“I’m not part of any Immortal’s games! I’m just a schoolgirl who just recently moved to this city. I decline, I refuse, I turn down the offer. No, thank you.” Those people are crazy if they think that I willingly throw myself into chaos again. I stood up. No, I’ve had enough.
“Song, it’s not something you can decide. The day I got you into the arcades marked you as part of the game.” Rose held me at my seam. “Like it or not you’re part of us now. But it’s not all bad.”
“Marked? How exactly? And don’t tell me it’s not all bad. If I remember correctly then the last time you dragged me into your ‘games’ I lost an arm!”
Rose stood up and took hold of my metal hand with both of hers. “I know! I’m sorry! But I had no choice…”
“Stop saying that all the time and explain it already!”
The surrounding people stopped their conversations and were focused on our discussion. But they were polite enough not to comment. Well, everyone except Yang.
“Rose was part of the Church of the Heavenly Demon. The Wudang and the Church had a disagreement that should’ve been resolved through disposable pawns, in our case criminals. Well, the Church ordered Rose to get someone from her school to join as their proxy. Normally, they have their own team competing. Consisting out of mostly hunters, like the one who captured you, but with much higher cultivation. Sometimes an abbess helps out but this time they didn’t care about the resources in question. That’s how you got involved.”
I nodded. “But why me specifically?”
Rose shook her head. “No, I had instructions to invite everyone I knew from school to the arcades. But it being a rather suspicious location and me not being the friendliest person lead to only you showing up.”
“I see so it was my naivety and bad luck meeting Rose that led me to the Arcades.” Rose and Yang seem to agree.
“I had no reason to target you specifically,” added Rose.
The explanation does seem kind of convenient. But I’ll accept it for now.
Yang continued his explanation of the situation. “There are two things in the world of cultivators, the Jianghu, that are ironclad, those are contracts and bets. Both are based on the consent of all parties involved. You could say that they are a gentleman’s, or woman’s, agreement. But that would be an oversimplification.”
“I’ve yet to meet a decent immortal. A former demon with a pendant for lying, and a peeping tom in a child's body,” I said while pointing at my ‘friends’ one after each other. “Another one tried to sacrifice me to a fricking disgusting monster heart, no offense Rose, and a grumpy old…” My hasty look met Uncle Hong’s golden eyes. They narrowed slowly. I cleared my throat. “And a kindly old man who is not scary at all.” He nodded and continued his work, presumably cleaning.
“The only nice Immortal is your brother, Jin.” Yang smiled unironically. “My brother is special. You are right in that regard.”
Lynn emptied a bottle of beer and burped audibly. “Lil’ sis Meadow, you forgot your big sis.”
“You are an Immortal?” I said reverently.
“I sure am! Although I broke through only recently.” Lynn held up her enormous breast-high. The guys clapped and wooed in awe of their big sis.
“What’s up with the difference in treatment?” Yang clicked his tongue.
Lynn showed her teeth while clapping the boyish cultivator on his back. “Don’t worry big bro! The guys are just happy after big bro Jin left that you aren’t our only Immortal anymore.”
“I wondered why Jin isn’t part of the Wudang,” I said quietly to Rose. I didn’t know if it was a sour spot for Yang. And I think I aggravated him enough for one day. “Did they have a falling out?”
“Not really. He was just sick of the violence and did want to start over. The Shaolin offered him a safe haven at their academy.” Rose leaned over conspiratorial.
“A safe haven? Why does an Immortal need a safe haven?”
“Because of the games, of course.” Yang’s voice startled us and I hit my head against Rose’s. Damn, her head was hard as a brick wall.
“So what are those games?” I said while rubbing my head.
“Stop interrupting me and I’ll explain.” Yang looked straight at me with his stinging blue eyes. They contained a deep sadness but his voice was like steel. “Like I said the Jianghu is fundamentally built on agreements between two or more parties. Neither law nor morals bind us but our word. You see only the contradiction. But that is because no Immortal ever had a deal with you. Why would they? You are trash.”
Lynn slapped Yang’s head but he shrugged it off, literally. “You are not worth an Immortals word. Well, to be precise you were not worth it. But the situation changed.”
I swallowed the insult. It’s true, I’m weak. No amount of arguing would change that fact. “How did it change?”
Yang held up two fingers. “Firstly, your feathered friend broke the contract between the Church and Rose. Secondly, the Wudang are in dire need of new members.”
