by Tony Tran
“What was that?” The elderly man’s son asked.
“A queen pharaoh ant had somehow made its way into his ear and was forming a colony in there. The pain was due to the ants trying to eat through his eardrum, to expand their colony. Any longer than they would have punctured the eardrum and make their way into his brain where they would build a colony of ants that would slowly but surely fed off of him until only an empty skull was left.” Zhang explained in a somewhat horrifying manner that made many of the people around cringe as they imaged a colony of ants eating the elderly man from the inside.
As the elderly man’s son was helping his father up and thanking Zhang and Lingqi, a clapping sound could be heard. Looking toward the direction where the sound originated, a bald man with a scar that ran across his scalp to his forehead could be seen. Behind this man was a group of man who looked like they belonged in Ran Kaitou’s underworld organization.
But these men were not where the clapping sound was coming from, rather the sound originated from a sickly-looking man who was perched up in a sedan chair.
“Amazing! To be able to assess what was afflicting him and then being able to relieve him of his ailment, despite how peculiar and odd his ailment was.” The sickly man who was earlier referred to as Tao Qian said while clapping. At first Tao Qian was looking as Zhang with a smile but once his gaze swept to Lingqi who was returning to the patient that she had been helping earlier, a glint appeared in his eye as he looked at her for a bit before shifting his vision to Zhang once more.
“Thank you for the praise, senior.” Zhang said as he clasped his hands showing respect for someone who was his elder, before walked back to the table he had set up to see patients. Zhang knew from the look in the Tao Qian eyes that no good could come from associating with him so he decided to go back to what he was doing before instead of conversing.
“I’ll take the next person in line now.” Zhang said, not long after a young man who had been waiting patiently in line walked forward. From how the young man was limping as he walked forward, Zhang could tell that most likely this young man was suffering from a leg injury or something.
But before the young man could reach the examination table and take a seat, his path was impeded by the bald man with a scar.
“What are you doing? He said he would be taking the next person in line and clearly my master had been here much longer than you.” The bald man said with a menacing look on his face, as if threatening to beat the young man.
“I believe he was next.” Zhang said with a sigh as he pointed to the young man who was walking with a limp.
“The one day I decide to do charity work and someone has to come and cause trouble…” He thought unhappily. One could say that what Zhang was doing was unprecedented considering that he is a prince and Lingqi is a princess and they were giving out free medical treatment, so for someone to come and spoil the atmosphere made him very unhappy.
“Doctor I believe you have mistaken, we’ve been waiting here much longer than this guy.” The bald man said correcting Zhang.
“Ain’t that, right?” He then said to the young man with the limp while his sausage sized fingers rested on the young man’s shoulder.
Shaking his head Zhang got up from his seat and walked over to the young man with the limp and grabbed his arm.
“Come with me…” He said as he tugged on the young man’s arm. However, the young man was stopped by the bald man and was kept from walking forward.
“What is this? Didn’t I say we were here first?!” The bald man roared as his veins bulged and his body tensed, ready to brawl if he didn’t get his way.
“Enough! Enough of these charades. Tell me how much you want. I’ll pay you handsomely if you can treat my alignment.” Tao Qian who was atop the sedan chair said as he grew tired of the back and forth that was happening.
“If I don’t want to treat someone, NO AMOUNT OF MONEY CAN MAKE ME.” Zhang said loudly, emphasizing his words.
“HA! Everyone has a price. Don’t pretend that you're some sort of saint. I can tell that only reason you're offering free medical treatment to these lowly people is so you can gain fame. Now quit the act and I might even give you a thousand gold coins for your service.” Tao Qian said as he tossed a small pouch of coins onto the ground.
Seeing this Lingqi couldn’t help but chuckle. “A thousand-gold coin?” She thought as her chuckle soon broke out into loud laughter. To think someone was trying to tempt Zhang with a thousand gold coins was something that was simply hilarious.
“You there what's so funny huh? Something wrong with your head? My master if only offering to give you a thousand gold coins because he is being generous, do you know how many men you’d have to sleep with to make that much money?” The bald man said mockingly while looking at Lingqi.
Hearing the man’s words, creases appeared on Zhang’s brow. If you want someone to help you, insulting their wife was definitely not the way to go about it. As for Lingqi, her laughter became even louder as she thought about how ignorant the bald man was.
“Ding Feng, shut up…Do not be rude...” Tao Qian said as he saw the displeasure in Zhang’s face. The bald man’s face sank as he quickly fell silent after hearing Tao Qian.
“Now young miss, I can tell that you are quite skill in field of medicine also. I find that very impressive considering you're a very young and beautiful woman, so impressive that I would like to offer you a job as my personal physician after everything settles. I can offer you a very handsome salary if you're willing to be a stay in doctor at my home.” Tao Qian said as he shot a lecherous gaze as Lingqi.
