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I had rehearsed the conversation in my head while working on the demolished shop. I’d have to watch where I stepped next time. What was I thinking? Next time? I couldn’t stop my mind from racing through it all again. What I wanted, what I planned on doing…and all that went out the window as the Sect Elders approached.

For all that I could probably punch my way out of a fight if push came to shove, that was one thing I wasn’t prepared to do. I had to politick! With men who had been doing it for longer than I’d been alive—even if I stacked my age and Rou’s age on top of each other. Forty wasn’t exactly old for a cultivator.

I tugged at my Qi a bit. It was bubbling like when Meimei had talked to me nearly a year ago after I had sent that Blaze Bear packing.

The three Elders who came to meet me led the way, walking in front of me. The one on the left was obviously Xiulan’s father. He had the prettiest eyes I\'d ever seen on a dude. It\'s kind of a stereotype that girls get their looks from their moms, and I’d thought that too to be honest. But, well, Xiulan’s dad was pretty. He was still obviously masculine, with his topknot hair and small beard, but he definitely looked like Lanlan.This wasn’t how I wanted to meet the man, frowning at him and being led into the Dueling Peaks.

The other guy, Guo Daxian the Elder… well he looked like a biker. He had his arms all tatted up, with dark hair and eyes, and a bandana holding his hair back. He looked different than most people I’d seen in the Azure Hills, kinda like the guy who I had handed the hammer to earlier. Something about the frame and the eye shape..

The third guy looked stereotypical in comparison. Elder Gang had hard eyes, long beard, fine robes.

The Shrouded Mountains Guy, Yingwen, was behind all of us, walking in my shadow.

“We shall convene in the Grand Hall, if it pleases you Master Rou.” Xiulan’s dad, Cai Xi Kong said, turning back to ask me politely. The question startled me, seeing those eyes on somebody else. “Is there any refreshment in particular you would prefer?”

“I’m fine with anything.” I said simply. He nodded at my statement, going quiet. He seemed to realize I didn’t want to talk too much.

“Cleaning up the town… you tasked our disciples with this?” Elder Gang asked lightly.

“They were aimless without you, and their hands were idle. I set them a task. It\'s really rather rude not to clean up after yourself.” I replied.

I was a bit surprised when Gang nodded. “A wise precaution, Master Rou.” He said, before we lapsed into silence again.

I did feel some of my tension fade as we got closer and closer to the mountain. Fear was replaced by awe at the sight of the Dueling Peaks.

“It’s quite a sight.” I couldn’t help but pause for a moment and say to the Elders. The guys leading stutter stepped, before smiles broke out on their faces.

The Dueling Peaks were stunning. I imagined this must be what people felt when they saw the Colosseum or the Pyramids of Giza. I’d never been, but even the pictures contained a bit of their grandeur. Ancient constructs of stone that made you question how men could ever possibly build something this vast. Sure, they were cultivators… but it was still impressive. I hadn’t really been in the right state of mind as I left Raging Waterfall Gorge to appreciate any of the thingsI had passed by. Maybe I should take Mei on a tour sometime.

A mountain reached into the sky that looked like it had been split in two by a sword, with the largest stadium I had ever seen cradled between the two peaks. The colorful pennants and flags that criss-crossed the gap added to the appeal.

It was beautiful, even if it did look a bit like something out of a video game.

The entrance to the inner complex was an absolutely massive gate, which was already open. Statues flanked us on either side on the path leading to the gates, some of them had been broken long ago, weathered and ruined.

Then we were beneath the mountain. There were wide, vaulted ceilings and ancient looking murals covering the entire place. Light crystals burned in the walls, throwing everything into sharp relief under the orange light.

A mighty urge to just go exploring down the corridors came over me. I had been a bit of a history buff, or at least I liked reading about it. I loved the tales of ancient heroes and spent hours looking at the monuments the ancient people had built. This place felt like a living museum. Except with no barriers or velvet rope preventing you from getting as close as you’d like… it was tempting.

But would I ever be able to? I couldn’t exactly go tourist mode in a place like this anymore. All of a sudden I was somebody. A somebody who was being escorted to meet the most powerful people in the province.

That thought brought me crashing back down to earth. I fiddled with my Qi again, trying to stop the annoying, bubbling, and irritated feeling that it produced.

We eventually arrived at a large set of double doors. Glowing runes on them flared, as they opened of their own accord.

The doors opened to a massive room. Ancient banners hung on the walls. A large stone table dominated the room, long and rectangular. And there sat the Elders on stone… well they almost looked like thrones, all of them faced towards the door as I entered. Twenty people staring directly at me.

I looked over them and their placid expressions. A couple of them even looked away as I met their eyes. It was a bit weird having so many older men and women be well… intimidated by me.

I was kind of upset with everybody in this room, the Elders. They either didn’t notice the fight last night or were too consumed with whatever they were doing in here to care.

