Chapter 46: Meeting Zhou Lihua

The Zhou Clan had a compound located outside of Zahn City. It was five hours away on carriage, which meant Wu Jian spent most of his time watching the passing scenery while his father meditated. 

He glanced at Father out of his peripheral; the man sat with his eyes closed, head down, and arms crossed. He didn’t seem to be paying attention to anything.

Wu Jian looked back out the window. He wanted to say something to his father, but he couldn’t think of anything to say. It had always been like this. Father felt so distant. He wondered if this was what it meant to be the head of a clan.

I’m not sure I like the idea of being a clan head anymore. Granted, I’ve never been big on the idea of succeeding Father to begin with, but I always thought I needed to become clan head in the future to make him proud. But I really don’t want to be cold and distant like this.

He wondered if other clan heads were this distant. All Wu Jian knew was what Father did. He had no other examples to follow, so he didn’t know if Father’s way of doing things was normal, or if there were as many ways to lead a clan as there were stars in the sky.

He hoped it was the latter. If there was no recourse except to become clan head, Wu Jian wanted to be the kind of clan head people could come to when they had problems.

The Zhou Clan compound eventually came into view. Wu Jian couldn’t help but let out a whistle of admiration.

“Wow. That’s really something.”

“The Zhou Clan is not the most powerful clan in Zahn City for nothing,” Father said. Even he sounded a little envious. “Even their branch families have more wealth than a small clan like ours.”

The compound was similar in design to the Wu Clan compound. Same architecture. Same general layout. But that was where the similarities ended.

Everything was so much bigger and more majestic that it made their clan compound look miniscule in comparison. Pillars surrounded the gate and held aloft a curved roof that extended well beyond the exterior walls surrounding the compound. Beyond the walls, he could see trees and buildings of a stately design. The largest among them was a massive pagoda situated in the very center, with maybe six levels and a large statue of a dragon soaring into the heavens at the very top. The color scheme was red, gold, and black, which created a stark contrast with the surrounding trees.

I’ve never seen something so impressive before. And this is just a branch family. I don’t dare to imagine what the Zhou Clan’s main compound looks like.

When they arrived at the gate, a pair of guards stepped forward and spoke to the driver. He must have been showing them their invitation. The massive gate opened a moment later and their carriage was allowed through.

Their carriage drove along the cobblestone of the Zhou Clan compound only to stop after reaching a delegation of people. The driver opened their door and Father stepped out. Wu Jian followed him outside, trying to keep his heart from thundering in his chest. His nerves were getting to him now that he was finally here.

The delegation consisted of only three people. The one at the very head was none other than Zhou Zu, the branch family head. He wore stately silver robes and his hair was neatly tied behind his head with a silk cord. Behind him was an elderly man with pure white hair, thick eyebrows, and a fu manchu. With his pure white robes, he made Wu Jian think of an old philosopher.

However, it was the girl who captured his attention.

Zhou Lihua was dressed in a white, blue, and red hanfu. The top half was a startling shade of blue and seemed sleeveless at first glance. He realized only after a moment that the top half was actually a vest. Sleeves extended from inside the vest, pure white and flowing like water. The bottom half of her hanfu was red and decorated with flower petal embroidery. As a soft breeze past through the clearing, her outfit changed colors.

What kind of material is that made of? It must cost a fortune. It probably costs ten times more than my own hanfu.

Wu Jian had never felt the startling difference between their clans until this moment. It was clear now just how much more powerful the Zhou Clan was than their tiny Wu Clan. How Father could deal with these people so casually without feeling nervous was beyond him.

Of course, what really stood out to him was that Zhou Lihua was not wearing her veil. Her pretty face, peach-like skin, soft pink lips curved into a smile, and enchanting doe-like eyes could have stolen the breath from any man. Even he found himself a little stunned.

Wu Jian felt underdressed, though he tried not to let this bother him as he and Father stepped forward.

Father bowed to Zhou Zu. “Lord Zu, it is good to see you again. Thank you for inviting my son and I to dinner. I’m glad you are in good health.”

