Meeting the Mercenaries Again

After spending most of the day out, visiting various places around the city, Lia, Wanjing, and I finally return to the dumpling shop as the sun is setting. Entering the shop we find a few people we didn't expect to see, just chilling in the corner eating dumplings. Xu Kang, He Lin, and Cheng Yin are casually eating dumplings without a care in the world.

"Yo, it's washboard numba' two, how's it goin' little lady?" He Lin says.

Before I can hit him for his comment, Yin does it for me, knocking him over the head, "ignore him, he's an idiot," she says as she holds a small plate of dumplings out towards us, "want some? We've got plenty since we've been waiting here for a while."

Not being one to turn down free food, I walk over to her table with Lia and Wanjing, as we begin to have another snack while we chat.

"We're using a disguise right now, so how'd you know it was us?" I ask.

"It *mhm* was your scent," Yin says swallowing her food, "I have a good sense of smell. Oh, and for what it's worth, my name's Cheng Yin, but from the way you've carried yourself and since you never asked, I feel my introduction was rather pointless."

"I've known since we met, outside of Shengdi having a skill to see another person's status seems to be an unspoken requirement. The three of us have known who and what you are since we met the other night, anyways, you may have overheard it in the mess from before, but I'm Cordelia. This is Lia and that Taotie pretending to be a cat is Wanjing. So what brings you here? I'm sure it's not because you guys were hungry."

"We've been waiting here since noon to meet with the owner of this establishment to discuss a potential job," Xu Kang says.

"But they didn't show at the appointed time, but we got a bit hungry so we stuck around," He Lin adds on.

"You lot seemed familiar with this place, do you happen to know where the owner is?" Yin asks.

"She and another from our group went out in the morning. I'm fairly certain they went looking for that super chicken since Yue seemed pretty upset," Lia says.

"Super... chicken?" "Da fuck?" "I'm sorry, what?" The three mercenaries ask.

"The pinnacle of all the Red Chickens, the immortal Red Chicken, known as, Chicken. Yes, it has a name, and its name is actually Chicken," I say.

"Are you serious?" Yin asks.

"Yeah, completely serious. Yue picked a fight with it when we were on the way to Long and spent an entire day fighting with it. In the end, she lost since she couldn't keep up with a chicken that can't be hurt or get exhausted," I say.

"I didn't lose! It was a draw and our match will be settled one day!" Yue yells having just returned to the shop.

"Sure, that's why the chicken claimed a two to nothing victory over you when it left earlier," Aurelia says, entering the shop just after Yue.

"No, I did not lose to some stupid chicken! And definitely not twice!"

"I believe you should calm down a bit, Yue. You're lucky there isn't anyone else in the shop right now to hear this," Lia says.

"You're right, and I have business to take care of right now too. For starters, where is Shuren? I told her to take care of the matter regarding you three," Yue says, looking towards Yin and her group.

"I don't know who this Shuren is, but all we've spoken to are the receptionist to buy our food, the two Dragons, and the Taotie," Yin says.

"Still interested in the job?" Yue asks.

"We're still here, ain't we?" He Lin says.

"Fair enough, let's head down and find out what Shuren was doing, in the meantime, let's discuss the job," Yue says as she leads us to the back room towards the underground base.

"To start with, I expect you to stick to your professionalism and not let any of this leak. As for the details of the job, it's pretty simple, just assist with the operations of the Scarlet Wings. How much do you know them?" Yue asks.

"Though considered to by a criminal group by the Imperial Court, they are hailed as heroes by the common folk. Locating corrupt officials, exposing their deeds and taking their wealth to give out to the less fortunate. Did I get that right?" Yin asks.

"Pretty much, you get the idea of what I want from you three, right? Anyways, I'm gonna go drag Shuren over and find out why she didn't come to meet with you guys earlier," Yue says and she leaves for Shuren's room.

Not even a minute later Yue returns with a creased brow. I get the feeling I shouldn't ask, but I will anyway, "so what happened?"

"I went into her room and she was in the middle of uh... fun time with Wei on her bed..."

Without any hesitation, He Lin, Aurelia, and I run off towards Shuren's room to spy on them, leaving the others to deal with the whole mess we left behind.