Mana 4 Chapter 20 (Patreon)

Breakfast service was relatively boring. Men came and went, their eyes straying deeper into the pavilion, hoping to get a glance at the lovely ladies within.

The ladies obliged in their own way, flitting to and from the pavilion all morning, living their lives and performing their own errands.

“I’m shocked. Two days and no fights.” Charles mocked me as I brought back a tray after clearing a table.

“Hey, the young master Ying picked that fight. I was content to just ignore him. Although, it’s terrible to hear about what happened to him.”

Charles gave me an odd look; I already knew he didn’t believe me. It would seem the older man thought I might have something to do with Guo Ying’s death. My aggressiveness towards his previous comment likely didn’t help.

“You haven’t been repeating what you told me the other day, have you?” I asked.

“No, of course not. I understand your desire not to get mixed up in all of this.”

I nodded along with him. “Though, perhaps it might be better to say I am not mixed up in any of it. The last thing I want is to be accused by a grieving father who might overreact.”

“Yes. Of course.” Charles nodded, but he didn’t look convinced.

Dropping off the tray of dishes in the kitchen for them to clean, I turned back to the dining room to continue cleaning. But as I turned, a young woman in white caught my attention. She just stood there in the room, watching me. I remembered her, although she hadn’t made much of an impression. It was her that took Guo Ying away the day he made a fuss in the diner.

“Wenxi Su.” I greeted her, as she clearly was waiting for me. “I appreciate you not interrupting my task.”

“That wouldn’t be a great way to start off a conversation.” She smiled and her eyes squeezed shut. “Would you be able to have a talk, perhaps over some tea?” She gestured to a table in the corner, where a pot was puffing out a little cloud of steam.

Checking the dining area to see if I could sneak in the chat, it looked pretty put together. Nobody would miss me taking a break. And from what I’d gathered so far, the Su family wasn’t something to be ignored in the city.

“It would seem you have me at a disadvantage.” I said, stepping over to the table ahead of her. “You’ve come with a purpose, but I don’t know what it is.”

“So direct, so decisive. I wish Guo Ying could have had an ounce of your character.” Wenxi sighed, taking her seat and beginning to pour tea for me as well as herself. “But he didn’t, and that’s why you were able to kill him.”

I immediately schooled my face. I’d learned that the trick to not reacting was to learn to breathe out first when surprised. It doesn’t do much, but it does give me a moment to collect myself and reduce any tension that would show.

“I’m not sure what you mean?” I stated, taking another sip of her tea. “Thank you for the tea.”

Wenxi’s eyes roved over me, like she was trying to find a hair out of place. But she must not have found anything, because she relaxed and let out her own sigh. “I wondered what kind of man you’d be. Obviously, being able to kill Guo Ying with his bloodline is no easy feat. The investigation on the mountain yielded the sight of a massive fight. Whatever killed Guo Ying fought him at his strongest. You can imagine how that drew our interest.”

“But I’m sure I’m boring you. You already know all of this.” She tried again, narrowed her eyes at me.

I let out another calm breath out and shrugged. “Me? Some random immortal from a mortal world? I’m flattered you think I could take on somebody with an ancient family bloodline.”

“Few get to witness that sort of power to even understand what it would take. Are you saying you’ve been able to fight someone with an ancient bloodline since coming to this world?” Wenxi continued to press me, trying to trap me in a bout of verbal sparring.

“Of course not. But I hear they get a white glow on their forehead, and their power is immeasurable. It doesn’t take much imagination to determine that it would be a losing battle.”

“You haven’t offered any details, except to get one wrong. Interesting.” She smiled. “I think you are just a very competent person, Isaac Hughes.” She tapped her finger against her own tea cup in thought.

I sat relaxed, sipping on my tee, but a bit of anxiety was beginning to build within me. Her questioning seemed like more than just an inquiry. She seemed convinced I was involved.

But she’d come to me, and it appeared that she’d come alone. She clearly hadn’t shared her suspicions with the Ying family, which meant there was something more she wanted.

“I am flattered by the compliment, but I had nothing to do with Guo Ying’s death.”

Wenxi ignored my statement and pushed forward. “What I’m most interested in is which ancient family you are from? To combat his power, either you have a hidden trump card the likes of which I’ve never even heard of, or you are some lost bastard branch of an immortal family. I’d put my money on the latter. It has happened before.”

Keeping my expression neutral was getting harder. She had nearly hit the mark. I wasn’t going to be able to fool her, so now it was time to learn about why she’d come directly to me.

“You’re asking a lot of questions, but it seems like you already feel you have the answers. And yet, I’m here having a civilized conversation with you rather than the Ying family patriarch grabbing me by the throat and trying to bluster his way through an interrogation. Why?”

