Black Finger looked at Guju, then burst out laughing, “what if? I wanted something to happen with the two of them!”
Guju was surprised, he looked at Black Finger with shock, who stood up and said, “Guju, do you know why I kept Lotus alive?”
Guju replied, “to keep the two elders inline?”
Black Finger nodded. “Right. Our clan’s two elders travel all the time, but who knows when they’ll come back. When they see the clan leader has changed, they won’t let it go. They’re powerful too, so even though I control the Blood-Gone Cave now, I have to be wary of them. With Lotus supporting me, however, I would have no worries. But it’s not easy to make Lotus do what I want. Lijun is dead, as you know, and it’s not reliable threatening someone with a dead person. To control Lotus completely, I’d need a hostage, you understand?”
Guju still looked dumbfounded and not comprehending. Black Finger pointed at Canyi, “still don’t get it? Ask Canyi, it’s his brilliant idea.”
Canyi smiled, “in life, one’s most beloved people are their parents, mates, or children. I wanted Ye and Lotus to fall in love, and then... we could threaten Lotus with Ye’s life.”
Guju finally understood. He slapped his head, “indeed!”
In two weeks, Blood-Gone Cave was decorated from top to bottom and the city was bustling. Everyone in the city, whether a monster leader or an ordinary guard, gathered either at the Martial Arts Palace or the outside plaza for Lotus’ ceremony.
Ordinarily, the Martial Arts Palace was where the monster leaders or other talents practiced, today, it was decorated like a garden. The seats were divided into two parts, with the talented ones inside the palace. Lotus was dressed festively and sitting at the front, with Black Finger by her side.
As servants, Ye and Bilin were inside the palace but had no seats. They could only stand. Lotus pretended to be excited and chatted with Black Finger before telling Ye and Bilin, “go outside to celebrate with the guards.” Black Finger waved them off, “you better thank the Princess!”
Ye quickly grabbed Bilin, bowed to Lotus and Black Finger, and then left the palace. Seeing the two of them leaving, Guju looked nervous and wanted to chase after them, only to be stopped by Canyi, “the ceremony is starting soon, come sit down.” Then he stood up to announce, “it’s time! Music! Ceremony!”
Music surged inside the palace. Outside, a bright moon hung in the sky, illuminating the city. Tables sat this way and that in the plaza. The guards didn’t care about auspicious times or any ceremony, they just wanted a party, as most of them were already drinking, and a few were quite drunk. Ye and Bilin circled around them, seeing they were unnoticed, they headed for Guju’s underground palace.
On the way, they saw no one else, and soon, they reached the jail. Guju watched the jail usually, with the jail entrance next to his stone room. Outside stood a dozen guards, which was more guards than usual. Ye hid by a wall and snuck a look, and noticed the guards all looked upset.
One young guard complained, “it’s terrible working for Guju. Today the whole city is celebrating, but we’re stuck working here. Damn!”
An older guard said, “exactly. Our clan rarely has this kind of party, for once there is a break, but not for us! I’m sure other guards are drinking and eating now!’
When the two nodded, the other guards chimed in and started cussing Guju. Ye got an idea and whispered to Bilin, who smiled and walked out from behind the wall toward the guards. Recognizing her as the Princess’ servant, the guards all greeted her. Bilin was all smiles as she returned the greeting. ”Brothers, the Princess has asked me to invite you all to have a few drinks.”
The men were shocked. The first guard’s eyes lit up, “that’s great!” Before he could go, another guard pulled him back, ”if Guju got mad at us...”
Bilin smiled, “don’t be afraid, we’re all family here, what’s there to guard? Guju is having a good time himself right now.”
The guards looked all hopeful, one of them said, “right, we’re not afraid. The Princess has invited us.” The others agreed and followed Bilin toward the palace.
Seeing the guards being led away by Bilin, Ye cautiously approached the stone door. With no one around, he pushed open the door and followed the steps down. With oil lamps along the way, the underground wasn’t dark. Ye followed the path to an underground jail.
Inside the jail, a stone corridor extended forward with tightly-closed jail cells along the way. Ye searched each cell, but found no one. As he started to worry, he found another set of steps going down, which he followed and saw another level of jail cells.
As he searched more jail cells on three levels, he still couldn’t find anyone. By the time he reached the fourth underground level, he noticed one cell door with an intricate pattern. He grew excited and pushed open the heavy door. In front of him was a jail cell filled with various tools and artifacts. On top of a tall stone column, heavy chains locked a man with silver hair, and it was indeed the Silver-Haired Mystic Xin Yuesong.
Ye’s eyes were misty. Seeing Yuesong’s shabby white clothes, and how the man was bloody and thin, tears flew down his face. He leaped toward the stone column, kneeled and yelled, “teacher!”