Blue Phoenix

by Tinalynge

  “I’m back,” Xu Piao sighed heavily as he moved into the room, “Li Shao, I need you to prepare a room for each of us in the mercenary quarters. All of the rooms need to be first class and close to each other. I’ll be bringing my guests with me to the meeting room, pick us up when you have accomplished the task.”

  Hearing Xu Piao’s order, Hui Yue guessed where they were and what was happening. The giant man did not wait for any other orders, instead, he quickly bowed to the Guild Master and turned around barking orders to the men around him.

  Xu Piao smiled at the efficiency with which his men worked and without waiting any longer he brought Hui Yue and the others towards a room which seemed to have been closed.

  “Li Shao is my second in command of the Mercenary Guild,” Xu Piao said on the way, “Since we have a whole city filled with mercenaries it is common for the leader of the Mercenary Guild within the Demon Dwelling Cave to have a main office in Mercenary City, and sometimes I need to travel to the capital for business, as even in the capital mercenaries can be found. So the vice-president has to do the job here.”

  The explanation was not needed, as everyone already guessed what was happening, but even so they valued the fact that Xu Piao was open about everything. The six of them needed to be able to trust one another when it came to the trip they were about to embark on.

  “I suggest we stay here for a few days,” Hui Yue said while he looked at the elaborate carvings and beautiful surroundings of the Mercenary Guild. “I have an idea,” He continued, his words instantly making everyone curious.

  “Currently we are on a mission and if anyone is to check our emblems they’ll show that we are on a mission for the Dragon Corps and that the mission is delivering information.”

  “My suggestion is that we see if we can find another mission here in the capital, a mission where we protect someone travelling to the next few caves, or perhaps transport some items.”

  “If we have another mission like that, someone seeing our emblems will not leak the information about the Dragon Corps mission since the newest mission is the one shown.”

  “Moving with other people will also limit the possibility of having someone attack us. In every way I think an escort mission would be the best, but let us spend a couple of days to relax and reenergize ourselves before we find a mission like that.”

  Hearing Hui Yue’s suggestion everyone slowly nodded their heads. They remembered looking at the billboards earlier and there was an immense amount of escort missions, but at that time none of them wished to travel with others, back then they were certain that they could move on their own.

  Now the situation was somewhat different and an escort mission was exactly what they were in need of. After thinking it through a smile appeared on everyone’s faces.

  “While you are in the capital, you ought to spend some time shopping,” Xu Piao continued, “The capital has every delicacy you can imagine. We get items imported from the other caves. Be it food or precious materials, even medicinal herbs, everything can be bought as long as you have enough coins or cores.”

  Hearing this smiles were evident on all the youngsters’ faces, but there was one thing they wanted far more than to go shopping. Having been on the road for a long time, stuck within an illusion for even longer, with no warm water where they could wash themselves and clean off the dirt from their travel, not to mention warming their taut muscles which had been on constant alert fearing a second attack sent by Zhou Long this was something they longed for.

  Seeing their faces, Xu Piao was instantly able to tell what they were thinking and laughter escaped his lips, spreading throughout the conference room in which they were seated. Just as Hui Yue was about to retort, knocking could be heard from the door and Li Shao entered inside his large frame humbly bowing down to the seated Xu Piao.

  “The rooms have been prepared,” He said with a gentle voice, “Let me take Guild Master and his esteemed friends towards their rooms, warm baths have already been prepared for everyone.”

  Hearing the words warm baths was enough to release a collective sigh of longing and swiftly everyone stood up, none of them interested in waiting longer than needed. Even Xu Piao, himself, felt as though his tired body became light and they all moved quickly as though floating towards the way Li Shao led them.

  The giant was shocked to see how everyone was desperate for a warm bath. He was aware that they came from Mercenary City and although the trip was a week long, it was not something so draining that the Guild Master and his friends would be exhausted to this extent.

  Of course Li Shao was unaware of the challenges they faced on the way, instead he imagined that they finished a mission. The gentle giant admired Xu Paio and he could not believe that his Guild Master would be tired from nothing more than a simple trip to the capital.

  Li Shao stepped forward and led the group of people through the main hall once more, and as they entered the hall they left the big house through the back walking to another building close by. This building was much larger than the one they had just left. He entered and took the staircase to the top floor, still followed by Hui Yue’s group of cultivators.

  “These rooms are only available to Gold ranked mercenaries,” Li Shao said with an serious voice and he gestured to the ten doors in front of him, which lead to their respective rooms. “Chose a room you like, they all have adjourned bathrooms where a heated bath is awaiting you.”

  Hearing this, everyone quickly thanked Li Shao before they rushed into the rooms, none of them caring much for which rooms they took, as all that mattered to them was the warm bath. Rushing into their rooms they all quickly stripped their clothes off before they collapsed in the warm water, enjoying how their muscles were screaming in delight.

