PtM Book 17 - Chapter 8: A Matter of Principle

The regions in the Heartforge Realm were not arbitrary divisions. Every region had their specialty, and most times, it had to do with geography. The Primordial Gloom Region was constantly overcast and received little sunshine; the Azure Tempest Region boasted the strongest winds of any region. In the Southern Hemisphere, there happened to be 32 such regions, and each one had been assigned a single Heartforge Realm Warden.

The Joss Smoke Region was different from the above-mentioned regions in that it was named after the thick smoke that hung in the air from the offerings that happened around the clock. Every major city smelled of ash, sulfur, and incense, and the only way to escape it was to run to the mountains and find a devoid of human inhabitants.

The people of the Joss Smoke Region prayed. Not to any god or goddess but to their ancestors. For the land was unique in that it was slightly disjointed from the yellow river. Ghosts were common here, and many of the cultivation methods used were dependent on the strength of one’s ancestors.

Other regions liked to fight with blood and steel. Not so in the Joss Smoke Region. Here, they fought with expensive offerings and ceremonies, as well as passive-aggressive funeral processions. Wei Longshen still wasn’t sure how he felt about that last one, but he agreed that the system, while imperfect, was preferable to just killing each other whenever a disagreement occurred. It was this same system that enabled over ten thousand major clans to simultaneously inhabit one city.

It didn’t matter whether one was indoors or outdoors. Smoke always found a way past even the best wards, defenses, and fortifications. Wei Longshen had therefore chosen the open-aired northern courtyard in his residence to discuss matters with Xing Tianlong via holographic projection.

“These rebels are growing far too bold, daring to encroach even on Tier 3 cities,” Xing Tianlong said. “You’d think they’d learn their lesson, given how many times we’ve had to squash them. Tell me again, Longshen - why haven’t they fled to other regions?”

Wei Longshen did his best to suppress an irritated sigh. “My prince, is it not the nature of rebels to fight for their homelands? If they fought outside their country instead of inside it, they’d be called exiles or fugitives.”

“I was just trying to make conversation, Longshen,” said Xing Tianlong. “These rebels. They must be put down, and quickly. If we can’t even guard our rear, there’s no need to speak of facing our true enemy, Princess Gabriella.”

“I thought our true enemies were the fiends,” Wei Longshen said

“Well, they are, and we’ll keep putting them down as we always have,” Xing Tianlong said. “But we can’t forget the reason we came here.”

Wei Longshen grimaced inwardly. Today was going to be one of those days.

“Now let’s get started on troop orders and mobilizations,” Xing Tianlong said. “I’ve heard that the rebel leader is currently based somewhere around Dragon’s Mane, so we should start there.”

Wei Longshen wondered where things had gone wrong. Xing Tianlong’s hadn’t always this way. On the Inkwell Plane, he’d done a good job fighting for his country against rebels like Cao Wenluan and putting out fires in the Crimson Lotus Empire.

Here, he’d doubled down on that. The only problem was that this wasn’t his empire. He was getting played like a fiddle by the factions in his region, and he refused to admit to the fact.

“Prince Xing, may I be frank?” Wei Longshen asked.

“Must you?” Xing Tianlong grumbled. “You’ve been frank quite often of late, and it’s getting quite irritating.”

“Yet I do so for your own good, my prince,” Wei Longshen said. “As I have always done.”

“True,” said the prince. “Fine then. Proceed.”

“Normally I would recommend a specific course of action, but I do not believe that has gotten us anywhere,” Wei Longshen said. “So today, let us simply reflect on our goals. Why are we here, Prince Tianlong? What are we trying to accomplish?”

Xing Tianlong’s life-like projection rolled it’s eyes. “That’s a silly question, Longshen.”

“Then entertain me,” said Wei Longshen.

“Fine, fine. Our goal is to compete with our opponents on the Inkwell Plane and come out on top, obviously,” Xing Tianlong said. “Which is exactly why we must put down these rebels. Slovana has been sponsoring them, I am told, and has even been arming them.”