“Chapped lips, pale skin that most likely result from lack of blood flow, and balding scalp. If my guess is right, then the illness you're suffering from is impotence.” Lingqi stated with a mischievous grin. It was obvious that she was mocking the Tao Qian, regardless if her diagnosis was true or not Tao Qian’s reputation would surely take a hit.
“Insolent… How dare you make up lies about my master. If you dare say such a thing again, I’ll sell you into brothel.” The bald man said threateningly.
“You’ll what?” Zhang said angrily as he appeared out of thin air, beside the bald man and with a kick made the man’s leg bent at an odd angle.
“What will you do to my wife? You were going to sell her to where?” Zhang asked as he grabbed and twisted the bald man’s arm.
Seeing Zhang’s incredible speed and strength made everyone that had witness him treating patients gasp in amazement. The kind doctor who looked much like a scholar, the doctor who had gently taken care of the children and the elderly had now just caused a hulking man’s leg to bend at a weird angle.
“Ha...Ha… you're messing with the wrong people kid. Do you know who my master is? He is the master of the Tao clan!” The bald man yelled in a loud voice so everyone present could hear.
“Wait isn’t the Tao clan one of the five aristocratic families of the province?” Someone in the crowd asked.
“Yea I heard they and the other four aristocratic families are all aligned together and that they all have private armies or something.” Another person in the crow said.
“Then where were they when all hell broke loose in the city?” Someone else asked.
“Who knows, probably too busy protecting their own hides.”
Soon a frenzy of conversation broke out as things about the Tao clan was told one after the other. Of course, all of this meant very little to Zhang who happened to be the ruler of the new ruler of the province. Being the boss’s boss meant that if he wanted to he could have all five of these aristocratic families executed on a whim.
Tao Qian sat atop his sedan chair in silence while many of his men who accompanied him surrounded Zhang as the babbling continued on.
“You there go back to our camp and bring more men… I want these two taken back to our tents…” Tao Qian said, after a moment of thought.
“Now now, doctor. Calm down, my servant here is simply bad with word
s. If you’ll just let him go, I’ll have him apologize to you and your lovely wife. And to top it off I’ll give you three thousand gold coins as a sign of apology after you accompany me and help me treat my illness.” Tao Qian said to Zhang, but of course, if he didn’t have his way, all he had to do was wait for more of his men to arrive.
The four aristocratic families each possessed a private army of about two thousand or three thousand soldiers, and since the New Moon Army was nowhere to be seen, if the armies of the aristocratic families combined they would outnumber Ran Kaitou’s men who were keeping the peace. Meaning that currently if they wished to they could seize control from Ran Kaitou at any moment.
While Tao Qian was talking to Zhang, the crowd opened up and two rows of beautiful women dressed in matching uniforms marched forward.
Chapter 23: Not A Cliffhanger
As the crowd opened up, two rows of uniformed young women slowly made their way toward where Zhang and Lingqi were. Each of these young women could be considered beauties in their own right, snow white skin and delicate faces accompanied with well-proportioned figures. If one looked closely, every single one of these young women were equipped with beautifully made swords that hung from their waists.
After the two rows of young women emerged from the crowd, the two rows split apart and created a path in between them. Walking down the path that had opened were three familiar looking faces, Yuying, Ling and lastly Ai appeared.
The two rows of women stood in salute with one hand across their chest, as their other hand laid atop the pummel of their swords. These were the very same women that had been recently freed from the provincial lord’s mansion. But unlike the day before where they were entirely untrained, after a day’s worth of training from the three beauties, these young women emitted an air of unity. Perhaps after a few more days of training they would be able to compare to a unit of new recruits who have gone through basic training.
Looking at how the young women had emerged from the crowd and how they were saluting, Zhang was amazed by the progress that his wives had made on them. “Maybe I should leave the training of all of the new recruits to them.” Zhang thought, as he continued gripping the arm of the bald man who had insulted Lingqi.
Tao Qian who did not know the relation between Zhang, Lingqi, the three beauties who had just arrived, and the troop of trainees simply just sat atop his sedan chair, and let his eyes wander about trying to figure out the situation. To him the three beauties who had just arrived were most likely the daughters or wives of some wealthy household because disregarding how the three beauties looked, the women who were their servants were all very beautiful and to have servants who possessed such beauty meant that one must have considerable wealth and influence.
As for what household, the three beauties came from, he did not know, but he knew as a matter of fact that they were most likely not from New Moon city because if they were he would definitely have heard of or have met them before. Being one of the powers only under the provincial lord, Tao Qian and the other aristocratic families were at the pinnacle of power and influence.
To top it off the provincial lord was rather reclusive so the maintaining of New Moon City and the province itself was mostly left to the aristocratic families, of course, the army was still under the provincial lord’s command.
“Have our men been alerted yet? I want those two doctors detained, and these women, detain them also and take them back to the part of the camp under our control.’ Tao Qian ordered while his eyes glinted.