They all stood up as we entered.

There was an obvious spot free at the very end of the table. I took a breath to calm myself and walked towards it as Xiulan’s dad, Biker-dude and Elder Gang went to their own seats. Soon, everybody was standing around the table.

Biker-dude took the lead. “We, the Elders of the Azure Hills, pay our respects to Master Rou.” he intoned, bowing lower than I had been expecting him to.

“We pay our respects to Master Rou.” The rest of the room chorused, bowing as one.

I kind of didn’t know what to do here, so I just raised my hands and inclined my head.

“I wish that we could have met under better circumstances.” I said, trying to put on a friendly smile. I think it failed spectacularly, as the corners of my lips twitched.

With the pleasantries done, we all sat down on the ancient and uncomfortable-looking chairs. There were five dark lines in a strange design on each of them.

To my surprise, mine lit up. The dark lines thrummed. Green, red, a dull brown orange, gold, and blue, converging on a spot above the backrest’s head. It looked... well it looked like it had a bunch of LEDs in it. The rest of the chairs, where the Elders were sitting, lit up too. Although every other one of theirs only had one colour each. Xiulan’s dad\'s chair lit up green.

They had frigging gamer chairs. The thought was absurd, but that\'s what it looked like.

The room was uncomfortably silent after that. Biker-dude was staring, wide-eyed at me.

I took a breath, putting it out of my mind, trying to compose myself. I nearly tugged at my Qi again, but instead I pushed it away.

The silence stretched on, I felt my mouth go dry as they all stared at me expectedly until finally I cleared my throat.

“I hope that none of your Disciples are in too much trouble for helping out Tigu’er? I know they all took a big risk doing that.” I asked. I wouldn’t say that all the cultivators in the streets were good people quite yet… but they had helped me out quite a bit. I wouldn’t forget it.

“No, Master Rou, they are not.” one of the Elders declared, bowing. “They showed honour and virtue in interfering on her behalf.”

There were several more nods from the long table. They looked a bit too rapid to me.

‘Well… that was easy.’

I nodded and everybody lapsed into silence again. They were waiting for me to take charge, apparently, so I turned to Yingwen signaling for him to start speaking.

“We, the Disciples of the Shrouded Mountain, have surrendered ourselves to Lord Rou’s care due to… extenuating circumstances…”

I stayed mostly quiet as Yingwen explained the situation, or at least the story that the Shrouded Mountain Sect wanted to go with. The drunken brawl was started by the Shrouded Mountain Sect disciples. That much… well, that much I could agree on, even if I didn’t like it.

I saw Xiulan’s dad looking kind of annoyed too at the story. Yingwen was speaking like a politician, carefully considering his words so that it almost sounded like it wasn’t his fault.

For some reason, I had expected a bunch of shouting, “You Dares?!” and spitting blood, but they all just ended up listening quietly to Yingwen’s statement, digesting and considering his words.

They looked thoughtful once Yingwen fell silent. And… well, a bit more like people than I expected, instead of featureless automatons. They muttered to each other. Some appeared pleased, while others didn’t particularly seem to like the direction.

“Such a mess.”

“Hmph. If it wasn’t the Shrouded Mountain Sect…”

“It’s quite the stretch…”

I could make out the voices, the snippets of nearly silent muttering, when one of the Elders, Biker Dude at the end, cleared his throat.

“What about your Young Master?” Biker asked after Yingwen finished.

Yingwen looked directly at him. “It is a matter between the Shrouded Mountain Sect and Lord Rou.” He said bluntly. “Though…. I believe that Lord Rou would have the utmost gratitude of our Sect.”

At this he turned and bowed to me.

“Why?” one of the women asked. Her face half hidden by a veil, a wide-brimmed hat on the table in front of her. “Why would the Shrouded Mountain Sect be willing to accept these terms? Why would they be willing to forgive all of this?”

The other Elders all nodded in agreement at the skepticism.

Yingwen looked at me and I sighed. Guess we weren’t going to get out of this without me pulling out the scroll.

As I took the scroll out, I finally knew why all those Young Masters liked saying “You dare oppose my sect?!” It was really, really nice to have a get out of jail for free card.

I still felt kind of shitty for using it though. Especially after saying to Lu Ri that I was fine and could handle everything for myself, I’d ended up leaning on the reputation of a place I hated.

This all would have been infinitely harder without a piece of paper from a powerful sect. I knew it was lucky as hell I had it and I knew relying on it too much was a bad idea but for today it was what I needed to do.

I slapped my metaphorical dick on the table, opening the piece of parchment.

“Because nobody wants this to escalate.” I said.

There were exhales of shock. Several people recoiled. One guy’s mouth actually started leaking blood… which was concerning. I didn’t know that people actually did that. I thought it was just an expression.

