Chương 138: A Demon's Bargain?

Han Renyi was staring at his reflection in the cracked mirror as he adjusted this jade pendant hanging off his neck. The jewellery piece was beautiful even though it was old, and it had intricate carvings of mountains and rivers on it that told stories about when times were more prosperous. It was also the last valuable item his family owned, which was a bitter reminder about how far the once-mighty Han merchant clan had fallen.

"Young Master," a servant called out from outside his door, "your father requests your presence in the main hall." Renyi let out a sigh while running his hand through his jet-black hair. He tied it back into a loose ponytail, which was a style that looked respectable but rebellious at the same time, which was pretty much like himself he supposed. His green eyes which were unusual in this part of the world met the reflection.

"Tell him I'll be there shortly," he called back, straightening out his robes. They were well-made but they were showing obvious signs of wear and tear, which was like everything else within the Han household these days. His walk through the family compound showed faded glory everywhere. The wooden panels that used to gleam with polish were showing their age now, and the gaps in the roof tiles allowed streams of early morning light to shine through.

Sure, they were still able to maintain appearances in whatever areas visitors might be able to see, but it was a losing battle against time and their dwindling resources.

"Young Master Han!" Old Po who was their only remaining gardener, waved over from where he was busy fighting a losing battle against an aggressive patch of weeds.

"The peonies are blooming early this year!" Renyi forced out a smile. Old Po had been with the family for longer than Renyi had been alive, and he still tended to the gardens using the same dedication he showed back in their more prosperous days, even though they could barely afford to pay the man anymore.

"They look beautiful, Uncle Po," Renyi said, making sure to use the familiar form of address that the old man had earned through decades of service.

"Ah, but you should have seen them in your grandfather's time," Old Po let out a sigh.

"Back then, the rouqi was so thick in the air, you could almost taste it." Renyi heard variations of this same story many times before. Everyone who was old enough to remember, always spoke about how different things were back then, how the rouqi used to flow around a lot more freely, and how breaking through to higher tiers was commonplace instead of being a rare thing.

"The world's not what it used to be," Old Po continued, while attacking this particularly stubborn weed using his trowel.

"But we make do with what we have, eh? Speaking of which, you'd better not keep your father waiting." Right. The summons. Renyi quickened his pace. His father, Han Zhongwei, was waiting around in the main hall. This room used to host meetings with merchant princes and sect leaders in the past, but now its emptiness seemed to echo around with memories of better days.

The old man stood by the window with his hands clasped behind his back, gazing out at the garden where weeds were slowly reclaiming the carefully arranged paths.

"Renyi," his father said, not bothering to turn around, "how goes your cultivation?"

"Steady progress," Renyi replied, moving closer so he could stand beside him.

"The breakthrough to Tier 1 was expensive, but worth it." He made sure to leave unsaid how that expense had made them sell off three more warehouses and let go of a dozen longtime employees. His father gave a slow nod.

"Good. That's good." He turned his body around, and Renyi was struck by how much older the man was looking now. The past few years were carving new lines into his face and turning a lot more of his hair grey.

"We received another message from Elder Zhou Shentong this morning." Renyi's hands clenched up involuntarily.

"Let me guess – another generous offer to buy out our remaining holdings at a fraction of their worth?"

"If only it were that simple," his father smiled but it held no humor in it.

"No, this time he's offering to merge our families through marriage. Your sister, specifically."

"What?" Renyi's voice ended up coming out a lot sharper than he intended it to.

"Qingyi is barely eighteen! And that old bastard already has three wives!"

"Four," his father quietly corrected him.

"He added the Liu family's youngest daughter to his collection last month. Apparently, they too were facing financial difficulties that mysteriously resolved after the wedding." Renyi felt his stomach turning inside him. Lord Zhou was known throughout the region for having a significant amount of wealth and influence, but he was also known for his cruelty and his capricious nature. His previous wives were rarely ever seen in public, and the rumors flying around about their treatment...

"So that's his plan? Squeeze us until we have no choice but to sell Qingyi like she's some commodity? Scum!"

"Language, son." The rebuke came out automatically, it was a holdover from better days when maintaining face had mattered.

"But essentially, yes. The Three-Leaf Clover Sect has been systematically absorbing smaller merchant families for the past decade. Those who cooperate are rewarded with positions and resources, and those who resist..." He made a gesture pointing around at their surroundings.

"We can't let this happen," Renyi declared.

"There has to be another way." His father's expression softened.

