Blue Phoenix

by Tinalynge

  “Now here is a face I don’t see here often,” He said laughing as he sat down. “I have looked into the techniques we discussed last time, and I have to admit that to be able to do that, leaves me truly astonished. A cultivator would have to split their mind multiple times. They would have to shatter their own soul and place a tiny speck of it in each corpse.” He continued, his eyes filled with astonishment and reverence. Hui Yue could not help but feel grateful that the older friend of his did not name any names. Although Gao Yan did not know An He, it was a completely different story whether or not the third prince knew about him.

  “That sounds good.” Hui Yue started as he nodded his head. “Keep looking into it, I am certain that it will be beneficial for you as well,” He said and Deng Wu’s face turned serious as he too nodded. “It has already helped me in the way I control soul shadows. I can currently split my mind three ways, but to do more than that I need a higher rank. I am completely incapable of shattering my soul. To shatter my soul, I would need at least the strength of a Saint.” Deng Wu’s eyes were gleaming with excitement as he spoke about the techniques he had been examining.

  Hui Yue still felt as though he was being observed, but he hoped that whoever it was needed to stay at a specific distance and therefore they would be incapable of hearing the words spoken. If word got back to the third prince and he understood what and why Deng Wu was experimenting on, then it was quite likely that the two surviving scions of the Deng and the Wang families would suddenly be listed as traitors, and the prince, himself, would want them dead. He had already crossed the two cultivators, but to see them gain considerable strength was something he would never allow.

  Eating his congee, the young man was quiet for some time. He was wondering what he should say or do, and finally after finishing the food, he decided to speak with Deng Wu about what was weighing heavily on his mind.

  “I went to visit the third prince yesterday,” He said quietly, so quiet that although Deng Wu’s eyes widened, the older man did nothing out of the norm. “How did it go?” He asked instead, his voice stifled with emotion. His eyes turned slightly red, but he stayed seated still and took a deep breath to calm himself. He guessed that something was out of the ordinary.

  “I had a long talk with him about our lives. About what adventurers we both had experienced, and about what it is like to be a prince of a country. He spoke about how he had no other options than follow the law and abide by its rules. Therefore he was forced to take the actions he did against yours and Wang Ju Long’s families. It was unavoidable as traitors are to be killed is what he said.” Hui Yue said quietly. His words were said with a low voice and serious eyes. Deng Wu understood from the behavior of his younger friend that something was off, so instead of speaking what he would have liked to say, he was quiet instead waiting for Hui Yue to continue.

  “I have been invited to go visit his highness once more,” Hui Yue continued. “I might go to hear some more about the laws of this country and hear about his worrisome task of ordering the beheadings of the many people who were not part of the rebellion at all.” Hui Yue continued. He said the words calmly, but he was using a very low voice hoping that what he thought he was sensing was nothing but his paranoia.

  “That reminds me, do you know what Sha Yun is doing?” He asked after a long pause. This time, his voice was back to its normal level. This change caused Deng Wu to look at him with a crooked eyebrow, “No.” He said. “I do not know where she is. I thought that you would know though. She used to cling onto you like a piece of clothing, draping herself on you whenever she got the chance,” He said thoughtfully before he frowned. “Do you think something is wrong with her?” He asked worriedly. Sha Yun was one of his best friends. The two had traveled together for many years, and although he was not as important to her as Hui Yue, he still considered her his martial sister someone who he trusted one hundred percent.

  “I don’t know,” Hui Yue sighed once again. “I will look after her and try to speak with her next the time I see her, but I have no clue what she is doing.” He said with a shrug. “I am sure that if she had real problems she would come to us though,” He continued. “She knows that although I do not love her like I love Wang Ju Long, I still care greatly about her. I would never let anything happen to her. I am sure she knows that.” Hui Yue said with a sigh, and Deng Wu nodded.

  “About you and Wang Ju Long,” He asked mischievously. “When are you going to take the next step? Her emotions are quite clear after her reaction from when you returned,” A grin spread on his face. This was something Hui Yue had not seen for a long while, and the young friend felt a smile creep onto his own face while he looked at Deng Wu. “I don’t know.” He shrugged. “I want too, but I don’t really think that she is ready,” He sighed. “She is still doing everything possible to avoid me. She lives in this house, but the times I have seen her can be counted on one hand, and whenever she sees me, she rushes away as if I were Yanluo himself.” Hui Yue sighed deeply, and a comfortable silence descended upon them. After waiting for some time, Hui Yue tapped the table with his thumb, and a smile once more appeared on his lips. “How is it going with you and Rong Xing?” He asked smugly. “You cannot say that I’m slow if nothing has happened between the two of you yet,” He grinned, and his friend threw his arms into the air as he shook his head. “That woman is more stubborn than a tree! She refuses my advances, and she keeps telling me that she has no time for anything other than her studies.” He sighed. Both men looked at one another and started to laugh out loud. Neither of them had any success with their love life, but both would keep fighting for the women of their dreams. “Life is never as simple as we wish it to be,” Hui Yue sighed, and Deng Wu could not help but smile knowingly as he nodded his head. Both men leaned back in their chairs, and once more a comfortable silence enveloped the two.