Finally, Biker Guy, who I guess was the leader, spoke.

“I see. This explains much. But Master Rou… whatever do you need us for?” he asked.

“It’s your home. Some of your students were hurt. It would be irresponsible to leave you in the dark… and I would ask your opinion on the matter of reparations.”

“Reparations?” Elder Gang asked. He suddenly looked eager, leaning forward like he was about to get an early christmas present. A kind of greedy gleam shone in his eyes that I instantly disliked.

Well, if they thought I was going to squeeze the Shrouded Mountain for resources, he was about to be disappointed.

I didn’t exactly know what to ask for. So I asked for the things I thought made sense.

“To pay for the rebuilding of the town. Reparations to the two who died. As for the rest… I’ve had my justice.” My stomach twisted as I remembered, and leveled my gaze at the Elders.

The guy who ordered it was dead as a doornail. Honestly, I probably could have asked for more. Squeezed the Shrouded Mountain Sect. Would it be seen as a weakness that I hadn’t? I didn’t know, I’m not sure I cared to even if it did. All I knew was that I wanted nothing to do with the Shrouded Mountain Sect. They had apparently missed a Demonic Cultivator in their midst—

I paused. Had they missed him, or was he allowed to do what he did? Yingwen seemed pretty shocked about it, so at least the rank and file thought it was bad news… but the Elders…?

Maybe I would need to ask Lu Ri for a favour after all.

I shook my head. That was for the future. For today I had a simpler goal. The people who had been hurt… I’d help them. They were my people now. If I had to go out and do cultivator things to help, I\'d do it.

I wasn’t going to risk them by relying on people who probably didn’t like me for something like that. If they poisoned it or something... Meimei was good, but her area of expertise was mortal poisons, not the bioweapons cultivators could make.

I wanted them gone. Yesterday. Maybe I could go around acting big and taking things… but I had less than zero intent to start that fight. Some people may have needed to die, but at the same time an eye for an eye made the whole world blind. The cycle of vengeance stopped here. If anybody took issue with it, I’d fight back… but I hoped it wouldn’t come to that.

Or the very earth would rise up and go to war.

I looked up at the Elders again, who were waiting for me to finish. “I was wondering what the… Esteemed Elders of the Azure Hills think would be right for such an… event,” I said, hoping they’d at least have some ideas.

Everybody paused

The cultivators started discussing things amongst themselves in low voices.

I bit back a sigh. This was gonna probably take hours. Dealing with cultivators was so damn stressful.

======================================

Two thousand Li north, a certain Lord Magistrate paused while doing his paperwork.

He felt oddly peaceful. Like some kindred spirit had finally grasped his woes.

He smiled and took a sip of his tea.

====================================

The conversation was subdued as they retired to discuss things over some tea. Master Rou was seated at a table, with the Shrouded Mountain Sect Disciple on his knee, making the man tea like he was a servant. Every Elder in the room was having trouble concentrating. They kept sneaking glances at Master Rou.

The Elders thought they had been prepared to meet a powerful Master. Yet Rou Jin had caught them off guard from the moment he had appeared. First was his appearance.

Master Rou’s simple clothes were covered in dust. His face was spotted with freckles. He had a tanned brown skin one saw on laborers.

All things that showcased a lack of mastery to cultivators. A lack of control and ability. A life of proper cultivation should have prevented them. Body refinement would have excised the imperfections.

Jade-like skin and a body free of defects were what was desirable.

Yet his appearance belied the feeling that silenced all who gazed upon him.

He sat in the stone chair like it was a throne, greeted by the Dueling Peaks. None of the Elders had even known the chairs to ignite in such a way, forming a five colored halo of light above the man’s chair. Like the mountain itself was welcoming the Emperor, not a dirty laborer off the streets. It would likely lead to years long discussions on the true nature of this ancient arena, and many hours spent pouring over the old manuals just to see what it all meant.

And then the power stopped. Vanishing into thin air like it never existed. Master Rou had displayed a mastery of Qi control those in the Azure Hills had only ever read about.

All of a sudden, it was a mere mortal sitting at the head of the table.

“What a monster.” Elder Shu muttered.

None of the gathered Elders cared to disagree with him.

“Yes… yes, he is a monster.” Elder Daxian said. He was the most distracted of them all. Tapping his fingers against his leg and thinking deeply on the matter. “He gives us much face by even consulting us.”

“We could see how hard we can bleed those bastards for this. The man is strong. The resources we could ask for would be but a drop in the bucket for the Shrouded Mountain. Would he even care for their pitiful value?” Elder Gang asked.

“You’re a fool for wanting to press the Shrouded Mountain.” Elder Xinling snarled, a voice of caution. “He has restrained himself. We should also restrain ourselves. The Cloudy Sword Sect is said to value etiquette and temperance. If we reach beyond our grasp, his mood may turn.”