Wei Longshen shut his tired eyes for a moment to compose himself. “Very well. Let us agree that our goal is to compete with our opponents form the Inkwell Plane and come out on top. I can accept this. But tell me, my prince - how will paying so much attention to stamping out rebels further this goal? And what about all the politics and the intrigue - the very things you hated and avoided on the Inkwell Plane - how will they help us accomplish our goals?”

“Politics are a necessity in such a complex climate of clans and sects,” Xing Tianlong argued.

“You didn’t used to think so,” Wei Longshen said. “Whenever anyone disagreed with you, you’d kindly but firmly remind them where they could put their opinions, or else.”

“I’ve grown past that sentiment, Longshen,” Xing Tianlong said. “We must strengthen ourselves while weakening our enemies, and diplomacy will help us do that.”

“Yet I see your supposed diplomacy doing neither despite all the manpower we’ve invested,” said Wei Longshen. “And truth be told, these rebels are none of our concern, and neither is Princess Gabriella. I’m not saying we shouldn’t protect our rear, but that we should focus on is our true enemies: the fiends.”

“It’s always the fiends with you,” Xing Tianlong snapped. “And obviously fiends are the enemy. No one would dare call them friends. But aren’t they taken care of? Or is this another one of your pushes to have us commit military southward, when there’s danger at the core of our empire?”

“This is not our empire,” Wei Longshen said, exasperated. “And perhaps if we focused southwards, we wouldn’t have so many rebels to begin with. They are rebelling because we tried to grip them too tightly. Is it surprising that, in our carelessness pulling up of opponents, some of them were thorned plants that have bitten into our skin?”

This was not a new argument. He’d tried to make it countless times from different angles. Lesser men would have already given up, but Wei Longshen was up to the challenge. He was a loyal man, after all. He served his empire, and he did so faithfully. If he abandoned Xing Tianlong, his political opponents would break him, if not kill him outright.

“I don’t know how you can say that, Longshen,” Xing Tianlong said. “You and I both know how corruption can pervade and infect an empire. We see it all the time at home. If we don’t crack down on it, how will we ever bring this region’s full power to bear? Moreover, there’s a moral argument to be made. These people need us - can we really abandon them in their time of need?”

“You’re projecting your responsibilities on a different people,” Wei Longshen said. “This is not the Crimson Lotus Empire.”

“So we’re going to let borders stop us from doing what’s right?” Xing Tianlong shot back.

“We weren’t sent here to fix other people’s messes!” Wei Longshen snapped. “Look at us, wasting so much time! We were given a great starting position, yet all we’ve done since our arrival is meaningless politicking and political interference. Tell me, my prince: If we keep wasting all our time putting down rebels - rebels who obviously have deep seated grudges against the current ruling power - how will we ever get points?”

Xing Tianlong gave him a pitying look. “Ah. I should have known. This was about points again. Forgive me for not focusing on what’s important.”

“We already determined what was important,” Wei Longshen said. “Our responsibility is to our people, so we must get stronger relative to our opponents on the Inkwell Plane prior to our eventual return. And for that, we need points.”

Xing Tianlong pursed his lips. “I cannot change the way you see the world, Longshen, but I hope that you’ll eventually come around. In the meantime, I hope you’ll continue helping me, as you always have these past two decades.”

Wei Longshen ground his teeth and nodded. “Of course, my prince. I will do my utmost to support you and ensure our empire’s success.”

He gave up on arguing and wrote off the afternoon. This argument was a circular one and never got anywhere. Wei Longshen helped the prince craft plans to uproot the rebels despite his suspicions that they weren’t true rebels but at puppet show, and said not another word about points and fiends.

Once this was done, they reviewed the information provided by their spies in different kingdoms. “They can’t have gained so many weapons,” Xing Tianlong said. “Wait, she’s defending their border with how many troops?”

