They didn’t use runes either—they couldn’t. Instead they used the most basic forces of nature and harnessed them in ingenious ways. They ignored their weaknesses and focused on their strengths—society, intelligence, and something he’d long forgotten: hope.
Hope, he thought. It had died with his sister and had been reborn with Hong Xin. That hope was gone once more. He wasn’t confident in finding it a third time. He doubted his heart could take it.
Can you afford not to find it? he asked himself. No, he couldn’t. Without hope, his vengeance would be nothing but a pipe dream, forever unattainable and out of reach. He had to find it. He needed to find it. That was the last thought he had before his dreams descended into chaos and sweet oblivion took him.
Wang Jun woke in a cold sweat. He looked out the window and realized it was still night. What time is it? he thought. He looked to the clock in his room and realized it was three in the morning. His mind was still racing, so instead of going back to sleep, he took a misty shower and put on fresh clothes. Then, after thinking for a moment, he grabbed his core-transmission jade and sent out two messages before heading to his study.
I can’t think properly, Wang Jun thought as he leafed through the inky black folio, carefully sifting through its contents for what could have been the dozenth time. It made little sense for him to read it, given his photographic memory, but he couldn’t help but scrutinize it carefully. This was the work of an assassin who had nearly killed him, carefully prepared and gift-wrapped in the unlikely event of his demise.
He looked over the key evidence—a list of transactions between the Spirit Temple and various individuals. These individuals had traded in an illicit commodity: souls. In return, the Spirit Temple had eventually funneled the funds back into the Jade Bamboo Conglomerate via various money-laundering channels. The supporting evidence detailed everything. Trading in souls was lucrative, but if they were caught, the Church of Justice would destroy their entire family. It was this sort of unforgivable crime he needed to bring to light if he wanted to destroy Wang Ling.
Wang Jun pondered how to pursue the case. Given his investigative powers and the current laws of the kingdom, the transaction receipts and pictures collected should be enough to prosecute. At the very least, his family would be dragged into a huge investigation that wouldn’t die down for decades. But that wasn’t good enough for Wang Jun. He wanted to hit hard and fast. Catching his brother in the act would be ideal, but he was also hoping to catch Wang Ling’s most trusted subordinates instead.
He heard a soft knock on the door before it opened. Elder Bai entered, not looking the least bit tired, his robes pressed and his white beard well groomed. He moved to a side cupboard where he retrieved an antique tea set and some of Wang Jun’s favorite tea leaves—Jade Rabbit tea from the untamed eastern lands. To his knowledge, the tea grew on a demonic mountain. It was harvested by its demonic residents and sold to them for a very high price. In Wang Jun’s mind, however, it was worth every spirit stone.
Elder Bai brewed, and they both drank. A half hour passed in silence as they took the opportunity to relax and let their worries fade away. Finally, once the resilient tea leaves lost the last of their potency, Elder Bai put the tea set away. He returned to Wang Jun’s desk, where three piles of paper were waiting for them.
“Exhibit A,” Wang Jun said, patting the leftmost pile. “Accounting fraud, middling offense. We discussed the evidence yesterday and its potential fines. What did your research glean?”
“All things considered, the potential fines amount to perhaps ten top-grade spirit stones,” Elder Bai said. “The mistakes clearly weren’t intentional, so there’s no need to mount an aggressive defense. At most, the family lawyers will be in court for a year, and there won’t be any substantial fallout.”
“Ten top-grade spirit stones,” Wang Jun said, shaking his head. “A paltry sum compared to what we need to generate. Did you speak to the disciplinary elder about the reward for this case?”
“He was very understanding,” Elder Bai said. “Almost too understanding. He stated that any accounting errors found that the family can voluntarily report will be granted to us as a bounty equal to the estimated savings, paid by the offending party. The likelihood of discovery is set at twenty percent by the family, so the find entitles us to two top-grade spirit stones.”
Wang Jun sighed. “Exhibit B?” he asked.
“Also seems accidental,” Elder Bai said. “Five hundred top-grade spirit stones in potential fines nets us one hundred top-grade spirit stones.”
“With that single investigation, we made ten percent of what we worked ourselves to the bone to make in the Song Kingdom,” Wang Jun said, gnashing his teeth. He picked up the third pile of paper. “No way this is accidental.”
Elder Bai’s eyes twinkled. “This case is a rare success. They tried to hide things but botched it badly. We discovered the mistake by combining information from the Greenwind Pavilion, our own documents, and transaction reports from three separate banks. These weren’t accounting errors but attempts to hide money laundering. It’s not something the family can disclose voluntarily, but in the spirit of spurring competition between members, they decided to award us a fifty-percent bounty for giving them a chance to erase traces of wrongdoing. After swearing a vow of secrecy, that is.”
Wang Jun snorted. “It’s not like I’ll turn in my own family.” He took a paper that Elder Bai gave him and reviewed the