Xi Kong sighed and looked towards the ceiling. He loathed politicking. His instinct as a father wanted to demand a vast price for those bastards harming his daughter… but by all accounts the powerful Expert had already taken her under his wing once more. There was more to be found for Xiulan there than petty revenge against the Shrouded Mountain Sect. What reparations could he demand that were not already given by this man?

“Elder Cai, Rou Tigu was under your roof. Did you know about any of this?” Daxian asked after shaking his head.

Xi Kong shook his head. “My daughter was healed by the powerful expert after slaying Sun Ken. She told us he was impressed with her abilities and so gifted her training. After that, she returned to him… and he trusted her enough to send his disciples to stay with us at our sect\'s manor for the tournament.”

The other movers and shakers of the Azure Hills considered his statement.

“He remained quiet for a reason, then.” Daxian concluded.

“But why the Azure Hills? Most cultivators of power say they feel uncomfortable in this land, yet he doesn’t seem perturbed at all.”

They lapsed into silence.

“A minimum, then. Exercise caution… and make sure those mortals get their repayment.”

“Director Huizong will be happy, at least.” Elder Gang grumbled.

“Are we in agreement?” Daxian asked. There was a pause as the Elders considered the question.

“What else could we be, save for in agreement?” Elder Gang muttered.

The Elders rose as one and approached the man. He looked up from his tea and raised his eyebrow.

“We, the Elders of the Azure Hills, have finished our discussions, Master Rou. We shall create for you a document to pursue at your leisure.”

The man raised an eyebrow, but nodded his head.

“Already? Well that’s good. We’ll wait for news from the Shrouded Mountain Sect Disciples… and with luck, this will all end without any issue.”

He said the words with calm optimism.

“Yes. We would request Zhou Yingwen, so we may make sure the details of this tale are accurate. No harm shall come to him, you have our words.” Daxian said.

The inimitable master nodded. “Thank you for taking the time to speak with this Rou Jin.” he said, rising from his seat and bowing slightly. The Elders scrambled to emulate him, but no one else spoke a word.

They simply nodded their heads. All except Cai Xi Kong.

“Forgive me, Master Rou, but… Why here? Why the Azure Hills?” He asked carefully.

The man seemed surprised at the question. He considered it and responded.

“Because it\'s relatively peaceful and quiet here. I… didn’t want to be bothered,” the man stated. “It may no longer be possible. I’ll figure out some way that you can contact me, if there\'s an emergency, but I would appreciate it if you respected the boundaries of my home.”

As the words finished, an inkling of his power came back. The ground under their feet seemed to writhe with displeasure at the mere thought of them visiting.

“Of course, Master Rou. We would not dream of trespassing.” Daxian said immediately. Xi Kong saw some of the Elders wince slightly. They had likely been imagining sending their students to negotiate with him… but breaching a Master’s privacy with such petty concerns was just not done.

Rou Jin nodded. The feeling of being judged faded.

“We’ll keep in touch then and make sure this all goes smoothly,” he declared. “If you’ll excuse me… I have a house to finish.”

The lights in the room darkened as he left, leaving the Elders of the Azure Hills to contemplate the words and deeds of this peerless master.

========================

I marched right out of the room and down the hall. I didn’t make it very far, as a chose a nearby dorr and went for it. It glowed briefly and then opened automatically.

I stepped in and the door closed behind me. It was another beautiful stone room, carved with reliefs and richly adorned.

I managed to keep from hyperventilating until it shut with a click.

I had no fucking clue what I had just done. Had it gone well? Had I done poorly? I could only guess.

Fuck me, I hated being the guy in charge.

I slumped against the wall. I had come in, said my piece, and everybody had just agreed to it. No arguments. No nothing. Just “Yes, sir.”

There was no way everything was that easy, was it? Was this how things were supposed to go? I had no idea.

I ran my hand through my hair. Meimei was getting lessons from Lady Wu… maybe I could ask the Lord Magistrate for some help with this whole high society and negotiations thing. He seemed pretty good at it…

Slowly I stopped jittering. I took deep calming breaths. It had turned out fine. Everything would work out.

One at a time. All I had was a hope and a prayer. But with luck…. Well, with luck, I wouldn’t be dragged any further into this mess than I already was.

Just because I didn’t hide, didn’t mean I wanted to deal with people or… kill anyone. I wanted my charming, slow, pastoral life, damn it. Go away, Xianxia!

Ugh, and I had to meet with the Azure Jade Trading company too…

Was it bad that I was just as nervous about that as stepping into a room full of cultivators? The Elders had been… well, less extra than I had been expecting, but that was a good thing. They were people, not characters. They almost seemed reasonable.

Or maybe they were just shitting their pants too hard.

Man, how did these people act so grim and serious for so long?!