Riluo City (Blue Phoenix Book 1) (79 page)

Chapter 65 – Cat Fight

The sun shone through the laced curtains, signaling the beginning of a new day. Usually Hui Yue would be up and about at this hour, yet today he was still sound asleep within the comfortable bed at the city inn.

Hui Yue had not been sleeping a lot during the last many weeks as each moment of rest was used on improving his cultivation, causing his body to be exhausted beyond words. Although he had gained much insight and many breakthroughs on this trip, it was important for him to now take the time needed to relax or his body would not be able to take it otherwise.

Small sounds of grumbling and murmur were escaping Hui Yue’s lips as he tried turning around, only to find that it was not possible, as if something held him back. The previously sleeping Hui Yue woke up swiftly only to find out that he truly could not move, yet the reason was nothing like what he had expected.

Around his waist was a long scaled rope tightly tied ensuring that Hui Yue could not move in slightest and behind him he felt a warm sensation of not being alone in the bed. The headache from last night was rapidly making its return as Hui Yue struggled against the tail which was currently restricting his movements.

As Hui Yue was thrashing around, Lan Feng was enjoying the sight and he was chuckling inside, throwing remarks such as: ‘Don’t you want to know whether or not you did it with her last night?’, ‘You sure you don’t want to hear what happened?’, ‘Want information on how to do it? I can help you use this opportune moment.’.

Hui Yue could not stop himself from rolling his eyes at the perverted bird who seemed quite set on having his fun with this scaled woman, yet annoyance was the only feeling which Hui Yue felt.

After thrashing around for awhile, Hui Yue finally managed to wake up Sha Yun. The snake-tail which was holding Hui Yue tightened itself as the beautiful woman stretched, slowly opening her eyes and greeting the new day. A fresh pink was spreading through her cheeks and an expression of complete satisfaction was draped upon her face as she had never slept better in her entire life.

A confused expression appeared on her before so satisfied face as she lifted her tail. Whatever it was she had wrapped it around was slightly heavier than what she had expected, and the confused expression quickly changed to a smile and surprise as she lifted Hui Yue around as if he was a bag of potatoes.

Hui Yue had long since given up trying to get free without wounding Sha Yun, so he allowed for the snake-woman to move him around, especially as he could feel how he was being handled with some sort of care.

“What did you just say?” The manager’s face paled as he heard what Hui Yue had said moments before. “The bathroom has been trashed.” Hui Yue said once more, his expression showing a carelessness unlike any the manager had ever seen before. Before the manager had the time to truly become angry, Hui Yue made a flicker of his hand after which a black coin was visible within his fingers.

Flicking the coin to the manager, Hui Yue said nonchalantly, “I believe this should cover the damage,” before he turned around and walked away, leaving the stunned manager behind.

The coin within his hand was black and round with a square hole in the middle. There were no engravings upon it, nor did it have any metals to counteract the black iron. Instead, a strong fluctuation of pure energy was emitted, causing the manager’s hand to feel slightly warm from just holding this important treasure.

“Such a rich young lord.” The manager mumbled to himself, utterly stunned as he tried to think of which families could have produced such a rich young lord. Although Hui Yue was famous within Riluo City, his fame was spread amongst the higher ranks of the society and almost no commoners nor ordinary shops knew much about him. They had only heard a rumour about a certain student from the Royal Academy being a student of the elusive expert that had visited the city almost a year prior. How could this simple manager have guessed?

There were still a few days until the academy started its second year of lectures and Hui Yue had planned on returning today, yet he was in no rush as he saw how Sha Yun once more enjoyed moving around the marketplace. He was shocked when he caught himself leaning back against a wall smiling happily while watching Sha Yun having fun, much like an owner would while their cat was playing with a new toy that they had bought.

A sigh escaped Hui Yue as he realised that his new friend, or pet, or whatever a magical beast could be considered, but either way, a weird fondness was appearing within his heart since he knew that this person would never be able to harm him. Having someone by his side whom he could trust one hundred percent obviously made him feel less on guard and allowed for him to be friendly without constant doubt or worry.

Hui Yue got somewhat annoyed because he realised that although he felt fond of Sha Yun, the reason he felt this way was not solely because of who she was, but also due to her being someone he could trust. This thought made him frown slightly. Did it mean that he did not truly care about her as a friend, or that he just thought of her like this because she had submitted to him?

