Qualifications

He Lingchuan thought it over. "Find them a couple of new outfits, clean them up, and give them two good meals first. No matter what they say, greet them with a smile. Also, keep an eye on Chen Laoqi. Don't let him run off. He smashed someone else's ass, so this time his own might get beaten black and blue."

The cultist agreed, then couldn't help adding, "Young Master, we can't afford to offend Donglai Manor. If we let them go..."

The Red and White Path had known the two men's identities and still attacked them so viciously because they'd been sure the pair were doomed. Dead men couldn't tell tales, so what did it matter if they struck first?

But now that He Lingchuan intended to let them go, the Red and White Path couldn't help feeling uneasy.

"Relax. They need something from us, so they won't fuss over a little thing like this. Besides, this is Qiansong Prefecture, Blackwater City. As the saying goes, a mighty dragon can't crush the local snake." This wasn't a place where Donglai Manor called all the shots.

After the Red and White Path cultists had been sent away, He Lingchuan turned around and saw the worry in his second brother's eyes. "Big Brother, how are we going to explain this to Father?"

"It's just a little misunderstanding. Donglai Manor will certainly put the greater good first." He Lingchuan laughed, looking perfectly composed. "It's nothing!"

He Yue said nothing. For the Grand Marshal, this was a tiny matter, but the He family had to fret and agonize over it, weighing every word and action.

One man's mountain was another man's speck of dirt.

The wind stirred the fallen leaves in the garden, making them rustle. The He family youth, who had grown up with everything going his way, felt for the first time the helplessness of an insignificant person.

It really was awful.

"What's wrong?" He Lingchuan saw the boy looking downcast, as if something were troubling him.

"Nothing." He Yue smiled. "I'll head back first."

The moment he left, He Lingchuan turned to Uncle Hao. "Did something happen?" Uncle Hao seemed off.

"Young Master, Little Gray is dead."

He Lingchuan started. "How did it die?"

"It didn't fly back last night. I went to the cliff at Gourd Mountain and brought back the body." Uncle Hao's voice was a little hoarse. "Its wings and abdomen had been pierced. Its blood was dark green, and it had been poisoned too, but the cause of death was a broken neck."

"Nian Songyu, State Preceptor Sun!" He saw Uncle Hao's eyes reddened, and felt a pang of sorrow himself. "Sending Little Gray to keep watch was my idea. Uncle Hao, I'm sorry!"

Little Gray was a hawk demon and Uncle Hao's childhood companion. It had been with him for decades, could speak, and usually ate, drank, killed, and plundered alongside him. They were as close as brothers.

Uncle Hao had neither children nor siblings. With Little Gray gone, it was as if someone had hacked off his hands and feet.

"You didn't do it, so why apologize?" A ruthless glint appeared in Uncle Hao's eyes. "They could have questioned it. Why kill it? Can you find out who struck the fatal blow—the State Preceptor or that Nian fellow?"

"Absolutely." He Lingchuan immediately tried to calm him. "But don't act rashly. Not just you—even the whole of Jin Province dares not make an enemy of them."

"Little Gray saved my life at least twice." Uncle Hao spoke with absolute conviction. "It can't die for nothing!"

"If you go after them now, you'll just throw away another life." He Lingchuan's eyes shifted. "The Coiling Dragon Desert is a man-eating hellhole. Even if they make it back alive, they'll be greatly weakened." Better yet, they wouldn't make it back at all.

"Wait another ten days or so, and your chances of revenge will increase more than threefold." He put a hand on Uncle Hao's shoulder, his expression utterly sincere. "If an opportunity comes, Father and I will help you."

Their opponent was the State Preceptor, a weapon of the state. Going after him now would be far too reckless.

"By the way, does Father know?"

Uncle Hao shook his head. "I came to you first."

He Lingchuan took the mutton-fat jade ring off his finger, then pulled out a pearl necklace and shoved them both into Uncle Hao's hands. "Take three days off. I mean, use these three days to get some rest." And grieve properly. "Don't drink too much. I'll call for you if anything comes up."

The mutton-fat jade ring had a large ruby set in it, the sort of thing only a nouveau riche would wear. Every pearl on the necklace was as big as a sparrow's egg, all perfectly uniform and exceedingly valuable.

Uncle Hao took them. He stood there blankly for a moment, then nodded and turned away.

The lives of loved ones were priceless, of course, but plenty of money could at least soothe a wounded heart a little.

After he left, He Lingchuan slowly sat down on a stone bench in the garden.

Talk about trouble coming out of nowhere while you were sitting at home.

Little Gray the hawk demon had gone missing yesterday. That meant Nian Songyu and State Preceptor Sun already knew the He family had a clue they wanted before they ever came to He Manor. Had they come today to start with courtesy before resorting to force?

Never mind the difference in their status. State Preceptor Sun had come bearing the king's orders. Would He Chunhua dare say no?

But He Lingchuan was unwilling—so very unwilling—to respectfully hand over the leopard's corpse and obediently send two noblemen some cannon fodder.

The pair had attacked the leopard's den on West Mountain, causing him to fall off the cliff. The original owner of his body had died, and he, the fake, had suffered more than twenty days of pain;

The pair had casually killed a scout the He family had sent out, right on He family land.

Now they wanted He Chunhua to send cannon fodder to help them enter the Coiling Dragon Desert and seize the Great Square Pot. If they succeeded, they would earn heaps of merit, while Governor He would get only a pitiful little bit.

They would lose men and horses, only to come away with a word of praise from the emperor.

But what right did He Lingchuan have to challenge them?

This was the kind of loss he'd have to swallow, whether he liked it or not.

How stifling!

He Lingchuan clutched his head with both hands and sighed. Suddenly, something white drifted down before his eyes.

A feather.

Some bird must have flown overhead.

He Lingchuan picked it up and absently turned it over twice. A thought suddenly flashed through his mind.

Wait. Something's not right.

He Chunhua had only brought Uncle Hao from out of town to serve as his personal guard after He Lingchuan recovered from his injuries, so Little Gray might not have known the details of his fall from the cliff. Besides, the He family didn't allow demons onto its grounds, so the hawk demon always perched outdoors on the branches.

He Lingchuan hadn't spent much time with Uncle Hao, but the man was taciturn. What Uncle Hao had seen, Little Gray might not have known.

From Nian Songyu and State Preceptor Sun's perspective, then, the information they'd pried out of Little Gray might have been quite vague.

At the very least, they didn't know the leopard's corpse was in He Manor, nor were they sure the clue they wanted was here. After all, the leopard demons had scattered in every direction when they fled their den. The two men had sent people after them separately. How could they be sure the one that fled toward Gourd Mountain was the one they wanted?

What if another Sand Leopard had fled with the token from the Coiling Dragon Ruins?

Most importantly, they didn't know the Sand Leopard's keepsake was in the hands of Young Master He!

With so many uncertainties, they couldn't simply act against the local snake.

Using the king's orders to pressure the He family and dangling rewards to tempt them—that was the best approach.

So what did the He family have to fear?

Having thought it through, He Lingchuan stood and dusted off his backside, deciding to go to the office and find his father.

No need to scare himself.

He Chunhua was writing furiously. When he heard what his eldest son had to say, he stopped his brush.