Dragon's Soul: An End's Beginning

by Tony Tran

  “If you would lend me an ear princess.” Si Ren said as he appeared next to Yuying in a blur and whispered something into her ear.

  After conveying whatever he was ordered to convey Si Ren handed Yuying a red and black colored jade pendant shaped like a butterfly. Once he had accomplished his task Si Ren’s body began turning into black smoke and faded away.

  But then suddenly he appeared right next to Zhang.

  “Oh yes his highness told me to give you this and for you to visit sometime with his grandkids.” Si Ren said while handing Zhang a jade bottle and then started fading away once more.

  “Tell father that I'll come visit sometime.” Yuying said just as Si Ren disappeared. Beneath the red veil a bright smile was present along with two streams of joyful tears.

  “You're kidding me…Where does everyone get these things?” Zhang thought as he held onto the jade bottle.

  He didn't know whether to laugh or cry because the Yama was the last person he would expect to give him such a thing. To be honest Zhang would have counted himself lucky if no one from the Underworld showed up and tried to ruin the wedding. But as the heavens favored him this didn't happen but instead contrary to that it seems as if the Yama has accepted the fact that he and Yuying were getting married and there wasn't anything that could prevent it from happening.

  Once Si Ren disappeared the dreadful aura dissipated and from the looks on everyone's face it was as if they were set in a daze.

  “A toast to everyone here.” Zhang said trying to start the festivities once more. However, after his words snapped the guests out of their daze they began questioning what had happened just now.

  “I don't know why but my memory just now went fuzzy and I don't remember what I was doing.” One man said.

  “What are you talking about that man dressed in black just showed up and disappeared.” Another man whom from the amount of essence that was being released from his body was most likely a level six cultivator said.

  “Everyone a toast to the groom and the brides!” Jian Wei said trying to help Zhang reignite the festivities.

  Of course once the lord of the province opened his mouth everyone present had to listen so this the festivities began once more.

  “Everyone please give me your attention.” Jian Wei said after walking out into the center of the rows of tables.

  “To add to this joyous occasion I would like to announce the creation of the Aurora Kingdom, our kingdom will encompass the Red Mist Province and all of the land between it and Aurora. On top of that the Heavenly Sword Province will also be a part of our kingdom. As king of this new Kingdom I proclaim my foster son to be the crown prince of Aurora!” Jian Wei said in a loud dignified voice.

  After his words finished a roar of cheers reverberated from the mansion all the way throughout the city. Of course not everyone was cheering, dozens of dignitaries from other provinces had creases across their brows.

  The creation of a kingdom in the warring states region had never happened before, besides when the Sai Empire ruled over the entire region. So the creation of the Aurora Kingdom could be viewed as a challenge to the rest of the provinces in the land.

  “As the minister of war of the Heilong Kingdom and the father in law of the crown prince of Aurora I offer my full support.” Wu Tong said to imply that if one wished to go against Aurora would have to face the Heilong Kingdom also.

  “I prince of the Shu Kingdom also offer crown prince Zhang my full support.” Shu Shang said while standing up from his seat in the crowd and seated beside him were his two beautiful wives.

  With the powerful Shu kingdom behind their backs no one would dare to start trouble against the Aurora Kingdom for now.

  “To the Aurora Kingdom and to my boss Prince Zhang!!” Gan Ning yelled as he lifted up a large jug of wine and began chugging it.

  “Boss! Don't drink too much you know what happens when you get drunk!” A few of Gan Ning’s men said. But he ignored them and continued anyway.

  Once the drinking began the brides were escorted to the bridal chambers and Zhang began offering a toast at every table of guests.

  At each table Zhang stopped at he would be forced to drink but this was especially true when he arrived at the tables where his generals were seated.

  “Boss come here and drink with me!” Gan Ning yelled as he shoved a large jug of wine at Zhang. Strangely after the battle at the Beast’s Gorge, Gan Ning started referring to Zhang as his boss. So after then Zhang became a boss’s boss.

  “As your boss I'll show you how it's done.” Zhang said merrily while ripping off the red paper covering the wine jug and began chugging it.

  After finishing the jug of wine Zhang moved onto the next table where Guan Yu was seated. Upon arriving Zhang notices that Guan Yu had flushed cheeks and is mumbling something to Wei Yan who was seated next to him, a somewhat clear indicator that he was drunk.

  “General Guan Yu! I'm glad that you could make it.” Zhang said to Guan Yu.

  “You there! You better not bully the young lady or treat her badly, else I'll come and get you.” Guan Yu said drunkenly and afterwards gulped down a cup of wine.

  “General Guan Yu you must be kidding, I think Lingqi will be the one doing the bullying. Now let's drink!” Jian Wei said as he appeared out of nowhere and lifted up a cup of wine.

  Seeing that Jian Wei was there to take the bullet for him Zhang quickly sneaked off to another table where Sima Yi was sitting with his wife and sipping wine.

