38 Chapter 38

Clouds overhead cast an ominous shadow against my immediate future, the paved streets like a barren graveyard framed the man before me like king Yama. And where uncle Fengzhi was, Rongrong's grandpas Sword and Bone couldn't be much further away. Far enough at least that the old codgers could appear at any given moment.

"About that, uncle." I swallowed the lump in my throat. "She's doing really well." Which wasn't totally wrong. Rongrong had reached the thirtieth rank at such a young age and had, after all, gained a spirit bone thanks to my efforts. Maybe the latter was enough to balance out the hair thing. Hopefully.

Uncle Fengzhi's sagely smile shifted. "Why the hesitation then?"

Next to him, his companion smiled my way before giving uncle a soft but chiding look. "Teacher," he said, "please don't bully the junior."

That just now spoke volumes of their relationship. I'd never seen this person before much less hear of him from the years I'd spent hopping to and from the capital and Nuoding, and my aunt wouldn't have let someone like that slip by her attention. Which meant it was only recently that uncle Fengzhi picked up someone who looked like the crown princes. That either marked him as also royalty, or maybe a bastard. And given how prominent the Seven Treasure clan was, a bastard was unlikely unless uncle had a soft spot for him. Auntie most likely knew more.

Uncle Fengzhi had a small laugh. "Little Qinghe, you should be more wary of how you speak in front of this one."

I shrugged. "You give me too much praise, uncle."

The youth called Qinghe put on an amused expression. He bent down to place himself at eye level to me. "Surely, this little master must be someone precocious then?"

Since Qinghe didn't recognize me, there were a few possibilities; first, uncle either had no intention to inform him of my identity or had him keep it a secret; second, he just forgot; third, he had a plan; and last, was that this was just a coincidence.

I clasped my hands in front of me in a respectful manner, enough so to break protocol between nobles. "I'm simply a fortunate junior who happened to be studying under the same academy as sister Rongrong."

As to how much he revealed though, that was another matter. That he didn't make use of my name was likely a test for me. I appreciate how much of a scheming bastard Rongrong's father was, but it was too stressful most of the time to deal with his kind of noble: the one with the power and bearing to back up his folly. Then again, the man himself was wise beyond his years. Surely, this move with this Qinghe person was another calculated one.

Uncle Fengzhi only smiled his usual enigmatic way. "Surely." He chuckled. "And what brings you here then?"

I broke off the bow and stood at height. Or at least however high I could given I was still pretty damn short. "I am not sure if Rongrong has already written to you uncle, but we are here on the pretense of our academy having an exchange of learnings with the Imperial Academy."

The look of surprise on Qinghe's face was serene yet conveyed just enough strength to be genuine. I couldn't quite place a finger on it, but somehow it seemed manufactured. Either that or there was a story behind that emotional restraint, be it voluntary or not. "I must say, he really does like to stare at people quite a bit."

Uncle Fengzhi said nothing, but his eyes gave away enough.

"That must be what you mentioned with him being crafty," Qinghe said. "He tries his best to look like a child, but it is clear he knows more and hides just as much."

Was I that obvious? Or was that a bluff? I at least understood I was dealing with a noble, but it wasn't like my acting wasn't genuine per se. If I broke character here, it'd confirm his suspicions, and if I didn't then it might cause offense to a possible royal—and maybe uncle.

I sighed and raised my hands. "The act does indeed get tiring." I rolled my shoulders and shifted my stance to one foot, one hand against the other hip.

Qinghe laughed hearty and true. "I expected as much from a dear friend of the Seven Treasure clan's she-devil."

I grimaced at him. "She really hates that nickname brother Qinghe." And she'd given me no end of grief whenever I tried to use it on her before.

"I can see you're still up to your little games," uncle said. "But at least I can rest easy knowing you're looking out for my daughter." He clapped softly. "Still, the Imperial Academy you say, surely there is a reason for this?"

I recounted the harrowing events that led to our coming here starting only from the Spirit Arena—since that ant nest fiasco was best left to Rongrong herself. Impressed was a good word to describe the two, and by the end of it, Qinghe only had one thing to say.

"You truly are already at the thirty-eighth rank?" He was dead serious.

"Thirty-seventh," I corrected him. "And it wasn't easy, no."

Awe, perhaps. Maybe wariness, and a little respect. His gaze spoke volumes, but his tone held weight. "And how old are you now?"

"Just about to turn twelve," I said.

Uncle nodded. "And my daughter is now at?"

"She's at the thirty-third rank, uncle."

Qinghe put a hand to his chin. "Four ranks ahead of someone who awakened at full innate spirit power… and a year younger as well… quite a monster, now are you?" The teen smiled. "You must be from the three great sects, then?"

