Shan set up the meeting to take place over lunch, a few days after he had broached the subject. Jian did his best to hide his trepidation as their carriage pulled up outside the Huang family compound. He was committed, now. Fretting wouldn't do him any good.

Shan hopped out of the carriage with a smile, before turning to help his aged grandfather down. Jian kept his face expressionless as he took in the scene before them.

It looked like the entire Huang household had been called out to welcome the great artist. The head of the family stood front and center, next to his wife. His sons were arrayed on his other side. Other family members fanned out from there. Jian recognized a few from Jinghua's briefing regarding the movers and shakers of Baolei Town, but others he could only identify from their resemblance to other members of the family.

"You honor us with your presence," the family head said, bowing to Jian in greeting. If he was a demon sympathizer, at least his manners were impeccable.

Jian, of course, only nodded in reply. It fell to Shan to do the talking.

"Thank you for inviting us," Shan said. "My grandfather would learn of your family."

The family head's face lit up. "Wonderful! Let us discuss matters over a meal."

Jian walked inside by the side of the family head. The rest of the family had to figure out how to array themselves according to age and relative importance. That kind of petty political jockeying could turn into a real headache, but fortunately it wasn't his problem.

The Huang family estate was beautifully laid out. As befits a major family home in a fortress town, it had been designed with defense in mind. Jian noted the solidly built walls and cleverly placed arrow slits. Truly, this courtyard was designed to welcome guests but kill unwanted invaders. Fortunately, Jian had no intention to take anything from the Huang family by force. As an honored guest, all of the defenses were useless against him.

They made their way through a garden to a banquet hall. Taking a moment to observe the decorations, Jian confirmed his first impression of the Huang family. They were a wealthy and honorable family, but they were a single noticeable step below the true elite. The sumptuous decorations couldn't mask the fact that their foundation was not quite as stable as you would expect for a clan that aspired to the city lord's position. The records and displays of their past achievements were impressive, but the achievements themselves were not quite notable enough to bring them up to the Li family's level.

Of course, Jian kept his observations to himself. Common courtesy and his assumed persona compelled him to hold his tongue. The Huang patriarch seemed to have been informed of Jian's eccentricity and took his silence in stride, carrying the conversation by himself as he explained the meal to come. Jian nodded to acknowledge his words, then took his seat near the head of the table.

Briefly, he pondered what would happen if the Huang family were to see through his facade. He thought it would end at embarrassment and expulsion. He'd only be in danger if somebody were to lash out in the heat of the moment, which was unlikely. Though not impossible. Jian pushed the thought to the side. Nobody was going to second guess the honored elder who'd been invited by the top disciple of the Heavenly Sword Sect.

Instead, he turned his attention to the Huang family itself. While he was naturally suspicious that the patriarch might yearn to tear down the city lord and take his place, there was no guarantee that he was acting alone. The rest of his family would rise along with him if he succeeded. For that matter, if he were implicated in such a grave crime, his family would share in much of his punishment. That didn't mean that all of them would be trusted with his secrets, but for an undertaking on the scale needed to shift the contest between rival planes, it would be hard for one man to carry it out alone.

The first person that Jian noted was the eldest son of the patriarch, Huiliang. By reputation he was something of a dilettante, more interested in wine and women than in following in his father's footsteps. On the one hand, his poor character suggested that he'd be willing to go along with any kind of depraved scheme. On the other hand, Jian wasn't sure that Huiliang would be willing to work hard enough to make a real contribution to something of this scale.

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Even brief observation was enough to confirm that the rumors were based on at least a measure of truth. They hadn't been seated long enough for the first course to be served and Huiliang was already on his second glass of wine. His second glass that Jian had seen. Judging by his demeanor, he may have well been several glasses in before Jian arrived.

The other major figure who occupied Jian's attention was Xiuying, the wife of the head of the family. His second wife. His first wife, the mother of Huiliang, had died in the Verdant Doom a little over a decade ago. The patriarch had married Xiuying five years ago. It was entirely appropriate for him to remarry after an appropriate mourning period had passed, but nonetheless it was to be expected that a new wife would bring friction into the household.

