Chapter 37: Elder Cai

Elder Cai arrived at noon, carried through Ironblood's western gate in a palanquin of lacquered rosewood with Azure Sky silk curtains the color of a winter sky. Twelve outer disciples walked before him in pale blue robes. Six more guarded the rear. Behind them came two wagonloads of tribute chests, empty now but waiting to be filled, and a smaller carriage for whatever comforts the elder required on the road.

Lin Cang waited at the gate with Madam Su on his left and Shen Bao two steps behind, holding the city's tribute ledger.

The palanquin stopped. The curtains parted. A man stepped out who looked like a frog that had learned to wear silk. Elder Cai was short and heavy, with a shaved head that gleamed with oil and small eyes set deep in folds of fat. His robes were cut from Azure Sky blue, embroidered with white clouds at the cuffs, and the jade token at his belt marked him as a true elder of the outer hall.

He was also, Lin Cang sensed immediately, a Core Formation cultivator.

The pressure was subtle. It came as a fullness in the air and a weight behind the man's gaze, but it was unmistakable to someone who had spent weeks studying the difference between ordinary men and those who had opened their dantian to power. Elder Cai might be corrupt, venal, and stupid, but he could shatter stone with a palm strike. That fact had to shape every word Lin Cang spoke.

"The new lord of Ironblood," Cai said. His voice was high and amused, the voice of a man who had spent decades watching lesser men kneel. "Rise."

Lin Cang had not knelt. He bowed instead, the bow of a city lord to a sect elder: deep, respectful, but not servile. "Elder Cai honors Ironblood with his presence. The city has prepared a modest welcome."

"Modest." Cai looked around at the swept streets, the hung banners, the carefully positioned crowds. "You have been busy, Lin Cang. Very busy for a man who appeared from nowhere."

"Ironblood was without proper leadership. I merely restored order after Lord Zhou's unfortunate death."

"Unfortunate." Cai's small eyes narrowed. "Lord Zhou's son also died. And his steward. And most of his guard. A great deal of misfortune for one household."

"Bandits, elder. The Iron Fist Gang, since destroyed. I can show you their leader's head if you wish."

Cai waved a hand. "I have seen heads. I prefer wine." He climbed back into the palanquin. "Lead on, city lord. Let us see what kind of hospitality a bandit-killer provides."

The banquet was held in the largest hall of the Crimson Lantern House. The windows were open to the garden, where a fountain splashed and musicians played a slow, courtly tune. Dancers moved through the center of the room in silks of crimson and gold. They were Madam Su's girls, chosen for beauty and discretion. They smiled at Cai's retinue and remembered every word spoken near them.

Lin Cang sat at the head table with Elder Cai. Madam Su poured wine with the polished ease of a woman who had spent years making powerful men feel more powerful than they were.

Cai drank the first cup without tasting it. The second he savored. By the third, he had begun to relax.

"Good wine," he said. "Better than I expected from a mining city."

"From the late Lord Zhou's private cellar," Lin Cang said. "I thought it fitting that an Azure Sky elder should enjoy what a petty city lord hoarded."

"Fitting." Cai laughed, a wet sound. "You understand fitting, Lin Cang. That surprises me. Most martial men who seize a city behave like dogs who have finally caught a cart. They do not know what to do with it."

"I am not most martial men."

"No." Cai studied him with new interest. "You are Qi Condensation. Barely. And yet you killed Zhou Ren and his guards, broke a bandit gang, and convinced the merchants of this city to pay you protection instead of tribute." He leaned forward. "How?"

"Preparation, elder. And luck."

"Luck." Cai's eyes were sharp despite the wine. "I do not believe in luck. I believe in secrets. And I think you have secrets, city lord."

"Every man has secrets, elder. The difference is whether his secrets threaten the Azure Sky Sect."

"And do yours?"

Lin Cang met his gaze. "I hope not. I have gone to considerable trouble to make Ironblood profitable and obedient. A disrupted province serves no one."

Cai sat back, apparently satisfied. "A practical answer. I appreciate practical men. They are easier to manage." He held out his cup for more wine. "Now. The tribute."

Shen Bao stepped forward with the ledger. "Elder, the summer tribute is prepared according to the Azure Sky schedule: two thousand spirit stones, one hundred bars of refined iron, fifty ingots of copper, and the agricultural levy as agreed."

"Prepared," Cai said. "But the schedule also calls for twelve healthy youths of suitable spiritual root for outer-disciple service. Last season, Zhou sent eight. You are sending six."

