Chương 68: Chapter 66 Interlude 13

In the imperial capital there were streets that gleamed with bright lanterns where people strolled through quiet lives, but there were also other streets where light was scarce, as if the lanterns were afraid to illuminate too much, and the people, rather than strolling, slunk about while watching everyone else as though their lives depended on it.

On one such street, wedged between a gambling den with no sign and a supposed teahouse that only opened at night, stood a liquor establishment whose name, if it had one, was buried beneath layers of dust and grease. The facade was discreet, with a single unadorned lantern that announced nothing except to those who recognized certain signals. The interior smelled of strong liquor, sweat, and damp wood.

There were low tables, worn benches, and a constant noise of glasses clinking, of voices drowned out by the music played by a musician tucked in a corner, while a barmaid, her eyes dulled from having seen too much, served jugs of drink while deftly dodging the overlong hands of some of those present. Past the main room, at the back of the establishment and beyond a narrow corridor, there was a door with an iron bolt.

Behind that door lay a private room that only some, those who recognized what the lantern at the entrance signified, knew existed. This room was not luxurious, but it was cleaner than the rest of the establishment, and the walls were clearly lined with wooden panels on which the runes of a formation designed to ensure that nothing spoken inside could be heard outside stood out. In this room, a man sat before a low table bearing a jug of liquor and two cups.

One was near the man's hand; the other was placed with care in front of an empty cushion, like an invitation that could not be refused. The silence of the room, completely isolated from the outside, might have felt suffocating to some, but for the man present it served to put his thoughts in order as he watched the door and waited. The wait did not last long. After a while the door opened and a second man appeared in the threshold.

This second man's gaze swept the room in an instant, scanning it as though expecting an ambush, but upon seeing only the first man, his expression did not change as his eyes fixed on him with hardness. The second man entered, closed the door, and finally sat down across from the first without asking permission, though a brief moment of hesitation in which he brought his hand to his waist before sitting, as if by reflex, betrayed that he was accustomed to sitting with something hanging from his belt.

The second man did not wait to be served. He simply took the jug, poured himself a cup, and drank it in one swallow, after which he set the cup on the table with a sharp crack.

"What's your reason for calling me here after your failure?" he spat without preamble.

"We handed you the target on a platter and even maneuvered to leave the Hall of Ten Thousand Talismans practically empty. And you still couldn't even make an attempt." The first man did not react to the blow or the tone. He simply exhaled a long, weary sigh, leaned slightly to one side, and produced a bulging pouch.

He weighed it for a few moments under the second man's gaze and finally dropped the pouch onto the table between them, right in the center as though it were a dividing line, landing with a dull, compact thud, as if it contained silver or something even more valuable.

"I had everything ready", the first man said at last, his voice calm.

"I had the target in my sights and had secured an escape route to get past the Nei Wei. I'd even paid in advance to be smuggled out of the city." He paused, his gaze dropping for an instant to the pouch, as if to emphasize the point about payment.

"But just as I was about to act, Master Mu appeared out of nowhere", he continued, his tone cooling as his voice carried both fear and respect upon pronouncing that name.

"And not only that, she took an interest in the target." The second man narrowed his eyes after hearing him, his fingers drumming impatiently on the table.

"So what?" he snapped.

"Since when are you scared of women? And who the hell is this Master Mu? I've never heard of her. Why did her presence make you call off the attack?" The first man looked at him for a moment, unhurried, and then, as if the explanation demanded it, poured himself some liquor and drank it in one gulp.

"Master Mu", he began in a tone of resignation.

"From what I know, is the one in charge of the escort for the caravan that brought the merchandise for the grand auction happening in a few months." The second man frowned deeper, as if the information meant nothing to him, and waited to see if the first man would continue.

"She's a Grand Master of talismans", the first man added, and the word Grand resonated through the room after he spoke it.

"And she tends to stop by the Hall of Ten Thousand Talismans practically every day to use their facilities." The second man opened his mouth, perhaps to ask for more details, perhaps to cut the conversation short, but the first man raised a hand to stop him and continued his explanation.

"As for why I'm so afraid of her", he said, his gaze hardening with a memory that was not his own but had become a collective warning.

