Chapter 23: Chapter 23 – Kang Cai’s Demise.

 Kang Cai was in a fury. Nothing was going their way. They had attempted to offer discounts but that had only confirmed in people’s minds that the ore from the Kang Clan was inferior. The had attempted to pull the same new seam trick as the Zhao’s but Master Fu simply had to take a look at the ‘new seam’ ore and laugh for the whole city to catch on to the scam.

The reputation of their ore being bad was even starting to spread down river. The Kang Clan market share was shrinking every day. Now Kang Cai had word that Administrator Dai was threatening to not renew their contracts. Those contracts might be bleeding them dry, but it was all they had left. The mines that they outright owned had long been mined to exhaustion. 

Even since the Kang clan had moved to Temple Gorge administrator Dai must have felt that he was no longer under their thumb. Kang Cai was left with no choice but to put his incompetent son in charge of the business in Temple Gorge and take a wagon to Rockcreek.

Administrator Dai would have to be reminded of who owned him. The Kang Clan had still left him some profit in the mine contracts out of respect, but it seems that they had been too kind.

The only way out for them now was to offer an even steeper discount and reduce costs on their end by having Administrator Dai give them even more favourable contracts. If possible, a cheap sale of the mines to the Kangs would be best.

Kang Cai stepped out of his carriage and stalked into Administrator Dai’s large premises. The elegance of it had always irked Kang Cai. It was the kind of graceful architecture that could only be replicated by someone born in the capital. Those who attempted to imitate the style always came across as pretenders to a legacy they did not have.

The typical plethora of servants was strangely absent. There was just one servant that guided him to the familiar tearoom. Before Kang Cai walked in, he heard a familiar belly laugh that froze his blood.

It was her! Kang Cai burst into the room and confirmed his worst fears. Xiulan was sprawled out on a few cushions with the head of that blond companion of hers resting in her lap.

Administrator Dai was holding the end of a hookah pipe in between his lips and inhaling deeply. The whole scene was too celebratory for Kang Cai’s liking.

When the odd collection of people caught sight of him, they started to clap. “You are finally here” said a giddy Administrator Dai.

Kang Cai frowned and interrogated, “what are you doing with this whore Administrator Dai? I hope you know that no matter what deals you have made with this woman I still have the letter with me. I would think that any deals with my enemies would not be wise.”

Administrator Dai turned to Xiulan and said, “is he truly that stupid? Did he not even check if he still had the letter before he came here.”

Xiulan shook her head, “in my experience of the Kang clan so far, it’s a combination of stupidity and arrogance.”

Administrator Dai pulled out the letter and while Kang Cai watched, burnt it against the coals of the Hookan.

Kang Cai sagged, a defeated man. He could tell that the Kang iron business was done. He straited his back and looking at Xiulan he gritted his teeth and hissed out, “well played.”

Kang Cai turned to leave when he heard Xiulan speak, “who allowed you to leave Patriarch Kang. You did not think that I brought you to Rockcreek just to let you go. You attempted to have Yen Wen killed and for that you must die.”

Kang Cai barely had enough time to step aside as an arrow whizzed past where his calf was a second before. Another arrow sent him diving to the floor in a roll to avoid it.

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Administrator Dai cheered, “That’s it! Make him dance for us.”

Kang Cai paled with anger and used his family’s earth manipulation technique to rip up a wall of earth in front of him.

The dirt wall broke through the wooden floorboards and caught another arrow just before it reached him. That blond woman Yen Wen was standing now and had another arrow fitted to her bow string.

The playful smile on her face told Kang Cai that she had not seriously been trying to kill him yet. She was only toying with him.

Kang Cai saw red. He took out a yellow pill from his pouch. This was the same substance that when taken in small amounts for years could produce forced spiritual roots in a person. Taken in larger doses it spiked a person’s cultivation by as much as a level for a short span of time.

Kang Cai took it now. He would need every advantage to defeat Yen Wen. He had seen her fighting his son and if Xiulan stepped in it would be two against one. Kang Cai pushed the wall of dirt forward to give himself cover while he charged at the archer.

Yen Wen infused her arrow with such dense qi that it punched through the obstacle anyway and sank into Kang Cai’s shoulder.

The arrow heads she was using had been crafter by Fu Jinjing and could hold more qi than usual. Feeling the deep pain in the muscle of his shoulder Kang Cai decided to change tactics. He abandoned his charge and quickly switch targets to the mortal Administrator Dai. If he could take the man hostage, then he could use the threat of his death to escape or catch the woman by surprise.

Unfortunately, Yen Wen had been prepared for that. Yen Wen used a part of her heaven grade combat technique she had never used before. Focusing she built a connective rope of Qi from her hand to the Qi infused arrowhead in Kang Cai shoulder.

The rope of Qi snapped taught just as a real rope would have and pulled the older cultivator up short.

Yen Wen relied on the bad footing of the man to pull him to the ground. She pulled him towards herself and before he could figure out a counter measure Yen Wen pulled out a dagger and plunged it downwards into his heart.

To a cultivator a stabbing to the heart is not an instant death. Kang Cai attempted to struggle free, but Yen Wen’s strong grip held him down as his lifeblood pumped out onto the splintered wooden floor.

Kang Cai heard Administrator Dai say, “you have ruined my floor. That wood is from the southern coast.”

Kang Cai was horrified to see that as he died the last thing, he would see was Xiulan casually eating grapes as she watched him die.

As his vision turned black, he heard the reply, “you are the one who insisted we do this here in your tearoom. Killing pigs is always messy. I wanted to do it on a farm somewhere.”

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