Qu Ruyi shoved her shoulder under the man's ribs and cursed as rotten earth gave way under her boots.
"Hold on, you stubborn fool," she snapped, breath clouding in the cold night. "If you bleed out, you owe me a fortune."
"Shut up," the man croaked, voice rough as gravel. Blood slicked his mouth and dotted his temple. His clothes were noble but shredded; the embroidery of a jin household glinted through mud.
Qu spat and ripped a strip from her own sleeve. "Tourniquet. Now." She wrapped the limb tight, fingers working because panicking would get him dead and her empty-handed. "Don't you dare die. I'm not bargaining with a corpse tonight."
"I…can't…" His eyes fluttered like a failing lamp. He tried to reach for her and his hand slipped in the dirt.
"Don't be dramatic," Qu said. She scooped water from the cracked canteen and splashed his lips. "Drink. Stay with me."
He swallowed, coughed, and stared at her with confusion. "Who—are you?"
"Someone who hates funerals," Qu replied. "And someone who hates thieves. Stay awake."
A pack of scavengers skittered along the ridge, their teeth still bare with the night's work. One of them barked a laugh that smelled of rot.
"Hey, prize!" the scavenger called. "Fresh meat. Best we found tonight."
Qu looked at them and shouted, "Back off! That one's claimed!" Her voice cut across the grave mound like a blade. The scavengers paused.
One of
