17. The Essence of the Cloud Dragon
Chapter seventeen
The Essence of the Cloud Dragon
Monique
When is Lei going to return?
Once back in the tent, I undressed, put on my pajamas, searched for my phone, and never found it.
Did Lei take my phone?
However, I did find two books underneath my pillow just like Duck had promised.
Both were bound in rich, dark blue leather, but The Essence of the Cloud Dragon was the thickest.
I started with that one and made so many notes.
I couldn't deny that it was a window into the world Lei had grown up in. Every page revealed shocking history.
Hours passed, and I delved deeper, reading about traditions bound by stringent, often brutal codes.
The rituals, far from mere formalities, were definite tests of strength, loyalty, and resolve, designed to forge leaders and warriors out of the members.
One passage detailed a pivotal moment in Lei's life when he was just fourteen. It described his violent rite of passage, a bloody trial where Lei had to fight for the throne.
And the text didn't shy away from the details—it spoke of a young Lei, facing opponents much older and experienced, defeating them in a series of grueling combat.
But Lei's trials didn't end there.
On his eighteenth birthday, Lei faced another daunting ceremony. This time, it was a continuous six-hour duel with many challengers. There, he had to defend his position again and again. Apparently, this was to ensure that only the strongest and most capable leader would guide the Four Aces.
Lei's victory in this duel cemented his position as the undisputed leader.
As if that wasn't enough violence, the book also shed light on the paths of Duck and Chen.
Before Duck could take on his current role as Red Pole , he had to endure a series of strategic tests, designed to assess his intelligence, cunning, and loyalty. One night, he was taken from his bedroom without any warning and thrown into a forest, blindfolded with his hands and ankles tied. Of course, there was no food, water, or weapons given.
Duck was expected to return within seven days or face disappointment and no chance of ever being Red Pole. In fact, if he failed, the text explained that he would forever hold the lowest position possible with no chance of ever being promoted.
Somehow, Duck returned to the East on the third day, bruised, scarred, and starving, but alive.
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.
I was awakened in the late evening by one of my men.
He gently shook my shoulder.
I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and sat up to find a grand dinner laid out before me.
Several dishes decorated the table next to the bed—platters of seafood, bowls of aromatic soups with herbs floating on top, and dishes of perfectly cooked meats garnished with vibrant, fresh vegetables.
I breathed in the intoxicating aromas, left the bed, and grabbed my robe. “Is Lei here?”
The man shook his head and left the tent.
O-kay.
I went up to the table and lowered into the chair.
This is bullshit.
The lavish dinner before me was superficial in the wake of this craziness—Lei's obsession with Chanel, his absence, his world that was so brutally alien to me.
If he's going to be gone the whole time then I don't need to be here.
I picked at the food.
And where the fuck is my phone? I'm going to have to get one of my men to give me theirs.
The more I thought about it, the clearer my decision became.
I needed to leave this mountain and head back home.
I'm out of here.
Yet. . .to my shock, at the very idea, a part of me ached.
Hey. . .you've been in this surreal reality for days. Your mind is spinning. All will go back to normal tomorrow.
Then, I noticed a sealed envelope resting beside my plate.
What?
My name was on it.
Curious, I opened the envelope, slid out the letter, unfolded the thick paper, and read it.
Monique,
I'm sorry that I haven't been there but that changes tomorrow.
Arrangements have been made for a helicopter to pick you up in the morning.
Until then, if you need anything, ask your men.
Lei
I frowned, having so many questions.
Why hadn't he returned?
Where was the helicopter taking me?
And more important, where the fuck was my phone?
Pissed, I put the note on the table, rose from my chair, went to the tent's entrance, and peeked my head out.
Two of the five men had been talking. They stopped and turned my way.
“Hey.” I stepped outside. “I would like a phone. Can you bring me one? Or let me use yours?”
They exchanged glances.
Then, one man cleared his throat. “We are not authorized to give you a phone.”
“Why not?”
They remained silent.
“Lei told you not to give me a phone?”
No response came.
Sighing, I stepped back into the tent and frowned.
So. . .you're going to chase after your dead ex but also keep me trapped on your mountain?
I headed over to the table to grab the bottle of wine and spotted a little box next to it, wrapped in shimmering blue paper.
I quirked my brows.
So. . .a gift is supposed to make me forget this bullshit?
I picked it up, tore off the wrapping paper, and pulled the top away from the box.
A small pendant lay inside, shaped like four miniature aces cards, each fashioned from gleaming platinum. The cards were arranged in a subtle, interlocking design.
Embedded in each card were tiny diamonds.
I lifted it out of the box.
Surely, Lei wanted me to dutifully fasten the pendant around my neck and await his next orders.
Taking my phone is not cool.
I rolled my eyes, placed the pendant back in the box, and put it on the table.
Lei, you may be the Mountain Master but you have a lot to learn about women.
Sighing, I grabbed the bottle of wine, went over to the bed, and picked up the Four Aces' historical log.
This book ended up being equally absorbing. It was a meticulous record of the Four Aces' evolution, starting from its inception under Leo.
He'd arrived in the States, fleeing trouble in China with his brothers, sisters, and pregnant wife—a wife who had apparently been the girlfriend of a dangerous Triad leader.
Once they arrived here, Leo worked three jobs, stole items like guns, jewelry, and TVs, and then sold them to anyone that would buy them.
Weapons ended up being his top money maker.
I read about Leo's time in Paradise City—key decisions and pivotal moments, and the other leaders who had made them. I had to admit that Leo emerged from the pages as a figure of immense vision and strength, but that was probably what he had intended from the log after all.
This is all crazy.
I stayed up all night, unable to tear myself away from the log. With each detailed account, I gained a deeper understanding of the Four Aces and, by extension, Lei himself.
The organization wasn't just a part of his life; it was woven into his very identity.
I fell back to sleep, tipsy and even more unsure of my place among the wolves.
What will happen tomorrow? And where will that helicopter be taking me?