Hearing the words of congratulations, King Lu looked up at the sky as the sun shined brightly through the clouds. He squinted his eyes before he sighed, "I've finally done it."
"Mister Xie provided a great deal of help. You should have a few cups of wine together with me tonight to celebrate and for me to express my gratitude." King Lu spoke, as though he had suddenly regained his poise, regality, and dignity all at once.
Seeing King Lu act in such a manner, Xie Cheng Dong then thought to himself, "King Lu really resembles the part of the monarch. It's just a pity that he's not the eldest son. Thankfully his disposition is as such, only then will he actually stand a chance in fighting for what's not his by right."
Thinking this way, he then thought about Hill County and spoke, "King Lu, this humble subject has some matters to see to elsewhere and seeks your permission to leave."
King Lu was taken aback by this request. He looked at Xie Cheng Dong and asked, "Did I do something wrong to displease or offend Mister Xie?"
"Of course not. It's just that I've received a transmission from my sect and I have to handle some affairs. Hence, I'm asking for your permission to leave. I have to apologize for not being able to attend the celebration tonight. I might have to leave for half a month or a month at most and I have to leave quickly. If Your Majesty has anything urgent, you can tell your Daoist to contact me and I will be here."
Hearing these words, King Lu fell deep into silence before he sighed, "Alright, please see to your own problems. You have my leave."
He then instructed to his men by his side, "Retrieve a hundred taels of gold."
Xie Cheng Dong didn't refuse it, and received the gold before he rode a horse. In the blink of an eye he vanished down the long stretch of road.
Yuanqing Village
A single oxcart travelled towards the Wei Family Village. From within the oxcart, the sounds of the village could be heard. In the blink of an eye, it was the start of summer. The oxcart felt rather humid and warm.
"Young Master, we've arrived at the Wei Family Village." The oxcart driver shouted.
Pei Zi Yun disembarked the oxcart and looked at the driver. He noticed that beads of perspiration had formed across the driver's head. Pei Zi Yun then handed him some silver for the fee and added slightly more money, "Here's some extra silver for your hard work."
"Many thanks Young Master." The driver smiled gratefully despite his sweat stained face as he thanked Pei Zi Yun profusely. When he saw that Pei Zi Yun was about to enter the Wei Family Village, he spoke, "Young Master, the Wei Family Village is like an entire village by itself, and the people in it are known to be reclusive and extremely fierce. Within many kilometers, nobody would dare to come near due to their reputation of getting aggressive with outsiders. Please be careful Young Master."
"Thank you!" Pei Zi Yun thanked the driver before he scrutinized the place. There was a huge area of arable land which was linked to the massive Wei Family Village.
The Wei Family Village rested against a large mountain and many of the houses within the village were made of stone. There was a tall wall at the entrance of the village, presumably to block intruders. Once something happened, all they had to do was to shut the gates of the wall, and the entire area would turn into an impregnable tower.
Pei Zi Yun swept a glance and noted that the fields right in front of the family village looked green, indicating that the crops were growing well. Several of the villagers cleared out weeds, and wore straw-hats to block the glare and heat of the sun. Dragonflies chased each other across the large field.
Before the entrance of the family village were several large boulders which had been polished smooth. A few men were seated on the boulders and played chess with each other.
Without further hesitation, Pei Zi Yun turned to look at the terrain and geology of the area. He noticed that most of the entire family village was surrounded by mountains. Looking at it from the point of view of a skilled geomancer, he could see that the area around the family village was supported by long stretches of mountain ridges. There was a tiny creek between the mountains and the village.
"If one were to search for it intentionally, they would take decades."
"But once the heart sees something, the eye would also see it."
"The village doesn't rest directly atop the Dragon Veins. Instead, it's surrounded by the Dragon Veins. Although it doesn't directly receive the Imperial Qi, the village is being protected by the Imperial Qi, and it becomes a refuge to these citizens."
"Although the people living within this area might not necessarily receive great fortunes and wealth, with the flow of the wind and water of the creek, their crops would be abundant. Likewise, this place would be exempt from any great tribulations of natural disasters as long as there wasn't a great change in fates."
"The Daoist's refuge must be here in this area."