  Unlike Gan Ning and Guan Yu, Sima Yi took his time to savor the drink instead of simply gulping it down.

  “Duke Sima Yi and the lovely miss Xia Mei.” Zhang said jokingly once he arrived at the table and offering a toast.

  “To the crown prince!” Sima Yi replied happily as he and his wife lifted their cups of wine and toasted Zhang.

  By now the cheerful atmosphere was thriving and everyone was happily drinking or eating. It was a sight to behold as the nobles and social elite mingled with the common folk that like them were invited to attend the wedding.

  Men and women whom would never have the chance to ever cross paths or socialize were merrily conversing and drinking with each other. But of course these people were only drinking and talking with each other and nothing more since marrying or trying to court someone above your social class was still frowned upon. Also with the number of generals and dignitaries present no one dared to do anything out of line.

  As the festivities continued on, beautiful dancers filed in and began dancing. With graceful movements and precision cooperation, these dancers were able to mesmerize many of the guests.

  Accompanying the dancers were musicians playing on flutes, zithers, drums and bells. Together these performers were able to elevate each other to a higher level.

  However, as their performance ended a beautiful voice drifted into the ears of the guests. An angelic voice accompanied with a soul stealing melody of a zither was being emitted from somewhere else in the mansion to where the guests were.

  While the singing and melody continued the dancers began to dance once more. To be able to dance to such a voice and melody was certainly a once in a lifetime opportunity.

  Waving their fans and twirling long silk ribbons the dancers tried their best to keep up with the song’s verses. One could say that such a performance will help skyrocket the popularity of these dancers to an unheard of level.

  However as mysteriously as the singing and melody began it just as mysteriously ended.

  “Lingqi…” Zhang muttered in a whisper after the singing and music ended. From the verses of the song and the tone of the voice Zhang could tell that she was clearly in a very good mood.

  After Lingqi’s song ended the dancers ceased their movements and bowed as an applause and loud cheering soon followed after.

  “Guess I should get back to it or else I'll never make it to the bed chambers.” Zhang mumbled as he continued going from table to table to offer a toast since it was customary to d
o so.

  ==================================

  As the merry making continued at Zhang’s wedding a man dressed in pure black clothing was making his way through a dense forest. After some time, he arrived at the base of a large waterfall, however seeing the raging river and the gushing waterfall the man did not stop. Rather he continued to walk until he stepped onto the water’s surface and walked through the waterfall.

  Behind the waterfall was a large cavern and as the man proceeded a few steps forward, he lifted his hand up revealing a red and black jade pendant shaped like a butterfly. From the jade butterfly a red ray of energy shot out into the ground. Moments later the earth began rumbling as pure white bones began rising out of it.

  Soon a massive set of gates made entirely out of white bones was formed. In the center of the gates were a pair of large skeletons with only the upper half of their body visible. These two skeletons were sticking out from both sides of the gate and were facing each other with their skeletal arms interlocked. While giving off an eerie aura the skeletons began moving and their arms parted from each other and the gates slowly opened.

  Once the gates were open a thick greenish fog drifted out into the cavern. Ignoring the fog, the man dress in black stepped straight into the opened gates.

  In an instant the man arrived at the other side of the gate and appearing before him was a sky where the sun doesn't shine. Not too far from the gates were thousands of soldiers and a man with fiery red hair.

  “Si Ren you're back, did you accomplish your task?” The man with fiery red hair asked.

  “Your highness I've delivered the message and a Samsara Seal Pendant to the princess and the jade bottle has also been delivered.” The man dressed entirely in black said respectfully.

  “The princess also wanted me to tell you your highness that she will come back and visit sometime.” Su Ren added.

  “That's good, although I don't approve of their marriage there's nothing I can do. The rice has been cooked and if I force her to return she'll only drift further away.” The man who is Yuying’s father, also known as the Yama said with a sigh.

  “Finding her was also extremely difficult, the Book of Fate proved to be useless and had I not heard of a wedding taking place between a man and vague descriptions of the brides, I wouldn't have been able to locate the princess.” Si Ren complained.

  “Brides?” The Yama asked.

  “Yes the Princess's husband was marrying her and three other young women from the looks of it.” Si Ren replied truthfully.

  “WHAT!!!!? That bastard wasn't satisfied with my daughter alone?” The Yama yelled as he stomped his foot onto the ground causing cracks to appear. As if reflecting his rage, the fiery pits of hell began spewing fire.

  “That bastard, to think I even gave him a Spiritual Cleansing Dan to strengthen his cultivation so he could protect Yuying.” The Yama cursed.

  “Just you wait when you arrive in the Underworld I'll send you so deep down in the eighteen floors that you'll never see the light of day again…”

  “I guess the sinners are in for it again.” Si Ren thought since the last time the Yama fell into rage because of Princess Yuying the sinners in the Underworld suffered more than usual.

