Chapter 69 - A Small Piece of Justice

Zhang Bai held his hands up, the three rings he wore on each hand glinting in the mid-morning light. "There is a great deal that needs to be made right Fairy Feng," he said, his voice containing an odd element of anger and steel. "I'll add to the list that Soldier Tang's family has been treated most unjustly because someone spread rumors that Aesthete Tang Qui had been responsible for drugging your meals on behalf of Tang Jin. The Four Gardens House has been closed, Tang Qui and Yao Ya have been jailed," he added, his sharp brows furrowed in a dark expression. "More, the rumor seems to have been started by an assistant in Tang Qui's kitchen but the cook himself was found dead, his body hastily hidden in one of the gardens of the Four Garden's House. It looked like he had been mauled by someone wielding a chef's cleaver."

"What?" Tang Jin shouted, his bloody aura surging. "You arrested my parents!"

"Peace Soldier Tang," Zhang Bai said, his hand dropping to a string of six jade beads at his waist, ready to feed his spiritual energy into the protective formation his father had made for him before he set out into the Thundercloud forest. In fact, many of Zhang Bai's accessories carried his father's work, whether it was the six tortoise figures of carved onyx that hung from his hairpin to the six silver clouds embroidered on his azure blue robes, many of the things he carried could be used to prevent him from losing his life when facing a greater threat like a Soldier with superior cultivation. "I'm not as angry as you are, I won't claim that, but my father and I have been played like puppets by someone and I feel that I know who the person is, or at least who one of the agitators is." 

"Who?" Ao Wen asked, a dangerous fire burning in her eyes. 

"The Mo family," Zhang Bai said. "Mo Yan has been all too 'helpful' in this endeavor. It wasn't until he started jumping out and insisting that we arrest Soldier Tang that I realized just how often he's made himself a part of this. It isn't just today's actions either. He was the one who cast suspicion on Madame Yao Ya. I have a hunch he also knew about the dead man," Zhang Bai said, his sharp eyes narrowing as his mind spun rapidly over details that seemed inconsequential not long ago. "The body was discovered by Ming Ranran, she failed in the Awakening ceremony this year and she's been taking it fairly hard. My seventh brother Zhang Bo was entertaining her in the gardens when she sniffed out the body."

"Why was your brother with Ming Ranran," Feng Xi asked, surprised by the youngest of the City Lord's children to be with such a common woman. "She doesn't seem like his type, she hasn't awakened, the only cultivator in her family is her grandmother who was a low-level Brawler a hundred years ago, and while she's very pretty, she doesn't meet the general standard for your brother to pursue." 

"Huh," Zhang Bai said. "Now that you mention it, she's really not his type. If fairies will pardon my crudeness, he truly does prefer women of more ample curves and refined hobbies. I think he's been smitten by Fairy Feng for so long that he may be chasing her reflection in other women he pursues," he explained, ignoring the dark looks directed his way by both Ao Wen and Feng Xi. "But looking back, I see Mo Yan's hand again. My brother came home from his evening with Ming Ranran very upset. He ranted that his perfect evening had been spoiled because of this, even after Mo Yan introduced him to Ming Ranran and secretly told him that her awakening hadn't been successful but that it had stimulated her bloodline, placing her in a state similar to a hound in heat."

Ao Wen and Tang Jin both looked ready to explode at this point. Small flames could be seen drifting up from Ao Wen's hair and shoulders and several leaves at her feet began to smolder. "Ming Ranran's family are pure-hearted treasures. Even if they don't awaken, they've used the bloodline of the Thousand Li Bloodhound to find innumerable people who become lost in the Thundercloud Forest whenever there's a sudden storm. They're kind and gentle and loyal and no one should be taking advantage of someone like Ming Ranran in a moment where she's feeling vulnerable about failing to awaken. Zhang Bai, your little brother truly is something special." 

"Unfortunately," Zhang Bai said, attempting to quickly move past his even more scandalous brother's involvement in this, "at the moment I only have a chain of coincidences. It isn't enough to arrest Mo Yan. He can easily claim to be misled by the same information others held. That doesn't mean I'll let this pass, however," he said in a voice as sharp and cold as the sword at his waist. "Fairy Feng asked what I would do to make things right. I'm afraid I can't do much at the moment but I can start with dispensing a small piece of justice. Alchemy Novice Mao!" Zhang Bai snapped. 

"What? I didn't do anything," the frightened alchemist said. Strong for a scholar might be and he was accustomed to throwing around his status to get his way but it had become very clear that status alone wouldn't protect him from the claws of a person who could tear apart a Thunderclap Black Bear with his bear hands! 

"You breached the trust of Aesthete Tang Qui. While it does not count as full restitution of your wrong, you will use the best of the medicines you're currently carrying to tend to Soldier Tang's injuries before we return to the other members of this party," Zhang Bai's tone brooked no argument, leaving Mao Ailum little choice but to bring out his best medicinal pastes and begin to tend to Tang Jin's wounds. 

Ao Wen looked on, privately judging Alchemy Novice Mao's skills and the quality of the medicinal pastes he applied. She couldn't find fault with any actions, he seemed to be doing the best he could with very limited resources. His thick and meaty fingers were deft even if they weren't gentle and while slow to the point of making Ao Wen's fingers twitch with a desire to get things done herself, he was still faster than Ao Wen would have been without the use of her left arm. She felt that at best, he would have found a place in the Sacred Flame Celestial Temple's Outer Sect but that if he didn't improve significantly he'd quickly be relegated to a chapterhouse like the one Ao Wen had lived in as an orphan. There was no way that a person who took so much time to clean wounds and apply bandages for a single patient would ever be useful in the hellish medical tents that she'd worked in when cleaning up after a Yin Fiend Transformation outbreak. His patients would have died waiting to receive treatment!

"Since we have to get Jin's parents out of jail and clean up the rest of this mess," Ao Wen said, frustration coming through with every word. "We should head immediately back to Turning Leaf town. I don't want Jin's family to suffer one moment longer. Can we trust that you'll keep Mo Yan away from us while you gather your evidence or do we need to deal with him ourselves?" 

"I'll manage things," Zhang Bai said, desperately wanting to reduce the hostility that he felt from the Fiery Dancer. "Fairy Ao, is there anything I can do for you? Do you need Alchemy Novice Mao to treat your arm?"

"It's enough that he's cared for Jin," Ao Wen said, trying to pull back on her own flames. Zhang Bai was involved in this mess to be sure but none of it seemed to be his fault. He acted on the orders of his father the City Lord, he did acted immediately when the truth became clear and he was also being played like a zither by Mo Yan. She could at least show him some courtesy. "I thank Brawler Zhang for his fair handling of these issues. If the opportunity to say so in front of the City Lord presents itself, this Ao won't hold her tongue silent," she said formally.