"Interesting concept of using the Imperial Qi to counter the Wrath of Heaven and to protect himself from defying the laws of the world. Since the Daoist came here to hide and still received punishment from heavens, his intention was probably for the Wrath of Heaven to assist him in destroying the latent dragon and Imperial Qi as well."
"For the Daoist and the tutor, it would be nearly impossible for them to escape their fates and flee from the punishment of heaven. However, their offspring don't share the same level of guilt as them and they might not be subjected to the same fate of inevitable doom. This means that the children of the tutor might have survived."
"I can almost be certain that this Fang Yong Jie is the son of Fang Hao, for there wouldn't be such a coincidence anywhere else."
Pei Zi Yun thought to himself before he realized that he had been standing still deep in thought. He then felt the gaze of many people upon him. Although these villagers looked rather normal, all of them hid a faint glow of killing intent. Their movements were also very precise and intentional, which reeked of trained military men.
One of the fiercer looking villagers had a scar run down across his face. He was seated on a boulder before he stood up, "Who are you looking for?"
"I am looking for Elementary Scholar Fang Yong Jie." Pei ZI Yun laughed and spoke. When he saw these group of villagers who had clearly received training in the military, he was certain about the conjectures which he had made.
As soon as he spoke, Pei Zi Yun felt the killing intent among the group of men pulsate and become stronger. The villager with the scar replied coldly, "Why are you looking for Elementary Scholar Fang for?"
"Just pass a message to him, that Ying Prefecture's Top Scholar Pei wishes to see him." Pei Zi Yun didn't think much of it and shouted back.
The few villagers shot glances at one another, before the man with a scar across his face ran into the village hastily. The remaining few men eyed Pei Zi Yun suspiciously. High up on the sentry outpost was a hunter, who held onto a bow and watched Pei Zi Yun as well. He had several arrows slung on his back.
Fang Mansion
The young man within the mansion appeared rather weak, and grandma Li stood behind him as she prepared tea for him. A villager with a scar across his face walked in and bowed deeply, "Young Master, Ying Prefecture's Top Scholar Pei requests to see you."
Hearing these words, the young man smiled before he spoke, "Just as we spoke about him and here he's come. I didn't expect him to show up so soon. Let him in, and see what he wants."
"Young Master, this man looking for you probably has some ulterior motives." Grandma Li spoke, clearly worried.
The young man placed his teacup down on the table, "Ai, what is there to worry about? Besides, I have all of you protecting me. Let him in."
The man with the scar then walked out of the door and led Pei Zi Yun in.
Following the pathway from the entrance, Pei Zi Yun walked in and noticed that the entire village was very neat and orderly. Several children ran around the village playfully. The man with the scar led Pei Zi Yun through the village. When he saw the children, a sense of warmth could be seen in his eyes.
Before long, they arrived at the yard. The man with the scar then spoke, "We're here. Please follow me."
At this point, a teenager came out to greet them. His face was slightly yellow and he coughed once before he spoke, "So it's the famous Top Scorer Pei who has come. Welcome."
Pei Zi Yun saluted, "I don't dare to be. My sincerest apologies for intruding."
At this point, Grandma Li came out and spoke, "Young Master, the wine and dishes have been prepared."
She didn't look at Pei Zi Yun at all, as if he was a complete stranger. When Pei Zi Yun saw Grandma Li appear, he then understood that this teenager already knew about Pei Zi Yun's interrogation of the grandma. He probably thus had his own suspicions about why Pei Zi Yun had arrived, and yet his expression didn't change at all. After all, it was only normal and proper for him to invite his guest in for refreshments and a meal.
Pei Zi Yun followed the young man into the household before they entered the living room. It looked very normal and nothing outstanding was observed. Pei Zi Yun scrutinized the area, and noticed that most of the items around were fashioned out of expensive wood and they were all polished to a sparkle.
Pei Zi Yun walked into the dining room and noticed that there was a painting of a large tiger. It bore a fierce expression, as though ready to devour anyone in its path.
When the young man looked at Pei Zi Yun he spoke, "It's an honor for me to host Top Scorer Pei. For a long time, the works of Pei Zi Yun have been talked about. The more I hear, the more I enjoy your works."
