Chapter 25: Chapter – 25 - First Meeting - Su Maihiya
Truly....enemies meet in a narrow lane!!
Ever since she had been bestowed with the noble position of Supervisor – a very rare occurence for a 'commoner', she had been on her toes all day. Who said that the burden would lessen, giving her more time for snooping?! She was more busy than before, because all the 'Very Important Guests' had started arriving by the next day.
Important people, belonging to different clans and sects, from different cities started pouring in with their blessing and gifts. All these people needed to be housed – who could not have water in their bedroom, who needed medicinal herbs in their bath, who wanted their demonic beasts housed inside their residence, who were allergic to demonic beasts roaming around inside their rooms, who needed water to be replaced with ice, who wanted fire-hearths placed in all the rooms and bathrooms!!
It was a never ending list, and Rihanna felt her superiors wanted to drown her with all the paper work! She had to keep a note of who wanted what, who couldn't live beside whom, what kind of environment suited whom, what things needed to be banned from whose residence....at the end of the day, she could feel her eyes going round in circles as she tried to compile all the notes and create files from all of them. All her life on earth, she had run from 'managerial' tasks, often throwing them over to her colleagues, sometimes even her boss....was this retribution??
And today she was accompanying this old man, accompanied by his grand daughter, followed by a group of young disciples and servants.
Ha-ha!....This old man, who was extremely arrogant to boot, and even at his ripe age, never bent his back, shoving his chin an extra inch into the air, was none other than the much anticipated 'Grand-father' of Su Matsao – Clan Leader Su!
At first sight, she had felt all the remnant emotions of Su Matsao threatening to overtake her body and mind, almost bringing tears rolling down her cheek. Thanks to the purple light which had rushed through all her meridians, instantly bringing the emotional turmoil in control, Rihanna managed to pick herself up before committing any major blunder. Though Old man Su looked over her with a sharp glare, he was unable to see through her disguise. Snorting in disgust, he turned and headed off towards the main residence as if he owned this place. Rihanna was bemused at his arrogance!
It must be mentioned that the Su Clan was actually a small clan in Moon-Grave City, and needed to depend on the Leading Clans for it's existence. Though the Sect Leader had earlier promised many benefits – which indeed would have helped the Su clan rise in status, maybe even becoming one of the Leading Clans. But with the disappearance of Su Matsao, all the talks about benefits had dispersed into air, and instead the leader was now deliberately targeting the clan to express his annoyance. So....is this really a good time to showcase your snobbery, Old man Su? Rihanna couldn't understand what he was thinking.
However, as they entered the hall to pay their respects to the Clan Leader and Elders, Rihanna realized that behind every stupid, arrogant man, there is always a shrewd, scheming young girl!
And that girl was Su Maihiya, a young prodigy of Su Clan, ranking almost at the top of the list among all her peers in the city of Moon-Grave! At fifteen, she was already at the Sixth-Stage of Spirit-Sensing Level, was a Sword Cultivator, and was also learning alchemy. That was like a double doctorate! This girl really loved studying!
Unfortunately, this also seemed to be the person who was next in line to Su Matsao's hatred....This was really turning into a face-slapping melodrama! And she really had no interest in this genre!!
Su Maihiya was everything the Clan Leader was not. She was charming, gracious, polite, gentle, had a bewitching smile, her laughter sounded like light tinkering of bells, she was smart and refined and had a way with words, her every movement looked like a fairy floating above the mortal ground – even the earth was scared of staining her purity...in 'earthly' terms, she was a thoroughly taught actress, blessed with well rounded personality skills with special talent in evoking emotional empathy from the audience. She only needed the Oscar's to walk over and deck her shelf!
Oh well...she could act as well! Only....the characters she kept choosing rather limited her options in displaying her skills!! Never mind...deep breath....she was not Su Matsao....she was Rihanna....and she was already 27 years old!...She wasn't going to stoop so low as to bicker with half-grown bean sprouts and teenagers!
Taking leave from the elders of Chen clan, Rihanna walked them over to their courtyard. She waited around to make sure they were being served well, before leaving to supervise the kitchen. Truthfully, this was just a cover. Rihanna let out her hearing senses to cover a certain courtyard, especially the room of the little 'Grand-daughter'.
'Oh....there seems to be others in the room with her!...Maybe we'll chance upon some good piece of gossip today!'