Putting two and two together wasn't any great leap of logic. That conclusion was more or less a given, but it was a little strange to hear of someone make use of the 'three' sects since everyone and their grandma knew of the alleged sorry state of our Clear Sky clan. Which again calls to question just how much uncle Ning had revealed to him about my origins. However, uncle Fengzhi never did find out about my merged spirits. He only knew I came from the Clear Sky sect.

Today was just as good a time to reveal my Crown.

I scratched my cheek. "I was born with a variant spirit, brother Qinghe," I said. "It is called the Amber Crown and it is this which has allowed me my supposed talent. And if it is to be believed, it may even hint of a resonance with the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda."

Uncle Fengzhi's eyes narrowed for the slightest bit. I'd never shown him my spirit before, but he knew what I should have. "And have you tried to use this fusion before?"

I didn't have to be a goddamn genius to figure out what a spirit fusion meant. That our spirits were the manifestations of our souls meant that a fusion was nothing short of having our souls mix together in a manner more intimate than any physical contact could. For this one, I didn't even have to lie. "I'd never tried, uncle. Nor do I have any plans at all be it now or in the immediate future. I am at least sensible enough to know it is untoward to do so. And as much as strength may be valued by this world, it is still up to both people to decide so if they wish."

Qinghe pursed his lips. "We are talking about spirit fusion, yes?"

I wasn't about to grace that hook with my lip.

I actually felt my Crown tremble from within, and no doubt Qinghe felt uncle Fengzhi's perturbance as well. "And had Rongrong tried to do this fusion with you?"

"I wouldn't let her if she even pestered me for it. I may be young, but I have my principles, uncle."

The wave of cold mellowed out. Uncle Fengzhi had no power to attack so to speak, but the pressure of a seventy something ranked spirit master was still something to behold. Not even the quality of my spirit rings could bridge such a gap in cultivation.

Uncle Fengzhi laid a hand on my shoulder. "Good child, very good indeed."

His grip tightened.

"And what was this I heard about a spirit bone?"

#

By the end of it all, Qinghe was the one who saved my ass after uncle had wrung me clean of all the half-truths I'd told. He never approached the matters of my origins, but damn did he get everything from the very start from when Rongrong met me in Suotuo Village while looking for Shrek Academy. It was the greater part of a year I had to convey in a matter of minutes, more to confirm what he'd already known from his numerous spies and fill in the gaps with our personal accounts.

I had no love for Rongrong's father, but I could appreciate someone who respected the power of knowledge as much as he did. Ah, and the paranoia. That was another thing I respected him for.

After the two left, Sword douluo gave me a quick visit and a pat on the back commending me for my foresight with giving Rongrong a torso spirit bone for extra protection.

Yeah. I expected that much.

I ran straight for the Moon Pavilion from there—but not before making a quick visit to the Millennium Chef's Parade restaurant to get my aunt some dumplings. More a peace offering than anything. The streets didn't change much these last few years, and I still knew my way around like the back of my hand.

I arrived at the Moon Pavilion and found uncle Wei cleaning by the road side and looking every bit as inconspicuous as he could. He was the one in charge of screening out the miscreants who came to the place looking for trouble, but he never acted on his own, always via uniformed proxies: auntie's actual guards. He was more of a head of security of sorts, and he usually tried to meet people with magnanimity, but more often enough nobles would go so far as to act like thugs just to get their way. It was for those times that he wore them fancy purple robes of his showing his status as the Pavilion's manager.

He saw me and waved, and the two guards in black at the front of the house both gave me a small bow.

I waved back at them all and uncle Wei lead me inside of the Pavilion's wrought iron gates—one of the few improvements to the place's security my auntie approved of. Originally, the place only had a solid wooden gate that prevented people outside from seeing in, which defeated the purpose of showing off the refined people and architecture within. So it became a compromise between security and pride. But with these, the gates could show off the inside in the morning and the wooden ones can provide further security at night.

Only after we were away from the public eye did he ruffle my hair with a smile. "Welcome back young master."

"Good to be back as well uncle Wei," I said.

He nodded. "Still pretending to be a sly merchant, I believe?"

I shrugged. "After making a sizeable fortune, I believe it's about time to expand my ventures even further."

Uncle Wei shook his head. "I'm more afraid to think you were serious."

"That depends," I said. "I don't know if I'll find a good enough manager who won't steal from under my nose."

He shivered. "Let's just get you inside before you end up deciding to overthrow this empire or something."

I waved my hand in front of me. "Bah, too troublesome."

"Aiyah, and that, is why I'm worried."

He lead me further in through the heavy wooden double doors and past a long hallway that lead into the main hall. On either side were rows of sofas, another invention of mine that combined luxurious silken cushions with simple yet elegant woods with carved in designs. Young men and women sat about engaged in small talk, all of them easily in their late teens and early twenties, when I came in, all eyes went to me.

The room went silent.

