Kajio paced back and forth anxiously. He pounced on his phone the second it began to ring.
"Joyce?" He said into the phone.
"Kajio, that was a total mess," Joyce said from the other side of it. "I'm so sorry dude."
"Never mind that, are you alright?" Kajio asked.
"I'm fine, Spade's fine, Han Gai's fine, and my driver's fine too," Joyce reported dutifully. Kajio let out a sigh of relief.
"Thank the spirits," he said, giving a silent prayer of thanks.
"We're heading over to Ruohan's location right now," Joyce said.
"Good, we've confirmed she's on the third floor, so you could just head straight in," Kajio said.
"Yeah, but to be honest I don't really know what to do other than scream at her and threaten her a bit. Extortion? Blackmail? Straight up rob her?" Joyce sounded genuinely worried. Kajio paused for a second.
"You're moving discreetly, right?" Kajio asked. Joyce gave a positive response. Kajio hesitated a little more before continuing.
"If Ruohan won't willingly help you," Kajio said slowly, "You should get rid of her for good. She's extremely clever and cunning, and rich to boot. If you can't get her, you can't allow her to turn elsewhere either."
Despite her silence, Kajio could tell Joyce was mulling on it.
"You could leave it to Han Gai," Kajio added on.
"I'll think about it," Joyce finally replied. "Anyways, thanks."
"It's fine," Kajio sighed. "Whatever you choose to do, just make sure you can take responsibility for your people's lives."
"Okay," Joyce promised. "I will."
/////////
"The Shaman Council and Hengshan Association have both sent messages to thank us," Kui said gleefully. "And both of them want to meet to discuss future partnerships!"
Ruohan smirked. "Hengshan, no need to think about it," she said confidently. "Even if they get to a slow start, they'll really take off when they take off."
Reihe gave a worried sigh. "You haven't even dealt with the Apostle yet," he reminded her. "At least check what's happening there!"
Ruohan shrugged. "Either way, she can't lay a hand on me," she said confidently. "Not if she wants to keep the Alliance stable."
"Um, Miss," Yutian said, a note of apprehension in her voice. "All of the surviving shamans have surrendered." Ruohan turned towards her with a confused expression.
"What? I didn't think they would," Ruohan said.
"Well, the Apostle attacked all of them at once. Some of them are in critical condition, and the rest are scared out of their wits," Yutian said. She passed Ruohan a tablet to show the social media posts on it.
"This can't be good," Yutian urged. "We should take shelter elsewhere for now."
Ruohan looked at the livestream under the Flying Dragons account with shock. It showed Spade standing before a throng of terrified shamans in Wu Peifu's uniforms huddling on the ground. Spade faced the camera with a calm expression.
"All shamans who surrender will be given a chance to rehabilitate into civilian life or to join the Flying Dragons," Spade was saying.
"Oh shit," Ruohan muttered, a strange sense of apprehension creeping up her neck. She had expected that the Flying Dragons would either take longer or take no prisoners, but that evidently wasn't true.
A strong gust of wind knocked against the windows. Ruohan looked through a crack in the curtains with a growing sense of anxiety.
"Miss!" Yutian screamed. A window imploded as a cyclone slammed into it. Reihe screamed, jumping into Kui's arms as the glass flew across the room in thousands of sharp, shiny slivers.
"Oh shit," Ruohan said again. The cyclone fell apart into a swirling wind, revealing the duo standing in the center of it.
A young girl glared at Ruohan with blazing eyes, a man with a giant sword in his hands behind her. Gusts of wind knocked around the room, upturning every piece of furniture and smashing all the windows. Everyone else screamed but Ruohan, who was frozen in place under the glare of the Sixth Apostle. There was a rumble of lightning in the sky.
"So you're Hu Ruohan," Joyce said coldly. The man behind her shifted his grip on his sword. Finally reacting to the situation, Kui and Yutian made to grab for their weapons, only to have them curl into grotesque shapes. Joyce ignored their screams, stepping forward to stare down Ruohan.
"That would be me," Ruohan managed to say.
Joyce tilted her head to one side, looking Ruohan over.
"You're very pretty," Joyce commented. Ruohan looked at her in confusion.
"It's too bad you're kinda a bitch," Joyce continued.
"Oh my god!" Reihe wailed from where he was huddled behind an upside-down sofa. "Please forgive my daughter! She's so stupid it's not worth your energy to kill her!"
Joyce's bodyguard shot him a warning look, hoisting the giant sword with ease. Reihe quickly shut up. Ruohan shot Yutian a desperate look for help, but she only hid further behind the curtains.
Joyce smiled cheerfully at Ruohan, sending chills down Ruohan's spine. Who the hell smiled while trashing someone else's house? Other than Ruohan herself?
