The young woman bears a basket without anything in it.
---Book of Changes
"If an injury has to be done to a man it should be so severe that his vengeance need not be feared."
---Niccolo Machiavelli
///////
Jia Xu stared at the screen, the feeling of shock and horror still heavy on her chest. Just what are the gods trying to do? She could see everything she'd fought for going down the drain if that teenager went even a step further beyond the line.
The world was a mess. They didn't need a gateway to the Spirit Realm. They didn't need an obsolete order to return. They didn't need a spirit-sent.
What they did need was the goddamn ability to lead their lives without fear, and Joyce obviously didn't give a shit about that.
Jia Xu clenched the last digits of her fingers to keep herself from shaking with rage. The rest of the room wasn't faring so well. The Shaman Council and Advising Council were about to brawl over the next steps, the Chief Secretariat was staring into space with a look of horror, and the Liaison Officer was frantically scrolling through social media like there was a gun to her head.
From over the fuming head of Feng Xia, Jia Xu caught Li Peng's eye as the young man carefully watched the group. He gave her a subtle nod and she flashed back a small smile.
Feng Xia may always be more diligent in countering outside threats, but Li Peng handled inside threats like he was pre-war secret police.
"There's a new video," Liaisons Officer Rina called out. The clamor in the room reached a frenzied pitch as Rina pulled up the video.
Jia Xu flicked her eyes to the display, where an older man with somber features stared imperiously at the camera, Joyce standing a little further behind him.
A heavy pit slammed into her guts with a vengeance.
'Good Gods, the spirits would really do this to me,' Jia Xu thought through a haze of shock and anger. They would send a reckless teenager as their spirit-sent and then give her the legitimacy to become an actual threat. Did they have no ounce of pity in their veins?
Whether it was her own desperate struggles or the general shittiness of the world around her, Jia Xu couldn't accept their stupid decision.
Blinking through the blur of emotion, Jia Xu focused on the video as Mohan cleared his throat and began to speak.
"Good evening, my brethren." Mohan's voice seemed to force the entire room into an uneasy silence. Several people looked angry enough to start crying.
"I am Mohan, the Grandmaster of the Order of the Flying Dragons. I speak to you today in this capacity, on the issue of the sixth spirit-sent and the recruitment of the Canton chapter."
It was definitely official now. The man had all but declared Joyce as the Sixth Apostle, outdated terminology and all. Even so, people would still buy it, people who needed big symbols to cling to.
"Joyce Lee, the Sixth Apostle of the Spirit Realm, is the spirit-sent the Gods have gifted us to quell these restless times. I hereby declare her the rightful successor and acting director of the Order of the Flying Dragons."
He really said it like the old bastard that he was, and what was worse was that people would let him get away with it because he was a living legend. Jia Xu fought the urge to smash her head into her desk repeatedly like Feng Xia was doing.
"Having completed my duties at Yuhu Pass, I will now join my student here in Canton to continue her training, and to oversee the recruitment and management of new members. We are currently welcoming shamans and non-shamans for a variety of positions."
Mohan gave the camera a wry smile. "I am not interested in giving an eloquent speech, and I'm sure you all aren't interested in hearing one either. If you want to make something of yourself, take action. I'll look forward to tomorrow." Mohan nodded at the camera, and the camera cut off as Joyce gave the lens a thumbs up.
"We have to see if anyone in the Shaman Council's watching this! That bastard Mohan, after all he's done he still dares to make this kind of declaration! We have to make sure no one's hearts waver," an older Councilmember shouted, waving his walking stick excitedly.
"And what?" Chief Secretariat Siyun snapped back, eyes glowing with tears and rage, "Are you going to do an internal purge? You'll destroy us before that derelict fossil can do anything!"
The room promptly burst into a cacophony of argument. Jia Xu slowly closed her eyes, mapping the different ways this could go and trying to aim for the best-case scenario. She could officially declare them an enemy, and lose the hearts of a lot of foolish youngsters, which meant more people for her enemies.
She could cooperate with Taeyun to take down Joyce, citing irresponsible use of power or blasphemy or whatever she thought of, but it had the same risks as the first option in addition to the very high likelihood Joyce would simply summon a giant dragon again and kill them.
She could ally herself with Joyce, but she doubted the girl would help her against Taeyun. Rather, Mohan would probably try to co-opt the alliance into something more like a lord-vassal relationship. And then there were so many other pathways that also wouldn't work at all.
