Ubel wondered, ever since he stepped up, then down, on the path of cultivation: Was it really worth it?

Was it worth the time, one might ask, and it is their natural right to do so. Cultivation was an arduous process of progressing through spending obscene amounts of effort and time, of which the former had a lesser involvement in the reaching of an elevated state of cultivation. Time was all one spent, the effort was only made when one decided to sit, close their eyes, and think of nothing but themselves inside confines of the void called mind.

Without time, cultivation had no meaning. Without time, no men or women could go farther than any average Qi Creation or Qi Destructioner in any orderly army, a bandit band, a mercenary group, a village chief, a city guard, a farm owner, a merchant. These were all average, for the time they were willing to spend on cultivation was too little in the eyes of, as they liked to call themselves, Immortals. The pursuits and professions these people had were much important, more than the few years of lifespan they would earn in cultivation by spending their valuable, and limited, time. What was the point of spending twenty years meaningless to gain twenty-five, only to increase the empty days and nights they would have to suffer?

But they were average, still, in the eyes of Immortals. Why, then, they felt like it was a much greater cause to pursue more years to live? Obviously, Immortals were no fools. Even if spent meaningless, time had an extraordinary way to affect people’s mindsets, even to their said to be unshakeable beliefs. And if it was like this, then these Immortals, like his past self, had some motivation behind their backs to propel them to the distant star of achievement, to the last stop of their travels, to the mirage a starving pilgrim sought after, a destination they wished so dearly to reach.

The force was the curiosity and awe, the path was the meditation, and the destination was the dreams.

Ubel shook his head and pushed the door of their home open. He stepped inside, walked with small strides-his footsteps were not so audible- and reached into the bedroom. The fireplace was empty, fire no longer blazed and bursts of dark smoke ceased to rise into the heavens. Yet, the foxes still laid in front of it; a habit, a feeling of familiarity, a sense of safety, or the sole feeling of owning the place, any of them could be the reason for their occupation of half the room.

Half the room, of course, since four more joined to the grumpy and sweet duo. Their children, much jovial than their parents, refused to sleep and rest as they did. Three females, one male, grappled and clawed at each other as any animal would play with their siblings. Though their fangs and weapons were not polished yet, they were barely two months old and still drank from their mother’s almost dried up milk. The male one, whose fur started to take an orange-red color, the earliest one to do among them, was chewing on a piece of cooked and sliced deer leg. The boy was nowhere near the size of a whole leg, but eat two of them whole in a meal.

That could be the reason, Ubel thought and turned to look at his grandmother. She snored on her rocker. Her body was no longer wrapped on bulky pieces of blankets but with a single piece of leather robe, though her elderly physique wasn’t fond of any temperature other than average, so it was of a thicker kind. He wasn’t sure if she didn’t sense him coming, or she was ignoring him. He hoped it was the former, but it didn’t matter.

‘’Hm?’’ He sensed Embodiment reach out to him with their mental link, as if a spider web clung onto his head and wrapped around to choke him. But it being more of a mental feeling, it had no negative effect. ‘’Go on, I’ll be cultivating.’’ He said, Embodiment sent a trace of affirmation and cut the connection.

His fingers are fine with herbs and crops, though they look a bit bulky.

Taking a deep breath, Ubel sat in the gap between Mother Fox and Wily Fox. The three sisters gazed at him for a moment, the male stopped chewing its roasted leg. They let out growls-male fox couldn’t because of the food in his mouth- bared their almost non-existent claws, then lunged at him!

No, they jumped on his bosom and rolled around, snickering and smiling. A small smile crept on Ubel’s face, his eyes lost their focus for a moment. A twinkle passed, then, in front of his eyes and the male fox appeared on his shoulder. Ubel tousled his fur for a moment, savoring the soft texture, then lowered his hands and put them together. He took a deep breath.

