was going to have to make the best of it. Time to see what Heiye had to offer him.
The man in question was standing over the wok tossing food around with a scoop. As Liu Sang watched he poured in rice and then sauces from several bottles. “Tea’s on the table. If you want something else, go get it,” he said without looking, exactly as one would expect from a student of Madame Zhao’s.
Biting back a scowl, Liu Sang retrieved a soda, just to see the man’s reaction and sat down. With a flourish a large bowl was placed in the center of the table. “Fried rice with green peppers and pork!”
Liu Sang blinked at it a moment then at the grinning man serving himself a huge portion. Hesitantly, he filled his bowl and took a bite. It was surprisingly good and they ate in silence for a few minutes. Then, just as LIu Sang was beginning to relax, Heiye took a gulp of tea and leaned forward.
“Look, I want this to go smoothly. I know you’re a smart young man who can take care of himself. I’m staying here as a favor for your shifu, as she’s an old friend, so what can we do to agree to get along?”
Frowning, Liu Sang hesitated then nodded once. “As long as you know I don’t need you here, we can agree on a peaceful cohabitation. I have school, my school work and my training exercises to keep up with. I’m not sure what else you want with me. I can certainly amuse myself and generally feed myself. I guess we can trade off cooking if you want.”
“Good. Now, so you know, along with being extremely good looking, I have a wide skill set and I’m happy to share some of my extensive wisdom. I’ll list some things and you tell me what gives you a tingle.”
Liu Sang’s mouth dropped open and he didn’t know whether to squawk in outrage or laugh. The menace started ticking points off his fingers. “I can teach you the basics of fighting - I think we should go for that one regardless - lockpicking, wilderness survival, artifact history, dynastic history, trap identification, artifact retrieval and repair, people retrieval and marginal repair,” Hei Xiazi tipped his head to the side, “hopefully enough to get someone stable for transport, sneaking, spying, lying, creating and using disguises, evasive and off-road driving, enough to get by in a bunch of languages.” He paused for a moment, thinking. “And probably the basics of cooking.”
After several seconds, Liu Sang realized that his mouth was still hanging open. He closed it with a snap and swallowed. “What… what is it that you do?”
“Eh,” Hei Xiazi waved a hand and stuffed another bite into his mouth. “A bit of this, a bit of that. I’ve done a lot of bodyguarding, escorting scholars into the forest or whatever is the wilderness of their choice, rescuing scholars from the wilderness of their choice. Also I do a lot of work for the Jiumen.”
Liu Sang breath caught at that. The Jiumen. They were a powerhouse. If he could get connections there his career would be made. He still didn’t like this man being forced on him, but at least he might get something positive out of it. “I want to at least try all of it. I don’t know what I really need, but with my hearing and some of those skills I’ll be able to charge top prices for all of my work.”
“That’s the spirit! A man after my own heart. Get’em in the wallet.” Grinning widely, he stuck a large hand out. “Deal?”
Liu Sang reached out, his hand only slightly smaller and grasped Hei Xiazi's hand firmly with his long fingers. “Deal.”
~~~Part 2~~~
In the bright mid-morning sun, Hei Xiazi pulled his car to a stop in front of Madame Zhao’s familiar house. There was a bittersweet feeling about his visit this time that he hadn’t had during any of his other visits over the last two years. Snarky, snarly, prickly Liu Sang with his amazing talents and his admirable work ethic had quickly become one of his favorite students/additions though not quite slotting neatly into the role of godchild like so many of the others.
This time he was here to help Madame Zhao with Liu Sang’s ‘graduation’. Something about Liu Sang had resonated with Hei Xiazi and he’d made more time than usual over the past years to be here to teach, sometimes staying for as much as a month at a time. Years ago he’d been grateful to find Madame Zhao just as she was making a name for herself. She'd taught him a lot about using his extra hearing, limited though it was, but mostly she’d trained him to use his ears to compensate for and enhance his vision challenges. And so, now that her health was rapidly declining, she’d reached out for his help in giving Liu Sang the last push to be ready to be on his own.
Speaking of the devil, he looked up to see that Liu Sang had pulled the door open and was leaning against the jamb with crossed arms, a raised eyebrow and a whole lot of attitude. “You gonna sit out here all day or come in and say hello like a polite guest?”
Hei Xiazi laughed and got out. “How’s my most recent favorite troublemaker?”