"I've spent the last year looking for one. Our allies are either already under Zhou's influence, or they are too afraid to try helping us. The smaller sects won't challenge the Three-Leaf Clover's authority, and our attempts to rebuild our trade routes have been systematically blocked."

"Then we'll find other allies," Renyi stubbornly insisted.

"What about the Formation Guild? They're neutral in most conflicts, and they're always looking for new talent. If I could apprentice with them— ""Unless you showed off heavenly talent, the entrance fee alone would cost more than everything we own," his father interrupted him gently.

"No, son. I appreciate your determination, but we need to be realistic." Renyi wanted to keep arguing about it further, but some movement down in the courtyard caught his attention. A group of men were approaching the main gate, and they were Rouqin judging by their bearing and energy signatures. Their robes were proudly bearing the three-leaf emblem belonging to Zhou's sect.

"Right on schedule," his father murmured.

"They're here to escort me for a meeting with Elder Zhou." He straightened his robes, the shadow of his old merchant's dignity settling over him.

"While I'm gone, I need you to— ""Father, no." Renyi stepped between him and the door.

"Let me go instead. I'm the one with rouqi now, so I can— " Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

"Can what?" His father's voice instantly became sharp.

"Fight them? Even with your recent breakthrough, you're barely at the early stages of Tier 1. Any one of Zhou's enforcers could kill you with a slap." His expression softened again.

"No, your job is to stay here and protect your sister. Whatever happens today, promise me you won't do anything rash." Renyi wanted to protest, insist that he could handle whatever Zhou threw at them. But he could read the fear hiding behind his father's stern expression, and it wasn't fear for himself, but it was fear for his children.

"I... I promise." His father gave a nod, and then he reached up to gently adjust Renyi's collar in this gesture that felt decades younger.

"Good boy. Your mother would have been very proud of you. Now, I believe I have some guests to greet." Renyi could only stand there and watch helplessly while his father confidently walked out to meet Zhou's men. Their voices drifted back over to him, with polite words masking their implied threats, which was part of the dance of cultivator politics that had never been the Han family's strong suit. And then they were gone, which left Renyi alone with his thoughts and his growing anger.

Han Renyi spent the next hour pacing around the halls of the family compound, trying to think of some solution and then discarding them one by one. The few remaining servants made sure to give him a wide berth, they likely sensed the agitated swirls of rouqi that followed behind in his wake.

"Young Master?" One of the braver servants, an elderly woman that had helped raise him, approached cautiously.

"Perhaps some tea would help calm— ""I'm calm," Renyi snapped, and then he immediately regretted it when she visibly flinched.

"I'm sorry, Auntie Liu. I... I feel so useless. Father's out there facing who knows what, and I'm stuck here because I'm not strong enough to help him." The old woman's expression softened.

"Strength comes in many forms, young master. Your father gains his strength from knowing that you and your sister are safe."

"Safe?" Renyi let out a bitter laugh.

"How safe will Qingyi be when Zhou decides to add her into his collection of wives? How safe will any of us be when— " He was cut off when a commotion erupted over at the main gate. The servants scattered as three different figures burst right into the courtyard, but it wasn't Zhou's men returning with his father, it was strangers wearing the nondescript clothes of professional Rouqins-for-hire. They were mercenaries.

"Young Master Han!" one of them called out, his voice was carrying a false cheer.

"We bring an invitation directly from Lord Zhou. He requests your presence." Renyi's mind started racing. If they were here for him, then something had gone wrong at the meeting. Had his father—? No, he couldn't afford to think about that right now, he needed to focus his attention on the immediate threat.

"Auntie Liu," he told her quietly, "get Qingyi and the others out through the back gate right now. Use the old tunnel if you have to do it."

"But young master— ""Go!" He gave her a gentle little push toward the servant's quarters, and then he turned his body around to face off against the intruders.

"I'm afraid I'll have to decline Lord Zhou's generous invitation. I have prior commitments." The mercenaries spread out, moving around to cut off any of his potential escape routes. Their leader smiled at him, and there was nothing false about the obvious cruelty in it.

"I'm afraid we must insist." Renyi's hand went down to the sword at his waist, which was another family heirloom, though at least this one had some practical value to it.

"And I'm afraid I must resist." What followed was a remarkably brief but intense exchange of blows. Renyi was pretty good at fighting since his father had strictly insisted on giving him martial training ever since he could first walk, but these men were professionals. More importantly, they were all at the late stages of Tier 1, while he had only recently broken through.

