There was a lot of explaining that needed to be done regarding Shao Qing’s plans, but as for the immediate future there were more pressing tasks to deal with. Healing their wounds, informing the city lord that the serial killer was dead, and informing the rest of the hotel about why there was a fight that almost destabilized their building coming first and foremost.

Now that Tao Yun’s contract was broken, Shao Qing assisted with some real medical care. Which was, frankly, rather simple. Expelling the lingering blood qi from the wounds was slightly troublesome, but the rest was simply a matter of taking the right pills. Any strong healing-type pill would do the trick, but a weaker Coagulation Pill to stop the bleeding and a few other minor ones were cheaper and would work just as well if not in a hurry. Or if one is truly thrifty, certain healing techniques, patience, and a tolerance for pain could substitute, not accounting for any major wounds.

Both Shao Qing and Tao Yun went for the second option. Tao Yun’s wounds weren’t severe but they certainly weren’t minor, and in Shao Qing’s case basic pills weren’t much of a cost to a Quasi-Grandmaster Alchemist, particularly when compared to the pain of a broken rib or three. Once their wounds were accounted for the two went downstairs, making a quick stop by the front desk to inform the employees about the incident.

After a punctory explanation, the two of them went to explain things to the city lord. Before that they decided to stop by the nearby building where Dong Tao had been stationed. They were probably still waiting there nervously, unaware that everything had been resolved. It was only fair they informed them early so their group could knock off for the night.

When the two neared the building, a dark expression crossed Tao Yun’s face. “There’s a second reinforcement formation outside the building. Let’s hurry.” Instead of being greeted by an Acupoint Opening cultivator and his trustworthy subordinates, both of them were greeted by an array of drained husks with horrified expressions locked on their faces. The lobby was wrecked, and despite the killer’s impressive cleanup job bloodwise, faint traces of blood could still be seen among the chaos.

The two stared at the situation for a few seconds, frowns visible, before Shao Qing walked inside. He pointed towards Dong Tao’s corpse. “His cultivation shouldn’t have been much lower than ours. We’ll take his corpse back to the city lord’s manor so that they can do what they like with it, and we can line up the rest for the time being.” Tao Yun grunted in acknowledgement and helped

Shao Qing and Tao Yun walked to the city lord’s manor in a rather sullen mood. They’d both killed and seen death before, but walking in on a room of practically inhuman corpses was still rather shocking, even ignoring how this incident might change an evaluation of their work.

Upon arriving at the city lord’s manor they briefed a guard on the situation, not caring much about secrecy now that the problem was seemingly dealt with. The guard said that they should be dealt with shortly, but the situation appeared to be different from what he had expected and the two of them were forced to wait. It was more than an hour before the city lord was available. Maybe he was dealing with some of the fallout from the situation.

Something felt odd upon meeting the city lord. A light frown covered his face despite the city lord’s best attempt to hide it, and Shao Qing swore he could see a few small shards of glass on the floor that hadn’t been in the room yesterday, like someone had smashed something against the ground. Besides being short and to the point however, the meeting was rather normal. They went over the situation, the city lord thanked the two of them, they were reimbursed for spirit stones used to power the formations, and at the very end they were handed a couple of letters the city lord needed to send back to the Kang Clan. Both letters had labels to the point of “Top secret” pasted to it, and Shao Qing supposed that they were tax records or something of the like.

When the two exited the room, ready to depart the city, the city lord lost his composure. His frown turned to a grimace, and he launched a kick at a nearby piece of furniture, muttering to himself. “Bastards… main clan pieces of shit… don’t care about anything but benefits…” After blankly staring at the space in front of him for far too long, he eventually called for his secretary. He wasn’t feeling up for any more appointments today.

With business in Red Wall City dealt with, the two promptly left on their way to Hitu City. There were no labels specifying “Urgent” on the letters, so it wouldn’t hurt to take their time on the way back. Additionally, Hitu City happened to be outside the Kang Clan’s “territory”, which made it more convenient for discussion… although the empty sky was more convenient still.

The two flew over the vast wilderness as they talked. “So we’ll be stealing three Centennial Fruits from under the Kang Clan’s noses and becoming their mortal enemies?” “More or less.” “That… I’d rather not take the risk, but I’d be lying if I said it didn’t appeal to me. I hate them about as much as you do, and I could really use a Centennial Pill.” Tao Yun paused. “Besides, I owe you. It’s not quite a life debt, but it’s still big. If you lead the way I’ll help best I can.”

With that, Tao Yun’s status as Shao Qing’s co-conspirator was locked in place. It was only a difference of one person, but the addition of a Formation Quasi-Grandmaster made his plan infinitely more viable, and allowed him to start on some more specific preparations. Maybe they could actually pull this off.

Their time in Hitu City was a pleasant one, although both of them lost money- gambling wasn’t their strong point. In fact, it was a deep rabbit hole that they’d merely peered down once or twice. Among cultivators, gambling differed significantly from mortal gambling. Besides the matter of higher stakes or different games, there was a more fundamental difference. Among cultivators and high-level gamblers, tables were generally split up into “cheating” and “non-cheating”.

