As Jie and Xue passed through the gateway and stepped onto the Crimson Academy grounds once more, Elder Shi appeared in a cloud of purple smoke.

  "I thought you might be back early," Elder Shi said.

  "Am I really so predictable?" Jie asked.

  "To those that know you? Yes," said Elder Shi, "you advanced again? Please tell me you didn't cultivate during the ceremony?"

  "Of course not," Jie said, "and I'm glad to see you... I want to talk to you about some things."

  "Can they wait? The headmaster wants to speak with you. Better to speak to him sooner while he's still feeling guilty about what happened," Elder Shi said.

  "Again?" Jie asked, "well... I wanted to speak with him anyway. Will you come with me?"

  Elder Shi raised an eyebrow. "Something's changed in you," she said, "what happened at the funeral?"

  "I realized some things," Jie said.

  Elder Shi looked Jie up and down. "Always so mysterious. Alright, I'll go with you," she said, "at least that way you won't get lost."

  "I wouldn't get lost," Jie said as they raced across the sprawling Academy grounds.

  "Really? Then where's his office?" Elder Shi asked.

  Jie narrowed her eyes at Elder Shi. "I would've found out. Why were you waiting for me?" she asked.

  "Who says I was waiting for you?" Elder Shi asked.

  Jie gave her a steady look.

  Elder Shi sighed. "Fine... the Chen family already tried to kill you once. I thought it best to watch over you," she said.

  "Wait... did you follow me to the funeral?" Jie asked.

  "Only to the compound. I could've snuck in, but I have enough enemies as it is," Elder Shi said.

  Jie smiled. "You were worried about me," she said.

  "I've invested a lot of time in you. It'd be a shame if it was all for nothing," Elder Shi said.

  Jie shook her head, still smiling.

  "Don't go getting full of yourself," Elder Shi said.

  "If you think I'm full of myself, wait until you meet a friend of mine someday," Jie said, "he thinks he's the greatest. Sometimes, I think he's right, too."

  "He must be rather impressive for you to speak of him like that. Is this your mysterious master?" Elder Shi asked.

  Jie said nothing.

  "Must you be so secretive all the time?" Elder Shi asked.

  "I said we'd talk later, didn't I? Who knows what I might reveal then?" Jie said with a sly smile.

  Elder Shi sighed. "I'm starting to think I'm a bad influence on you," she said.

  Elder Shi led the way to a palatial, multi-story building constructed out of polished white stone and shining gold metal. With open balconies on the second floor and above and several dome-capped towers.

  Eight foot tall creatures made of dark metal stood sentry around the perimeter, while smaller, weaker ones trimmed hedges and tended to the garden around the massive building.

  I definitely would've found this, Jie thought.

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  Elder Shi led the way inside and they entered what looked to be Headmaster Siluvius's office.

  A large crystal chandelier lit the room with bright yellow-white light, a stark contrast to the darkness outside the large, open windows. A spiral staircase led the way to the floors above, but Elder Shi made no move toward it.

  Jie wandered around the room, looking over the cluttered desk, countless bookshelves, and a half-built spindly metal creature, with a large empty socket where the rest tended to have at least one eye.

  "Where is he?" Jie asked.

  Elder Shi pointed upward.

  "I'll be right with you," Headmaster Siluvius called out from the floor above them.

  "Does he make these things?" Jie asked, pointing at the spindly metal creature.

  Elder Shi nodded. "Metal affinity," she said, "waste of time to make such weak servants if you ask me."

  Headmaster Siluvius glided down the stairwell toward them, half-carried by his wind qi. He landed with graceful ease and a light breeze.

  "Not everything needs to be strong to be useful. Or were you volunteering to help maintain the grounds?" Headmaster Siluvius asked.

  "And rob you of the chance to use your creations?" Elder Shi asked, "That would be far too rude of me."

