Li Peng shook his head as he looked over the paperwork for Li Zongren's newly created 4th Army Group.

"This is a time bomb, Chairman," he said casually. Jia Xu didn't even glance up at him.

"They're making good progress," Jia Xu said smoothly. "You do know how many surveillance wards and tracking spirits we have on him?"

Li Zongren really was making good progress in rooting out Gu Feng's troops in Hunan and Wu Peifu's hidden troops in Hubei, even if he wasn't trustworthy in the slightest.

"Chairman, even if we do kill him the second he starts acting funny, we'll still have a whole army group to worry about," Li Peng tried again. "These warlords are really good at the whole loyalty thing, what if his group mutinies?"

"What do you think the Internal Affairs Division is for?" Jia Xu asked.

"I know what it's for, I practically work there by now. But boss…you want the country, don't you? Do you really think this is a good idea?" Li Peng asked. He bit down on a smug grin at Jia Xu's silence.

"The other two want the country as much as I do," Jia Xu finally replied coldly. "I could get rid of nuisances later, but I can't let go of an advantage against them."

Li Peng tapped his pen on the desk, holding back his slew of counter-arguments. Those could wait until Jia Xu was a little less defensive about her plans. He still needed to talk to her about Feng Xia, it wouldn't do to get kicked out.

"That makes sense, Chairman," Li Peng said politely. He waited for the chilliness in the room to abate before moving on to the next topic.

"Chairman, have you spoken to Feng Xia lately?" Li Peng asked. Jia Xu looked at him dubiously. The past two weeks had been ridiculously busy, Jia Xu had barely managed to pass orders to Li Peng, never mind check in on Feng Xia.

"I'd assume not? It's just that she seems to be a little strange recently, especially after the ambush five days ago. She went out of her way to see the remains of the shamans afterward," Li Peng said.

Feng Xia had started off fine, despite the rather brutal first battle and later the brutal attack of the Western Defense Line. But after Mohan had burned fifty shamans to a crisp, Feng Xia had seemed a little…off. Like how she'd been in the first few days after Joyce's failed assassination attempt.

"It's only been a month," Jia Xu said, sounding a mix of worried and exasperated.

Li Peng stared at her until Jia Xu's exasperation faded into an additional layer of worry.

"I didn't raise Feng Xia to be so weak," Jia Xu said. "Just what could be the problem?"

Li Peng had thought it over several times without coming up with anything that might make sense. After some deliberation, he only had one idea.

"I honestly have no idea. We should ask one of the non-shaman auxiliary staff," Li Peng said. "Obviously, we don't tell them it's Feng Xia, but I feel like they would know."

"What would a non-shaman know about Feng Xia? That girl's outlook on life revolves around being a shaman," Jia Xu shook her head at the suggestion.

Li Peng wisely decided not to say 'That might be the problem'.

"Sometimes an outside perspective is helpful," he tried again. Jia Xu thought it over a little longer and gave him the go-ahead.

That taken care of, Li Peng prepared to make his next report.

"So about Wu Peifu's troops, the shamans in his are definitely unhappy. The only people unhappier are probably the conscripted soldiers and General Feng Yuxiang," he began, clearing his throat in preparation for the pages of information.

----------------------------------------

Wu Peifu glared down the Communications Officer before him until the man looked about to piss himself.

"Say that again," Wu Peifu growled. The trembling officer made to flip his report back to the first page, but evidently thought better of it and quickly gave a summarized version.

"Several plague spirits appeared in the city over the last three days and people are getting sick. But all the shamans surrounding the city have left and now we're surrounded by Li Zongren's forces, so the civilians are saying on social media that you've angered the spirits," the officer said, remarkably fighting down his nerves.

"Bullshit," Wu Peifu snarled. "What the hell is the Propaganda Department doing?!"

"They've been trying to say that the Sixth Apostle is doing this long-distance, but the shamans aren't buying it," the communications officer said.

"Keep them quiet," Wu Peifu said. "Arrest anyone who talks."

The officer looked as though he was about to comment but valiantly chose to take his orders and retreat instead. As the door closed behind the man, Wu Peifu let out a harsh sigh.