"It's not just me. Everyone in the Hall of Ten Thousand Talismans is." The second man leaned forward in spite of himself, because curiosity was a common failing in everyone.

"The late Master Yi tried to pull rank on her shortly after she arrived", the first man continued, seeing the second man was not going to interrupt.

"He overstepped with several hints, and not-so-hints, of a sexual nature." The second man blinked once. The name Master Yi rang a bell. Although he didn't usually buy talismans outside the court's own masters, certain names simply forced their way through if they were famous enough.

"From what I've heard", the first man went on.

"The first time, she simply smiled and ignored him, acting as though he didn't exist."

"That infuriated Master Yi and he tried again a second time. But this time more aggressively, convinced that no one would tell him no and that he could get what he wanted." The first man let out a short, humorless laugh at the memory of Master Yi's habitual ways. Here he paused, and the silence stretched uncomfortably for several moments.

"And as a result", he said at last.

"What was left of Master Yi had to be collected in several pieces."

"You're shitting me", the second man said in a tone of disbelief.

"According to those who witnessed the scene", the first man added in response to the second man's outburst.

"Master Mu launched one attack. Just one. And she didn't even use a talisman to do it." The second man went still, the liquor in his cup forgotten, his eyes boring into the first man's face, searching for some sign of exaggeration, of a lie, or of cowardice dressed up as a story, but he found nothing. The first man poured himself more liquor, filling the cup a little higher this time, and drank it in one swallow, as if he needed to burn away the memory of the story he had just told.

"After that", he continued in a more measured tone.

"Everyone in the Hall of Ten Thousand Talismans considers her a walking calamity. They treat her with the utmost courtesy, with tight smiles and deep bows, but they clear out of her path as though she were the plague."

"And I", the first man concluded.

"Am not stupid enough to launch an attack on someone standing right in front of a person with that level of cultivation, whoever the target may be." With those words he pushed the pouch a little further toward the second man. The gesture was small but definitive, making his position clear.

"I'm returning your money", the first man said, though his tone made it sound as though he were being robbed.

"Even though it means I lose money I've already spent, since I paid bribes, paid for silence, and paid for an exit, and now none of it is any use." His lips pressed together for an instant, but finally he said "But I'd rather lose money than my life." The second man looked at the pouch for a moment, then raised his eyes again.

"So that's it?" he asked in a harder tone than was perhaps necessary.

"You drag me here to tell me you got scared?" The first man looked at him without blinking, as though weighing what he was about to say.

"No", he replied at last, and the word fell like a stone between the two men.

"I dragged you here so you'd understand why I didn't try. And to return this, because if you insist I try again, I'll refuse, and now you know why." Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. After those words the first man stood and headed for the exit. The movement was slow, and he didn't turn his back entirely on the second man, as though he didn't trust him not to want to tie up loose ends.

The second man followed him with his gaze, and on his face there formed a look as though he were about to say something more, a threat, perhaps. Or a reminder of debts and consequences. But the first man shook his head before the words could be spoken.

"Nothing you say is going to change my mind", he stated with a quiet certainty more unsettling than any shout.

"And if you want some advice…" He leaned forward slightly from the doorway, as though what he was about to say should not escape even within the formation.

"As long as Master Mu is interested in the target", he said, and the word target now sounded less like a commission and more like someone else's problem.

"You'd be better off not trying anything unless you have someone with enough power to deal with her, because if Master Yi's family hasn't taken reprisals, it means they're afraid too, whether of her or of whoever stands behind her." The second man pressed his lips together at that final warning, but the first man was no longer waiting for a reply. He simply turned, opened the door, and left the private room without looking back, letting the sounds of the establishment swallow him.

The door closed behind him and the second man was left alone, staring at the bulging pouch that sat in the center of the table like a reminder of what had transpired.

For a long while he simply stared at it, lost in thought, and finally he poured himself another cup of liquor and drank it in one swallow as he considered how to deliver the latest bad news to his superiors about how the target, once again, had not only managed to come through their attempts unscathed but had apparently benefited from them in some way.

And in contrast to the streets where the lanterns seemed afraid to illuminate and the people slunk about, in the capital there were also places where the lanterns not only blazed to light their surroundings, as if afraid people might not see what they illuminated, but where the people displayed themselves brazenly, as though they too were afraid that others might not notice and see them.

