On the road back to the Northlands, Pan Long was still puzzled.
He trusted Wu Jixing because he had long known she was planning to rebel, too. They were in the same line of work, after all. Until their ventures grew bigger and stronger, they were natural allies.
But had finding a fellow rebel really made Wu Jixing that happy?
Something about it did not feel quite right...
He found an opportunity to light a stick of message incense and report the matter to his teacher.
Bi Lingkong was unconcerned. "People were bound to find out sooner or later," she said. "Better someone who also wants to rebel than someone loyal to the Di Lineage."
That was true, but Pan Long thought his teacher was taking it far too lightly.
In the end, Bi Lingkong brushed aside the momentous business of rebellion. She was far more interested in his betrothal and pressed him for details, practically treating the message incense, which could carry words across ten thousand miles, as a way to chat for hours.
Pan Long found it unsettling. He had the feeling his teacher was plotting something. He even suspected that on his wedding day, she might turn up with a living Dragon slung over her shoulder and cheerfully invite everyone to butcher it and eat it on the spot...
"We're all here anyway. Might as well have something fresh."
She would definitely say that!
Toward the end of their chat, Bi Lingkong finally remembered the matter at hand. "Di Luonan has been pushing his Reform lately. Xia Province—that is, Central Province—and Lu Province, also called Qing Province, are the first places to try it. The waters run deep in Xia Province, so I'll go see what's going on myself. I'll leave Qing Province for you to investigate.