"Just what do the spirits have against me?!" He snarled. "I've given my share of offerings over the years, and this is what I get instead?"

After seeing the Triple Alliance in action, Wu Peifu could understand why Li Zongren decided to become Jia Xu's dog. But Wu Peifu wasn't like that spineless bastard, he only bowed before spirits and God. There was no way he would ever surrender to the Triple Alliance.

Not to mention the Sixth Apostle. After she'd hurtled South, several of the minor warlords she'd run into had been deposed for their weakness or deposed of after their subordinates realized that it was a goddamn spirit-sent they'd pissed off. And now she was here on his doorstep, and Wu Peifu couldn't do anything about it.

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

The strong ate the weak. Wu Peifu had no problem with that. But to be humiliated in this fashion by the Triple Alliance and Sixth Apostle was something he couldn't accept.

"Those bastards!" He seethed. "I'll make them pay for this humiliation!"

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"I swear it's not me!" Joyce insisted. Han Gai winced at the disbelieving glower they were getting from the Shaman Council shamans. He desperately wished that Kiyoko was here, or that literally anyone more capable than himself were here.

"Chairman," he said weakly. "Maybe we should just go. I mean, we're kind of in the middle of the camp right now."

They were camped out in Yuezhou, the Yangtze River port city on the Northern border of Hubei. Hubei and Hunan were pretty much completely under the control of the Triple Alliance now, save Wuhan and the 5,000 soldiers running around guerilla-style with General Feng Yuxiang.

General Feng had destroyed several dams along the Yangtze River, forcing them to divert some attention there. But even so, the General was only still alive because the Shaman Council and Hengshan wanted to recruit him. He wasn't a big threat. Many of the leaders were already prepared to move onto the next step of attacking Sun Chuanfang's faction.

Things had been going pretty well for the Flying Dragons too, until social media posts started reporting plague spirits in Wuhan. Of course, everyone had started pointing fingers at Joyce despite the fact she was way out of range.

"Yeah, let's just yeet out," Joyce grumbled, making to leave.

"Chairman Lee, you of all people would surely try not to commit a war crime, right?" A Shaman Council member tossed out the question before Joyce could even turn away.

"Yeah, no fucking duh. Weren't you the one who suggested I burst all the dams and drown everyone? You remember how I rejected that one, right?" Joyce replied. The shaman drew back, looking slightly offended. Han Gai twitched nervously.

"Of course the plague spirits aren't related to Chairman Lee, so surely you wouldn't mind if we thoroughly investigated this?" One of the other shamans hurriedly dove in to provide backup.

"Investigate all you want. Bruh, you can shake down my luggage if you want, just don't steal my pads," Joyce shot back.

"Chairman Lee, we understand that this is rather annoying of us, but please don't be too offended. We all have the best interests of the civilians in mind, that is why we have no choice but to ask a few rude questions," the shaman said. "Of course we believe your words, Chairman Lee. After all, you can't summon plague spirits to Wuhan from this far away, right?"

Han Gai twitched a little angrily at the obvious dig for information, glancing nervously at Joyce. Joyce loudly sipped the last of her herbal tea.

"Hey bro, can you stab a civilian to death? You totally could, but I'm not investigating you as the suspect of that housewife who got killed two days ago even though you were close enough to have drove over and stabbed her," Joyce said calmly.

"Well, yes, but Chairman, very few people have shamanic abilities like yours, so we have no choice but to bother you a bit," the shaman continued.

"This is way more than a bit, but sure," Joyce waved. "Now that you're done, please leave."

"In just a moment," the shaman pressed on doggedly. "Chairman, can you please tell us whether you are capable of summoning plague spirits long-distance? If not, we will end our investigation and stop bothering you."

Joyce blinked. "I cannot confirm nor deny that statement, because I've never tried that shit before," Joyce deadpanned. "And also…did you just try to assert the Shaman Council's authority over me? Since when did you guys have investigative powers of this kind over the Flying Dragons? That wasn't in our agreement."

