Chapter 23 - Sect Leader’s Personal Invitation

Lu Na was having the time of her life. Despite the insanity coming from the Wintersweet Sect and her many near-death experiences, the people of Jianye were out celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival as the sun set. The full moon was already visible and it was bright and beautiful. There was not a cloud in the sky.

Lu Na had never experienced this, as her father would have normally kept her locked up within the Lu compound. He’d always claim that the festivities that he planned and paid for were better than the commoners in the streets. And while she saw that was probably true in terms of the quality of the festivities, it was always the same every year. There were only so many times Lu Na could watch or do the same thing year after year before it becomes dull.

Yet out here, she saw little children running around, free without fear and all dressed up, with their little lanterns. The stalls along the streets all had many toys that Lu Na had never seen before. There were some small figurines of Chang’e and Hou Yi with his bow and arrows. And the performances were more thrilling. Unlike her father’s paid performances, these shows had more humor in them. They had funny voices and different acrobatics that the serious actors would never do when performing in her own home.

Of course that wasn’t all. The most important difference that Lu Na experienced were the foods. Every stall had something unique. There were the usual moon cakes, but some of them had such unique ingredients that every bite was a surprise. That’s the beauty of moon cakes. You didn’t know what you’re going to get until you bit into it. Then there were the other foods of the streets that had a few strange ones that Lu Na had never tried before. There was a roasted squid stall that stood next to a whole roasted pig.

The last few days only made Lu Na appreciate her life even more. She was so full and so happy for once. Of course, those feelings rarely ever lasted.

“Lu Na, they’re back. The Wintersweet Sect,” her spirit said.

“What do you mean? There’s no way they found me again. I’m surrounded by people,” Lu Na said. She had a stick of fish balls soaked in curry in each hand.

But Lu Na felt it before she saw it. The entire area was flooded with spirit energy. It was a dark color that seeped into the marketplace. Everyone paused for a moment before they scrambled away.

In their way, one summoner walked toward Lu Na with a dark purple tiger. He was dressed in a similar dark purple tunic. Trailing behind him was Elder Hen Shimin and Wong Yoong. Both of them looked haggard. But the leading summoner looked worse. The dark eye bags came into view quickly and there were so many lines on his face. He only looked younger than the Elder because his face didn’t droop.

“Are you Lu Na?” the summoner asked.

Before Lu Na could answer, his tiger spirit pounced forward and clamped its jaw on her right thigh. It didn’t hurt but she couldn’t move.

“Quick, use your spirit wall ward,” her spirit said.

“No.”

“No?” the summoner asked.

“Oh, sorry. That’s not what I meant. I was talking with my spirit.” Lu Na clasped both hands by her left waist and bowed, surprised she hadn’t done that since she left the Lu compound. It was as respectful as she could make it from all the lessons from her teachers and mother over the years. “Yes, I am Lu Na. Am I to assume that you are the sect leader of the Wintersweet Sect?”

The summoner smirked. He raised his cupped hands, but didn’t bow.

“Yes, I am Wong Kuang. I am here to invite you to our sect and I will not take no for an answer.”

His tiger spirit growled in response.

“Of course, if you resist. I would not hesitate to kill you and everyone here. This is your last chance.”

“Do it now. His spirit might be powerful, but with the null metal you have, it should be strong enough to stop him. The summoner looks too weak to attack you physically. That’s when you can use your—”

Lu Na looked around at the surrounding people. The adults cowered behind their stalls, frozen in fear. However, it was the kids that made Lu Na pause. They weren’t crying. It was almost as if they saw King Yama come from the underworld to take their souls. That was when she made a choice.

Lu Na bowed again as politely as she could, this time with her head down.

“Of course, Sect Leader Wong. I would like nothing more than to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival in your glorious sect.”

Sect Leader Wong said nothing as he turned to leave. His tiger spirit let go of Lu Na’s thigh and trotted behind him as if it was a real tiger. Only Senior Wong’s face was turning red, some veins popping on her neck. The elder simply bowed his head before walking beside her. Everyone gave them a wide berth or disappeared the moment they started walking away.

“I heard from Wong Yoong that you met my son,” Elder Hen said.

“Are you talking about the monk?”

Elder Hen nodded.

“Then yes, elder, I have spoken with him.”

“How… how is he?”

