~~~

Elder Dang, head of Internal Disputes, is not a physically imposing man. He is not ugly—such a thing is usually impossible for high-level cultivators. However, neither is he what one would call particularly striking. Elder Dang is average of height, slim in build, and has a face that is always a little too sly. His goatee is well-groomed, and his black hair is tied in a topknot.

He is a man known for his calm temper and great discipline.

Even if one would find that hard to believe from looking at him now.

“Outrageous!”

His normally calm face is now a mask of carefully crafted fury. His nostrils flare as he glares at Elder Xue, who meets his loathing with barely concealed amusement.

“Absolutely outrageous!”

Elder Dang slams his fist against the armrest of his seat. It is not the first time he has done so today. That his chair hasn’t broken yet is either a testament to its quality or a sign of how badly he is overplaying his reaction.

It is most definitely the latter, Elder Xue decides.

Elder Dang is nowhere near as outraged as he pretends to be. He is simply using anger to overemphasize his point, a good strategy if he were dealing with easily cowed disciples. However, these are the Elders of the Eternal Flame Clan he is addressing.

Elder Ju of Exploration.

Elder Fa of External Relations.

Elder Geng, Armmaster of the Armory.

Elder Chang, Warden of the Punishment House.

Elder Bi, Overseer of the Sparring Hall.

All of them and more are in this room. Almost all the Elders of the Eternal Flame Clan have gathered in the main house. They all sit in a circular red room, their golden seats raised high above the floor. The higher the seat, the more important the person sitting there.

No servants are allowed in the red room, for they would not be able to withstand being here.

“How is this not a vast overreach of authority by Elder Xue?” Elder Dang shouts, waving his hand at her with all the disdain he can muster. “Internal problems are to be handled by Internal Disputes! This is something even a new disciple would know! If there truly is any grain of truth to Elder Xue’s accusations, it should have been our duty to investigate them. Instead, Elder Xue took up duties that were not hers and acted without consulting with anyone!”

“Internal problems are to be handled by Internal Disputes?” Elder Xue echoes, a lovely smile on her face. “Certainly, Elder Dang speaks true. A new disciple would say that. However, an old disciple will warn them against such optimistic notions, for by the time Internal Disputes has solved one problem, a hundred more will have taken its place.”

A few Elders chuckle at that. The anger on Elder Dang’s face becomes a little more genuine.

“Do not misunderstand,” Elder Xue continues. Calmly. Soothingly. “I am, by no means, trying to insult Elder Dang, merely his insinuations. He says I should have gone to Internal Disputes, but that was a risk far too great for me to take. Had I done that, Elder Cheung could have caught wind of my findings and fled.”

Elder Dang scoffs. “What a ridiculous claim!”

“Ridiculous? Perhaps Elder Dang only thinks so because he has never had to deal with his own division,” Elder Geng says. Unlike the slim Elder Dang, Elder Geng is a mountain of a man. The sleeves of his robes are ripped, showing off his powerful arms, as befitting of the one in charge of the Armory. He has no hair on his face, and the one on top of his head is white and short. He claims having too much hair is a hassle when forging.

“If Elder Dang wishes, we can spend the next several hours discussing all the occasions in which the slowness of Internal Disputes has caused the Armory to lose valuable time.” Although Elder Geng’s seat is lower, he has no issue glaring at Elder Dang.

“We are not here to discuss my Division,” Elder Dang fires back, his voice colder now.

“Indeed, we aren’t. We are here to discuss Elder Cheung’s horrible crimes,” Elder Xue says before Elder Dang can keep going. “You must understand how thoroughly shocked I was when a disciple showed me evidence of Elder Cheung’s wrongdoings. To think one of ours could perform such vile research! How could I afford to waste any time when our disciples were in danger? How could I possibly risk alerting Elder Cheung? Despite what Elder Dang may believe, I simply acted in the way that was necessary.”

“Is that so?” This time, it is Elder Fa who speaks, his golden eyes looking at her with doubt. His dark hair is elegantly styled, his mustache neatly trimmed. As the one in charge of External Relations, he always puts more effort than others into his appearance. “If Elder Xue merely acted to quickly catch Elder Cheung, why do your disciples now patrol the halls of the Medical Pavilion?”

“How could I leave the Medical Pavilion in a state of chaos?” Elder Xue replies, her voice perfectly innocent. “Had I done that, I surely would have failed as an Elder.”

“Do you expect us to be deceived by such petty sentimentality?” Elder Dang says, exasperated. He might have said more if not for the loud yawn that cut its way across the room.

“Do you all not get tired of arguing such pointless things?”

All eyes turn to the one who just spoke. Unlike Elder Dang and Elder Fa, this Elder looks relatively young and rather… undignified. His robes are not fastened properly and even his hair is unkempt. He does not sit with his back straight but rather lets his body sprawl all over his seat, looking at the rest of the room with bored, brown eyes.

He is Elder Ju of the Division of Exploration, a man on the Sixth Level of the Emperor Realm.

“In the first place—” He stops to yawn once more. “Elder Xue’s actions are not what we should be talking about.”

“Elder Xue did cause much chaos with her recklessness. We are not gathered here because Elder Xue came to us with this information. We are gathered because we could not ignore Elder Xue’s actions,” protests Elder Chang, Warden of the Punishment House.

As soon as he says that, he finds himself silenced by a look from Elder Ju. Even though they are both Elders, Elder Ju looks at him as though he were trash stuck on the back of his shoes.

“Elder Cheung experimented on our disciples,” Elder Ju says, his voice nothing short of irritated, one hand rising to scratch his head. “He was going to turn them into cultivation pills. He was going to harvest their dantian.”

His hand stops scratching. His bored gaze sweeps over the room, looking at the Elders one by one.