  "Mmm... that's what I thought," Headmaster Siluvius said, "I didn't expect you back so soon, Jie... is everything alright?"

  "You wanted to speak with me?" Jie asked.

  Headmaster Siluvius nodded. "The initial investigation is complete. Everything you and Ithilix said has been verified to be true. We've already gone to the city lord with what we have so far," he said.

  "Will the Chen family be punished?" Jie asked.

  "They might be fined or have some punitive punishment... but we have nothing that definitively ties the Chen family head to it..." Headmaster Siluvius said.

  "But we know he's responsible! Who else would be?" Jie said.

  "It's a delicate political situation. The Chen family is denying any involvement and instead blames the academy and El... former Elder Kanev for everything that happened. Even for the deaths of their children," Headmaster Siluvius said.

  "People don't believe that do they?" Jie asked.

  Headmaster Siluvius shrugged. "It doesn't matter. The Chen family has many supporters. Even with absolute proof... it would still be a troublesome situation. There are many who would like to see them fall... but it's hard to deal with such a powerful family," he said.

  "So that's it? Nobody does anything and they get away with it?" Jie asked.

  "As I said, they may suffer some minor punishments. Perhaps it will be the beginning of something more... it's hard to say," Headmaster Siluvius said.

  "I guess I shouldn't expect anything different," Jie said bitterly.

  Headmaster Siluvius spread his hands. "The matter simply isn't large enough for the Spectral Lords to get involved and if the city lord pushes too hard, he risks open war with the Chen family. Which would no doubt rapidly spread throughout the region. Even if he won, the Spectral Lords may choose to punish him for starting such a disruption," he said.

  "That's insane. They should be bringing the Chen family to justice not punishing people for trying to do so," Jie said.

  "It's politics," Headmaster Siluvius said as though that explained everything, "If nothing else, this debacle should mean the Chen family will need to be more circumspect in their activities for a while. Lest the Spectral Lords finally see a reason to intervene."

  Jie shook her head as she clenched her fists and fought down the rising anger inside her.

  "Don't underestimate the blow you've dealt to the Chen family. Losing so many of their younger generation was quite damaging to their future as well as their reputation. And the rumors stirred up by the contents of Chen Lisha's and Chen Yi's rings only further tarnished their name," Headmaster Siluvius said.

  Jie wasn't sure what he was referring to. She'd not been paying attention when they'd gone through the items in the rings and she'd yet to go through them herself.

  Still, if it harmed the Chen family, that seemed like a good thing to her.

  "So, was that why you wanted to see me?" Jie asked.

  To tell me nobody would be doing anything about it... she added bitterly to herself.

  "To update you on the situation, partly yes. Normally, I wouldn't but considering the part you played in all this... and what you've lost... I thought you should know," he said.

  "Thanks," she said.

  Headmaster Siluvius nodded. "I'm sorry you're likely not getting the vengeance you crave, but I have more to talk to you about."

  He withdrew a storage ring and handed it to Jie.

  "The families of the children whose bodies you returned have asked me to express their thanks and to give you this as a token of their gratitude. The Pan family and Ithilix received similar gifts. You'll find it contains a little over a hundred gold," Headmaster Siluvius said.

  Jie accepted the ring, feeling a mixture of guilt and pleasant surprise as she did so.

  "As Kanev swapped out the stones meant to record your progress... we aren't sure how much any of you truly gathered," Headmaster Siluvius continued, "I had a meeting with the other elders and we decided that in light of what's happened... it was only fitting not to punish you for killing other members of the academy but rather to count everything you gained from Kanev and the Chen family toward your total. Combined with a conservative estimate of what you all collected in the valley... your team won by a larger margin than any in the history of the school," he said.

  "Pan Tian's team," Jie said.

  "Excuse me?" Headmaster Siluvius asked.

  "You said my team. It was Pan Tian's team. She was the leader. I want her to have as much credit as possible," Jie said, "for what little it's worth."

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