Ask who holds the wealthiest seat in all Qinghe Commandery, and most will name the Clear River Water Estate — not the Cui or the Lin, not even the Commandery Governor's mansion. For the treasured riches of the whole seven-hundred-li stretch of the Clear River all gather within the Estate, and the tales of its splendor are sung far and wide.
The Estate sat at the very bottom of the Clear River, holding sway over all seven hundred li of water. Its buildings rose and fell in endless ridges; one could say gems and rarities filled the eye, treasure-glow and pearl-glitter without end.
In a side hall, a handsome man in a rich robe sat high in the place of honor, head bowed over his tea.
Beneath him, an envoy masked in white bone cried out in hot anger: "Young Lord, this was not our agreement! We paid so dear — why does the Clear River tribe merely cruise the surface of the river?"
The robed man made a sound of appreciation. "Mm, this jadeite tea is quite good, nourishes the spirit. Envoy, are you certain you won't drink?"
The envoy, seeming spent from speech, took up the fragrant brew at hand and drained it in one go, then continued: "The Clear River Water Estate has ever been true to its word; all the world knows it. In his day the Estate Lord answered Zhuang Chengqian's single pledge and threw the whole tribe into battle, staining Lan River crimson — he is sung of to this very hour. How then can the Young Lord turn and break his word? Does he not fear for his honored father's name?"
Lan River was a great river of Yong territory, and the envoy referred to the war of Zhuang Kingdom's founding. Yong had advanced by water and land together, resolved to destroy Zhuang in one stroke; and it was the Estate Lord of the Clear River Water Estate who had thrown his entire tribe into battle and smashed the Yong fleet upon Lan River, dyeing its waters red with blood until no oar or mast would cross it. Only thus did he lift the burden from the shoulder of Zhuang Chengqian, founding ancestor of the kingdom, and free him to gamble to the last — and in the end, to found his state.
And the covenant between the Clear River Water Estate and Zhuang Kingdom had endured from that day to this.
The robed man set his cup down lightly on the table. The smile still hung on his face, but the atmosphere was no longer what it had been.
"Ah, the envoy reminds me. My father and the Zhuang emperor have been bound by covenant for ages. If I agree to help you here, would I not be betraying my father's own good faith? That would be a most unfilial thing."
"Guards." The robed man rapped a knuckle on the table, and a guard came forward. "Pass the word: the Surplus Valor Division withdraws three li. Do not disturb the creatures ashore."
"Young Lord!" The white-bone-masked envoy rose in fury.
"Drop the act." The robed man held up a single finger before his own face, his expression flat. "At present every army in Qinghe Commandery stands guarding against us, none daring to move lightly. Whatever you wish to do, you may do it at your leisure. Your purpose is already served — so do not be so... grasping."
"We agreed beforehand, you were only to come ashore and razz us a bit..."
The robed man cut him off: "You want us ashore? Do you think it possible? A water tribe out of water is like your human race torn from the earth — the both of us lose our roots. Unless you truly could steel my resolve to make war on the Zhuang court... and do you have the capital to offer for that?"
The envoy's face was hidden behind its mask of bone, so his expression could not be read, but his voice now seemed to squeeze out between clenched teeth. "What I gave you — that was an entire Dragon Pearl!"
"A costly gift, to be sure." The Young Lord of the Clear River Water Estate smiled, a very satisfied smile. "But it was worth only so much to me."
Seeing that the matter was beyond salvaging, the white-bone-masked envoy swept his sleeves and left.
When the side hall held only himself, the robed man at last laughed coldly: "A skulking creature who hides his face behind a mask, and he presumes to lecture me on good faith?"
Then a voice of grave authority sounded at his ear, though its owner did not appear: "Qingyue, tell me your thoughts."
Song Qingyue, Young Lord of the Clear River Water Estate, drew in the arrogance of his gaze and straightened his seat. "The Zhuang court and my Water Estate have kept covenant for centuries, and with each year grows their hubris. This Zhuang Gaoxian, now, does not know himself at all, and truly treats us as his own subjects. Some time ago he even sent word, asking for Qingzhi to wed his son — on the fine pretext of raising her to Crown Princess and binding our houses in eternal friendship..."