The laughs and the chewing of the foxes disappeared, the faint shoveling in the garden turned silent, the squealing of the rocker stopped. Now, he was left alone with himself. The only scent was his morning food, three apples and a boiled boar meat, and the only sound was his breath. His vision was darkness, boundless, nevertheless lighted up by the sunlight piercing through the new-furnished window at the side. But he still felt the soft caressing of the foxes.

While pondering on the barrier Zi presented early on, Ubel added another question the earlier inquiry.

Was it worth the time? What was the reason?

The force was the curiosity and awe, the path was the meditation, the destination was the dreams.

To start with, as every beginning had something pushing it forward like this train of thought, the curious nature of any mortal was enough of a reason to make one step onto this path. After all, were it not for this exact nature of mortals, and a few other characteristics like murderous passions, holding hatred, and the heart to do good, there would be no stories to tell and pass on. Or worse, there would be no mortal men and women willing to live these stories. Stories sparked curiosity and the inner explorer inside mortals, that was the most obvious of all from the thousands of stories known: God Of Herbs, Dried Blaze, Love Of Baybur, Beasts Of Poverty, Kaiserri And Osbour...

And all these tales started, like many unnamed or unwritten others’, with a spark of curiosity. In God Of Herbs, Zengin asked herself at the start, how wealthy could an Herb God would be? In Dried Blaze, Atesh sought out the warmest fire, to feel it, to taste its passion to burn, worrying whether he could survive it or not. In the other, Baybur feared the future, wondering whether he should pursue this woman that eluded his heart so much, or his dreams that were, at the beginning, within the reach of a palm. In Beasts Of Poverty, the Draken’s last child wandered into the third continent, wounded, searching for the identity of its mother. Kaiserri And Osbour, rivals in life, companions in death, fought together to see the glimpse of their deities’ face.

And Ubel’s life started with one as well.

What do I want to do?

What will I do once my family takes off towards the heavens, leaving their shells buried under the earth for me to see and weep?

What do I have to do once they are gone?

That was what pushed him to the eventual destination he would end. Yet, he didn’t know where it would lead him.

The path was the meditation, Ubel remembered, and every single event happened, and was decided beforehand, whether he liked it or not, on this path. Meditation didn’t mean complete isolation, away from the world and worldly experiences, feelings, needs, and knowledge. Meditation was to build upon what one learned, to differentiate what one concluded to be evil or pure, what one was fond and wasn’t, what one found helpful or malignant. Desires, in that state, was the most transparent. It was in that exact moment one could find what they really sought out. Or what they didn’. It would, as it seemed to Ubel, work both ways.

His entrance to the sect, marveling at the structures and the people, finding beauty in nature of its environment, feeling the secluded wisdom and soul of the mountain. There he became curious for more of it. Then learning cultivation, practicing it, listening to Immortal and Mortal Literature from his beloved master, Quan, and undertaking a quest to see what he really wanted to do. At that point he started solidifying an idea. His arrival at the Yadratafos, his responsibility as a scribe and an assistant to Quan, his attendance to the medical course of the academy, his confrontation with Quan, his interactions with Kowalski, and finding out a small portion of State Manuals’ secret...

Then more, and more. With each event, and their impact on him, his idea changed. His ideals changed. What he thought of immortals changed, what he found cultivation to be changed. What he, at first, pursued and saw a good fit to his future self changed. Everything differed after each step into the life of an immortal. And, at last, he was no longer an immortal.

But he lusted towards it, now that he came to realize it. The final destination he changed over and over again, from being nothing to being an Archaea Immortal, to searching the death’s meaning, and now, from living the forest until he passed away to...immortality.

The meditation was the path, and he saw in this path the consequence of forsaking, or being forced out of it, immortality was too big for him to handle. All aspirations of the noble or evil kind, or easily achievable to conquering heavens’ degree of difficulty were in immortality. Immortality was grand. It was noble, evil, easily achievable, yet as hard as conquering the heavens.

In immortality, his destination was unlimited. In mortality, his destination was a fog of death.

