Lán fell through the floor and splashed into the lake in his mind. He sank, slowly drifting lower and lower until the light that filtered into the lake became but a speck of dust.

“Where am I” he thought, the words resounded all around him. He felt himself drift even lower.  Anger, grief, sadness, pain. They surrounded him like ravenous sharks looking at easy prey. 

He remembered what was happening, he tried to pull himself up, but there was so much pain and emotion keeping him anchored down. He focused until something broke, he felt himself leave a piece of something behind as he rose towards the surface.

Lán came through an operating table, Saman Pa and his disciples focusing over him as they carefully removed the dagger from his shoulder.

He tried to struggle. He needed to help Baek but his body was not responding. Saman Pa looked up from his focus as he noticed Lán beginning to wake. 

“You are in good hands Lán, now rest” where the last words Lán heard as Saman Pa lulled him back into slumber, grief covering the monk’s face.

Lán came and went to the Azure Palace, everything was hazy and not quite there. He tried to focus as he could tell time was happening faster here than out there. He tumbled and turned inside the maze that had become his mind.

______________________________________________________________________

Lán grumbled as the rays of light that filtered through his room's curtains hit his eyes. He awoke slowly, keenly aware of the pain in his right shoulder, luckily his arm was still there.

He scanned the room and saw his father’s figure stir with him.

“Son” Li’s voice cracked as he held Lán’s hand

“Baek, is he?” Lán asked hopefully, even though deep inside, he already knew the answer to his question.

Li shook his head and embraced his son. Lán cried as he buried himself in his fathers embrace. The sight broke Li’s heart, he was abruptly reminded that even though his son had accomplished what he could not, Lán was still a young man, barely nineteen.

“Im so stupid, how could I not see this happening, how could I not predict that they would come back to hurt us” Lán cried

“It's not your fault my son, they tried attacking us here too” Li held his son tighter “It seems they greatly underestimated us, I captured them quickly and traced their attack back to the Jinzi Merchant Union.” 

“By the time I went to their manors to confront them Guan Baocai and He Suanpan were already dead” Li explained “It seems that as soon as the attack failed The Crimson Flower Society cut off all loose ends”

Lán felt even worse, he should have known that they would go to any lengths to protect their business, it was all his fault, because he made a mistake Baek was dead.

Father and son leaned on each other for some time before Li spoke up. “Son I'm not leaving, I need to make sure you are safe”

“Father, please, you must not” Lán replied through tears “These fiends are still out there, you are the only one of us that has the strength to stop them”

Li’s heart once again felt pain, as always even through the sadness, his son was still thinking of the future.

“Very well, Lord of the Lúse Family, your wish is my command” Li responded.

They embraced each other for a long time, the pain they shared healing slowly through the love they felt for each other.

_________________________________________________________________________

Baek’s funeral was a grim affair, even though he never married, he was a loved and respected member of not only the Lúse Family but of all of Húchéng, his job as a Chief Guard made sure he was well known and helped many people. People from all over town came to pay their respects.

“I'm so sorry Baek, I failed” Lán whispered as he kneeled next to the tombstone.

Saman Pa patted the young man on the back, he knew no words that could heal the young man’s heart, so he stood beside him, being a shoulder to lean on. Baek died before they could perform any kind of emergency treatment, but still he felt the regret of not being able to do anything.

“Where is Shú, I haven't seen her” Lán asked

“I gave her a room to stay in at the Green Lotus” Su Youlan replied as she walked over to her friends “She has gone through a lot, she’s acting like everything is fine” “You should head over and talk to her, maybe you can get through”

_________________________________________________________________________

Lán went to the Green Lotus. He ignored the pain in his shoulder as he knocked politely at the door in front of Shú’s room. After a little bit, the door creaked open.

“Oh, it's you” Shú replied “Please come in”

Lán entered the messy room, the curtains were drawn shut and books, ink, and candles were scattered all over.

“So I've been thinking about what to do next” Shú continued “I think you are right, consolidating power again means that we have to renegotiate with the various lords of the Great Lake of Jianhu, I’ve compiled what little information we have about them in this ledger here”

Lán stopped her “Shú, are you alright?”

“What?” 

.

.

.

.

“Yeah I'm great” Shú replied and continued on with her task.

She continued rambling on for a few minutes before tears started streaking from her face “Oh, I must have caught something in my eye” she said “Here let me”

Lán hugged her before she could continue. Tears started flowing from both of them.

“I lied, I’m not ok” Shú said

“I know, I’m not either” Lán replied.

“Im so scared, what If it happens again, I don't want to kill anyone” Shú said in a panic “I see his blood everytime I close my eyes”

“Shú I promise you, this will never happen again” Lán said, a deep determination filling his voice.