She had rather quickly adapted to the post of a supervisor, sometimes taking liberties as long as it didn't hamper her tasks and responsibilities. Like now....even though it was not yet time for lunch, she still packed a plate with food, and settled inside a lone corner, more to eavesdrop in peace than eat.
However, the workers helping in the kitchen looked at her like she had just grown nine tails and two horns on her head. How shameless, atrocious, despicable...!!
Shutting off her ears and eyes to her immediate surrounding thoughts, she bit into a juicy steak of unknown but delicious meat, easing back into her seat to enjoy the unfolding high-intel conversation. After an initial smattering of useless chit-chat and snacking, finally it started turning interesting!
"Senior brother, do you also think that I am ruthless, and can do anything to achieve my goals?"
"You are our youngest sister disciple from same Master. As long as you do not harm our Master, we will support you in whatever you want."
"Cultivation itself is a ruthless and difficult path. Resources are limited. One has to use all options available to fight for these resources. Anyway, she was just a commoner, and it is not like we were killing her.'
"True. She might not have lasted long in Sect Leader Zhenbei's hands. But then the benefits he was willing to give the Su clan, some of it would have come to her as well."
"Now she is dead, the sect leader is angry, which in turn has made your Grand-father crazy. All the benefits you were getting for him has suddenly slipped out of his hands. But he is truly acting in a very unwise manner!"
"He has always been this way - extremely arrogant and short sighted. He thinks all his children and grandchildren exist to bring him benefits. Sometimes, I used to pity Su Matsao.....even her parents were sacrificed on a dangerous mission, simply because the rewards were too enticing for him."
"Don't be too soft-hearted. It is because of her stupidly seeking death, that you not only have lost the chance to become a direct disciple, you are also on the verge of being removed from the inner disciple status. I heard that she had a younger sister. Does she too have the same physique?"
"Do you think Heaven-Earth Energy Absorbing body is like cabbage, which grows everywhere? She has a normal body. Anyway, she might not live long. Now grandpa is angry, he is taking out his annoyance and hatred for Su Matsao on her younger sister. She was handed over to our clan doctor for medical experiments and poison testing."
"Tsk! That's their fate. But what about Wen Haoli? Do you believe what he said? If that girl is really alive as he said, then won't he push you out of the inner core, and snatch away all the benefits that should be yours?"
"I doubt it. She is just commoner, and that to with a cowardly personality. She would start crying if I talk too loudly. How can she possibly talk back at Wen Haoli, and escape from their clutches? Moreover, why would she run back to where danger is the highest? For her sister? I don't think their sibling relation is that strong...or she would not have attempted suicide in the first place!"
The conversation carried on for a while more, drifting off to other topics, before dispersing with the leaving of all conversationalists. Only Rihanna remained seated in her corner, frozen in shock, her mind replaying the conversation endlessly.
'This body has a sister?....And she is being used as a lab rat and will die soon! But what in the world am I supposed to do?....What is expected of me?...But how do I save her....I am not strong enough!'
'There is nothing you are supposed to do....because you are not Su Matsao. But you have to think about what you want to do. Also what you can do, given your current level of cultivation. Rushing forth to save a person without checking your own capability is not being kind, it is being stupid. Instead of saving her, you might both drown in the murky waters.'
Very sane advise indeed! Moreover she already had a task at hand, which she needed to complete. Su Clan would be much more troublesome and dangerous than Chen Clan....all because of it's connections with the Sect Leader. She had to have the Trans-mutating Jade before even thinking of approaching the Su Clan. Moreover, she had no plans right now, and she needed more information on Su Clan's territory before making any plans and strategies.
'Tomorrow, the door leading to inner regions of the Chen Clan's territory will open, to let out the students and other people who wish to attend the banquet. I should use this opportunity to scan out the entire area on the inside. But how?'
'Use Fluffy. Remember the Purple Silk Grass you plucked up in the underground medicinal field? Mix it with the aura hiding fruit into a paste. Add a bit of the spring water you gathered in bottles. I'll mix in a bit of my energy to enhance the effects. That will make him invisible for a few days. By then the banquet will be over, and the door will open again for them to re-enter. You'll be able to communicate with Fluffy through your mind, so we'll plan what to do next based on the information he gathers inside.'
Rihanna blinked, then nodded. This seemed like a feasible plan. She glanced at Fluffy who was currently sprawled out on his back, with only his snout peeking out from under the table. She let out a deep sigh - hopefully everything would progress smoothly!
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