On one such street, one of the most luxurious hotels in the imperial capital rose in a district where the lanterns were not simple vessels of fire but pieces of craftsmanship, with cut crystal and runes so fine that an ordinary citizen would not know whether they were decoration or a real formation. This hotel likewise bore no sign advertising its name, because it did not need to advertise anything, the sheer price of a room took care of filtering who entered and who did not.

Inside that hotel, in one of the upper rooms, where the view opened onto terraced rooftops and interior gardens, Master Mu stood still before a mirror of modest dimensions.

The mirror was, at first glance, an elegant piece, with a frame of dark wood bearing inlays of gilded metal arranged in circular patterns with runes so discreet and so seamlessly integrated into the design that they could be mistaken for decoration, but which for anyone with real knowledge were a silent declaration that the mirror was something more than it appeared.

And on the glass, affixed at different points as though someone had decided to decorate the mirror with scraps of paper, hung several talismans, glowing with a faint light. But the most striking feature of the scene was that the figure appearing in the mirror was not that of Master Mu.

It was that of a man of indeterminate age wearing a luxurious but understated outfit, of a style similar to Master Mu's, and if one looked at what lay behind him, a room different from the hotel's could be made out, lit by a whiter, colder light.

The man regarded her from the mirror with a furrowed brow, as though his patience had run out some time ago and he was now merely going through the formality of expressing it aloud, while his voice reached her through the mirror not as a normal sound, but as one that seemed to originate from within the glass itself, vibrating in the room's air.

"First I agreed to let you set aside your regular duties and serve as escort for a caravan to some remote place", the man said to Master Mu, his tone that of someone who does not need to raise his voice to reprimand.

"And I did so because, in your words, you wanted a break and to visit somewhere picturesque." Master Mu tilted her head, her lips curving barely a millimeter into a faint smile at the man's words, as though his tone did not bother her in the slightest.

"And now you're spending a fortune on communication talismans", he added, the reproach growing more specific, as if that were the real cause of his displeasure.

"Just to tell me you've decided to extend your break and that you're going to remain in that place for another six months." There was a brief silence after those words as the man looked at her as though expecting a reply, but seeing that Master Mu did not answer, the man continued.

"Would you care to explain what you're up to?" he asked at last, his tone acquiring a note of exasperation.

"Have you really grown that fond of the rural life out there?" Master Mu scoffed at the man's words, a short, elegant sound that made plain what she thought of them. The man leaned slightly forward, and the reflection made it seem as though he were emerging from the mirror without actually doing so, his expression shifting. It did not soften, but it became slightly more amused, as if he had decided that since his interlocutor was who she was, his best course would be to needle her into reacting.

"Or could there be another possibility?" he continued, his tone turning a touch lighter, almost mocking.

"Have you finally found a man who can put up with you?" Master Mu, at the man's words, looked at him as though that possibility were not merely absurd but particularly offensive.

"There is not a single man in this place forsaken by the Heavens who could interest me", she replied immediately, absolute certainty ringing in her voice.

"And if you think I've spent these talismans to talk about men, then you truly are getting old." The man narrowed his eyes at the veiled insult but did not interrupt.

"I'm staying because I've found something", she continued, and now her tone took on a different shade, a more serious one.

"Or rather, someone who is particularly interesting." The man arched an eyebrow, and in his gesture there was a mixture of surprise and caution, because he knew Master Mu well enough to understand that when she took an interest in someone, it could not be an ordinary person.

"I've decided to guide this rough gem for the next six months", Master Mu added, and for the first time her smile became more pronounced.

"I need to make sure she has a solid foundation so the incompetents who call themselves talisman masters in this place don't ruin her."

"A rough gem?" the man repeated, blinking slowly, as if the phrase did not square with his mental image of that remote Empire.

"Mu Fei…" The way he spoke her name was not affectionate, but it was familiar, like someone scolding a person they had scolded a thousand times before and who still refused to listen.

"If what you want is a disciple", the man said at last, his voice hardening slightly, reclaiming the ground of reproach.

"You have plenty of promising young people right here, the same ones I've always asked you to teach."

