Chapter 16: Chapter 16. White Cloud City
Madam Lin turned back to Amon, "Do you know why the Wei clan had done this?"
"I only hear a little when grandpa and grandma talked. They said that the young master is interested in sister Xilia, but our family refused his request, so he was angry."
"Refuse? The talk on the street is that the Hei family had agreed on the request," Lin Guo said.
"It was a rumor spread by the young master. He didn't want to lose face, so he said that we have accepted while in fact, we refused."
"That Wei Feng is indeed a piece of human failure, but to think he would go this low…" Madam Lin muttered. Wei Feng was the name of the young master from the Wei clan that had requested Hei Xilia's hand.
"But how did he manage to put the poison? He couldn't just come in here without you people noticing, right?" Madam Lin asked.
"One of our own had betrayed us, a girl of the family. Her name was Hei Ning. Apparently, she had taken gifts from the young master and gotten close to him. The young master had given the poison to her which she then put into our food. She had gone away with the young master after they were done killing grandpa."
"How do you escape from all this anyway?" Lin Guo asked suspiciously.
"I had a stomachache when the dinner started. I went to the toilet. When I came back, I saw what had happened. I hid behind the door as I saw the Wei people showed up and did their evil deed."
"That Hei Ning girl never thought to mention to them that a kid is missing?"
"She probably didn't know. She was also not at the dinner table when the dinner started and I excused myself. When I returned and saw everything, she only came out again after grandpa died. She just stood at the distance and didn't dare to look at the scene."
"Hmph, she can still feel guilty after such a terrible betrayal?" Madam Lin uttered with disgust.
Madam Lin instructed one of her bodyguards to go search Hei Ning's belonging. Amon brought him to Hei Ning's room. He then waited as the bodyguard searched inside. Not long after, the bodyguard brought out some expensive goods in gift boxes with Wei insignia on them, most of them were clothes and jewelry.
These goods were actually Wei Feng's gifts to Hei Xilia. Hei Xilia had never opened the gift and had left them in pristine condition. Amon had simply brought them and planted them in Hei Ning's room. The bodyguard brought all of them out and presented them to Madam Lin.
Madam Lin inspected the goods inside Wei's gift boxes and snorted, "the Wei clan had truly grown bold, eh? They think they can do however they want?"
"Do you believe all the kid's words?" Lin Guo asked.
"Are you telling me he is lying?" Madam Lin asked back. "What possible reason could he do that for? His entire family had been massacred, don't you think he will be the first person to demand justice? Or do you think a six-year-old kid is involved in these gruesome murders?"
They were still mistaken about Amon's age. It was almost one year when Lin Guo caught him having formed his Energy Core and mistook him for being a five-year-old kid.
"No, of course not," Lin Guo said, realizing how ridiculous his suspicion had been. But he could not shake this feeling about the kid. It was his eyes, they looked so calm and so cold, even though his entire family had just been decimated.
"But we can't make any big move on them. The Lei clan is sure to interfere if we do," Lin Guo warned.
"Are our Lin clan afraid of the Lei clan?" Madam Lin snorted.
"Of course not. It's just…" Lin Guo shot a glance at Amon before continuing, "Is it worth it to go through the trouble for this Hei clan? They are not truly affiliated to us anyway."
"They are not, but this turf is under the Lin clan. They committing murder here meant they showed disrespect to our authority! Also, Hei Pho was my friend. A subordinate clan of our rival dared to kill a friend of mine, under our turf. If we don't respond in kind. How do you suppose the people will view us? Won't they think that we are afraid of the Lei clan?"
Lin Guo lowered his head. He knew his words had instead caused Madam Lin's anger.
"Bring some men and capture this Wei Feng for me. We will see if the Lei clan dares to cause us trouble."
"Yes, madam!" Lin Guo responded. Though he was reluctant, he dared not defy the madam's order. He shot another glance at Amon and thought for a second that he saw the kid's mouth curved up to a smile. He gave Amon a closer look, then shook his head. He must have just imagined it.
Lin Guo left a few guards to accompany Madam Lin back to the Lin clan while bringing the rest to look for Wei Feng.
Madam Lin turned to Amon, who stared back at her. She seemed to be struggling for a bit before she asked, "would you like to return to my place with me?"
"Yes," Amon replied with a smile.
*
Unlike the Hei mansion which was in the middle of nowhere at the outskirt of the city, the mansion of the Lin clan was at the heart of the city. The city was called White Cloud city. It was named after the ruling power of the city, the White Cloud sect. In terms of power, they were above the Lin clan.
The three largest power within White Cloud city were the White Cloud sect, the Lin clan, and the Lei clan. The White Cloud sect was in charge of all the official workings of the city, they reported to the kingdom and sent tributes annually. The Lin clan and the Lei Clan competed on having the biggest hold on the city's economy.
The three of them had maintained balance and tried to avoid open conflict with one another. White Cloud sect acted more impartially, while the Lin clan and Lei clan were most of the time at odds with one another. Due to that, small conflicts still arose from time to time between these two clans. If any issue became too big, the White Cloud sect would usually interfere to maintain peace.
This time, due to Amon's ploy, the two clans might be getting into a conflict again.
Madam Lin took Amon into the city with her carriage. Amon could look at the city outside. The building and its occupants' style mostly resembled the ancient oriental style of his past world. There were still some stark differences, but considering it was a different world, a complete similarity would instead be weird.
The crowd was abundant. Most he noticed were common folks, not cultivators. They lacked the vitality that was presented in a cultivator. From what he saw, he surmised that cultivators were still the minority of the mass. The soldiers and guards who patrolled the city and watched the city walls, on the other hand, were all cultivators but mostly of the Human realm.
Everyone was doing their things. Shops, markets, brothels. There were all sorts of facilities. Amon even saw a dueling ground as the carriage passed by, two contestants were fighting each other on the stage. Was it a fight to the death or a betting sport? Amon wondered.
As the carriage continued to travel, the crowd started to thin. The buildings were getting larger and more extravagant. Amon assumed they were entering the area for high-class occupants.
The carriage stopped not long after. Madam Lin stepped down from the carriage followed by Amon. Amon found himself in front of a large estate, much larger than the Hei clan's one. From the outside, he could see three main buildings of the estate, with several smaller ones around. The center one was the largest and highest, with twelve storeys in height. While the other two main buildings were of eight and nine storeys.
Amon followed Madam Lin through the entrance. The servants bowed when Madam Lin passed by them. They then glanced at Amon who was following behind and gave a frowning look. Amon ignored these lowly servants.
When they arrived in the main hall of the foyer, a man in an elegant vestment greeted Madam Lin. "Sister! You have returned."
"Lin Fong, where is father?" Madam Lin asked.
"He just went into cultivation seclusion," the man answered. "Big brother had just procured a spirit core of a rare beast from the black market. He was hoping that father can use it to break through to the Lord stage. If he succeeded, we will become the new overlord of this city. We can maybe even change the name of this city to Lin city then, hahaha."
As he was laughing, he noticed Amon. "Who is this stinky brat?" He asked.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone