Night Talks at the Crown Prince's Mansion

The lights of the Crown Prince's Mansion burned all night.

Xue Qinghe stood in the study before an old map of Heaven Dou City. Red lines linked the Old City District, the Paper Offerings Shop, Poison Fog Alley, and Setting Sun Wharf, then ended at an inconspicuous ferry landing beside the Southern City Waterway.

Bai Jin sat on the windowsill, cradling a cup of tea like an idler who had dropped by to get warm.

Xue Qinghe glanced at him. "You're sitting on the windowsill."

"I know," Bai Jin said.

"That's a windowsill in the Crown Prince's Mansion."

"Which makes it cleaner than the ones at Blue Tyrant Academy."

Xue Qinghe fell silent for a moment, then looked back at the map. Talking to Bai Jin about rules rarely ended well. If he cared about rules, the Worship Hall wouldn't be sending her messages every few days, asking her to persuade him to return to Spirit City.

Lu Heng brought in the confessions extracted in Poison Fog Alley.

"A Black Ship will collect the cargo at Setting Sun Wharf at the third watch," Lu Heng said. "The cargo includes unaffiliated Soul Masters controlled by the gray mist, ordinary people selected with Blood-Pattern Incense, and a record of blood samples connected to Blue Silver Grass."

Tang San's gaze darkened at the last part.

Beside him, Xiao Wu quietly clenched her fingers.

Bai Jin didn't look at them. He merely set his teacup on the windowsill. "Blue Silver Grass is everywhere. If they're fixated on you, you must be worth more."

Tang San gave a bitter smile. "That's not a good thing."

"Of course it isn't," Bai Jin said with a grin. "Good things never come your way."

Ning Rongrong had been tense, but she couldn't help laughing. That small laugh finally loosened the tension that had followed them into the study.

Xue Qinghe placed a letter on the desk.

The envelope bore no name, but its wax seal carried the mark of the Worship Hall. Bai Jin looked more disgusted by the seal than he had by the poisonous fog.

"Pestering me again?"

"The Great Enshrined asks when you'll return to Spirit City," Xue Qinghe said gently. "The Golden Generation has begun its second round of intensive training, and he hopes you'll take a look yourself. He also hopes you'll stop dragging me into danger."

Bai Jin raised an eyebrow. "Your Little Highness, are you tattling on me?"

Only the two of them understood what those words really meant. Tang San and the others took it as another joke at the crown prince's expense, while Lu Heng tactfully lowered his gaze to the floor.

Xue Qinghe's smile didn't change. "I'm passing on his words."

"You've passed them on beautifully. Don't do it again." Bai Jin pushed the letter aside. "I'm not going back until the Dock is cleaned out. The Golden Generation aren't bean sprouts. Two days with less sun won't kill them."

A trace of helplessness flashed through Xue Qinghe's eyes.

He knew Bai Jin wasn't indifferent to Spirit Hall. He simply hated being made to follow someone else's lead, and he hated being called away before a job was finished. The trail in Heaven Dou City had already reached the outskirts of Slaughter City. If it went cold now, picking it up again might cost more lives.

"How do we divide the work tonight?" Xue Qinghe asked.

Bai Jin jumped down from the windowsill and pointed at the map. "The Crown Prince's Mansion guards the outer waterway. Don't enter the wharf. Spirit Hall's deacon team blocks the retreat. The Shrek kids go in. Tang San controls the water route, Dai Mubai takes the front, Xiao Wu rescues people, Zhu Zhuqing cuts the signals, Fatty seals off the ship, Oscar feeds everyone, and Rongrong watches the timing."

Ning Rongrong looked up at once. "I watch the timing?"

"You can do more than shout out buffs now," Bai Jin said. "Tonight, you decide who needs help first and who can wait. Don't light up your pagoda like a lantern the moment a fight starts."

Ning Rongrong bristled a little. "I've improved a lot."

"That's why I'm sending you." Bai Jin smiled. "Otherwise, you could stay here and drink tea with His Highness the Crown Prince. Much safer."

Ning Rongrong promptly shut her mouth.

Tang San studied the map. "What if the receiver is already aboard?"

"Then we stop the ship."

"What if they have a Soul Emperor-level fighter?"

Bai Jin looked up at him. "Then you hold out for a while."

Ma Hongjun's eyes lit up. "How long?"

"Until I think you can't hold out anymore."

Oscar muttered, "That doesn't sound especially reassuring."

Dai Mubai understood, though. He looked at Bai Jin and said earnestly, "We'll hold out."

Tang San didn't speak right away.

He knew Bai Jin wasn't sending them to their deaths. For all his apparent unreliability, Bai Jin never let them stand somewhere he couldn't reach when it mattered. That was precisely why Tang San understood tonight was no ordinary exercise. If they only waited for Bai Jin to act, all their training over the past few days would mean nothing.

"We need to locate the hostages beforehand," Tang San said. "If there's gray mist aboard the Black Ship, rescuing them matters more than catching the receiver."

Xiao Wu nodded. "I'll open the crates."

"Don't charge in too deep on your own." Tang San looked at her.

Xiao Wu huffed. "I know, Teacher Tang San."

The teasing left Tang San looking rather helpless, while Bai Jin laughed aloud beside him.

Ning Rongrong flipped through the ledger, then suddenly said, "If they're moving unaffiliated Soul Masters, they won't rely on just one ship. There should be decoy ships around the wharf to draw attention away."

Xue Qinghe glanced at her with approval. "The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect does have a fine eye."

Ning Rongrong was pleased by the praise, though she quickly hid it. "I just noticed three sets of lamp signals in their ledger. The ship carrying the cargo might not have the brightest lights."

Bai Jin nodded. "Exactly. If a Support System Soul Master's brain doesn't turn, all that Soul Power is just fine lamp oil."

"Could you make a compliment sound a little nicer?" Ning Rongrong protested.

"No," Bai Jin answered at once.

Zhu Zhuqing leaned against the wall, wiping her claw blades without joining in. She had only just broken through, and her aura had yet to fully settle, but she knew better than anyone that she couldn't simply be a swift blade tonight. She had to cut the bells, cut the ropes, cut off the enemy's backup plans. Bai Jin didn't look at her in particular, as though he already expected her to manage it.

That expectation weighed more than praise.

Bai Jin smiled but offered none.

Praise too early could go to their heads. The Shrek group was gifted, but each had problems of their own. Tang San was too cautious, Xiao Wu cared too deeply, Dai Mubai carried old burdens on his shoulders, Ning Rongrong had only just learned to rein in her temper, Ma Hongjun had only just gained his third Soul Ring, Zhu Zhuqing was even more prone to risking her life after her breakthrough, and Oscar looked lazy but feared holding the others back most of all.

A training session or two couldn't change any of that.

But they had begun to move forward.

Late that night, the others left the study. Xue Qinghe remained by the window, watching Heaven Dou City through the rain.

Bai Jin reached the door, then stopped.

"Don't overthink it," he said. "You're the Crown Prince now. Doing what a crown prince can do is enough."

Xue Qinghe turned her head. "And you?"

"Me?"

Bai Jin smiled and pulled down his blindfold, covering those azure eyes.

"I have more time on my hands. I'll take care of a few things other people can't."

He said it lightly, but Xue Qinghe had no reply for a long time.

As the third watch drew near, the first ship's horn sounded from the direction of Setting Sun Wharf.

The low sound mingled with the rain, like someone breathing a puff of cold air beyond the city walls.

Bai Jin pushed open the door.

"Let's go," he said. "Let's see who's treating us tonight."