While Hui Yue was pondering this question, he suddenly noticed someone moving towards him and the previous doubt was replaced as he smiled and greeted the Rong twins who made their way towards Hui Yue, followed by guards from the marketplace.

This particular market place belonged to the Deng family, and every time someone of high rank would traverse within its borders, the guards would usually follow them to provide safety and service. This was a custom which was used at many places, yet Hui Yue had not gained any favour upon entering as the Deng family knew how highly he valued his secrecy, and those who had seen him had chosen not to inform mere guards about his status.

“We are departing soon.” Rong Xing said smilingly while observing how Rong Ming had rushed next to Sha Yun, trying to assist her in choosing a bracelet. Rong Ming’s face was filled with excitement and a healthy blush was in his cheeks, reminding Hui Yue about the time when he had been courting him.

Those were memories which caused Hui Yue to cringe every time he thought about them, yet right now Hui Yue could not help but feel a little pity for Rong Ming. His first love turned out to be a boy while the next a magical beast.

Later that day, Hui Yue had once more borrowed a magical horse from the City Lord’s mansion and was leaving behind the tall walls of Riluo City, as he and the Rong twins made their way towards the academy.

The distance was one which could be travelled  quickly, yet today they took their time, travelling at a leisurely pace as Sha Yun was turning her head right and left, looking everywhere with stunned eyes. The farmed lands and the barren lands were a sight much similar to the ones they had seen while travelling from the Magical Forest to Riluo City, yet at that time the group had hurried to make it in time before the city gates closed. As such today was the first day where she could slowly enjoy the sights and understand just how people outside the forest lived.

Riding next to Sha Yun was Rong Ming who constantly spoke and explained the various sights such as rice fields, watermills, and smaller villages. While the brother was busy with Sha Yun, Rong Xing and Hui Yue finally had the time to talk a little about what their plans were in the future.

The nationwide Royal Academy tournament was about to begin and Rong Xing wished to join. Having fought with her life on the line for three weeks within the Magical Forest, she had learned the value of fighting with others to gain insight in her own abilities.

“Hui Yue!” A voice called from behind, rousing the two youngsters from their conversation and causing them to turn back to see who was arriving. Behind them was a qilin, definitely a proud steed which carried about an air of haughtiness. Clearly this qilin was from the wild, not breed in captivity such as the ones the Rong twins rode.

Seated atop the qilin was Wang Ju Long and behind her was Wang Jingshen coupled with some other youngsters from the Wang family.

“I will catch up at the academy.” Wang Ju Long said to those behind her not allowing them to stay there, they all sighed as they whipped their creatures increasing their speed and rushing towards the academy.

Seeing that a new person had joined the group, Sha Yun had turned her attention towards this new person, yet as soon as their eyes met it seemed as though sparks were igniting.

Like a flash of light, Sha Yun appeared at the side of Hui Yue her tail rattling and a hiss escaping her lips as her eyes shone with a silvery light, glaring towards Wang Ju Long.

Wang Ju Long in turn snorted in disdain as she saw this shadow moving. Although she was quick, Wang Ju Long did not doubt that her Qi Lightning skill would be able to win again this odd human shaped beast.

Wang Ju Long was not dumb. It was easy to see that this female beast’s eyes were silvery, the sign of having undergone a beast pledge as such she was currently under the control of one of these three, and the way she was protecting Hui Yue made it obvious for the former to guess just who this snake-woman belonged to.

“Why did you go tame a worm?” Wang Ju Long asked with disdain evident within her eyes as she looked at the snake-woman she had called a worm in contempt.

At this point all the magical creatures had stopped moving, and they were all gathered in a group. Hui Yue was about to open his mouth to defend Sha Yun, but before he had the chance to do so, a loud growling sound appeared from within the snake-woman’s throat as she started slamming her tail into the ground, clearly getting ready to show who was the superior of the two of them. By instinct Sha Yun disliked Wang Ju Long and the other shared these feelings.

“You think a beast like you has the right to show off in front of me?” Wang Ju Long said in contempt, as she dismounted her qilin and ordered it to stay put, waiting for her.

Growling and hissing sounds kept emerging from the furious Sha Yun who was only holding herself back due to the fact that she had already guessed that Hui Yue was friendly with this rude person.

Hui Yue looked with disbelief at the scene which was unfolding in front of him, and he could not help but give an exasperating laughter before he shook his head.

“If the two of you wish to spar, then I will not stop you.” He said with a slight chuckle, “but none of you are to seriously injure the other. Sha Yun, Wang Ju Long is my friend, and likewise, Sha Yun is under my protection so I cannot let her get seriously hurt.”

