Book 2: Chapter 54: New Business (2)
Sen wasn’t particularly looking forward to meeting with the elder, at least in part because he’d meant to take a closer look at the sect treasures. If nothing else, he would have liked to discover what they did. He’d meant to spend some time studying the treasures, but there had constantly been something else more pressing. Now, he was out of time. Then again, knowing what they did might have made him less inclined to give them up, which could create problems later. While the sect might not act immediately or directly against him to retrieve those treasures, he suspected that they would do something to get them back. No, it was better to simply bargain in good faith for something he wanted. It wouldn’t necessarily win him any points with the rank and file of the Soaring Skies sect, but it could ease relations between himself and the sect leadership.
One of the things that had surprised Sen about the Silver Crane was that it had rooms that served as makeshift offices. When he’d asked why, Lifen had arched an eyebrow and informed him that even brothels had everyday business to conduct. He’d felt a little embarrassed after that. It stood to reason that the place needed to purchase food, and substantially more than a servant could simply carry back on a daily basis, as well as other necessities like wood to burn during the cold weather. Having a basic office or two for those kinds of meetings was practical and, once he’d given it two seconds of real thought, obvious. So, he wasn’t particularly surprised when Lifen’s mother pointed him toward one of those offices.
What did surprise him when he entered the office was the presence of Wu Meng Yao with Elder Deng. He did his best to mask his surprise by offering them both a martial bow. Wu Meng Yao offered him a bow that he thought was probably deeper than necessary, but he couldn’t decide what her expression meant either. Elder Deng wore a businesslike expression and simply inclined his head to Sen. That annoyed Sen a little, but he saw that as the petty feeling that it was. Whatever Sen might think of the Soaring Skies sect, Elder Deng was his superior in cultivation by a huge margin. A nod to someone at Sen’s level of cultivation advancement was the man being polite.
“Elder Deng,” said Sen, “I hope this day finds you in good health.”
A look of frustration warped the man’s features, but he seemed to realize that Sen was making an honest effort to be polite. “As well as can be expected. And yourself? Are you healing well?”
“I am. A bit of judicious alchemy has sped my way. And you, Wu Meng Yao, are you well?”
She seemed startled to be addressed but hurriedly nodded. “I am well. I thank you for asking.”
Sen frowned at her formality, but let it go. He turned his attention back to Elden Deng. “You’re here about the sect treasures.”
“I am. You still have them?” asked Elder Deng, more than a trace of concern in his voice.
“I do.”
The Elder hesitated for a moment, almost looking like he was arguing with himself, before he said, “May I see them?”
Ah, thought Sen, he was deciding how rude to be. Lo Meifeng had warned him that the Elder might try something like this. Try to assert a position of dominance by bringing Sen’s honor into question. Sen weighed what his response should be. It had been more than a passive insult but came just short of a slight to his honor that would call for violence. He could justify some outrage since the elder had at least implied he might be lying. He could probably even call the meeting to a close and announce that he would not return the treasures. Instead, Sen said nothing. He continued saying nothing for long enough that elder would know that he was deciding what he wanted to do. After that, he offered Wu Meng Yao a brief bow.
“It was a pleasure to see you again, Wu Meng Yao,” said Sen and turned toward the door.
“What?” demanded Elder Deng, trying to sound incensed and not quite pulling it off.
Sen gave the man a cool look. “I’m sure that the Wandering Winds sect or the Celestial Arch sect will be happy to take them off my hands. You can no doubt negotiate their return from them for only mildly extortionate prices.”
Elder Deng waved it away. “I suppose I should have expected thatwoman to prepare you. Very well, I accept that you still have the treasures and apologize for my insult to your honor.”
Sen briefly considered leaving the room anyway and making the man come back some other day. It would be a way he could assert dominance and might even be expected. Except, Sen didn’t want the man coming back some other day. He wanted to be done with the Soaring Skies sect. Really, he just wanted to be done with Emperor’s Bay. It seemed that every additional hour he spent in the city compounded his troubles and obligations. So, he nodded his acceptance of the apology.N0v3lTr0ve served as the original host for this chapter's release on N0v3l--B1n.
“Shall we proceed?” asked Sen.
The young woman flinched at those words.
“I didn’t know,” she whispered, sounding desperate for him to understand. “I didn’t know who you were. Who you really were. None of us did.”
Sen sighed internally as he finally understood what was going on. She was worried that she’d offended him, no, that she’d offended Judgment’s Gale. He wanted to think that it was some kind of baseless concern on her part, but she’d probably gotten back just in time for all of the killing. If he’d killed all of those other cultivators just for attacking some mortals, what would he do to someone who talked about him to the sect that launched that attack? Sure, he’d been polite enough to an elder, but that was an elder. Wu Meng Yao was just some lowly foundation formation cultivator, barely a member of the inner sect. From her point of view, it probably seemed entirely possible that he could kill her without any repercussions. Sen knew that wasn’t true, but fear and knowledge often worked at cross purposes.
“Do I seem so different to you? I mean, now that you know who I really am,” he said with as much disdain as he could summon.
“I don’t know,” she said. “Not really, but I wouldn’t have thought that the person I met on the road could have done what you did in that abandoned city. I wouldn’t have imagined that you could stand off four foundation formation cultivators, let alone kill a core formation cultivator. Then, there are the stories.”
“They’re just stories, Meng Yao,” said Sen. “Most of them aren’t even true.”
Wu Meng Yao stared at him for a long time. “What you can do. What you’ve done. You frighten me.”
The words hit harder than Sen ever would have credited until he heard them. They hurt. He hadn’t exactly thought of Wu Meng Yao as a friend, but he did respect her, like her even. Seeing that fear in her eyes, that fear of him, it felt like getting stabbed. Sen looked away and took a moment before he buried that hurt, before he buried Lu Sen, and consciously took on the mask of Judgment’s Gale for the first time. When he looked back at Wu Meng Yao, it was clear that she could see the change in him because she took a step back.
“Very well. You say we have business. Let’s settle it.”
Sen’s voice sounded alien to him. Cold. Distant. Wu Meng Yao produced a pouch from inside her robes and held it out to Sen. He took the pouch but lifted an eyebrow at her.
“It’s the reward for killing Cheng Bojing,” she said.
“I see,” said Sen.
Wu Meng Yao seemed to be waiting for Sen to speak. When he said nothing, she offered him a bow and walked toward the door.
“Wait,” Sen finally said.
He opened the pouch and removed a single silver tael. Then, he closed the pouch the tossed it back to the young woman. She frowned at the pouch, and then at him.
“I don’t understand.”
“I did nothing but strike the final blow. It was you and your sect mates who chased the man, hounded him, put in all of the effort. Effort should be rewarded.”
She looked like she wanted to say a lot of things, but the cold expression on Sen’s face seemed to stop her. She seemed to recognize that she had broken something between them, maybe irreparably. In the end, she simply bowed to him again.
“Thank you, Judgment’s Gale.”