And back to the question: Was it worth the time?

It is- Ubel could, and would, roar out if he had the chance.

IT IS!

*********

Two more weeks passed.

The three sister foxes also started turning into a reddish-orange, transforming from the little hand-wide size brown rascals to almost knee-high juvenile foxes. This day, he didn’t visit the shrine. Miss Muqin was soon to give birth, so they took her to the Koyh with Zi Heshang and Meng Liu to get professional care.

Ubel couldn’t help but giggle on that. Even immortal women were bound by fate like this.

The next three days he went, though, and asked about their situation. As obvious as it was, since she was also someone nearing the border of Path Opening, Muqin had some difficulties in giving birth. This was the same for all immortals. The life they added to the cumulative number of the world was, as it seemed in the eyes of the fate, more precious than a mortal’s one. One nourished by the Qi of heaven and earth was, and would be, stronger and healthier than a not so blessed one. And this correlated to equal demands. For such an important life, a trial was needed to accommodate its worth.

But all would be fine, Hong Seng said. ‘’There is an experienced doctor there, she is said to be one of the best in her generation. At least, my lord has trust in her skills.’’

That was convincing enough, so left it with that. Hong Seng also offered cups and mugs and bowls of tea, of different kinds and tastes; smelling of roses and violets, of mint and pepper, of honey and milk, of vanilla and chocolate, of berries and apples, of fish and something so disturbing he didn’t even attempt to take another sniff at it. But it ignited his thirst for some tea again. If this turned out to be an addiction of some kind, Ubel was determined, he would blame priest Hong for it.

In their long tea drinking and talking sessions, of which the latter was of lesser occupying, the last believer of The Raven, Hao Tou, joined them after the first hour. He looked quite handsome in Ubel’s opinion, but his skeleton thin body didn’t help the charms. But that was, also, of lesser importance. The other thing was his...aura. He had this feeling of looking through you, which he felt only in the Combat Master Illidan, whom he found out later to be at the brink of breaking through Essence Realm, and Elder Snow. But those two had the overwhelming superiority of power alongside their long years of experience, and Hao Tou simply showed it with the lack of both, at least on the surface.

‘’Have you heard of my people, brother Ubel?’’ He asked. His tone was as charming as he was, and Ubel found his twinkling pupils not so peaceful.

‘’I assume Shaowei?’’ He made a guess. He didn’t know of most of the continent’s phenotypes, he had also heard of how Shamo people looked, and only of the Sect and perhaps a little bit of Shuangguang’s he saw firsthand. But cities crowding near the Continent Border had the absurdity of attracting all kinds of people around the whole continent, so they were more of a mixed hub of culture.

‘’I have to admit,’’ Ubel said. ‘’I don’t really know much about how people look in the northern continent, let alone their traditions or things like that.’’

‘’You sound as if you know of the southern though, brother Ubel.’’ Hao Tou smiled.

‘’I don’t,’’ Ubel looked at him, then at Hong Seng. ‘’But, do you? About the forsakens, or the evil sects?’’ There was a small hint of anticipation in Ubel’s heart that told him the man intended to lead this conversation to the talk of forsakens.

‘’As much as everyone knows,’’ Hong Seng said. ‘’But since our base of operation and training was near to the Continent Border, we saw a lot of evil cultivators.’’ He cast a glance at Hao Tou and smiled.

‘’Brother Hong, you don’t need to force me like that,’’ He raised one brow, still smiling. ‘’I’ve been there myself. We tried to conduct an assasination to the Sect Leader of the Blood Moon Sect, for the lord Raven argued that he was of the lineage of one of his enemies’ believers. I and three seniors priestesses traveled through the Mountain Of Emperors into the Gorge Of Flight, then went down from a river called the Yellow River. It was only a hundred and twenty kilometers away from the Mountain, and flowed all the way into an inland lake. The lake was large as a sea, and for some glaring reason they called it the Pit Of Descent. There were several unnamed hills at its west where the sect headquarters were built, yet even at that point we found no settlement for forsakens.’’

