A Meeting at the Su Residence, Old Master Su (Third Update)

The scene slowly faded from the bustling training ground at the Ye Residence. The sun hung low in the west, and before its last rays could fade, the high walls of the Su Residence shut them out.

The main hall of the Su Residence was an old building.

Four great pillars of golden-thread nanmu supported its beams. The floor was laid with "gold bricks" brought from Suzhou, warm underfoot and silent beneath every step.

The hall was dim. Only a few oil lamps beneath glass shades cast a yellow glow, weighing down the atmosphere.

The air carried the scent of old sandalwood incense. It was Old Master Su's favorite fragrance. It steadied the mind and masked certain smells of decay he did not want anyone to notice.

Old Master Su sat upright in the place of honor, on a carved rosewood Grandmaster Chair.

He wore a silk jacket patterned with dark fu characters, and his hair was combed without a strand out of place. Though he was past seventy, his eyes were far from cloudy. They resembled two deep wells, black and bottomless.

He rolled a pair of jade lion-head walnuts in his hand. Their sharp click, click rang unusually clear through the silent hall, like a water clock counting down.

Seated to the left below him was Su Zhengze, the current head of the Su Family.

Standing on the right was Zhou Yonghe, the senior House Guard who had only just "escaped death" at Wild Fox Ridge.

"Old Master, the doors and windows are shut tight. No one's been left nearby."

Zhou Yonghe's voice rang strong. There was no trace of the man who had lain poisoned and barely breathing in the Mortuary at Wild Fox Ridge.

He stood straight, his face ruddy. The Essence, Qi, and Spirit he