  From then on the pits of hell remained a tiny bit hotter than before and the punishments in hell became a tad harsher.

  Chapter 90: Intoxication

  With the moon hung high and the sun out of sight, Zhang could only be described as dead drunk. After visiting every single table of guests and drinking enough wine to fill a small pond Zhang could no longer even walk in a straight line.

  Sadly, the Underworld Heart could regrow limbs and even was able to bring Zhang back from the brink of death but it wouldn't cure the dizziness he was experiencing.

  “It's time for the groom to go to the bridal chambers!!” Wu Tong yelled as he stood beside Zhang. Soon a small mob of men gathered around and lifted Zhang into the air, then headed toward the bridal chambers.

  “This way! Follow me everyone!” Wu Tong said as he took the lead.

  “Ling consider this your father giving you a head start one the others.” Wu Tong thought with a chuckle as he directed everyone to take Zhang toward the bridal chamber his daughter was waiting in.

  “Where are you taking him! We are going the wrong way. The young ladies bridal chamber is this way!” Guan Yu yelled as he tried to stand upright while pointing toward Lingqi’s bridal chambers. Guan Yu was clearly as drunk as Zhang if not more from the way his body was swaying from side to side as if it could fall over at any moment.

  “Hmph I know where we are taking him.” Wu Tong said to Guan Yu.

  “You're both wrong the boss should be headed in this direction!” Gan Ning yelled as he pointed toward Yuying's bridal chambers. In an instant he had grabbed Zhang with one arm while holding a jug of wine in the other.

  Beside Gan Ning’s signature pair of dangling bells hung a large sack of gold that he did not have when he arrived at the wedding. If one could put one thing together with another, then it was clear that he had taken a bribe or was paid to join Yuying’s cause.

  Mixed into the crowd that was lifting Zhang into the air was Jian Wei who was shaking his head.

  “Lu Xun, Sun Ce and Leng Zai grab him and take him to Ai’s chamber.” He said as he saw that no one was helping Ai out.

  “As you wish your highness.” The three men replied in unison as they rushed at Gan Ning.

  “Not so fast if you want to get to our boss then you must get passed us.” Gan Ning’s men said as they formed a wall in front of him.

  “Out of my way!” Guan Yu roared as he and Wei Yan jumped passed Gan Ning’s wall of men.

  “Huh!? You old farts looking for a fight?” Gan Ning roared as he let go of Zhang and engaged Guan Yu and Wei Yan in battle.

  Soon after a large brawl broke out without any clear indication of who was on whose side. Fists swung left and right as everyone fought for supremacy.

  As everyone fought wildly Zhang could be seen stumbling about as he walked off while leaning against a wall.

  Watching from afar Sima Yi could only mutter the word, “imbeciles…”

  “My lord it seems these men were too caught up in fighting and lost track of their goals. Should we give the young lord a helping hand? Little sister Lingqi did give me this very pretty bracelet after all.” Sima Yi’s wife Xia Mei said to her husband.

  “Ha she got to you too it seems our young lord is going to be in over his head. I say we leave it to fate, it's not right to meddle in such things.” Sima Yi laughed while shaking his head as he watched Zhang walk off.

  While pushing against the wall to keep from falling Zhang made his way through the mansion without a goal in mind. In his robes were the three jade bottles that he received from Sima Yi, Jian Wei and his father. He had realized that the contents of the bottle that he received from Si Ren was not used for the same purpose as the other three bottles so it wasn't withdrawn from his interspatial ring.

  After a while Zhang detected they smell of sweet apples drifting into his nose. Following this sent he made his way into a brightly lit room where a young woman dressed in a red bridal gown with a red veil draping over her hand sat waiting.

  With the world around him spinning about Zhang tumbled over as his foot was caught by the door frame when he tried to make his way inside the room.

  “Brother are you okay?” A worried voice sounded out and an instant later as a pair of delicate arms wrapped around Zhang’s arm to help him up while a red veil slowly fell to the ground.

  But as Zhang was being helped up he stumbled once more and fell over onto his helper. That was when he felt his hand press against a soft object wasn’t too small nor too large since it was able to be perfectly cupped by his hand. With his vision blurred Zhang tried to figure out what this object was through touch but the only thing that resulted from this was a soft moan.

  “Brother you can’t not yet, not with the door wide open.”
A soft voice whispered into Zhang’s ear. Not long after two gentle hands pushed Zhang over onto his hand and the sound of wooden doors closing shut followed.

  Then once more two gentle hands helped Zhang who was still intoxicated up. After a few steps the two reached a large bed at the end of the room. Once Zhang was laid out on the bed the gentle hands swiftly helped him out of his robes and as he robes were thrown onto the floor three jade bottles rolls out. Now Zhang was laying atop the bed with only his undergarments on.