‘’No cities or towns?’’ Hong Seng asked, whereas Ubel continued to intently stare at Hao Tou.

‘’Not even villages, brother Hong,’’ He said. ‘’Only landscapes and some excavated ruins. There were even those we suspected of not investigated properly, as if everyone suddenly let go of their research and retreated. Let me show you.’’ He waved his hand. From a ring choking his finger, embedded with emerald, a streak of light appeared and descended in front of them.

As it disappeared, it left in its wake a few pieces of tools: A shovel with a head out of blue metal, a pickaxe glowing gold, a pair of goggles strapped with the hide of a beast, two trowels of the same head with the shovel, and at last a sack filled with pure white gloves.

‘’Once we successfully finished our mission,’’ he said and took one of the trowles to his hand. ‘’One of our seniors decided to look into the ruins near the mountains. We found these sprawled around, their materials are also unknown. But, they are almost a hundred years old.’’

‘’Kryostria-’’ Ubel muttered, looking at both. ‘’So there were researchers looking into these ruins, and when the disease spread and evil sects attacked they left all their work and ran?’’

‘’It seems so,’’ Hong Seng said.

‘’But the question is, ‘’Hao Tou narrowed his eyes. ‘’Where did they escape?’’

After a moment of silence, Hao Tou coughed and took a sip of honey-like orange tea. It also tasted like orange, Ubel savored the taste at the same time, and they both put their half-filled cups down.

‘’Honestly, brother Hong, how did you learn the art of choosing tea? You weren’t this indulged with them before then.’’

‘’Oh, true, brother. Do you remember sister...’’ As they started a new series of conversation, Ubel’s mind was glued to the last question Hao Tou asked.

Where did they go? Back to the sect, or...

He thought of Quan’s words at the Star Library. The sect allows it, he said, when Ubel asked him about the mysterious, and eccentric way the old authors and translators put hidden messages into the books. But now that he thought of it, was that really the case?

What if, he thought for a moment, those Archaea immortals and Chroniclers never intended to return the sect. What if they actually coveted the chance and ran? But for what reason?

Ubel couldn’t answer these. But his instincts told him about a shuddering thought.

The sect is...helpless?

*********

Ages begin to end, to give birth to another era.

Times would change, so that people could change. And with change comes chaos, and with chaos, creation.

That was one of the most wide-known beliefs of the Brynhildr, Sovereign Of Light. Other religions also had similar quotes and truths in their sacred texts or prophecies; The chaos is born to create, creation is there to destroy, destruction exists to give birth to order. They all, although worded equally distinct and close, shared the same piece of wisdom from deities.

That everything had a price.

Perhaps, Hao Tou thought, out of his peers, he was the only unreasonable one to cling onto this interpretation. After all, a religion was meant to have doctrines about blind, or subtly suspicious, faith and people that would, with no other exceptions than those at the head of the ruling class, understand what the religion wanted them to learn. In that sense he, or his belief, wasn’t fit to be in a community involving religious conventions.

But he was, in the end, and he was one of the most well-known of The Raven’s servants. Not for his exceptional faith to the lord, as Hong Seng had, nor for his overbearing power, as Muqin had, but for his wit that let him reach a different conclusion from the rest in the same environment. That meant he was exceptional.

He took delight in that.

Walking inside the hall, he saw Hong Seng and Ke’ai Xie’e, or Ubel, sitting down on two cushions. There was an empty one at their side, making the shape of triangle in front of the white dais, and the steaming smoke ascending from the teacup before it hinted at the tea being poured recently. Without any reservation he walked up and took a seat, grasping the handle of the shiny cup.

‘’Hmm...good.’’ He muttered after taking a sip. It smelled like a fresh flower out of earth, but the taste was far from it.

‘’...And that’s why they called it Bluemoon lake.’’ Hong Seng finished his words and looked at him.