The teenager spoke before he handed Pei Zi Yun a piece of parchment, which contained a poem composed by Pei Zi Yun himself. The words were written very carefully and conscientiously.
Seeing this parchment, Pei Zi Yun laughed, "I didn't expect you to enjoy poems as well. You can write really well, why haven't you tried for the High Scholar position?"
The teenager laughed bitterly, "Look at how weak and frail I am. Studying for the Elementary Scholar test already almost drove me to death. Becoming an Elementary Scholar is the furthest I can go."
As he said this, he sighed.
"You look young to me, what's wrong with you?" Pei Zi Yun asked curiously.
"The soldier's place is by the sand, and the Lord's place is by the highchair. When I was younger, I never had any aspirations or dreams. But when I was 10 years of age, a blind Daoist came into my village and told my fortunes. He said that I had no future to live for, and handed me a talisman. Soon after he departed, a serious illness overcame me. We then burned the talisman, and my life was preserved. The only outcome was that I became weak and frail, and wouldn't be able to leave my own yard for too long before needing to rest."
"Oh, that's such a strange occurrence. Seems like the blind Daoist was the one who harmed you." Pei Zi Yun thought for a moment before he spoke.
Hearing Pei Zi Yun's words, the young man sighed as well, "I never had such a suspicion before. Just before I fell sick, I heard someone saying: I shall use your bones."
"As soon as I heard it, I fainted. When I awoke, I checked and realized that all my bones were still intact. I thus assumed that it was just a hallucination."
As soon as Pei Zi Yun heard this, he felt his body go numb. There was certain link here somewhere. How can a person's bones ever be used by someone else? There was a certain nagging feeling…
As Pei Zi Yun thought of this, he suddenly recalled someone. The original owner's Plum Blossom had been used by someone else. All of sudden, his expression fell.
Pei Zi Yun closed his eyes, and dove into his Yin Master. At that moment, the young man's aura became obvious to him.
This young man's aura was red and white. It was clear that white was more dominant force, although there was a certain greyish-black tinge around as well, with faint redness. There was also a certain golden color that descended down upon him from above.
"Gold color descending down upon him? Could this be representative of the favor granted to him for being related to the person who killed the imperial tutor, since the imperial tutor was responsible for attacking the Latent Dragon?"
"As for the grey and black around him, it must be from Wei family's leader unrelenting killing. The faint redness was probably from the fortunes and good harvests in this village. This means that the village is thriving and doing well. It is also obvious that the men around here have been trained. Obviously, this Wei Family men are the remnants of soldiers from the previous dynasty." Pei Zi Yun opened his eyes, and looked around. He saw that the dishes had been served.
The dishes were all steaming hot, and smelt delicious. A wide variety of dishes could be seen, all of them were sumptuous delicacies, as decadent smells overtook their senses.
The young man waited for all the dishes to be served before he swept a glance at Pei Zi Yun to ask, "Top Scorer Pei, please come in and have some food."
"The service here in the village is rather slow." The young man spoke before he picked up a pair chopsticks to grab some dishes. The food looked healthy and wasn't the least oily.
After several mouthfuls and three toasts, the young man wiped his mouth before he looked at Pei Zi Yun, "Master Top Scorer, we have never met, and I've long heard of your reputation. I never expected you to know of my existence. I wonder what Master Top Scorer is here for?"
Pei Zi Yun took a sip of wine before he looked at the young man and laughed, "That's not true. I've heard of your household as well, and a long time ago, even before I became an Elementary Scholar. Are you Young Master Fang, the last surviving heir of the Imperial Wei family from the previous dynasty?"
(T/N: It seems like the Imperial Wei Family's surname was Fang)
As soon as these words were spoken, the few people around who had served the dishes paused in shock as they glared at Pei Zi Yun like wolves. Killing intent radiated across the entire dining room, as though they were prepared to engage in battle.
Pei Zi Yun didn't seem to mind as well, he stretched his chopsticks out and cleared his throat. This sounded rather strange, since the sound of him clearing his throat wasn't loud or forceful. But the few people nearest to him felt their vision go dark, and they all passed out before they slumped to the ground. Pei Zi Yun's hand moved in a blur as he threw his chopsticks out. With a soft sound, the few men felt their hand go numb as they dropped their blades on the ground.