“It’s much easier to defend than to attack, my prince,” Wei Longshen said. “Especially when we’re committing so many troops to fighting our own rebels. This has allowed the Light and Glass Alliance to focus southwards while the Crimson Lotus Alliance is at best maintaining its border.”

“There’s definitely something to be said for defense,” Xing Tianlong agreed. “Otherwise, there’s no way we’d have held out so long against Cao Wenluan on the other side of the planet.”

“This…” Wei Longshen wanted to point out that the only reason they were ‘winning’ in the other territories. Cao Wenluan was using a token force to assault them and keep them busy. Just like Princess Gabriella was. Theyknew what the game was about fighting fiends for points so they could obtain immortal techniques and bolster their foundations. The true conflict between them wasn’t in the Heartforge Realm. It was back on the Inkwell Plane after they were done with their training.

But Wei Longshen didn’t voice his opinion. Because if he did, it would come across as nagging. And he’d done enough nagging for the day.

The discussion continued, and eventually, they arrived at the topic of allies and enemies. They had a lot of the latter and much less of the former. “Has Petros considered joining our alliance yet, or is he still being stubborn?” Xing Tianlong asked.

Wei Longshen’s eye twitched. Xing Tianlong had failed to adapt to the Heartforge Realm in many ways, and this was yet another way. The Heartforge Realm only trained geniuses. It took a lot to have such people fall in place around you, and Xing Tianlong, as e was now, didn’t cut it.

“He does not see the advantage in joining our alliance,” Wei Longshen said. “He is more concerned with growing his Hunter’s Guild and leading hunting parties. He had no desire to expand his territory, so I wouldn’t hold our breath on that ally in particular.”

“And what about the fox?” Xing Tianlong asked.

“Eight Directions?” Wei Longshen asked. “What about him?”

“Has he finally accepted my request to set up a teleportation network in our territory?” Xing Tianlong asked.

“This… I already told you, my prince. He politely declined,” Wei Longshen said. “He sees teleportation as a strategic advantage. Linking the globe was a trade of favors, one we all benefited from.”

“But he did it for Clear Sky,” Xing Tianlong said.

“Daoist Clear Sky is his human partner,” Wei Longshen said. “You can’t expect him to cooperate with us on a similar level.”

Xing Tianlong grunted. “So as always, they have the advantage. Figures.”

“Speakingof Daoist Clear Sky, have you considered Eight Direction’s request to temporarily reinforce his territory?” Wei Longshen asked. “We wouldn’t necessarily need to fight, only use our presence to intimidate Dao Lord Blood Seal? He did offer an eight-portal network in each territory for that.”

“That’s much too small a network,” Xing Tianlong said. “Especially given the situation we’re in.”

Well, if you’re not willing to help others, how can you expect them to help you? Wei Longshen thought.

“Tell him sixty-four and we’re in,” Xing Tianlong continued. “I won’t do it for less.”

Wei Longshen could only agree to this request, put that extremely low on his priority list, as it would only serve to offend the fox, who was reputed to be a very influential figure on the point loan market and had a frightening amount of information at his fingertips.

Eventually, even Tianlong could no longer justify wasting time on trivialities, so they called it a day. The projection winked out, as did the holographic map that they had been studying all afternoon.

Wei Longshen sat down for a simple meal, as was his custom. It was a plain meal, prepared by the single servant he kept in his residence. His father would have approved.

It was an hour past sundown. The moon was barely visible in the sky, and the stars were completely blotted out by smoke from the evening’s offerings. An eerie quiet filled the air.

Everything seemed normal, but Wei Longshen couldn’t help but sense a wrongness. There’s someone here, he thought, sending out his domain to probe. Hidden. And close.

Was it an assassin? Or was it a thief that didn’t know any better? He expanded his domain until it filled the entire building with sound waves that could not be heard by either humans or demons.

“Your senses have gotten much better,” a voice said. Wei Longshen could not tell from where it originated, but it felt close, almost like the speaker was breathing down his neck.

