Chapter 263

Shang Yan Fei visits Shang Xin Ci’s room and asks gently how she feels; she rises, bows, and answers that she has recovered, addressing him only as “Shang clan leader” in a distance that pains him. Pressed about the journey, Xiao Die blurts that their caravan of a thousand was reduced to four, saved by “Lord Hei Tu and Bai Yun,” before Shang Xin Ci silences her. Shang Yan Fei memorises the two names, promises the pair will stay safely under his protection, and assigns a servant to guide them before he leaves. ^{ch. 263}

Alone with Shang Xin Ci, Xiao Die praises her new father’s warmth. Shang Xin Ci admits she guessed her mother’s intent in sending her to Shang Liang mountain, though her mother never explained it and was not certain he would even acknowledge the child, and confesses the sudden acceptance still leaves her uneasy. Xiao Die vows to stay at her side regardless, and their shared laughter clears the last of the grudge between them. ^{ch. 263}

Outside the room, Shang Yan Fei’s smile disappears. He forced two brothers and a sister to suicide to take the clan leader’s seat, and once in power he ordered the massacre of an entire village that had raided a Shang caravan, sparing no one; those who surrendered were killed as well, their skulls piled into a mountain before the elders who had first objected. Through nepotism he built over a dozen external clan elders loyal to him within three years, grew the caravan three times in size, and drew up to a hundred clans into a hidden subordinate force. He judges even his own children by merit alone, cutting the young master seats from fifteen to ten, and his A grade aptitude, with cultivation that outpaced his peers, draws admiration, hatred and envy alike. ^{ch. 263}

He orders Tian Lan, an orphan he adopted and trusts completely, to attend Shang Xin Ci and draw out through her talkative servant how the pair reached Shang Liang mountain. Tian Lan finishes the task in three days: the names are Hei Tu and Bai Yun, demonic Gu Masters. Wanting to thank them but still wary, Shang Yan Fei sends Wei Yang to find the two and describes their features to him. ^{ch. 263}

In the third inner city, Shang Ya Zi has watched Nan Qiu garden for three days as Fang and Bai buy nothing but milk to feed their Gu, and the coming evaluation, in which he currently ranks last among the ten young masters, leaves him no more time to wait. Unable to use force this deep inside the city, he goes to confront them himself, taunting them over their chess game by the lotus pond and raising his offer to five hundred thousand primeval stones. Fang Yuan refuses and repeats his floor of at least six hundred and fifty thousand. Shang Ya Zi accuses them of stealing the inheritance from the Bai clan and killing two Bai clan young masters, and threatens to expose them to a Tie clan search party he claims has already reached Shang Liang mountain. Fang Yuan tells him to go ahead. ^{ch. 263}

Light descends from the sky and becomes Wei Yang, who bows and invites Fang and Bai to the second inner city for a talk with the clan leader himself. Shang Ya Zi turns pale with terror, certain his father wants to meet the pair in person. ^{ch. 263}