Chapter 6: Rude Visitors |
White smoke twirled above a lighted incense atop a sandalwood desk. The man who sat behind the desk looked forward and asked, “Is it really true?”
The one kneeling in front of him trembled but answered honestly, “Even with ten lives this small one would not dare deceive My Lord. My sister-in-law was insensible the first few days directly after. It was only recently that she regained her senses. Although my wife was unconscious at the time, the neighbors all say there was a bright light flowing out of my house. And also, there is the robe . . .the immortal turned the chicken by his side into a beauty, but he forgot the robe when he left.”
“How interesting.” His phoenix eyes raised in surprise. “Bring him here. I want to see his abilities.”
“Yes My Lord.”
. . .The leaves grew thick and dense on the vines in the courtyard with each passing day. Despite the sweltering summer heat, the days were idle and calm for Xíng Yún. He was lying indolently in the courtyard when a rocking chair suddenly hit him. He looked down to find Shěn Lí rolling on the ground.
“Ah! Why can’t I turn back?! I was definitely able to do it a few days ago for that couple.” Shěn Lí rolled around on the ground lamenting. “These past few days, my qi has definitely filled up again! So why can’t I turn back?!”
Xíng Yún quietly looked at her for a bit before saying, “Stop screaming. And also get some clothes on yourself first.” It wouldn’t be good if she transformed in her current state. His voice fell as he remembered her glorious body in the light that day.
Shěn Lí stopped rolling around to listen to him. “The array you made that day was really powerful. Can you consolidate the essence of the sun and moon in an array?”
“All arrays obey certain laws. What you ask is a violation of those laws.” Xíng Yún laughed. “You’ve been here so many days and you still haven’t noticed?”
“Every time I learn something about you, you become more of a mystery.” She studied the courtyard carefully one more time before making her way over to him. “How do you know so much about array formations? How does a mere mortal like you have the ability to divine Heaven and foresee the future, and yet not have a shred of magical energy? Just who hell are you Xíng Yún?”
Xíng Yún smiled and nodded his head while saying, “I’m a good person.”
“Tch. You’re a weirdo.” Shěn Lí made a circle around him. “You have an odd temperament and you behave strangely. I mean, just look at me. I’m a bald talking chicken that can transform into a person. Yet you express no curiosity or fear of me, instead you chose to welcome me into your home and treat me like a member of your family. Unless . . . did you foresee something?”
“Just because I don’t like foretelling doesn’t mean I think it’s a bad skill to have. I didn’t question you because I didn’t want to pry. We only met recently. Just know that you and I are not inimical to one another.”
Shěn Lí was stupefied at his words so her tone was stern when she spoke. “You must be the most unlucky disciple under Heaven, only slightly better than that loser bald donkey in misfortune.”
Xíng Yún glared at her but didn’t say anything. He spent the rest of that afternoon eating the remainder of the bacon from the market. He refused to look at her after that, not even sparing her a glance despite her continuous pecks at the table legs. He knew she wanted some.
He only picked her up after he finished eating so he could show her the now mostly clean plate. Shěn Lí made a horrified face when she saw the complete absence of bacon. In fact, there were only two measly drops of bacon oil left on the plate! It was so clean . . .
Satisfied, Xíng Yún smiled and said, “I just wanted to prove a point. I’m definitely not the second most unlucky loser under Heaven . . .. That’s all I wanted to say.” He reached over and wiped up the two drops with his finger before carrying the plate away, leaving a frustrated Shěn Lí on the table to kick her legs and flap her wings in anger.
“Spit it out! Spit it out now you bastard!”
A knock resounded on the door just as he reached the courtyard. With the plate still in his hand, he turned around to answer it. Upon opening the door, he was greeted by the sight of three men in royal brocade uniforms. One was dressed in red while the other two were dressed in blue. Each carried a sword at his hip and a solemn expression on his face. They appeared to be guards of some rank.
The one in red said, “Young Master, My Lord wishes to see you.”
Xíng Yún smiled and said, “You have the wrong person.” He backed up a few steps after saying so, intending to close the door. The guard didn’t care what Xíng Yún thought. Instead, he reached over and roughly grabbed Xíng Yún’s arm, causing him to lose his grip on the plate and dropping it to the floor.
“We’ll be the judge of that.”
Xíng Yún lost his smile. “I dislike being forced.”
At this comment the red guard sucker punched Xíng Yún in the abdomen causing him to double over in pain on the floor.
“And I don’t like people who talk back to me.” He looked contemptuously down at Xíng Yún then told the other guards to grab him. They yanked him roughly to his feet with the intentions of pulling him out of the courtyard. As they did so, Xíng Yún knocked a stone over. It flipped on its side, changing the formation in the yard.