  The bath took long and no one was willing to leave the soothing waters, yet after an hour Hui Yue was the first to leave the bathroom. He was now dressed in some of his finest garments and looked out of the window in his room observing the many men who were walking down the street. A smile appeared on his face as he quietly exited the room and made his way down to the bustling streets.

  Chapter 151 - Commoner’s Marketplace

  * * *

  Chapter 151: Commoner’s Marketplace

  Running down the stairs, Hui Yue slipped through the back doors without being noticed by anyone and slowly made his way through the back alleys before he managed to take a turn which led him to the main roads.

  Hui Yue’s plan was simple, he wished to explore the city and see if he could come across any treasures. Finding his way back to the Mercenary Guild should not prove too hard, and the young man strode with confident steps into the busy road.

  His apparently was attracting a lot of attention. Small children were pointing at his hair, their mouths agape as they asked their mothers about the beautiful angel walking amongst them. This caused their parents to blush with embarrassment and quickly apologize to the different man.

  Most of the citizens assumed that Hui Yue was part demon beast which would explain his handsome, but very different features. Hui Yue, not bothering with the many glances thrown his way, was smiling happily as he made his way towards the first marketplace he would come across.

  All marketplaces were fenced in, making it impossible to enter unless one went through the gate where the guards were posted. Some of these marketplaces required a fee to enter while others were free everything depended on which items were put out on display.

  At first, Hui Yue believed that the marketplaces were owned by families much like the ones in Riluo City because they were heavily guarded, however, he quickly saw that it was not families who owned the marketplaces, but instead guilds.

  One marketplace specialized in medicinal herbs and medicines and was owned by the Medicinal Guild, or the Pharmacy another name is was know by.

  Another marketplace sold valuable ores and metals, obviously it was owned by the Mining Association, while just across the street another marketplace had tools on d
isplay, weapons, armours, and other items which were created by blacksmiths.

  There were marketplaces which sold meat of all varieties and marketplaces which sold fabrics and clothes. Everything Hui Yue could think of was available in front of him, and he felt like a little child filled with excitement as he walked through one marketplace after another.

  His excitement, however, quickly dimmed as all the things he saw were mediocre treasures. The herbs were all of great quality, but flowers were not something he needed right now. The metals were also interesting, but they could be found anywhere and none seemed to be very special.

  Sighing, Hui Yue left one marketplace after another until he finally arrived at a small market, much smaller than any of the others. Unlike the other marketplaces this one had no guards, the fence was in bad shape and the stalls were not made from wood, but citizens just sitting on the ground their wares laid out in front of them on small pieces of cloth for all to see.

  His interest was piqued instantly, as he saw the various old heirlooms laying around alongside broken demon cores and old memory stones. Entering the marketplace, Hui Yue suddenly felt as if he entered a completely different world.

  This place was in no way as well looked after as the markets where the guilds were in charge, instead, it was filled with poor citizens, some selling items, others begging for coins or food. Any kind of scraps which could help them survive their daily life within the city.

  Walking past one stall after another, Hui Yue stopped here and there looking at random things such as jewelry, a few memory stones containing martial art skills, and other memory stones containing items of unknown origins.

  Having walked through half of the shabby marketplace, Hui Yue saw various items he knew nothing about, but none struck him as being exceptional. That was until he saw a larger stall.

  Stopping here, his eyes were drawn towards a stack of scrolls and old books. His interest piqued every time he found old documents which might in some way help his search concerning the Dark Age and the Great Sin.

  Picking up the books, dust was released from them and a stale scent filled the air as soon he open one of them. It appeared that some of the pages were damaged from years of use.

  “These books,” Hui Yue said while looking at the man, “These books and those scrolls, how much do you want for them?”

  Seeing that the young man was dressed in fine clothing the seller squinted his eyes slightly, wondering how greedy he dared to be, while he was contemplating Hui Yue did nothing but patiently wait by the side.

  Eventually the older man made a decision and lifted his wrinkled hand, gesturing for five demon coins. He himself felt as though he had asked for a tremendous amount of money as the books were all worn down from years of use, the scrolls almost impossible to read.

  Looking further into the stall, his eyes stopped momentarily on a large black stone which seemed to have been mined long ago, but after looking at it for some time he decided against purchasing it.

  ‘You idiot!’ Lan Feng’s voice suddenly boomed within the young white-haired man’s head, catching him completely off guard as he had not heard anything from the phoenix for weeks by now.

  ‘Why am I an idiot?’ The retort was quite indignant and the young man felt like he had been treated wrongly. All he did was ignore a big stone.

