I ran after him as he walked away, out the door, each step of his matching two of mine. I wanted to follow him but he seemed to almost disappear behind a group of trees, his subtle displeasure made very clear. I sighed and headed to my quarters, intending to prepare for what could be a mission of indeterminable length in front of me. My possessions were scant, a uniform or two, a set of plain clothes that Tang Lan had scrounged up for me, a few sizes too large - most likely Tang Lou's old robes - a small notebook and a palm sized dagger that came standard as part of the Outer Disciple kit.
Thus packing up didn't take much time, I threw everything into a small sack and got up, turning around and bumping into… Tang Lan?
She let out a little oomph as she fell onto my bedding, rubbing her tiny head as she looked at me and pouted angrily.
"Hey Mister Stranger, can't you see where you're going?"
I smiled and patted her head gently.
"Sorry Lan, are you alright? Did you get hurt?"
"Hmmmph" she harrumphed, "It'll take a lot more than that to hurt me alright?"
I laughed and agreed, pretending to ignore the minute bump that was sprouting from her forehead.
"Why are you here little princess?"
"I heard you and big brother are going for a mission."
I nodded, "Yes, I should be going, he's probably waiting for me at the gate."
She puffed her cheeks and pointed her nose upwards," Then this princess will follow along as well."
"I don't think that's a good idea, it could be dangerous and I don't think your brother will agree."
"He's not my boss, I don't care what he says."
Whilst I wasn't the most adept at clan politics I highly doubt that irritating an already irate heir in waiting was the best idea, especially one as displeased at me as the one currently in charge of me. I needed to figure out a way to let Tang Lan down gently.
Before I could articulate an argument, a shadow at my doorframe darkened the dimly lit room further as a familiar voice ringed out in annoyance.
"You don't care what who says you little brat?"
Tang Lan jumped up in surprise, a scared, almost guilty look running across her face as we took in the face of the figure.
"Big Brother I was just…"
"Yes I know what you were just doing, trying to convince the Lei dog to try and sneak you along weren't you? Have you forgotten what happened the last time I brought you on a mission?"
"You need to stop calling me that," I protested weakly as he ignored me and continued on.
"I still owe the Floating Lotus Inn money for the room you set on fire." he said angrily.
Tang Lan, to her credit, did indeed look quite guilty, refusing to meet his eyes, staring at her feet. She tried stammering out an excuse that Tang Lou shut down immediately.
"Tang Lan," he said with an intensity that I had yet to ever hear from him, "Do not dare to follow us today. I mean it."
The tone of his voice made her step back a bit, almost scared as she started to shed a tear or two, running away. I wanted to run after her, comfort her a bit but there was something in Tang Lou's voice that rooted me to my spot. It wasn't really anger but something else.
It was familiar.
Fear.
Why was he scared?
"Where were you?" He boomed out. "I've been waiting at the gate for the past ten minutes."
"You disappeared all of a sudden, I didn't know where you went."
He clicked his tongue in annoyance, almost as if he had forgotten about my lack of cultivation.
I needed to know, though, the reason for his fear. Just what was this mission we were going on? As we exited my room I stayed silent until we reached the gate, once we crossed the Tang Clan limits though, that's when I popped the question. He stopped in his tracks, just a few meters outside the gate and looked at me.
"Are you sure you want to know?" He said, a hint of what could have been concern if not for the fact that he was Tang Lou in his voice. "You can just stay in the town inn and wait for me to finish the mission and we can say that both of us did it. You don't need to be involved."
I looked at him in surprise, that was an awfully generous offer, I didn't expect something like that from him. Just what was going on.
"No, I want to know." I said firmly.
He sighed and ran his hand through his hair. He stayed quiet for a moment longer, debating what to say before finally opening his mouth.
"It's an assassination."
I laughed at him, not really processing what he said.
"Thats really funny because for a second I thought you said it was an assassination mission."
"..."
"Wait…you're serious."
"Yes."
The reality of what he had just said started to hit me. An assassination mission, we were going to kill someone. I was going to murder. They expected me to take away life.
To kill.
What the hell.
My stomach sank like a stone, beads of sweat forming on my forehead as the reality of the situation started to hit me
"No I can't." I stammered out.
Tang Lou nodded and said, "I agree, I also think that you can't, you don't seem like you have the stomach for it."
That was uncalled for. I didn't know what to feel worse about, the lack of confidence he had in me or the fact that to prove him wrong I'd have to kill someone.
"Wait, no that's not fair…"
"What do you mean not fair, I'm giving you an out aren't I? A tinge of anger coloring his voice. "This isn't a game, Lei dog, this is a real mission with real consequences, if it goes wrong we both could die and I'm being kind enough to let you sit out. If it wasn't for the fact that your inglorious demise would make Tang Lan sad, I would relish the chance to send you to your doom."
My ears twice burned at the insult, first by him calling me a dog, second at his questioning of my courage."
"I'm not a damn coward you bastard." I hissed through my teeth.
His eyes narrowed," Who the hell are you calling a bastard?"
I took a step back as waves of anger oozed off of him, a voice promising pain cutting through my surprise.
"Nevermind, the offer is off the table, now you will take part, whether you like it or not." He forced out through gritted teeth, using his aura, his cultivation to push down on me, almost press me into the ground.
"Fine." I spat out, trying my best to resist, not show weakness.
He stared at me for a second before turning his face away, releasing the pressure and walking away.
