Liao Hua had forgotten that mortals did not immediately do as she pleased with the speed that she preferred at an urgency she liked and without needing a degree of interaction she could live entirely, this, of course, being no interaction with a mortal. The last few days had tested her ability to handle mortals.


    The only thing stopping her from wholesale slaughter was the pleasant notes of a zither streaming through the open door. And, she supposed, the agreements I made.


    Currently, there was one mortal bleeding badly from the nose and mouth, swaying back and forth on the floor, but commendably managing to stay conscious. He was one part of the nightmare tapestry of the last few days that cemented her view that the best thing a mortal could do was to dig their own grave and save her the trouble. On balance, he was slightly less of a nuisance than the corrupt priest and only because the other priests were likely all dead and they had a use in ritual purification. But ranking slightly below someone Hua found so irritating that she ripped his head off wasn’t a safe place to be.


    “Please, you can’t send me back,” said the other irritating mortal with tears ruining her painted face. “I love him.”


    The Lady Song Song, daughter to the Sealord Song, was a woman who lived in the type of fantasy that could only exist somewhere as soft and foolish as the imperial capital. For it to exist here, in a distant province of the empire where people knew their duty and died for it, was infuriating. The Lady Song Song believed that love alone could be enough to overcome her father’s greed, fury, ambition, willingness to enact violence, and his ability to mobilise those who could touch Qi. Calling it fantasy undersold the level of delusion she was operating under.


    “I haven’t killed him. That should be enough. It is more mercy than I’ve given most mortals and truthfully, I am very much out of mercy.”


    Lady Song’s eyes widened and for a moment, Hua thought this would all be over. Then, Lady Song seemed to realise something and rose from where she was crouched beside her lover Zhang Pi, dropping her bloodstained silk napkin. She raised her chin and cloaked herself in an aura of dignity. For once, Hua saw the resemblance to the Sealord.


    How interesting. Maybe this trip would ultimately be worth it. That, or Lady Song was simply tightening the noose around her lover’s neck.


    “Then let us discuss terms, Young Mistress Liao.”


    “Since when did this become a negotiation?”


    “Everything is a negotiation in the end. You learn that out at sea where the salt gods swallow you whole for the wrong tribute. If we can endure the mindless ocean, then surely, we can treat with a reasoning Cultivator. I believe you will find this arrangement to your liking.” She gestured at her dazed lover. “He can support you. Whatever you want, he’ll do.”


    “You’re making promises on his behalf now? When you aren’t even married? The Sealord may as well own his balls.”


    “You’re wrong. We are a partnership, aren’t we, my dear?”


    Zhang Pi was holding Lady Song’s silk napkin to his nose. It had broken spontaneously on contact with Hua’s backhand. No great loss, it had already been poorly proportioned. This might give it a hint of character. He struggled to stand on shaky legs but stand he did. Lacking in great beauty or remarkable characteristics, Zhang Pi had given himself to a hawkish determination.


    After swallowing some blood, he spoke. “Can’t you see how bad his control is for everyone? The Sealord has you running around, doing his bidding. Give it another five years and he’ll be ordering your whole clan. Then the Governor if we don’t stop him. A man like that, having any access to the Dragon Throne, it can’t be borne.”


    “He’ll keep pushing you around like this again,” Lady Song Song said. “It’s not a matter of respect. So long as he can feel greater, he’ll do it even if it might mean death. That is what he did to the ocean. Pushed it and kept conquering even after he lost his first fleet and his arm. I know He’ll marry me off to nobility and then manoeuvre my grandchildren into your Clan. Even if it takes him till his dying moments, he’ll do everything to be the most influential man in the Amber Sea.”


    Stripping away the hysteria and exaggeration left behind the clear image of a mortal reaching above himself.


    The Sealord had a monopoly on shipping and owned most of the warehouses across the docks of Liajiangko. It was likely more of the same at Seagate City where the Liao River ended and the rough sea began. Check the flags of half the ships in the province and they likely carried his flag, even if only as an associate.


    He was powerful and his influence was great enough to move Hua as he pleased. There was a point when mortals became too powerful for their own good. They overstepped, believing wealth was the same as Qi, that you could replace Jing, external Essence, with jin, with gold, and have the same outcome. But the immaculate aspect of Qi was far greater than gold.


    Hua turned to the broken door where the calming notes of a zither flowed through. She yearned to return to that peaceful downstairs where a beautiful girl was making beautiful music. Just a few moments away from these mortals would be enough.


    “Liu Xin, attend me.”


    The man entered. He was carrying his weight awkwardly on one leg. He’d done well to only sustain that as an injury from fighting off three bodyguards after the past few days of exertion. If every mortal was a tenth as worthy as Liu Xin, then Hua could meditate happily on her mountain and never descend.


    “Yes, Young Mistress?”


    “I know you were listening. Do you find yourself agreeing with their conclusion?”


    He glanced over the two lovers. “This servant finds the Lady Song’s willingness to abandon her father both a sign of the Sealord’s character but also of her unfilial nature. One could not say how accurate the Lady Song’s complaints are but, this servant has handled many documents related to the Sealord’s shipping concern.”


