The attack from Luding came. Array of the fort shook.
The Pavilion Mistress was with her group supporting the array, and she felt the assault on the members around her – felt them stumble. She raised her voice with those of her sisters. She could hear them, feel them in the Aethereal conscious space, she feel Xilai and Liwei too.
The gray qi was everywhere. Its demonic radiance was seductive and dangerous, the siren call of adventure to the young, to run away from work and go on an adventure instead. The Pavilion Mistress remembered her adventures – days passing forests and by the rivers, her body wet from a swim, her horse cropping grass . . .
Far, far away, the arrays that defended her house were—
Xilai read this attack by Luding, and its immense subtlety, and just as he was about to throw his counter, he saw the trap.
"Luding wanted him to swat the attack aside."
