Ink Lines

Chapter 34 June: Murder

The Jin were harder in an ironic, bitter way. They could pin murder, several corruption charges and conspiracy to commit murder on several disciples, but that was the problem. Nothing they had on the Jin led further up the chain of command. Other than the very crimes Lan Zhan knew Jin Guangshan had committed personally, had been a witness to, there was nothing to pin on the upper members of the sect. None of the sect leaders present, Brother included - could, or would be willing to, demand compensation or demand justice over Jin Guangshan using his nephew to infiltrate Jiang sect grounds.

They were all party to it, unwillingly or not.

So he cannot imprison Jin Guangshan for all his crimes as easily as he potentially can Wen Xu. Unlike the younger clan leader, Jin Guangshan was not stupid enough to be caught on tape doing anything.

He will cause an uproar and deflect blame onto his disciples. He will defend his clan name and honor, use blackmail, threats and bribes than cannot be traced back to him and then hang his people out to dry, as Wei Ying would say.

But now it seems, whether he is doing this on the orders of the Wen or not, Jin Guangshan is out for Jiang Cheng's life.

He had no idea what he can do to protect Jiang Cheng any more than the precautions that he - and Wei Ying in his paranoia - have already taken. Jiang Cheng has his disciples and Wen Qing with him. He is staying in the heart of the Unclean Realm with Brother, who has he already notified. He is returning to Lotus Pier soon and Lan Zhan can offer to be at the airfield or have members of their network there as well.

All the plans in the world do not account for Jiang Cheng himself.

Jiang Cheng calls Lotus Pier when Wei Ying is yawning over his breakfast tea in his customary black and red, the lotus charm dangling from his waist, the belt of the Head Disciple in place. The entire table knows its bad when Wei Ying who had been slumped over his mug, sits up nearly straight, grey eyes going from barely focused to rage filled.

And if Lan Zhan needed a sign that things were about to head south, this was definitely one. Jiang Yanli had looked worried, but Wei Ying's expression had cleared," ...Yeah of course." Wei Ying had said rising from the table, "Hang on, let me check the roster."

The roster was a permanent fixture in Wei Ying's head. He never forget who was scheduled for what rotation, because Jiang had a complex work arrangement. They taught cultivation studies here at Lotus Pier in five divisions, trained what they called clan disciples across their land and had a training academy over in Yunmeng city on a campus adjoining the city university. All of these students and disciples cycled through Lotus Pier throughout the year. Then there were the core section of the Jiang that never left the land.

Lan Qiren had derisively called them the Jiang personal army, but since the attack on Lotus Pier, this division of cultivator disciples had moved from wherever they were before, right onto the pier. All of the accommodation around Lotus Pier was fully occupied.

Many of them were veterans like Wei Ying but whether they were employed during Jiang Fengmian's leadership or his son's wasn't something talked about. The total number was vague, but Lan Zhan suspected they were around hundred, gravitating in and out of Lotus Pier as their secondary employment allowed.

Somehow Wei Ying kept all of this organized. This excuse to leave the table was just that.

Wei Ying excuses him and disappears into Jiang Cheng's office, remaining there for twenty minutes. The children head off and all of the family including Jin Zixuan wait anxiously, hyper aware that something bad is going down.

"Here he is." Jiang Yanli says as her brother approaches.

He walks calmly to the pavilion on the water where they wait, and he tells them the news that Jiang Cheng is returning as scheduled but he wants Wei Ying to fly out to him.