Breaking from his meditation, Hui stood and stretched. He glanced at the sun outside, already dipping low. From what Xue told me, it should be time to head down to the feast.

He looked around the room. Austere and simple, it had little more than the bed and nothing he was used to, but a closet stood in the corner. He pulled it open. Starbound Peak’s robes are fine, but mine are a little dingy. I’m sure they won’t mind if I borrow a robe or two.

A wall of blindingly ornate robes spilled out of the small closet. Gold filigree, onyx, rubies, and white jade ornamented even the plainest of the robes. Hui stared, then stuffed the doors shut again. Never mind. I’m fine in these.

He sucked in a deep breath and breathed it out, slapping his cheeks. Downstairs to face the music.

Li Xiang waited outside his door in pristine robes, her hair pinned up in a more ornate style than usual. She looked him over and frowned. “You didn’t clean your robes?”

“I don’t know the cleaning spell,” Hui admitted. I’m not going to do my version of it in front of her!

She shook her head at him, smiling just a little. She settled her hands on his shoulders. “Pay close attention, now.”

Hui closed his eyes. Li Xiang’s qi flowed around him. Different from Bai Xue’s or Weiheng Wu’s, her qi had a sharpness to it, fierce and cold.

Almost… swordlike. Is it because she practices One With The Sword? Hui wondered.

Her qi coiled under his robes. It gently permeated them, lifting away all the dirt and dust with it. When he opened his eyes, bright white robes awaited him.

“Whoa,” Hui murmured, plucking at his robes. I must have been doing it too fast earlier. Slow and steady wins the race.

She looked him up and down, then nodded, satisfied. “Now you’re ready.”

“Thank you, Elder Sister!” Hui beamed.

Together, they proceeded into the courtyard. Cultivators from the Bai clan flowed all around them. Hui and Li Xiang fell in with the rest of them. Hui felt eyes all over him as the Bai clan cultivators evaluated him. Turning, he met eyes with one of the cultivators, and they narrowed their eyes into a glare. He shivered. Don’t run away. Don’t run away, Hui. You just have to get through tonight. After tonight, I’m making my excuses and taking off to live in the city, no matter how expensive it is! I can sell the talismans to support myself if I have to!

Wait, but then… all my precious spirit stones won’t go to the debt, they’ll go to supporting my city lifestyle. Who knows how much lodging costs, or how long until I find the person who called us here? Bai Xue is putting us up for free.

He shook his head vigorously. No, no! Get out! Before these furnaces decide they need poor Li Xiang and me for their cultivation!

They passed through a hallway and into an ornate room, laid out for a feast. Separate tables, laid out around the edges of the room, faced the center. At the head of the room, the Matriarch sat on a table atop a dais, regal in white robes worked with gold and rubies. Bai Xue sat beside her, likewise in finery. Gold pins dripped from her hair, and red makeup touched the corners of her eyes and her lips. Bored, she surveyed the room with glassy eyes.

Hui caught her eye. She sat up and patted the seat beside her, smiling. He nodded to Li Xiang. “Let’s go.”

Li Xiang nodded. Holding close by Hui’s hip, she followed him to the front of the hall.

The Matriarch cast an icy gaze in Hui’s direction, then turned her eyes away. Bai Xue smiled at them. “Both of you?”

“Am I unwelcome?” Li Xiang asked, bowing.

“No, no. You can be my first wife,” Bai Xue offered.

“Eh? Then I’m—” Hui stuttered.

“The first husband,” Bai Xue clarified.

The Matriarch cut her eyes toward them, a displeased expression on her face.

Hui coughed. She’s going to see through this farce if Bai Xue isn’t more careful! “Bai Xue, while Li Xiang doubtlessly is honored by your offer, it isn’t wise to make such bold jokes on the eve of our wedding.”

Li Xiang bowed formally to Bai Xue. “I am not interested in being part of someone’s harem, nor managing their harem.”

The Matriarch sat up, giving Li Xiang an appraising look. Strange expressions crawled over her face—confusion, loss, worry, excitement, anger, interest—then vanished under the polished veneer of a formal smile. “Honorable guest, please pay no mind to my daughter. Sit, sit. It has been some time since I’ve heard from Starbound Sect. Entertain this elder with a few tales.”

“If I may,” Li Xiang replied, bowing deeper. She took the seat the Matriarch indicated, to the Matriarch’s other side, and the two fell into conversation.

Hui frowned to himself. What was that? Her reaction wasn’t normal. Is there something strange about Li Xiang? Circulating qi through his eyes, he scanned over Li Xiang again, but if there was something amiss about her, his cultivation was too low to notice it.

A tug on his sleeve startled him out of his thoughts. Bai Xue pouted at him. “Fiancé, do your eyes wander on this night, so close to our wedding?”

He rolled his eyes at her, but sat. “Not at all, not at all, my beloved. Naturally I have eyes only for you.”

