Jian's observations began with the city lord. The man was seated right next to him, and his presence certainly commanded attention. He had seemed a stalwart and impressive man standing by himself in the courtyard. Here, holding court in his banquet hall, he was truly in his element. Displaying impeccable manners and a stern yet welcoming attitude, he was the very model of a government official.

Jian was coming around to Jinghua's analysis. If the city lord truly had sold out the Empire, the effects would not be so subtle as a mere expansion of the bloody mists. From what he had read in the scroll, interplanar intrusions were the sort of thing that happened very slowly, then all at once. It wasn't unusual for a situation to remain at relative stasis for centuries on end. However, when the tide decisively began to turn against one plane in the struggle for dominance, the other would burst forth with the vigor of an avalanche. Had the city lord been so inclined, he could easily have tipped that balance.

Putting the city lord to the side, Jian took a few bites from his meal. While he had drawn attention with his entrance and was after all the focal point of this banquet, his continued silence had caused others to begin to turn back to their own affairs. That was just as Jian liked it. He was here to observe, not be observed.

His second suspect was the patriarch of the Huang family. He was seated at the head table, but well away from the head of the table itself. For someone of his stature, it would be easy to take something like that as a calculated insult. However, if he was upset, he hid it well. To all appearances he was enjoying the chance to socialize. If he never had any fond words to share for the city lord, well, that was hardly unexpected considering their family rivalry.

Would a mere social slight be enough to push a man to work with demons and devils? Perhaps not the first, but a steady procession of such digs, day after day and year after year, that was the kind of thing that could twist somebody's attitude. Jian had certainly fallen into a rather wild and dangerous mindset in the first few months after he'd discovered his disability and become something of a social pariah within the Guo family.

Jian had eventually grown out of it and learned to curb his ambitions. For an older man who had spent a long life accomplishing everything he set out to do, it would be that much harder to set aside his desires and wounded pride. Put that wounded pride together with the very tangible gain to be had by, for example, causing the city lord to lose his position in the face of the encroaching mists, and the Chen patriarch had the look of a prime suspect.

Jian made sure to get a good look at his face and remember his appearance. He wasn't going to follow the man home or anything like that, but he would at least need to be able to describe him to Shan well enough for him to recognize him later, should he be skulking around somewhere that he shouldn't.

Out of a sense of obligation, Jian spared a glance for Weisheng, the leader of the Chen merchant family who had earned Jingfei's ire. As befit his social status, the man was out among the mass of party goers instead of sitting at the top table. Jian wouldn't have even known who he was if Meirong hadn't helpfully pointed him out during the course of her chattering conversation. Her ability to hide useful information in a stream of meaningless babble was impressive.

He could see how Weisheng would have offended a touchy and beautiful young woman. The man obviously had a gregarious personality. He was surrounded by a circle of guests who were hanging on his every word and having a good time doing it. At the same time, even from where Jian sat he could see that Weisheng had an eye for beauty, to put it politely. An eye for beauties, to be blunt.

The man was no doubt a boor, but it did seem to be a stretch to go from that to assume he was working with demons. Jian made a note to draw a sketch of him for Shan at some point, out of a sense of obligation if nothing else.

While Jian was attempting to keep an eye on the overall social scene, he found his attention continually being drawn back to Meirong. It was one thing to confront her immediately after she insulted both him and his family. Quite another to stand on the other side of negotiations between her and her friends. And yet a third to sit next to her during a social event. As aggravated as Jian was with the mess that she had made of his life, there was no denying her charm.

It wasn't just her looks, though of course that played a part. She had the sort of smile and attitude that could light up a room, making each person she spoke to feel like he was at the center of the world. It was a facet of her personality that Jian had forgotten, buried with the rest of his memories, but he was receiving a vivid reminder here in Baolei Town.

Guest after guest came to the head table after the food had been put away. All of them paid their respects to the city lord out of obligation, of course, but once the necessary respects had been paid they were drawn to Meirong like moths to a flame.

The prestige she carried as a member of the Heavenly Sword Sect explained why so many were eager to greet her, at least in part. It didn't explain why each and every individual lingered in her presence, seeking every excuse to prolong their conversation. Jian might agree with her friend Jingfei that the men were lechers, anxious to stay in the presence of a beauty, but that would be small minded of him. The men he watched were falling into the pull of her effortless charm, not any sort of seduction.

Jian counted himself fortunate that he had been forced into this vow of silence. If he had to chat with Meirong, not just sit next to her, he could have easily fallen under her spell. Their betrothal and pending duel were already complex enough. The last thing he needed to do was to add feelings to the mix.

He forced himself to turn aside and check on Shan. As he'd half expected, his friend was at the center of a crowd of admirers of his own. Everybody would be curious about the banquet's guest of honor, but Jian's position at the head table and his standoffish attitude made him difficult to approach. Shan, with his open and friendly demeanor, was a much easier target for socializing.

That much was part of Jian's plan. He was hoping that Shan would be able to keep an ear to the ground in the city lord's compound, picking up the rumors swirling around Baolei Town. All too often it was the unnoticed people who saw clearly the affairs of the powerful. If ominous gossip surrounded any of the figures of Baolei Town's high society, Jian wanted to know about it.

For his part, Jian couldn't just sit around with his nose in the air for hours on end. He stood, waving off the servant's offer of assistance. Clasping his hands behind his back, Jian made his way to the nearest wall and began studying the mural on display.

Where the Guo family's main hall documented the family's glory and showcased trophies that they had gathered over the years, the city lord's hall was intended as a monument to the power and endurance of the Empire. Year after year, the Verdant Doom encroached on civilized lands. Year after year, it was beaten back.

The perseverance involved in maintaining an eternal war, with no prospect of true victory in sight, wasn't something to be underestimated. The mural Jian had turned his attention to was a meditation on what it meant to fight on against a foe who could never be truly defeated. The bold brushstrokes were a striking contrast to the hopeless subject, a symbol of defiance that was all too familiar to any cultivator. Though the heavens might decree a task impossible, that was no reason for humans to simply give up.

He stood there without moving while the banquet carried on behind him, taking the thought to heart. He faced a series of difficult challenges before he could have the life he wanted. But he had already faced a series of difficult challenges just to continue to draw breath. That he was here, having surpassed the Essence Gathering realm and sent Tingfeng packing back to his sect in humiliation, was already in defiance of the heavens.

Jian nodded to himself, then left the banquet hall to make his way back to his rooms. He did hope that this task wouldn't prove quite so life-threatening as his last trip to the Empire's borders, but there was no sense complaining about its difficulty. After all, if it were easy, he wouldn't be receiving such a valuable reward for doing it.