Even more so when she had borne him a son. Little Huizhong was still a toddler, too young to attend functions such as this. Nevertheless, in time he would grow up, and in time there would come the question of who was to inherit the mantle of leadership in the Huang family. If Huiliang were a forthright and outstanding citizen then he could have made the matter moot. Instead, his dissolute lifestyle had already caused whispers to spread throughout Baolei Town of the bright future ahead of Huizhong.

It wasn't completely impossible that Xiuying could even have gone behind her husband's back and sought out an unholy alliance with the extraplanar forces on her own, in the hopes of improving her son's position within the family. Jian didn't consider it a strong possibility, if only because the risk outweighed the gain. Her son was already halfway in position as the heir to the family. There was no need to commit such heinous acts to secure his future.

Of course, if the family head had taken the lead and simply pulled his wife into his scheme, then she would have every reason to go along. Their illicit partnership would only strengthen her son's claim as a side effect, while the true goal of their plan would be to install her husband as the city lord of Baolei Town.

Jian didn't let his duties as an investigator prevent him from enjoying a meal. The Huang family had gone all out in order to impress him, so it was only right for him to appreciate the fruits of their effort. He couldn't tuck in with a young man's appetite, but he could still savor the expertly prepared delicacies as they were delivered before him one by one.

When the meal was done and they were enjoying a relaxing cup of tea afterward, the family head finally broached the subject that had motivated him to invite Jian in the first place.

"Though I am happy with the design of the gardens," he said, "I must admit that I feel it would look more complete if it were graced with a true masterwork to act as the focal point."

Jian cocked his head and gave Shan a meaningful look. It took a moment for Shan to remember that he was in charge of responding to such inquiries.

Shan cleared his throat. "Grandfather creates artwork when he is struck by a moment of inspiration. Unfortunately, such things don't happen on a fixed schedule."

The family head sipped his tea, unruffled at the initial rejection. "I had hoped to arrange something in the nature of your agreement with the Heavenly Sword Sect."

Shan smiled politely, though Jian could see the strain. "Grandfather was moved by the sect's ambition to clear the Verdant Doom."

"The sect aren't the only ones working to tame the jungle," Huiliang sniffed. "They just make sure everybody knows what they're doing."

Jian perked up at that. Especially since the patriarch looked a bit uncomfortable at his son's bragging. The reason Jian had come to this banquet was to pick up on this kind of secret machination. The actions that the Huang family were taking out beyond the view of the people of Baolei Town were exactly the sort of thing that he'd like to know about.

"Oh?" Shan asked. Bless him, he'd picked up on Jian's interest, or at least realized on his own the importance of what Huiliang had let slip.

"Our modest efforts pale beside the exertions of the Heavenly Sword Sect," the patriarch said. "I'd prefer not to embarrass ourselves by drawing the comparison."

Jian leaned forward. The Huang family had been eager to invite him out here in order to aggrandize themselves with a work from the master artist. This sort of humility was at odds with that ambition. There had to be some sort of secret at work here, unless their efforts were truly paltry.

"Don't sell us short, father," Huiliang protested. "I've personally led forays deep into the Grave of Dreams, where no civilized man has set foot in decades."

Jian raised an eyebrow and filed away the name for later. He could recite all of the landmarks and dangerous regions around Bianjing Town from memory, but he was still getting up to speed on the notable locations within the Verdant Doom. If what Huiliang was saying was at all accurate, though, then the Huang family was investing a great deal of effort indeed on this private expedition.

"What use is it to set foot on contested land?" his father replied. "If we could take it and keep it, then it would be a matter worth Master Zhou's attention."

Jian hummed in agreement. He didn't want to openly interrogate or antagonize his hosts, after all. As he took a sip of his tea, though, he was already planning the next steps of his investigation.