68 Monitor Leng

There was a moment of confusion as everyone realised they had been returned to the Audience Hall; then the Head Guard took two very large steps to one side and was suddenly holding the wrists of the two dismissed Elders where they held the weapons above their heads.

"I appreciate your agreement, Fellow Cultivators," his voice rumbled out, "however, you will understand that I insist you relinquish your knives and come with me to the Valley of Self Reflection."

Both Cultivator's eyes widened and they quickly released their weapons, bowing their heads. "There was no intention to cause trouble, Head Guard. We only wished to express our support for the Heir."

The Head Guard released their hands and picked up the weapons as the other Elders sheathed their own. Dàilán saw him bring a jade tablet to his mouth as he walked back towards the dais where the Sect Leader had retaken his chair.

"That is well enough," spoke the Sect Leader from his seat, "but the Council has judged you unfit for your previous positions and the sentence is to be carried out immediately. An Order will be issued for Enforcers to investigate your network of contacts for similar corruption. Your households will be placed under the supervision of the Sect with assets to be redistributed as appropriate to redress injustice, whether to the Sect or individuals."

"Do not punish my family… it was only me," begged one of the ex-elders, throwing himself to the floor and kowtowing towards the Sect Leader.

The other ex-Elder shook his head, "Stop making a fool of yourself Noei, you know the Sect Leader will act justly, unlike ourselves."

He nodded to the Head Guard, who made a hand sign to a number of uniformly dressed figures who had come in through the main entrance of the Audience Hall. Four of them came up to restrain the ex-Elders, two of them hauling the kowtowing Cultivator to his feet - then escorting both ex-elders out of the Audience Hall.

The Head Guard turned to face the remaining Council, Dàilán and Chénli, picking his words with care. "The Enforcers guarding the Hall report that discussion was heard, a moment of silence, then I called them in to escort the disgraced Elders away."

Everyone glanced at each other. "Terribly handy that," drawled one of the Elders, "I vote we ask the Heir to organise all future meetings similarly."

There was general laughter, and one wit called out, "Some people will do anything to hear themselves talk longer."

"We should discuss the tournament," remarked another Elder.

"Under the circumstances," interjected the Head Guard, "this is not something the Heir or I need to be present for, if you will excuse us, Sect Head? I am sure you can represent your granddaughter's interests?" He moved over to Dàilán and Chénli, "If you please, Sect Heir," he motioned to the doorway of the antechamber they had previously been waiting in.

"With your leave, Grandfather, Elders…?" Dàilán turned and bowed to each party.

"Of course, of course," the Elders and the Sect Leader gave cheerful assent, her Grandfather smiling with pleasure at the envious looks the other Elders were giving him as they looked between her and him.

As the two young women moved to follow the Head Guard, Dàilán clearly overheard one Elder sighing, "Such a good seed, Sect leader, you are fortunate… say, I have a son, only a year or two older than your granddaughter…"

A sharp female voice interrupted the first, "Humph… your son is a waste, my Grandson on the other hand…!"

"Bah - you all think too narrowly, my great-granddaughter is more outstanding than either of your useless descendants and she would do well as a companion to the Heir…" A third voice overrode the others, leading to a swell of shouting and exclamation as the chamber behind them exploded into a confusion of the Elders all trying to put forward relatives. An irritated growl sounded out behind them as the Sect Leader tried to regain control of the situation.

Dàilán's ears burned scarlet as they left the Hall, "These old… how thick is their face!?" she hissed to Chénli, but growled at her friend's stifled snorts of amusement from behind her, which did not help her distressed embarrassment.

"Everyone and their idiot third cousin wants to marry me off," she huffed in frustration, "as if I have time for that sort of foolishness when everything is on the verge of flying apart," she stalked over to one of the benches in the Antechamber, stamping her right foot down in anger with a sharp crack as she spun on the spot and flung herself down on the cushions

Chénli shrugged and sat more sedately beside her, "You reach your majority next summer, you are strong, skilled, intelligent, beautiful as well as politically connected, powerful and wealthy. With all that - it is more of a surprise you have - not - been engaged yet."

The Heiress gave her friend the stink eye. "All those things apply to you too, 'Heir Guard'. In fact, you are past your majority by a year - should we be looking for your partner?" She laughed at Chénli's glare and grumbled, "I should think being strong and smart would have deterred most… suitors and their families anyway."

