For the first thirty minutes of the inaugural soak, an air of respectful, calm elegance permeated the Eternal Cedar Bathhouse.
Patriarchs and mortal ministers spoke in hushed, polite tones, savoring the warmth of the thirty-nine-point-five-degree water. Steam rose in graceful plumes toward the twin moons. The clinking of cedar ladles was like the steady rhythm of a secluded mountain temple. Ancient rivalries that had burned across three hundred years seemed to quiet down as joints softened and breathing slowed. Everything was civilized, dignified, and calm.
And then, from the upper terrace row of stone pillars, came the wild, rhythmic clack-clack of claws on polished wooden walkway planks.
Every bather in the Tier 2 Nourishing Jade pool froze, heads turning toward the source of the sudden shaking.
Standing at the high eastern threshold of the soaking deck was Xiao Hei.
The Celestial Moon-Wolf King had not bothered to shrink into his sheepdog pet form. He stood in all his glorious, twelve-foot-long majesty. His coat was a deep, velvet midnight-black that seemed to absorb surrounding shadow, lit up by silver star-pattern runes that pulsed along his ribs and flanks. His intelligent ruby eyes gleamed through the rising steam. His broad chest was puffed out like a war banner.