“I’m not in the mood for games, Huxian,” Wei Longshen said. He used his voice to fill the room with even denser sound waves and found an anomaly. Alas, it flashed across the room and hid in the thickness of void space before he could pinpoint it.

“You’ll need more than wind and sound if you want to find me,” said the fox. “And the answer is no.”

“No?” Wei Longshen said.

“Sixty-four each? Is he insane?” Huxian said. “He’s really overestimating his worth.”

Wei Longshen sighed. “Why don’t you just show yourself, Huxian. Do us both a favor?”

“Why don’t you make me?” Huxian answered from the shadows. The fox was often like this, so Wei Longshen could only oblige him. He took out his flute and began to play.

Wind started blowing in the room. It whispered songs remembered and imagined from a thousand different places. Thousand Spirit Chime was the name of the technique. It didn’t sound fancy, but it was by far his most useful skill, as it allowed him to split his spirit a thousand ways. He was a piper no longer, but a one-man orchestra.

The many sound waves he filled the room with revealed a multitude of artificial spatial nodes. One. Ten. A hundred. Three-hundred-thirty-three... “I hope you like bad music, because I’ve been practicing, Huxian.” He used Thousand Spirit Chime to play a thousand melodies, each one more god-awful than the last. They flooded the spatial corridors linking the artificial nodes with such terrible music that Huxian eventually couldn’t stand it.

The fox popped out from the void. “That was fast,” he said with a grin. “But not fast enough.” He flicked his fingers, and space trembled. Something snapped together, and suddenly, the void and Wei Longshen’s courtyard now overlapped.

Thousands of entrancing mirrors appeared around Wei Longshen. They were on the floor, the ceiling - no wait, he didn’t have a ceiling. Suffice to say that they were everywhere.

Wave upon wave of disorienting forces struck him but failed to confuse his senses, which he’d carefully trained for such eventualities. “Really, Huxian? A maze? Against me?” Wei Longshen took out a black memorial tablet covered in golden runes. It was the same one he’d refined on the Tribulant Yin Demiplane but was much improved over the past half decade.

An army of yin spirits charged out from the tablet, ready to await his commands, which issued via his trusty flute. There were hundreds of thousands of yin spirits, and they filled every inch of the maze, enabling Wei Longshen to quickly discover both the fox and the exit.

Wei Longshen had no interest in tangling with the fox, so he strolled towards the exit. He walked for about thirty seconds before his eyes narrowed and he realized that he hadn’t made much progress.

“A maze that can be solved by brute force isn’t a very good maze, Longshen,” Huxian said. “Give me at least a little credit.” He was currently sitting above the maze, on a divan made of spatial glass.

“Careful you don’t cut yourself on that god-awful furniture,” Wei Longshen said. There was no hiding it - not if he wanted to avoid the fox in close combat. He decided to reveal one of the latest additions to his arsenal. He flicked his flute, and a layer of paint flaked off, revealing black metal covered in a golden script that matched those on his memorial tablet. Even in death, your prayers will be answered, the script read. It was an ancient funeral blessing from the Joss Smoke Region.

“Is that…” Huxian said.

“Yes,” Wei Longshen said. “Cha Ming isn’t the only one with a soul bound treasure now.” He resumed playing, but this time, the tune was haunting and tinged with nostalgia. It was pure tune not meant for the living, but the dead. Something began to stir inside them and awaken.

One moment, they were mindless spirits, and the next, they were something more. They remembered. Only fragment of their original memories, but they remembered, making them more than just puppet spirits.

“Kindly help me find the exit, honorable ancestors,” Wei Longshen said, and soon, he had hundreds of competent ghostly cultivators. They didn’t just have their experience, but could also draw on their techniques as they searched for cracks in the unsolvable maze. “What do you think of Voice of the Forgotten, Huxian?”

“It’s not bad,” Huxian said. “Smart ghosts are tough to deal with. Oh look, they already found a spatial loop. And my snack. And… wait!”