"Only for the wastes, Heir," rumbled the Head Guard as he closed the door behind him and Dàilán straightened up sheepishly.

"Now, you said you noticed formations monitoring the Council Hall, Heir," the Head Guard rumbled as he made a gesture and another sect member walked in from the other entry and bowed, "This is Monitor Leng, who specialises in Formation cracking, monitoring and security. Please show the Monitor where you see the intruder Formations." He turned and fixed a stern glance at the other person, "Monitor Leng, this is the Sect Heir. Act appropriately."

"Or, I start cutting things off," interjected Chénli, looking narrowly at the Monitor.

The young man shrank back and then nodded furiously, responding with a reedy male voice, "Yes, Enforcer Fuan…"

"En? Someone you know?" asked Dàilán, looking at her friend in curiosity.

"Monitor Leng is a Formations genius," replied Chénli, still keeping an eye on the Monitor as he started pulling out tools and brushes, "Unfortunately, he is bad at everything else, especially behaving appropriately around women."

"Only Fairies and Goddesses," said the Monitor who was still pulling various odd looking things out from everywhere, "but this is a job now. And a puzzle. We sweep the Hall every day. There is nothing here. But you say there is." His voice changed as he spoke the last sentence, losing inflection and gaining focus as he looked intently at the walls.

"I see," responded the young Heiress, standing up and walking over to stand a little way behind the Monitor to watch what he was doing, "Puzzles are interesting?"

"Make more sense than people," answered the Monitor, still in that abstracted tone as he passed a strange rod covered in formation script over the walls. A strange shimmer of translucent, glowing Essence emanated from the length of the rod and passed into the wall as he moved it slowly over the surface, flickering between blue, yellow and green.

After a moment he shook his head. "No Formations detected," and pulled the rod away from the wall, "move aside please," he requested as he turned ninety degrees to face the next wall and started to walk towards it.

Dàilán shook her head, "Wait," she commanded sharply. Closing her eyes, she ran through the meditation sequence from the old bamboo strip book again. It had almost become automatic for her and her Essence was flowing smoothly within moments. Breathing in, she trickled out a small pulse of Essence out like she had previously.

Moments later she sensed the same returns as last time. With her eyes still shut she pointed out the active Formations she could sense - presumably with the Heart grabbing everyone monitoring them so suddenly, no co-conspirators had yet had a chance to discover they were missing and deactivate them.

"There. There… another over here." She pointed her finger at the spots she got returns from.

Opening her eyes, she watched as the Monitor shrugged, walked over and waved his tool over the last spot she indicated.

"Nothing." Came the deadpan response.

"Surely, you have some other tools than that stick," huffed Chénli as she stood up behind her Mistress with her hands on her waist.

"Bah, ice witch," spoke the young Monitor with a dismissive tone, "What do you know? What stick! This is a very elaborate Formation probe - I have even modified this one especially to be very sensitive and to detect unusual formations that the standard Formation examination wand does not have. It is the most advanced..."

"If my mistress says there are Formations there, they are there. Your small twig is useless," scoffed Chénli in reply, rolling her eyes.

"What, exactly, are you doing to locate these formations, Apprentice Xiùyīng," questioned the Head Guard from the door in his deep voice, looking directly at Dàilán.

The bickering slid to stop as Chénli spun to face the Head Guard, her mouth dropping in astonishment as the Monitor took a surprised step back.

"Senior?" asked the Heiress uncertainty, "Are you addressing me?"

"Given the capabilities you have demonstrated, it is the appropriate rank," answered the Head Guard straightforwardly then turned to the Monitor, "Monitor Leng, the Heiress' rank is classified. If anyone asks, she is a Novice."

"Understood," the Monitor stiffened and bowed.

Dàilán frowned, "I am Guan. Why refer to me by my Mother's name?"

"In the Sect, it is your Mother's name that is important - not your Father's," replied the Head Guard.

Dàilán sighed and looked askance at the young man that the Head Guard had just casually revealed a bunch of sensitive information to, "Under the circumstances, you will not object if I have him checked?"

The Head Guard shrugged, "Monitor Leng is a pervert, but he is my one of my most trusted Monitors - he is otherwise devoted to the Sect and his work. But I have no objections."

"Teacher!" came an aggrieved wail from Monitor Leng, "How can you sell me out like this...!"