“He seemed fine the last time I saw him. But he was also locked up in an iron cage and about to face punishment for the fight he had with Wong Yoong.”

“That foolish son of mine is always doing things he shouldn’t. But I am glad that he’s well. Did he tell you anything else?”

“We talked for a little bit. He didn’t say it directly, but he had a strong grudge against your sect. Seeing as how you’re his father, was there a reason?”

Elder Hen looked away.

“It is a great shame of my sect, but we were ordered to kill him. He was a threat to everyone and the Imperial government would have leveled our entire sect if we didn’t do so.”

“Then begging your pardon, but he seems to be lively for a dead man.”

Elder Hen laughed a very bitter laugh.

“Yes, his spirit revived him.”

“Wow, he must be very strong. I hope he can teach me how to be a summoner.”

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“Oh?”

“Yes, I talked with him about it when we were in the cage. I’ve always wanted to learn.”

Elder Hen smiled.

“Well, if you’re still alive after tonight, I would gladly accept you into the Wintersweet Sect as a personal disciple. It’s the least I could do since you know my son.”

Lu Na bowed her head toward Elder Hen.

“I’ll have to think about that, since your sect has been trying to kill me over the last few days. I’m not sure how that would work.”

Elder Hen laughed.

“I apologize for that. Wong Yoong was supposed to only invite you to our sect. But it worked out in the end. From my other disciples’ reports, everyone was well compensated for our actions within the city.”

“Is that how sects like yours operate within the city without worry? You simply pay off those you kill?”

Elder Hen’s smile disappeared.

“No. The summoner sects usually have an agreement with the Government to never bring our affairs into the city unless it’s protecting the city from invaders. What we did the past few days has been one of desperation.”

“What will happen to the other people that has gone against your sect? Like my brother and family. They’re innocent in this.”

“After tonight, everything will be settled. If there is a debt your family, we will pay. You can rest assured.”

Lu Na bowed her head again. She was not assured of anything. Least of all this sect elder’s words. They were despicable enough to attack a city full of innocent and powerless people. What else won’t they do?

Lu Na didn’t ask any further. It mattered little to her anyway, as she might not live through the night. But there was one question she needed to ask.

“What’s going to happen to me?”

Elder Hen shook his head.

“Young Miss Lu, I do not know. We were ordered to capture all the Lu maidens and we must comply.”

“Was that from your ancestor?”

“How did you… It was Hen Li that told you. It’s one of our greatest secrets as a sect. He shouldn’t be going around telling people this. The sect leader might be forced to kill him again.” Elder Hen took a deep breath at that thought. “But yes, it was our ancestor that ordered this. We don’t know exactly why. All we know is that if we don’t obey our ancestor’s orders a terrible calamity usually hits our sect.”

“Did your ancestor also order the killing of your son?”

Elder Hen looked from Sect Leader Wong back to Lu Na. He nodded.

“And you were cruel enough to kill your own son?”

“He almost destroyed the sect. He would have killed many more people.”

“But it was your son. My mother would never do that to me. I guess that is the difference between fathers and mothers.”

“You know nothing, so I would keep your mouth shut. On that day… The things I had to do… The things I had to weigh…”

Lu Na didn’t push any further. There was no point. All those lines on Elder Hen’s face and the drooping sag that made him look ancient showed as clear as the setting sun. It was almost as if he thought about it every day that caused his face to age. It wasn’t fair of her to torment the old man that way. But that only made her think more of her mother.

If what Lu Na said about her mother was true, then why did she abandon her? She must have had a very good reason to do so. Yet Lu Na felt her absence every day. She wondered if Elder Hen felt something similar about Hen Li.

The group walked quietly back to the Wintersweet compound just outside of the city.

When they got there, Lu Na saw something she didn’t expect. Even though her experiences over the last three days were a matter of life and death, the sect itself was thriving. They hadn’t gone through the main entrance yet they heard loud music being played inside. There were loud cheers and clinking of glasses. And the smell wafting through the air could easily compete with the marketplace of Jianye.

Two disciples stood guard at the entrance. At a distance, Lu Na could already see their sour faces. They must have done something heinous to deserve such punishment to guard the door while everyone else was enjoying the festivities. But when the two saw who approached them, they stood up straighter than a ruler and bowed at the waist. Their sulky mood gone.