“The people from the Aurora Kingdom shouldn’t have arrived yet and if these women have no relation to that Ran Kaitou fella who was put in charge by the kingdom then I can do whatever I wish with them. Even if they have relations to him, he’ll have to think twice before causing me trouble.” Tao Qian thought. News of the New Moon Province being added into the Aurora Kingdom had spread like wildfire throughout the camp, and it was not a matter of if they would join or not, but rather when they would join, so as long as Tao Qian did not offend Rai Kaitou, who was said to be positioned as lord of the province or anyone from the Aurora Kingdom, then considering his influence and status; he could get away with anything else.
So, under the assumption that Yuying, Ling, and Ai were simply here to seek treatment or something from Zhang and Lingqi, Tao Qian began plotting.
Of course, deep down he did not fear Ran Kaitou because of how much influence the alliance of five aristocratic families possessed. The only reason he did not want to offend Ran Kaitou, was because Ran Kaitou was being backed by the Aurora Kingdom. Therefore, no matter how much power and influence he and the rest of the aristocratic families held, if the higher ups in the Aurora Kingdom wished for them to disappear, then they most definitely would.
What can ten thousand or so soldiers do to the armies of Aurora, who numbered in the hundreds of thousands? Rumors of the prince of Aurora possessing extreme battle prowess had reached Tao Qian’s ears long ago, as well as his decisiveness and mercilessness, with tales in which he bathed in the blood of his enemies and the like being spread far and wide.
Although much has been said, the three beauties had only just arrived and were still the center of attention, as they walked forward toward Zhang who was still gripping the bald man’s arm.
“I’m impressed by how much training you guys managed to do.” Lingqi said as she looked at her sisters and the trainees. Just a few hours ago, she has left to go look for Zhang, and the group could still be described as an unorganized cluster of people.
“There's nothing a few dozen laps, and a ton of team work building can’t do.” Yuying said with a smile in response to Lingqi and she and the other two beauties neared Lingqi’s treatment station.
“It seems someone is causing trouble?” Ling said as her gaze caught the sight of Zhang bending the bald man’s arm at an uncomfortable angle.
Before anyone could reply to Ling, the sound of marching footsteps was audible, and countless men clad in armor marched forth. A banner with the word ‘Tao’ was visible, as these men, that could only be described as soldiers, appeared behind Tao Qian.
“Ha… Ha… Now you’re in for it. My brother will kill you for doing this to me…” The bald man with the scar said to Zhang angrily.
“Unhand my brother!” A roar sounded out from amidst the soldiers of the Tao family. Soon a young man who looked to be in his late twenties emerged from the ranks of the Tao family’s soldiers. This young man, unlike his brother, had a head full of long flowing hair, tied up in a ponytail.
“And what if I don’t? In a situation, such as this, did you think yelling commands at me would help?” Zhang asked, as he strengthened his grip on the bald man’s arm.
“Listen to my command or else!” The bald man’s brother roared.
“Idiot…Does anyone even know how to ask nicely anymore?” Zhang cursed in his mind.
The bald man’s brother anxious to save his brother from Zhang’s grasp, drew his sword from its scabbard. Soon enough every single soldier of the Tao family drew their weapons and stood ready for battle.
Seeing the soldiers of the Tao family draw their weapons, the young women who were being trained by the beauties also drew their weapons. In terms of numbers, the soldiers of the Tao family definitely made up the majority of the forces present However, in terms of power, it was the unit of female combatants under the command of the beauties, that were the stronger force. Then of course, there was Zhang and the three beauties themselves, who could more than likely defeat everyone present.
Yet again, before any fighting could break out, the sounds of marching were audible. However, this time, the people that arrived were neither in uniform or in armor. These men in fact resembled a ragtag team that had been thrown together without thought of cooperation in mind.
Zhang of course, recognized many of these men: as the same men that Ran Kaitou had brought to the hotel. Mixed inside this group of men was their leader, Ran Kaitou, who had arrived because he had heard
news of a confrontation possibly breaking out.
“Dammit, I knew this old goat would cause trouble…” Ran Kaitou cursed, as he saw Tao Qian’s men with weapons drawn. Once his gaze swept to where Zhang was, Ran Kaitou couldn’t help but feel sorry for Tao Qian.
“Of all the people, he could cause trouble for, he had to annoy those four.” Ran Kaitou thought as he shook his head.
“Break it up! All of you back down!” Ran Kaitou roared as he winked to Zhang. Right now, he had to show everyone, be they commoners or aristocrats, that he was in charge. Hoping Zhang would help him consolidate his position as the future provincial lord, Ran decided to put up a front. What he failed to take into account was whether Zhang would go along with his act or not.
Yuying, Ai, Ling and Lingqi narrowed their eyes as they all focused their gazes on Ran Kaitou, but did not say a word and simply waited to see what their husband would do.
