Drums of War

by Tinalynge

  As the streaks of light disappeared within the elemental flames, Hui Yue felt immense joy and excitement. Lan Feng instantly found a place to settle down for a short while and the white-haired boy used this time to figure out what happened to his body. To see how strong he had become and how useful his new strength truly was.

  Sitting still he found that his body itself had not become much stronger than it was before. He understood that although his body became somewhat stronger, he had focused almost solely on internal energies such as Qi, spiritual energy, and Wu Wei, and that he had not paid enough attention to his physical strength.

  His internal energy was stronger than what he expected, but although his internal energy was stronger and he was able to use both martial arts and spiritual arts, he still understood that physical strength was incredibly important.

  Having come to this conclusion, Hui Yue made Lan Feng travel throughout the day while the two of them would settle down at night and spend the time training their body. At first it was something which made his body beaten up and tired, however, as the days went by and the training became routine, Hui Yue’s body slowly started to change. His muscles become far stronger than before. Lean muscle could be seen easily, and hs toned body was far stronger than it had been months before.

  Traveling through Shenyuan took an astonishing four months, and their speed was far slower than even traveling within the Dungeons of the Divine. This was mainly due to Hui Yue spending every night training his body. Although the trip was longer and it would take him more time before he would be reunited with his friends, an eagerness to increase his strength swelled inside him. He knew that it was important to increase his strength when he was able to do so. If Wan Qiao refused to assist them, then it was important to be as strong as possible for when he had to face a Lord of the Forest.

  Another thing which made Hui Yue take training his body seriously was partly because of the previous stated reasons, but also partly because of some changes he felt within his body. The stronger his body became the better it could handle his internal energies. The more it could release at a time. Also an increase in brute strength increased both martial and spiritual arts’ powers.

  Knowing this, Hui Yue started to regret not training his body earlier, however, due to the amount of internal strength he now had training his body was far easier than it would have been earlier.

  While Hui Yue focused fully on training, both internal and external energies, Lan Feng focused on their travel. Finally, one day they came to a halt as they stared at a massive fortified city built from stone.

  A tall wall was erected all around the city and the surroundings somehow reminded Hui Yue of medieval castle towns he read about in the past. This structure was completely different from the architecture in the Taiyang Kingdom.

  The last few days multiple humanoid beasts had appeared on the road, all of which were on their way to the city in front of them. As they came closer and closer guards wearing red armor were patrolling the roads and the constant bandit attacks had long since vanished. As such Lan Feng did not have to display his aura to shock people around them.

  Following the many beasts, Hui Yue was surprised that no one was looking at him as a human but instead thought he was a beast. Although his appearance was slightly different from the majority of the humans his body had no signs of being a beast either.

  ‘It’s because you don’t have a human aura,’ Lan Feng said quietly, ‘Although I am keeping my aura hidden you do not let off a human aura since we share a body.’

  Entering into the city, Hui Yue suddenly wondered what the currency was. With him he had gold coins, spirit coins, and even beast cores, but he was quite certain that the latter was not their currency of choice.

  Looking around he saw how the entire city was packed full of creatures. All them were mixed humans and beasts with a few full beasts walking around.

  In the sky, One-Horned Eagles were flying around patrolling the city, and on the ground beastly humans were moving one after another some selling and others buying. It looked in every way like a human city. Hui Yue started walking through the various streets looking for a marketplace where he could hear someone yell out prices for their items. this was the only way Hui Yue could think about getting the answer he was looking for.

  Chapter 8 – The Time for Talking has Long since Passed

  Moving around within the city, Hui Yue quickly found a marketplace where he heard multiple merchants yell out the prices of their items. To Hui Yue’s satisfaction, the prices they used were copper, silver, gold, and spirit coins; something that he still had plenty of.

  Grasping his money storing memory stone he looked inside and a pleasant amount of coins could be seen within. Although Hui Yue had coins he had no intention of spending any of them soon. His only plan was to find the castle and find Wan Qiao to ask her to assist them in leaving Shenyuan.

  Having come this close, both Hui Yue and Lan Feng were filled with worry and hesitation. Both knew that the relationship between Lan Feng and Wan Qiao was not the best but here they were. It had been more than four thousand years since their last encounter, and now they were going to request help from an old acquaintance.

  Moving through the city, many One-Horned Eagles were patrolling the sky and the ground. The ones on the ground had all taken human form. Their skin was filled with golden-brown feathers and they had beaks for their mouths.

  Looking at all the human-shaped beasts around him, Hui Yue was completely taken aback. Everyone looked different from each other, and all of them were part human part beast. The more he walked around the more various human-shaped beasts he saw, but even though every beast was half beast half human, Hui Yue’s appearance did not bring anyone to stare at him, instead, he was shown great respect. Everyone he came past nodded or bowed to him, and the road in front of him was cleared of people, no one daring to step into his path.