Liu Sang squawked in outrage as Hei Xiazi slapped him fondly on the shoulder, ignoring the muttering about being his only favorite troublemaker. Then he slung an arm over the young man’s shoulders, still skinny but broader and more muscular than the waiflike sixteen year old he’d first met and guided him into the house. “Are you ready for this?”
Liu Sang scoffed as they entered the kitchen. “Bring it on, old man.”
Hei Xiazi grinned hugely and ruffled the long bangs, earning himself another yelp and a slap at his hand. “Okay, let me say hello to Madame Zhao and then get my duffles from the car.”
“I’ll do that while you go see her,” Liu Sang said soberly. “She’s not doing well. She’s going to enter long term care in a couple of weeks, though I don't think it’s going to be very long term.”
The visit with his old friend was both warm and sad, seeing her so tiny and fragile propped against the pillows. Would he ever get used to another old friend leaving him behind? He made a mental note to get one of his hacker godchildren to find her account and add a generous donation to her care fund - knowing she’d never take it otherwise.
Back in the kitchen, Liu Sang had put plates of snacks and a teapot on the table and Hei Xiazi’s bags were stacked against a wall. Slouching into a chair, he took a bite of a delicate little cake. After a few quiet moments, he shook himself and grinned at the young man, amused by the way he suddenly looked very wary. “So are you ready for this? Gonna show me what you’ve learned?”
“I guess,” Liu Sang shrugged. “Nobody’s told me what you’re actually planning.”
“Well that’s part of the fun of it!” Hei Xiazi let his grin widen until the Liu Sang started to fidget.
In reality, he had nothing particularly dramatic planned, but he was looking forward to running Liu Sang through his paces. He knew Madame Zhao had already tested him on her skillset, the city listening and business spy stuff, but they’d agreed that he should test the young man on the things Hei Xiazi had taught him. It was really more of a training exercise than a test, but watching the boy hustle to ‘pass the test’ was part of his payment. His plan was to start with the things they could do here in the house and then take a trip to see how he did in a less controlled environment.
“Don’t worry. I’ve got it all planned. I’ve even arranged for someone to come stay with Madame Zhao while we’re out.”
“Out?” Liu Sang looked even more worried. “We’re going somewhere? I haven’t packed or anything.”
“Oh don’t worry, you’ll have time. We’ll be here for a day or so. I’ve got plenty of things I need you to show me before I’m taking you anywhere.”
There was a beat of silence then Liu Sang adopted an arrogant expression, pushed his glasses back and again said, “Bring it.”
Hei Xiazi snorted. “I intend to. I hope you’re ready.” He got up and opened his duffles to start the testing immediately.
They began with artifact identification. He found himself handing Liu Sang one piece after another as the boy sailed through the exercise. After that he smiled evilly and tied Liu Sang to his chair with his best ropes. When he got himself free, Hei Xiazi used handcuffs followed by a variety of locks. After a while he ran him through a jumble of locks just lying on the table and several mockups of tomb locks that Hei Xiazi had run across in the past. They then moved on to trapped objects - puzzle boxes, locked boxes, crazy figurines, one of them still had a needle in the trap though it was perfectly clean. Hours passed until they finally took a break for dinner.
Because he was a benevolent teacher, Hei Xiazi gave Liu Sang the night off and because he was a bastard he woke the boy at 6:30 the next morning. He did, however, allow breakfast before they moved into the backyard for sparring. When Liu Sang was heaving and sweating he gave him a break by quizzing him on the Jiumen. Another round of sparring and this time the break started off with cursing in various languages before going as far as they could with vocabulary in English, German, French, Cantonese, Japanese, Korean and Thai. In the afternoon, they went into the soundproof training building where Hei Xiazi blindfolded Liu Sang and had him identify the shape and composition of various objects by sound either when the object was struck or when Liu Sang rang a bell. He began layering things inside each other as Liu Sang progressed to more and more complicated scenarios.
Again they quit for dinner and Hei Xiazi sent Liu Sang to his room with instructions to pack for five days and to be up at seven. For the rest of the evening, he spent some time reminiscing with Madame Zhao before heading to bed himself.