‘’Brother Hao, you look troubled?’ He said. Ubel also gazed on him from the side with confusion.

‘’Do I?’’ He cast a glance at his reflection from the greenish tea, his eyes had narrowed without him knowing. A trace of wrinkles on his forehead almost bulged out. ‘’It might be of weariness, Brother Hong, you don’t have to worry.’’ Hao Tou waved his hand and took another sip.

What is this aroma?

‘’I won’t question, then.’’ Hong Seng nodded after a while. A minute of easing silence descended. Other than the wafting scents of mixed aromas, faint sounds of breathing and clattering remained. They all gazed at the empty space in the center, then Hao Tou spoke.

‘’What were you talking about?’’ He asked. Name of the Bluemoon Lake wasn’t one much discussed, other than a disaster that befell a ruling cultivation family ruling over its eastern lands. Even then, the suspicious event happened over half a century ago, so it wasn’t one easily remembered. Thinking of it, Hao Tou felt a trace of fury.

‘’The source of its name,’’ Ubel replied, smiling. ‘’I was curious about it, and some other places.’’

‘’And it went down there,’’ Hong Seng said, tapping on his tea cup once in a while. ‘’You must know more than me, brother Hao. Don’t you?’’

‘’I don’t like boasting about things I don’t have, brother Hong, but I also heard a thing or two.’’ He said.

‘’The name comes from the surreal and supernatural look of moon it reflects, as might have brother Hong told, but there is a small detail most people don’t ponder on,’’ He raised his hand and tapped on the air, drawing two different words: One Blue Moon the other Bluemoon. ‘’For instance, the correct way of writing the lake’s name, if it was named in our time, would be the former.’’

‘’As it is with Blood Moon Sect?’’ Ubel asked.

‘’Correct,’’ Hao Tou said. ‘’But since they are both spoken and other than a few recordings about the imported or exported goods around the region, there is no written documents, there are few that realize the difference. And even if they do,’’ He sighed at this point, ‘’They don’t care.’’

‘’Why is it so troubling, brother Hao?’’ Hong Seng looked at him, confused.

‘’Because-’’

‘’It is an old heritage?’’ Ubel completed his sentence, albeit with doubt.

‘’That is also correct,’’ Hao Tou said. ‘’May I ask where did you derive that from, brother Ubel?’’

‘’Gu Kaogu had a few...angry comments, too, about people confusing some names. He once wrote that the words Sea and River were of the most used in the ninety-nine words of the old ones. Any place the men of old ages saw a different reflection of the moon they would name them with a color and the moon, like Redmoon Sea or Goldmoon River. Also my master talked about Chronicler Xue Ze’s translation of the old tablets before. He especially pointed out how Sun and Moon were always written together with other words, even if they were meant to be meaningful apart.’’

‘’...you have a master of good education.’’ Hao Tou praised, he flashed a smile.

‘’He is one-’’ Ubel nodded, ‘’-but I’m the same with priest Hong on this matter. Why are you, umm-’’

‘’-frustrated? Because of the lack of attention!’’ Hao Tou’s anger slipped up for a second, then sighed once more. ‘’Bluemoon lake is one of the oldest geographical areas of the Northern Continent, yet it honestly makes me sick in my heart to see people be this disrespectful about it. Every decade they pour the remnants of whatever Frenzy had left into the lake to get rid of them, instead of burying properly. Death aura around the lake is so thick now that more demons and Jiangshi started rising from there.’’

‘’And the one to blame is the sect, again.’’ Hao Tou heaved a deep breath, then exhaled. People were so treacherous, so ungrateful to the past. Manpower and time and money, all of them were pretexts they used to get rid of any remnant they didn’t want to deal with. The lake would do their work, after all, and the sect would swoop in to kill all demons and devils and Jiangshi that would arise from the accumulated Death Qi. How profitable it was!

What will they do now, the sect left the continent.

