The calm before the storm and a final briefing!

Ying yue sat in his room in front of a low table and waited tensely. Zhen yan was locked in the dungeon and he was locked in his room.

Bai An rong, his father and head of the clan, hadn't seen fit to talk to him in a week. Every request from Ying yue went unanswered, and he wasn't given so much as a glance. He looked around; his room was just as bare and empty as ever. There was a bed, a table and a few books on a shelf together with some parchment.

Only Xiaodan was enthroned on his specially made sword rack. The only thing of value in this room. Ying yue had exchanged the Bai-Clan robes for a plain, white Daoist robe, his hair fell open and was simply tied together on his back. He thought of Zhen yan. Surely his stay in the dungeon was not pleasant for him. Yi Rui qin would not miss the opportunity to take it out on him, and since the sword master was still in perfect health, Zhen yan did not seem to have raised a hand against him yet.

He clenched his fingers into the white fabric of the robe, the summer heat was pouring through the open windows, and the air smelled hot and spicy.

He had suspected that he wouldn't be welcome, but if he had known what would happen, he wouldn't have asked the demon to wait.

Anger welled up inside him when he thought about what Rui Qin was probably doing to him at this very moment. Ying yue gritted his teeth, how long should he wait? If his father wasn't willing to listen to him, then he had no business being here.

His words to Lingxi hadn't been empty promises. The next time he left the estate, he would never come back. Steps approached, someone knocked.

»Come in!« he called. The door swung open and a small, delicate servant brought him something to eat and drink on a tray. She placed it in front of him and made no effort to greet him or show him respect.

»Is there any news of my father?« he asked.

»No, the head is dealing with important matters!« she replied. He asked every day and she answered the same every day. When the young woman had left, he took out the jade seal he had hidden under the table.

He had had plenty of time to work on it and now it was almost finished. He gently stroked the engraved image and suppressed the urge to descend into the dungeon himself and check on Zhen yan. He was a great demon, he was Daiyuzhu, he wouldn't die. Ying yue ground his jaw when he thought about it, but he was wounded all the time.

Yi Rui qin was a man who sent shivers down the spine of everyone present, even today. The former clan leader and father of Bai An rong had recognized and encouraged his potential, made him sword master and supreme general of the Bai forces. There was nothing he wouldn't do for this name, nothing he wouldn't do for this man.

When the former clan leader died, he promised at his deathbed to protect his son An rong and to keep the name of the Bai family pure. There was nothing he hated more than that bastard Ying yue. A coward, a wimp who flinched at every sword stroke, who still refused to favor violence. Ask first, then hit. Rui qin spat on the ground and yanked one of his favorite old spears out of its wall mount before strutting down to the dungeon.

Nevertheless, this boy had made a name for himself, was a welcome member of every night hunt, no matter how many rumors he spread about him, no matter how often he spoke disparagingly of him. You had to see for yourself how good he was, they said. Enraged, he rammed his fist into the uneven, damp stones of the walls that surrounded him.

The torches in the walls trembled slightly. The only true successor was Lingxi, no matter how much Ying yue sucked up to other clans or even demons, they would eventually realize that he was nothing, not worthy of the name Bai. With a gesture, he ordered the guards who had gathered around the demon's cage back. It was the lowest point of the underground dungeon. The air was humid, it was cold and uncomfortable.

In the middle of the room, between hundreds of woven, spoken and drawn seals and spells, stood a massive cell. It had no door, only a few people could control the bars with a special sequence of hand signals and let the prisoner in and out. Zhen yan sat in the middle of the cell, with heavy iron cuffs on his arms and legs. He sat down cross-legged and closed his eyes. He smiled slightly when Rui qin approached the bars.

He was, as always, a magnificent sight, and even the dim, meager light couldn't hide his face. His dark, glowing eyes rested on the sword master. He had heard everything. Some of it had made him angry, but he had promised Ying yue to behave for now.

»So you're the demon Zhenyan?« Ruiqin spat out his name as if it were poison.

»And so you're Yi Ruiqin, the dead man!« Zhenyan replied unmoved. Yi Ruiqin gave the demon a contemptuous grin.

»You won't get out of here alive,« he threatened. Zhen yan smiled.

»Strange, I was about to say the same thing; we seem to be more alike than I thought,« he replied. Rui qin furiously opened the bars and entered. He lifted the long, delicate spear with the dangerously sharp, flashing tip and pierced the demon's skin just below the collarbone.

Zhen yan didn't make a sound. He looked up at Rui qin, the man who had made Ying yue's life a living hell here. He exhaled and put his hands over his knees with a clink, while looking up at Rui qin.

»I'm curious,« he said. »Do you hate Ying yue so much because he is the child of a concubine, or... because he is better than you?« In reply, Rui Qin rammed his spear into his shoulder again before slowly circling around and plunging it several times between Zhen Yan's shoulder blades before stabbing it between his ribs again at the front.

A thin trickle of blood ran from the demon's mouth and he felt the warm moisture soaking through his robe. He arched his back, provoking Rui qin to stab him again, which he did. This procedure was repeated day after day. It was all too obvious that the clan leader had no intention of letting him or Ying yue go. Although his body ached and the spear was made of a special metal that prevented his wounds from closing too quickly, he remained seated obediently.

