Pei Jing burst from the mud, four grotto-heavens roaring behind him. "You little snake-catcher. You dare act wild in the Pei estate?"
Su Yan raised an eyebrow. "I'm a guest here. Your chancellor treats me with respect. Who are you to humiliate me?"
Three other young nobles surrounded him. One wore purple, his qi shaking the rain from his robes. "He's valuable. Don't kill him. Remember why we came—for the longevity pill."
Su Yan's blood ran cold.
*Longevity pill. They think I'm a medicine.*
The Great Bell's voice rang in his mind, grave and low. "A-Ying, these men don't want a snake show. They want you to fight so they have excuse to seize you. Someone spread word that you're undying."
Su Yan thought of Pei Du's warm smile, his steady hands. If the chancellor had betrayed him, he was finished. The Pei estate held two thousand years of accumulated power. Even at full strength, the bell couldn't carry him out alive.
"A-Ying, don't worry. I'll avenge you." The bell sounded almost cheerful. "Once I break out, I'll find a clever boy, become his portable old grandpa, and train him into a master. He'll storm the Pei estate, and you can rest easy in the underworld."
Su Yan grunted. "From what I've seen, Chancellor Pei has too much pride for petty treachery."
Yuan Qi shrank to snake-size and coiled on Su Yan's shoulder. "You never know. By the way, A-Ying, does eating your flesh really grant long life? Next time you clip your nails, save them. I'll boil them into jelly."
The bell scoffed. "Show some ambition. A-Ying's Mud Pill secret is open. His flesh regenerates. Ask him to slice off a piece."
Yuan Qi's eyes gleamed. "That would be rude."
He looked extremely willing.
The purple-robed noble fixed Su Yan with a cold stare. "My surname is Li. I come from the palace."
Su Yan bowed with exaggerated respect. "A eunuch? Did Lord Chen perform the cut? Did it hurt?"
The noble's face purpled. A jade-faced young man beside him sneered. "Ignorant fool. This is Prince Li Zhaolou. Kneel, peasant."
Su Yan shook his head. "Your salaries come from the people's blood. Heaven is easily fooled, but the common folk are not. I don't kneel to your father. Why kneel to you?"
Yuan Qi corrected him. "A-Ying, the saying is 'the common folk are easily abused, heaven is hard to deceive.' But you're right. These men deceive heaven and abuse the people."
"Rebels!" the nobles shouted.
Pei Jing stepped forward, laughing. "The heavens send calamities? You peasants offer the sky so little. We give ten times more. Even heaven eats our food, takes our gold. Why would heaven punish us?"
He lunged.
Su Yan raised his hand. Darkness swallowed the lake. Stars blazed overhead, shifting with his palm.
*Azure Sky Scripture, Fourth Form: Starfall.*
Pei Jing stumbled blind. Su Yan's palm met his chest. The strike reversed—day replaced night, sky became mirror, dissolving Pei Jing's power into nothing.
*Third Form: Mirror Sky.*
Nine seals followed, each crashing into Pei Jing's ribs. Bone snapped. Blood sprayed. Pei Jing flew backward, skull burying in the garden wall, legs twitching.
Shadows gathered. Ancient elders emerged from every direction, eyes burning with hunger.
Su Yan bared his teeth. "Seventh Lord. I'm killing now."
Yuan Qi shivered, scales flaring. He expanded—hundred zhang of serpent flesh shredding the young nobles' techniques. Sword-qi snowed through the rain. Su Yan's palm swept out, thunderclouds gathering, a lightning seal annihilating the last defender.
The elders watched. None moved.
*Longevity pill...*
One elder licked his lips.
"Bell," Su Yan whispered, "if you get a chance, take Seventh Lord out. Don't find another boy. Train him. Let him wash the Pei estate in blood."
The bell hummed. "This estate can't hold me. Taking the stinking snake out is nothing. Taking you out costs a few months of recovery. I can handle that."
Then a voice cracked like winter thunder. "Stop."
Pei Du walked through the rain, face empty of joy or rage. He looked at Prince Li Zhaolou's corpse. At the broken Pei disciples. At the elders with their starving eyes.
"Bring the second son."
Servants extracted Pei Jing from the wall. He wept blood. "Father, you must—"
Pei Du drew his jade belt and whipped him. Again. Again. Flesh tore. Screams faded to whimpers, then silence.
"From today, Pei Jing is no son of mine. He killed the prince in a mad fit. Deliver him to the imperial court. I will beg forgiveness personally."
He turned to the elders. "I am still master here. Who dares overstep?"
An elder whispered, "Family head, we're old. We have little time left..."
"Your ancestors died. You'll eat a living man?" Pei Du's voice froze the rain. "The estate is sealed. Anyone who leaves dies."
He turned to Su Yan. "The clan won't stay controlled long. I go to the palace—I'll be trapped there. The Pei estate is unsafe. I'll take you to the Guo family."
In the carriage, Su Yan asked, "Chancellor, don't you want to make me your elixir?"
Pei Du met his eyes. "If you are that undying youth, countless powers greater than mine have tried. Where are they? I see only you, whole before me."
Su Yan gazed out at the rain. "I don't know who I am."
A gentle voice echoed in the dark. *Su Yan. Su Yan. Remember your surname. Never forget your name.*