“What a devoted husband,” she preened, reaching out to touch his hair.

Hui leaned away. “Touch my hair and I riot.”

Bai Xue froze. She pouted. “I can’t even show my affection for dear fiancé?”

“No,” Hui said firmly.

Bai Xue sighed deeply. “And here I thought it’d be the perfect way to pressure you into letting me touch your hair.”

The food arrived, freeing Hui from having to dodge any more of Bai Xue’s attacks. He ducked his head, intent upon the food. Before him sat a small dish of clear soup, a few thin noodles floating in its midst. A delicate aroma brushed by his nose, savory and sweet all at once. He took a sip of the broth and closed his eyes. Heat permeated his body, qi and hot broth working in concert.

Ah… this… this clan must have food cultivators! Hui breathed out, breath heated from the broth, and took another sip.

From the table to his left, murderous intent pierced him. Hui jolted and nearly spat out the soup. Liquid pressing against his lips, he slammed his hands against it and forced it down. With a great gulp, he turned his eyes toward the murderous intent.

Jingwen glared at him, eyes narrowed, her braid now entwined with gold thread and pinned with silver lilies.

Oh, of course. He ignored her, turning to the woman beside her.

Unlike the Matriarch, who retained her youth, the woman beside Jingwen had a mature bearing. Full-figured, draped in loose robes open at the neck, she possessed the seductiveness of an older woman over the youthful vigor of Bai Xue and the Matriarch. She caught his glance from the corner of her eye and smiled slightly. Her sleepy eyes lent her gaze an erotic edge. Slowly, she licked her lips, swallowing down a droplet of soup.

Hui shuddered and glanced away, the back of his neck crawling. Jingwen doesn’t realize the weapon she has! I’ll take Jingwen’s glares all day over having to suffer her mother’s gaze!

Bai Xue noticed his look and laughed quietly. “That’s Bai Fenfeng. The would-be usurper. I’m sure she isn’t too pleased to see you, my friend.”

“I noticed,” Hui muttered.

“Stick close to me on the way back. If you aren’t careful, you might find a blade in your back.”

“She’s that dangerous?” Hui asked, startled.

Xue clicked her tongue and shook her head. Hui took a breath and composed himself. Calmer, he repeated, “She’s that dangerous?”

“She’s not dumb enough to openly attack the family with Mother right here, but she isn’t afraid to sink her teeth into a fiancé or guest once it gets dark, hospitality be damned. Be careful around her.”

Hui nodded, throat suddenly tight. He took another sip of the soup to calm down. “And she controls an entire branch family?”

Bai Xue hummed. “She’s clever enough to climb the ladder and bright enough to keep her hands clean whenever her branch does something Mother won’t like. Unlike the main branch, only a few of her branch are born natural furnaces. While it means very few of them can cultivate our Twin Elemental Mirrors style, it also means they’re very valuable as guards and protection for the main branch. Less threatened by outside cultivators.”

“I understand,” Hui replied, cutting his eyes at Bai Fenfeng. Can’t live with them, can’t live without them.

“Jingwen, for example. She’s skilled with spear arts, but has no ability to cultivate the Twin Elemental Mirrors style,” Xue said, nodding.

Hui nodded, unable to keep his shoulders from rising or his back from stiffening. Bai Xue, do you want this poor disciple dead? Warn me before you throw me in front of lions next time, okay?

“Ah, drink up, drink up. Relax. I’ll keep you safe. A few days, and you’ll be free as a bird.” Bai Xue thumped his back and poured pale wine into his cup. She grinned and raised her cup in a toast. “To the future.”

“To the end of this banquet,” Hui muttered back. He downed his. A sweet, floral flavor burst over his palate, heat coiling down his throat in a different way than the soup had.

Xue laughed. “I’ll drink to that.” She filled another cup and downed it, gesturing for Hui’s cup.

Hui resisted. “Bai Xue, I want to keep my life. Don’t drink me to death!”

“It’s fine. How often do you get such fine wine, anyways? Have some more.” She poured him another cup.

Hui stared at the glass and sighed. Bai Xue, you’ll be the death of me yet.

He cast another look around the room, as servants arrived, exchanging their soup with the next dish. “Where’s Bai L—Father-in-law?”

“Ah, who knows? He’s always been the scholarly sort. Probably deep in the library, and totally forgot that the feast was today at all,” Xue said, waving it away, unconcerned.

Hui nodded. Hiding in the clan library during important events, living in a rich clan by the city… maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to actually—

No! Hui, what are you thinking? You’re only eighteen! You have a long cultivator life ahead of you! He shook his head vigorously. Besides, it isn’t nice to marry someone for the benefits they give you.

Casually, he dipped a hand into his robes and touched the jade. It pulsed more vigorously now than it had before, but laid quiet after a moment. They’re closer… so they’re in Bai clan for sure. But who? Where?