Across the outer sect's four peaks stood the various workshops.
Mortal Laborers were oxen, horses, and mules, while duty officers were the landlord masters who drove them. Between them were inspection officers, who played the role of "stewards."
An inspection officer no longer needed to report for roll call and start work on time, and held a little authority with which to keep others under their thumb.
It was a fine position that many Mortal Laborers dreamed of climbing into.
In the Quenching Room alone, plenty of "old hands" had stayed after completing twelve years and signed another round of contracts selling themselves into service.
Every one of them watched it longingly, hoping Yang Xun would take notice and promote them.
Quite a few Mortal Laborers adept at currying favor had even eagerly fawned over Yang Xun upon hearing of his son's death, fantasizing about gaining his appreciation by becoming his adopted son.
"How did this brat get there first? Does he make 'Father' sound sweeter?"
"That's downright unreasonable. How could his seniority compare to mine? I've worked conscientiously for Crimson Flame Peak for twenty years!"
"I saw the brat cozying up to Duty Officer Yang yesterday. Who knows what tricks he used!"
"Who'd have thought it? Young Yi looks so innocent, yet he got it done without making a sound..."
The many Mortal Laborers hurrying to work exchanged astonished looks. None had expected this outcome.
Especially He Laohun.
He wanted to beat his chest and stamp his feet. They had all been toiling miserably like beasts of burden-how had young Yi suddenly soared to success?
Could he still mooch meals, borrow money, and sponge off him in the future?!
"Greetings, Inspection Officer Jiang!"
There was never a shortage of perceptive people among the Mortal Laborers, and someone hurried to call out first.
However unwilling and resentful they were, everyone now had to join in:
"Inspection Officer Jiang has always worked diligently. He certainly deserves the duty officer's promotion."
"Duty Officer Yang's discerning eyes blaze like torches. Young Yi fully deserves to be an inspection officer..."
Still all smiles, Jiang Yi first cupped his fists toward the Mortal Laborers, then accepted the verdigris-covered token Yang Xun handed him with both hands.
With this, he would no longer need to collect a work tally from the Labor Affairs Courtyard before starting work.
He could finally catch his breath and escape the hardship of physical toil.
"Get to work."
Yang Xun's face was cold as iron, like a sinister, man-eating mountain eagle.
At his command, the Mortal Laborers scattered like birds and beasts.
They went to the furnaces and began their preparations.
"Jiang Yi."
"Here."
Yang Xun instructed him:
"From now on, you'll oversee all matters in the Quenching Room, great and small. You'll also handle any demands from the Inner Peaks to speed up production. You must maintain both quality and quantity, producing the full quota of usable bone material."
Jiang Yi acknowledged him. He knew this was Yang Xun giving him an opportunity to "establish his authority."
His Old Leader in his previous life had often done the same: pick a "problem" whose solution was already in hand, then publicly assign it to him.
Other people couldn't solve it, but someone at my side handled it beautifully!
Then his promotion and greater responsibilities were only natural, and no one could gossip!
"Under the Dao traditions, the Dharma Lineage governs the world. Cultivation is no longer just fighting and killing..."
Jiang Yi accepted the order and, following the sequence in which the furnaces were lit, explained the improved Quenching Process at each one.
Using coldwater stone and gray phosphorus powder as catalysts would keep the heat steady and better refine the impurities out of the bone material...
The more the Mortal Laborers listened, the more workable they found it, and a trace of admiration appeared in their eyes as they looked at young Yi.
Young people really did have sharp minds. They all worked day and night in the same Quenching Room, so why hadn't they thought of it?
When He Laohun's turn came, he stumbled over his changed form of address:
"Young... Inspection Officer Jiang..."
Jiang Yi laughed despite himself.
"Brother He, just call me 'young Yi.' It sounds better!"
He Laohun hesitated. He had spent more than twenty years on Crimson Flame Peak and was nearing the end of his second term.
He had seen plenty of Mortal Laborers escape their lives as beasts of burden and expendable supplies. The first thing they did was cut ties.
They were often the least willing to let former workmates get familiar with them or claim friendship.
Seemingly unaware of He Laohun's restraint, Jiang Yi smiled at him.
"Once work's over, let's gather everyone from the Large Compound and eat out at the Ice and Fire Cave!"
Then, without waiting for He Laohun's response, he began teaching the other Mortal Laborers hands-on how to lay out the coldwater stone, sprinkle the gray phosphorus powder, and judge when the heat had risen enough to splash on the quenching solution.
