What is the Icy Heart Pavilion, really? she thought as she played. Is it really just like the old Red Dust Pavilion, or have they changed their ways? Was it a terrible place like she imagined, or was it all in her head? Their members were older members of the Red Dust Pavilion who had undergone the same training as her, but did that mean they taught the same path? Things were different now. For one, they no longer had possession of the Frozen Heart Oath Stone. For another, they weren’t ruled by the same person, who’d go to great lengths to extract any bit of value from every young girl who entered their halls. Their current leader was an enigma to Hong Xin, one she hoped to figure out soon enough.
How ironic it was that they were the ones who held the stone and used it. But what was she to do? Mistress Shan and the original teachers of the academy had personally broken many of their members. Even more young girls had been driven to their deaths for the sake of results. They had blood on their hands, and she wasn’t about to let murderers roam free. Wasn’t it a mercy that she spared their lives and put them to good use?
Many similar feelings passed through her mind as she played, wearing away at her resistance toward the Icy Heart Pavilion with music. Today, they would be going on a diplomatic mission in enemy territory.
No, not an enemy territory, Hong Xin thought. You’re doing it again. She played more furiously, working through her emotions with every note she hit true. She spent a quarter hour easing her raw nerves. A knock on the door came just as she finished.
“Come in,” Hong Xin said, flicking a rune beside the door with her resplendent force. The rune turned from green to red, red meaning the room was available. The door opened, allowing Bai Ling to enter.
“Are you ready?” Bai Ling asked. “Our appointment is in a quarter hour.”
“And since when has anyone in Gold Leaf City ever been punctual?” Hong Xin asked as she put away her flute. She cleaned it by first extracting the moisture, then heating the entire instrument to evaporate any remainder. There was no wood on the instrument, so the lack of humidity wouldn’t hurt it. Corrosion was the main concern.
“In casual or friendly circles, within a quarter hour of the appointed time is fine,” Bai Ling said. “But in business circles, within five is preferable. Showing up earlier shows deference. Showing up later signals superiority.”
“Then we’ll show up precisely on time,” Hong Xin said. She summoned a mirror and briefly adjusted the gold jewelry on her hair. “Let’s go.”
Bai Ling nodded and led her out of the chamber and down the hallway to where Ji Bingxue and Mistress Huang were waiting. They fell in line behind the two as a few dozen core-formation guards formed ranks around them. The guards, while excessive, were necessary to show off their status. It was also indicative of their group’s capabilities.
The procession walked out of the Red Dust Pavilion and headed toward the east exit of Gold Leaf Square. Mortals and cultivators alike gawked at them. Though it was only early afternoon, many parents and grandparents accompanied children, while other people were busy running around for some reason or another, like bees out gathering pollen for the central hive. They traveled for twelve minutes, so by the time the Icy Heart Pavilion was in their sights, only two minutes remained before the appointed time. Bai Ling sped up their pace slightly. They arrived at exactly three o’clock in the afternoon.
Concurrent with their procession’s arrival, members of the Icy Heart Pavilion filed out to welcome them. Like them, they’d decided not to wait outside but come out at precisely the same time.
At least we’re thinking the same way, Hong Xin thought. Whether it was out of respect for their feelings or arrogance was yet to be seen. The Icy Heart Pavilion was inferior to the Red Dust Pavilion in both membership and finance.
The last member to exit the building was a peak-core-formation cultivator, just like they were. She bowed lightly and gestured toward the open door. “Right this way, Red Dust Mistress,” the woman said. “I am one of the three vice heads of the Icy Heart Pavilion, Vice Head Li. You may call me Ling Fei if you wish.”
Hong Xin nodded and followed along. “Many thanks for welcoming us to your pavilion, Vice Head Li. We would have to come to see you earlier, but you’d just established yourselves and were expanding at a frightening pace. We were afraid we’d get trampled if we visited earlier.”
“Many thanks for your kind words,” Ling Fei said. “Though it might seem like we were expanding, we were only securing contracts with existing or past clients. Things are much less busy now that we’ve stabilized our core relationships.”
They walked down a long hallway filled with paintings. While the Red Dust Pavilion featured art filled with life and energy, the Icy Heart Pavilion’s paintings featured simplicity and frigid snow. They walked halfway down the corridor before stopping before a black door where a guard stood. “Song Dai, did you have the cooks prepare a meal and wine for the Red Dust Pavilion’s honor guard as instructed?”
The guard put his clenched fist to his heart and bowed lightly. “Of course, Vice Head. Everything is ready. I see they’ve brought a twelve-member guard. Our twelve highest-ranking guards will accompany them shortly.”
Hong Xin looked to the head of their own honor guard, a middle-aged middle-core-formation cultivator called Lu Dongjian, who nodded.
“We’ll be glad to accept food, but wine might be too strong a drink for us to share so early in the day,” Lu Dongjian said.
“I was thinking the same,” Song Dai said, ushering him and the other guards into a room filled with tables. “Which is why the wine we prepared isn’t the slightest bit intoxicating.