~~~
Liu Sang looked around the campsite with a mixture of anticipation and dread. They had gotten tents set up and the fire pit prepared with no trouble. Liu Sang had spent the three hour drive on the way here peppering Hei Xiazi with questions about where they were going, what they were going to do, how he was doing with the tests and what recent adventures the man had had. The man refused to give any feedback about the testing, but he was a never-ending source of fascinating stories, and he had interesting friends including Zhang Qiling. Liu Sang had learned everything he could about the legendary explorer and he hoped to someday be as talented and composed as he sounded.
So now here they were, way up in the mountains and Liu Sang had no idea what would come next. Already the world sounded completely different from the city outskirts that he was used to. Knowing Hei Xiazi, he’d find all of the ways he could possibly use that against Liu Sang before this ‘testing’ was over.
“Has Madame Zhao taken you out this far before?” Hei Xiazi asked as he broke and stacked dry branches.
“No. I’ve explored all the big parks in the city but…”
“Yeah, take some time and listen. The lack of people noises is nice.” He turned back to his task as Liu Sang blinked in surprise. Seemed easy enough.
So he sat down where he’d been standing and listened. Different trees made different rustling noises. He opened his eyes occasionally to try to match the visuals to the sounds. Birds hopped through bushes and fluttered between branches. Hundreds of little heartbeats were everywhere. No doubt there were other small creatures hidden from his eyes that Liu Sang couldn’t begin to identify. There were two streams in different directions a short walk from here. Farther out were a few larger animals, probably deer. The great outdoors certainly wasn’t silent but it was very different.
After a while Hei Xiazi tapped two small rocks together to get his attention and Liu Sang opened his eyes. “Quiet time is over. Let’s go for a hike.”
“Cool!” Liu Sang hopped up, eager to explore more of the surrounding area.
He wasn’t sure what he expected from the hike, but apparently Hei Xiazi had decided to combine bushcraft lessons with an endless stream of “what if” questions, so Liu Sang spent the next few hours sorting out brain twisting scenarios while trying not to trip over himself in the woods.
“You’re hired for some corporate espionage but things turn bad, shots are fired…” “You’re separated by a rock fall in a cave…” “You wake up in the trunk of a car…” “There are shibie coming from two directions…” “You’re in a club and a screaming bachelorette party moves between you and the target…” “Your expedition leader has been bitten by a snake…” “Your boss who hired you to listen to his business rival is actually planning on stealing the thing but you’ve signed a contract…” “Your boss who hired you to listen to his business rival is actually planning to set the building on fire but you’ve signed a contract…”
Meanwhile, Hei Xiazi seemed determined to make the going as rough as possible. Every time they ran across a trail he very deliberately turned and went another way. If there were rocks, they went over them and not around them.
When they finally returned to camp, Liu Sang was exhausted and wanted nothing more than a long nap. Instead, Hei Xiazi directed him to the food. “Let’s try out your cooking skills. I like my pork crispy and the green peppers tender.”
The highly heaped praises over the fried rice were entirely excessive but said with such obnoxious good humor that Liu Sang just had to laugh. Afterwards, Liu Sang fell into his sleeping bag, exhausted and exhilarated.
The next day, they dismantled the camp and hiked for nearly an hour further before Hei Xiazi stopped and leaned against a tree. “There’s an entrance to a tomb nearby. Find it.”
Liu Sang narrowed his eyes as he glanced around. There were trees, bushes and boulders, the rock face of the mountain was meters away but the vegetation grew right up against the rock. He pulled out his whistle. Madame Zhao had trained him with many types of whistle but he found the tone of this wide titanium one suited him best. The first note told him that the whole cliff face was full of caves. The second told him more about the depths of each.
“There,” he pointed. “Twelve meters south of us.”
Hei Xiazi applauded. “Good job.” Liu Sang grinned a little suspiciously. That compliment seemed a bit too easy. He shrugged and followed his mentor toward the opening. Probably he was just plotting all the ways he could torture Liu Sang once they got underground.
Later he could say that his first experience in a tomb was everything it should have been for a teaching tool. He soaked up everything. The scent of the air, the feel of not just the rocks but the weight and age of the mountain pressing down upon him. And the darkness; he hadn’t been expecting the depth of the velvety blackness outside their lights. As they wandered the passageways, he immersed himself in the sounds of the stones and the various bits of architecture.
