Destiny in Cinders

It seemed rather bright outside the window. The nightlife of Keensight was quite rich; the chatter of people outside wafted around like steaming vapor, creating a warm atmosphere that staved off the cold winter night, filling the border city with life.

Unlike the vibrant streets, there wasn’t a shred of light within Honor Pavilion save for a single light-blue candle flame upon an altar. That was the only light source in the entire dark and quiet place.

Lu Jin was the head of the Honor Pavilion branch, a man past his sixties. But unlike most people his age who were already withering away, he had a strong and healthy body from martial practice. The only signs of his age were his gray hair and mustache and a few wrinkles near his forehead.

Honor Pavilion was a famous merchant company that operated in Huang Prefecture. They specialized in aquatic transport routes, ferrying lumber and northwestern herbs.

As the person in charge of the branch in Keensight, his task was to ensure trade went smoothly between Keensight, Dustdawn and the south. It was a position that demanded not only attention to detail but also loyalty. Initially, Lu Jin had enough of the latter, at least until he reached a martial bottleneck and his life began to wither away.

The aging man closed his eyes in deep meditation, exhaling and nourishing his qi. He had no offspring to speak of, only a few lovers. Honor Pavilion was his home. He often meditated at night in his study right after he finished the company’s affairs to cultivate. Some of his subordinates were all too aware that he hated being disturbed during that time unless it was actually an urgent matter, so most people wouldn’t dare to.

Somewhere near the old man’s forehead, a talisman glowed faintly. It seemed to be one of the focus talismans An Jing had sold earlier. Then, a faint knocking on the door could be heard.

”Enter.” Lu Jin opened his eyes and furrowed his brow, but didn’t fly into a rage.

”Sir.” A martialist disguised like a thug respectfully greeted him. He then went on to report what happened during the day.

”Wasn’t that Dustdawn kid a mere spoiled rich kid?” Lu Jin’s expression turned grim. ”He even sold focus talismans of the highest quality... I thought he was just some kid who didn’t care about his cultivation. Turns out he’s actually a genius that doesn’t need focus talismans...”

”I am not sure about that, sir,” the martialist said somewhat nervously, having failed his task. Eager to offer something else, he said, ”However, it’s not all bad news. We messed with the kid to the point that he no longer dares to stay at the inn. He brought his luggage with him and went to join the old lady at the yin terrestrial-vein node. Both our targets have gathered at the same location and we’ll be able to take care of them in one fell swoop!”

”That’s good.” Lu Jin nodded and forgave their failure to capture An Jing. ”Whether genius or spoiled rich kid, he’s just some trash that got in my way. I was going to treat the Dustdawners with courtesy, but since they refused it themselves, we’ll send the kid’s corpse back in a few days.

”Wait, no...” Lu Jin’s fatigued expression turned into a ghastly smile when he thought of something. ”In fact, let’s capture him. If he’s truly a genius, there might be far better uses for his life.”

The martialist shivered when he felt the bloody killing intent. He smiled apologetically and said, ”Then, sir, let me take my leave to carry out my task.”

”Wait a moment,” Lu Jin said even though he was just about to shut his eyes. ”Is that all you got? Are you hiding something from me? Lying to me?”

”Absolutely not!” The martialist immediately kowtowed. ”I would never hide anything from you, sir! It’s just that there are some things that are far too out of the ordinary, but I’m not in charge of those affairs and didn’t have time to verify what I heard, so I chose not to speak of it until I had better clarity on the situation.”

”Tell me. Now.”

The martialist froze for a moment and immediately said, ”The people at our gathering spot at Flower Alley said they were robbed completely of everything they had. Old Bull died during the robbery. It’s said that the only thing that was left behind was the terrestrial-vein compass. Constable Chen has also gone missing all of a sudden. There’s signs of combat in his house and traces of blood. We found a tooth that probably belonged to him; it was forcefully pulled out. He...”

The martialist gulped audibly, sweat pouring out of him right after he sensed the rage emanating from the old man, followed by a rapid calm.

”I see...” Lu Jin didn’t say anything about it. ”You may go.”

The martialist immediately excused himself, leaving Lu Jin alone in deep thought. ”Who knew that the workings of fate would be so swift and heavy once imperial blood gets involved? We ran into so many accidents right at the start. How many people did we lose... The esteemed lord already used a talisman that should suppress the workings of fate, and even that didn’t stop the blowback. I’m not too surprised by Old Chen’s death, however. I warned him not to act out. I made sure to tell him that nobody would be able to save him if he attracted trouble. How irresponsible of him to die just like that. It’s no wonder the esteemed lord didn’t bless him fully.”

Lu Jin shook his head and clicked his tongue. ”It is what it is. A few dead people aren’t a huge deal. The plan is about to come to fruition anyway.”

He placed another focus talisman on his forehead to suppress the wild rampage that the blood pill and blessing induced. The talisman’s effects calmed him down gradually. Some time passed and the deep of night arrived. Once there was no sign of human activity in the entire building, the old man’s eyes opened and glowed darkly crimson.

He rose and inspected his surroundings. When he was sure nobody was looking or approaching, he walked toward his bookshelves. When he activated the secret mechanism, the shelves slid apart as the wall sank deeper in to reveal a downward stairway behind it. It was just as dark as the rest of the building and seemed to lead to a secret chamber underneath.

Lu Jin entered the stairway while a lotus drone quietly followed behind him. The secret chamber was simple and unremarkable. Its walls on both sides were made from solid stone and airgapped. There were odd patterns and markings painted all over them that ensured no voice could escape the chamber.

Lu Jin pulled a lever to turn on the lights. Blood could be seen on the floorboards, walls, ceiling and everywhere else. The blood had pooled and dried to the point that it looked black. It was used to paint some of the odd patterns and markings around the room. Like the bones of fiends, the mere sight of them caused one to feel nauseous. The ground was covered all over with pieces of bone, teeth, nails and hair, giving it quite a gravely surface.

An odd stench wafted within the dark room, but it didn’t seem to come from the blood or human remains. Instead, the source was the four half-dead bodies that hung at the center of the chamber. They had been strung up with large hooks and had been almost entirely skinned, exposing all their muscles and organs. Despite all that, they were still alive, shrieking in pain. The talismans plastered on their foreheads, however, drowned out all the sound they emitted, making it so that they merely shriveled soundlessly in agony and hatred.

There was an odd statue of a deity at the center of the room as well, chained down tightly and covered all over with yellow talismans. It had nine eyes, seven mouths, three heads, five arms, an abyss-like abdomen and caved-in faces. The mere sight of it caused one to instinctually feel a sudden bone-chilling fear from the depths of one’s mind, as well as a sense of worship! This whole setup was a sacrificial ritual to the deity, one of the most evil and cruel to ever be carried out!

The aging man lit some blood incense to worship the idol. ”Heed my prayer, being of nether! I, Lu Jin of Keensight, offer these four souls and their yin lifeblood as my sacrifice. May my spirit be the bridge across which the esteemed lord’s divine mercy crosses into this world...”

The drone behind him streamed the ritual as it transpired. An Jing almost smashed the drone controller within his room in the teahouse. ”Heavenly fiend! It’s actually a heavenly fiend!”