“And you as well. I was looking forward to meeting you once more. I can’t thank you enough for helping me root out that little problem we had during the tournament,” Zhou Zu said with an amiable smile. Then his gaze shifted to Wu Jian, who felt like his spine had suddenly snapped straight. “And here is the young man who bested my Zhou Lihua. I was very impressed with your performance. She may look delicate, but my daughter is as ferocious as a dragon when it comes to battle.”

“Father, please do not speak of me so crassly,” Zhou Lihua said, though she didn’t sound embarrassed at all. If anything, the smile on her face widened, and she even seemed to puff out her chest like a pecock. She walked up to Wu Jian and touched his arm. “Lord Jian, it is a pleasure to see you again.”

Wu Jian took a deep breath to calm his nerves and smiled. “Likewise. I’m happy we could be fortunate enough to meet for a second time.”

“What do you say we leave the adults to talk about adult matters. Would you like me to give you a tour of our compound before dinner?” asked Zhou Lihua.

Wu Jian wasn’t sure what to do. He glanced at his father, who wore a stern but somehow uncertain expression, then at Zhou Zu, who smiled broadly and clasped his hands together.

“I think that is a great idea,” he said. “You two will probably find the matters I wish to discuss with Lord Yōushì boring anyway, so why not use this opportunity to become better acquainted?”

“I hope you are not saying you think I find learning about business boring, Father… but this is a rare opportunity to speak with someone close to my age from outside the clan,” Zhou Lihua said. For some reason, those words seemed to have a bit of bite to them. Zhou Zu’s smile even became a little fixed.

“Ha ha ha. You are always so harsh to your father,” Zhou Zu said with a laugh.

What an unusual relationship. They’re nothing like me and my father. It’s like there’s no distance between them at all.

Wu Jian would never dare to talk back to his father like that. He was certain to get whipped if he ever dared to try, but now that he thought about, Wu Meiying seemed to talk back to Father quite often. She even called him “Uncle Yōushì” instead of “Lord Yōushì” as was proper.

Is this a thing only girls are allowed to do? Maybe girls are given the right to be playful and mischievous while boys are expected to be stoic and distant?

It was soon decided that Wu Jian would be given a tour of the compound. He couldn’t deny he was interested. This place was so big and looked like it might hold hundreds of secrets.

Zhou Lihua took him by the arm and led him away. He glanced back at his father to see the man speaking with Zhou Zu and the elderly man as they wandered toward one of the smaller buildings.

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“I’m happy I can finally show you around. I’ve wanted to speak with you ever since the tournament. In any case, I believe we should start our tour with the most prominent building here. The Hall of Resistance,” Zhou Lihua said.

“What is the Hall of Resistance?” asked Wu Jian.

The girl holding his arm ever so gently gave him a mischievous smile. “Come. I’ll show you.”

The Hall of Resistance turned out to be the massive building in the very center of the compound. It looked even larger up close. The roof of each level was held aloft by crimson wood columns with seals drawn all over their surface. Each sloped roof featured a golden dragon at one of the four points. It was a truly grandiose structure and something he had never seen before.

Several people were lined up outside, each one entering one at a time. He spent a moment watching them.

A few seconds passed before, within the blink of an eye, the doors were thrown open by an invisible force and someone was forcibly expelled. He struck dirt, rolled several meters, and came to a stop. It was a young man. He sat up, breathing hard as sweat poured down his face.

“What the—?!”

“The Hall of Resistance is a special training hall of the Zhou Clan,” Zhou Lihua said proudly. “Special seals have been drawn onto every surface of the building’s interior and exterior. These seals collect the energies of heaven and earth, and this gathered energy generates a powerful force that repulses humans. Each level has more energy than the previous one and is therefore harder to climb up. The goal of the Hall of Resistance is to ascend to each level while gathering your own chi to combat the force generated by the hall. Look over there. You see that board? That’s the leader board. It shows the current top one hundred clansmen who have take this challenge.”

“I’ve never heard of seals that can do that,” Wu Jian murmured. Hearing about this made him realize that he really was just a frog in a well. The world was so much more vast than what his meager existence had experienced.

“Seals can do many things, though very few people can use them,” Zhou Lihua said. “This building was something we had commissioned from one of the Zhou Clan elders. It cost us a fortune, but Father believes it was worth the expense.”

“And you? Do you believe it was worth the expense?” asked Wu Jian.