  Chapter 319 - Mute

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  Chapter 319: Mute

  Neither Deng Wu nor Hui Yue felt like moving, and both were seated in the comfortable silence for quite some time. So long that suddenly when a maid entered the room to clean the dishes, she was shocked to see both lords still present and seated next to one another. They were just sitting there quietly. Although she quickly left, the magical atmosphere which had surrounded the two was broken. After a moment, they finally pick themselves up and sigh deeply as they left their chairs. “What are your plans for the day?” Deng Wu asked curiously as he looked at the young man in front of him. “I need to visit Gao Yan,” Hui Yue said while looking around. The feeling of being observed had vanished while he and Deng Wu had been speaking together, and this sudden change made him even more worried than he had been previously. Regardless he was grateful that whatever it was that was watching him, whether real or imagined, was gone. Now he could get some information from his friend. “I need to get going soon. I am worried that someone might appear and follow me,” He sighed, and with a nod to Deng Wu, Hui Yue left the mansion and walked to the Black Lion.

  Now that the feeling of being observed had vanished, Hui Yue could not help but feel that it had been something he himself had made up. That it was just his paranoia and that there truly had been nothing there to being with. “I can’t do anything about it anyway,” The young man sighed as he picked up his pace and almost ran to the poorer area of town where the Black Lion was located.

  Moving swiftly, Hui Yue quickly arrived at the Black Lion and just before he entered, he stopped outside the door to catch his breath and soothe his beating heart. He was still paranoid, perhaps even more so now that the feeling of being observed had vanished, but as he had said earlier nothing could be done about it. With a deep breath, he entered the inn. Unlike last time, Hui Yue spent no time in the lower area of the inn and directly headed up the stairs moving towards the floor belonging to Gao Yan. Everyone followed his movements, but no one said anything. Hui Yue continued up the stairs until he opened the door and looked into the room filled with memory stones. Experts stood in f
ront of desks storing information into memory stones. The clerks sorted these memory stones to ensure that the information went to the right place. At the very back of the room was Gao Yan. He was focused on whatever it was that was placed on the desk, and his mouth was constantly moving, but no words were coming out.

  Looking at Gao Yan, Hui Yue was not in the mood to interrupt his friend; instead, he stood back waiting patiently for the older man to finish what he was dealing with. The minutes went by slowly, but Hui Yue was not bored as he looked around and saw one expert after another appear. ‘It makes no sense to have mute servants,’ Hui Yue mused to himself as he saw one memory stone being filled with information after another, ‘And the fact they can’t write makes even less sense. As long as the information is within their mind, it can be recorded into a memory stone, but the third prince seemed completely certain that none of them would talk about what happens in the garden. Such certainty in his servants was odd for a man who seemed very thorough in what he did. Therefore, there had to be more to it than just them being illiterate and mute. He probably used some kind of oath combined with the trust; Hui Yue had a hard time seeing how just being mute could earn such a position in Shiu Ye’s inner circle.

  While Hui Yue was focusing on these thoughts deep within, Gao Yan had finished what he was working on and now he was the one waiting. Smiling apologetically, the young man left his spot near the wall and sat on the chair opposite Gao Yan, “I visited the third prince yesterday,” He started. “And while I was there I met the people he calls mute servants. He told me that these servants of his could neither write nor speak, but none of these things would matter if he had a memory stone in hand. Still, the third prince seemed sure that they would not betray him. This is something I find odd.”

  “Not only that,” He continued. “When I was led to the exit by one of these servants, a mute who was supposedly only a Disciple ranked expert, I could neither hear the person’s breathing, his footsteps, or anything else. Had I not physically seen the person in front of me then I wouldn’t know he was there. That is definitely not something a person of the Disciple rank is capable of. Who are these servants really?”

  Gao Yan was quiet for some time, and against Hui Yue’s expectations the older friend did not start to look through specific memory stones; instead, he leaned back in his chair and looked at his young friend with a complicated expression in his eyes.

  “These mute servants are famous for only working for the third prince. They are a group of servants, but no one really knows much about them. I once tried to get a person to join this group, but I never saw her again.” The silence once more descended upon the two while Gao Yan had a deep furrow on his forehead. Seeing how focused his friend was, Hui Yue said nothing to interrupt his train of thoughts. He just waited for him to reach the end and speak about what he knew.

  “One would think they would have some aggression towards the third prince for forcing them to be silent and not write, but it seems to be quite the opposite instead. Some families offer their children so they can have a chance to join this group and become one of the prince’s most trusted confidants. I imagine that they either have a blood oath with the prince or they some other technique is used to force them to be loyal no matter what happens. Their cultivation… well no one really knows much about them. No one knows how strong they truly are, but whenever you meet them, they have the aura of a lower dantian cultivator. No much stronger apparently than commoners really.”

