Chapter 36 Who you trust

Chapter 36 Who you trust
Lu Qing adjusted the strap of her hunting bag, her fingers tightening on the rough canvas. She was about to step onto the dirt path behind Ryuji when the sound of dry twigs snapping made her stop. Her body went stiff. Ryuji noticed her reaction and immediately dropped his hand toward his pocket, his posture changing as he turned back toward the deeper part of the thicket.

The bushes parted. Lu Ren stepped into the clearing. He was wearing his usual grey scholar robes, though the hem was damp from the morning dew. He didn't look like he had been running. His hair was tied up neatly, and his face was completely calm, showing no signs of the tension that had filled the estate the previous night.

Lu Qing felt her breath catch in her throat. "...Brother?"

Lu Ren walked closer, his leather boots sinking slightly into the soft sand. He stopped a few paces away from them, his arms hanging loosely at his sides. "I wanted to see you once more before you got too far from the county border."

Ryuji didn't relax. He shifted his weight, his dark eyes fixed entirely on Lu Ren’s movements. He didn't speak, but he didn't move away from Lu Qing either.

Lu Ren turned his gaze toward Ryuji, looking at the short hair and the unfamiliar cut of his dark jacket. He took in the stranger's stance, noting the lack of a sword or any standard provincial weapon. He didn't ask who he was. He didn't demand an explanation. He simply looked back at his sister.

"You're moving too fast," Lu Ren said.

Lu Qing frowned, her eyes darting between her two companions. "What do you mean? I have to move fast. If Father realizes I am not in my room, the guards will be on the main roads by noon."

Lu Ren looked at her bag, then glanced at Ryuji briefly before his eyes returned to her face. "I am not talking about the guards, Qing. I am talking about your choices. Men like him... don't survive on their own in these provinces."

Ryuji's expression tightens slightly at the words. His jaw set, and he took a small step forward, though he kept his voice down. "Look, friend, you don't know anything about me or what I can survive. I've been doing just fine before I ended up near your wall."

Lu Ren didn't look at him. He kept his attention entirely on Lu Qing, ignoring the stranger's comment as if it hadn't been spoken. "He does not belong to any house we know. He carries no papers. If the local magistrates stop you, a man like that will draw the very attention you are trying to avoid."

Lu Qing shook her head quickly, her fingers bunching into the fabric of her dark tunic. "He's not like that, Brother. He didn't have to help me, but he stayed. He knows the paths outside the valley."

"He knows how to hide in the brush," Lu Ren said, his voice flat and even. "That is not the same as knowing how to navigate what comes after the forest."

He didn't argue further. Instead, he reached into the deep sleeve of his grey robe and pulled out a small cloth purse. It was heavy, the metal inside clinking with a dull sound. He held it out to her.

Lu Qing looked at the purse. She hesitated, her hand hovering in the space between them. "You already gave me the map, Ren. And the silver by the tree. If Father counts the treasury and sees more missing, he will look at you."

"This is not from the family treasury," Lu Ren said, pressing the cloth into her palm. "This is mine. Take it. You’ll need it before you reach the port."

Her fingers closed around the weight of the coins. The material was coarse against her skin. "...Thank you."

Lu Ren nodded once. He stepped a fraction closer, his head tilting down slightly so his words would not carry beyond the small circle of trees. His eyes were steady, showing none of the emotion that usually came with a final departure.

"Be careful who you trust," he said.

The words were not loud, but they were clear. He didn't wait for her to reply, and he didn't look at Ryuji again. He turned around, his grey robes swirling around his ankles, and walked back into the dense brush the same way he had arrived. There was no grand farewell. There was no drama. He simply disappeared into the green leaves, his footsteps fading until the forest was quiet again.

Lu Qing stood frozen, staring at the spot where he had been. The heavy purse felt cold in her hand. Her chest felt tight, the initial relief of the morning mixing with a sudden weight that made it hard to breathe. She looked down at the dirt path, completely conflicted.

Ryuji adjusted the straps of his bag, his shoulders dropping as he watched the bushes settle. He let out a short breath through his nose.

"He doesn't like me," Ryuji said. He didn't sound angry, just observational, though his voice had lost some of its previous lightness.

Lu Qing didn't look up immediately. She tucked the money into the inner pocket of her tunic, her movements slower now. "He’s just... cautious. He has lived his whole life in a house where everyone has an agenda. He doesn't know how to look at someone who doesn't have a title."

"Maybe," Ryuji said, turning back toward the southern route. "But he looked at me like I was a liability. Is that what you think?"

"I didn't say that," she replied, her voice sharper than she intended.

"You didn't have to," Ryuji said. He started walking down the path, his boots breaking the small twigs beneath the grass. "Let's just get to the valley. The sun is getting high."

Lu Qing followed him, but her pace was different now. The ease she had felt while lighting the fire was gone. She looked at the back of Ryuji’s head, at the strange cut of his jacket, and the way he carried himself without the formal posture of her people. The words her brother left behind stayed in her mind. Be careful who you trust. The doubt had entered her thoughts