“We greet Sect Leader Wong,” the two guards said in unison.

“Arise.” Sect Leader Wong didn’t stop as he walked past the two guards. The rest followed.

When Lu Na entered the main courtyard, the amount of decorations surprised her. They weren’t the usual Chang’e and rabbit or Hou Yi paintings, but an array of different other kinds of depictions of spirits and the moon. There were other types of spirits depicted from the mythological birds and dragons to the weirdest spirits that Lu Na did not know about.

“Take her to the other Lu maidens in the east courtyard. Don’t lose her. I must hurry back to the Ancestor’s Alcove to receive our next instructions.” Sect Leader Wong turned and jogged away. His spirit tiger had to sprint to catch up.

“He must be in a hurry to go back to his drug. Whatever this Ancestor Alcove is, it’s giving him a spirit energy sickness. If he wasn’t such a strong summoner, he would have died,” Lu Na’s spirit said.

“How?” Lu Na whispered.

“I didn’t sense it before in the city but since we came back, there’s a long trail of spirit energy that clung to the sect leader like a bad scent. Maybe if we’re lucky, it will kill him before anything bad happens to you and your fellow Lu maidens.”

With Lu Na’s luck, she doubted it. These last few days have shown her how her life can go from mediocre at best to worse. She even started missing her second mother and her younger brothers. Yet she didn’t miss head servant Cui, though. Lu Na would have to be dead before she cared for that man.

“Let’s go,” Wong Yoong said.

Lu Na cupped her hands and made a small bow.

“Lead the way, Senior Wong.”

“Why did you suddenly get more respectful?” Wong Yoong took the lead while Elder Hen followed behind, ensuring that Lu Na didn’t wander off.

Lu Na smiled.

“Well, this is the first time we have met that you aren’t trying to kill me. And since Sect Leader Wong took it upon himself to invite me here, there is no reason for me to be rude or disrespect him.”

Elder Hen laughed. The deep laugh lines overtook the worry lines.

“See little Yoong. There is no need to always use your might. Sometimes a little respect and politeness goes a long way, but I fear your father bred that out of you.”

Wong Yoong scowled as she kept walking.

Soon they reached the eastern courtyard in the compound. They passed by many locked rooms filled with disciples within. Apparently, not everyone was celebrating during the Mid-Autumn Festival as the practice of the summoner arts was more important.

Lu Na couldn’t believe that they would rather do that than celebrate. Although the celebrations in her home were practically the same every year, she celebrated anyway. It was the one time every year that she hoped that her mother would come back from wherever she was. It was the celebration for reunions, after all.

While she wouldn’t be reunited with her mother, Lu Na reunited with someone precious to her. Sun Ren stood right at the archway of the eastern courtyard. There were two guards that prevented her from reaching out to Lu Na right away, but that didn’t matter. Lu Na ran to her instead and hugged her.

“Sun Ren, I missed you so much. I’m so happy that you’re okay.”

Sun Ren hugged her back.

“We’ve got a lot to talk about.”

Sun Ren pulled Lu Na away from Wong Yoong and Elder Hen. Wong Yoong spoke to the guards and pointed at Lu Na before leaving right away. The guards glared at Lu Na, probably telling them to monitor her or else.

Elder Hen walked up to Lu Na and tapped her on the shoulder.

“Young Miss Lu. I have some other important business to attend to regarding tonight’s activities. But as I said earlier, if we are all still here by tomorrow, then I would love to discuss accepting you as a personal disciple of mine in the Wintersweet Sect.”

“Why?” Lu Na asked.

“If I put aside the fate that connects you to my son Hen Li, you have shown a lot of tenacity and resourcefulness that none of the disciples of Wintersweet have shown. You would be a great asset to our Sect and I’m sure you would enjoy your freedom of practicing and learning to be a summoner in the region’s strongest summoner sect.”

Lu Na cupped her hands and bowed down at the waist.

“Thank you, Elder Hen, for such a consideration. Regardless of what happens tonight, thank you for treating me with respect and talking with me.”

In a surprise move, Elder Hen also bowed at the waist.

“No, it is my pleasure to have met someone that has connected with my son and told me about him. I would never have had that chance otherwise.”

After that was done, Elder Hen walked away from them. Lu Na might have seen a tear rolling down his cheek, but wasn’t sure.