"The plague, elder. It took many of the young."

"The plague." Cai snorted. "There was no plague in Ironblood. I would have heard."

"There was a fever in the poorer districts. I contained it. Many who might have been suitable were weakened." Lin Cang's voice was calm, unapologetic. "I can send the six strongest, or I can send none and wait for healthier stock. I would not wish to waste the sect's time with unworthy candidates."

Cai drummed his fingers on the table. "Six, then. But the spirit stones will increase by two hundred to compensate for the shortfall."

"Of course, elder."

Lin Cang had expected the demand. The extra stones were already counted and labeled in a separate chest. A small price for Cai to leave believing himself clever.

The dancers finished their performance and withdrew. Cai's eyes followed the youngest one, a girl of perhaps nineteen with dark hair and a trained smile. Not a child, Lin Cang noted, but young enough to remind the elder of his youth.

"You have good taste in women," Cai said.

"My household is well managed."

"I will need company tonight. A woman who knows how to please an elder. Not some farm girl."

Madam Su smiled and clapped her hands. A woman entered from the side chamber. She was older than the dancers, perhaps twenty-five, with a composed face and the quiet hands of a healer. She wore crimson silk and no jewelry.

"Mei has served distinguished guests before," Madam Su said. "She is discreet, skilled, and excellent company."

Cai's eyes traveled over the woman. "She will do."

Mei bowed and sat beside him, pouring wine without being asked. Her fingers brushed Cai's wrist as she filled his cup, and Lin Cang saw the small jade ring on her thumb. It was a recording device of Madam Su's design, and it would capture every word the elder spoke in his sleep.

By the ninth cup, Cai had stopped pretending to be sober. His face was flushed, his voice louder, and his hand rested on Mei's thigh with the ownership of a man who had never been refused.

"You are a clever cur, Lin Cang," he said. "I see why Zhou fell. But you should understand something. Zhou was nothing. A dog on a chain. The Azure Sky Sect does not care who holds the chain, as long as the dog barks on command."

"I understand, elder."

"Do you?" Cai leaned close enough that Lin Cang smelled the wine on his breath. "There are men in the sect who would erase this city because its new lord did not ask permission before taking it. I am not one of those men. I am a practical man. But my superiors... they are less practical."

"Elder Fang, you mean?"

Cai's eyes flickered. "You know the name?"

"I know that Lord Zhou feared him. I know that tribute collectors who displease Elder Fang do not remain collectors long." Lin Cang kept his voice low, conspiratorial. "I am not your enemy, elder. I am a man who wishes to continue paying tribute and receiving protection. If there are currents in the sect I should understand, I hope you will guide me."

For a moment, Cai was silent. Then he laughed and slapped the table. "Currents! Yes, currents. There are always currents." He drank again. "Fang Tianxiong is sending his nephew to investigate the western tribute routes. The nephew is a zealot. He thinks every missing stone is a rebellion, every delayed caravan a conspiracy. He will come here, ask questions, and probably kill a few people to prove his seriousness."

"When does he arrive?"

"Three days behind me. Maybe four." Cai waved a hand dismissively. "Do not worry. I will tell him that Ironblood is properly subdued. He will pass through and bother some other city."

"I would be grateful, elder."

"Gratitude is cheap." Cai's hand tightened on Mei's thigh. "Mei here will show me gratitude. And in the morning, you will show me more of that excellent wine."

"Of course, elder."

Cai rose, swaying, and allowed Mei to guide him toward the chambers prepared for him. His disciples followed, their faces bored. They had watched their elder drink and grope women a hundred times.

When they were gone, Madam Su's smile vanished.

"He is dangerous," she said.

"Yes."

"And disgusting."

"Also yes." Lin Cang stood and walked to the window. "But useful. He told us three valuable things: Fang Tianxiong has noticed the western routes, the nephew arrives in three or four days, and Cai himself can be bought with wine and flattery."

"Will he keep his promise to speak well of us?"

"No." Lin Cang turned from the window. "But that does not matter. By the time Fang's nephew arrives, Cai will have said whatever serves Cai. Our task is to make sure the truth that reaches Fang's ears is the truth we want him to hear."

"And Mei?"

"Mei will give us every secret Cai whispers in the dark." Lin Cang looked at the door through which the elder had gone. "Tomorrow, we find out what an Azure Sky elder dreams about."