"Did you think that the other two factions would stop me?" Joyce asked in a gentle voice. "They don't even know I'm here. If you all die in a tragic accident due to the, hmm," Joyce looked around the room thoughtfully. "Er…Faulty construction of this building, no one would dare to take it up with me after what I've done tonight."
"And then just get all my money with no strings attached, plus your share of Wu Peifu's fortune?" Ruohan choked out. "I thought you were just an overpowered idiot, but you're worse than me, aren't you?"
"Dude, you're the one who literally tried to feed both my shamans and Wu Peifu's shamans to the dogs, you're trying to guilt-trip me? Sis," Joyce said with emphasis, looking genuinely disappointed.
"I apologize," Ruohan said in a sincere tone. "But before you kill us, at least consider that the Triple Alliance managed to achieve a sounding victory due to my plan. Even if it caused you great discomfort, I was sure that the Sixth Apostle would be better suited for handling this kind of situation than the teenager footsoldiers in my cousin's unit."
Ruohan watched Joyce's expression intently. Joyce remained stoic.
"What do you think, Han Gai?" Joyce asked. "Does her explanation make up for fucking us over so blatantly?"
The man behind her shifted his sword. "I can't quite understand the merit of her words," he said in an infuriatingly polite tone. Ruohan sighed, a growing pit of dread in her stomach at Joyce's unmoved gaze.
"Miss Hu, you've dealt with the tempers of Wu Peifu for this long. Just why did you assume that the Triple Alliance would be that much more rational?" Joyce asked, seeming to be genuinely curious. Ruohan's shoulders slumped a little.
Ruohan didn't want to admit it, but she had been betting on the Triple Alliance taking a more cost-benefit approach, given that they were on an expensive and dangerous military campaign. But from what she'd just seen, those things didn't matter as much when an Apostle's power was involved.
"Ruohan! You fool! Hurry up and beg her for forgiveness!" Reihe finally mustered the strength to shout.
Ruohan winced. She didn't actually want to die, much less get her favorite people killed literally one day after she'd become Head of House. Ruohan promptly began crying for show while making a tearful apology.
Joyce stared at Ruohan's performance blankly before turning to Han Gai with a confused gesture.
"Miss Hu is doing her best to display her acting skills, Chairman. Please give her some words of encouragement," Han Gai said politely. Ruohan's jaw dropped. What kind of swordsman acted like such a bitch?
"Keep up the hard work," Joyce said to Ruohan, giving her a thumbs up. Ruohan sighed in exasperation, wiping off all her tears at once in a practiced motion.
"Chairman, you don't want me to pretend to be outraged, or justify myself, or grovel, but you're still not killing me. Just what do you want?" Ruohan demanded. "If you're going to kill us, get it over with. I won't be humiliated unless I orchestrate it myself."
Joyce openly laughed at that.
"Man, you're hella impatient," Joyce said cheerfully. "I came here to see if I should recruit you, but all you've shown me are some useless things. Did you really survive as a hostage with this shitty level of perception or was Wu Peifu just really bent on not killing you?"
Ruohan frowned, a feeling of realization dawning on her.
"Chairman, what are you looking for?" Ruohan asked slowly. Joyce smiled brightly at her and waved for Han Gai to put away his sword.
"Economics," Joyce said gently. "I need someone who's good at that."
"I have a PhD," Ruohan said immediately. Joyce gestured for her to continue. Ruohan ignored the incredulous looks from Yutian, Reihe, and Kui. Her instincts told her that this was their path to survival, she'd walk it even if they began screaming and crying.
"Like you know, I'm currently the richest dude around," Ruohan continued. "And I know a lot about investment, so I could become even richer. I'd throw all that money down for investment if I thought it could make me even richer. Also, I brought a lot of Wu Peifu's Finance Department with me, and also my cousin Kui's division."
"I like that you're opportunistic and change sides at the drop of a hat," Joyce said, looking very much amused. "The more opportunistic you are, the better."
Ruohan smiled, brain running on 300% overdrive. "Because you're the best opportunity, is your meaning? I think I can see that, after what you did with Wu Peifu's shamans. And my house."
"I thought your house was in the city," Joyce said.
"Yeah, this is also my house," Ruohan said.
"Oh, ok then."
"So, Chairman Lee, I'd like to formally apologize for my actions tonight," Ruohan said. "And ask you for a job." She ignored the shocked gasps from the curtain and the upturned armchair, looking Joyce determinedly in the face.
Joyce exchanged glances with Han Gai before stepping forward. Ruohan kept her shoulders relaxed as Joyce closed the distance between them. Joyce's hand lifted into the air and came down in a friendly pat on Ruohan's shoulder.
"You're hired," Joyce said cheerfully. Her expression rapidly cooled again as she looked up into Ruohan's face. "If you want out, run away tonight. If you stay and betray me later on, I'll make you regret not dying tonight."
Ruohan nodded firmly. "Understood, Chairman. You have the full support of the Hu household."