The first day they set up camp in a corner of the main chamber for the three days they were inside. Then Hei Xiazi handed him a blank notebook and parked himself in a camp chair to read a book by his dim lantern while Liu Sang spent hours mapping with the whistle. He alternatingly used a hearing urn, his whistle and just a hammer on stone to practice with the different sounds. The next day he watched Hei Xiazi disarm traps (“I came up and rearmed them last week just for you”) and even stepped on a trigger plate for one heart stopping moment to hear the mechanism rattle in the walls. There was an ominous scrape-thunk and, in a panic, Liu Sang threw himself backward to sprawl on the floor as a bamboo pole swept by where he’d been standing.
“What the hell?!!” he demanded as he jumped up, fury and outrage replacing the adrenaline. “You asshole!!!”
Hei Xiazi just laughed and applauded briefly. “Good job Sang’er! Great reflexes!”
In the end Hei Xiazi declared him ready to go on milk runs into tombs with more experienced crews. Liu Sang wasn’t sure how much tomb work he’d end up doing, but he knew if he wanted to work with the Jiumen there was likely to be some.
Back at the car, completely exhausted but feeling accomplished, Liu Sang waited as Hei Xiazi finished stowing the last of the gear. Turning around, the man handed Liu Sang a small wooden box no bigger than his palm and Liu Sang looked up in surprise.
“I have one final piece of advice before you graduate.” Hei Xiazi placed his hands over Liu Sang’s with the box sandwiched between them. “Get a license and learn to shoot. You don’t have to own a gun,” he continued when Liu Sang opened his mouth to protest, “but you should be proficient and stay in practice.”
Liu Sang looked at the man who’d become as much as a shifu as Madame Zhao and nodded. “I promise.”
Hei Xiazi smiled his wide, gremlin smile and lifted his hands to clap. “Great! You graduate! My duckling is ready to fly! And I got you a little something so you don’t forget your old teacher Heiye.”
Opening the box distracted him from the fact that his eyes were a little teary. Inside was a wide silver bead on a leather thong. It wavered in his watery vision as he pulled it free. Handing the box back Liu Sang put it on, delighted that the bead rested comfortably in the hollow of his throat.
~~~Part 3~~~
Liu Sang swiped grimy hair out of his eyes with a gritty hand and sighed, shifting against the least pokey portion of the rock wall behind him. It had already been four days since a rockfall blocked the secondary passageway. The main passage had collapsed when a gigantic snake charged through it. No one had been expecting said giant snake. There was nothing in the research to suggest that it was here and unfortunately, Liu Sang hadn’t realized what he was hearing until it was entirely too late.
This was only Liu Sang’s third tomb-mapping trip. He’d spent most of the last two years working in the business world through contacts set up by his shifu before Madame Zhao’s passing. He was beginning to make a name for himself in that arena, despite being only twenty years old. But he’d found himself longing for something a bit more adventurous so he’d been glad when Hei Xiazi, though he’d been somewhat more absent lately, had kept his promise and promoted Liu Sang’s skills to the head of the Xie family. Xie Yuchen hadn’t taken him into the tombs right away, there were a string of jobs that felt half test and half real, but Liu Sang breezed through all of them and even found a couple of rotted boards in the theater that were messing with the acoustics. Since then a whole new world of opportunities had been open to him.
The first two trips had been fairly straightforward and left Liu Sang with a feeling of accomplishment and eager anticipation for more of the same. This trip should have been just that; the reports were basic, but predictive of another productive trip. Xie Yuchen wasn’t on this particular expedition but the leader, Sun Yaoting, was an experienced and trusted lieutenant. Liu Sang remembered learning his name in his Jiumen training years ago.
And yet, here they were, trapped in an unfinished offshoot passage with no access to the rest of the tomb. Because of a giant snake. Hei Xiazi had warned him how quickly things could go bad underground. Liu Sang now felt like he’d truly learned that lesson.
The exploration group had been split when it happened. Liu Sang was in one half doing additional mapping and clearing of traps and the other half was behind them documenting and packing artifacts from the areas that had already been cleared. Sun Yaoting and the other tomb experts in the mapping group were gathered, discussing the corridors drawn in Liu Sang’s map, when a rumble vibrated through the floor. Liu Sang had put a hand on the wall both as a focus and a brace and expanded his hearing.
“Sounds like a huge… snake? Yes! Snake. In the main chamber. People are screaming and scattering.”
