Chapter 48 - Storms

In Turning Leaf town, the thunder storm raged unabated while entirely different storms swept through the town behind closed doors.

In the Feng residence, Feng Lieren watched helplessly as Yu Kexin paced nervously on a balcony overlooking the garden that normally occupied much of her time. Feng Lieren still possessed the vigorous presence of a man in his prime despite breaching his fourth decade of life. Lean muscle rippled under sun-bronzed skin, sculpted by decades drawing powerful bows. Keen eyes resembling a hunting hawk's pierced beneath strong brows, set in wind-weathered features. Everything about his carriage suggested a body honed towards practical grace rather than merely show.

Currently, those battle-tested legs stretched uselessly before his wheeled chair, ephemeral wind energy bound by unseen injuries. Still, quick intelligence animated his expression as he gazed towards the turmoil outside. He remained a man accustomed to analyzing threats then handling them with elegant precision. Looking at his wife pace with worry, his heart ached with frustration at being unable to charge into the weather to bring their daughter home. For the first time since they had met, he questioned the wisdom of asking her to join him all the way out here in Turning Leaf town.

For more than twenty years the Red Moon city native had worked hard to make Turning Leaf town feel like home the way the Yu family estate had been home to her during her childhood. While many in her family didn't understand why she would move to such a small and underdeveloped place, since the day she met Feng Lieren, she'd never once regretted following him back to his hometown to start their family.

Truthfully, the wilderness of the Thundercloud forest and the surrounding area suited her as an Artist. The Feng family garden that she'd taken over showcased just how talented she was in blending wild nature with a personal aesthetic touch to inspire feelings in the people who walked her meticulously planned garden paths.

Now, however, the garden offered no solace to her storm-tossed heart. In Red Moon City, a storm like this would surely disrupt things but it wouldn't paralyze the city the way Turning Leaf town had become paralyzed. Even if a single wayward great-grandchild wasn't enough for her grandfather the Champion of the Yu family to make a move personally, there were other Warriors and Champions, not to mention the dozens of Soldiers who could be hired to brave a storm and fetch her daughter's hunting party home.

In Turning Leaf Town, however, the only available cultivators at or above the second stage were difficult or impossible to seek aid from. The few who could give assistance would only do so on ruinous terms, seeking to exploit the Feng family's moment of weakness while Feng Lieren struggled with the illness that had plagued him since a Greater Lightning Ball Python had injured him on a hunt four years ago.

"This is my fault," Feng Lieren said from his chair on the balcony. He could see fear and anxiety gripping his wife and his heart burned with shame at his powerlessness. He wanted nothing more than to charge into the storm to bring their daughter home but his crippled legs and regressed cultivation left him helpless at this moment. "I know Xi'er is out there right now trying to prove that the Feng family still has the strength to protect Turning Leaf town because I can't…. It's my fault for telling her about the Blood Rage Cougar den," he said, lowering his head in shame. "If I hadn't, she might not have been too far from home to come back before the storm broke."

"Then you really think she's out hunting?" Yu Kexin asked, her heart trembling. "There's a rumor that…."

"The rumor is utter fiction," Feng Lieren said forcefully. "Some people might believe it but only because they don't know our Xi… and they don't know Tang Qui either," he said firmly. "This nonsense about him drugging Xi and Wen, serving the menu he served his wife when they were courting, it's all nonsense. Tang Qui couldn't hurt a fly, and there's no way he served that menu to Wen and Xi."

"What gives you so much confidence?" Yu Kexin asked.

"We hadn't met yet when Tang Qui started courting Yao Ya, but at the time, Yao Ya was very similar to our Xi, the most sought-after Fairy in Turning Leaf town. Tang Qui wanted to make a big first impression when he invited her to a meal at the Four Garden's House, so he came to me and begged for help," Feng Lieren said, his voice turning nostalgic. "I told him that I'd hunt whatever he wanted, but Tang Qui said he wanted me to help him to hunt it so that he could boast of his accomplishment in hunting and preparing something for the young Fairy Yao. He didn't want to hunt something fierce, we weren't going after Thunder Mountain Boar or anything so dangerous, he thought an elegant swan deserved to dine on something refined, but difficult to obtain. He really is an artist at heart, he described his ideal prey in the same ways many described Yao Ya. When the day came to hunt the elusive Golden Wing Pheasants, I shot the first one to show him how and he fainted dead away on the spot!"

