Chen Hao didn’t answer immediately. Instead, he stood up and paced around the room, glancing outside the kitchen doom. He Ming went on to continue his job, leaving the boy alone with the sounds of drunken shouting, sizzling meat, and his own thoughts. Even Jun stayed silent, but that was because the decision was so obvious that the boy shouldn’t need any help.
“What does joining the Lu family involve?” he asked when He Ming returned with an empty plate.
“Not much. You need to complete twelve contracts a year, spaced out however you like.”
“What kind of contracts?”
The server sighed, rolling his eyes. “What do you think? Assassination, theft, intimidation. Collecting gambling debts or confiscating belongings. Evicting people from Lu family-owned buildings is also fun.”
The more he spoke, the more complicated Chen Hao’s expression became. He once again sat down, mulling over the decision. He grabbed a water cup, but instead of projecting any kind of image, he looked at his own reflection.
“Lu family will protect you. The contracts are lucrative, and there are many things you can’t obtain without first joining the family,” He Ming said, waving the empty plate around like a prop. He became more and more annoyed by the minute as Chen Hao didn’t respond.
“You must be slow. You’ve already helped me with six of my contracts. Who says you have to do them alone?”
“Even if you don’t want to steal things personally, your ability to read fate would attract many people to work with you,” he said, pointing at the water cup. “Also, I was kidding when I said you have a choice. The choice is either you join or you die.”
Those were the wrong words to convince Chen Hao, but none of them were wrong. Still, the boy was silent. Now, He Ming was the one pacing around the room, his hands twitching as he resisted throwing the plate at Chen Hao.
As hypocritical as it was, helping someone commit evil deeds was different from actually doing it themselves. And by no means was the Lu family considered righteous. Then again, this period of contemplation over a decision was only the illusion of choice—a way for Chen Hao to come to terms with what he had to do.
“Is it that easy? I say that I agree and I’m in the family?” the boy asked, relaxing in his chair as if some burden had been lifted from his mind.
There were only so many ways He Ming could show his annoyance at the conversation, but he somehow managed to sigh so drastically that even Liu Wei looked over and chuckled.
“You’ve already been in the family for months. Where do you think you’re located? This is one of Lu family meeting spots in the lower sect. The people that you’ve been seeing for months, just drinking and enjoying life—they’re all from the family. They steal and kill and gamble in their free time. When the Jin family came knocking, they were the first to stand up and bar the door.”
“So, yes. You only have to agree to officially join the family.”
He Ming finished his sentence, expectantly looking at Chen Hao. His refusal was never in doubt for anyone in the kitchen besides himself.
“I will join the Lu family, but I don’t plan on becoming someone like you.”
“Well, I’d rather be dead than be someone as sheltered as you. Also, you have to get a spiritual mark on your hand. Whoops. Forgot to mention it in time. Serves you right.”
The so-called dramatic moment was ruined by He Ming, who laughed as everyone else turned to him. The tension from earlier was dispelled almost instantly.
“Welcome to the family. Master, please do the honours,” he said before Chen Hao could change his mind, bowing to the chef, who put down his pan and kitchen knife.
“Very unprofessional. Joining the family is an honour, and also a duty. The procedures deserve to be followed,” he lectured He Ming, who shamefully bowed his head. Then, Liu Wei turned to Chen Hao.
“Just like how I took care of He Ming, and He Ming took care of you, I expect that you will, one day, take care of someone. We are both an organisation and a family, so as long as you do your duties, your brothers and sisters will protect you. Treat them with respect, and they will respect you back.”
“Welcome to the family.”
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With those solemn words, he grabbed Chen Hao’s right hand and pulled it forward. The tattoo of the viper on the chef’s arm suddenly rose out of his body and coiled around the boy, sinking its teeth deep into the back of his hand. Green venom entered his bloodstream, causing a sharp cry of pain from the boy. But, instead of spreading further into his body, the venom drew an image of a young woman wearing a revealing but playful red dress. She had bright green eyes, a jubilant smile on her face, and her body was frozen in the middle of an upbeat dance, one leg lifted off the ground.
Chen Hao winced and grunted, his hand shaking like a leaf. When the venom finished the image, it reversed its flow and ejected itself from his body. Slowly, the mark of the woman faded until no trace of her could be seen.
“You may show this mark by injecting qi into it. Only reveal it when you need to or when you meet another member of the family.”
With that said and done, he got back to the giant wok, tossing around the stir-fry like nothing had happened.