Suddenly a bright light flashed and a measured voice rang out, “Beat him up and drag him away!”
Xíng Yún laughed when he heard the voice.
“Who’s there?!” cried out the red uniformed guard.
A woman walked out while tying her hair up with a strip of cloth. The outfit she had on was smeared with dirt and quite bedraggled looking.
Although she spoke harshly earlier, she felt differently when saw Xíng Yún bent over in obvious pain and the rough way the guards were holding him. “Who are you? Are you tired of living? How dare you come in here and behave like thugs provoking this K . . . er . . . girl.”
Back in the Demon realm, Shěn Lí had a reputation for being fiercely protective of her subordinates, not allowing anyone to punish or reprimand them. Although this was in part because she loved them like family, it was mostly because she had a reputation to uphold. How could she allow others to bully the subordinates of the mighty the Azure Sky king?! However, this didn’t mean she let her men do as they pleased. Anyone under her command caught committing misdeeds were swiftly punished by her, with some punishments being so severe the recipients were scared half to death. The Xíng Yún in front of her was obviously being bullied. How dare these mortals!
Upon hearing the voice the red guard frowned. Although the owner of the voice dressed like a pauper, her eyes were sharp and she gave off an air of authority. This made him pause as he knew there were many crouching tigers and hidden dragons in the city. He decided to act with caution and pulled forth the golden ID tablet at his waist to show her. “I act on behalf of his Royal Highness My Lord the Crown Prince, who has requested that the young master go to the palace for an audience. Does the young miss understand?”
“Eh . . . do I understand?” Even without the ability to cast magic, she knew her martial arts would be more than sufficient to handle the three in front of her. She reached over and grabbed the ID tablet from his hand, and with a twist easily broke it in two, tossing the broken token at his feet. She glared at him. “Why don’t you spell it out for me?” She then attacked each guard in quick succession.
The guards were caught completely by surprise, only feeling their world fade to black after experiencing a sharp pain on the back of their heads. By the time they regained their senses they were lying in a heap outside.
Shěn Lí stared at the trio with narrowed eyes. “I don’t care what kind of royalty your master is, if he wants to meet my people ,he can come over himself!” She promptly slammed the door closed in their faces after saying so.
The guards stood up, dusted themselves off and looked at one another. They were unsure what to do and were considering their options when two objects suddenly shot out at them. One more inch and they would have been injured severely. Looking carefully at it, they realized they were the broken pieces of the golden ID tablet. After a moment of silence, the trio quickly left.
Back in the courtyard Xíng Yún stood up, and while holding onto his abdomen looked over at Shěn Lí. With a smirk he asked, “So when did I become your “people”?
She ignored his question and instead asked one of her own. “What is that?” she said pointing to the stone that was overturned earlier.
“A stone.”
She gave him a hard look. “Do you want another beating?”
“Uh . . . well . . . that is to say, it’s a stone placed in the eye of the formation.”
“Why would you put a stone there?”
“ . . . to suppress the power of the formation.”
“Why would you want to suppress it?”
Xíng Yún looked at her and debated mentally for a moment before answering. “Because it would have given you enough energy to change form, which would have made it awkward to play with you. Plus, an unwed man and woman living together in the same house . . . that’s just not proper. So I put the stone there the second night you showed up.”
“ . . .what you mean to say is that by the third day you brought me back, I could have already regained my human form . . . When I ran out that day, if I could have done so as a person. I wouldn’t have been plucked by those mortals and nearly turned into stew!” She was mortified just remembering it.
“Yeah about that . . . I am sorry.” Xíng Yún gave a helpless sigh and said, “It has been difficult for me too. Another of my secrets has seen through by you.”
Huh? He had the nerve to apologize? The ordeal had been difficult for him? Come again? She was the one with the rights to be sad! With one rock this guy had managed to do so much damage to her dignity as the Azure Sky king. He must have done it on purpose, taking enjoyment from her struggles!
In her heart Shěn Lí had the strong urge to kill him, however she refrained and instead said through gritted teeth emphatically stressing out each syllable, “I . . . don’t . . . hate . . . you . . . e . . .nough . . . to . . . kill . . . you.” She looked at Xíng Yún only to find him on the ground clutching his stomach. “Eh? Don’t bother! It’s too late to grovel now.”
Xíng Yún grimaced and said, “No, just . . . cough!” Before he could finish his words he fell forward and fainted to the ground.
Shěn Lí immediately saw that Xíng Yún was pale and looked quite weak. She realized the beating he suffered from the guards earlier must have done quite a number on him. He already had a weak constitution to begin with. Seeing him like this took the wind go out of her sails, leaving her anger completely deflated. She reached for his pulse and saw that his face had lost all the blood in it, leaving him as pale as a ghost. His pulse was incredibly slow as well.
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