Half a month ago, a series of murders began in Nara City. Every night, a decapitated corpse would be found on the streets. For half a month, not a single day had been missed. The scene was heavy with traces of Source Substance, leaving no doubt that it was the work of Sublimators.
Counting today, sixteen heads had been chopped off.
There was no pattern to the identities of the deceased.
There were ordinary office workers, Sublimators, and even an attendant of a Court Official...but the end was undoubtedly the same, their necks severed with the same precise beheading technique.
They were granted a swift death, and then the killer turned and left without a trace, not giving the pursuers any clues to follow.
Vanishing mysteriously into the night.
Leaving behind nothing but a gruesome scene and utter mockery.
Horn Mountain bowed his head in shame. "I am useless. I am one step too late again."
He was so close to catching that person's trail.
"Keep investigating," Inu River said. "Now that this mess has happened in town before the Emperor's Chef Demon competition begins, I fear the Deer's Sing Hall will make an issue of it, claiming we have been negligent..."
"Heh," a disdainful sneer came from below. "Isn't this their doing?"
Inu River looked up. "Jiu Lang—"
"Am I wrong, Mr. Inu River?" the young man murmured resentfully. "They were the very ones who hounded to death my uncle who pleaded for the Li Jian family back then. Now they feign indignation to rebuke us for dereliction of duty? They're just looking for a pretext to condemn us..."
"Jiu Lang!"
Inu River raised his voice, his aged eyes lifting in a warning, enunciating each word. "This is not your place to comment!"
The young man held his head high stubbornly, retorting, "Am I not a samurai of the Li Jian family?"
"Two hundred years ago, if a samurai of the Li Jian family dared to speak such insolence here, he would have been ordered to commit seppuku!" Inu River rebutted coldly. "You are not yet the family head. When you sit in that position, then you can think about ordering us old men around! Now, before I become angry, go back to your quarters. This is no place for your wildness!"
Jiu Lang's face turned red. Soon after, he lowered his head and took his leave.
The door closed.
Beside Inu River, an old warrior sighed. "Jiu Lang is grieved by the death of No Two. He's still young and didn't mean to offend."
"Who doesn't know that?" Inu River shook his head and sighed. "Otherwise, if it were someone with ulterior motives, I would have beheaded him right here in front of you all."
Jiu Lang, Li Jian Jing Jiang, was the nephew of the previous head, Li Jian Bu Er.
Li Jian Bu Er, having no children of his own, had raised Jiu Lang as his own son from a very young age. The one most pained by the previous head's fall from grace and his 'death from shame' was undoubtedly him.
The older generation could understand the young man speaking out of turn, but they could not condone it.
Rebuking him and sending him away was already the greatest protection they could offer.
The meeting had to continue.
After settling a few minor, irrelevant matters, Inu River tiredly lifted his hand, rubbing the bridge of his nose. He sighed with his eyes closed, wiped his face haphazardly with a towel, and then forced himself to rally his spirits.
He was getting old. One hundred and sixty-four years old. He had witnessed almost the entirety of the Li Jian family's tumultuous modern history, transforming from a nondescript samurai into Inu River, inheritor of the name of the Eight Canine Warriors. It could be said that, aside from the family head, this old man was the real backbone and linchpin of the Li Jian family. And Inu River had always been trusted by successive family heads due to his restraint with power and his loyalty to the clan.
The generations that grew up during the years of turmoil, no matter how ambitious, came to understand just how important the family's existence was. Only by sticking together, by seeking common survival, could they endure the increasingly treacherous situation.
Regrettably, the young people of today no longer think this way... The struggle had already spiraled out of control since the previous generation. As the General gradually rendered the Emperor powerless, everyone in Yingzhou found themselves adrift in a vast political whirlpool, struggling to stay afloat... No, it should be said that the era had already changed the moment the nation's gates were forced open by Rome's black ships.
After resting for a moment, he gathered his spirits and looked around at the seven people present.
The Eight Canine Warriors of the Li Jian.
The eight retainers of the Li Jian family, each holding different powers, were all gathered here. With the family head absent, they were the only ones who could now represent the Li Jian family's true body.
"Over the past few days, you must all have a list in mind, right?"
In the silence, the no-longer-young samurai slowly nodded, sharing the intelligence they had gathered.
The discussion turned to the final candidates for the next family head.
At the forefront, needless to say, was the adopted son of the previous family head, Jiu Lang, Li Jian Jiu Jing.
Then, there was the previous family head's brother, Li Jian Bu Ping, who had hurried back from America.
The person in charge of the Li Jian family's Guanshan Group, Li Jian Bu Jing.
Li Jian Zheng Ping, studying abroad in the Russian Federation.
...
And finally, the youngest of the Li Jian clan—Li Jian Amber.
"It's absurd!" At the meeting, an elder growled in annoyance. "A criminal's daughter, exiled to Dongxia and having forsaken Yingzhou—how could Deer's Sing Hall acknowledge her qualifications? A bunch of fools! What on earth are those people thinking?!"
Inu River raised his eyes calmly and said, "Amber's father was also a man who made sacrifices for the family. In my view, she is no different from the other juniors; they are all children of the Li Jian family."
"Mr. Inu River, do you really not understand her intentions?"
"Are her intentions different from those of others?" Inu River raised his voice, and after the question, he sternly surveyed the room. "Since she is of Li Jian blood, she has the right to inherit the position of family head of the Li Jian clan. Let no one lose sight of their duties!"
Everyone bowed respectfully, with no further dissenting voices.
In the silence, Inu River couldn't help but let out a self-deprecating chuckle.
After all, he was the one who had exiled Amber. Perhaps at this moment, in the minds of others, the phrase 'senile old fool' was not far off. But likewise, at this moment, in his eyes, Li Jian Amber and the other juniors were no different. As for why Deer's Sing Hall would recognize her lineage—acknowledge an exile with a nominal position in the Social Security Bureau—he somewhat understood the considerations behind it.
Nothing else, just the lesser of two evils. It wasn't for any noble or compassionate reason, not about giving a sinner a chance at redemption, nor was it believed that Amber would emerge unblemished from the mire. Purely, they brought it upon themselves. The result of having no strong authority externally and gradually losing control internally.