“Master insists he’s retired and only wants to cook, yet he practically runs the entire lower sect branch of the family.” He Ming quietly whispered. “A shame, too. Our sub-family would have more respect if he revealed his former strength more often.”
A chopstick accurately hit He Ming’s head as he finished his sentence, causing the server to yelp in pain.
“Less gossip and more work. Go introduce the boy to the rest.”
“Yes. I’m already there,’ he responded, grabbing the finished plates and beckoning Chen Hao to follow him.
As he went from table to table and whispered something in their ears, the patrons fell silent, turning their eyes to the boy. Before long, the laughter in the inn died down, replaced by hushed whispers.
“Ehm. I’m bad at speeches, so I’ll keep it short and simple,” He Ming said amidst a few chuckles, jabbing his elbow at Chen Hao’s side. After a few more jabs and more laughter, he finally got what he needed to do.
Slowly, the boy raised his right hand so that everyone here could see it. His cheeks turned red from the attention. As he circulated his qi, it rose from his dantian, went up his chest, travelled along his arm, and settled into his right hand. A beautiful young woman, dancing a song of joy, appeared for the world to see. Whoops and hollers greeted the woman, and several others raised their hands in response, revealing the same marks.
“Come now, boy. After yesterday’s events, everyone will know of your name. Let’s drink to the brave apprentice who dared what many others wouldn’t,” a man in his twenties, rough and covered in hair, wrapped his arm around Chen Hao’s shoulders and offered him a mug, shovelling rice wine in his face.
The boy took one sip and then slipped out of the man’s grasp like an eel. Everywhere he went, people would be trying either to get him drunk or teach him life tips.
“You’re lucky to be so young. A word of advice—don’t ever take a Dao partner. She’s just going to cheat you with the first dandy that knows how to sing. The damn whore.”
“Agreed. Listen to me. You’ve got to go to the Tower of Prosperity and ask for some ‘special entertainment.’ They’ve got the highest class ‘entertainers’ there,” another patron chimed in, getting cheers from all the suddenly single and lonely men.
“Don’t listen to them. They’re bugs that work to live and don’t have ambitions,” an older woman pulled Chen Hao to the side, grabbing his collar as she did, staring deep into his eyes. Jun growled menacingly at her.
“There are numerous factions within the family. Make the right choice, and one day, you can rule over others,” she said, passing him a black card with an image of a wilted rose. Then, she released him, rejoining her table.
The celebrations went on deep into the night before everyone was chased away by Liu Wei. Chen Hao slowly returned to his room, wobbling left and right. “Just one sip,” was a lot when every table wanted to speak to him. Jun had to support him when he climbed up the stairs and drag him when he veered off course. And then, as repayment for his meritorious deeds, the bastard grabbed him, fell onto the bed, and immediately fell asleep, nearly vomiting on his face.
Now, that would have been fine normally, but Jun was mad about one thing and one thing only.
“I want to drink!”
Seeing everyone else around him have fun while he remained sober was something he had never experienced before. He was always the first to black out when he went out drinking with his friends, and it wasn’t because of low tolerance.
“Bleh. It isn’t alcoholism when you’re in college,” he sulked, laying down on the bed and kicking the boy whenever he began to roll over for extra space.
The next morning, Jun handed over the storage ring to Chen Hao, who spent the entire day pouring over the manuals and learning the techniques within. The day after, he looked over the contracts and took another “debt repossession” mission together with He Ming, keeping the same split as before. Seeing how the water cup showed a good omen, the work was done relatively quickly. The job paid little, but it counted towards the quota, which the boy intended to fulfil with relatively harmless tasks.
And then, for the next few days, they just relaxed. The absence of work gave the boy more free time than he had ever had, and while he spent most of it practising his new techniques, he and Jun also explored the undersect properly, visiting all the big and interesting buildings. Unfortunately, Jun didn’t get to convince the boy to gamble, but they did visit an auction in their spare time, as well as several treasure houses and medicine halls. As it turned out, 1600 spirit stones weren’t a lot when you were dealing with the big shots.
A week quickly passed, spent in relative peace and quiet, trying to forget everything that had occurred before this. In a way, he was burying the butcher lady with happy memories, trying to get her out of his nightmares. But, for him to fully forget about this, he had to make new friends and cultivate new experiences. Thus, it was on one particular morning, when the sun was shining brightly and not a cloud was in sight, that Chen Hao stood up from and said with full conviction.
“Let’s go and get my robe back.”