“Thank you for your hard work, and thank you all for attending,” the Patriarch said. “I’m sure you all have much to speak of, so I’ll be retiring to my chambers to cultivate for now. You may continue with your celebration.” Then he stood up and left.
Though Wang Jun wished to escape the room full of gloating opponents, reassuring allies, and clueless—in other words, less talented—family members, he forced himself to finish every painful conversation, his current feelings be damned.
It was dusk when Wang Jun finally left. He sighed as he walked down familiar hallways and passed familiar pieces of art. He and his sister used to play a game while walking through the mansion, taking turns spotting the many details others ignored. As the most talented and intelligent family member of her time, she’d occupied the room closest to the Patriarch’s. He’d spent most of his free time there accompanying her.
There was one place where others didn’t go, however. A hidden place that others couldn’t see without permission. Wang Jun’s light smile faded as he turned to enter a hidden hallway, a hallway of darkness. He merged with the shadows and entered another world, a world of light. There, a long corridor containing many closed doors stretched on endlessly. He walked through the corridor despite the seemingly unbreachable distance, for he only had eyes for the door at the end of the hallway, the door that led to his master.
The door opened to a plain stone chamber. Two candles were lit beside a large, throne-like chair where no one sat. Wang Jun took a seat at a low table and began brewing tea. He prepared a wash batch and threw it away, then brewed a second, and this time, best, cup and placed it on the other side of the table. Shadow smiled and accepted the cup. A near-invisible hand swirled its contents before a man cloaked in obscurity drank it.
“Oh,” the man said, moving his imperceptible lips and smacking them. “That’s a new one.”
“Violet City, reserve blend, aged nine years,” Wang Jun said. “It’s raised just outside the Violet Heart Sect’s headquarters in Violet City. As such, it absorbs much of the ambient heart force, giving it a distinctive but soul-nourishing flavor. And with the fall of the sect, it’s unlikely you’ll be able to taste it again.”
The man nodded. His name didn’t need to be spoken or said, and save his disciples and others he chose, whoever heard it would forget it in an instant. “Do you understand your current situation?” he asked.
Wang Jun nodded and took a sip of his tea. “I’ve been hamstrung, given an honorary title, and shoved in a corner. I’m effectively not allowed to compete with my dear brother Wang Ling—at least not in any businesses he has a significant hand in. This happens to be the most profitable ones.”
“Their purpose?” Daoist Obscurus asked.
“They’re likely trying to get me to perform important, essential duties for the family while trying to make me realize it isn’t so bad working under someone else’s leadership,” Wang Jun answered. “Meanwhile, Wang Ling will continue growing his influence while I just upset people.”
Daoist Obscurus nodded. “You assessed correctly, but you don’t seem displeased.”
“I happened upon some useful but damning information,” Wang Jun said. “All I need now is irrefutable evidence, something made possible by my title as auditor general. Soon, Wang Ling will be brought down to his knees.”
Said damning information had been obtained when he’d killed Li Ming. It had been an ironic reward for defeating the difficult-to-handle assassin.
“It seems so simple,” Daoist Obscurus said, drinking from his small cup. “It would be even simpler if you just planted or fabricated evidence. And faster too. I have no doubt that you could make something convincing with what you keep in your spatial treasure.”
Wang Jun thought for a moment. “I’d rather he suffer the consequences of his own actions, not mine. Worse comes to worst, I’ll kill him myself. But I’d rather the elders and the Patriarch recognize their mistake. Besides, we have family rules. Without them, the family is nothing.”
“It’s your life,” Daoist Obscurus said, shrugging.
They drank tea in silence for a bit.
“It seems like your family duties will keep you busy for some time. If you ever need help, you know where to look.”
Wang Jun took the hint and got up and bowed. “Many thanks for your instruction, Master,” he said before retreating from the shadows.
He walked back through the hallway of light and returned to the mansion proper. Then he proceeded to the second room from the Patriarch’s, his new chambers. He didn’t go to bed but began poring over documents that assistants dropped on his desk in a slow but steady procession. There was much to do and a lot to get used to. He was back home, yes, but he hardly knew the place anymore.
And Gold Leaf City was not somewhere you did business uninformed. Those who did didn’t live long.
Chapter 6: Remnants of Red Dust
Hong Xin looked around the mid-sized audience chamber, her gaze cold and impassive. Her burning anger was hidden beneath a thick layer of ice that was impenetrable to the untrained eye. Two dozen beautiful cultivators kneeled with bowed heads on the gold-and-red marble floor. They seemed like precious ornaments that adorned the beautiful though plainly decorated hall of red and gold.
“Is this all of them?” she asked.
“Yes, that’s all of them,” Mistress Huang said. “After some… convincing, they let us know about some secret chambers where half a dozen members were
