A Xianxia Tale (1)

"M-mistress…" it was a soft call, the voice of the woman asking for her barely a whisper from the other side of the door.

Even despite being distracted with her formulae and concoctions, her ears still managed to pick up the faint sound, a trickle in the otherwise silent night. Her eyes opened, her expression completely still, but those who knew Dai Yanmei better would notice the irritation at bay, hidden behind a quaint mask.

"What is it?" She demanded, opening the door to her study with a wave of her sleeves. The girl, Mu Yejin, one of the apprentices of the Alchemist Hall, flinched, recoiling at the sudden movement as if struck.

"Th-there's a man- Bai Zhong!" She squeaked, pale face blanching and draining of color until only a ghostly visage remained. Dai Yanmei's mask cracked ever so slightly, a small frown forming on her face. "He is with a child, a small boy and calls for mistress's help!"

"A child?" She muttered curiously. "What manner of-" her mouth clicked shut before she started asking pointless questions. It wasn't as if a mere disciple would have the answers. "Where is he?" She instead demanded.

"Th-the entrance floor, mistress."

"Good." She muttered before moving.

She moved quickly, with light steps like the wind, too fast for most to catch with their bare eyes. There was a need for such a hurry. A respected merchant - especially one of exotic and rare products like Bai Zhong - did not come begging for an Elder of the Thousand Method School for no reason, and Yanmei had to admit her curiosity to herself.

Beyond even that point, it certainly wouldn't hurt to see what the matter was. She was stuck in a bottleneck with her formula for the Grand Qi Replenishing Golden Pill, perhaps dealing with whatever grievance Bai Zhong had would help her head clear out a bit.

The doors to the Inner Hall opened, and from there she walked- nay, marched, clear intent and purpose, as well as a small dose of her Qi indicating her annoyance. Bai Zhong didn't even look at her, his forehead hitting painfully on the marble floor with a meaty smack that surely must have hurt. That made her pause with surprise, and then as she honed her ears on his position, her eyes briefly widened as she didn't find a single sound escaping his lips.

And then her eyes trailed just a bit down, where a sickly pale boy laid. Her eyes narrowed, right, she firmly nodded, important business then.

"Lady Dai," the fat man called, his fine silk robes clearly stained with spots of sweat. "Please, please, I beg of you!" He raised his head, just enough so their eyes could meet. Desperation reflected on his brown orbs, and then his eyes briefly flickered down, at the pained expression on the boy's face, and then once again slammed his head down, kowtowing. "Please, I beg of you, Lady Dai! Please, save my son!"

She withheld a sigh. "How long has he been this way?" She asked, approaching with firm steps, although she must have looked like she was leaping.

"An- an hour at most!" The merchant promptly shouted. "I heard some commotion inside my house, and then the sound of a servant screaming, I came rushing to see my son clutching his chest!"

His chest, huh? She hummed, hand instinctively opening the robe of the boy to see a black mark close to his heart. She frowned, assassination? It certainly looked like an attempt. But why kill the son instead of the father? Perhaps trying to destroy Bai Zhong's trade house by culling his blood… Possible, she decided, however unlikely it was. Perhaps a failed attempt, then? A much more likely thing.

Her hand hovered over his chest, and a soft glow of golden light illuminated their faces, radiating from her hand.

She could feel the poison, something very potent. Black Serpent Venom, it would leave a black spot as the venom coursed through the prey's system, destroying veins, arteries and maybe even some organs. Luckily, the venom was slow acting and it took a minimum of three hours to kill a man.

Hmm, yes, just in time, or else he would have been beyond even me.

Yanmei rose to her feet, hooking her arms below the boy's knees and holding him to her chest. He groaned, his weight shifting momentarily as the venom went slightly different ways.

"We will talk later," she declared, and then vanished post haste, having only time to hear a faint "Thank you!" being shouted.