Chénli cackled evilly, "Hah, ruffians will come to bad ends," she pointed at the Monitor happily, "Now you will pay for trying to peak on me that time."

"I was testing the modifications to the surveillance Formation," he shot back, hopping up and down on the spot with spittle flying as he defended himself, all traces of the focused expert gone, "It was a fortunate… I mean... unfortunate coincidence..."

The young Heiress rolled her eyes and focused her thoughts, then pushed them towards that sense of the Heart of the Sect. Monitor Leng froze in mid hop, then crashed to the ground, shaking.

A small scroll appeared next to her feet and Dàilán opened it up to read and nodded, "He is loyal. The Heart finds him interesting and amusing. It approves of his single minded devotion to solving intricate puzzles and Formations."

Dàilán snorted, "From what am feeling, I swear the part of the Heart that is Mother thinks his attempts to look at you hilarious, Chén'er." Her eyes widened, ignoring Chénli's pout, "Oh… I did not know the Heart could do that…"

The Head Guard plucked the scroll from Dàilán's hands before she even registered he was beside her. "Hmm, ah. I see. Interesting."

"What?" asked Chénli with interest.

"The Heart crammed a lot of information into his head related to Formations - lots of Soul Essences from many Formations Masters, including Mother, are in the páifāng - he probably does not feel good right now." answered the young Heiress, "It also put a restrictive Formation on him that means he cannot act maliciously against us."

"My head is going to explode," groaned the young man on the floor, "How are you all still here? I have been forced to study with Formation Masters for a lifetime."

"Time stops outside for the person in the Heart," answered the Head Guard, "From our perspective you simply froze in mid jump then fell to the ground. Absolutely fascinating to observe it from the outside."

"Ugh. Heiress, your Mother is a Demon. She says to come and visit when you have time." He slowly rolled to his feet holding his head, "Thank the Gods - the headache is diminishing."

He bowed to the Head Guard and spoke calmly, "Senior, I request that I be assigned to the group of Sect Experts that will be rotated through the Guan Compound. Lady Xiùyīng was most insistent on this point - the protective Formations at the Guan Compound are deteriorating despite her best efforts to hold them together via the Heart. The combined knowledge that I was required to study is to revive lost legacies in Formations for the Sect - and as payment for the Order requested by Lady Xiùyīng."

"Is my Mother alive?" asked Dàilán calmly, but the stillness of her body betrayed her intent.

Monitor turned to face her and bowed respectfully, "Reporting to the Heiress, it is possible. However the portion of her Soul Essence within the Heart could not confirm the possibility - and does not wish to raise false hope. It is only that your Mother's Essence remains much more coherent than normal in the Heart, compared to those who are dead. But she cannot sense herself outside the Heart."

The young man's voice had turned solid and focused again. "Soul Essences belonging to living people are usually always connected, that is how the knowledge and skills are saved by Soul Essences placed in the heart many years previously - so it is strange."

Monitor Leng paused then shook his head and continued. "Lady Xiùyīng has theorised, that perhaps because she used her Soul Essence in the protective Formations in your House compound, the extra amount of her Soul Essence being still in the World might be helping her stay more coherent and individual from the rest of the combined Soul Essence from the other dead Cultivators that are part of the Heart."

"Thank you for explaining," Dàilán bowed briefly to the monitor who returned it, "I am glad at the very least, I will have a chance to speak with my Mother again at some point."

"The Founder truly was remarkable," murmured the Head Guard from the side, "from the beginning they sought to make sure the Sect would not lose knowledge and skills."

"As long as the Heart is not destroyed, the Sect can survive and rebuild from the worst calamity," agreed Monitor Leng, "something we may be grateful for soon. It estimates that a crisis is unfolding - as the Heir Guard and the Heiress suspect."

The Heiress turned to the Head Guard, "If you can assign Monitor Leng to the group of Sect members, I would be grateful."

The Head Guard nodded, "You seem to be the focus of everything, so it would be worthwhile. Monitor Leng will still make regular reports to me, however."

"He can come back to the Sect with me each time I report then," said Chénli, looking at the young man seriously.

"Probably a good idea that you do not travel alone anymore." agreed the Head Guard. His upper lip twitched, "Returning to the original topic, can Apprentice Xiùyīng demonstrate her technique?"