"Well, no, but since this matter involves civilians –"

"Hey, I'm illiterate, not stupid. By the way, where's your permission slip from Jia Xu?" Joyce demanded. As they shrunk back, Joyce continued to inoffensively press them for a bit longer before letting them hastily retreat.

Joyce let out a satisfied chuckle and turned towards Han Gai for a fist bump. Han Gai timidly obliged.

"What a waste of time. Let's go get something to eat," Joyce suggested.

"What do you want to eat, Chairman?" Han Gai asked, following her back to the Flying Dragon's small building and group of tents. Joyce shrugged and immediately started bothering the first cook she found.

She got a bag of meat buns to take back to her office and handed one to Han Gai, who gratefully took it and ate it in two bites. Looking suitably impressed, Joyce handed him two more, which he also made short work of.

"Bro, do you want more meat buns?" Joyce asked him gently. Mouth still full of meat and dough, Han Gai settled for shaking his head. Looking slightly relieved, Joyce started in on the remaining buns as she looked over the texts Kiyoko was sending from the riverbank, where the bodyguard-commander was leading a unit in dealing with the aftermath of an exploded dam.

Han Gai stood by the wall, watching for anything that could require the use of the giant sword he'd received. Nothing happened other than Joyce using the auto-translate function on her phone until there was a strange humming noise.

Han Gai and Joyce both glanced towards the source, Han Gai promptly letting out a high-pitched shriek. Something was glowing on the sword, moving up from the point towards the hilt. Screaming, Han Gai hurriedly unbuckled the sword, flung it at the wall, and placed himself in front of Joyce.

Joyce gently pushed him aside and went to look at the crack in the wall and then the sword, picking it up with some effort. She hastily picked up her phone.

"Hey Teach, something weird appeared on Han Gai's sword!"

Joyce squinted at the insignia. "Um, it's white, looks kinda like…a zebra. Or a horse. But like, the head's a bit more squashed and I think it has teeth. It's kinda small, I can't really tell."

She paused for a moment and ushered Han Gai over. "What does this look like to you?" she asked.

Han Gai forced himself to calm down and look at the insignia, despite his trembling hands.

"Um, it's striped," he said helpfully.

"Han Gai said it's striped," Joyce said into the phone. She turned back towards Han Gai.

"Mohan's asking if it looks like a tiger to you," Joyce said. Han Gai stilled, something clicking into place in his mind. He'd seen this insignia before in the derelict shrine next to his house.

"It's a tiger," he replied firmly. "It's the insignia of the White Tiger! I think…"

"Han Gai said it's the insignia of the White Tiger, that would explain the white light and the stripes, yeah?" Joyce said into the phone. "Wow, really? That's dope. Hell yeah! Uh huh, I'll tell him that. Thanks, bye!"

She lowered the phone and turned towards Han Gai with a grin. "Congrats, Han Gai. The White Tiger's got his eyes on you."

Han Gai shuddered at the thought, looking at the glowing insignia fearfully. It wasn't really comforting news in the slightest. Joyce patted his shoulder comfortingly as the insignia slowly faded away.

"Hey, it's just watching, that doesn't necessarily mean it'll pounce out on you or whatever, relax," Joyce said cheerfully. "Even if it does, I'll do something about it."

Han Gai stammered out his thanks, feeling a wave of relief before wincing in shame. He was supposed to be the bodyguard here.

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Having taken care of everything that required immediate attention, Taeyun chugged two cups of tea and plopped his head onto his desk for a power nap. Even if he didn't look forty, he certainly wasn't a spry twenty-year-old anymore. He needed caffeine and decent amounts of sleep if he planned to live for a long time.

'Like hell I'd die before reaching a hundred,' Taeyun decided, and promptly fell into a dreamless sleep.

A strange tingling sensation on the back of his left hand woke him up. Taeyun blearily opened his eyes to see if a bee had landed there, only to nearly fall off his chair in shock. There was a glowing insignia on his hand that was just chilling there as if it were its own house.

Ignoring his accelerating heartbeat, Taeyun stared at the insignia. A slow smile bloomed onto his face.

'My patience has paid off,' Taeyun thought to himself, trying to contain his excitement.

It was the insignia of Lord Jian Bing, the White Tiger.