  ‘This stone is the purest memory stone I have ever seen, you have to buy it!’ The phoenix’s voice was determined and pushy, leaving almost no space for disagreement.

  ‘What use do I have for a memory stone?’ Although the phoenix left no room for disagreement, Hui Yue had known him for a long time already and was used to the overbearing personality of the bird. This request was both too sudden and too greedy for him to approve.

  Lan Feng left Hui Yue alone when they were stuck within the illusion. He had not shown up when they were in danger against the Horned Snake, nor had he said anything at all about Zhou Long. Instead he was busy cultivating Wu Wei, yet here he was suddenly conscious when the young white-haired man was about to make purchases. What made him think that Hui Yue would listen to him now?

  ‘You can refine it into whichever kind of stone you need!’ Lan Feng argued, unaware of the grudge which was growing within Hui Yue’s heart.

  ‘Oh look!’ The bird continued completely ignoring the emotions he felt being emitted from Hui Yue, ‘That over there is a treasure when it comes to training, it’ll help your cultivation improve drastically,’ The bird continued while pointing at a stone which was in the same stall.

  ‘Oh and that one, that ought to be a treasure as well,’ Lan Feng continued, the bird on a roll while pointing out things completely ignoring Hui Yue.

  ‘That ought to be a treasure?’ Hui Yue mocked while looking at the items. The seller was greatly confused about the many odd facial expressions appearing on Hui Yue’s face, yet he dared not chase away this costumer as he had the impression that the well-dressed youth, although slightly insane, was rich and willing to spend money.

  Completely unaware of the expressions on his face he continued the internal conversation with Lan Feng.

  ‘I have never seen anything like it before,’ Lan Feng explained, ‘That alone is enough to make it into a treasure.’

  ‘How stupid,’ Hui Yue replied, while looking at the item and inserting his spiritual energy, only to see that nothing happened. The item, a small round metal sphere, was nothing but a piece of metal. ‘Since when can you sense treasures?’ Hui Yue mocked. ‘You think you are a chicken laying golden eggs? Dream on you’re just a phoenix, all you can do is burn things and complain.’

  ‘I’m serious here!’ Lan Feng continued, ‘But if you want to let go of a peerless treasure then that is your own problem.’

  Sighing deeply, Hui Yue knew that Lan Feng was right. Even if there was just the slightest possibility of the sphere being a treasure, it would be worth buying because the price had to be low.

  Eventually the scrolls and books were no longer the only thing purchased by the white haired boy; he also purchased the stone and the metal sphere, paying another five demon cores.

  Having purchased the items their discussion was far from over, instead, it was just starting and the young man found himself a nice dark alleyway where he sat down and finally allowed for his feelings to be let free, his annoyance with Lan Feng blossoming to the heavens.

  ‘Why did you suddenly appear after all this time?’ He asked the indignation evident within his voice, as he felt slightly betrayed.

  ‘I told you that I can’t help you within these dungeons,’ Lan Feng reminded him, his face smiling as if he was flattered that Hui Yue missed him.

  ‘Well you don’t have to help, but don’t just pop up when I am buying items! I am not your purse!’ Hui Yue still felt that it was not right that the phoenix only appeared whenever he wanted to gain something, but he knew that discussing with the bird was the same as speaking to a door. He would never see things from any side other his own, he was very stubborn.

  ‘Well never mind that, quickly tell me how to use this stone,’ Giving in, the white-haired boy changed the subject and pulled out the stone he bought at the market place. Had Lan Feng not told him to purchase it, he would never have imagined that it would help his cultivation in any way, but he did not doubt Lan Feng when the bird said it would.

  ‘I’ll tell you this before I go back to cultivate,’ Lan Feng said with a self-righteous smile on his face, ‘When you cultivate have it in your hands and see what happens.’

  Having said that, the bird did exactly what he had said he would and sat down within the dantian cave, once more fully absorbed in his cultivation and refinement of spiritual energy into Wu Wei.

  Seeing that the bird went back to sleep, Hui Yue sighed and looked around. He had already purchased a few things and he had no idea where the library was so instead of looking around on his own he quickly decided to head back to the Mercenary Guild and spend his time looking through the haul he acquired.

&
nbsp; ….

  Walking through the entrance, the guards instantly remembered the white-haired young man as the person who arrived earlier together with Xu Piao and instantly bowed to him, allowing him access to the Mercenary Guild.

  Walking past the guild’s main building and towards the back, a low sound could be heard from within the building where Sha Yun and the others were currently residing. Hearing the sound a sigh escaped his pale lips, as the young man was well aware of what was occurring and he rushed towards the building, ready to apologize for the problems and pay for the repairs.

  Hui Yue vanished on his own, and did not inform anyone about his trip causing Sha Yun, who always preferred to have Hui Yue in eyesight, to panic.