Upon returning to Madame Wu's, Jihûn observed that the arcane tingle in the air had grown weaker. Lupin agreed. Was the world in less danger? That would be a relief. The longer the threat persisted, the more diviners would receive visions of a coming catastrophe. Those visions would lead to Madame Wu's — and Lupin.
Jihûn was not prepared to lose his gangster concubine so soon after acquiring him.
"I know where my Moonlight Chamber watcher is," said Jihûn, "but I haven't seen the Beggar's Guild man in a while."
"The Guild and I have reached an understanding," said Lupin.
"What about Sorrow Woe?" asked Jihûn.
"She's still there."
"Where?" squeaked Randal anxiously.
Jihûn gave him a reassuring pat.
"Did she stay here when I went up to the Mound?" he asked.
"Yes," said Lupin. "But that doesn't tell us much."
At first, Jihûn thought that staying meant Sorrow Woe was either after Lupin or trying to screw up Jian Peak Abbott's plans . On reflection, however, following Jihûn up the Mound would be a pain, even for Sorrow Woe. The Mound had wards everywhere, and Consort Yeon was too much for whatever a group of scrawny assassins was called.
"How would you rate your chances against Sorrow Woe's agent?" Jihûn asked.
"Lord Jiji!" said Lupin. "I'm a cuddler, not a fighter."
"Call it rough cuddling."
"If it came to cuddling," said Lupin, "in this case I would come out on top. I'm not used to being on top, however. If a serious killer appeared, I'd have to run away."
"You could try your seductive charms," suggested Jihûn.
"I don't like that plan," said Lupin. "How do you rate your chances?"
Jihûn snorted.
"I've been on a losing streak," he said. "Getting shocked by Nin particularly wounded my pride."
"Why?" asked Randal.
"Magic is weak against Gargogryeons, but lightning especially."
"Is Nin that dangerous?" asked Randal nervously.
"Stay on her good side," said Jihûn.
"But what about Sorrow Woe?" asked Lupin.
"If some assassin twigs come at me, I'll crush their pretty bones to powder."
Jihûn held out his hand, then covered his fingers with a glove of gold light.
"Poison and necromancy are the tools of their trade," agreed Lupin. "Not frontal attacks."
"Irritating," said Jihûn. "But no big deal."
"Do Gargogryeons have any weaknesses?" asked Lupin sarcastically.
Jihûn wrapped a beefy arm around his shoulders and squeezed.
"Fine collarbones," he said. "It frustrates me that I can't spot Sorrow Woe. Can you fix it?"
"Lord Jiji," sighed Lupin. "I am Jian Peak Abbot's favorite disciple."
He devised a plan.
Sometime later, Jihûn stepped up to a candied cherries stall. Randal and Lupin hung back and acted cute. Jihûn chatted with the vendor and overpaid. When he turned around, Lupin was standing with one hand resting on the opposite exquisite collarbone. Stepping forward, Jihûn looked between the knuckles at the base of Lupin's pointer and middle fingers.
"Roofline," said Lupin.
Jihûn glanced up with his eyes without tilting his head. He saw a smudge against the late afternoon sky. The Eighth Prince handed out the treats, and turned to continue walking up the street.
"I thought you might have been making the whole thing up," he told the gangster.
Lupin pulled a candy cherry off the stick.
"Why would he make something like that up?" asked Randal.
"Thespians love drama," said Jihûn.
"You want to crush the assassin?" asked Lupin.
"I do," conceded Jihûn.
"You can't get close to Sorrow Woe unless you're faster," said Lupin. "Gargogryeons may be tough, but I've never heard one called quick."
By obeying his mother and meditating on almost being killed by Consort Chen, Jihûn had gained insights into speed. He was no match for either Consort, and couldn't dance on rooftops without breaking tiles, but he had some new hustle.
"One of my mother's nicknames is the Storm Giant," he said. "She can ride up to the heavens on columns of lightning — and come back down on them too. It happens quickly."
"That's the Goddess of Glaives," said Lupin. "What about you?"
"No lightning," sighed Jihûn. "But anyone within twenty feet is in trouble."
Randal deposited his cherry stick in a trash receptacle. It astonished Jihûn that the frail thing could eat all the candy so quickly. Lupin finished off his own stick, and suggested a test of Jihûn's speed. After returning to the mansion, they gathered in a storage room. Lupin positioned himself against one wall, with Jihûn around ten feet away. Based on how fast Jihûn came at him, Lupin would devise a plan for catching Sorrow Woe.
Jihûn felt confident he could stop before he pulverized his concubine's chest. Surging forward, right hand shaped like a turtle's snapping beak, he crossed the distance in an instant — and stopped his fingertips just short of Lupin's fine skin.
Except Lupin's fine skin wasn't there.
"Terrifying!"
Lupin was back where Jihûn began his attack. It was a demonstration of Jian Peak's blink step. Jihûn took comfort in two facts. First, Lupin appeared relieved to have survived. Second, a turtle's back was his strongest side. Getting behind Jihûn was not the win an opponent might expect.
"I'm not sure what happened," said Randal. "You traded places."
"I'll need you to draw a map," Lupin told the painter, "of our neighborhood. Once I've studied it, we'll have a walk. Lord Jiji can crush the watcher. If Lord Jiji really thinks that's a good idea."
"It's a bad idea," said Jihûn.
"But we're going to do it anyway?" asked Lupin.
"Yes."