    “And?”


    “This city is deeply intertwined with his interests. Many shops, taverns, and inns have accepted loans from him in the past and continue to do so. He has a not insignificant stake in many businesses entirely unconnected to shipping and it’s likely that all smuggling occurs only with his approval. Some have even said this city should be called Songjiangkou instead because Song ships carry the gold, silver, and grain that let this city function.”


    Hua was going to have someone investigate the School of Doubting Antiquity because there was no reason a scholar, a scribe, or even a spy should have that much information on hand. It reminded Hua of her grandmother’s knowledge, always seeming to pull a fact from the ether. He could be a Yu spy who had been operating in the city for decades, just waiting for an opportunity this great. The Yu homelands were nearest to the border with the Jurchen tribes. It wasn’t impossible. Unlikely, but not impossible.


    But, if even half of it was true, it painted a picture of a man who needed to have his monopoly broken. There was the simple option of just murdering him, but Hua couldn’t do that without her grandmother’s approval. And even then, it wasn’t the best option. It would cause chaos at a time when they needed greater stability. The better option was to make a deal with a mortal.


    The Madame was right. These mortals are vital but for all the wrong reasons. One day, I’ll find a way to make sure I never deal with them.


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    Zhang Pi owned some warehouses and had a loan to commission ships. An agreement with the mercantile guilds that had forced the Sealord to act recklessly. They likely thought the Sealord too powerful as well—though for what reason, Hua did not know, and she suspected it would come back to haunt her later. Either way, they’d likely pay Zhang Pi enough to endure the Sealord’s attempts to bleed him financially. If he further became untouchable, and came under the protection of the Liao Clan, he’d be able to break the Sealord’s monopoly.


    Hua hated Zhang Pi for wasting her time and getting her involved in this marriage contract negotiation gone very wrong. She’d gladly turn him into a shitty pill if she could and feed that to a pig.


    But, he was useful. Connections, backing, and the willingness to attack the Sealord where it hurt. He’d made mistakes, but he was a weapon already forged to suit Hua’s needs. The Sealord had too much power. That was the long and short of it. He was too vital to her Clan, to the city, and maybe even to the province. He needed to be brought to heel permanently.


    “I gave my word. I can’t let you go.”


    Song Song nodded bitterly but she did not break. Her jaw clenched tightly, her tiny hands balled into fists. But break, she did not. And the fool of a man who had caused this didn’t interrupt and waste Hua’s time.


    “But I said nothing about enforcing a marriage agreement. And I never said I’d kill you. My agreement goes only as far as returning you to your father.”


    Lady Song Song gasped, hands flying to cover her mouth. Faster than Hua thought possible for an untrained mortal, she was on her knees, her forehead touching the floor. Her tears would stain the floor.


    “Oh, thank you most benevolent Mistress Liao. Thank you for ten thousand years. May the gods bless everything you do.”


    That was the wrong thing to say. The only way she wanted the gods to bless her was up close so she could stab them.


    “I still expect my payment for irritating me,” she said flatly.


    Zheng Pi was much too relieved to argue. “I’ll have some of my men deal with it.” He named a number. Hua doubled it on principle. “Working with you is going to give me white hairs early.”


    “No, you work for me. If I tell you to look west, no one in your company will so much as look east. This is not an equal partnership; these are just the conditions for your stay of execution. You have no more chances to irritate me. Are we understood?”


    “You are,” Zhang Pi said with the contained fury of a man forced to sign an unfair deal. But one who knew surviving another day meant another chance to get his revenge.


    Good. She needed that anger. Hua would point it straight at the Sealord who dared make a fool of her.


    ***


    “Madame, I expect a gift of that rice wine,” Hua said as she made her way down to the central atrium, Lady Song behind her and blocked from any further acts of escape by Liu Xin.


    The confusion and chaos had been subdued. Only the Madame who carried Hua’s veiled hat and the zither player remained in the atrium, the latter who sent Hua a smile. It made her throat tighten and her chest warm. Hua immediately looked away. It was a weakness she hadn’t known she possessed until today.


    “The damage to this establishment was extensive. This Madame would hope the Young Mistress would offer face and provide recompense.”


    “Bill the Sealord and send a copy to me. And if there are issues, I’m sure you can let me know somehow. Possibly through that Elder who spends his time here.” She accepted her veiled hat from the Madame who owned the Crimson Leaf Pagoda. “You were correct, some mortals are vital.”


    “This old lady fears you’ve come to an upsetting conclusion.”


    “But some mortals are too vital, and I now know to pay more attention to what you lot are doing. Thank you for that lesson.”


    The Madame nodded. “That you know mortals can be important is enough for this old lady. You will be less likely to kill them thoughtlessly.”


    “Is that so?”


    “This old lady can hope.”


    Hua scoffed and donned her hat. “Come, Song Song, let’s go see your father so I can go home.”


    And so it was that Liao Hua made her exit from a brothel and was greeted by an audience of onlookers disproportionate to anything approaching reason. Hua blinked slowly, glad for the veil shielding her as she witnessed a veritable army.