Sun Yaoting had called for several people to go and they took off running. Sun Yaoting instructed the rest of their group to make their own way out via the second route immediately before he left to head toward the trouble. That had left Liu Sang and five other, older people from the exploration team and they’d hustled along but it was a long tunnel and they hadn’t gotten very far before a second, stronger tremor had rumbled through. Pebbles began to fall overhead followed by a terrible crash from ahead and rolling booms from behind.
Liu Sang had shouted but no one was listening so he pulled out his whistle and got their attention. “There’s a side passage that’s stable further in but it’s a dead end. The corridor ahead has collapsed and things are moving behind us. We need to choose where to go.”
Ma Jinjing who was the most senior person had looked up and down the route as the dust fell. “We’re going for stable," she decided and herded everyone down the offshoot tunnel where they huddled at the location Liu Sang deemed most stable to wait out the chaos.
It had taken almost an hour for the noises of falling rocks to settle but after there had been silence for fifteen minutes Ma Jinjing went to scout the damage. Her assessment was that they were good and stuck. So - yeah, that was four days ago. They’d gotten lucky, for some definition of luck. There was a trickle of water coming down a wall in a tiny stream that could fill a canteen in an hour or so. Also, everyone managed to keep a hold of their packs so they had a small stash of food and some thin blankets. There was air trickling in through several cracks. But there was no practical way for them to escape. They still spent a little time digging toward the end of the tunnel, but there was no way their efforts would be enough to break through in any reasonable amount of time. Xie Yuchen would definitely be mounting a rescue, so they were forced to wait. And hope.
Liu Sang had mostly spent the time not sulking and not panicking either. However, with nowhere better to focus his thoughts, he’d gone over his actions and results repeatedly, noting each time where he might have done something differently. He’d tapped and listened to see if he could identify any sort of escape route at all. He stayed awake when everyone else had fallen asleep, using the quiet to hear differently. This was an absolute disaster. His career was ruined! The expedition and the tomb were in shambles because he’d missed a giant fucking snake! He figured he would be lucky if he wasn’t sued for whatever little he had.
He put his head back against the wall and listened again for the snake. He’d finally found it two days ago. Its heartbeat was abnormally slow for such a big animal, slow and quiet. Liu Sang had listened to Heiye’s lessons about the animals and how weird they could get but it never really… connected. Clearly. The snake was still resting in the same spot where he’d located it, still and silent, and the rest of the tomb was empty of movement sounds to the edges of his hearing range, so either everyone got out with Sun Yaoting or they were past needing medical help.
Maybe he could salvage his reputation on the business side of things and stay far away from the Jiumen. Or maybe he could make a career at McDonald’s. He drifted off contemplating that thought.
He woke up some time later because his head was ringing like a bell. The vibrations weren’t painful but were definitely annoying and attention grabbing. Or course that, he realized after shaking off the sleep haze, was exactly the point. Placing his hand on the rock to ‘feel’ them as well, Liu Sang sent his hearing out to where the sounds were originating in a steady rhythm.
There was a lot of other noise, people moving, things being dragged, voices talking and one, oh so familiar heartbeat, deep and strong. Liu Sang hopped to his feet, the sudden move catching everyone’s attention. “They’ve come! I can hear the people gathering in the main passage! Heiye is banging a rock on the wall for me to hear. I’m going out to signal back.” As ripples of relief and happy murmuring passed through the room, he looked at Ma Jinjing. “We've been clearing the outer end of the tunnel so I’m going to go signal from there.”
“Go! After you’re done signaling we’ll start digging again.”
Liu Sang spun and strode rapidly out to the rockfall. The banging from Hei Xiazi was taking on a more desperate rhythm and he grabbed a good fist sized rock and hit the wall - hard. He did it four more times before pausing, then a set of three more reasonable taps, a pause, and then three more. They had no prearranged signal, he was just trying to make the noises as deliberate as possible. So he continued, listening during the pauses, hearing that familiar heartbeat pick up and the muffled sounds of cheering as Hei Xiazi reported contact.
Hei Xiazi’s hearing was enhanced for a normal person but nowhere near what Liu Sang could do, so communication was limited to Hei Xiazi shouting questions and Liu Sang banging back simplistic answers: one for yes, two for no, the number of people with him, etc.