Wenxi gave me a victorious smile. “I heard no denial of the murder that time. But, you ask a very good question.” She set her cup of tea down on the table before continuing.

“I may have fibbed a little the last time we met. I was engaged to Guo Ying. We were not quite yet married, and his family was hoping to use me to try to reclaim lost ground on their former glory.”

I paused, waiting. She hadn’t answered my question, and this conversation was going nowhere if she didn’t participate. I refused to have a one sided conversation, even if the Su family held power over the town.

Wenxi paused, and we sat in silence for a minute.

Eventually, she sighed dramatically. “You are very stubborn. Did you know that?”

“My wives tell me the same thing.” I said, putting the tea down. “Now, I’d appreciate it if you could get more to the point of why you’re here.”

“So pushy when I could just go tell Guo Ying’s father my suspicions and why.” She tried to barter with me, but from her actions, I could already tell that she wouldn’t go through with the threat.

I shook my head at her. “You could have already, but yet you are here. There’s something you want from me, and you want it enough that you are willing to ignore your suspicion. Not that it matters to me, since I had nothing to do with Guo Ying’s death.”

She leaned forward and spoke low so it didn’t carry. “Yes. And I also know that Guo Ying hired a girl from here to bring you out into the foothills as a guard.”

Once again, I breathed out a sigh. “And? I’m aware of this, but the foothills are large and treacherous. We never met.”

“So when one of his boys came back asking me for a pill because their target tore up Guo Ying’s face… that wasn’t you? He talked a bit before I could get the pill. Supposedly you were crippled by that cuff, stabbed through the gut, your thigh was shredded, and a sword pinned the bottom of your leg to the ground. Quite the feat to escape from a situation like that.”

I leaned back. She didn’t have a damn suspicion. Wenxi knew that Guo Ying and I had been in conflict on that mountain. My eyes tracked those around us, making sure no one was listening.

There was the urge to leap across the table and silence her temporarily, or permanently, to keep her from poking around in Guo Ying’s death. But that would cause more problems than it solved. I’d go from suspicion of killing someone from a weak ancient family to everyone, knowing I’d killed someone from a stronger ancient family.

“Don’t worry.” She waggled her fingers at me. “This ring is preventing sound from leaving the table. I’m not ready just yet to share what I know with a broader audience.”

“Then it sounds like we need to get a few things cleared up. I am not sure what you think you know, but I understand that you believe you have me in a corner. I’ll give you one warning. If you push me, you might succeed at whatever it is you’re aiming for in the short term, but I will take you out eventually. I am not one to be messed with.” I leveled an icy stare at her that promised death.

She raised her hands in a plea of innocence. “You misunderstand. If you are strong enough to have killed Guo Ying with his bloodline active, I want your help.” There was a polite smile plastered on her face.

Still, after all of this, she felt successful. Not because she confirmed that I killed Guo Ying, but because she thought she found someone to help her.

“Then we don’t need to even have had this conversation. You can already get my help. I can be rented out from the Pavilion after all.” I dangled my cuff. “For a price, of course. Though I understand Madam Orchid doesn’t rent us out cheaply, and I would not agree to leave with anyone holding a leash on me again.”

“Or I could just buy your servant’s cuff from her.” Wenxi batted her eyelashes at me as if the topic was flirty.

I let my face harden, showing her my thoughts on that idea.

She cleared her throat. “Okay. Apparently, that isn’t appealing to you. You do know that all of your fellow men would leap at such an opportunity?”

“Then go ask them.” I stated it harshly. I was getting less and less interested in the conversation by the moment. “I need to get back to work. You asked your questions and clearly have your own opinions. You offered little information, yet expect me to help you with something. I’m done with this conversation.”

I stood up. “Know that you’ll never be able to control me. If you somehow manage to yolk me to your task, keep in mind that I always settle debts.”

“Not even for a lovely woman like me?” Wenxi leaned forward and put herself on display for me. She had a petite frame, but that only made her modest chest seem larger than it was.

She wasn’t an unattractive woman. As an immortal, she was in perfect health, her skin a creamy white. And despite her status, she dressed simply in a well fitted but minimal white dress. Her brown hair was straight and her bangs pulled around the side of her head, so her hair fell in a sheet down her back. But her defining aspect was her green eyes that seemed to swallow every detail of the world around her.

Wenxi was smart, as the conversation had proven.

“Once upon a time, I might have been so tempted. But not now. And I doubt I’d get to enjoy much of you, anyway.” I said.

Oddly, that answer seemed to be exactly what Wenxi wanted, because a huge smile spread across her face. “You misunderstand. I want to know if you are worth your bride price. Or I guess there should be a better name for it, but I’m interested in buying out your servitude from Madam Orchid so you could become my husband.”

For the first time in this conversation, my ability to keep a straight face failed me. “What?”