"You're joking," Yu Kexin said, drawn into the story and for a moment, forgetting her worry about Feng Xi. "He cooks for a living, he must have butchered countless fowl over the years, how could he faint at the sight of shooting a pheasant?"

"This is why I think whoever started this rumor doesn't know Tang Qui as well as they think they do," Feng Lieren said calmly. "Tang Qui does a great deal of butchery, any cook does, much less a chef of his caliber, but people who cook at home often forget that there's a difference between butchery and slaughter. Tang Qui has never at a single moment in his life been willing to do his own slaughter," Feng Lieren explained. "The man detests violence. He won't even confront unruly customers! That's why I said that Tang Qui couldn't hurt a fly. He also couldn't serve that menu to Xi and Wen, this is a terrible time of year for anyone to be hunting Golden Wing Pheasants. Tang Qui courted Yao Ya in the spring of that year, the only time you have a chance of catching those birds is when they're protecting their nests in the winter and spring before the chicks hatch. Right now, they're all searching for good hiding places to make themselves scarce for the winter."

"This is why I married you," Yu Kexin said, kneeling beside Feng Lieren and wrapping her arms around his strong torso. "People write you off too easily as a brute in the forest without realizing how sharp your mind is. I wish City Lord would make up his mind to appoint you as his deputy so you can put that brilliant mind of yours to work for everyone else."

"Hush," he said, calmly stroking his wife's hair. "He's already doing me a favor by postponing his decision while I recover. I just need to find a way to heal. That's why I'm so upset with myself over Xi right now. I know she's doing this to prove the family still stands strong so she can invite an actual Alchemist to treat my injuries instead of one of those Alchemy Novices…. If I hadn't let myself end up in this shape, she wouldn't be out there chasing such difficult prey in the middle of this storm."

"You raised her to be like this," Yu Kexin said. "She gets her sense of daring from you my love."

"And she gets her giant heart and desire to help others from you," he added, kissing the crown of her head. "She'll be back within a few days of the storm passing, I know that this won't stop her, I'm just worried about the storm damage when she gets back. Right now, all we can do is wait."

—

At the City Lord's manor, a conversation about the same topic was also playing out in the City Lord's luxuriously appointed office. No one could overlook City Lord Zhang upon entering any chamber, much less the stately center of his personal kindom. His tall, broad-shouldered frame was draped in stately gold and black robes contrasted sharply with calculating eyes piercing from beneath voluminous brows. Those heavy brows perpetually knotted, suggesting endless machinations churning behind his calm expression.

Everything about his manner screamed control hard-won then ruthlessly maintained through decades of political maneuvering. He kept his ink black hair swept to mid-back and secured by a delicate gold band carved with precise geometric designs that only fellow Scholars and Formation masters would recognize as a powerful protective charm. His narrow beard draped a full handspan from his chin, flanked on each side by the tails of his long mustache, each meticulously groomed without a single stray hair.

"So, what did the esteemed Alchemy novices have to say?" The imposing City Lord said to his eldest son, Zhang Bai, frowning in additional displeasure at his son's disorderly appearance and casual manner. In their home, he indulged his son's liberally, but within the four sacred walls of his office there was little room for personal affection or sloppy bearing.

"Alchemy Novice Mao Ailum seemed particularly upset with the whole thing. He actually lost control of his energy enough to singe the notes he was writing at the time," Zhang Bai said, flopping into an overstuffed chair and gesturing for a servant to bring a cup of wine. Frowning as the serving lady took the tray away after delivering his wine, Zhang Bai clucked his tongue in annoyance. "Father, I don't understand why you don't bring in any new serving girls. A beautiful woman highlights a fine wine," he said taking a sip.