As digging began again behind him with careful enthusiasm, Liu Sang could hear operations relocating to the other side of the rockfall in this tunnel. He slumped back against the wall for a moment, having given Hei Xiazi all the information he needed, and sighed in relief. His future career prospects may not be very bright, but at least he was going to have a future.
It took another day to safely brace and clear the tunnel, leaving plenty of time for his anxiety to come roaring back in. But finally the passageway opened and Sun Yaoting was the first through the new opening to see his missing team. As soon as the opening was cleared a bit more Xie Yuchen himself stepped through, followed immediately by Hei Xiazi. A flood of other people streamed in but Liu Sang only had eyes for his mentor.
Hei Xiazi came straight for him, giving him an obvious once over, presumably to make sure he hadn't been lying about his health. Grinning hugely, he drawled, “You worried me so much that I went and brought the boss.” He clapped Liu Sang on both shoulders then pulled him in for a long hug. Liu Sang froze a little in surprise, then melted into it, hands coming up to press into the soft leather covering Hei Xiazi’s back.
Finally Liu Sang pulled back, looking past his reflection in the glasses to see the shape of his friend’s eyes. “I messed up. I missed the snake, got people injured, got the tomb destroyed.” He swallowed hard. “What’s going to happen now?”
“Ehhh, Xiao Hua knows shit like this happens all the time. He’s got contingency money set aside.” Hei Xiazi waved a dismissive hand.
“But I missed a gigantic SNAKE!”
“Ah Sang’er…” He tapped Liu Sang gently on the cheek with a cupped gloved hand and Liu Sang batted at it with a half-hearted scowl. “You’re young. This was only your third trip, you’re still learning. No one expects perfect and everyone knows the risks in these trips.”
“But…”
“Ah ah - trust me. And if Xiao Hua has problems with it, which he won’t, we’ll figure it out.” Hei Xiazi laughed quietly, “Besides - be glad that so far you haven’t worked with Wu Xie. You know the way most of his adventures turn out. Not even Yaba Zhang can stop him most of the time.”
Liu Sang reluctantly chuckled and let his anxiety begin to fade. He stepped back and turned, ready to get his pack and get out of there.
“Come on - show me where you all were holed up…” Hei Xiazi slung an arm over his shoulders as they walked.
~~~Part 4~~~
Hei Xiazi muffled a groan as his head and wrist throbbed in unison. Stifling a sigh, he finished filling two canteens from the small pool and brought them back to the others. He was the least injured and earlier had to make a choice between caring for his companions or finding a way out. Since they were overdue and a rescue ought to be in progress, it made more sense to keep the group in better shape medically and wait for help. Besides, the rock here was messing with his hearing so there wasn’t much he could do to find a way out in a short time anyway. He hoped the rescue people figured it out quickly.
Settling back on his blanket with a grunt he passed out the water. And waited.
~~~
Liu Sang zipped his pack shut, after checking his gear one last time, and nodded to the man in charge. “I’m ready.” The man nodded back respectfully but a little warily.
Xiao Laoban had called three days ago saying that his most recent tomb exploration party had missed several check-ins and asking Liu Sang to please come and help with the rescue efforts. At twenty-five, he’d solidified his reputation for his listening and mapping skills and this was far from his first tomb rescue mission. This wasn’t even the first time he was working for a ‘historical’ expedition that wasn’t the Jiumen.
He’d also added prickly and arrogant to his reputation. And he knew there were whispers of ‘unlucky’ as well. He fully leaned into the prickly and arrogant. He was good at what he did. He was one of the top hearing talents, if not THE top hearing talent, in the country. And the tomb raiding world was full of assholes who saw a skinny ‘kid’ and dismissed him, so any sort of reputation meant they were talking about him. As for the unlucky… none of the underground expeditions that he’d been on in recent years had gone bad because of anything he’d heard or not heard - so that rumor was completely unfounded. The snake incident back when he was twenty had been the last time he’d missed something major.
That was part of the reason he looked up to Zhang Qiling: amazing good looks, tragic backstory, top talent at whatever he attempted and he took no shit from anyone. Liu Sang also envied his relationship to the rest of the Iron Triangle and hoped that he could find friends like that someday. The closest he had was Hei Xiazi and they hadn’t had time for a visit in nearly a year.