Had she really suggested that I join the Su family? The only thing I wanted with that family was to hunt down Fairy Su to get revenge for all those who had been enslaved, and use her to lead me to Hendrick.

Wenxi searched my eyes for just a moment, pulling out every detail she could in my moment of surprise. “Something is stopping you. You have a grudge against my family?”

I said nothing, but she still continued. “Please, don’t let that stop you. The Su family is large, with many branches and much competition. If there is one member of my family that you…” she trailed off. “But you’ve only been here a short time. I can’t imagine you would have met many of them.” I watched as she started to piece it together.

“Oh!” she exclaimed. “The only way you’d have had a grudge was if my family ever went to your mortal world.” She eyed me, clearly already having a hypothesis of who I held a grudge against.

“A Quixi Su or ‘Fairy Su’ came to my world offering to bring our elders to this world. Yet, I arrived here only to find them in shackles.” I struggled not to growl towards the end of the statement.

Wenxi’s mouth opened wide as she came to a realization. “Yes, everyone in the Su family is aware of Quixi.” She snorted. “Fairy Su, how pretentious, although it is a perfect way to describe her. Unfortunately, she’s far out of my own reach. She married a man she brought up from your world, who happened to have an extremely powerful bloodline.”

Now that I knew what she wanted, I leaned in. Pity she didn’t even have her eyes high enough to take on Fairy Su. “So what do you want power for if you are so scared?”

“You act like you aren’t afraid of his bloodline.”

I just gave her an easy smile. “If he’s who I suspect, his little brother had the same bloodline. And it didn’t do him very well. Plus, in the realm of bloodlines, I’m not too worried about his strength versus mine. However, I am weaker than I want to be in terms of my cultivation. That’s my current focus.”

“Oh, well. That’s not a problem. Breaking into the fifth rank is dangerous, but there are resources to help.”

I nodded, looking her over. “Given the chance, I will kill Fairy Su and her husband.” I didn’t want there to be any misunderstanding between Wenxi and I.

“Of course, but it would have to be done by the family rules. The good news is that she stomps all over the family, so it wouldn’t be hard to find a reason to challenge her within the boundaries of our family rules.” Wenxi agreed quickly. “So, are we agreed?” Her eyes became eager.

“No.” I sat back. Even though I knew what I was about to say was stubborn as hell, it didn’t stop me. “I’m going to free myself from Madam Orchid on my own. We can have this conversation as equals again later.”

Wenxi opened her mouth to argue, then snapped it back shut, as if realizing arguing with me on this point would be counterproductive. “I see. Then I shall wait for your departure from the Orchid Pavilion.”

At that I stood, bowing at the waist, and left the table. There wasn’t anything left to talk about, and I needed to wrap up work. While her offer to join the Su family went against my initial plan, I knew that it would expedite much searching around the immortal world for Hendrick and Fairy Su. And they had to have connections that would make finding my family easier.

I couldn’t blindly ignore the offer, but I also wasn’t about to step into that kind of commitment without consulting with my other wives. And I’d have to move past holding my hatred for Fairy Su against the entire Su family.

“What was that?” Charles asked as I stepped away and my mana beasts started hammering on my chest.

I had a feeling they were interested in the offer and opposed me going it alone. But I wanted to control my own path to freedom. Shortcuts would only limit the power I developed. I had stepped through cultivation before, and while it was messy, putting in the work made me stronger.

“Nothing important. She wanted to buy my debt from Madam Orchid.”

Charles dropped a plate. “What? Congratulations!”

I turned to him. “Why? I turned her down.”

“No. You didn’t.” Charles gasped. “But don’t you want out of here? She’s part of an ancient family. That’s the best offer you may ever get!”

Shrugging, I took off my apron. Breakfast was officially done, and I wasn’t going to stick around for lunch. “I do want out of here. But there is a massive difference between earning my way out and being bought.”

“Those are just nuances. The comfort that you could have in an ancient family, the cultivation resources you’d have access to—”

“—will all still be there if I choose to accept Wenxi’s offer once we are equals.” I finished the sentence for him. “I refuse to accept such a position as a servant, before I’ve earned my way and progressed in my power.”

Charles made a sound of understanding. “You are just wounded that you are still a servant. Don’t worry, you’ll come around and let her buy you out. After all, I don’t imagine you’ll feel the same after you’ve been here a while.”

I recognized his defeatism and his view, but I was made of firmer things than Charles. I’d use my time in the pavilion to grow and become stronger, learning more about the immortal world.

I would continue to push forward, and soon I’d be free of this cuff and stronger than ever, maybe even strong enough to take on the Ying family as I kicked off my broader plan.

AN: Sorry for missing yesterday. I owe you all an extra chapter later this week once I clean them up. On the plus side, I went into some sort of writing inspired state yesterday and I wrote three chapters :) Very good for a single day for me.