Jia Xu opened her eyes as she came to a decision. She'd have to keep the Director of the Intelligence Department behind after the meeting.
Some problems just needed to be resolved at their roots.
////////
Mohan watched the spirit-sent with quiet interest. The girl had accepted his arrival as if she'd been expecting it.
"I knew it wasn't the drama, even if the make-out scene was hot the elevator music really took the zing out of it, like Jalapeno level all the way down to white-person-taco level," Joyce had said blithely. Whatever that meant, Mohan didn't really want to know.
He was already starting to regret his decision to come out of retirement for the sake of a spirit-sent. He honestly didn't know what he'd expected of a spirit-sent who immediately chose Spade of all available spirits as her contract. The multicolored lightning storms and her stunt with the wards should have been a clue.
Mohan sighed. He supposed he had no one to blame but himself.
"The live-stream received over 3 million views, and the playback is gaining views as we speak," Kajio said to Mohan, giving a polite smile, "Thank you, Grandmaster."
Mohan smiled back. At least Joyce had the sense to grab at least one capable person who was good for more than cooking and cutting people. "Not a problem," Mohan replied. Kajio continued smiling, somewhat hesitant.
"You may speak," Mohan said. Kajio glanced back at where Selva was packing up the camera, and back at Mohan.
"I think it is necessary to discuss the new leadership structure of the Flying Dragons," Kajio said seriously, "Things are going live by noon tomorrow, we need a coherent organization before that." They both glanced at Joyce, who was half asleep.
"Perhaps we should bring it inside then," Mohan said. Kajio nodded at Spade, who promptly shook Joyce awake.
"What's happening now?" Joyce asked groggily.
"Meeting," Spade replied. "Get up."
They trekked back to Kajio's house, Joyce looking more alert by the time they arrived. Mohan looked at the Salehrad house.
'Definitely a valuable ally,' he thought to himself. Between Spade's protectiveness and Kajio's capabilities, the spirit-sent may just have good instincts in choosing people after all. That would be so much more assuring if she wasn't such an unhinged child.
"So what're we talking about?" Joyce asked as they settled down.
"Leadership structure," Spade told her. Kajio nodded solemnly at them, and then again politely in Mohan's direction.
"Since there are now more than two people, I thought it would be...advisable," Kajio said lightly, but Mohan didn't miss the tinge of exasperation in the man's voice. Selva raised an eyebrow and held back a laugh.
"Certainly," Mohan said, "As I declared before, I fully intend to teach you, but as to how that would be integrated into the structure of the Order is another problem. For one, I wasn't actually the Grandmaster until you declared it so."
Joyce gave him an apologetic look. "I'm sorry I made you say it on national television," she said, even though it hadn't actually been national television. Mohan decided not to comment on that.
"In the history of the Order, the spirit-sent is the leader of the organization, holding the position of Grandmaster, with a Chairman for administrative functions beneath him. Obviously, we have already announced to the world that this is not the case here. But there has only been one other spirit-sent within China during its entire history, so I do not anticipate these changes to pose a problem to our legitimacy or operations," Mohan said, carefully watching the spirit-sent's face for a reaction.
If she was someone who was too power-hungry, the spirit-sent would be very dangerous. Too dangerous, actually.
Even if it wasn't something he particularly wanted to do, Mohan wouldn't hesitate to carry out the other function of the Order. They may have been created to serve a spirit-sent, but they also existed to eliminate spirit-sents when it was necessary.
"Yeah, whatever," Joyce shrugged. "But I won't be made to summon anything or wreck anyone against my will. If anyone is willing to try, they can suck it. Also, I'd probably punt them into the Spirit Realm, but otherwise, whatever. So does that make Kajio the Chairman?"
"You're the one who went viral for a reason," Kajio shot back, exasperation openly displayed on his face.
Mohan nodded slowly. "It's good to have self-preservation and magnanimity in due measures," he said, "and certainly no one within the organization would have any such power over you. On the other hand, it is imperative to the nature of the organization that the Chairman be a shaman."
Joyce nodded back. "So do you mean me or are we hiring someone else and I sign on as a mascot?"
"That's not an option," Mohan said drily, "It is of great importance that you take the position of Chairman if not the Grandmaster."
"Dude, what are you even trying to do at this point?" Spade asked Joyce in exasperation. Joyce stared straight at Mohan.
"What I want to know is what Mohan wants to do. It's rightfully his organization that I've totally hijacked, and with all my heart, my bad," Joyce said seriously.
