One week later, Tang Shengyi was firmly established in her new life. Her aunt's relative was a kindly man of advanced years, who was just happy to have an assistant to help out. Consequently, he was more than willing to ignore some of his new employee's quirkier habits, which included dashing off somewhere at a moment's notice and animatedly talking to herself when she thought she was alone.

At the present moment, Shengyi was grinding herbs and simultaneously engaged in conversation with her dragon spirit guide, Shuang, who was in his usual holding pattern of circling around her head.

"So, you're saying that essentially I have to 'slay' the spirits that refuse to move on?" she asked.

"Exactly. They can't stay in the mortal realm. They will eventually try to take over a human's body, and that could be disastrous, and not just for the unlucky human."

"Why?"

"Because spirits of the dead are not supposed to be here. They're no longer compatible with this world. Even if they successfully manage to possess a living person, eventually they will go mad. It's guaranteed."

"I see." The young woman took a deep breath.

"How exactly do I slay these spirits? When I threw a pot at the head of that annoying dead scholar the other day it went straight through him."

If Shuang's face was capable of looking sheepish, now would have been the time.

"I may have forgotten to mention it to you previously."

Shengyi stopped grinding and looked the little dragon right in the eye.

"There's no time like the present," she said.

Her companion's words came out in a rush.

"You need to get hold of a spirit sword. But don't worry. They're really quite easy to assemble. We just need to find a dawn redwood tree and carve a piece of it into a hilt with some runes on it. The sword blade will then manifest whenever you call on it. It's very simple. I'm sure you'll sort it out in no time at all."

Shengyi's eyes narrowed suspiciously. She doubted it was as easy as Shuang was making it sound.

"And then what? I just plunge it into the spirit and, boom, job done?"

"Yes. The spirit will dissipate immediately."

"Okay. I suppose I'd better not delay the inevitable. Let's go looking for this tree."

A few hours later, Shengyi was trudging through the forest just outside of the city walls. Her patience was wearing thin. She looked up at Shuang, who was gliding along contentedly, basking in the late afternoon sunlight piercing through the canopy of leaves.

"Why couldn't these spirit swords choose a more common tree to attach to?" she complained. "Look at all of these firs. They seem nice and sturdy. Any one of them would do."

The little dragon scoffed.

"Because spirit weapons aren't 'common'. And anyway, you've only been looking for an hour. What you need isn't going to just appear in front of you. You have to earn it."

"That's easy for you to say." Shengyi stopped moving and put her hands on her hips. "Why don't you help out a little? Get up there above the treeline and have a look around. You can at least point me in the right direction."

Shuang huffed a little, but did as he was told, and before long he was back with good news.

"Head south-east. There's a small cluster of dawn redwoods not more than thirty minutes' walk away."

Sure enough, half an hour later Shengyi was hacking away at a branch using a small axe she had borrowed from her employer's woodshed. It was clear that this tree was not going to let go of one of its limbs willingly, and in truth, she felt a bit bad to be damaging a living thing like this. But, she reasoned, it was all for a good cause.

Eventually, with a sore arm but in possession of a substantial piece of redwood that looked to be in good condition, Shengyi set off back towards the capital. If she was lucky, she would reach the gates just before sundown.

***

Shengyi was not particularly talented when it came to woodcarving. Consequently, she had decided to find someone skilled in the art to shape the redwood into a sword hilt. On asking around the local neighbourhood, anyone with any knowledge of woodwork had recommended a small workshop in a quiet corner of the city. As soon as she had finished her morning tasks, and armed with her branch and a drawing she had made, guided by Shuang, of the two runes that needed to be carved into the end product, she set off with purpose.

When she reached the workshop, she wasted no time waiting around outside. She pushed open the door and walked into the building. The room she entered was large and dimly lit, and filled with pieces of wood in various stages of transformation. Through the dust particles in the air, she could just about make out the figure of a man seated at a bench positioned directly in the path of the only shaft of sunlight. He was hunched over, intent on whatever he was working on.

Deciding it would be rude to call out to him from her current location, Shengyi made her way over to where the man was sitting and cleared her throat.

"Ahem. Sorry to bother you, but I wonder if you could help me."

Straightening his back, the man turned around slowly, and to her great surprise, the spirit agent saw his eyes open wide in astonishment and recognition.

"It's you!" he exclaimed. "How did you find me?"

"I'm sorry," said a very confused Shengyi. "Do you know me?"

Ren Yifeng's mind worked furiously. His first thought on seeing the attractive young woman he had dragged from the lake some ten days earlier was that she had somehow tracked him down. But he was sure that she had still been unconscious, but breathing normally, when he had left. Now, given her response to his exclamation, it was clear that she had no idea at all who he was, and this meeting between them was pure coincidence.

"My apologies," he said, quickly. "I mistook you for someone else. It's quite dark in here." He gestured around as if to prove his point.

"It's no problem at all," Shengyi said hurriedly, anxious to skip the small talk. "I was wondering if you could take on a small woodcarving job for me. It's rather urgent, I'm afraid."

Yifeng nodded slowly and indicated that the young woman should take the seat opposite.

Reaching into her bag, Shengyi drew out the piece of wood and the drawing of the runes.

"I need you to carve a sword hilt out of this piece of dawn redwood."

"Who is it for? It will need to be sized exactly to fit their sword hand."

"Me."

"You?"

Shengyi sighed with frustration.

"Yes, me. Is it so unusual for a woman to carry a sword? And why does it matter? I am prepared to pay you over the odds for the work."

Yifeng took a deep breath. The woman in front of him had quite a forthright personality. It was a good thing she didn't know that he had accidentally pitched her into the icy depths when he had launched one of his carvings across the lake in disgust at his handiwork, only to watch in horror as it hit a woman on a raft squarely in the back of the head. He had not hesitated to throw himself into the water to rescue her, but there was no escaping the fact that he was the one who had caused the young lady's predicament in the first place.

Picking up the piece of wood, Yifeng turned it over in his hands. It was good quality. Firm, but not brittle. It should not be too difficult to work with. It was an unusual material for a sword hilt, though. He had only seen it used for that purpose on one other occasion. His eyes narrowed.

Shengyi studied the man in front of her. She supposed he was handsome, in a slightly rugged kind of way, but he did not seem to be aware of it. His demeanour was calm, and his fingers moved over the wood, inspecting it with practised ease. All in all, she decided, he gave off a trustworthy aura, and she was content to leave her future spirit weapon in his hands.

"I agree. He's our man," a voice close to her ear suddenly piped up.

Glancing to the side, Shengyi saw Shuang hovering near her right temple.

"How do you do that?" she hissed. "Are you sure you aren't reading my mind?"

The man looked up quickly.

"Did you say something?"

"Nothing at all," Shengyi said, dismissively. "I was just clearing my throat. Carry on."

Without another word, the man returned to inspecting the wood as if nothing had happened. However, in the midst of her relief, the young woman did not notice his jaw tighten almost imperceptibly.

"I told you I couldn't," Shuang retorted. "You just have a very readable face. I can tell everything you're thinking just by looking at you. You must be a terrible liar."

The young woman swallowed the cutting response that had been forming on her lips, and instead fixed her face into a pleasant expression as her human companion looked up.

"I think I can work with this. If you've got some time now, I can shave the wood down and keep checking it until we get the right size. I'll finish off the finer details on my own."

Shengyi smiled.

"That sounds perfect. I also have some symbols I would like engraved on the hilt." She pushed the piece of paper across the table.

The man took only one look at the document in front of him before he shot to his feet.

"I knew it!" he exclaimed, excitedly. "You're a spirit agent!"