And yet on we went without a care for the attention, uncle Wei lead me up the central staircase that lead up to the residential section. Conversations restarted after we passed with a few mentions of the young boy being lead by the manager.

Another two guards stood in front of the entrance to auntie's receiving chamber. They let us in before bowing as we passed. And at last I was back to my second home. I'd spend a lot of time moving between Nuoding, here, and the sect home, and all three of them equally had places in my heart. And I guess that thing about growing with travels and adversity really did come true. I hadn't grown this fast in terms of my cultivation for so long, to actually build up almost twenty ranks of spirit power in the span of near two years.

Uncle Wei then rang a bell, and a moment or so later came a pair of delicate footsteps.

She was wearing a soft lavender robe that had goldwork incorporated into it, and when she saw me, her eyes went wide and she half-ran to close the distance between us. Auntie was usually a more refined person, but she too had her moments.

Uncle Wei left us shortly after.

"Little Jin!" she said as she pulled me into a hug. "You better have the usual." Auntie smelled of her usual wildflower perfume, even though I'd made a few others for her through the years.

Pressing flowers using hot olive oil was something not previously considered, and after a few years of introducing things I'd learned auntie gave in enough to turn them into business ventures. Now, the Moon Pavilion had a few businesses running with it as its main backer, and I had quite a few royalties paid to my name—through auntie that is.

Bras, panties, oil based perfumes, suspension springs for carriages, cotton cushions for seating, cotton pillows for sleeping, cotton duvets for bedding; most of the more esoteric technologies of my world were still outside of my reach like air-conditioning, but I knew a few things about architecture like the wind catcher towers of Egypt, or keystone style load-bearing arches, stone brick making and mortar, and my personal masterpiece: the proto-mattress using a combination of reed lattices, layers of thick linen, and finally a cotton duvet to allow for a truly luxurious bed.

I couldn't find any trustworthy managers to grow my businesses for me, but that wasn't the same for aunt Yuehua.

I summoned her dumplings from Inventory. "Of course, auntie. I wouldn't dare show my face here without a tribute."

She snatched them from my hand, then gave me one last squeeze before pulling away. Ever the tease, this one. Well, no. Not really. I just wished she was. "Your grandpas are staying at the usual villa although that school I'd told you about before had started expanding their lands in these recent years for their mimicry cultivation grounds."

That school she mentioned could only be that Blue Tyrant academy. "Hmm, interesting for them to be making enough money for that." It was a school that only took in commoners for students, as well as offered a scholarship program for those who couldn't afford their fees. It was an academy I approved of well and had I not ended up in Shrek according to uncle Xiaogang's recommendation, I might've ended up there instead. The school didn't really matter to me, only the experiences they could provide.

"About that," auntie said.

"Ah, you backed them?"

"That Liu Erlong left a good impression on me," she said. "And I thought, perhaps with a little bit more money they could even take the championship from Spirit Hall. A petty vengeance, but even a lady has her weaknesses."

I nodded. "Anything to help undermine Spirit Hall would be good." But now that I had the time to think about things, were they really the enemy? I had yet to show off my spirit to anyone from Spirit Hall, but it's not like they were downright hostile, right?

"I'm glad you agree," she said with a nod. She straightened herself out before continuing, "And now I believe you have some business to discuss?"

"As always auntie, you know me too well." I guess she enjoyed the things I found interesting enough. "I've come to know of a few curious things as well as a need for information."

She smiled. "Well?"

"So far, I've come into contact with two interesting people: Dugu Bo the Poison Douluo, and Xue Qinghe, the student of uncle Fengzhi. Anything you know on those two would be a big help."

Auntie's eyes shone like a tiger's on the prowl. "Interesting how you mentioned those names," she said. "And in what context did you come across them?"

I recounted to her the events of the dinner, then added the backstory of how we ended up in that situation in the first place all the way back to the Spirit Arena plus a few more things before that. The ant nest story was cleaned up of any gore, and the part where I had my gut opened and was only saved things to absorbing a spirit ring was left out for my sake. Then came the story of how I bumped into Qinghe and uncle Fengzhi, as well as the conversation that ensued and the surprise on uncle Fengzhi's face when I more or less indicated to him the possibility of my having twin spirits.

Auntie closed her eyes. "Interesting indeed. For that contemptible Dugu Bo to be so attached to royalty like you confirmed just now. Very interesting indeed." She walked over to one of her recliners, another of my business ventures, and sat. "There have been rumors in the nobles' circles lately how Poison Douluo was there not as a guard, but as an expert on poisons. There were rumors how the older two princes, the first and second ones, were killed via poison, and this must be a response to that."

"So you mean to say someone else poisoned the princes?"

Auntie nodded. "That's what the story circulating says." She put a finger to her cheek. "As for Xue Qinghe, he became the student of Ning Fengzhi some two or so years ago so you probably never got to ask me for that, and at the time it wasn't relevant, but now that you say he's his student, then the Seven Treasure clan has already chosen who to support."