‘’Anyway,’’ waving his hand, Hao Tou looked at Hong Seng. ‘’I might be biased about this, brothers, so don’t mind my words. But, sorry for going too far back then, the point I wanted to indicate was how a simple thing like a word’s position revealed the time period it existed.’’

‘’I think I got your point,’’ Ubel showed a wry smile.

‘’Brother Hao is quite energetic when it comes to language, look at yourself. Your face look a tad bit healthier now.’’ Hong Seng said.

Hao Tou frowned and took the handle of his chilled tea, then gazed at his reflection.

He looked...better, indeed. A smile crept on his face, yet it was not a smile.

‘’Alright, anything else you wonder, brother Ubel?’’ He asked.

‘’Oh, actually...’’

*********

Hong Seng opened his eyes from meditation around midnight.

Moonlight shone a bit strange today, its cast of a different material than the dark blue and silver, yet enchanting as a pearl. He let out a breath of foul air, the Qi passing through his meridians thrummed like a drum.

A faint aura of Second Qi Destructioner lingered on his wrinkled body.

Standing up, he reached for a small robe embroidered with a purple raven and threw it over his shoulders. He grasped its belt next to the knee-high table and adorned it around his waist in a second, then stepped out. He was greeted by Hao Tou and Meng Liu, both on their knees in front of the dais. Hao Tou nodded towards him and pointed with his hand to the third cushion, standing at his left with a discernible Qi Crystal planted at its center. It had the color of obsidian, shaped like a sloping ramp, and from the aura he felt, thanks to his new cultivation breakthrough, it carried a trace of blood essence.

Meng Liu, also, looked at him with a knowing smile and nodded. He had tied his long hair into a ponytail hardly reaching his broad silvery shoulders, and below them no clothing, apart a long skirt tied with human skulls. With how thin his physique was, one would wonder whether he ate anything at all.

Hong Seng approached both and kneeled on the cushion as they did, he stoved the crystal into an inner pocket of his robe. Once he left it dangling there pricking on his chest, he made a hand seal. His index and middle fingers clenched, he muttered something. Vomit green light descended to the pinky, ring, and thumb, then he pushed them forward to the dais. His fingers except the index and the middle twinkled, then the radiance disappeared into the dais.

Instantly, Hong Seng’s hair turned half-white.

At the same time the dais blazed with a sudden burst of flame, on which Meng Liu acted and put his hands together. His coarse palms grew in size, almost twice of his head, and he clapped.

A soundless wave spread and the flames dimmed, from within a smouldering eye rose with indignance.

Before The Raven could speak, Hao Tou whispered.

‘’Haoren is sleeping, lord.’’

The eye retracted a bit, the flames extinguished at its wink and the embers floated into the air.

‘’Will this suffice?’’ He spoke into their minds, yet indignant, it still came out almost as a shout. Hong Seng could count with his hand, and he counted, seven times, how much Heshang interrupted The Raven from speaking to them this past year and a half. But he realized he didn’t feel the need to reprimand Heshang anymore. He...looked much different since his child was born. He had the same disposition as all fathers he met, many great few worse, and no doubt was he of the former. When spoken, subconsciously, Hong Seng and others lowered their voices. Even if Haoren giggled and crawled around, rather than sleeping, as if any rise or hint of ascending in their vocal cord would disturb the child. Or Heshang, as Hong Seng felt.

‘’Will do-’’ Hao Tou said. Their minds were connected it seemed, as expected of their lord. Meng Liu cast him a funny glance though, Hong Seng saw from the corners of his eyes.

‘’What reason did lord see to contact us discreetly?’’

‘’I have no reason to hide, little Tou, and this is no secret meeting. Were it not for this shaman, I have no doubt the other two would also join.’’

‘’Or three,’’ Hao Tou smiled, ‘’And I also have no doubt brother Heshang would be ecstatic to join.’’

‘’...do you remember of the Jian Fei?’’ The Raven blinked before speaking.