“Yes. To an extent. I myself have not had the chance to use it yet because I am too young. Once I turn sixteen and breakthrough to the Hunger Realm, I plan to see for myself whether or not this investment was worth it.” She paused for a moment, brow furrowed, but then it smoothed over and she smiled at him. “Come. Let’s continue to tour.”

They were about to leave the Hall of Resistance, but someone called out to them before they could.

“Is that you, Lihua? Have you come to watch everyone’s training… oh, who is this?”

The one who called out to Zhou Lihua was a young man with auburn hair and green eyes. He was clearly not someone born from the Shang Kingdom. Broad shouldered, tall, and attractive, Wu Jian imagined many of the Zhou Clan’s women fawned over this man. He wore a simple red and gold training gi.

Wu Jian was not given a chance to introduce himself. Zhou Lihua hugged his arm to her chest and smiled at the young man. “Zhou Chao, it is nice to see you. As you can see, I am giving Jian here a tour of our compound.” 

“Oh?” Zhou Chao’s smile became a bit fixed as he looked at their posture. “Jian… Jian… ah. I remember now. You were the winner of the Three Clan’s Tournament. I was very impressed by your performance. You are quite talented for someone so young.”

“Thank you, Mr. Zhou. You honor me with your praise.”

Wu Jian would have done a traditional bow, but Zhou Lihua’s arms holding his prevented that, so the most he could manage was a nod. This did not seem to quite satisfy Zhou Chao. However, the man clearly understood the difference of social position between him and Zhou Lihua, for he made no effort to correct him.

“It seems you are busy right now, so I will talk to you later, Lihua. Wu Jian, it was a pleasure meeting you.”

“Likewise.”

Zhou Lihua sighed in relief as Zhou Chao left without incident. She didn’t appear to like the young man. Wu Jian wondered what sort of friction existed between them, but he knew better to ask. They were not close enough.

His tour guide said nothing about what happened and instead continued showing him around. They left the Hall of Resistance behind. Like the Wu Clan compound, the Zhou Clan compound was made of many buildings connected by shaded walkways, but unlike the Wu Clan, the Zhou Clan seemed to have dedicated a large plot of land to a delicate garden that meandered throughout the entire compound, connected by a gracefully flowing river that created a soothing music as the water traveled over perfectly smooth rocks.

“This garden was something my mother cultivated while she was still alive,” Zhou Lihua said as they stopped while standing atop a bridge overlooking a small stream. “She always loved flowers. She loved them so much that many of her techniques were named after flowers.”

Wu Jian heard how she used past tense to refer to her mother. It was obvious that Zhou Lihua’s mother was no longer among them. He knew better than to ask about what happened.

“It is a beautiful garden. Who maintains it now?” he asked.

“The clan has several servants who are dedicated to the task of maintaining the garden. Some of the elders have suggested that Father remove the garden and replace it with something more practical, but he has not budged in the six years since mother’s death.” She paused for a moment, eyes downcast, but then she pulled him along by the arm. “Come. Let us continue the tour.”

The tour began anew. Zhou Lihua led him to a massive training hall with hundreds of weapons, training dummies, and all kinds of specialized equipment. There was even several training rings where Zhou Clansmen and women were sparring. Then she showed him the building where she resided, the dining hall, library, and testing stone. He was surprised she would show him so much, especially her own building.

“Would you like to see what my room looks like?” she asked with a coy smile.

“What—er, no. I don’t think that would be… appropriate.”

“Are you sure? I really wouldn’t mind showing you, though it would be the first time I let a man other than my father enter.”

“I am… quite sure, thank you.”

Wu Jian felt his face heat up as the girl leaned over and moved her face so close to his that their noses were almost touching. Her natural scent made his mind feel addled. He thought he might get lost in those dark, mysterious eyes of hers. It took a concerted effort of will to keep himself from getting any strange thoughts.

“That is unfortunate,” she said, pulling back after a moment. He breathed a sigh of relief, though it was short-lived as she began leading him away once again. “I would have loved to show you how comfortable my bed is.” She giggled as he tripped over his own two feet. “Anyway, I’m sure our fathers are done talking, so let’s head to the dining hall.”

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