Dismissing the useless thoughts, he ducked into the tunnel entrance behind the rescue leader. Xiao Laoban had briefed him about the oddness of the stone here and Liu Sang had made a quick trip down to the first room of the structure a couple of hours earlier to get a feel for things. The rocks here were similar to the rock used in lithophones, the inclusions were different but they shared similar properties, which meant that they ‘sang’ when tapped. He was glad that Madame Zhao had owned several samples so that he already had experience working with their peculiarities.
Setting up in the spot he’d chosen earlier, he placed a listening urn to control the vibrations then hit the floor with a small rubber mallet. The first hit was exploratory - the passages lighting up in his mind. The second hit identified the cave-in and routes around it. He lifted the stethoscope free and stood. “We need to move closer to the rockfall. Once past that I should be able to hear the sounds of your lost people.”
For the next three hours he led them deeper into the complex, past a variety of competently disarmed traps. Mentally Liu Sang gave their expert full marks. When Liu Sang finally deemed the rockfall in the main passage was to their rear, he alerted the leader and the party came to a stop. Once again he set up the urn and hit the wall. The tunnels lit up in his mind and a large fuzzy spot in one of the chambers gave him hope. Fuzzy meant the sound waves were bouncing off something of a lesser density or hardness. He hit again, sending the sound into the rocks causing them to sing with a chime that slid around being exactly one note. Yes, definitely people.
“Good news, it seems like the party is gathered in a chamber ahead.’ Liu Sang waved a hand in the proper direction. “I can’t tell yet the status of everyone because of the rock but I do know where they are.”
“Is there bad news?”
Liu Sang shrugged, “Only in that it will take us several more hours to get there.”
After a quick food break, they were moving again, their footsteps crunching over the pebbles creating annoying little zings of sound that the ordinary people didn’t seem to notice.
Eventually, judging that they’d progressed close enough for another check, Liu Sang held up a hand to stop everyone and hit the nearest wall with the rubber hammer, not bothering with the urn this close to the destination. Ah - there. Go forward across two more corridors and then a sharp right, pass several branches and they’d get to…
A return banging made Liu Sang’s eyes shoot open. Hardly daring to breathe, he flipped the hammer over and hit again with the hard handle end. This time the response was a trio of ringing knocks. Liu Sang ignored the murmuring behind him caused by his new actions and rested his forehead on the rock. He followed the sound more closely and the previously fuzziness resolved into a cluster of people. Straining, he blocked out the noise of the stone and found an oh so familiar heartbeat, deep and strong. He couldn’t stop the wide smile as he let out a huge sigh of relief.
“Liuye?”
The question brought his head up and he moderated the smile to a small pleased thing. “It’s fine. I was surprised. Your people aren’t too far now and the specialist you sent with them just initiated contact. Let’s go!”
Liu Sang confidently and quickly directed them to the chamber with the small pool where Hei Xiazi had kept everyone safe. This time it was his turn to stride in and wrap his dirty, injured friend in a hug.
“Sang’er!” was muffled against his shoulder and then because he obviously couldn’t help himself. “I thought I'd let you do all the hard work this time.”
“You asshole,” Liu Sang said fondly. “Guess you’re glad you trained me.”
“Never questioned it.” Hei Xiaz’s grin was as roguish as ever.
~~~Part 5~~~
Liu Sang shook his head and rubbed his ears again. Damn Pangzi. Why did he volunteer to go with the guy with the dynamite fetish? Surely someone with binoculars could have served the same purpose. Then he would have been able to see Ouxiang in action rather than just hearing him between the ringing in his ears caused by all the other sounds.
He tipped his head back and did a listening scan of the area. The mercs were in full retreat, grabbing their wounded as they went. All the panicked heartbeats were clearing out of the mute village except one. Small and beating more like a hummingbird, it caught his attention. There was frantic breathing but no cries. He could make out the sound of leaves moving as something was jostled… Another heartbeat was slowing dramatically right below the first in the leaves. And how well he knew that heartbeat!
He sprang up, ignoring Pangzi’s shouted questions, just shouting in response as he stumbled into a sprint. “Medic! I need the medics over here!”
Liu Sang heard people scrambling into action from his call; Pangzi lurching into a run behind him and several others coming from further up the hill. Dodging through the trees, he slid briefly through the loose leaves before regaining his balance, Hei Xiazi’s heartbeat still thumping slowly ahead. Finally skidding around a bush, he slid to his knees next to a woman frantically shaking Hei Xiazi who was passed out in the leaves.
