Red Talon Piercing The Darkness

"I had nothing to do with it!" Zheng Guo yelled for the hundredth time that day. "Whatever your younger generation does with their spare time has nothing to do with me!"

"You say this," a man from across the table said darkly as he stared into the city lord's eyes. "But my son was out celebrating the initiative he and his friends took to sway the city to make you step down as city lord." His eyes narrowed and hatred was plastered on his face. In his eyes, he already knew who the culprit was. He may not have been the one to kill his son, but he owned the hand that did. "It seems rather convenient that someone who would have given you a headache is now no longer with us, don't you think?"

"Zhan Yin, you have always been a reasonable man. Why would I wish to have bad blood with you?" Zheng Guo sighed deeply as he tried to reason with the man. "I knew what Zhan Jia was doing since the moment formed in his head. This was months ago when Wei Rong disappeared. If I had intended to do anything, would it not be then?"

"You were not so desperate then, I think. It wasn't until my son gained more of a standing within the city that you actually considered him a threat. Why else would he have been murdered?"

"You can hardly call that murder. It was most likely a bad ale he drank. Didn't I hear that he died after a sip of his drink?"

"That could mean that you had the bartender slip something into his drink before giving it to him." The other man retorted. "It would be all too easy to explain a bad brew to cover it up, but not a single other person was ill after their drinks. If it was a bad brew, would they not all get sick? This was obviously a staged attack to get rid of Zhan Jia. Anything else would not make any sense. You were worried about your position as city lord, so you had him killed!"

"Why would I have to worry about a position that was given to me by Li Xiao?" Zheng Guo spat. "He had not given me the title to hold onto like a raging bull, he did not say the title could be transferred to someone else. What Zhan Jia wanted was nothing but a dream!"

"And how better to tell everyone that something is beyond their reach than to show it in public?" Zhan Yin smiled, yet it did not reach his eyes. "As far as I hear, I am not the first one to visit you about this situation. At least one, if not two of all the founding families have had an assassination of their young ones. Especially those who have been speaking out against you."

"I had nothing to do with it!" Zheng Guo yelled once more, his eyes almost bulging from their sockets. "Why would I wish for all of Yuan City to turn against me?"

"You wanted all of Yuan City to fear you, so that you could keep challenging for the seat of the city lord off the table. It was an attempt to keep the families in check and ensure you had no opposition in the future!" Zhan Yin stood bolt upright from his chair, knocking it over in the process. "We will have recompense for your actions one way or another." He glowered at Zheng Guo. "You will either resign, or it will be an outright war if it is left the way it is. Choose wisely."

With this, the other man left the city lord's office and stormed out of the estate. When he disappeared out of sight, the guard of the city lord stepped into the office and shut the door. He bowed deeply to Zheng Guo. "Here to report that Hong Zhao has remained within his room the entire day today."

"That's fantastic." Zheng Guo muttered sarcastically as he turned to look out the window. "Why exactly did I bring this boy to live in the estate if he does not wish to make himself useful?"

The city lord looked at his guard, but the man could only shrug. He had stood in front of Hong Zhao's room day in and day out for months, yet the boy did not make an attempt to leave. He was not given instructions to stay within his room. He was told that if he wished to leave, he would be accompanied by Xuan Hua. He had not so much as stepped outside for a breath of fresh air since he had arrived. He only went to meals when ordered by Zheng Guo, and sparring with Xuan Hua.

Any chance of winning Hong Zhao to the city lord's side seemed to be very slim. Having sent people to Rantori Village to collect him now seemed to be what caused enmity between the two. Zheng Guo sighed deeply. "If we cannot make use out of the boy, maybe Ren Cai can. He looked at Xuan Hua with an eyebrow raised. "I don't know how it's possible, but I believe the girl has some sort of connection with him. Though she has been with me since birth when I took her from her mother to train her, it seemed as though the two of them shared some sort of bond."

"When she had delivered him to us, it was quite ruthless." Xuan Hua remembered the look on Hong Zhao's face when he realized that his travelling companion had set him up. He seemed as if he were ready to kill her after he noticed the ambush party. She had led him straight to a warrior ranked cultivator without as much as a fight between the two. Though he might have known that Xuan Hua would not let anything happen to his apprentice.

"I believe it was all an act, and that Hong Zhao wished to be here for some reason." Zheng Guo mused as he looked at his guard. "Either way, tell Ren Cai to make this boy useful, or I will have no more use for her." His eyes burned with hidden meaning. He was done being nice to Hong Zhao and catering to Ren Cai. If neither would bend to him, then neither would be living by the end of the month.