In Silver Sword City, within the courtyard of the tiny Wu family, the front gate opened and closed silently as it admitted a late-night visitor. While the lamps had long been extinguished by the kind neighbor who tended to Wu Ningli in her son's absence, the darkness caused no difficulty to the graceful figure who made her way steadily toward Wu Ningli's small bedroom.
"The door isn't locked Sister Hyacinth," Wu Ningli's frail voice called when the approaching woman reached the door. "If you've come to kill me, make it quick, but if you're here to talk, at least make a pot of tea for your poor sister."
Laughing softly, Elder Hyacinth removed her hand from the door handle and turned in the direction of the kitchen. "If I'd known I'd be making you tea, I'd have brought some of the good leaves from my own collection," she called, opening cupboards and sorting through several tins of leaves before making a selection. "Then again," she continued, inhaling the complex fragrance of a blend of tea leaves, herbs, and citrus peel. "Your son has done admirably at preparing blends for you hasn't he."
Several minutes later she returned to Wu Ningli's bedroom carrying a tray with not only a tea set and cups for two but a softly glowing candle to illuminate the small bedroom. Looking at the withered woman in bed, Elder Hyacinth's heart tightened in pain. It had been more than three years since her sworn sister danced at her side as they ruthlessly eliminated their targets, creating a legend in the Outer Sect that would likely endure for a thousand years.
It had also been three years since the sect 'exiled' her sworn sister and nephew, stripping them of all but their most basic possessions and leaving them to rot in this humble place. The sect acted like it was so terrified of her sister's enemies that it couldn't bear to give them even the most meager support or aid. How much must she have suffered all these years to be reduced to this state? Elder Hyacinth clamped down fiercely on the feelings as soon as they struck. Tonight wasn't about the past, it was about the future and the future would be different!
"Ling'er has excellent skills in tea," Wu Ningli said, pushing herself upright in bed. "I'm afraid I'll have to ask Sister Hyacinth to help me drink tonight."
"They really left you with nothing," Elder Hyacinth said with a scowl, pouring a cup of tea and setting it aside to cool as she prepared a cup for herself. "You shouldn't have been left to suffer like this."
"I told the Hall Master that I'd pay the price for my vengeance myself," the crippled woman disagreed. "It's already an accomplishment that I'm alive to watch my Ling'er grow. While I've suffered these years, I've also known peace away from most business of the sect."
"You could have had peace in the front of the sect," her sworn sister disagreed. "Or you could have been sent to the Inner Sect to recover. You didn't need to suffer alone all these years."
"Enough," Wu Ningli said, raising a frail hand to ward off further discussion on the topic. "The past is past. It can't be changed, no matter what we wish it could have been. Why have you come tonight? I can't believe it's just to drink tea and speak of old times."
"As much as I wish that were the case, no," Elder Hyacinth said sadly, sipping her own tea before helping Wu Ningli take a sip. "Hall Master has made a decision about Wu Ling."
"So it's time is it," the frail woman asked, her eyes becoming darker as murderous energy gathered within them. "What has our mighty Hall Master determined must be done about my darling boy?"
"She's issuing him a Dark Mission," Elder Hyacinth said softly. "One that will allow him to draw on sect resources if he must in order to complete his mission, though how he'd gain the contribution points to do so will be up to him to figure out."
"Ling'er never joined the sect," his mother protested. "He isn't part of either side of the sect to receive a sect mission, much less a Dark Mission. What is Bian Xing playing at?"
"Your son stole a cultivation manual from the Treasury the night that you were 'exiled' from the sect," Elder Hyacinth explained. "It seems like he's the only one able to cultivate the manual. Hall Master Bian has been looking for someone to inherit that manual for over a century. Since the manual can't be returned after being inherited, she is claiming the person who inherited the manual as a replacement for her lost treasure."
"So that's where the manual came from," Wu Ningli murmured, pieces of the puzzle sliding into place. "No wonder he wouldn't tell me where he got such a strange manual. Still, I could argue that he stole a worthless item if Hall Master herself wasn't able to find someone to cultivate the manual for over a century. What right does she have to force him into the sect and to issue him a Dark Mission?"
"Sister, you shouldn't protest this," Elder Hyacinth said with a gentle shake of her head. "The mission is one that's good for everyone."
"Why shouldn't I protest this?" Wu Ningli fumed. "This wasn't the deal I made with Bian Xing. She was supposed to leave us alone until we resolved matters that put the sect at risk. Ling'er has only just awakened, I haven't even explained matters to him yet! He's only an Aesthete. He needs this time to explore and establish his foundation before he becomes an Understudy. If we drag him into the sect now, it will only distort his cultivation and set him on a dark path for the rest of his life."
"Distort his cultivation?" Elder Hyacinth said with an ironic smile. "The way the sect distorted mine? I know you want to give your son the same chance you had, but you can't protect him long enough to become an Understudy on his own. Hall Master Bian's methods may be cruel at times," she said, choosing her words delicately. "But even if that's true, this time, you should still submit to her arrangements. The consequences if you don't will only be worse, for Little Ling and for you."