Carefully the man, Mr. Fúzhī made his way to the eastern side of the wharf as the note instructed.
He was weary, not sure if he could trust the author of the note, after all, this could be a ploy to capture him as well. As he walked, greeting the members of the Millelith on patrol, he started to unravel a bracelet on his wrist made of thin metal wire, if he was going into a fight he would be prepared.
As he reached the eastern side of the settlement, he found himself alone amongst a network of side streets carefully, he crept forward, muscles tense, focusing on any sign of a person near him.
Suddenly, he heard light footsteps coming from behind him, without thought, Mr. Fúzhī whipped around, the unraveled bracelet coming apart into countless metallic threads that wrapped around and bound his target… a small boy?
The boy, who was wearing foreign clothes stood there with a look of surprise on his face as the wire bound him.
Looking back up at the Mr. Fúzhī after examining the wire binding him with a casual curiosity, the boy said, "I suppose your Ms. Fúzhī's father? Otherwise, I am going to scream for the Millelith about a man who likes to go around tying up little boys."
Mr. Fúzhī's eyes narrowed as he let the metal fibers relax around the boy but not release him quite yet. "I am indeed her father, now where is she, the note I received indicated she would be here."
The boy smiled, "Please relax, she is safe, and is being brought here as we speak, we did not know exactly where you were and did not want to start a commotion, one of my friends is leading her here from an inn as we speak. She needed to rest after all, being kidnapped and having to travel such distances after being rescued took a toll on the young miss."
As the two stood waiting, the boy turned his attention back to the threads and started prodding at them with his fingers, his eyes seeming to take in more than their physical presence.
"This is brass, isn't it? But there is something more, it's not elemental energy but I can feel there is something flowing in these threads, reinforcing them?" asked the boy.
Mr. Fúzhī did not reply. He was surprised this boy could feel the energy he had worked into the strands of the brass; however, he was not going to reveal anything about it as it was done through a technique guarded by his ancestors.
After a few seconds the sound of hurried footsteps came from around the corner, footsteps from three people, one of which he could recognize. As he heard his daughter's running steps, Mr. Fúzhī let the metal threads fall from the boy in front of them and drew them back towards himself but did not fold them back into the bracelet they had been before.
"Father!" Xǐluò cried as she ran up and hugged her father's leg.
As his daughter embraced him, Mr. Fúzhī bent down to examine her. Finding his daughter was largely unharmed other than a few small bruises, Mr. Fúzhī's face softened slightly, the guard he had been maintaining around these strangers loosening up.
"It seems like I owe you much adventurers. Unfortunately, I do not have many things of value in my carriage other than the trinkets my family sells at the wharf, but if there is anything you need, name it and I will do my best to get it to you." said Mr. Fúzhī after some contemplation.
Carman, Clervie/Sylvain, and Ryuzu looked at each other in silence for a few moments, a silent exchange of thoughts conveyed with eye movements and shakes if the head before Ryuzu replied.
"We simply did what any good person should upon seeing your situation, with the lockdown Liyue is in, the guards would not have the people to spare to send a force to rescue your daughter. As adventurers with enough power and experience to deal with the situation, we stepped in to make sure a child did not suffer, we did not do it seeking a reward." She said, and it was the truth. Add in the fact that the whole fiasco was caused by a member of their group stealing an artifact from the god of this land leading to the lockdown, expecting a reward for solving a problem they had caused seemed too shameless.
"Nonetheless, I am in your dept, please, there must be something that you need. Allow me to show my sincerity." Said Mr. Fúzhī.
"Well, we do need a way to enter Liyue." said Carman after a few moments of hesitation.
"Very well, I will get you into the nation and escort you where you need to go, after all you seem much more reliable than the team of adventurers I hired previously." Said Mr. Fúzhī as he wove his metal threads back into a bracelet and turned back towards the way he had come.
"Follow me, I will bring you to my caravan, I have some connections I can possibly pull to get you through. If I may, what business would be so important that you would need to get through a lockdown?" Asked Mr. Fúzhī as he walked.
"A quest from the Adventurer's Guild, despite the lockdown, the client did not permit the commission to be delayed due to it being to stop boars from ruining a village's livelihood." Said Ryuzu as she pulled out the certificate of the commission.
Looking at the commission, Mr. Fúzhī nodded. "That village isn't too far off the route we travel. We can stop there before heading to the capital, if you are willing to take an additional commission to guard my carriage and daughter on our way back."
"We would gladly accept, assuming you can get us through the checkpoint." Replied Ryuzu as the group made their way to the Fúzhī's camp.
-To be continued