After Butcher Tong prompted him, San slowly pulled a slate and chalk from his tunic. When Butcher Tong realized the man couldn't speak, he'd retrieved one of his sign boards from the public-facing business and gave it to the burly man to write with. It was slow, but it let him learn some of the details of what happened, enough to know he needed to bring this man before another boss.
"Knew. Her. Before. Called. Little. Lingling. Robbed. Six. Sect Brothers." San wrote in his first pass, showing the slate to both bosses before wiping it clean and writing again. "Strange. Zither. Arts. Made. Us. Sleep. Before. Now. Filled. Room. Deadly. Birds."
The burly man might have looked like a simple thug, unremarkable among common ruffians in the mountain gangs, but when he wrote, his careful strokes betrayed his life as a prized disciple of a sect in Silver Sword City. He chose each word with care and made sure his audience understood the message before moving on.
"So when you encountered her before, she used a different name," the Fortress Lord confirmed. "Then, this 'Hua Qianhu' could be another false name. I'm inclined to believe that 'Sister Vixen' is an identity she wants to be known by. Assassins like her are either completely unknown or spread a name to build fame. If she's telling people her name, she is new at this, but clearly quite skilled," he mused. "Likely from the Bamboo Silk House, her methods of killing with a zither match some of their other dark flowers."
"Said. Killed. Boss. Nalan. Revenge. Senior. Sister. Xuan. Lu," San wrote on the board.
"So this was personal? Something between Nalan Jiang and her or her sect?" the Fortreess lord asked, trying to determine how much risk she presented to the rest of the gang. If it was just a matter between her and Nalan Jiang, it might be better to just let matters go.
"Personal. Also. Tortured. Boss. Nalan. Asked. Where. Fantian. Wong. Mentioned. Paying. Hide. Crimes," he wrote.
"I see. Little Boss Fantian, you know what this is all about?" the Fortress Lord asked, turning his gaze to their most junior leader. It seemed like his hopes of things ending with Nalan Jiang were destined to be short lived.
"When I was the Deputy Lord Mayor, Nalan Jiang was one of my 'customers' who paid to have petty crimes concealed or judgments made in his favor," he said, his tone the same as one would use to say someone bought cabbages from the market.
"Someone hired an assassin to kill him and he fled the city to join the Mountain's Bones," Fantian Wong explained. "After that, someone exposed my relationship with him and several of my other customers, making it impossible for me to keep my position even if I could disprove many of the accusations. I suspected a powerful sect had taken action, I just didn't know which one until now," he told the Fortress Lord.
"This is your problem then," the Fortress Lord said, drumming his lacquered nails on the arm of his throne. "But this witch clearly believes in slaughtering her way to her targets. If she knows where you are, it puts everyone in danger. I will reinforce the fortress formations for the next moon," he began, a plan quickly coming together in his mind.
"Fantian Wong, since this matter flows from you, you will coordinate a search. We have three groups training recruits in the mountains and along the pilgrim's road, you will select one to return here as reinforcements and direct the other two to search for this 'Sister Vixen.' I will send a message to Boss Long about what has happened here."
"I hear and obey," Fantian Wong said, standing from his throne to bow with cupped hands.
"What. About. Me?" San quickly wrote on the slate.
"What about you?" Wen Wu asked. "You have done well to bring us this information, and you have been rewarded with the elixir that preserved your life. What more do you want?"
Wiping the slate clean, San wrote a single large character on the slate, his eyes burning with deep hatred as he wrote.
"Revenge."
"And you think you're entitled to have our help to obtain it because of the paltry words you've given us?" Fortress Lord Wen sneered. "The information you provided hardly gives us any advantages in hunting this woman. We have a name that you've given us reason to believe is false and we've inferred her sect but this is hardly enough to resolve the issue. What reason do we have to preserve your little life and help you claim revenge?"
San thought for a moment before writing furiously on the slate. "I. Survived. Everyone. Died. Offer. Body. Cultivation. Method. Stronger. Than. Yours."
"You think we lack stronger cultivation methods just because the men in Blade's Edge died to this witch?" Wen Wu mocked. "Where does your method come from? How powerful is it really?"
"Red. Tiger's. Den. Red. Tiger. Body. Method. Furious. Tiger. Claws. Canon."
"Fortress Lord," Fantian Wong said when he saw what San had written. "The Red Tiger's Den is a third rank sect in the outer wards but only because they are a young sect. They have been gaining strength and power rapidly and will likely become a second-rank sect within a century. Their cultivation methods are worthy of some respect."
"This man is a late-stage Brawler," Wen Wu said, not entirely convinced. "If he only has the first stage of the manual, its worth is less. Tell me, did your sect provide you with the second stage section of the manual when you reached your current cultivation? Did they see that much potential in you?"
"Yes."
"Very well. Little Boss Fantian, you may take this man under your command and use a pill up to Impure grade to preserve his life. He is to write out the manual before he receives the pill, you understand?" Once Fortress Lord Wen received acknowledgments from the others, he continued. "This is your one opportunity, young man. Burn your own life if you must for your revenge, a heart consumed by a thirst for blood can break many barriers in cultivation. Since you are close to becoming a Soldier, perhaps you can find your way into claiming Nalan Jiang's seat up here," he said with a dark smile.
"I. Obey. She. Will. DIE."