“The second stab was to his neck, for uttering those vile words when he did. His slander had ruined my reputation in town until I had no choice but to turn to him as a business partner, where he then whittled away at my fortune.” Then he paused.
“The third stab was through his heart,” Bei Mu said quietly, causing his audience’s ears to reach out toward him. “He couldn’t speak because of the hole in his throat, but I didn’t want to hear another word from his filthy mouth. When he died, his guards died with him. They’d apparently been life-bound servants, little more than slaves since he trusted no one but his enemies. I made my name that day, and no one has ever dared betray me over a business deal ever again.” The crowd clapped and whistled as he bowed in thanks for their time.
“You speak such bold yet flowery words,” the woman in red said. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you were a writer.”
The man cleared his throat. “I’ve dabbled. Nothing major, but I admit to having done that at least.”
“You should show me sometime, Master Bei,” the woman said.
Wang Jun’s eyes narrowed as he saw a subtle but still detectable use of fire qi. It did nothing offensive, but as it appeared, the man’s behavior changed. He seemed to grow slightly taller and even more confident than his previous self.
“I think I’ll do just that,” Bei Mu said with a charming smile. “Alas, I have many friends to entertain tonight. Next time, perhaps?”
“Next time,” the woman said with a faint smile. She took a sip of her wine as the man left and looked around at the dispersing crowd. She smiled warmly as her eyes met Wang Jun’s.
“If it isn’t the second young master of the Wang family,” the woman said as she walked over. “This lowly one’s name is Bai Ling, at your service.”
“A pleasure,” Wang Jun said. “This place is much livelier than I’d expected.”
“We do all right,” Bai Ling said. “Our performances are both beneficial and entertaining. You should come by more often.”
“I’ll p—” Wang Jun started.
“He’d love to,” Wang Tong interrupted. “Especially if its Fairy Bai Ling who’ll be doing the entertaining.”
Bai Ling smiled. “I don’t usually perform, but if it’s Young Master Wang, how can I not pounce on the opportunity?” Her words turned heads, and Wang Jun felt an impending headache.
“What exactly do you play?” Wang Jun asked, carefully steering the conversation toward one of the many musical instruments she might know.
“Play?” Bai Ling said innocently. “Yes, play is a good word to use.” She let him hang for a while before continuing. “I play Angels and Devils. I heard you’re quite good.”
He hadn’t expected that. He moved to refuse but noticed many people edging forward. Some servants had even fetched him tea and were in the process of bringing over a small board. He’d been cornered. “I dabble,” he said.
“If you dabble, not many men will dare say they know the basics,” Bai Ling said. “I’d offer a teaching game to others of lesser skill, but with you I might have to play seriously.”
Her bait was too strong to decline. “I’d be happy to accept your challenge,” he said, holding his hand out to the board and the two bowls of stones that had just appeared. “Please, play first.”
They both took a seat. A moment later, a stone came crashing down with lightning speed. A four-four opening, nothing exciting. She responded by playing a white stone in a mirror position. Unlike Cha Ming, who liked to play a flexible game, she liked to play strategically and safely with everything under her control. She slammed down another black stone.
“If you continue playing so slowly, Young Master Wang,” Bai Ling said, “we’ll infringe on sister Bingxue’s performance. Many guests wouldn’t be happy with that.”
“Then what do you suggest?” Wang Jun said, placing another stone.
She slammed one down immediately after his.
“One second, one move,” Bai Ling said. “If you can handle it.”
Wang Jun’s eyes narrowed. He used his resplendent force to summon a stone and smacked it down with matching ferocity. “If that’s how you want to play.” The crowd cheered as he accepted the challenge.
They played one stone after another, and as they did, Wang Jun tracked strings of karma that enveloped the board, linking past, present, and future moves together. She was good, there was no doubt about it. And while it might seem like playing quickly was to her benefit, he knew the truth full well: He had plenty of time to calculate, so he didn’t make any mistakes. She hadn’t made any either, as far as he could tell. It was an even game with a predictable outcome.
Their audience grew; they cheered as they saw battle after battle in their dance of black and white stones. Their clicking moves sounded rhythmically in their small circle, providing something akin to music to their spectators. To them, it seemed like a battle to the death, but to him, it was a dance. A coldly calculated dance. Their audience was seething with excitement, but she was cool ice while he was heartless shadow.
They quickly crossed the middle game, and now it became a back-and-forth tussle over existing threats. They traded, threatened, and prodded for every point.
It looks like it’s her win by half a point for starting, Wang Jun thought. He wasn’t too depressed about this fact. It was her job to play, after all.
In their subtle exchanges, he barely noticed as their rhythm was interrupted. She made an unusual move. A bad one, which he punished immediately. They exchanged a few more moves when he realized what had bothered him about the interruption.
She’s