"Enjoy the years of chasing women son," the City Lord advised with a shake of his head. "Once you're married with a concubine or two you'll find that you sleep with women less often if you're constantly chasing new sights than if you kept to the flowers in your vase. Now, what was Novice Mao so upset about?"

"Mostly that Tan Jin had beaten him to it," Zhang Bai said with a snort. "His exact words were 'if I knew that's what Tang Qui was going to do with it, I'd never have sold him that aprhrodesiac', so it seems like Tang Qui did in fact recently acquire an aphrodisiac. Alchemy Novice Wu Lin provided more details, " he continued. "He claimed that Tang Qui was very specific about the aphrodesiac he was interested in, saying that it had to be the Insatiable Night because the flavor of the aphrodesiac disappeared into his wife's favorite plum sauce."

"I see," City Lord Zhang said, tugging at his long mustache with a frown. He had hoped that there wouldn't be any evidence to support the accusations being bandied around. Tang Qui wasn't someone he considered a friend but he was a cornerstone of the cultivation community in Turning Leaf town and having him accused of drugging a pair of young fairies at his restaurant was something a City Lord couldn't ignore.

Sighing deeply, City Lord Zhang's gaze became more appraising as he considered his son. It had been five years since Zhang Bai had awakened as a Brawler and his cultivation had hit a bottleneck just shy of breaking through to becoming a late stage Brawler. Maybe this incident would give him a push he needed to learn more about being a Soldier with a mission instead of just a casual Brawler who could throw his power around. "Arrest Tang Qui on suspission of drugging Fairies Feng and Ao. See that the Four Gardens House is closed pending the results of a full investigation. The lightning storm should pass by tomorrow and we should be able to safely enter the Thundercloud Forest three days after that. I'm putting you in charge of searching the Thundercloud Forest to find Fairies Feng and Ao and to bring back Tang Jin on suspicion of using drugs to deflower women. You understand?"

"Sure," Zhang Bai said. "Arrest the old man, go look for the fairies when the lightning clears. But why do you want me to search the Thundercloud Forest? Didn't the rumors say that Tang Jin took them to Red Moon city?"

"Because I don't believe one hundred percent of the rumors," City Lord Zhang said, standing up and gazing out the window at the storm. "There's enough evidence to arrest Tang Qui and to search for the missing fairies. At the same time, both the Ao and Feng families insist that their daughters have gone hunting Blood Rage Cougars. With comments about Fairy Ao recently killing Blood Rage Cougars to protect Fairy Feng during her breakthrough, it doesn't sound far fetched for them to go hunt more, especially given the way people say Fairy Ao handled Aesthete Qing a few days ago. She seems like she's eager to flex her newfound might. I imagine you know what that's like," he said, giving his son a pointed look.

"I don't know the Ao family at all," he continued, "the last cultivator in that family was before my time. I do know Feng Lieren very well. If he truly feared for his daughter, he'd have reached out to me personally to do something. I owe him that much and more. Since he hasn't, I'm left doubting this whole thing. This is something you have to learn son. Just because I don't believe that any of this is true doesn't mean that I can choose not to act. Between the rumors, the missing cook, and the statements of the Alchemy Novices, I have no choice but to arrest Tang Qui. Not because I believe the rumors but because enough evidence exists that I cannot ignore the possibility they might be. Inaction would greatly damage the faith the people have in me as their City Lord and I cannot afford to lose their trust. You must learn to see things from multiple perspectives, if you can't do that, you're doomed to become mired in the second stage, unable to be more than a pawn of the people who can see the larger picture."

"Yes father," Zhang Bai said, downing the last of the wine and standing to leave. "Does that mean I should be gentle with Tang Qui when I bring him in?"

"It means you should understand that you represent me when you interact with him," the City Lord said firmly. "Do not behave in a way that would sully my reputation and do not allow him to behave in a way that disrespects the authority of my office. Understand?"

"That's all I needed to hear," Zhang Bai said with a smile. "I'll let you know when it's done," he said with a waive over his shoulder, leaving the room to collect a young friend before he confronted Tang Qui. He was sure that Mo Yan would be happy to come along with him to 'enact justice' on behalf of Fairy Feng!