"I wanted to not let Jia Xu and Taeyun kill each other and still manage to take the Northern Expedition, and I need Spade and Kajio and Selva. Kudos to you guys. Anyway, I don't have the right to stop Mohan, but I reserve my right to moonwalk out." She ended with a thumbs up. Kajio looked at her with a scandalized glare.
"And have you considered the consequences of doing so?" Mohan asked lightly. Kajio and Selva glanced between them a little nervously, probably trying to figure out how quickly they needed to run to not get fried. Spade clenched his sword as he got ready for a fight.
Joyce looked at Mohan thoughtfully. "I have, and honestly, it's going to be a little messy. But four factions could do alright. Even if mine will end up being tiny, I think it won't be any less than what I expected before you came around. Neither Taeyun and Jia Xu can actually take me out, but I can do that to them.
As for you, I doubt we'd throw down anyways, but if we did I'm gonna be blasphemous again, sorry Ling Guang. Either case, even if I can't get to the whole Northern Expedition step, I can at least extend the situation in Canton for a good stretch. No slap fights if I can help it," Joyce said. From the glances Spade and Kajio were shooting her, neither of them were expecting that.
At least Mohan was not alone in trying not to feel surprised. He'd been surprised when she'd started shoving Ling Guang into the pathway like they were in a low-budget heist comedy, but he actually was a little surprised that she had put thought into what she was doing.
The question was if Kajio and Selva would even go with her, Mohan thought with bitter amusement. Then again, their reactions seemed to prove her right. Spade shifted, a pained look on his face as he turned towards Joyce.
"That's more than one step," Spade said, "Please don't try anything that takes more than one step to do."
"Given your track record, I have to agree," Kajio chimed in. "Hopefully it can still work if I tweak the idea just a little."
"Guys, please, I need money so anything with property damage is no," Selva said.
Mohan smiled a little. He'd almost forgotten how young people could be, with all the young soldiers he'd seen with their bravado and macho manliness that channeled itself through violence.
"If you've already thought of it, then I'm satisfied. Of course it's not necessary. The decisions are in your hands, spirit-sent. I only hope that you might heed my advice when it is relevant to your cause," he said in a much gentler tone.
Joyce gave him a smile as though the earlier conversation never happened. "Cool. Anyway, you're already the Grandmaster, and I'm the Chairman even though I don't have a business degree." Mohan decided not to ask why she needed a business degree for the position.
"So who's going to be the Vice-Chair and who's going to be the Operational Director and all the other positions?" Joyce asked innocently.
"There's more than two positions left," Spade sighed. "I already listed them for you earlier."
"Sorry dude, I kinda forgot after I fell asleep," Joyce said meekly.
"It's true that the positions of Vice-Chairman and Operational Director are particularly important to the future of the organization," Mohan added.
"Three people, two seats. Fight to the death," Joyce added cheerfully.
"She's kidding," Spade clarified to the room.
"Kajio should be Operational Director if that position is what it sounds like, Kajio is a real CEO character," Joyce said.
Kajio shrugged. "As long as you leave the actual planning to me, I hardly mind."
"Spade would make a good Vice-Chair. Between him and Mohan, people would actually take you seriously when you're not summoning dragons," Selva said. At Joyce's exaggerated outrage, he shrugged helplessly. She dropped the act and gave him a thumbs up.
"If everyone's alright with it," Spade said. Mohan silently stared at what appeared to be the most civil session of delegating leadership roles.
Any other such session he'd seen had been much more heated and violent, with thrown bricks, broken bottles, accusations of infidelity, accusations of infertility, and actual raw hunks of meat flying through the air like daggers. Notably separate from the actual daggers, which tended to come out later in the sessions.
"What about you, Selva? CIA? KGB? MI6?" Joyce urged.
"I don't know what any of those means, but gimme something in the Intelligence Department and a paycheck and I'll shut up," Selva offered.
"I would recommend him for Director of Intelligence, if there is such a position. He is an excellent investigator and has the suitable people skills for management," Kajio said.
"Boom, it's done." Joyce made finger-guns at Selva who made them back. Mohan fought the urge to slap his own face.
"Looks like I've got my work cut out for me," Mohan muttered under his breath.
"Sorry, what? I didn't catch that," Joyce said.
"Nothing," Mohan said louder. "Just a change of pace to be among youths again.
"Youths," Joyce snickered. Whatever the hell was funny about that, Mohan didn't really want to know.