He worked through the entire morning, until the bell on Wavelooking Peak rang again.
The Mortal Laborers filed out, scrambling to line up and return their tallies.
Inside the Quenching Room, Yang Xun inspected the day's bone material. Not only had its appearance and texture improved a grade, but its quantity had increased as well.
This made Jiang Yi even more pleasing to his eye.
He truly was an outstanding talent!
"That secret formula of yours really works. I saw all the Mortal Laborers praising it just now. Work didn't consume as much True Qi as usual today. It was considerably easier."
Yang Xun climbed to the second floor, looking very satisfied.
"I doubt they have anything to argue about regarding your promotion to inspection officer now."
Jiang Yi remained respectful and well-behaved.
"It was thanks to your appreciation and willingness to give me a chance, Duty Officer."
According to what the Heavenly Book showed, Duty Officer Yang actually had a rather bad temperament.
In plain terms, he was "overbearingly paternal."
He liked nothing better than making all the decisions and ordering others around.
Yet his son Yang Zhi had suffered little hardship, and with the loss of his mother at a young age, his love for his young stepmother, and various other reasons added in-
Naturally, father and son fought whenever they met, the air thick with gunpowder.
But Jiang Yi did not mind at all.
It was like a beast of burden who had tightened screws in an electronics factory meeting an overbearing old man determined to buy him a car and a home and arrange his future.
How could he possibly feel rebellious? He would want to drop to his knees on the spot and cry, "I've drifted through half my life without finding an adoptive father!"
"Now that's pleasant to hear."
However much of it was sincere or false, Yang Xun felt soothed. It had been a long time since he had felt so at ease.
"Who do you plan to have watch the workshop in your place?"
Jiang Yi answered:
"He Laohun. He's an old hand on Crimson Flame Peak and capable at his work. He should be able to manage."
Yang Xun cast him a sidelong glance. His long face and bare brows gave him a frighteningly fierce appearance as he asked coldly:
"You're a loyal child. But he lives in the same Work Dormitory as you. Aren't you afraid people will gossip if you give him a hand up?"
Jiang Yi thought briefly and chose his words:
"I may be presumptuous, but I'm devoted to cultivation and determined to make something of myself. Becoming an inspection officer in the Quenching Room is like how every Dao Path begins with Qi Refining: both are merely the first step outward.
"Some people only want to stay here all their lives, while others yearn for the sights higher up.
"What do others' judgments matter? As long as you permit me to advance, Duty Officer, I have nothing to fear."
That was a fine spirit.
Yang Xun smacked his lips, but before he spoke, a pot of Returning-Sweetness Vine Tea was already offered to him.
Jiang Yi said softly:
"The Quenching Room is blisteringly hot and thick with dry heat. I saw that you quite liked this tea yesterday, Duty Officer, so I took the liberty of bringing more."
Yang Xun sighed. If his stubborn son had been even a fifth as sensible as Jiang Yi, how could things have reached the point where they refused all contact, only for him to perish in the Cave of Myriad Beasts?
"Let me teach you something. Making yourself pleasing to look at and comfortable to be around is an ability of yours, but don't overdo it. You must judge the heat properly.
"My term is nearing its limit. I won't be a duty officer for many more years. Have you considered what you'll do if you serve me so comfortably that I can't bear to let you enter the inner sect?"
Jiang Yi froze slightly.
Yang Xun continued:
"The Demonic Path Lineage and its various sects merely have rules to give them shape. Peel away all those regulations laid down by the important people above, and underneath, people are eating people."
"That temperament of yours is enough to get things done, but to become something fine-especially a great talent of the demonic path-you're still a little short."
Jiang Yi had not expected these sudden words from Yang Xun, which carried a considerable sense of heartfelt confidence.
Before he could consider an appropriate response, the fierce-looking old duty officer in black robes, his hair and beard entirely white, spoke again:
"But you're still young. Some things you'll understand as you gradually see more and think them over.
"Let's discuss the present first. In the workshops on the Qianji Sect's outer peaks, every radish has its own hole.
"Now that you occupy the inspection officer's position in the Quenching Room, those Mortal Laborers dare not say much. But someone from Crimson Flame Peak's other two workshops will certainly test your mettle.
"If you're easy to bully, whatever ought to be allotted to you in the future will naturally come up short, with people doing just enough to fob you off.
"You work in the Quenching Room. You should understand better than anyone that good material needs more than refining by fire to become something fine. It must be ground, carved, and hammered!
"That's all I'll say. The rest is entirely up to you."