"You know many of them would give anything to be guided by you. You don't need to stay somewhere else for that", the man told her finally, gesturing with his hand to emphasize what he was saying. Master Mu laughed at the man's words. It was not a scandalous guffaw, but it was an open laugh carrying a trace of incredulity, as though the man had just suggested that a common stone was the equal of jade simply because both were similarly hard.

"Anyone you put in front of me is useless", she replied without mercy but without deliberate cruelty.

"Especially compared to the talent I've found here." The man opened his mouth to respond, but she pressed on without giving him room to interrupt.

"What's more", Master Mu added, and now her tone turned dangerously cheerful, the kind of cheer that usually preceded her decisions that made someone else weep, the man in the mirror most of all.

"If it weren't for the fact that she's the daughter of this place's emperor and I don't want trouble with the sect that governs this Empire, I would have kidnapped her already and been on my way." The man in the mirror could not help but flinch at her words. It was not an enormous gesture, but it was brusque enough to be evident to anyone watching.

"Please don't do that", he said quickly, and for the first time his voice sounded like a genuine plea, though he still tried to maintain his composure.

"Although our dealings with the Sect of the Celestial Sun aren't the most important, every bit of business adds up." Master Mu tilted her head with an expression that many could have interpreted as innocence if they did not know her.

"Do you really think I'm that stupid?" she asked in a tone of exasperation.

"I know. That's why I said I haven't done it."

"And besides", she added, and this time her voice turned a touch more serious.

"The young woman's condition isn't ideal for an environment as competitive as the one she'd find herself in if I took her with me."

"I'm glad to hear it", the man said at last, and the phrase sounded not like relief but like resignation, as if he needed to believe her words.

"Because the last thing I need is a political storm caused by one of your impulses." Master Mu pursed her lips in a pout at the man's words, as though she considered the word impulses to be unfair. The man seemed to glance at something at the edge of his vision, as if someone had entered his room, or as if he had felt a vibration in his own mirror. His gaze strayed for barely an instant, but when it returned his expression was more urgent.

"I'd love to keep chatting", he told Master Mu, and although the phrase sounded polite, his tone made it clear he had no intention of extending the conversation much further.

"But I have things to attend to." The talismans affixed to the mirror flickered, and the glow of some weakened slightly, like a candle nearing the end of its life.

"Besides, the talismans' effect seems to be running out", the man added, his voice becoming more direct and practical.

"So listen." Master Mu remained still, but it was clear she was listening to the man in the mirror with full attention.

"I agree to let you stay for six more months", the man said, and the concession sounded as though it cost him to pronounce it.

"But after that you must return immediately, because you have duties to attend to."

"And if you decide to extend your stay further", the man said finally, a hint of threat in his voice.

"I'll have no choice but to send someone to fetch you and bring you back." In the mirror, his figure seemed to grow slightly less stable after those words, as though the glass could no longer sustain him with the same clarity as at the start, while the light of the main talisman dimmed further.

"Don't worry", Master Mu replied, her tone almost kind, though one could detect a thread of firmness beneath it.

"I have no plans to extend my stay." The man studied her, searching for cracks in her declaration, and finding none, nodded once.

"Very well", he said at last, and the word resonated through the hotel room with the weight of something that had just sealed Master Mu's fate. An instant later, the man's figure trembled. Not as if the man himself were shaking, but as if the mirror itself were vibrating, unable to sustain the connection. The man's contours distorted, the shadows of his outfit became smudges, and the talismans' glow died out one after another, like candles being extinguished. Master Mu did not move.

She only watched until at last the man disappeared entirely, the glass became glass again, and Master Mu's own reflection returned. Her own face looked back at her from the mirror, with the same calm eyes, the same impeccable posture, and the same fan resting against her shoulder. The talismans, now dark, hung from the surface like dead leaves that had once burned. But Master Mu's eyes did not fix on her reflection. They were on a recent image.

That of a girl in a wheelchair, with a gaze far too alert for her age, with a voice that tried to sound noble and grown-up but that sometimes betrayed what she truly was when she sulked or when she grew excited. A girl who spoke of basic runes the way one speaks of an alphabet and who looked at a talisman not as someone looking at magic, but as someone looking at a tool.

"Rough gem", she murmured to herself in a low voice, as though savoring the phrase.

"Yes."