He managed to successfully wound one of them using a lucky strike that opened up a shallow cut directly along the man's arm, but doing that only seemed to make them more angry. The leader's next attack sent him crashing through a wooden screen, and he barely managed to roll himself away from a follow-up strike that would have taken his head clean off.

"You're only making this worse for yourself," one of the mercenaries called out as Renyi scrambled back onto his feet.

"Lord Zhou might have been merciful before, but now?" Renyi's response to that was to throw a decorative vase directly at the man's head, and he followed it with a burst of rouqi that made the ceramic explode into dozens of dangerous shards. He quickly used the distraction to bolt for the gate, hoping he could draw them away from the compound so he could give the few servants they still employed enough time to escape with Qingyi.

The streets in the merchant district were mostly empty at this early hour, the sun had barely even cleared the horizon, and most of the legitimate businesses wouldn't open up for another hour anyway. The few early risers walking around took one single look at the chase and quickly found somewhere else to be. While he ran, Renyi desperately tried to think up a way out of this mess.

He could try to lose them inside the warehouse district; he knew those buildings incredibly well from better days when the Han family's trade empire had been worth knowing, but the mercenaries kept gaining on him, and their superior cultivation allowed them to close the gap. A slash of rouqi-enhanced steel caught him across his back, and while it wasn't deep enough to be fatal, it was still more than enough to make him stumble.

He turned the awkward stumble into a roll, and came back up with his sword ready, but he could already feel the warm blood soaking into his robes.

"Young Master Han," the leader called out, his tone sounding mockingly formal, "why make this difficult? Lord Zhou merely wishes to discuss some business matters with you."

"Lord Zhou can go fuck himself," Renyi spat back at him, though the intimidating effect was somewhat ruined by the blood trickling down from his split lip, which was a little souvenir from their earlier exchange.

"I know what kind of discussion he has in mind." The leader let out a sigh.

"As you wish. We'll simply deliver your corpse then. I'm sure that will send an equally effective message over to your father." Renyi tried to keep track of all three attackers, but his vision was starting to blur out at the edges. The deep wound on his back burned intensely, and he could feel his strength ebbing away with every passing moment. He was barely able to deflect a fast thrust that was aimed directly at his throat, only to catch a blow straight to his ribs that sent him stumbling again.

This time when he attempted to roll away, a sharp blade caught him below his left shoulder blade. The pain was distant, somehow, it felt almost academic. He was aware of himself falling down, and he could feel the freezing cold stone pressing against his cheek, but it all felt like it was happening to someone else and not him.

"Make sure he stays down," he heard someone say, "but keep him breathing for now. Lord Zhou wanted him to have some time to reflect on his choices." While Renyi's vision blurred, something strange happened. A figure materialized in the air above him, it looked translucent and ghostly, yet it somehow felt a lot more real than his actual surroundings did.

For a brief second, his dying mind latched onto those old childhood stories about the Celestial Sovereign's messengers, who were these divine beings that would sometimes appear to worthy people in their hour of need. But no. The Celestial Sovereign had abandoned them all centuries ago, leaving their world to slowly wither away and die. This was something else. The being's form was too solid, and it looked too human, despite its clearly spectral nature. Was it a demon then?

Or maybe some kind of dark spirit that came to feast on his dying essence? If it was, it wasn't like any demon from the stories at all. There was no malevolence in its presence, and no sense of ancient evil or any corrupting influence. It was purpose, and perhaps a hint of desperation that matched up with his own.

"You are dying. Do you want to live?" The strange voice bypassed his ears, and it spoke directly into his mind.

"Power? Revenge? I can give you both. All you have to do is accept me." Renyi almost let out a laugh, even though having a punctured lung made that impossible. It was a demon's bargain happening right at the moment of his death. But what choice did he have left? His father was probably already dead. His sister would be forced into Zhou's harem. Their family legacy would be erased, all their generations of honest trade replaced by another corrupt cultivator's victory.

The traditional wisdom always said that it was better to die with honor than to live with shame. But honor hadn't saved them from Zhou's ambitions, it hadn't kept food on their servants' tables, and it hadn't maintained the roof over their heads either. Honor was a luxury that they could no longer afford. And if this being was offering him a chance, any chance at all, to protect what still remained of his family and pay back those people who had destroyed them, then, he'd gladly throw his soul away for that.

Using the very last bits of his strength, Renyi made his dying lips form one word: "Yes." And that's when everything went dark.