Jiang Yi's heart tightened.
This feeling was very familiar.
His Old Leader in his previous life had taken precisely this attitude when assessing whether a "newcomer" seeking his patronage was useful and capable.
He would pick a particular matter and have you settle it.
Succeed, and you could be nurtured!
Fail, and you went back where you came from!
It seemed becoming an inspection officer would bring considerable trouble in its wake!
Jiang Yi bowed and cupped his hands.
"I'll remember your teaching, Duty Officer!"
"You should have seen it! Young Yi just swaggered right up to Old Man Yang, collected the token, and became an inspection officer!"
In the Large Compound, He Laohun excitedly gave Widow Qin and Old Li's family a vivid account of the "major event" in the Quenching Room!
Old Li said dryly:
"Young Yi really is capable!"
As he saw it, an inspection officer no longer needed to toil miserably every day and could even collect four or five thousand in Talisman Money each month.
It was nothing short of a beast of burden turning its fortunes around!
"Exactly. I knew long ago that young Yi wasn't a creature destined to stay in a pond. He should never have remained entangled with Luo Xiaoniangzi!"
He Laohun's spittle flew everywhere. Widow Qin moved aside as though disgusted and looked toward the courtyard entrance.
"Where's young Yi? With such wonderful news, why haven't we seen him?"
He Laohun's tone was complicated and sour.
"A new official has plenty of social engagements! When I handed in my tally after work, I heard that Zhang San from the Engraving Room and Dong Si from the Forging Room both wanted to treat young Yi to a meal!"
Widow Qin shot him a look and said irritably:
"Didn't you just say young Yi invited us to the Ice and Fire Cave? Since he said so, why would he break his word?"
He Laohun said glumly:
"Hard to say. Sister Qin, have you ever seen a phoenix fly out of a chicken coop and still be willing to come back?
"Even if young Yi really treats us, I'm afraid it'll be a farewell meal."
At those words, the Large Compound fell silent.
"If we're not going to the Ice and Fire Cave, we should start cooking early..."
Old Li's wife broke the silence. Whether young Yi was good or bad, whether he climbed higher or flowed lower-
Life still had to go on, and meals still had to be eaten.
Before she could rise, footsteps sounded outside the Large Compound.
Wrapped in a padded Daoist robe, Jiang Yi stepped over the threshold and called:
"Brother He, Sister Qin, Brother Li, Sister-in-law Li! I just reserved a table at the Ice and Fire Cave. The waiter said we were lucky today. They got two spirit birds, Flower-tailed Hazel Grouse!
"One stewed and one roasted. Everything's ready. Let's hurry over!"
Everyone sitting in the courtyard went blank, first staring straight at Jiang Yi, then looking at one another before bursting into laughter.
Young Yi was still the same young Yi!
Inside a large tiled-roof house in Dormitory No. Yi.
Crash!
An exquisite porcelain cup shattered!
"The brat's barely grown his first hair, and he's already putting on airs as an inspection officer! If he becomes a duty officer someday, his tail will stick straight up into the sky!"
The foul-mouthed, hot-tempered speaker had a swarthy face, disheveled hair, and a coarse manner. One glance told anyone he was not to be trifled with.
"Brother Dong, why get angry? He offered a very useful secret formula. Who in Crimson Flame Peak's three workshops doesn't owe him a favor?"
The other man had bright eyes and eyebrows that slanted apart. Compared with the rough fellow opposite him, he looked quite distinguished.
"Put yourself in his shoes. How would you act if a duty officer favored you and promoted you to inspection officer at seventeen or eighteen? A little arrogance is perfectly normal."
The two occupied a square table with a copper pot set over a charcoal stove. Steam billowed as the milky broth bubbled away.
The dark-faced man was Dong Ba, the Forging Room's inspection officer.
The distinguished-looking man was Zhang Chao, the Engraving Room's inspection officer.
Both were the sort to squeeze piss out of any toad they caught, by no means decent men.
Thus the Mortal Laborers called them "neither Three nor Four, little devils hard to handle."
"I heard it with my own ears. Duty Officer Tang praised that lad Yi, saying the bone material from the Quenching Room was much better than usual, handier for grinding and carving, and good enough to meet the inner peaks' urgent demands."
Zhang Chao picked up slices of beef and mutton, swished them a few times in the boiling water in the copper pot, then put them into his mouth.
"When all's said and done, we work for the duty officers. How much Talisman Money is your pride worth? Cool your temper, Brother Dong.
"We'll be dealing with him for a long time yet. There's no hurry to sort him out."