“Where is he hurt?” Liu Sang demanded hands hovering over the unfamiliar vest and strap thing his friend was wearing.
The woman pointed to his stomach and Liu Sang started pulling the useless vest off, flipping open a knife to cut stubborn straps until he could see the dark spreading stain in the ugly blue jumpsuit.
Frantic feet came pounding up then, two men with big packs and Pangzi. Liu Sang stood and pulled the woman up and away to clear the area for the medics. She seemed relieved to see the help through her silent tears. He backed up another couple of steps, Pangzi’s concerned blathering just rolling over him, and bumped into something solid. Looking over his shoulder he found that Ouxiang had just appeared, a small, concerned frown on his face.
The medics packed the wound with gauze and hustled Liu Sang’s danger-magnet friend off to be treated. Ouxiang nodded at him and followed behind Pangzi and the crying woman as they trailed behind the medics, leaving Liu Sang to slump against a tree in relief, staring at the streaks of blood on his hands.
It was several hours of clean-up later before Liu Sang finally had a moment to check in on Hei Xiazi. He’d kept an ear on things while doing whatever task had been assigned, but the tasks were seemingly endless. The actual wound management had been quick - for a gunshot wound, and now they were waiting for the man to wake; he was never down as long as normal people.
A rising heartbeat, faint sounds of movement, and a muffled groan were what Liu Sang had been waiting for as his signal to immediately slip over to the house where Hei Xiazi had been placed. He made no effort to soften his footsteps up the wooden stairs and his friend was waiting with his face to the door, that wide roguish smile on his still somewhat pale face.
“Xiazi,” Liu Sang started with the fiercest scowl he could manage walking to the bedside, “Got yourself shot again? Asshole!!”
Hei Xiazi put out a hand and Liu Sang grasped it by the thumb in a warrior's shake. “Sang’er!!!! Eh, you know me. Gotta be where the fun is and be sure to save all the pretty ladies.”
Liu Sang perched on the bed by his hip, poked him hard on the bicep with his other hand, ignoring the resulting dramatics. “Why do I keep finding you like this recently? Can’t you just call?”
Hei Xiazi snorted. “You seem to find me anyway.” His grin turned thoughtful. “Ershu called you? Can’t be just for… ah. You’re here for the underground river.”
“I’m here with the Wu menace, the dynamite menace and my other Ouxiang.” Liu Sang waved vaguely at the outside
“Aw,” Hei Xiazi put a hand on his chest, “I’m touched.”
“Touched in the head - but I’ve always known that.”
“You give love, you take love.”
Liu Sang laughed and poked him again. “You need to stop getting shot.”
“Not even for a pretty lady?” Hei Xiazi looked as puppy as possible with shades on.
“I’d rather you didn’t,” he said with an unimpressed huff, “but I suppose you didn’t have any other choice. Too noble and heroic for your own good.”
Hei Xiazi clutched the blankets covering his chest with a gasp. “I can’t believe you, my treasured student, would hurt me this way. I’m certainly NOT noble and heroic. But I am dashing and entirely too good looking for my own good. Gets me into all sorts of trouble.”
“Way too much trouble. I’d ask you to tone it down but I know you too well.” Liu Sang sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “You nearly died - again. This time I was here to save you but…”
“Ah Sang’er, we all go sometime. I’d say wait for me to go old and gray but since I don’t know when that will be… Maybe we could go together - offed in some massive cave mishap that hopefully neither of us see coming.”
Liu Sang cuffed him ‘gently’ upside the head. “No dying any time soon. I’m not done having you as the most annoying teacher ever.” Then he tilted his head, someone saying his name across the village catching his attention.
“What is it?” Hei Xiazi didn’t tense but cocked an eyebrow looking alert and mischievous at the same time.
“Nothing. Sounds like Wu Erbai is looking for me.”
“Mn. Probably shouldn’t keep the boss waiting. I’ll be here. Or if not here then around the village. Someone’s going to have to feed me shortly.” He waggled his eyebrows and Liu Sang laughed.
Liu Sang held out his hand and Hei Xiazi again grasped his hand in that warrior’s shake and pulled the joined hands down to rest on his chest. “Thank you for saving me again.”
“Whenever and as often as I can. Try not to do anything stupid until I get back.” Liu Sang covered their clasped hands for a moment then stood to get back to his job.
~~~