There was a dreadful explosion as the spirits triggered a trap. Wei Longshen suddenly lost his connection with about a third of the sentient spirits. “Must you be so merciless? These are souls, not inanimate objects,” Wei Longshen said.

“Yeah, and this wouldn’t have happened if they hadn’t gone for my sandwich!” the fox shot back.

Fortunately, there were no other such surprises. Using to their newfound intelligence, the spirits quickly mapped out the maze and its properties. Their was that the maze was endless. There was an exit, but it couldn’t be reached. Moreover, the maze was built such that one would constantly feel like one was on the cusp of solving it.

“So you figured it out,” Huxian said. “For all it it’ll help you.”

“This maze looks fairly complicated,” Wei Longshen said. “I applaud your hard work. Does it have a name?”

“I call it the Mobius Labyrinth,” Huxian said proudly. “I made it myself. It took three whole years of tinkering.”

Wei Longshen sighed. “I guess I have no choice then. I’ll have to use my control over natural laws to break out. Your battle prowess is high, nearly on the same level as Cha Ming’s, so I can only resort to this.”

Wei Longshen began playing once again, and this time, he played a simple melody. It was just five ever-repeating notes that weaved themselves into the fabric of reality. They latched onto everything inside the maze, whether living or unliving. The melody affected the souls of people, but it also affected the souls of objects.

“My law… is a Requiem for the Lost,” Wei Longshen said. “It rejects those who do not belong and attacks their hearts and their spirits.” The five notes began resonating with his courtyard, which belonged, and bolstered it against the intrusion of the maze, which did not.

As the maze started to collapse, so too did the foxes. He started taking damage that couldn’t be blocked, but that would cease the moment he stopped intruding on Wei Longshen’s territory.

“Really? Lethal abilities?” Huxian said. “Lame.”

“It’s only lethal if you’re somewhere where you shouldn’t be,” Wei Longshen said. “Besides, this is just a taste. This is lethal.” He put his lips to Voice of the Forgotten and played a dreadful note. It wasn’t music that sounded, but a vicious, bloodcurdling shriek.

Aggressive waves of sound broke through the looping properties of the maze and crashed down onto Huxian’s position, which had been exposed by Wei Longshen’s law projection. It wasn’t enough to hurt him, but it was more than enough to distract him.

More importantly, the sound wave attacked the fissures that had opened up in the maze’s envelope. Wei Longshen used the opportunity to pop out of the Mobius Labyrinth and into the courtyard proper.

“Fine, fine,” Huxian said, jumping out. The maze collapsed into a shifting cube that entered one of the many pockets on his demon armor, a stylish set of black and white battle robes. “You win. Good job. Most people don’t even realize they’re trapped until I’m long gone.”

“How would you even retrieve the maze once you leave?” Wei Longshen asked.

“Give me at least somecredit,” Huxian said. “If I can teleport people across the planet, I’m pretty sure I can figure out how to anchor a small cube to my person and bring it back once its job is done.”

Wei Longshen rolled his eyes. “Would you like some steamed buns? There are leftovers from dinner.”

“What?” Huxian said, aghast. “No tea? No wine?”

“Tea and wine are for guests, not people who sneak into my home,” Wei Longshen said. He placed a basket of steamed buns on the table. The fox glared at him, grabbed one, then proceeded to attack the basket voraciously.

“There,” Huxian said, patting his belly. “Hospitality requirements have been fulfilled. I can no longer sack your home.”

“And I can no longer trigger the spells that I have layered into the walls,” Wei Longshen said.

Huxian’s eyes narrowed, and he pressed his fingers together mysterious. “How convenient, because I was afraid I’d need to flatten this building.”

Wei Longshen mirrored his movements. “Which is why I reinforced the walls the point that they could resist a few blows from a mid-fusion realm Dao Lord.”

“But could they resist getting hit by a pocket demiplane?” Huxian inquired.

“A what?”

“You heard me.”

“… another toy?” Wei Longshen wasn’t sure if it was a bluff or not.

“It’s a work in progress,” Huxian admitted. “Anyway, how are you doing? Still up to your same old politicking when you should be out earning points in the south?”