Before coming up the mountain, Dong Ba had been a mounted bandit and waylaid travelers. Naturally, he had no pleasant disposition.
After his bandit stronghold was wiped out and he became a wanted man, he had simply shaved his head to become a monk, only to be sent to the Qianji Sect through a strange twist of fate.
"You have a point, Third Brother Zhang. I just can't stand that Jiang fellow putting on airs. He picked some secret formula out of a shabby book and got promoted by Duty Officer Yang, and now he really thinks he's something!"
Zhang Chao laughed.
"Eat, eat! Let's not talk about him. It spoils the mood!"
Dong Ba and Zhang Chao had known each other for years. Partners in wrongdoing, they had squeezed plenty of benefits out of the Mortal Laborers on Crimson Flame Peak.
His little eyes darted around, and he leaned closer to ask:
"Zhang San, you always have the most ideas. Have you already thought of a way to deal with that Jiang fellow?"
Zhang Chao smiled without answering. Seeing this, Dong Ba offered him several toasts in succession.
Once the mood was right, Zhang Chao slowly spoke.
"Brother Dong, you and I both know an Inspection Officer can skim plenty off the top. Those Mortal Laborers slave away for eight hours, and whether all that work counts for nothing is entirely up to us.
"In previous years, the Quenching Room's Inspection Officer post was vacant, so we pocketed an extra share for nothing. Now that lad Yi has taken the post, we have to cut him a piece."
Dong Ba nodded. This was precisely what angered him.
Previously, he could make an extra eight or ten thousand in Talisman Money every two or three months. Now a portion had to be deducted.
Wasn't that the same as taking it straight out of his own pocket?
Chewing the cooked slices of meat, Zhang Chao grinned.
"Those are the rules, Brother Dong. Let's not be stingy.
"If that lad Yi is willing to take it, all the better. We can all make money in harmony and save ourselves extra trouble."
Hearing the implication, Dong Ba looked toward Zhang Chao, whose expression was obscured by the steam from the copper pot.
"Zhang San, what if he doesn't know what's good for him?"
Zhang Chao spat onto the ground, ejecting the chewed-up meat from his mouth.
"This tastes wrong! Is Shenghe Cave's cook trying to fob rotten meat off on me?"
After that curse, he finally said:
"If he refuses the toast and insists on drinking the forfeit, I have at least nine ways to cripple him!"
On the Qianji Sect's outer peaks, being crippled was more terrifying than death.
Even with a severed hand or foot, a person still had to keep working until their twelve-year term was over.
If they missed work and held things up, their Talisman Money would be docked.
Once their savings ran out, they would still owe money, saddled with a debt to the Qianji Sect.
Then they could use their own bones, flesh, and skin to settle the bill!
"Your methods are both clever and ruthless, Zhang San! How could that Jiang fellow possibly stand against you?"
Dong Ba had always been narrow-minded, so he asked another question.
"Third Brother, he made us both lose face today. Is there any way to knock him down a peg too?"
Zhang Chao said casually:
"That's simple enough. I heard that lad Yi is infatuated with Luo Xiaoniangzi from Sewing Peak. As it happens, I have dealings with Duty Officer Zhou from the Laundry Room.
"Another day, we'll find out where he usually eats, then host a meal there and invite Duty Officer Zhou!
"Ha ha, let him watch the fairy of his dreams in another man's arms..."
Dong Ba sucked in a breath and raised his porcelain cup again.
"Brilliant, Zhang San! However young and wild he might be, what right does a mere Inspection Officer have to put on airs before a duty officer? When the time comes, we'll call him over to offer Duty Officer Zhou a toast!"
"We'll get a good look at his face. Hahahaha! Just thinking about it feels good!"
The two drank wine and ate meat, their smug laughter blocked by the thick curtain.
Outside the tiled house, bitter cold surged, blowing snowflakes like cotton wadding, making the warmth inside seem all the warmer and more enjoyable.
Two shivering figures were still in the courtyard, wrapped in dingy gray Daoist robes, chopping wood and tending the fire.
Only when summoned could they go inside to take turns warming the wine, slicing the meat, and doing miscellaneous serving chores.
Mocking voices drifted faintly through the thick curtain.
"These Mortal Laborers only know how to bury their heads and toil. How can they compare to us, eating meat and drinking wine? What a fine time!"
"Exactly, exactly! Come, come, Zhang San, let me offer you a toast!"
The undisguised mockery drifted through the air, only to be torn apart by the wind and snow before it traveled far.
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