It was late at night. Everything had grown especially quiet, and even the crowd in the Disco Nightclub was thinning out.
Suddenly, a shadow darted from somewhere and swooped right up to the already open window. In one smooth leap, he landed inside.
The moment the 'Pavilion Master' entered, the black-clad figure immediately bowed and called out to the woman sitting at another window, sipping her tea.
Hearing this, Ivy Shen turned her head. 'Wind, how did the investigation go?'
'Reporting, Pavilion Master: Silver Consort has already recruited a ton of martial artists. The Martial Conference hasn't even started yet, and she's already got about sixty percent support—and her influence is still growing.'
Ivy Shen smirked with disdain. 'Looks like she's both capable and stubborn!'
'Pavilion Master, I discovered Silver Consort is digging into your trail in the serpent realm—she's almost tracked you all the way to Ruiland City.' Wind sounded unusually anxious. Who would've thought Silver Consort could be so terrifying? With almost no clues, she still managed to sniff out Ivy Shen's path. That was seriously impressive.
'I knew she'd help him find me in no time.' Song Zhijue, just what is your relationship with Silver Consort? Why would she risk life and limb for you again and again?
Seeing this, Wind frowned. 'Pavilion Master, do you want us to take her out?'
'No need. You're no match for her.' Ivy Shen knew Silver Consort's strength all too well. If her people went after Silver Consort, best case they'd be gravely injured—even if they survived. She didn't want that. Her team still had way more important things to do.
"But—but Silver Consort's about to sniff us out!" Wind, loyal as a puppy, was practically wringing his hands with worry. Sure, they all knew Silver Consort was a monster in a fight, but she was also a total chaos gremlin. Last time they saw her, all four were gobsmacked: by rights she should be ancient—same age as Old Xuanluo—but she looked like a knockout twenty-something. That kind of freaky reverse-aging? Only possible if your kung fu is straight-up sorcery!
Catching Wind's twisted-up face, Shen Bingxin just flashed a Zen-master smile, cool as ever. "Wind, chill. I'm not getting KO'd. I've been laying low for this long, every move is calculated—Silver Consort can't touch me unless I let her. Go tell the other three to quit panicking, too."
Wind bobbed his head like a bobblehead, then blurted out, "Pavilion Master, the Martial Conference is about to kick off. Are you going for real?"
"Duh! Why would I miss it?"
"But you've got, like... so many—" Wind hesitated, face scrunching up as he tried to pick a word. Husbands? Hotties? A whole parade of clingy bodyguards?!
"It's perfect! The more chaos they cause, the more everyone stares—and the bigger our win. This whole thing is a betting game, and before it even starts, my squad's headcount and secret identities are the juiciest bait in the house. Trust me, the gossip vultures will be losing their minds when they figure out Addie-kins, Butterfly Rogue, Ethan Chu, and Scholar Liam's real names. It's gonna be a total face-melter for the crowd!"
Wind nodded so hard he nearly sprained his neck. "Pavilion Master, you're a genius! Why didn't I think of that?!"
"Oh, Pavilion Master, this year’s Martial Conference is a biggie—it’s the Six-Realm Martial Conference, only happens once every ten years. People from everywhere are rolling in. Should we panic-book an inn?" (Honestly, Wind figured it was already way too late for that.)
"Nope, we’ll just wing it." Ivy Shen waved him off, totally chill. She knew an event this size was basically the Olympics—every inn booked out before you could blink. But no sweat, she’d already locked down a secret backup plan for her crew. She’d drop that bombshell when the time was ripe.
Right then, Wind started fidgeting. "Uh... Pavilion Master...?"
"What's up?" Ivy Shen said, eyebrow cocked.
Wind looked like he’d swallowed a bug. "There's, uh, something I’m not sure I should say..."
"Spit it out. I don’t bite—much."
"Uh, when I first showed up, I saw the six husbands—uh, six dudes—brawling in the hot spring out back..." Wind winced, knowing 'husbands' was easier, but he didn’t dare risk Ivy’s wrath, so he went with 'dudes.'
"In the river?" Ivy Shen blinked, genuinely thrown. She’d expected chaos tonight, but not a full-on splash war. "Wait, did Liam Willow join the circus too?"
"Yeah, Young Master Liam dove in, and the Martial Champion too. I watched for a minute—the six fighting were Addie-kins and Ethan Chu, Lucian Vane and Butterfly Rogue, Caleb Miles and the Martial Champion. They were going nuts! The lake was basically a waterpark—just imagine the flex on their inner power!" Wind’s eyes practically popped.
"How do you even fight in a lake? Liam Willow can't throw a punch, so what was he doing—playing lifeguard?" Ivy Shen was totally baffled.