  ‘They must think that you are a high ranked magical beast,’ Lan Feng said with a smile on his face as he gave control of the body back to Hui Yue. Telling him that the phoenix dared not be the one to encounter his old nurse. Hui Yue had no other choice than to go announce their arrival.

  The town in which they were was as large as Riluo City and walking through it took some time. This gave Hui Yue the time to straighten up, and understand how dangerous it truly was for them to ask for help from this woman. If he had any other choice then he would have taken it, but it truly seemed as though the entire Shenyuan was a fortress only to be breached by those of a high rank.

  Thinking like this Hui Yue and Lan Feng soon arrived at the main castle in the center of the city. Their breaths were shallow and their entire body alert, ready to retreat should they not be treated with friendliness.

  As Hui Yue arrived at the castle, he wished that the walk was even longer, but no matter how much he wished for this, it would not happen. Resigning himself he went towards the gate leading to the castle.

  Just as Hui Yue was about to walk through he was stopped by two snake-men, both looking far stronger than Sha Yun. Their race made him think of her and he swore that one day he would bring both her and her sisters to Shenyuan; a place where they would truly feel at home rather than feeling like outcasts.

  He quickly shook his head and put his nostalgic memories of when he was with Sha Yun and the others to the back of his mind, his eyes turning hard as he looked at the two beasts in front of him.

  Both looked nervous but determined. They looked as if they had stopped someone far superior to their strength, but their loyalty was strong and neither of them seemed to regret their decision to block this young white-haired man.

  “No entrance for strangers,” One of the guards said after having swallowed some saliva, his voice trembling slightly. Seeing how frightened they were to block him, Hui Yue understood that Lan Feng was right when he said that other beasts assumed that he was a Saint.

  Almost laughing, Hui Yue stopped in his tracks as he felt no reason to mistreat
any of Wan Qiao’s men, injuring even one of them, especially for no reason, could easily make the woman turn against him.

  Looking at the guards, Hui Yue contemplated for a moment before he opened his mouth. “I’ll wait here, but one of you go and inform Wan Qiao that Lan Feng has arrived. Lan Feng and Hui Yue.”

  Having said the words, Hui Yue just stood there waiting for one of them to start moving. While he did this, his heart was pounding hard as he feared what was going to happen to him, but having already told the guards to go he could no longer turn around. Whether his beating heart was due to Lan Feng’s fear or Hui Yue’s expectation, neither man nor beast were capable of guessing.

  Seeing that the young man just stood there, showing no signs of making problems for the two guards they both heaved a heavy sigh of relief. They then exchanged gazes and one of the two instantly rushed inside the castle, rushing towards the room where the mistress of Shenyuan was reading various reports.

  The guard rushed into the castle and as he saw a massive iron door he slowed down before he came to a halt right in front of the door. Standing still for some time he caught his breath and knocked gently before a voice called for him to enter.

  Entering through the door, the guard looked at the woman in front of him. She was a stunning beauty, her hair was a cascade of gold; so golden that it seemed to have been created from sunshine itself. The beautiful curls framed her face which enhanced her golden-hazel brown eyes.

  Looking at the stunning beauty in front of him, the guard felt his heart beating rapidly, and his eyes were unable to look away from the woman. It was as though she drew everyone’s glances towards her.

  “Milady, there is an expert outside the gates who wishes to speak with you,” He said breathlessly, she was indeed a breathtaking beauty. “He introduced himself as Lan Feng and Hui Yue.”

  The woman who was focused completely on the paperwork in front of her suddenly paused what she was doing and a chill filled the room. The temperature dropped drastically.

  “What did you just say?” The woman asked, her voice low and each word was said incredibly slowly. Every word caused a shiver to run down the spine of the guard who was still within the room. Clearing his throat and with a low voice he repeated what he said earlier, “An expert is waiting for you outside, he introduced himself as Lan Feng and Hui Yue.”

  Hearing the repeated words, Wan Qiao went quiet for some time. Her eyes were closed and her head rested in her hands. It seemed as though she had an internal struggle, but after some time she lifted her head and sighed deeply.

  “Invite him inside. Lead him towards my private rooms this is our first reunion in many years,” She said and stood up after which she went towards her private rooms. The only place within the castle she knew that there were no spies or memory stones watching her every move.

  The guard was astonished to hear that they were acquaintances and he rushed back to the gate where the young man was still waiting to be allowed entrance. Seeing him, the guard who had shown respect before, showed even more respect now. He bowed to the young man and gestured for him to follow, which Hui Yue did with a shrug of his shoulders.

  Although he seemed carefree on the outside, both Lan Feng and Hui Yue were observing everything with vigilance. They were constantly on guard for traps or ambushes. Both were aware that this only had at most a fifty percent chance of working.