"So the emperor was planning to abdicate the throne soon?" Auntie had already taught me that succession wars were a thing in the Heaven Dou royal family, so it was possible there'd be a fight for the crown soon enough.

"Perhaps," she said. "Although I feel it too soon to think of a connection between the two. There is a chance of course, but right now you only have your guesses to go by." Auntie loved these cloak and dagger stuff and figuring out people's secrets. It was a past time for her, and a useful hobby for the sect. We were kept up to that and in a position of relative control thanks to her and her efforts. She took well to my manner of making presumptions and confirming them, and she as well dabbled in her own little projects from time to time.

Still though, it struck me odd how the emperor would take two years to announce such an event. "Auntie, when did Dugu Bo start to guard the princes anyway?"

"About two years ago," she said. "Around the same time Qinghe was chosen by Ning Fengzi. You are thinking that is an interesting coincidence?"

"Yes," I confessed. "It seems to be the easiest choice, but as you said, things truly could have simply happened in that order of events. Although I find it strange how far away the emperor had between his abdication which there don't seem to be any rumors of." I raised an eyebrow at her. "Unless there have been?"

She sighed. "Sorry little Jin, but these nobles love to gossip too much and any information from them is bound to be embellished. And you believe Qinghe is somewhat related to the poisoning of his brothers?"

"Yeah," I said. "Because if he truly was someone who wasn't known to poisons, then shouldn't he prefer the protection of someone familiar with the tools that took the lives of his siblings? I mean, even if he had no love for them, he didn't sound like he feared poison and instead knowingly attached himself to thr Seven Treasure clan even if there was a Dugu Bo already there."

Auntie nodded. "That is not impossible, but it presumes too many things. I'll keep an eye on the situation then for any new developments."

"Thank you," I said.

Then she smiled. "Still, I find this sudden interest of yours in Qinghe rather… timely. Would it perhaps be related to him being your uncle Fengzhi's student?" There was a sly light in her eyes. "And perhaps, how close he might be in position to, I don't know, be engaged ahead of you?"

That left a blank.

"What?" I said. "I didn't say all that because I'm jealous. But instead I just found him so suspicious."

She smiled again. "If you say so, little Jin."

I waved away her teasing. "And I have another matter I'd like to discuss, but this I need grandpas Shan and Lin first since it concerns Dugu Bo and Tang San."

Auntie narrowed her eyes. "Was there something bad between them?"

"No, nothing like that. But perhaps Tang San may be able to help us shed some light on a few of our questions. He said Dugu Bo wasn't as good with poisons as people might think since the man got poisoned by his own devices."

Auntie raised an eyebrow. "Brother Hao's son knows about poisons?"

I wanted to roll my eyes, but instead settled for saying, "It's easier if I just explain it all in one go."

After that auntie changed into some less conspicuous clothes before leading me out through one of her back exits out of the Moon Pavilion. Uncle Wei came with us as a guard, likewise dressed in unmarked brown robes. We made our way towards the Blue Tyrant academy's general area and traced entered the surrounding forest from there. It was a simple matter then to follow the path of their wall until a beaten off path that eventually led to one of the still standing outposts of our old sect.

It was a sturdy little enclosure enough to house a garrison of some twenty or so people and their families, and it stood the test of time thanks to the ingenuity of the One Defense clan that had been one of our subordinate sects back then.

This little house was kept away from so many people and now only housed like one or two people who changed shifts everyday just to maintain it. And this was where my grandpas and I would stay at times whenever we visited the capital together with uncles Hu and Zhi.

Our little group of three arrived by the gates and were met by one of the two guards stationed there. He recognized uncle Wei and let us in before the other one came and guided us into the inner house where my grandpas were.

Only after we entered the little fortified house did we put down our hoods.

"Finally you visit us," grandpa Shan said. "I was starting to think you'd forgotten all about us little Jin."

Grandpa Lin rolled his eyes. "Don't listen to his sulking, he was the one excited here asking every single day when you'd visit."

"I'm not denying that," grandpa Shan said. "And little Yuehua is here as well, something big must be happening then?"

"Besides a possible plot to usurp the throne and a very real threat of a succession war in our midst," I said, "I think I have something even bigger than that."

Grandpa Shan smiled. "Well, look at that, little Jin looking for trouble for once, that's a first."

I put my hands together and rubbed them before pointing my finger tips to him. "About that, actually, it's San's plan."

"Well?" grandpa Lin said. "I'm expecting big things now."

Auntie meanwhile was just shaking her head.

I took a deep breath and said, "How would you two like to help me and San out with blackmailing the Poison Douluo?"

"Well, at least he didn't say Sword Douluo," uncle Wei said.