The Witch in the Woods: The Transmigration of Hazel-Anne Davis
Chapter 30: Not Done Playing

Chapter 30: Not Done Playing

We walked into town like we owned it.

Well, I walked like I owned it. Zhu Deming walked like he didn’t quite know where to put his hands without the mask, and Sun Longzi walked like someone who thought killing the townspeople might solve the problem of their staring.

To be fair, they were staring.

The moment my boots hit the stone path past the gates, the whispers started.

I had heard them all before, so I let them run off me like water from a duck’s back. Sticks and stones my break my bones and all that shit.

As we passed through the main street, a merchant dropped a gourd full of wine, the liquid splashing the bottom of my green dress. He dropped to his knees like he had seen the executioner and started to beg for his life.

Zhu Deming looked between the two of us, but when I didn’t so much as slow down, he shook his head. "Did you want me to kill him for you?" he asked, almost like he was asking me if I liked the sun today.

"Awe," I purred, turning toward him. I reached up and cupped his scarred cheek as I smiled an honest to god, real smile at him. "That is the sweetest thing anyone has said to me in a really long time. How about this, next time, you are more than welcome to. But since the guy with a stick up his ass is here for a purpose, I’ll try to keep the bloodshed to a minimum."

I ignored the eyes that were glaring holes into me as I went up on my toes and briefly kissed Zhu Deming’s cheek. His eyes went wide for a second, but otherwise didn’t say anything.

Man, it was fun to tease this man.

Skipping forward, a woman yanked her child behind her skirt like I was going to snatch him and bite off his head when I passed.

I mean, I was hungry, but I wasn’t that hungry yet.

It wasn’t until we got to the nicest restaurant on the main street, the one with the red lacquer doors, gold trim, silk banners fluttering in the wind, that people really started to panic.

The hostess bowed so fast, she nearly knocked her own forehead against the floor. I stepped past her without a word and picked the best table up on the second level. Zhu Deming followed quietly while Sun Longzi hesitated, but soon joined when he realized that he would have the height advantage.

It was a lot easier to look down on people when you were a floor above them. I bit my cheek as he started scanning the crowd like he expected a ghost to rise from the soup pot. Of course, it helped that the center of the second floor was non-existent, so he was automatically looking down at the main section of the restaurant.

The server who approached us couldn’t have been more than seventeen. Slim and pale, he carried the tea tray with shaking hands, trying not to rattle the porcelain. He made it to the table. Barely.

"Witch," he stammered. "Why...why... what?"

I rested my chin on my hand and raised an eyebrow. "What do you want to ask? Why I’m here or what I want to eat?" I raised my eyebrows as he turned even whiter before dropping to his knees in fear.

Thankfully, he managed to get the tea set to the table first.

His mouth opened, then shut again like a stunned goldfish as he tried to form words.

"I’m hungry," I started, leaning down until I was nose to nose with the kid. "If you give me food," I added, voice low and calm, "I won’t have to eat you instead." I bared my teeth and made a snapping motion like I was about to take a chunk out of him.

That did it. He practically army-crawled to the hallway before running down the stairs so fast, I don’t think his feet touched once.

Picking up the teacup he left behind, I took a sip and hummed in enjoyment.

"What was that about?" Zhu Deming asked, still calm, but clearly intrigued as he took a seat beside me. Sun Longzi remained standing in the hallway, looking over the railing at the other patrons.

I waved my hand vaguely in the air. "I felt bad once a few years back. Let a man live. Told him to go home and warn others about the traps in the mountains. Believe it or not, I thought I was being merciful."

Sun Longzi made a skeptical sound.

"Unfortunately," I continued, "he started talking. And now, apparently, I’m the Witch in the Woods."

Zhu Deming blinked. "What kind of stories?"

I held up a finger. "Let’s see. I eat babies when I get hungry."

Two fingers. "I bathe in the blood of my enemies."

Three. "And I decorate my house with intestines."

Zhu Deming coughed when I said the third point, just as he was taking a sip of his tea. "Why don’t I remember seeing them there yesterday?" he asked. There was a soft smile on his lips, half hidden behind the teacup, but I still saw it.

Turning my head so that I wasn’t looking at him like an idiot, I continued. "I already fed them to Shadow."

This time, Zhu Deming did choke while Sun Longzi looked over his shoulder to glare at me like this was all my fault.

The server returned moments later with enough food to serve a table of six. Pork buns, dumplings, steamed rice, duck, egg custard, and three different kinds of soup. He set it all down like a man approaching a live tiger, then ran before I could blink.

I took a bite of the duck, chewed slowly, and closed my eyes.

God, I missed eating someone else’s cooking. Things just tasted better when someone else cooked for you.

Zhu Deming poured more tea like nothing had happened, quietly watching me across the rim of his cup. "So this... reputation of yours."

"Accidental," I said through a mouthful of pork bun. "Mostly. I didn’t start the rumors, I just didn’t deny them. Fear is more useful than gratitude. Especially when it comes to keeping people out of the mountains."

Sun Longzi didn’t say anything. He was too busy watching everyone else watch me.

I reached for another dumpling, then looked at him. "Are you going to eat, or just stand there trying to scare the furniture?"

He looked at the food. Then at me. "You eat like someone who’s used to war."

"I eat like someone who hasn’t eaten today," I said, licking the sauce from my thumb. "And whose fault do you think that is? I’ll give you a hint... it’s yours."

Zhu Deming poured more tea like nothing had happened, quietly watching me across the rim of his cup for Sun Longzi’s response.

However, Sun Longzi didn’t bother to say anything. He was too busy going back to scanning the room, watching every set of eyes like he expected someone to try something stupid. Seriously, the poor man’s eyes were working overtime trying to deal with his paranoia.

I took another bite of duck and licked the sauce off my thumb.

"Weren’t you going to go do your own thing?" I asked sweetly, glancing at him. "Don’t let Ming and I keep you from your plans."

Zhu Deming coughed into his tea, his eyes going wide when I shortened his name.

Sun Longzi looked at me like he wanted to shove me back into the forest and slam the door shut.

I smiled wider. "There’s a whole village out there. Taverns, shops, people who don’t know they should be afraid of you yet. Go. Explore. Mingle."

"I’m not here to mingle," he said flatly.

"Pity," I said. "You’d make an adorable matchmaker. Not to mention, I’m sure that there would be women killing each other to become Mrs. Sun."

He scowled at me before turning his attention back to the rest of the room. The fact that he didn’t even bother to drink the tea was frustrating, but I looked at it this way...

At least he wasn’t trying to touch my food.

With a shrug of my shoulders. I went back to eating, entirely unbothered.

But if either of them thought I was done playing, they were wrong.