Page 83 of The Wind Dancer
“Judging what I’ve gathered, Lian Rui and the cult are working together, but they have separate goals. Fouche despises the cultists, although in my opinion, he’s no different from them. But there’s something else we need to discuss.” I took a sip of wine, and I continued. “Something is brewing in the province. The Tongs saw strangers from the islands, and Fouche confessed that they were the ones helping Zhou’s agents in the city.”
“Are you sure?” Mei Lin grew very serious.
“Without a doubt.”
“The local legion is being sent away for training in a few days. All orders have already been given, and to cancel them,we’d require an order directly from the capital. So, in three weeks, there will be almost no troops in the province. Just as Zhou’s agents became more active here.” I could tell that the situation had just become far more serious given what she just shared with me. And if the islanders attacked...
“Then the city will hold until their troops arrive.” Apparently, I said my last thought out loud.
“And someone from the capital seemingly wants this to happen.”
“I need to go to the capital urgently. This is much more important than the Cult activities.”
“And that’s not all I’ve learned.”
“Fouche had a passage from his office to the warehouses where the drugs are stored. There were so many drugs there that they could flood the entire province with them and still have more left. This is how they finance their businesses.”
“You don’t have to worry about the warehouse, it burned down in anaccident. When we lost contact with you, I gave the order to storm the place. We were able to uncover some of the supply chains, and they fit with what was in your mentor’s documents. I wouldn’t be surprised if Lian Rui was involved in his death.” I gritted my teeth at that, but I took a deep breath and another sip of wine and continued.
“He wanted me to swear an oath on an altar that simply reeked of the Underworld and the Distortion. I refused, but he insisted.” Mei Lin looked at me intently.
“Then I used my daggers to decline. And I almost died because of it.”
“Tell me...” It wasn’t an order, but a quiet request.
After finishing the wine in one big gulp, I poured myself more and only began talking after half a cup.
I told her about Fouche turning psychotic, how he summoned monsters from the darkness, which almost killed me. How I was lucky enough to open a path away from there.
“And then I ran. I ran like I had never run before, and I hope to Heaven that I’ll never run like that again. Fouche and his monsters chased me like an animal. I don’t know how, but I escaped into the catacombs. And I heard someone or something killing the monstrous servants. As you can imagine, I really didn’t want to get involved. And then the awakening overwhelmed me. I’ve never been so scared in my life.” I tried to put all the feelings from the reforging into my words. All those terrible things I had experienced. And she believed me. Her strong fingers squeezed my hand, as if to say,“I’m here.”
“I woke up in just a couple of hours, like all those who don’t succeed.” There was a deep sadness in her voice. “My father told me that his father only woke up after several days of tossing in nightmares.” In response, I squeezed her fingers lightly to show that I was grateful for her support, and then I continued.
“I don’t know how much time I spent in the catacombs. I thought I was going to die there and that no one would find my body. I didn’t even know I had dragon blood in me. My mentor... He never told me. Maybe he didn’t know, or maybe he was hiding it.”
Mei Lin nodded.
“My Mentor told me that the Master Without a Face was very secretive. What makes you so sure that you Awakened to Water?” This question took me by surprise. I didn’t know anything about how dragonblood usually Awakened.
I shrugged.
“I felt things differently. I began to sense moisture in the air. Even the dirty sewer water felt familiar to me.” It was easy to say this. I just applied what I felt with the wind to water. The voice in the Sanctuary was right, wind and water were very close.
“Do you understand that I have to report you now?”
“Of course.” I looked her straight in the eye. “And you won’t even try to recruit me into your house?”
“You’re dangerous, Feng Lao. When you were just a master Shadow, I could keep you on a leash. Everything has changed now. There is an old rule stating that dragonblood are not to be chained up, only killed or made into allies. And I want to be your ally. My partner.”
“I don’t want to forge alliances blindly. There are too many people in this world who pretend to be benefactors only to put you in chains.”
Mei Lin chuckled briefly.
“You haven’t changed,” she said softly. “Still distrustful and sharp. Alone against the world. You should keep in mind that you just started your journey. You will need teachers and resources. It’s very expensive to follow the path of Ascension. Elixirs, glyphs, and essence all cost so much.”
I finished the wine and poured us more.
“I like you, Mei Lin. I feel like you’re telling me the truth right now and that you’re trying to help me. But... there’s always a but. You have your own goals and objectives, and I have mine. We should work together as long as it is beneficial for both of us.”