With closed eyes, he scanned the estate with his mind, sensing hundreds of guards, servants and other officials. The estate was huge and spread over several main and secondary buildings, pavilions and private rooms. It didn't take him long to find Ying yue's aura. From afar, he watched him as he suppressed the surging anger within him day after day, locked up in his room.

As long as Ying yue wasn't hurt and his life wasn't at stake, he would let himself be shot full of holes for a while longer. He almost had Rui qin talking. He felt safe and superior, and when men were complacent, they talked.

As he sat there, listening to his surroundings, he sensed something long before the mortal senses. A smile spread across his face, and Yi Rui qin's time was finally up. When the sword master entered the dungeon again and sent the guards away, Zhen yan greeted him by standing up. He hadn't moved for almost two weeks, and when he rose now, the huge pool of blood below him only became fully visible. Still, he showed no weakness.

»Yi Rui qin, you've had your fun, I'm a poor demon and can't last much longer anyway. Please satisfy my curiosity. Why did you order Gao Hong yi to kill Ying yue?« he asked. The sword master pointed his spear directly at Zhen yan's face.

»What makes you think that?« he asked back, but couldn't stop himself from grinning. Zhen yan shrugged.

»He said it himself. He wasted his last breaths calling out your name,« Zhen yan replied. A shadow flitted across Rui qin's face.

»That useless bastard,« he grumbled. ‚He couldn't get anything right!' He watched Zhen yan as he wandered around the cell, clanking his spear over the bars. Zhen yan followed him with his eyes while he listened to the commotion above. Yi Rui Qin suddenly stabbed through the bars and plunged his spear deep into Zhenyan's abdomen when he noticed that the demon had let his guard down.

»That damned Yingyue, why did he have to get involved with a useless demon like you? You didn't even put up a fight. You let yourselves be stabbed without a struggle because you know there is no escape. That doesn't make your death any less painful.

Unlike other clans, we know how to deal with your kind. Here there is no trial, no comparison of the severity of your offense and no reparation through good deeds. Only a dead demon is a good demon,« he shouted angrily. Zhen yan's eyes darkened slightly, he felt the warm metal enter his body, the sharp pain as the tip slid centimeter by centimeter through skin, flesh and muscles. His gaze fell on Rui qin, who withdrew the spear contentedly and stood before him.

»Ying yue has no ambitions, no visions. He would destroy the Bai clan with his indifference. All he knows how to do is fight, and even then he asks questions. What this family needs is someone who can see a future for themselves, someone who is willing to seize it, even if it costs something,« he said, getting excited.

»I have a sneaking suspicion that you're not talking about the esteemed Bai He Gongzi,« Zhenyan remarked.

»He'll understand. His mother will explain it to him when he's ready to listen,« the sword master retorted grimly. »Ying yue should have found himself a more capable demon if he wants to prevent his brother from taking his rightful place!« Rui qin barked. Zhen yan rolled his eyes. Ying yue never had any intention of becoming head of the family.

What had gotten into this man that he couldn't see that Ying yue was interested neither in family matters nor in political business. All he wanted was to make the world a better and more livable place. He was one of the people for whom a goddess like Xiao Lian had taken up the sword. To preserve what is good and honest in this world. He caught the spearhead the next time Rui Qin wanted to stab him. He was slowly losing his patience.

»So you wanted to get rid of him to pave the way for Bai Er Gongzi, who...forgives. Anyway, is appointed by his father as heir?« Zhen Yan asked. »As long as Yingyue is alive and continues to enjoy the popularity of the Night Hunter supporters and personalities like Wang Bingwen, there is a possibility that Bai Anrong will change his mind,« the sword master replied and snatched the spear from the demon.

He stabbed again, this time Zhenyan ignored him completely. Enraged, he sliced open the demon's upper arm, but the demon merely exhaled in exasperation before looking at him.

»You wanted to eliminate a possibility, an eventuality, no matter how small? But why with the help of the Gao clan? What do you have to gain by allying with them?« he asked with a furrowed brow.

Rui Qin was in a chatty mood. Zhen Yan admittedly didn't look so sublime and majestic with all the blood and slit clothing, and he even looked a little younger with his tousled hair and all the injuries.

»Ying yue was also a potential leader, a thorn in the side of the Gao clan. We had the same views and goals, and so we worked together.«

»You, Bai Furen and Lingxi?« Zhen yan concluded and looked at Rui qin questioningly. The sword master narrowed his eyes.

»Chief Bai An rong will not be up to

what is coming. He represents his old traditions too much. Morals and honor. In the new age that is dawning, we need a strong, young leader,« he replied.

»A malleable young man who would blindly follow the words of his mother and his master,« Zhen yan added. »I think I understand. The Gao clan will break the seal on the plain and use it to control the Yao who pour out. With such an army at his disposal, of course, nothing stands in his way. Everything will be destroyed unless, by chance, you ally yourself with them,« he concluded.

Rui Qin raised his spear and was about to stab Zhen Yan through the heart, but the demon caught it and pulled the sword master to the bars with a jerk. »And if Bai Lingxi doesn't dance to your tune, he's replaceable too, isn't he? With a man full of vision and drive. A power-hungry man... you,« he said quietly. Black-green smoke billowed up, surrounded the bars and wafted through until Zhen yan stood in front of Rui qin and the cell.

»That was all I wanted to know. Why did it take so long? I was sorely missed, I'm sure,« he growled.