"Pavilion Master, they weren’t kung-fu fighting—they were tail-slapping each other silly! I watched for a bit and saw Liam Willow get dragged in as the referee. Martial Champion was seriously salty at Caleb Miles for gluing himself to Liam, said he was gonna teach him a lesson. Anyway, it’s a total circus—tails zigzagging everywhere, you can’t even tell whose tail belongs to who!"
Hearing this, Ivy Shen finally relaxed. At least her boys cared enough not to kill each other—tail wars were just slapstick, and nobody was pulling swords. As long as it wasn’t kung fu or cold steel, she’d let them go wild.
"Pavilion Master, aren’t you gonna go referee the madness?" Wind blinked, totally thrown by Ivy’s chill.
"Nah, let them duke it out. Nobody’s dying today. Anyway, did you dig up anything on Caleb Miles like I asked?"
"Pavilion Master, we still haven’t cracked Caleb’s real ID, but we’re circling in. That guy’s got layers—like, not your average pretty face."
Ivy Shen didn’t reply, just sipped her tea and brooded. Caleb Miles, you’re a real piece of work. My Shadow Guards have never taken this long to dig up dirt and still come up empty. Just what’s your game, anyway?!
[Non-narrative: Chapter not finished yet! Click Next Page for more shenanigans!]
"Don't sweat it, Pavilion Master, we'll crack the case soon enough!"
"Mm, I know." Ivy Shen waved off the worry and fixed Wind with a look. "Dig deep on his background—and watch your backs. Next time we meet, it'll be at the Martial Conference."
"Got it!" Wind gave her a dramatic bow, then ninja-leapt out of the room, vanishing in a blink.
Instant silence. The room was so quiet you could hear a snake blink.
Ivy Shen sipped her tea at the window, brow furrowed. Caleb Miles, you don’t actually like me, do you? So why are you still hanging around? What’s your angle?!
Next morning—
Bright and early, Ivy Shen was camped out in the private room, ready for breakfast with her boys. But not a single one showed up. Just as she was about to storm off and hunt them down, Liam Willow slinked in.
"M-morning, Seventh Sis!" Liam Willow beamed at her, scooting over to the table. Ivy blinked—where was her usual snake sidekick, Colin?
"Where’d everyone else go?"
"Uh... they said they're stuffed." Liam Willow darted his eyes around, looking like he’d just dodged a pop quiz.
Ivy squinted. "Stuffed? When did they scarf down breakfast?"
Liam Willow’s cheeks went tomato-red. "Uh, well, they said last night’s feast was too much, so they’re skipping breakfast. Also... it’s kinda muggy, so everyone wants to chill in their rooms." He started fiddling with his fingers—classic liar mode.
"Oh? Really? Are they sick or just lazy? Maybe I should go check." Ivy made for the door, but Liam Willow threw himself in her path, arms wide, plastering on a desperate smile. "Seventh Sis, everyone’s just tired! They swore they need to rest. How about I keep you company for breakfast?"
"Fourth Brother, how are you still exactly like when you were a kid?"
"Huh? What?" Liam Willow blinked, totally lost.
"You still go beet-red every time you fib. Grown up and still rocking that habit?" She plopped down, glaring daggers. "Fourth Brother, you know when I get mad, I go nuclear. I'll give you one shot to redeem yourself."
"Seventh Sis..." Liam Willow whimpered.
"Now. Pronto. Go drag all of them here or I’m running away from home!" She bit out "running away from home" like it was a death sentence, glaring at the ever-more-panicked Liam Willow.
"No, no, I’m on it! On it now!" He bolted out the door like his tail was on fire.
"Big Brother, get up! Seventh Sis is running away from home!" Liam Willow crash-tackled Addie-kins' door, hollering like the world was ending.
"What?" Addie-kins shot up, halfway to asking what the heck was going on, but Liam Willow had already vanished like a ninja smoke bomb.
"Second Brother, up! Seventh Sis is bailing!"
"Third Brother, quit snoozing! Seventh Sis is about to explode!"
"Fifth Brother—hey, I’m not Xin'er! Quit grabbing me! Xin'er’s leaving us!"
"Sixth Brother, you’re awake? Wait, you can sleep with your eyes open? Get up, Seventh Sis is gone!"
Sixty seconds later, the place exploded with frantic footsteps as the whole squad stampeded into the private room.
[Non-narrative: ******Preview Break******]
[Non-narrative: PS: Hey everyone, regular updates resume tomorrow—today’s only 3,000 words, sorry! Morning updates return tomorrow. Thanks for sticking with me!]