“It beats getting attacked on three fronts, and it’s certainly better than running for dear life in the Blood God Region, so you I won’t complain.” Wei Longshen said.

“He’s not running for dear life,” Huxian corrected. “He’s using guerrilla tactics to disrupt a stronger enemy. And it’s working.”

That was true enough. Truth be told, Wei Longshen wouldn’t mind doing a bit of guerrilla fighting if it meant escaping his current situation, at least temporarily. This, he’d come to realize, was the fatal temptation of the Heartforge Realm. Each one of them had been put somewhere that had need of their talents and appealed to them in ways that were difficult to resist.

Take the Joss Smoke Region, for example. Their practice of ancestor worship and use of spirit imprints had made them especially well receiving of Wei Longshen’s talents. Moreover, they loved music here. If he wanted to, he could play for the living during the day and play for the dead in the evening.

Xing Tianlong had been assigned to the Dragon Phoenix Region, which was home to a Tier 1 sect that had subdued the entire region in the distant past and had gone so far as to organize the mortal populace, to some extent. A few well-timed comments and incidents were all it had taken to drag the prince into an infinite loop of political machinations.

“He can’t stay away from his territory for too long, or it will cost him,” Wei Longshen said to Huxian. “He’s posted in the Azure Tempest Region, is he not? That territory is filled with ship-building materials. Every sect master on the southern hemisphere and their dog would love to take over that gem.”

Huxian waved a hand dismissively. “Things are fine. I’m around. But enough about me, Longshen. What about you? Are you finally regretting your career decisions?”

Wei Longshen laughed. “Not a day goes by that I don’t, Huxian. I was meant for the arts, yet here I am, babysitting a future emperor.”

“You finally sound sufficiently desperate,” Huxian said. “Excellent. I’ll send your contract in the mail.”

Wei Longshen massaged his brow. “What are you doing here, Huxian?”

“Do I need a reason to visit a friend?” Huxian asked.

A spirit flew into the room and whispered something into Wei Longshen’s ear. “Normally, no, but you snuck into my residence, rifled through my pantry, and ate all my sweets? I think I’m owed an explanation.”

“Really, Longshen? You keep ghost sentries in your kitchen?” Huxian said. “I guess that’s fair. Your boss does keep you on a tight leash. It was a pain sneaking past the spies he posted on your house.”

“I am aware of these spies, thank you very much,” Wei Longshen replied with a false smile.

“As long as you know,” Huxian said. “I for one would fear for my family working for such a person.”

And truth be told, so did Wei Longshen. Which is why he’d long since had them evacuated from the Crimson Lotus Empire and replaced with body doubles. But there was no need to tell Huxian that. “Just cut to the chase, Huxian? I’m busy. Are you here for support? If so, I can only disappoint you.”

“That’s not what I heard,” Huxian said.

“Are you trying to irritate me?” Wei Longshen asked. “Because it’s working.”

“No, I’m trying to get you to realize how bad your boss is,” Huxian said. “I honestly couldn’t care less about his support. I came to make you an offer, Longshen. Come. Work. For me. I could use a talent like yours on my side. You don’t have to waste time on someone who doesn’t appreciate you. You’ll get a full share. Same as everyone else.”

Wei Longshen chuckled. “What would you have me do? Management and politics, same as here? Why bother? I’m fine where I am, Huxian.”

“I wouldn’t need you to manage anything,” Huxian said. “You could do what you always wanted to do: entertain the masses.”

“Entertainment for the demon royalty,” Wei Longshen said, fondling his chin. “Not a bad gig.”

“And for normal demons and for humans,” Huxian said. “Sky’s the limit.”

Wei Longshen shook his head and sighed. “I’ll have to pass, Huxian. And not because the offer is bad - I’d love to forget about my worries and simply entertain. But I have obligations.”