    The city was half broken, parts of it drowned, entire sections of it swallowed whole by the earth and set ablaze. So many with time enough to stand around, gawking at the sight of her, infuriated Hua.


    Oh lovely. In the middle of a crowd was Blue Hand Zhu and even an Imperial soldier. Not to mention the litany of crooks, prostitutes, civil servants, farmers, and myriad other people that found themselves in the Red Light District whilst the rest of the city went to shit.


    The only upside was that she didn’t see a single member of the Liao Clan wasting their time in the Red Light District.


    The downside was that she was a member of the Liao Clan. Her hat and veil would do little to hide the kingfisher on her travelling cloak.


    That was the Sealord with his hundred men, standing in the very district he claimed would break out into war if he did so. The audacity to do this shocked her. He wasn’t even pretending to uphold the lie he sold her. Did he truly think he could act without consequence? Had reprisal become so distant a prospect that he gleefully put his head into the tiger’s maw? Well, she hoped he wouldn’t be surprised when his face was eaten.


    After removing her hat once more, Hua made her way down, head held high and gaze unwavering. If they wished to see her, then so be it. She would not bow. She would not back down or be embarrassed.


    “Blue Hand Zhu, I see you’re not at the Counting House making yourself useful.”


    “They wanted evidence that you told me to be there. Thought I was there to steal something. Or knife someone.”


    “Well, you are known to have more knives than sense.” She looked to the Imperial soldier. “Is that the only reason you have to waste time while the city you are honour bound to protect suffers?” Before he could answer, she turned to the true target of her ire. “Greetings, Sealord. You seem to be in good health.”


    The aged Sealord was grinning as though he were a man in his twenties, filled with the vim that built the biggest shipping concern in the Amber Sea. He’d lost a tooth at some point and replaced it with one of gold. It was far less remarkable than his arm, a prosthetic of jade and gold, powered with spirit stones. It was a master craft in engineering, a living piece of art, powered by formations subtle enough that Hua could only just barely sense them.


    “Liao Hua, the Young Mistress of the Liao Clan saving my daughter. Such nobility could make an old man cry like a babe. Come, my child, let us leave this place.”


    Lady Song did not emerge from Hua’s shadow, staying firmly in place. Behind a Cultivator


    “I am not quite done here.” She nodded to the Sealord, affecting a calm she did not feel. “A moment, if you would.”


    The tension rose.


    “Your sailors will be providing support in rebuilding the city, yes?”


    “Of course, how could we do anything less for this beautiful city we call home.”


    She looked to the Imperial soldier who was watching but carefully refusing to participate. She was sure this would be in an intelligence report that got sent somewhere close to the Dragon Throne.


    “There you go, even more men for the good corporal. Take them and leave. The Sealord is a true patriot, indeed.”


    She met the Sealord’s glare and just dared him to countermand her. Hua was going to establish just who was in control here. This was petty, posturing with a mortal. It demeaned her and made her lesser. She would do it anyway for the sake of her pride.


    The Sealord grinned like the best of them. “Aye, they say I was born from the River Liao. This city is my home. Go on boys, help out the guardsman. Make sure Blue Hand does what’s important.”


    “Fuck you, Song, and fuck your family up nine generations. Your mother was an utter slug of a woman and I know ‘cause she shrivelled up after tasting a man’s seed.”


    The Sealord, a man in his twilight years, looked at Blue Hand Zhu who was young enough to be his son, and said, “Boy, I will bend you over my knee and cane you if you don’t get going.”


    “Gentlemen, you can continue your childish argument later. Sealord, congratulations. You played the game very well.”


    “You played the game well. Made a Cultivator do the work you couldn’t without so much as having any of the blame fall on you. My grandmother would be impressed.”


    “High praise.”


    “I hope it keeps you warm in the grave.”


    Between one moment and the next, Hua crossed the distance still separating them. She was lightning, she was speed, and she was furious.


    Sparks crackled over the back of her hand and up her arm, a storm of her carefully distilled fury. Qi unleashed like a miasma, every single desire for violence and death she had built up over the past few days directed at the man in front of her.


    It was only moments after, with her hand firmly on his chest, that the Sealord processed what was occurring. He saw the storm of lightning and paled. Froze in fear.


    Hua kept her palm over the Sealord’s chest. Felt his speeding heartbeat. The Sealord was a powerfully built man. With a chest broad and shoulders wide, he could be mistaken for someone decades younger. Shorter than her, his heart still pumped with vital energy.


    “I’m kinder than the sea you lord over. I sometimes give warning before I kill. Do this again and there will be no Sealord. Are we understood, Uncle?”


    The issue with monopolies is that they made mortal men think they were great heroes. Gave them the impression that they could transcend the simple concept of consequence.


    “Yes,” the Sealord choked out.


    She gave him a cheery smile and let her lightning fade. He gasped like he could breathe for the first time.


    “Good. Now, you can ask your idiot rival how much irritating me cost him. I expect to receive much the same. Also, I want those nice tumblers of yours. All of them.”


    Liao Hua turned and made her way through the crowd. To the north, the mountain she called home was waiting for her. She had missed it terribly and it was one place without foolish mortals. Hua could not wait to return.