Non-cheating tables are what most mortals would expect when they think of gambling. The players play a game, and if anyone is spotted cheating they’re punished harshly. These tables were where beginners, experts in game theory, and people who liked the game for the game generally played. On the other hand, cheating tables were quite different. The house didn’t keep an eye out for cheating, and it was up to the players to spot any cheating. If a player was spotted cheating they’d be disqualified and any money they bet given to other players, but there would be no further punishment. Cheating games focused around different skills, and were the home of many experts, tricksters, and adrenaline junkies.

Shao Qing and Tao Yun stuck to low-stakes non-cheating tables. Tao Yun just had ice techniques, and while Shao Qing could use techniques to make fake cards or to share senses with a dummy at the table and peek at hands from a distance, it would be extremely difficult to get either strategy to work in a game. Once the two were done gambling they got to drinking, downing a couple bottles of the strong stuff in a hotel room.

“Fuck that bushy-bearded bastard. All in, all in, all in… how does one person get that lucky during a game.” Shao Qing cursed a particularly skilled opponent of his, the alcohol adding a red tint to his face. “Who knows man, who knows.” Tao Yun groaned. “So, why do you hate the Kang Clan anyways?”

Shao Qing looked confused. “Isn’t a contract enough reason to hate them?” “Mmmmm. I guess. It just seemed like more than that.” The room was silent. “On my end, they screwed me over something good. My father was in heavy debt, so I signed a contract for 80 years to help pay it off. They ripped me off by at least... 50% or so of what would’ve been a fair payment, and then, when 20 years in my father came across the money to pay back my contract- in full even- they said they weren’t willing to take the money because I was too useful. Bastards.”

“Hell. Sounds like something they’d do.” “Yep.” Shao Qing took another drink, feeling the qi within the alcohol mixing with his own, creating an odd sensation. “My hatred is a bit pettier. I’m pretty sure Kang Qun used me as a political bargaining piece, and when I stopped being useful he stopped caring. Besides…” Shao Qing took another drink. “...I might just be paranoid, but I feel like the only reason I might still be here is because of Kang Ling. Sure, my family got weakened and I lost some of my value, but normally you wouldn’t want to piss off even a minor force for no reason. Right?”

Tao Yun shrugged. “I guess.” “Yeah. Anyways, I haven’t seen Kang Ling in ages, but back when we were kids we fought over a woman. Han Guanyu. Thought we could make her like us. I’m over her by now, but I have a nagging feeling that Kang Ling doesn’t realize that, and has wanted to keep me locked up so long so that I can’t try to steal his girlfriend.” Shao Qing laughed a wheezing laugh for a moment. “Or maybe… or maybe I’m just paranoid and he isn’t bothered about me at all. Who knows.”

“...” “...”

“Cheers.” “Cheers.”

After their stop in Hitu City, the rest of their trip was rather uneventful. A few days later they were back at the home of the Kang Clan, the Ironwood Estate. Once they arrived, they immediately headed for Shao Qing’s boss, ready to turn in the letters and a briefing and be done with the situation.

It took a while before she was free, but they did eventually see her. She glanced over the paperwork at an impressive speed before tearing open the letters. The first one was placed down, but moments after opening the second one she chuckled and threw it to the side.

“The city lord got mad at you for his own stupidity. Apparently he didn’t take enough caution and stepson died. Name is, uh, Dong Tao. Threw around a lot of phrases like ‘recklessness’ and ‘taking responsibility’.” Shao Qing’s boss didn’t elaborate further. Shao Qing stood there awkwardly, confused. “I’m not familiar with City Lord Dong’s stepson. ...Are we going to be reprimanded?” The boss just laughed again. “No, no problem there. It’s his fault, and they’re not part of the Kang Clan anyways. They should learn to stay in their place. Just be cautious about going to Red Wall City, in case he tries to start something. You’re free to go.”

The meeting ended there and the two left the office. “Did we know a Dong Tao?” Tao Yun shrugged. “I don’t think so? Maybe one of the corpses from down the street?” “Maybe.”

Both of them vaguely felt bad, but couldn’t bring themselves to care that much. Maybe it was coldheartedness, or maybe that reaction was to be expected. They forgot about the incident within a few minutes and returned to other matters.

In the coming days, the two came up with a short, non-inclusive list of tasks to prepare for the heist. There were other things they needed to attend to on top of these, but at this general planning stage they couldn’t be accounted for yet.

Examine the formation over the coming decade or so and find a way to break it as quickly as possible. Find information regarding the Centennial Pill’s recipe without alerting the Kang Clan. Find any and all information regarding the current and future security of the Centennial Tree possible without alerting the Kang Clan. Map out the Ironwood Estate, find several viable escape routes, and figure out what measures might be able to secure them Slowly liquidate their contribution points in exchange for outside currency and items that might assist them in the heist or the following escape. No matter what, keep the fact that their soul contracts were broken a secret.

It was time to get to work.