“And I can respect that,” Huxian said. “Normally, I wouldn’t bother, but we can be considered old friends. Tianlong… he’s bad news, Longshen. He’s been making overtures to the Paper Tiger Clan and sending spies into friendly territories. I’ve been using a light hand so far to chase them away, so most of them are still alive, but I’ve reached the limits of my patience. I’m going to start retaliating.”

Wei Longshen froze. “How long has this been going on?”

“Two months, at least,” Huxian said. “I don’t know what gave him the arrogance to think he could pull the wool over my eyes when I’ve practically got this entire planet under surveillance.”

“Don’t you think that’s a pretty hypocritical request?” Wei Longshen said. “You literally just admitted to spying on us.”

“I’m not claiming moral superiority here,” Huxian said. “I’m claiming superior power. As for spying to gather information, everybody does it. I don’t mind that kind of spy, and you guys can keep spying to your heart’s content. But when those same spies start sowing chaos in my territory… Look, my bottom line is no sabotage, no inciting rebellion, and no leaking military intelligence to my enemies. I don’t do it with your information, and I expect the same treatment. I’ve got enough on my plate with the Paper Tiger Clan and Dao God Blood Leech. I don’t need some random guy with an emperor complex stabbing me in the back.”

Wei Longshen nodded. “That sounds reasonable. Fine. I’ll pass on the message.”

“Make sure that ones at the top of your list, because if this isn’t fixed in the next three days, if he’s going to get a very large casualty report that will make him very upset,” Huxian said.

“Noted,” said Wei Longshen.

“Honestly, I don’t know why I even have to bring it up,” Huxian said. “I thought we were on good terms. I’ve never disrupted your affairs, however messy they are. I’ve never sold your military intelligence, no matter how high a price I’ve been offered.

“I understand,” Wei Longshen said. “You’ve treated us with courtesy, and I’ll ensure you get reciprocal treatment. Anything else?”

“Yeah,” Huxian said. “Tell him the same rules apply to Cha Ming’s territory, but doubly so. I want those spies out. Now. Not sending help is one thing, but infiltrating all the major sects? Come on now!”

“If it means anything to you, I didn’t know,” Wei Longshen said.

“Of course you didn’t know,” Huxian said. “You trust your boss too much and think he’s incompetent, but actually, he’s not. He’s paranoid, manipulative, and arrogant, but he’s much smarter than you give him credit for.”

“Anything else?” Wei Longshen repeated.

“I guess I should mention the traitors he planted in Petros’s territory,” Huxian said. “It’s not strictly my business, but I thought you should know. And given Petros’s skillset, he probably knows, so it’s already a diplomatic mess.”

Way to cut off every single potential ally, Wei Longshen thought. “Do you have any proof I can use to do all this convincing?”

Huxian tossed him a jade slip “There. Free information. Use it to keep your boss under control. I owe Petros a heavy favor, so I bear that in mind that if your boss ever gets more… aggressive, he’ll be dealing with more than just Petros’s single territory.”

Huxian had eaten all the steamed buns, but there were a few scattered pieces. He quickly ate them one at a time, licked his licked his fingers, and got out of his chair. He tore open a rift in space with a single claw.

Wei Longshen’s eye twitched. “I just had those spatial stabilizers reinforced.”

“About those…” Huxian said. “Maybe call in the repair guy? I might have broken a few.”

Then he was gone. Wei Longshen was left with a ton of fact checking and aggressive prince handling. Xing Tianlong might think the fox was a pushover, but Wei Longshen knew better. Huxian had a reputation as a pretty vicious money-lender that could appear under your bed and stab you without you knowing it.

In truth, Wei Longshen had known about the agents in Petros’ territory. He’d spotted them a few months back and told Xing Tianlong in no uncertain terms to stop what he was doing. Tianlong had agreed to pull his people out, but it seemed the message hadn’t quite stuck.

It was but one lie of many that were wearing away at Wei Longshen’s patience.

“Tianlong,” Wei Longshen muttered softly. “If you keep doing things like this, you’ll make the entire Chasewind Plane your enemy.”