  Unfortunately, when it had that high a chance of succeeding it had an equally high chance of failing. Something which neither man nor bird wished to think about currently. Following behind the guard they entered the beautiful stone castle. Hui Yue, who had studied history in his old life, could not help but admire the structure of the castle comparing it to the medieval castles from his old world.

  Thinking about his old world it was impossible not to feel slight nostalgia, he could not help but wonder how his parents were doing, alongside Li Fen. Thinking about this he knew that many years had passed. His parents would be old by now and Li Fen too would have grown up to become an adult. Hopefully an adult with a family of her own.

  Thinking about Li Fen, Hui Yue found that he did not feel anything else but a desire to wish her the best in life. Many years had passed and Hui Yue was no longer the one who had lived in the old world. Here he had learned cultivation. He found new friends and he had changed. Through his many experiences he had changed. He had been at death’s door a few times, but because he shared his body with Lan Feng they got through it. Lan Feng, a bird who although haughty and perverted was now truly his best friend. Their relationship was what had changed him the most.

  Reminiscing about his old world and how he had changed, he arrived in front of a wooden door. This door had elaborate carvings of the Vermillion Bird. A masterpiece definitely created by a master artisan.

  “I will take my leave,” The guard said and bowed towards Hui Yue who felt sweat cover his palms. His heart started beating even more rapidly than before. Thinking to himself that it was now or never, the young man lifted his hand and the sounds of knocking could be heard throughout the corridor.

  “Enter!” A fairly deep but entrancing voice sounded out. Hui Yue opened the door, curious to see who this Wan Qiao was. Entering the room, Hui Yue looked at the woman and just as he looked at her his jaw dropped and his eyes widened.

  Looking at the woman in front of him, this was not the first time he had seen her. Back when he was ten years old he had sold a medicinal pill to a woman who paid him a handsome price. This woman had been the most beautiful woman Hui Yue had ever seen. She had etched herself into his memory, so much so that now when she was standing in front of him he could recognise her instantly.

  Seeing the shocked expression on Hui Yue’s face, a smile appeared on the face of the beautiful woman. She walked towards him a gentle smile evident on her face.

  Striking like a hawk, so swift that Hui Yue had no ability to stop her, a flat hand landed on his cheek. The slap sent him flying into the wall, and his head was knocked silly. Everything was blurry for his eyes and blood was trickling down his head from the impact. Blood was also welling up within his mouth. Had she intended to be truly vicious then the slap would have killed him.

  Standing up, and waiting for his sight to return to normal, Hui Yue looked at the woman in front of him with a questioning look. Last time he had seen her she had been incredibly friendly towards him, however, now she was definitely not friendly. Could it be that she did not notice him last time? Hui Yue simply did not know.

  Just as Hui Yue’s eyes returned to normal he saw that another slap was coming his way, and he instantly jumped backwards lifting his arms in defense.

  “Wait! Wait!” He yelled, “Let’s talk about this!”

  “The time for talking has long since passed,” The woman growled and once more a slap knocked him flying through the room and colliding against another wall.

  Chapter 9 – Wan Qiao

  Tumbling into the wall, Hui Yue groaned in pain as his head once more made contact with the stonewall. There was no blood this time, however, the pain was still severe and everything spun around him making it impossible to see anything.

  Right as Hui Yue was about to swear over his bad luck, he suddenly felt a gentle and warm energy move from his dantian cave. The green pearl was rotating around itself and the energy which was stored within slowly made its way outside. It entered his meridians and then flowed into the body itself where it reached his head. Right in front of Wan Qiao, the blood which fell from the wound on his head, alongside his internal injuries from being tossed into a stonewall quickly healed themselves only leaving behind blood on his snow-white hair.

  The blurriness and dizziness slowly vanished as the green pearl healed his body, and he finally stood up, wondering whether or not to try and escape or just let the woman vent her pent up anger, and see what happened afterwards. It was obvious that she had no intention of killing him because he was still alive, however, the treatment he had experienced so far was anything but
comfortable.

  “Humph,” The woman looked at the wounds which healed themselves and she was actually truly astonished. To heal a wound one needed to use spiritual energy and imbue it with their elemental affinity, however, this healing used no spiritual energy at all. Any display of energy would create energy ripples but none appeared when the healing occurred, showing that this man had some secrets hidden within his body.

  “You boy, what was your name again?” She asked as she allowed her body to fall down into a comfortable chair which was within the room, her eyes fixated on Hui Yue.

  “I’m Hui Yue,” He answered honestly as he looked at the woman. Although he had been mistreated he dared not, in any way, show disrespect. This woman was truly strong, so strong that she could kill him with but a thought. She was most likely even stronger than that Zhong Fai he had met within the Dragon Core.