"This I can never agree to. In her day, Aunt married that Zhuang Chengqian — she wore herself to the bone for it, and was still plotted against, and died in the cold, cold depths of the palace! How could I let my own sister walk that same road? I have been looking for a chance to shake things up, to let that boy surnamed Zhuang know who rules these seven hundred li of water. But the measure must be struck fine, for men flourish in strength now, and even if we toppled the Zhuang court, the other realms' sovereigns need be no better. Thirty thousand of our water troops cruising the Clear River — that is exactly the right weight. To have the White Bone Path come knocking, presenting a Dragon Pearl into the bargain, was a windfall beyond expectation."
The grave voice sighed. "Your aunt and Zhuang Chengqian were in love with each other in their day. It was never your father's wish to make a marriage of state... ah, let it be. How will you arrange Qingzhi?"
Song Qingyue mused: "With things turned sour against the Qinghe Commandery Governor, and that shameless Zhuang Gaoxian pressing us, Qinghe City is no place to remain. But Qingzhi is at the age when schooling begins. My thought, Father, is to send her to Fenglin City, to study a while and then see."
The voice asked again: "Why Fenglin City?"
"I cannot hide a thing from you, Father." Song Qingyue said. "This time the White Bone Path went so far as to gift its Dragon Pearl — they must be plotting something enormous at Fenglin City, enough to shake the whole of Zhuang territory. But by that same token, Fenglin City will be the safest place of all from now on, and just fit for study. Second, a little scheme of my own: once Qingzhi is in Fenglin City, we may openly send people to guard her. Fenglin City is small; no great master lives there to interfere with us. And I can hunt the White Bone Path's traces at leisure, sound out their depths. Their fire smoldered up anew this time, and I cannot shake the sense that some great secret lies under it. Moreover, the Path is old beyond reckoning — its store of treasures cannot be small. Paths of sin and depravity, every man may strike them down. One Dragon Pearl will not satisfy me."
The grave voice put no comment to the exquisite, many-ply plotting of Song Qingyue's mind, but said only: "The affairs of the Water Estate have long been wholly yours. Do as you see fit."
"Yes." Song Qingyue nodded. "Ah, and the Dragon Pearl — I have sent someone to carry it to the door of your secluded cultivation. Be sure to refine it."
"I have looked at the Dragon Pearl. It holds certain devices, and I have erased them all. Use it freely; it may spare you a thousand years of toil. As for me, I am long a broken, ailing body, with no hope of dragonhood. Your aunt died two hundred and seventeen years and three months ago. Zhuang Chengqian has been dead nearly two hundred years. Of my old companions, few remain. I am still alive, and only barely alive. These days I do no more than watch over you a little further along the road. For all its worth, the Dragon Pearl is of no use to me."
The voice sank lower and lower, until at last it dissolved into a sigh and faded from the side hall.
And Song Qingyue leaned back gently in his high seat, and of a sudden felt a great listlessness settle over him.
...
The white-bone-masked envoy left the Water Estate and stepped straight onto a small boat. The craft seemed fashioned of bone — and bottomless — yet it cut through the water with great speed, and if it met an unwary fish or crab, it simply rolled right over it, leaving not even a trace of blood-foam.
The bottomless bone boat burst through the surface, and once the envoy was ashore it turned, dove back beneath, and went wherever it went, known to none.
The envoy strode on in silence, swift of step yet never raising a speck of dust. He seemed to know the deployment routes of Qinghe Commandery's armies as if by heart, threading through the gaps between their posts without breaking stride, and before long he was clear of the place and up into a mountain.
Seen from afar the mountain had the shape of an ox's head; up close it was comely enough. The envoy came to a cliff-face, and did not pause, but drove straight into it.
Within, there was a world hidden away.
On either wall sprawled murals of the bloody and the terrible, and the long tunnel was floored in blue brick.
No sooner was the envoy inside than someone came up to meet him and asked, "How did it go?"
The white-bone-masked man gnashed his teeth: "That bastard Song Qingyue swallowed the bait, and only grazed the hook with it!"
The man said, "Old Song Hengjiang is not dead yet. He will not let Song Qingyue run wild. We never really expected them to tear the veil of peace with the Zhuang court and go to war."
"Even so, it galls me. That was a Dragon Pearl! Vanished from the world since the mid-ancient age, each one rarer than the last." The white-bone-masked man sighed.
"Once the Little Grove Town matter is done, our purpose is achieved. Spare no thought for these petty branches. Besides, our Dragon Pearl — I fear the little beast who took it may not digest it comfortably..."
"He thinks he can make sport of the White Bone Path, but he little knows..." Here the white-bone-masked man turned savage. "When the Daozi descends upon the world, the Clear River Water Estate shall be the first to be massacred! Let the whole seven hundred li of the Clear River become one field of white bone!"