The door to her study - and more often than not, personal room - slid open with nearly a thought and an almost imperceptible wave, and for a second time this night only, she heard a squeak. She dismissed the Mu girl without batting even a single eye, her Qi filling the room with most of her might as she stabilized the boy, the disciple fainting under the immense and sudden pressure.

Stopping the venom from spreading further was an easy enough task, one that she did in the blink of an eye. From her robes she also produced a pill, green with a foul smell and even worse taste. The boy grimaced and his face, even unconscious, turned ugly, a deep frown as he ingested the medicine. From that point on it was only a matter of making an incision somewhere on his body so the poisonous blood could flow and be flushed out of his body, and making her own Qi circulate through his body, to prevent any further damage and begin directing the pill's effects.

It took her all of an hour so the blackened blood was completely expelled from the boy's body. She stopped the bleeding at that point, and left the medicine to continue running its own effects freely. For now, since the boy was clearly alive and now doing well, it was time for her to wring deals and concessions out of Bai Zhong.

"This Bai Zhong is eternally grateful to you, Lady Dai!" The merchant kowtowed another time, just as soon as she delivered the news of his son's well being. She dismissed his gratitude with a wave.

"It was nothing," she said. "I wouldn't let a simple boy die because of a failed attempt at his father's life." At her words, the already pale face of the blonde merchant blanched. She raised an eyebrow. "You didn't know?"

"I-I imagined it was a burglar that had broken into my house," he stammered. "Not an assassin, but…" it made perfect sense, she finished his sentence in her mind, nodding.

He was a rich merchant, one of the most well off in the entire Qing Empire. That did not mean he was well famous since his wares usually catered only to certain niches, usually of alchemists and blacksmiths, and that lack of fame, even if not fortune, meant that other bigger and more well established trade houses like the Jade Hall could snuff out the competition without much repercussions. Not only that, but Bai Zhong was a foreign man, and one who married one of the most sought after women in all of the Qing Empire on top of that. There were many who envied him, and men, especially nobles and merchants, were known to be petty and hold deeply onto grudges.

Dai Yanmei hummed.

"In respect of your wife's memory, think of the treatment of your son as a courtesy. Just this once," she declared. She held a hand when the merchant was about to kowtow once again. Yanmei did not want the carpets or the furniture to stain with his blood, when the skin of his forehead inevitably cracked. "But don't think this won't happen another time. If one assassin was sent already, then you can expect another one."

"Aie," Bai Zhong nodded somberly. "I will reinforce my guard with thrice as many men as before, and I'll armor all of them with the best weapons and armour that money can buy."

"You don't honestly expect this to work, do you?" She shook her head, feeling slightly amused. "When the people sending this assassin to you notice this, they'll only escalate in turn and instead of a common assassin, what if they send a member of the Dark Brotherhood to deal with you? Will mere mortal warriors be enough to protect you from one of them?" She asked.

"No," he muttered darkly, with a firm scowl forming on his face. "You have something in mind, no? An offer I won't be able to refuse."

Dai Yanmei smiled. It made for a beautiful sight, one that should forever be eternalized in a painting. "The Thousand Method School is willing to protect you, Bai Zhong," she said, and the man's frown only deepened, already waiting for the other shoe to drop. Her smile turned sharp. "You, your family, your household and your business, all of it under the protection of our elders and disciples. If you allow us to be the first to have access to every new product of yours."

"That's-" He started to protest, but she quickly silenced him with a hand.

"I know how it sounds, merchant," she continued. "We are not going to rip you off, if that's what you are thinking. We only request access to your wares before you advertise them, and a discount."

"That's still not much better…" he grumbled, looking down with a sour expression. "Fine, I accept your offer. But with one condition!" He declared, and Yanmei nodded, already expecting such. "You will only get a discount on ten of my products," he said, "And I will not sell them for less than half the price of its original price, understood?"

Her face twitched.

It was a worse condition than she wanted, but still a better one than it could have been. She nodded. "Very well, the Thousand Method School accepts your condition. May we celebrate this new partnership over some tea, hm?"