Feathers always get bashful when he gets mentioned. All these people must be overwhelming. I think he was just happy to be there. Rose reacted the complete opposite way. She jumped up.
“No!” Rose's face looked like she bit into a lemon. “I just got my freedom!”
Yang held up his hand. “Let me finish, will you?”
“Fine.”
“Rose, we won’t bind you, we ask you for your help. Meadow will also profit.” He looked at me. “There is still the matter of the cyber spirit. Muramasa vanished. I rather have her close. You both will be properly compensated, of course.”
I examined my mechanical arm. I still couldn’t use my spirit. It bothered me. But I also was scared to experiment by myself. Having Yang nearby would be reassuring. But something else escaped my mouth. “How much?”
“One thousand credits.”
“For a year?” I asked
“For a month.”
“For a month!?” It’s the first time after complimenting their big sis that the guys commented on our conversation. “Boss, it’s more than three times our wage!” said Kevin.
“Yeah! Yeah!” Grey, Baldy, and the rest joined in, “that’s not fair!”
“So what?” said Yang while tapping a single finger on the long table. His spiritual pressure quieting the room instantly. “They will not be full members. They are hired to help. Of course, we will compensate our helpers handsomely.” He smiled sardonically and tapped a second time. “I consider you guys my family. And as a family, I give you some spending money. If you so desire I can just stop giving you any money. Who has spoken first? Kevin? Yes, Kevin treasures this family so much that he donates his allowance to get the girls some new clothes. I think applause would be appropriate.”
Kevin's face went white. He slumped back onto his seat, soulless and beaten into the ground. The other guys clapped, scared shitless. “Don’t worry, Kev. I’ll help you out!” Feng extended his hand like a saint. Kevin hold on to it like a drowning man. “Thank you big bro Feng. Thank you!” Feng smiled and put a crumpled five credit bill in front of Kevin. He cried silently, either because of joy or bitter disappointment. I didn’t care either way.
“So, what has this to do with me? How am I marked?”
Rose picked up the explanation this time. “Well, you remember consensual agreements between Immortals are the basis of any transaction between them? Every deal is written down in a more or less public ledger, including any names involved. You fought as my proxy or in that sense as a proxy for the Church. We are, as three entities, forever related. Now, that is good and bad. Having an Immortal on your side has its perks. I mean, duh, you can enjoy seeing this body regularly.”
The Baldy looked so openly lecherous that even Rose got disgusted and punched him in the gut. “And its downsides?” I asked.
“Well, if someone goes after me or the church they might go after you. You know killing the pawns before tackling the queen.” My mouth went wide open. Rose’s matter-of-fact explanation was shocking and insulting at the same time. But Yang too agreed.
“Sooner or later an enemy of hers will come out of the woodwork and your head goes flying. Until now, you had the lesser protection of the Church. But seeing that your relationship was rather forcefully terminated I don’t think it still applies. They might even be hostile but who knows what those fanatics think.”
Rose shrugged. “I’m not sure either. It’s not like they care about me. Although they might give me the fault for the destruction of the Blackheart. Anyway, what you’re proposing is a time-limited contract?”
“Essentially.”
“Why do you need help though? Isn’t your status as one of the Ten Great Sects still protecting you?”
Yang shook his head. “The Martial Alliance publicly denounced the Wudang. They even suspected me personally to be involved in terrorism. We are all but in name exiled from the Alliance.” Yang massaged his temples while explaining.
I also felt a headache coming. “So what’s the problem? And could you finally answer what those fucking games are? I think I only understand half of the things here discussed.”
“These games are more or less friendly competitions between factions.” Yang continued while leaning back and crossing his arms.” Theoretically, it can be just a toss of a coin. The factions then bet on the outcome. Again this will be written down in the ledger. Sounds pretty friendly so far, right? But consider this, what if the stakes are 50% of your real estate? And what if it’s a bet the other party can’t win? Not so friendly anymore.”
Rose jumped in. “Thing is, a sect might get bullied so long until it has no choice but to agree to the terms. Although none of the big players will openly set impossible terms. It would reflect very badly on their faction that other partners who have genuinely friendly relations might rethink them.”
“That’s a pretty convoluted way of describing gambling,” I said while munching on a fried shrimp. “You use human lives as chips to bet on a high stakes game. Which is disgusting and unethical. I despise people like you.” I stood up, wiped my hands on myself, and smiled politely while offering a handshake to Yang.
“And I’m all in! Any chance of early payment?”
Goodbye, quiet school life, hello money.
