Solstice Souls: Solstice Sons (Book 3)

The End Game?

Baoshan Sanren's POV

One day and one night, that was how long it would take to reach Koi Tower. One day and just a few hours to reach Lanling, but the city is so large that the extra hours are necessary for her final destination. A-Ren, her daughter, had told her that much.

Baoshan Sanren isn't sure what she will find when she gets there, aside from a slimy toad sitting on an ostentatious throne of his own making, but her real mission is to find out where the Jins and their allegiance lies.

This is the reason she has spent countless years in a seclusion of sorts; mostly because politics are boring and they always have been, but it is one thing to refuse to engage, and another thing entirely when her family is in danger. What is looming on the horizon looks and feels worse than anything they have ever had to deal with before, and that's certainly saying something.

The general consensus of the Jins is that they have too much money, but there isn't much evidence of that here, in the outskirts of the main city.

Baoshan Sanren flew in as far as she could, but now she wants to see what life in Lanling is truly like for the civilians. They are the most at risk if war reaches these shores, and sadly, it is only a matter of time.

Wei Ying has spent a lot of time with her in these past few days, especially when he couldn't sleep. She'd joked with him about Lan Zhan letting him out of their bed, and his cocky reply was that he would be able to return without his Jade even knowing about it.

It was nice to spend time with him, just the two of them and their penchant for good wine.

Somehow, it made leaving him, the newlyweds and her family that much easier, though that might not have been his intention. She has her regrets though.

She wishes that her grandchildren were not so directly involved in the coming war. She wishes she could hide them away somewhere, safe and secure, away from this tumultuous present and the destruction that is going to sweep across the Cultivation World like a rampaging hurricane, uncontrollable and fearsome.

Still, there's no point in thinking about what is impossible.

Baoshan Sanren has always been a pragmatic person, able to see a situation clearly and from both sides. She hopes that is the case now.

The further inside the city she gets, she realises that it is an embodiment of their clan flower, a white peony called the Sparks Amidst Snow. The beautiful flower had lovely gentle petals diminishing in colour on the outer edges and once it was in full bloom, its yellow heart was revealed by the stamens with pollen bearing golden anthers around the pistil.

Koi tower is the equivalent of the golden centre.

As the sun rises in the East, Baoshan Sanren can see the golden roof catching the light in the distance.

The gray morning wakes the city.

There's the usual hustle and bustle of men and women opening their stalls and laying out their wares, carts becoming frequent on the main thoroughfare, and teahouses opening their doors.

Yes... tea sounds like a good idea now.

She's the first customer to sweep into the little establishment, and it's clean, a deciding factor on her choice. While the young boy goes to fetch her order, the proprietor begins wiping down the tables, though his frequent glances in her direction seem more than simple curiosity.

Baoshan Sanren is a patient woman.

She lets him finish his task and gather the courage needed to approach her.