  Another moment of silence appeared while Gao Yan was rubbing his temples; he hated having inadequate information about anything, and these mute servants were one of the few places he had not managed to gain information about. “Back when he assassinated the lover of his older brother, no one knows how he did it. It is mainly because of this that many questions about whether or not it was him still floated around, but I imagine that someone as strong as the third prince has strong forces supporting him. Forces which are far stronger than he himself. These forces are there to protect him but also to wait on his every whim. If these experts are the mute servants, I could imagine they could have easily killed her, but I have absolutely no proof on this matter.”

  Hearing the answer from Gao Yan, Hui Yue could not help but frown slightly. Although the mute servant had seemed to be nothing more than a Disciple there had been a dangerous air around him. The fact that he could move around silently made Hui Yue believe that Gao Yan was correct. That these servants were likely his secret force hidden in plain sight. They were close to him at all times yet people whom no one who were used to traveling in the proximity of the prince would fear. They were the perfect fighting force in every way.

  “I was wondering,” Hui Yue continued while scratching his chin. “Have you heard anything about Sha Yun? I have not seen her more than once or twice since I returned. It is very unlike her to vanish like this.”

  “I think she found a group of friends she trains with,” Gao Yan said with a shrug of his shoulders. “This is the capital of Taiyang Kingdom, and there are quite a few humans with mixed blood. These humans have become good friends with Sha Yun. I think she spends most of her time together with them,” Gao Yan said with a smile and hearing the words Hui Yue suddenly felt a stone lift from his heart. Although he had no romantic feelings for Sha Yun, she was important to him. Hearing that she was doing well with new friends made him incredibly happy for her. “Still, I need to speak with her next time I see her.” He reminded himself, and although he was speaking to himself, his older friend Gao Yan could not help but laugh a little.

  “Do you want information about what your golden friend has been doing recently?” He asked, but Hui Yue shook his head. “He is not someone as important as Sha Yun, but he is still a good friend who shares a similar goal as me. It is none of my business what he does just as my actions have nothing to do with him. And if I am not mistaken he is most likely doing something with all the Crusaders in town. He has a distinct hate for Crusaders.” Hui Yue laughed, and his laughter and reaction was something which Gao Yan never would have expected, but he nodded his head in understanding.

  “Okay, next up I need to meet up with Ma Kong so I will get going,” Hui Yue excused himself as he stood up from the chair in which he had been seated. “The weapon I use is still Black Blood, and although it has served me well, it is about time that I change it for something new.” He said with a nod as he turned around and left the Black Lion.

  ‘It is not only a new weapon you need,’ Lan Feng said from within the dantian cave. ‘You have been using the same martial art techniques since you were a child and your spiritual arts are the same. I did not teach you new ones when you were in the Dungeons of the Divine as you needed to focus on surviving, and teaching you while Wan Qiao was dealing with your training would have been counter productive. Even more so, teaching you during a war would have simply been idiotic,’ Lan Feng continued. ‘But now that we are in the capital of a kingdom, we can take the time to learn new techniques, both martial arts and spiritual arts. Also, we can help you more efficiently shape your Wu Wei for attacks, but before that you need to get your hands on a new weapon. I would prefer if chose a sword since I mainly have techniques which work with them.’ Lan Feng ended, and Hui Yue nodded his head. So far he had primarily focused on cultivating. On constantly increasing the internal energy within him, yet now he knew he should focus on this. He needed attacks, and he needed defensive techniques. He needed to increase his strength not just by cultivating but by increasing his attack power. This would make him far deadlier in battle.

  Nodding his head, Hui Yue agreed. It had been far too long since he last learned new skills, and he needed to improve. He needed everything Lan Feng could teach him to become strong. He was all too aware that he could not solely rely on his old skills and his beastly transformation to win the coming fights.

  Chapter 320 - Treasury

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  Chapter 320: Treasury

  Leaving the Black Lion, Hui Yue headed
straight to the Black Market Auction House. He had been there before when he sold the cultivation stone, but this time, he was going to ask for a favor. He needed a new weapon. A weapon which suited his current cultivation level better than the daggers he had used ever since he was a cultivator of the lower dantian. The dagger had been a gift from the Ma family, a weapon created from Black Iron with an inscription engraved upon it. Although the dagger was reliable, it was clearly made for a lower ranked cultivator, and now it was only a question about when it would shatter. It was incapable of containing all the energy Hui Yue could use when attacking.

  So far, Hui Yue had completely avoided using a weapon and instead used his wolf body because the deadly claws and sharp teeth were very good weapons. But now that Lan Feng was once more ready to train Hui Yue, the young man was going to once more train his human form.

  While thinking about this, Hui Yue finally made his way to the Black Market Auction House and with a nod to the guards, he entered the massive building. He moved through the maze-like corridors and eventually ended in front of a door crafted from heavywood. Knocking hard on the door it slowly opened and inside was Ma Kong and his father. Both had their heads bowed over some documents and memory stones. As soon as the door opened, they looked up were surprised to see Hui Yue.