The rest of the journey was spent mostly in silence as we walked for roughly half an hour along a compacted dirt road into the city.
It had been years since I had last seen it, the smell of salty sea air wafting into my nose as white buildings stood around me like a maze, inns, taverns, shops of all shapes and sizes surrounding us. Hawkers selling fried mystery meat by the skewer, herbalists trying to convince passerbies to try their latest elixirs, smaller sects setting up stalls, hoping to find promising recruits. Everything crashed into me all at once, overwhelming me in the best way possible. For a second I had almost forgotten why I was here.
Almost.
A hand dragged me both into the entrance of a nearby inn as well as back to reality as Tang Lou's heavy hand sat me onto a table near the entrance. The inn was rather homely, wooden walls, antiquated heavy wooden furniture, a small bar in the corner where the innkeeper and a bargirl kept busy, the warm smell of spice and alcohol permeating the air.
"Pay attention." Tang Lou muttered, looking around, checking to see if anyone was listening into our conversation.
"We aren't tourists so stop gaping around trying to look at everything, we're here on serious business."
"Its been a while since I've been out, everything is just so…new," I replied, taking in the sights and scents, distracted by the view around me.
"Tsk," he clicked his teeth in annoyance and continued.
"Stop being a child, there will be plenty of time to mess around later, for now we have to plan."
That caught my attention, he was right, we were here on serious business. The thought of what was to come still made me sick, the journey here had done nothing to temper my resolve.
"Do you remember a while ago I left on a mission with Tang Lan?"
"Umm, not really?"
"Well anyways I had been sent to audit the local Merchant Association, their activities generally come under the Lei clan's purview but recent…events left their auditors slightly indisposed," he said with a predatory grin.
"Events?" I asked, confused.
"Well… let's just say I may or may not have forgotten to hold back on them in the tournament that just happened."
Ah right, it's hard to forget that his general sadistic tendencies coupled with his hate for the Lei clan really didn't bode well for any of his opponents. The thought of potentially being his opponent if my cultivation ever recovered sent a shiver down my spine, a reaction that didn't escape his eye. He, however, did not make any mention of it and simply continued.
"Well during one of the audits I found that one of the merchants has been taking a bit of a larger cut from us than the Lei Clan… a significantly larger cut." His expression turned hard as he said.
"Its impossible to ever expect merchants to ever be honest, twenty often becomes nineteen or eighteen, we simply accept that as the price of doing business with them..but when eighteen becomes sixteen, that Lei Nei, is unacceptable. Especially when the difference between us and our rivals is that much."
He waved over the bargirl, ordering us some drinks, waiting for her to walk off before turning back to me.
"I sent him a subtle message but he either didn't take the hint or didn't consider us enough of a threat to heed it, so nevertheless an example must be made."
The stone in my stomach doubled in weight, more like a boulder now. I was going to kill someone…over money. Dirty blood money.
"Why…why do we have to kill him. It's just money." I said, almost a bit too loudly.
"Quiet you fool," he hissed, looking around, making sure no one heard me.
"Are you trying to get us caught? If any of his people hear we'll be made to disappear faster than you can imagine. Do you think that the clans and sects are the only ones with strong cultivators? We won't even know how we died."
"Then why do we have to kill him?" I whisper, "Surely we can talk to him, reason with him. If that doesn't work we can even try threatening him, there has to be a better alternative than murder."
"And what message will that send? That we're weak? Unwilling to defend our honor? No Lei Nei, it's a matter of principle."
"Damn your principles," I growled, " This is a human life we're talking about."
Just then the bargirl walks up, a bottle of wine and two bowls in her hand, she places them down with a bright smile that Tang Lou returns back.
"You're a naive boy, thinking that he wouldn't do the same if he weren't in the same position as you."
"Who even is he?"
He uncorked the bottle of wine, pouring himself a bowl, ignoring mine and gulping it down. He leaned in close, the alcohol pungent on his breath.
"Sha Rin, a bigshot merchant who sits on the Association Council, he's bound to have a ton of protection on him at all times which is why it's imperative that we do this by tomorrow."
Huh?
"Why tomorrow?"
He poured himself another bowl and downed it.
"Sha Rin…if nothing else is rather filial, once a week he goes to his mother's compound a few minutes from here. The few hours he's there are the only times his bodyguards aren't on him at all times. That is when we'll strike."
I picked up the bottle, my hands shaking as I poured myself some wine. I quenched my thirst, wetting my dry mouth with the burning liquid.
"We're sneaking into someone's compound to try and kill their son in cold blood, Tang Lou please reconsider there surely has to be a better way."
"Enough," he said, raising his hand in my face, cutting me off
"I've made my decision and I'm going to stick by it, if you have any problems with it you're welcome to trudge yourself back to the clan in disgrace."
His words stung, but…they had the hint of the same familiar tone I had heard earlier, the same fear. He was just as scared as I was, just as unsure.
Under that brash bold persona, there was someone who too didn't want to murder an innocent man just for the sake of it. That's what I believed.
I had to believe.
"Fine Tang Lou," I said, standing up, "We'll do it your way."
I turned my back to him heading upstairs to the room that the innkeeper had laid out for us. I plopped into my bed, doing my best to try to get some sleep and get ready for the next day. As I slowly drifted off, my eyes blurring, I came to a decision.
Damn his principles.
Damn his plan.
I was going to try it my way. Without losing any lives, without killing.
If he didn't like it, that's too bad.