MEET ME ON THE BATTLEFIELD

CHAPTER 6 - YOUR SERVICES ARE MINE NOW

  YuLin was just patting his bed down when QianDu lifted the flap of the tent.

  "Come, we've found a permanent position for you."

  YuLin's eyes lit up with excitement. "Really? What is it?" He stood up and walked out of the tent.

  QianDu began walking and explaining at the same time. YuLin naturally followed along.

  "You'll be General Zhao's lackey, squire, whatever you choose to call it. You'll be with him almost twenty-four seven. Meals, you will take to him, clothes, you will wash and dry for him, baths, you will prepare for him and so on."

  "Wow... sounds like an important job... why would I be given the job? I'm a newbie." YuLin asked with a tilted head.

  QianDu looked at YuLin over his shoulder before replying, "Better to keep an eye on you."

  "Ho? Why would you need to keep your eye on me?" YuLin's lips tilted upward.

  "...I know you saw me in the forest. And I saw you, with those... animals."QianDu said with distaste.

  "Ah... They're friends, my travel companions."

  "Either way, I won't hide the fact that I don't trust you, not a bit. And so placing you next to the general is the best choice. I trust that your instincts won't let you do anything stupid."

  YuLin halted a second before walking with a skip and answering, "If you say so, QianDu ZhangBei."

  QianDu "..."

  As they arrived at the general's tent, QianDu gestured for YuLin to walk in himself. And so YuLin walked in after saying, "Thanks for escorting me QianDu ZhangBei! I'll treat you when I can afford it."

  Black veins popped out of QianDu's temple before he stalked off.

  As YuLin entered, a low, rumbling voice spoke out from behind a curtain. "Tease him too much and he'll bite."

  YuLin turned towards the curtain and smiled, "I've faced worse."

  LiZhao stepped out from behind the curtain, dressed in all black robes again. His hair loose and hanging past his shoulders in a straight fall. His straight eyebrows tilted at an angle giving him a permanent frown. His lips set in a straight line and his predatorial eyes staring YuLin down. "People or bites?"

  YuLin stopped swaying and simply answered with a light smile. His calculative eyes hidden by his bangs.

  LiZhao felt a strange aura emitting from the youth but disregarded it as he sat down in a chair and motioned YuLin over.

  YuLin stood in front of him tapping his fingers.

  LiZhao was silent for a second before saying, "You've never attended anyone have you." He asked with a raised eyebrow.

  "I'm a wanderer. I don't have the time to attend to others." YuLin deadpanned.

  LiZhao's lips involuntarily twitched seeing the youth's carefreeness. This one doesn't like being tied down, he thought.

  "Arrange my hair, suitable for casual business," LiZhao said before looking through some scrolls in his hands.

  YuLin saluted and set to work, humming a broken tune that LiZhao chose to ignore.

  YuLin loosely plaited the lower half of the general's hair with skilled hands before he silently left the tent. So nimbly, in fact, that the general didn't even notice as he continued reading his scrolls.