Total pages in book: 108
Estimated words: 108768 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 544(@200wpm)___ 435(@250wpm)___ 363(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 108768 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 544(@200wpm)___ 435(@250wpm)___ 363(@300wpm)
Chen's journey was equally fraught with challenges. His ascension to the position of deputy mountain master was not just a matter of inheritance or seniority. He had to earn it in the most direct and brutal way possible—by defeating his own father in a duel.
It happened right on Mount Utopia. The book included illustrations of their fight. And various shades of red splattered their figures. I could damn near see every strike to Song's body and every wound inflicted on Chen.
I couldn't imagine how it must have felt for father and son to beat the shit out of each other for hours.
Some of the depictions showed both of them grimacing in pain while locked in a brutal battle.
Blood dripped from their weapons and wounds.
Of course Chen proved to be victorious, putting his father in the hospital for several days.
What Duck had said about them being wolves was right.
Reading about these rituals and the trials Lei, Duck, Hu, and Chen had encountered gave me so much insight into the seriousness of their roles and the burdens they'd dealt with to keep them.
Their world was one of perpetual challenge and conflict.
Hours later, I discovered some information that could be helpful to me. There was a whole section on the subject of, Friend of the Four Aces.
To get this title, one had to hold Council with the Mountain Master, Deputy, Red Pole, and Straw Sandal. The person would make their case to these four, and as long as two of them voted yes, the person could be given that title.
Also, there were two ceremonial rituals that the person had to be victorious in—the Oath of Loyalty and a Blood Bond. While it didn’t go into detail and no one had ever done it, neither appeared violent in any way.
Even more, being a Friend of the Four Aces resulted in four privileges. First, the friend would be entitled to appoint their own personal guards, and these guards could be selected from outside the Four Aces. Second, no member of the Four Aces was permitted to harm or act against a Friend. Third, this person had access to various resources controlled by the Four Aces—including safe houses, intelligence networks, and financial assets. Finally, this person held an advisory role, often being consulted on matters of importance. Their opinions and advice was to be valued highly by the leaders of the Four Aces.
It might have been a far stretch, but. . .I believed I had a strong argument for taking this role. For god’s sake, the Mountain Master had kidnapped me just so I would stay near and keep him calm.
That had to mean something, and I was tired of being pushed and ordered around by all of them. If I was going to be around Lei and his people, then I needed some official title so that sometimes I could tell them to go fuck themselves.
Yawning and tired as hell, I finished the book at dawn, right as the sun crept over the mountain.
And Lei still had not returned.
His absence made me nervous.
On one side, I hoped that he was safe.
On the other, I couldn't help but feel like the other woman in this situation.
Even though dead, Chanel had Lei’s heart and mind. That was a hard fact to swallow as I closed the book and my thoughts swirled with the images and stories I had just absorbed.
It was pretty much impossible to go to sleep that day.
All I could think about was how these men had grown up in such a brutal, unforgiving environment.
Were they not products and/or victims of a system that demanded violence and strength over love and compassion?
I couldn't help but wonder about the emotional and psychological toll those so-called trials and tests must have taken.
How did it feel to grow up knowing that one's worth, their very place in the world, was measured by their ability to inflict and withstand violence?
And there I was, amidst them, a stranger to this sort of brutality.
Duck had called me a little lamb among wolves, and I felt that way.
Their cruel world was one of unyielding codes and ruthless strength, where every step was a dance on the edge of danger.
Did I even possess the resilience, the inner strength, to survive and find my place among them?
And honestly. . .did I want to?
For the rest of the day, I lay back on the bed, unable to sleep, just staring at the dark blue canvas ceiling of the tent.
How could Leo think I could ever hold any role in their world?
Especially one as high-ranking as Mountain Mistress?
By the afternoon, I finally drifted into a sleep.
In my dreams, I found myself racing under towering clouds and battling blue dragons that soared and swooped with majestic grace.
A crown topped my head, and I gripped a large blue sword.