Chapter 2.6

The fall hunt was fast approaching.

By this time, Ling Xia had systematically gone through every maid Liu Cai had given Liu Zhaoning to check if they had ever harbored traitorous intentions. Lo and behold, most of them were secretly spying on him for his father.

Why?–Ling Xia had no idea. He had thought Liu Cai thought him incapable of any useful action. Perhaps it was to assure himself that Liu Zhaoning did not do anything detrimental to the welfare of the family or just anything stupid.

He, of course, was not aware of the recent development of a new soul inhabiting his first son's body. As such, he had no clue that Ling Xia was planning on kicking all of these spies out.

Ling Xia shifted in his seat. Feng Lian sat across from him, deep eyes swirling with love that even a master would not be able to detect the falseness of. But Ling Xia knew better. Every interaction he had with Feng Lian was simply a ruse to gain information from him.

Ling Xia called for tea.

Their sitting there was neither to wait for a beautiful picture to be painted nor to enjoy the warm weather. Feng Lian had been affronted after Ling Xia had failed to adhere to a principle of marriage. Namely, the visit to the bride's home the day after the wedding.

So Feng Lian had requested a meeting to finally make that visit. "May we please go to my home tomorrow?" he pleaded, hands together as if praying.

Ling Xia's indifference could not be shaken with just this display. "That is not your home anymore. This is." It was true. Now that had gotten married to Ling Xia, his family was the Liu family, and his home was the Liu manor.

"Then may we visit the Feng manor tomorrow?" Feng Lian reluctantly changed his words to appease Ling Xia.

Fingers tapping impatiently on the table, Ling Xia wanted to destroy any hope Feng Lian had of gleaning information from him. "I'm busy."

A crestfallen expression crossed Feng Lian's face before it was swept away by the lifting of his spirits. He knew a way for everyone to be happy! He opened his mouth and—

"The tea is here," interrupted Ling Xia icily. His gaze shifted to above Feng Lian's shoulder where a maid walked toward them. She wore plain brown clothes, clearly a low-ranking maid, but the gold necklace hanging from her neck told a different story. On top of that, the necklace was never revealed, always hidden under her clothing. Anybody who owned a necklace like that would flaunt it unless they had something to hide.

That was when he knew something was off. So after doing some investigative journalism, he deduced that she and her friends were the main bunch of people that were spying on him for Liu Cai. This maid, in particular, was in charge of the area Ling Xia and Feng Lian were sitting in.

She hastened her pace when Ling Xia beckoned for her. She came closer and closer to the table, and closer and closer to the trap Ling Xia set out for her. As she lifted her foot for the final time, Ling Xia subtly pressed the tip of his boot onto the hem of her robes.

That was all that was needed for her to trip and fall, the pot of hot tea in her hand spilling onto Feng Lian's lap. Ling Xia's eyes shot down to the maid now on the floor in mock shock. His gaze then travelled up to Feng Lian's face where veins were threatening to pop out of his flesh.

Feng Lian's face changed colors many times before finally settling on pure, unadulterated rage. He stood suddenly, his chair tipping back because of his quick motions. It threatened to fall, but swung back at the last moment like it was trying to get back at Feng Lian for trying to make it topple.

However, Feng Lian was not there to take his newly decided punishment. He was slowly stalking up to the maid while she crawled away in fear of the restrained anger on his face.

Ling Xia watched the confrontation develop in amusement. That was another thing about Feng Lian. Except for with Liu Zhaoning, who he was pretending to love, Feng Lian had an explosive temper that would light at the slightest provocation.

As if on cue, a thundering voice shook the air. "How dare you?"

Feng Lian stepped closer to the poor woman. He towered over her like he did over Liu Zhaofeng's short and stout body. The next second, a resounding slap echoed. The maid's face snapped to one side. A light red stained her cheek already, a result of Feng Lian's act.

He turned to look at Ling Xia, to which Ling Xia only raised an eyebrow. Feng Lian's irate expression had not yet faded, and he opened his mouth wide, bellowing, "I want her fired!"

It was at this point Ling Xia realized that this process could be so fast. But he had to accept Feng Lian's demands with reluctance or else it would be suspicious, so he put on a show.

"She has been working here since birth, and now you want me to fire her over a petty mistake?" he refused, his voice dripping with impertinence.

"What do you mean petty?!" Feng Lian was incredulous. "That was boiling hot tea she poured over me!"

Ling Xia wagged his index finger. "Correction: She dropped the teapot in your lap, and it spilled onto your clothes. Not to mention that this was all by accident," he shot back.

"So? I still got hurt! She should be fired if she can't even serve tea properly after working here for so long!" Feng Lian flung his hand out, pointing at the maid in fury.