‘’Son of Jian Shen, Commander Of Cindersnow?’’ Meng Liu asked.

‘’Indeed,’’ Hong Seng said. ‘’What did he do to trouble you again, my lord?’’

‘’Take a guess, little Tou.’’

Hao Tou closed his eyes for a moment, contemplating. ‘’Is it about the tension between Shuangguang and Shamo?’’

‘’Correct,’’ The Raven said. ‘’He received a diplomatic envoy, the son of the Shuangxing himself, to seek aid in reclaiming their lands.’’

‘’What reclaim?’’ Hao Tou harrumphed. ‘’Did they also say bullshit like restoring the desert?’’

‘’If not,’’ Meng Liu said, ‘’What can they say, dear friend? Their aggression is too open, both to the eyes of the public and the royalty. I fear were it not for their dependency on the merchant guilds of Cindersnow city, Shamo wouldn’t be their first target.’’

‘’Brother Meng, correct me if I’m wrong,’’ Hong Seng interjected. ‘’But Jian Fen shouldn’t be the man most suitable for this, right? Even more than his background, people know him of his honor. He isn’t a man to bend over profits or wealth.’’

‘’...Hao Tou, did you do something?’’ The Raven suddenly asked, glancing at Hao Tou for a moment. ‘’Please continue, lord. Don’t distract the matter right now.’’ Hao Tou replied without a change in his expression.

‘’My zealot is right,’’ The Raven said after a moment of silence. ‘’And indeed there are more suitable candidates. Yet, they are somewhat desperate for brute force.’’

‘’Did the armistice fail, lord?’’ Hao Tou propped his chin up.

‘’Outright. They know Shamo can’t leave the deserts because of their curse, so the terms were quite favored for Shuangxing.’’

‘’Shamos are not aggressive people to begin with,’’ Meng Liu said. ‘’And they can’t go on the offensive unless they use the Incense Of Sand to steal their land.’’

‘’But they won’t do it,’’ Hao Tou added. ‘’Too risky.’’

Hong Seng swept his finger under his nose. ‘’But why brute force, my lord? A man like Qiang Yin would be better suited. Get him to pressure some merchants, or even give them some tax amnesty for the Eleven Years to stop the food export. Shuangxing himself could do it too.’’

‘’Cutting connections with Cindersnow won’t get him any benefits.’’ Hao Tou replied instead, his eyes flashed. ‘’Also, any merchant families that survived the Eleven Years won’t lack in worth and money. Any of them can move over to Haishen or Cindersnow city to conduct fairer businesses without political ramifications.’’ He left out the established connections part, though it was obvious everyone understood why.

‘’So?’’ Hao Tou smirked at The Raven’s response. Meng Liu cast his lord a wider, more knowing smile. Hong Seng couldn’t measure how much knowing it would get. And since the two didn’t finish up, he decided to follow it.

‘’I assume favoring any of the Cindersnow disciples would break the internal struggle of the city. Shuangxing needs the disciples to fight over the role of Magistrate for longer, so that by the time he is done with any imminent danger no one can stand up to him. If he were to request any kind of assistance from them, in the eyes of others it would look like he was intervening in the matter.’’

‘’The same reason Yihan and Haiyang didn’t attempt anything,’’ The Raven’s eye waved back and forth in agreement. ‘’Any interference can make the matter an continental crisis, and at this stage none of the emperors need some external threat other than forsakens.’’

‘’Mad Shuangxing, however, seeks it.’’ Hao Tou sighed. ‘’Then, lord, what worries you? It is obvious that the mission of the envoys were doomed to fail. What did go awry?’’

‘’Well,’’ The Raven stopped for a moment, ‘’...a fight broke out when a vice-commander insulted envoy’s father.’’

‘’And Jian Fei stopped it?’’

‘’No, he supported his subordinate. Then he fought to standstill with Shuangxing’s son for twelve whole minutes’’

‘’What?’’

‘’Hm?’’

‘’No way!’’

All three shot to their feet.