"It is just something I learnt from an old set of bamboo strips," explained the Heiress, "You sort of - push - a few drops of Essence out, and watch to see any interaction with other active Essence sources. It splashes off of them - so people, active Formations, Essence herbs and Beasts - some of the Essence always returns like an echo… so you can pinpoint it, if you practice."

"You can see Essence?" inquired the Monitor, "Have you always been able to?"

"More like feel it? And, I am not sure," replied the Heir quietly, "but definitely since I started practising the meditations in the book I found. Before that, Cultivation had started to be painful."

"OK. Please wait a moment…" the young man returned to his tools and grabbing an inscriber started tracing out a large Formation pattern, "This should be able to also catch any Essence that echoes back - I believe what you are describing used to be common a few thousand years ago, but fell out of practice when we found better sensing techniques."

"About your Cultivation, you should speak to the Sect Healers," interjected the Head Guard as the monitor worked on the Formation, "it sounds like the Guan techniques are not suited for you. They should have the techniques your Mother used. You should see if they suit you better."

"I did discreetly ask my Master," Chénli spoke up, "but she has not provided any advice as yet."

"I will speak to the Head Healer," responded the Head Guard firmly, "He can organise a confidential scan of your Essence Elements and recommend appropriate Cultivation techniques. Perhaps directly after the tournament - you will need to see the Healers to have any injuries seen to. No one will even know a scan was required."

The Heiress nodded stiffly, "I will need to keep the Clan from finding out. They would not be pleased if I cannot Cultivate with Guan techniques - some would move to require me to step down as Third House Heir."

"I will speak to the Head Healer directly," assured the Head Guard, "Unless it concerns Sect security I will not discuss it with anyone else."

The Heiress bowed her thanks, then turned her attention to the Formation the Monitor was still inscribing, Essence forming glowing characters and patterns flowing from the tip of his inscriber as he traced it on the surface of the floor. "First Cousin would love this," remarked Dàilán, crouching down to watch, "I know a few self-taught tricks, but she is the Formation Master, not me.

"Is your Cousin beautiful as well?" asked the Monitor as he drew out the Formation.

"Still perverted," growled Chénli as she came up behind the young man.

"I was taught control by the Heart, so I will not press my attention without consent," replied the Monitor coolly as he wielded the inscriber, "but I still notice Fairies and Goddesses."

"Well, the Gi Clan Heir is courting my First Cousin, so show respect," warned the young Heiress, fighting a smile.

"Gi Chian's skills with Formations and his disinterest in anything else is well known," responded the Monitor, his eyes focused on his work, "your cousin must be a Formations Genius for him to notice her. Sounds like being on the Guan Order will be interesting," he straightened up and nodded to Dàilán, "Could you activate your technique again please?"

The young teen Heir nodded and trickled Essence out again. As the Essence bounced back to her, the Formation started to glow and four beams of light stabbed out from the new Formation to pinpoint various spots throughout the antechamber, then started shifting back and forth along specific paths.

"That matches the locations I can see the formations," confirmed Dàilán as she watched the lights move back and forth.

"En." The Formations Master started running tools along the path marked out by the nearest beam of light, with increasingly frustrated muttering.

After about a fēn of increasingly elaborate attempts, with more and more oddly shaped items, including one that emitted puffs of glowing smoke, the Monitor let out a satisfying bark, "Hah. Active security, obscurity… but I got it… damn… Teacher, this has been here a while."

The Head Guard growled. "Uncover the others. Will the Formations Circle be able to unearth the rest once you pinpoint it?"

The Monitor was already scrambling over to the next point, answering absently, "Once I unpeel a point, sure. I will call them in now…" He pulled out a small jade tablet with one hand and activated it; speaking into it rapidly while starting to repeat his earlier procedures with the other hand on the ceiling

A few fēn later a whole group of sect members, of both genders and all ages, with a similar look to Monitor Leng, came in. Monitor Leng gathered them up and they started discussing the situation in urgent tones, with much gesticulating and shaking of heads at the glowing Formation and whatever Monitor Leng was pointing out, while talking rapidly in what sounded like a foreign language - Dàilán could only understand one word in four or so.

"We will leave them to it," said the Head Guard gruffly, opening the door back into the Audience Hall as Chénli started glaring back at a few people who kept pausing and looking over to steal glimpses at the pair of young women, "The Sect Head has requested we return to the Audience Hall. The Council has decided how they will proceed."