"She knows," Wu Ling said calmly. "I told her the day you brought her to school. I hadn't been pulled into the sect at the time, but I told her about the kind of place it was. Before you form too deep an opinion, take a look at these." Wu Ling said gently.
"I asked Junior Sister Yingxu to come and copy down some of the sect missions so you can see how the Bamboo Silk House uses its skills." Reaching into his cosmos sack, Wu Ling pulled out a neatly folded stack of parchment. It only contained a few of the sect's missions, but he felt it would be enough to demonstrate that things weren't as simple as they might seem.
"These are sect missions?" Su Yao said, picking up the pages and passing several of them over to Yao Miefeng before she began to read aloud. "Wen Xiongfei, known to have deflowered young maidens of the Zhu, Tsai, and Leng families, two of whom," she paused, her eyes going wide. "Two of whom committed suicide when they were found to be with child. Five hundred spirit crystals are to be paid by each of the families to the person who claims Wen Xiongfei's life. Five thousand contribution points to be awarded."
Yao Meifeng hesitated to look at the parchment Su Yao had passed her. Her heart raced and her fingers trembled when she finally did. As much as she was afraid of the things she would learn, looking at Wu Ling's watery silver eyes she realized that, despite how shocking all of this was, he was genuinely trying to help her understand this world. If she couldn't give him the chance when he'd already acted to rescue her once today, she felt she'd never be able to call him a friend again, much less anything more than that.
"Ge Qiuyang," Yao Meifeng read slowly, starting with the first one in the stack Su Yao had passed her. "Husband of Ju Mao who hasn't been seen since their wedding last fall. Believed to have," she paused and gulped, reaching for the tea she'd been too frightened to drink moments ago and taking a deep swallow before continuing.
"He's believed to have extorted the Ju family for heirlooms paid as her bride price. Rewards to be paid for information about Ju Mao's life or death, for the rescue of Ju Mao if she is imprisoned, for the retrieval of heirlooms if she is dead, and the execution of Ge Quiyang if he is guilty of her murder."
"These, these are all like…" Su Yao said, her hands trembling as she shuffled through the pages.
"Men with a little bit of power and a little bit of money can become very difficult for the common person to claim justice against," Wu Ling said softly. "I won't pretend that all of the missions taken by the Bamboo Silk Hall are as pure and virtuous as these. Revenge is never cut and dry, and for every mission like these, there are others that are less clear."
"Even in my own family, things aren't so clear," Wu Ling continued. "My father was killed for conceiving a child with the daughter of a sect elder in another sect. I'm told that he loved her dearly but even I can't defend him for what he did without marrying her. I'm sure that the Sanguine Saber Sect felt justified in his execution, just like the Bamboo Silk House feels justified in taking on these missions."
When he thought about it, Wu Ling could even imagine a mission paper like the ones he'd shown Su Yao and Yao Meifeng, a request from the elder of a powerful sect to kill the man who had deflowered his daughter and convinced her to leave her sect behind. The Bamboo Silk House might even accept such a mission.
"The Sanguine Saber Sect," Su Yao murmured. "The man you fought a duel against at the banquet, that's the sect he was from. His sect murdered your father? Wait," she said, several pieces falling into place. "The woman you sent a letter to, was it your father's, um, mistress? And her daughter, so, you have a half-sister in the Sanguine Saber Sect!" Su Yao exclaimed, the pile of sect missions forgotten in her hands.
"It's complicated," Wu Ling said with a shrug, watching a variety of expressions play across the faces of the two young women. "My mother came back to the Bamboo Silk House to further her cultivation so she could get revenge and also to gain the strength rescue my half-sister and her mother. She killed dozens of people in the Sanguine Saber Sect to free them but in the end, she failed. It's the Sanguine Saber Sect who crippled her," he added, trying to keep the story brief.
"Even the Sanguine Saber Sect is too scared of her to try to kill her," he added, thinking of the way disciples from the light half of the sect reacted to his mother. "Now, try to figure out the right and wrong of that feud. There are a lot of sect missions like that, getting involved in grudges so long-standing with so much blood on both sides that it's hard to call working for either side 'righteous.' Others are much less violent. Some just require listening for information and passing it along, but you have to find a way to be in the right place to hear that information," he explained.
"Why are you showing us these?" Yao Meifeng said, her face still pale and her fingers trembling as she clutched the stack of sect missions she'd been handed. She was starting to understand how Wu Ling wouldn't be repulsed by the world he described, and even how he might be trapped by it, but she didn't understand what it had to do with her and their junior sister, Su Yao. "Isn't it dangerous for us to know so much about the dark things your sect does?"
"Maybe," Wu Ling said with a smile that was wistful and a touch sad as he saw how badly shaken the two young women were. "I trust you to know what you should and shouldn't say outside. But honestly, I'm hoping that you'll both find a place for yourselves in the Dark Half of the sect. That's why I brought you here," he explained.
"You don't have to take on missions that you don't want to unless you become so capable that the Hall Master assigns you a Dark Mission. You get to choose how much you want to dip yourself in shadow. One thing is for sure though," he said, leaning forward to finish his cup of tea.
"If you study here in the Dark Half of the sect, Sister Yao Meifeng, you'll never have to fear your family forcing you to marry someone against your will ever again. Sister Su Yao, small men like Fang Lin who want a trophy more than they want a wife will never be able to keep you down. In the Light Half of the sect, there are guards to keep you safe from the people who would prey on you," he explained. "You could become entertainers who are escorted by strong eunuchs when you leave the sect, but you will always need to depend on someone else to keep you safe."
"Here, in the Dark Half of the sect," he continued, "you can gain the power you need to protect yourself. That's why I brought you here. It's up to you if you want to learn more or leave now, but if you stay, I promise I'll be here with you too. It's up to you," he added gently. "You don't have to spend any more time here if you want to leave now, or, say the word and I'll show you around. What would you like to do?"