On the second-story balcony of the Silver Stag, two women tracked Wu Ling's every movement with eyes that held a deep hunger.
"Who do you think that young lord with the amazing zither skills is?" the first woman asked. She wore her long dark hair in a simple tail gathered at the base of her neck. Understated makeup and clinging orange silk robes combined to give her an appearance that suggested she was a seductive beauty with sinful curves but a bland and forgettable face. Most men wouldn't be looking at her face anyway and when she was done with them, they'd never remember enough about her to recognize her, even if she stood directly in front of them the very next day.
"Someone from the Inner City maybe?" the other woman speculated. Like the first woman, she wore nondescript robes that clung to her lush figure, a shoulder length style that was neither long enough nor short enough to attract any great attention, and just enough makeup to highlight her femininity without being memorable. "The only men who can invest that much time in becoming an Artist are the spoiled tenth child of an inner city cultivation legacy. He's out here playing tourist."
"Well, as a tourist, we should treat him hospitably, shouldn't we? It wouldn't do for him to return from the outer city without a story of how dangerous it is out here after all," she finished with a sly smile. "The only problem is that it seems he's already pulled three women all on his own. It won't be easy to get close," she mused.
"Why if it isn't a pair of magpies about to die for fancying something shiny," a third woman's voice intruded. The newcomer set herself instantly apart from the two young women as no one who met her would forget her mesmerizing jade green eyes and the lush bow-shaped lips she'd covered with a shade of green that matched her bewitching eyes. Her luxurious robes hinted at her elegant figure rather than putting it on display and the rich green and black brocade of her clothing spoke of refined tastes.
"Big Sister Hyacinth," both women said, instantly cupping their hands and bowing their heads. Outside of the sect, they were forbidden from showing the full courtesy due to the imposing woman before them but inside the sect, they would have addressed her as 'Elder Hyacinth' and bowed a full ninety degrees! "We meant no offense if the young lord is your prey tonight, we did not know."
"My prey?" Elder Hyacinth purred. "You mean my nephew? I think my sworn sister would have much worse than strong words for me if I ever considered him 'my prey,'" she continued, eyes sparkling as she observed the many changes in the young man below.
"And you two shouldn't be calling him 'young lord', if anything, perhaps you could call him senior brother,'" she added with a sly smile. "After all, you hadn't even entered the sect when he left to grow in the outside world."
"Your nephew is a sect brother?" the first woman said with a frown. "So he's lost his manhood then," she concluded, instantly losing half her interest in Wu Ling.
"Oh Heavens no," Elder Hyacinth laughed. "Again, who would dare? As much as I delighted in how adorable he looked dressed up like a polite young miss, suggesting that he become a eunuch like the other men in the sect isn't wise, and not just because he's my nephew. Now that he's finally awakened, Hall Master will need to decide what to do about him," she said, pressing the tip of a black lacquered nail to her pursed lips.
"Who is this man that the Hall Master herself will decide his fate? It can't be just because he's your nephew can it?" the first young woman asked, her throat dry and her hands trembling at the thought that she might have just offended the most powerful woman in their branch of the sect! Just to steal a purse full of spirit crystals!
"He's someone bold enough, clever enough, and skilled enough to sneak into the Treasury and walk away with one of the Hall Master's treasures," Elder Hyacinth explained. "By rights, the cultivation manual he took is nothing special except that no one has ever been able to awaken using its method. Hall Master tried countless times to find someone who could inherit that manual but no one ever showed the slightest bit of compatibility with it. Then, along comes this brat, bold as day snatching it away. Hall Master has been waiting these past several years to see if he's really capable of using it and from what we've seen it looks like he is."
"So should we bring him back to the sect so Hall Master can decide what to do with him?" the second woman asked hesitantly. They'd already lost a potential target but if they accomplished a great deed for the sect like capturing the man who stole the Hall Master's treasured manual, the rewards wouldn't be small!
"Try it and you'll be dead by dawn," the Elder said in a tone that left no space for arguments. "After all, he's not just a thief," she finally explained. "He's the son of Elder Wu Ningli, the Phantom Blade Dancer."
"I thought the Phantom Blade Dancer was dead," the first woman said, her eyes going wide in shock. "Didn't she destroy half a sect three or four years ago? I heard she vanished after that."
"Oh, Elder Wu Ningli is far from dead," the Elder said with a shake of her head. "Even her enemies don't dare kill her, afraid that doing so would only free her from the shackles of her body. They crippled her body and dropped her at the sect gates demanding that she not be healed or the sect would join her."
"And we backed down?" The second young woman asked, increasingly drawn into the story. They'd never heard that someone had crippled a sect elder and dumped them at the gates to threaten the sect! What kind of enemy could do such a thing and get away with it?
"Of course we did, you have no idea how powerful that woman's enemies are. The sect had no desire to get involved in her personal matters and the Hall Master made that very clear," the Elder said. "For all the power we have, never forget that in front of overwhelming might, all schemes are worthless, all deceptions become transparent and all methods of escape are futile. This is a good lesson for you little magpies," she said as she turned to leave.
"When you see someone who looks important and wealthy that you know absolutely nothing about, it's best not to touch them until you learn who they are, who they're connected to, and who their enemies are. Some things that shine brightly aren't shining at all, they're burning hot and they'll reduce you to a cinder if you try to pick them up."
"Big Sister Hyacinth," the first young woman asked hesitantly, realizing that the Elder had been far too forthcoming with them. "Why tell us all of this?"
"Because seeing him here, I realize that many things need to change," the older woman said, looking over the two magpies she'd caught before they did something that could have been disastrous, at least for them.
"I will report back to the Hall Master about Wu Ling," she continued with a wicked gleam in her eyes. "But, since you have targeted my nephew, don't you two think you should pay for your mistakes? Don't worry, it's clear from your presence out here that you've both been struggling to progress in the confines of the sect. Since you're not progressing there, I'll take you myself for a different mission. My nephew has been caring for his mother alone all these years, it's time that the sect extends a hand to help her after all this time. If we don't, it will only hinder my nephew's growth and no one wants that to happen."
"If the Hall Master approves, I'll come for you two and bring you to my sister's home so you can care for her. Make no mistake my little magpies," Elder Hyacinth warned. "Her body is crippled but she's no less deadly than she ever was. This is an opportunity for you, but if you disrespect her, you won't survive long enough to fall into my clutches, she'll cripple or kill you herself. You understand the opportunity I'm giving you?"
"Yes, thank you, Big Sister Hyacinth," the two young women echoed with cupped hands. By the time they raised their heads, the Elder had vanished, leaving behind only the faint floral scent of her perfume.