Master of The Azure Palace Chapter 14: The Beggar, The Monk and The Courtesan (13)

Read chapter 14 of Master of The Azure Palace by AzulConVerde on NovelPedia.

Guan Baocai and He Suanpan waited nervously in their office. They had done as instructed, they kept their window open and lanterns unlit. “Are you sure about this? We have been waiting for an hour!” Baocai sneered. “Be patient! My contacts are solid” Suanpan replied “The Crimson Flower Society has attacked the Lúse Family before, they surely would love to finish the job” “And may I remind you that the opportunity we gave you three years ago allowed you to be where you are now” a voice said from the shadows. Baocai and Suanpan turned startled, a shadowy figure stood just out of sight, as they turned to get a closer look, the figure spoke. “That’s far enough, I know who you are, there is no need for us to be acquainted” “Who’s the target” it said. “We need you to finish what you started, you need to wipe out the Lúse Family” He Suanpan spoke up. “And our reward?” the shadow asked. “It's on the table, along with the names and faces of the people we need you to eliminate” Guan Baocai said. It was a sizable amount of gold, if the operation went sideways, this could put the Jinzi Merchant Union in serious trouble. “So? Will you get the job done?” Suanpan asked, only to receive no reply. Both merchants turned around to find the shadow and their money gone. _____________________________________________________________ “Mmm, I can’t seem to do it” Saman Pa said. Baek, Youlan and Shú threw their hands up in frustration. Lán laughed, he was explaining to his friends the basics of the Azure Palace technique and was surprised that not even Geshe Saman Pa could find a way to manifest it. “I can enter the state of deep meditation” Saman Pa said “But I just can't seem to imagine the palace in such vivid detail, it is a wonderful technique Young Master” Lán felt a little pride, he was excited and proud of himself for being able to develop what apparently seemed to be a difficult technique, he began to understand why the tome of the Azure Palace had been left in a corner of the Great Library of Húchéng. It was a bitter sweet day for him, it was the last day of the summer festival and for all intents and purposes it had gone off without a hitch. He and his allies were celebrating on the top floor of the Green Lotus with the festival's grand finale happening just outside of the room’s windows. With the amount of money they had earned the Lúse Family could finally break the grip of the Jinzi Merchant Group over Húchéng and begin to effect real change. But the end of the festival meant his fathers departure into the Murim, it was a wonderful night, and Lán wished it could last just a bit longer. “So, what's next?” Shú asked. “Tomorrow I become the official head of the Lúse Family, with the progress we have made over the past year we can finally regain control of Húchéng” Lán replied “With our base secured, we need to turn our attention to the Great Lake of Jianghu, the region also suffered three years ago, and many of the lords that followed my father fell or left us due to internal strife” “We have our work cut out for us Young Master” Baek said “I remember some of the lords that followed your father, they were hardy and stubborn men” Shunk Baek gasped as air escaped his lungs, he stumbled forward and fell to his knees, crashing his head on the table as he slid towards the floor. Everyone looked in horror at the dagger coming out of his back. A shadow leapt into the room through the open window, Youlan’s scream broke the silence as a second dagger flew straight at Lán. Lán fell into the floor of the Azure Palace almost instinctively, he could feel a rush of panic, sadness, confusion, anger, as every single negative emotion began to flood his mind. Lán took a second to register what was happening. “Not now” Lán pushed his emotions deep beneath the calm lake “I need to focus” Lán tried flickering between The Azure Palace and the real world, but the dagger was moving too fast, it inched ever closer towards his heart. Lán focused, allowing just the ad