'Okay, so I'll put one here, and then another one over here. I should hurry up though, Shen Ming and Ling Wan should be back soon. I'm glad I know this route, at the very least, anyway.'

Place her talismans all over the place while quietly humming along to the pink panther theme, she found herself in front of a large door that didn't look like it belonged to an ordinary room.

Taking a huge risk, she slowly opened the door and found herself in a large office littered the scrap pieces of paper and blank talismans.

'I've hit the jackpot. ' 

Looking through the papers, she mainly just found useless things, however one thing caught her eye.

"This... But this is. How?" She quietly gasped.

In her hands were the defence maps of Cloud Recesses. It had everything, from its layout to its former weak points. Emphasis on the word 'former'. Ever since she had updated the wards and their defences, these papers were now basically useless, which they had probably figured out already, as something that important wouldn't just be lying around like this.   

'Who gave them this information? As far as I'm concerned, the Lans have airtight security. This information is fairly outdated, so it can't have been from before I became a sect leader. But the main question is who? The Lans are known for their moral integrity, but could it have been an outer disciple? Maybe, they sent in spies to extract information?'

Burning the layout plans with her spiritual energy, she kept rummaging around, hoping to find any information pertaining to the mole inside the Lan Sect. 

'No, no, no! There's nothing in here that can help me! I should just leave; I've done enough for one day anyway.' 

About to open the door to rush back to her room, she froze when she heard footsteps from outside the door. 

Panicking she ran over to a large screen and hid behind it, not even daring to breath as she heard the door open.

TaiFeng managed to make out the silhouettes of seven Wens, one of them was the silhouette of a woman who she couldn't recognize.

Going over to the messy table, the woman rummaged through the papers, finding what she was looking for, she spoke.

"I've got what I was looking for, you can all leave now." She spoke in an assertive tone. 

It was Wen Qing!

As the Wen disciples slowly left the room, Wen Qing pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration. 

"Psst, Qing-jie." TaiFeng whisper yelled.                                                                                                                "I'm over here, behind the screen."

"...TaiFeng?!" She said, rushing over behind the screen.

"Uh, surprise? Don't ask, but long story short, I'm kind of your in-law now."  She awkwardly chuckled.

"So, my cousin really did take you as a con-"

"Please don't finish that sentence." She sighed, cutting her off.  " Just...Let me hold onto this tiny bit of pride I have left." 

"What are you doing here? If he finds you it won't be good. You should go back to your quarters as soon as possible. I don't need anyone else getting hurt, I've had to deal with enough injured Wens for one day." 

"Injured? " TaiFeng optimistically purred. "So.. is my side winning, what's going on outside? Have there been any major defeats for the Wens?" 

"So far the forces have been decimated heavily in Gusu and YueYang." She explained. 

'Yes! Home team for the win!'

"What exactly happened in YueYang?" She questioned, heavily worried about her sect. 

"You should have seen it. Your disciple Gao Song threw a wine jar at Wen Chao from across the barrier and broke his nose." Wen Qing slightly smiled. 

"God, I love those kids." She proudly said, relaxing a bit, knowing that they were safe. "What about Xichen?.. How is he?" 

"I haven't really been able to get much info on anything else. I'm sorry." Wen Qing solemnly explained. 

"Oh, I see. But hey, at least our side is winning? Not like that really helps me, but, I might be out of here sooner than I thought." She sighed, pinching he bridge of her  nose in frustration.

"Ugh, well, what's your plan? I'm just going to stay here for as long as I can, and try to get more information." 

"TaiFeng, do really intend to stay with my cousin?... You know he.. isn't in his right mind. I'm worried for you." Wen Qing said, grasping TaiFeng's hands. "You could get hurt."

"I don't care." She said caringly, as she deeply cared.

 "I get hurt all the time, and I haven't died yet, so."

"I have to go now, or they'll get suspicious ... Just please try not to die." She said, turning towards the door. 

 "I'll try to try." She said smiling.  "...But if I do die, just know I'm bringing at least twenty people down to Hell with me." 

 " Well, I.....What... What makes you think you would be going to Hell?"  

"You don't know everything about me." She deviously grinned. "Now, go quickly, before somebody catches us. You go left, I'll go right. "

Nodding, Wen Qing swiftly left the room, rushing down the left side of the hall, while Taifeng rushed down the right. 

"I guess I should get back to my room. Ugh, At least there's food waiting for me."

Creeping own the winding halls, she finally came to her room. Carefully slipping in, she slowly entered with her back facing the door  

'I'm getting a lot better at figuring out which hallway is which.'  She thought, closing the door firmly. 'Ooh~ I can smell the pork!'

"Did you miss me?" A voice from behind her whispered, before wrapping his filthy hands around her chest.

"Wen Xu, don't even think about it." She hissed, before she felt a hand go inside her robes. 

"Wen Xu! Just because I don't have a sword, doesn't mean I can't send you straight to hell!"

"Oh, really? Well, then who would protect your dearest brothers?" he chuckled, his hands not stopping. " And last time I checked you were mine. So why can't I do what I want with my things?" 

"The circumstances have changed, they can protect themselves.  I don't have to do shit! Now let me go!" She struggled.

Still not letting go, Wen Xu's hands ventured further, exploring more territory.

'No, no, no. This cant happen! I need to get out of here! Someone help!'

Struggling for her life, she managed to momentarily slip out of his grasp. Which was just enough time to reach into her robes and pull out a dagger.

Aiming for his eyes, she lunged forward, with all her might.

"Go to hell!" She screamed. 

Still a little dazed, Wen Xu managed to get a hold of the dagger with shaky hands, the blade digging into the palms of his hands. Anyone else would have had there knife snatched away from them, ending in utter defeat. But this was Qian TaiFeng. 

Matching his strength, she kept pushing forward, not blinking for a second. 

"Wen Xu. Did you really think I would just obey your every order like a good, obedient wife?" She said, through clenched teeth. "Dream on!" 

Pushing further, she kicked him in the stomach. Taking the knife firmly in her hands, she ran forward and slashed him across his face, leaving an extremely deep, heavily bleeding gash over his left eye. Blood sprayed all over the room, staining TaiFeng's face along with the satin curtains 

Writhing in agony on the floor, he was constantly screaming his throat out in in pain. 

Taking this opportunity, she hovered over him with a look of burning, molten steel in her  gleaming, now chartreuse eyes. Her face coloured in formidable war paint that was her adversary's still warm and odorous blood.  

Taking the silver dagger in her bruised shaking hands, she held it high above her head, the light refracting off the blade like a halo of heavenly light. Wen Xu was far too unclean and malefic to die in such a way.  It would be far too beautiful a sight to be Wen Xu's last.  

"Wen Xu." She softly spoke. Gently smiling  like she wasn't about to impale a knife through his heart. 

"Consider this a divorce."