Ling Xia let out a long, weary sigh. He rubbed the space in between his eyebrows as if this decision pained him. "All right." He called for the guards to take the maid away.

Then his gaze fell on the maid beside Feng Lian. Devastation was the only emotion on her face, like the information was too much to process, but with every new piece, she sunk deeper into the black abyss of despair.

A guard approached her and grabbed her arm, yanking her up. It was only then that she began to struggle. She kicked and punched, trying to wiggle her way out the guard's grip. It took her a long while to understand that the guard was much stronger than her, but once she did, she resorted to begging for mercy from the young master whom she had betrayed. "No! Young Master, please! I have a family to support!" she screeched.

Ling Xia moved to cover his ears the moment he heard the first high-pitched scream. Sharp pain filled them, unhindered by Ling Xia's hands. The words passed through, and Ling Xia furrowed his eyebrows, wondering if he had heard them correctly.

The problem with the maid's statement was that she did not have a family. She had been abandoned at the front gates of the manor, and the young Liu Zhaoning had pleaded for his father to take her in because it was the heart of winter, a snowstorm ravaging the city.

She was just another white-eyed wolf looking to take advantage of an unsuspecting victim. Hence, Ling Xia paid no mind to her pleas as the guard dragged her away, still kicking and screaming like a spoiled child that didn't get her way.

Her screeches assaulted Ling Xia's ears incessantly. They finally faded away when the guard turned the corner, and Ling Xia was relieved. His eyes met Feng Lian's, a strange but welcome peace settling in his gut. One spy down, many, many more to go.

In the next few days, Ling Xia intentionally created hostility between important people in the manor and the spying maids, so he could kick them out with reason. Some he had anger Feng Lian, some he had framed for the increasingly frequent attempted assassinations on the Liu Manor, it was all the same to him. The only maid he had not done so with was Chen Er because in spite of his quickly deepening hatred toward her, allowing her to be fired would arouse too much suspicion.

He could only kick her out when she did something irreparable, and he had a plan. He had many plans, actually, plans he could not wait to put into action. His patience lost substance every day he waited for the fall hunt.

…

The gloomy sky could not possibly tell the tale of the events that occurred on that day. Tears dropped onto the blood-soaked ground as people grieved the death of their loved ones.

Fifty deaths, all done by a lion gone on rampage. He prowled the forest that day, sighting six men with his sharp eyes when his hunger was at its peak. They dressed in fine clothing, the strings of their bows loose as they strolled through the forest like they were the kings of the world. They seemed lean and strong but completely unaware of their surroundings.

A deep rumble escaped the lion's throat, quiet but fearsome. What sublime prey.

He hid in the shadows, stalking his prey. Slowly, he crept closer. His paws lifted and descended upon the soft ground, and his claws collected loose dirt and blades of grass.

His keen ears twitched when he heard one human whisper to another and point at something. He did not understand, but his eyes did not stray from his mark. The group halted and raised their bows.

They pulled their arrows from their quivers and pulled the strings of their bows taut. It was at that moment, when their attention was captured by an animal bounding through the forest, that the lion struck.

His mouth widened, revealing large canines that dripped with saliva, larger even than fingers. He reared back, gathering power in his hindquarters while he waited for the humans to release their arrows. With a swish, the animal met its end, and so did a human.

The lion dug his fangs into a human, tearing flesh from bones with vigor. Screams of pain resounded until they all but faded out. The lion lifted his head, his eyes meeting the other humans'.

They stood completely still, as if the lion's wild mane was a nest of snakes. The lion bared his teeth, striking red marring his golden fur. He could enjoy his meal later, just with a lot more meat on the table.

He pounced on his next victim, making quick work of him before the foolish humans finally reacted. They screamed and scattered, and he chased. Human by human, all but one were killed and feasted upon by him and his pride. They slept content that night, unaware that the next day, they would be the prey.

The lone survivor returned that night and told his tale to the emperor. The emperor decreed that anybody who killed this lion would be rewarded. And so the hunt began.

The following day the unsuspecting lion continued to prowl the land, and he was caught unaware at the scene of his last massacre. An arrow pierced his flesh, digging deep into his muscles and rendering him almost incapacitated with that leg.

His eyes flashed. Before the attacker could even react, the lion was already there, in front of him, staring at him. He was devoured then, and so were his companions.

More and more humans came to slay the beast after hearing about the others' deaths, but all were bested by him, their carcasses left to rot because the lion's belly had been filled long ago and so was his pride's.

Fifty people died that fateful day, all caused by arrogance and vanity. A lion died too, his suffering ended by a sword to the throat.