“Surely, all my esteemed companions can see why that should take priority over your bruised egos and sudden love of protocol. It is not Elder Xue we should be discussing. It is Elder Cheung.”

As blunt and uncouth as always, yet there is something to be said for such tactics. Elder Xue hides a smile as several Elders bristle at Elder Ju’s words. It is not to the advantage of Lord Feng Shang’s faction to focus on Elder Cheung’s misdeeds, because then they’ll be forced to defend him.

“Elder Ju should be more prudent with his words.” There is no trace of the fierce anger that had characterized Elder Dang just a few moments ago. The fake outrage slowly fades away in favor of something far colder.

However, Elder Ju remains undaunted.

“I fail to see why. Prudency did not make me an Elder, nor did it make me an Emperor who stands higher than all of you.”

“In the first place,” Elder Fa cuts in before the argument can escalate. “How do we know any of Elder Xue’s claims are true?”

“You believe me foolish enough to lie about such a thing?” Elder Xue asks.

“We believe Elder Xue has spoken of evidence, but she has yet to show any. Similarly, we have no idea where Elder Cheung is,” says Elder Bi, Overseer of the Sparring Hall, a man who has done many great deeds throughout his five hundred years of life.

However, among the people in this room, he barely merits a mention.

“Elder Cheung is currently detained in the Apothecary,” Elder Xue replies. Had he been an Emperor, containing him would have been almost impossible, but Elder Chueng is merely in the Heaven Realm. The Apothecary is an ancient building, more than capable of holding someone of that level. “As for the evidence, of course, I intend to present it. I never had any intention of hiding it.”

“Excellent! Elder Xue has surely put my heart at ease!”

Lord Feng Gui walks into the room with a confident strut, hushing all conversation with his mere presence. His red hair is like fire, and his eyes two gleaming suns. On his face, he wears a playful smile. It is a smile Elder Xue, Elder Ju, and Elder Geng soon find themselves mirroring. They know what his presence here means.

They have won.

“Lord Feng Gui!” exclaims Elder Fa, trying to disguise his unease as excitement. “We were not expecting you to join us.”

An obvious lie. Elder Xue fights the urge to scoff. If anything, Lord Feng Gui is late. No doubt he was with Ling before coming here. A frown appears on Elder Xue’s face as she thinks of that woman. She’ll need to meet with her later.

Ling should not go around making threats to one of her disciples without first consulting with her.

“I had no idea Elder Fa was a man of such quick wit.” Elder Feng Gui laughs. As soon as he stepped into the room, another golden seat rose from the floor, this one higher than all the others. “An Elder has been accused of harvesting disciples. How could I possibly fail to show up?”

“I-Of course, you are right.” Elder Fa clears his throat. “Will your honored father be joining us?”

“As always, I appreciate your concern for my father,” Lord Feng Gui says, taking his seat. “However, banal matters such as these are beneath him. My honored father is someone who has chosen to focus on his cultivation above all. He did not deem it fit to cast his shadow over this meeting.”

In other words, unless Lord Feng Shang somehow manages to learn of this and returns in time, Lord Feng Gui will be the highest-ranked person in the room.

“Banal matters?” echoes Elder Dang. “With all due respect, we are speaking of heretical research.”

“Oh?” Elder Ju tilts his head to the side. “I thought that had yet to be proven?”

“Quite so,” Lord Feng Gui says as Elder Dang glares daggers at Elder Ju. “Make no mistake. I do not believe Elder Xue to be a liar. Rather, it is the seriousness of the accusation that dictates we prove it beyond a shadow of a doubt.”

“And how does Lord Feng Gui suggest we do that?” Elder Xue asks, for the first time feeling some slight apprehension. Lord Feng Gui’s words are not what she had been expecting.

“A good question,” Lord Feng Gui says. “One that has led me to much deliberation, hence my lateness, yet I believe I have arrived at an answer that will satisfy all. We shall hold a public trial in three days. Elder Cheung will be tried in front of everyone until the matter of his guilt has been fully satisfied.”

Elder Xue fights back a frown.

By making the trial public, Lord Feng Gui is strengthening their cause. The more thoroughly they prove Elder Cheung’s guilt in front of everyone, the more they’ll be able to justify their actions and gain support. Best of all, with how things are in the capital, there is no way Lord Feng Shang can afford to leave the Crimson Cloud Tournament even if he does learn of this, which he surely will.

However, a public trial also means she’ll have to present Qing Jin before the entire Eternal Flame Clan. She had planned on hiding him for a few years, but there is no way she can object to the idea of trial after everything she has done.

It occurs to her this may be her punishment for making such a bold move without consulting with anyone.

“And who is to be the judge?” asks Elder Dang. Elder Xue takes no small consolation in that he looks far more displeased with the prospect of a trial than her. “Will it be you, Lord Feng Gui?”

To everyone’s surprise, Lord Feng Gui shakes his head in negative.

“I am flattered that Elder Dang considers me a choice, but I believe Elder Xun will be much better suited for this.”

Elder Xun.

Among the Elders of the Eternal Flame Clan, he is the oldest and strongest. He is also one of the few Elders who did not show up for this meeting as he is completely neutral in the conflict between Lord Feng Gui and Lord Feng Shang. Rather, he prefers to spend most of his time guarding the Technique Hall.

“I trust there won’t be any objections.”

Lord Feng Gui asks the question, but he already knows the answer. Everyone in the room knows there is not a single person in Lord Feng Shang’s faction that can object to such a choice. To object to it is to deny Elder Xun’s impartiality. By appointing him as judge, Lord Feng Gui is showing how confident he is in their cause.

One by one, the Elders of the Eternal Flame Clan voice their agreement. Some with happy smiles. Others through gritted teeth.

In three days, Elder Cheung’s trial will begin.

~~~