While Gingge still postponed explanations regarding their past, she did shed light on the Huang clan in general a bit.

According to her, winning a honour duel against someone was enough to win their position. A relic of more war-prone days, though the practice wasn’t uncommon in Tihandu.

One of the many perks associated with associating with the new Family Head of the Huang Family was that accommodation vanished as a problem. 

“Take care of yourself… ” Ku Lo spoke to Gingge, who was hurrying back to her own sister after checking up on him and his family. “And let me help you once I’m done here.” 

“Son, close the door, all the heat is escaping.” 

With a last peek at Gingge’s behind, Ku Lo withdrew inside the room with one hand closing said door. “Yes, mother.” 

Turning around he saw Lin sitting on a chair. On a bed next to her laid the unconscious Ku Xie. “What do you plan to do now?”

He took a chair, too. “I’m still at the bottom of the cultivation ladder. Being a Dual Cultivator makes things easier, but right now I need more partners.”

“More? Son, you freeload at your lovers’ clan, yet talk about courting?” 

Hearing the displeasure in her voice, a question popped up in Ku Lo’s head.

For him, the Yin Yang sect was a military post before any idea of a debauched love nest. But how did outsiders view Dual Cultivators? The man at the training grounds sounded like he thought of it as such.

“You’re strong-willed like your father, but don’t end up like him, biting off more than he could chew.”

“Just the one who left a moment ago is my lover. And I’m not doing this for fun alone. The faster I grow, the more likely it is to find a way to cure my sister.”

“So you haven’t found a clue yet? The amulet eased her suffering, but her sickness is already worsening again.”

“The old man and his amulet were a lucky find, and even he couldn’t entirely help her… ” Or didn’t want to.

Cough

“Sister!”

“Daughter!” 

They turned, Ku Lo even took a few steps to get beside the awakening princess. “You’re awake. So soon.” 

“It was so cold,” Ku Xie said. “I didn’t want to be awake a second more, but now…” Her ominous eyes went around the room, lingering on the icy window and the lit fireplace. “It’s so comfortable here. Where are we?” 

“Your new room.” 

Though Ku Xie’s eyes were white, he could see them sparkle. And if not from that, her face brimming with excitement presented everything he needed to know. “Brother, brother, help me over to the window!” 

With her being so excited, almost jumping out of the bed, he obliged. He swooped her into a princess carry and took her to look out from the icy window. 

“See, there’s the Arctic Ocean-” He pushed his index finger against the window where icicles barred the top part while a bit of the bottom was covered by snow piled on the still. “Ging’er told me that you can sometimes see a beautiful blue light over the mountains there.” 

Ku Xie tried to push her head against the window. “I want to see! But isn’t it cold? Warm is better!” Changing her mind in seconds, she was back deep in his chest.

Ku lo readjusted her in his hands. “That’s probably for the best,” he chuckled and got closer to her ear. “She also said that anyone staring at it for too long would lose their soul.” 

“ …  soul?” She appeared lost in thought, whispering the word over and over. But not a moment later, she had fallen asleep again.

Ku Lo covered her in furs and began his descent from the tower.

…

Ku Lo watched from the sidelines as the less brutal part of the leadership transfer was conducted. The ‘crowning’ ceremony was attended by all fifty or so members of the Huang Family.

“We, who bear the name Huang, shall take your word as law!”

“We, who bear the name Huang, swear to follow you till death!”

“We, who bear the name Huang, take Huang Qingling as our leader!”

The three elders kneeled before Qingling dressed in an expensive-looking attire.

“I, who bear the name Huang, will lead my blood to glory.”

Everyone in the dimly lit hall bowed, except for Ku Lo, who was an outsider, and Qingling, who was the recipient of their act of subordination.

She had awoken the morning after the duel, but with her injuries, she didn’t make for an awe-inspiring leader. The others present seemed to share the sentiment, so the stability of her rule in this might-makes-right society was an ever present concern in the back of his mind.

Qingling nodded, slightly. “Rise.” 

The elders were the first to get up and sat down on chairs on either side of her, though a chair on her right remained empty.

“the seat next to her is for the advisor,” Gingge whispered as she straightened her back. “every Family Head chooses their own, so the position is empty until she picks someone.”

Ku Lo hummed as acknowledgement. 

One of the elders got off his chair. “he’s Huang Ling,” she added quickly before the elder himself spoke.

“Revered Family Head, do you wish to pick your advisor?” Huang Ling addressed, keeping his head down, but eyes at Qingling.

“I have yet to look for any qualified candidates.”

“Then-” He cleared his throat. “ If I may, I would like to suggest my son, Huang Che. He has served your father already and-”

“No.”

“Would revered Family Head…”  The remaining two looked dazed, but Huang Ling was visibly upset. “… be able to give a reason to this little one?”

“You are the ones who need to explain their actions to me, not the other way around!”

“Of course, of course, how could this little one forget. But with the family’s current situation, wouldn’t it be unwise not to strive in unison?”

“The only way we will ‘strive in unison’ is on my order. Now I declare this ceremony over. Every member of the Huang family, return to your work.”

Huang Ling grimaced, but with a side glance at Gingge, he refrained from talking back.

…

“So, all the trouble has passed. It’s time you tell me.” Back in Gingge’s and his room, he once again pressed her for information.

“Alright, but this will take a while.” She got down on the bed and stared at the ceiling. “When we were born, our father got our talent assessed. He invited someone from the Sword Sect. As weird as this may sound to you, the Mystic from the sect foretold me to be the genius, while my sister's prospects were as bleak as mine would be without you.”

“Rin Tin Tin used some strange board to test our ‘compatibility’, but what do regular cultivators do? Mystics? Assessments?”

“Someone with a special skill injects a bit of Qi to test the aptitude. The better the veins are, the more will flow through.”

“And they just believed that?” He frowned. 

“It’s almost always accurate, at least for upper limits. A bird might get its wings cut later, but a crippled foal will never grow into a battle horse.”

“But it turned out to be false, right? So what does it matter?”

“By the time her ability began showing, we were already in the Sword Sect, so father never learned of it. And when he did it was too late because father lost his shrewdness and became stubborn with age.”

“That explains why he looked down on her threat, but not her deep grudge.”

“That’s not everything. Father raised her as a marriage pawn. He wanted her to be ready to leave the family without complaint, so he never spent much time with her, letting servants take care of her.”

“Then how did she get away from here?”

“When somebody from the Sword Sect came to invite me, I demanded to take her along. To them, accepting a second six-year-old girl was easier than restoring my loyalty later.” “So he let you two meet?” “Rarely- “ She gnashed her teeth. “Looking back, he must have done something to her.”

She has a screw loose, sure, but… “What makes you think that?”

“She turned unreasonable whenever I told her about you.”

“But isn’t that more about me than your father? And not exactly unfounded, either.”

“You don’t get what I mean… Anyway! We were taken to the sect. Did another assessment with the same result. I was granted valuable resources. We split them equally. With them, she made lots of progress while my cultivation halted.” 

“The elder responsible for us believed I’d given her everything, so she scolded me and kept an eye. It didn’t stop Qingling’s progress much though. Not long after, they accepted her talent.”

“A few years down the line. She got the title of sword maiden; I still had not even entered the second stage of the Foundation Realm. The elders accused me of slacking off, so once we turned 18, Qingling forced them to let us leave.” 

“They just let a talent they had invested in for 6 years walk right out?”

“Of course not, she has a year to find something for me. Once the time is over, she has to return.”