Hearing this caused anger to raise in both participants, yet both of them nodded their heads solemnly as they agreed to the rules he had said. For them it was not important to beat the other. It was important to show that they were definitely the strongest.

‘This is good.’ Lan Feng said from the Qi cave. ‘I am curious to see just how strong Wang Ju Long has become.’

Chapter 66 – Displeasure

Moving to the side, Hui Yue followed Sha Yun and Wang Ju Long. The road they currently were travelling upon had villages on both sides and fields used for agriculture. Golden crops of corn were growing on both sides and the summer sunshine was reflected by the corn, making it seem as though two shimmering golden seas were spreading as out as far as the eye could see.

A frown appeared on Hui Yue’s face as he turned to the two women who were ready to do battle and heaved a heavy sigh.

“We need to find a patch of barren land.” Hui Yue said straightforwardly, and without waiting for an answer, Hui Yue moved his horse down the dusty road on the way towards a suitable location.

Glaring at Wang Ju Long, Sha Yun quickly followed Hui Yue, placing herself right next to him as they continued their trip on the lookout for a place where the two spar.

“We won’t find anywhere decent here.” Rong Ming started, as he was also looking around their surroundings. Today was one of the days for the admission test, and families from all over Riluo City and the adjourned villages were making their way towards the academy. Even if the group could find barren land, it was still going to be filled with families travelling to and fro, and a spar, even a friendly one, could easily harm passers-byes on accident.

Moving rapidly towards the location of the academy, Hui Yue could not help but silently agree with Rong Ming. The beautiful landscape got more and more barren, stones appearing everywhere along with pine trees. It was obvious that they were nearing the foot of the mountain range on which the academy was located.

“We can always just use the arenas.” Hui Yue finally suggested. At first he would have preferred not to do so, as he disliked how every fight would be recorded in their memory stones and all the teachers would be aware of the results.

Yet although Hui Yue was aware that the results would be known, he was also perfectly aware that it was impossible for him to keep Sha Yun a secret. Every creature which entered the Royal Academy had to pass through the entrance gates, and to do so one needed to have a memory stone key which had been imprinted with Qi.

This memory stone key would in turn allow for every creature with the mark of that Qi to enter, which included magical beasts which had undergone a beast pledge. The moment Hui Yue and Sha Yun were to walk through the entranceway, Hui Yue knew that all the academy elders would be aware of him bringing a magical beast back.

Knowing this, Hui Yue could not help but to inwardly sigh, because in the end he knew that the arenas were the only place in which he could get to see how much Wang Ju Long had improved after cultivating according to the new cultivation technique.

Arriving at the academy entrance, Hui Yue was flabbergasted, when he saw how the queues were longer than they had been back when he first went through admission, and all of these hopeful children were patiently waiting for their turn to be tested.

Walking past the queues, Hui Yue saw how the majority of these children were commoners, and each and every one of them were staring at their group with big eyes filled with admiration.

These children’s only wish was to one day belong to this academy much like Hui Yue and the others. This academy was their ticket into a much better world, a world of possibilities for them and their family.

Looking at these children, Hui Yue felt a slight tinge in his heart, as he remembered himself from a year ago. Although his age was far above those of this group in line, he still was the most naïve when he arrived.

At first he had thought of himself that he was invincible because of the extra tuition he had gained from Lan Feng, however his overconfidence had been utterly crushed by Wang Ju Long. This was the one thing which taught Hui Yue that in this world there would always be someone stronger than you. He could never allow for him to become complacent.

Not only had he learned about how to stay vigilant, he had also gotten himself a group of friends whom he trusted completely. These friends were the only ones who knew that Hui Yue was sharing his body with an expert. They were also the only ones who benefited from this information, but even though Hui Yue trusted them and told them the majority of his secrets, he still refused to inform them about his rebirth, nor did he wish to tell them anything about Lan Feng apart from him being an expert.

Thinking about the past year, one face loomed in Hui Yue’s mind. The face of Li Shing. Li Shing had been the first person whom Hui Yue had killed, and this caused serious change to Hui Yue’s mind. The determination which Hui Yue had been so proud of before his first kill had finally turned into an iron will. Hui Yue finally understood this world fully.

The strongest survives, and only the strongest can decide who survives with him. At first, Hui Yue had disliked this philosophy. He had sworn to never kill a fleeing enemy, and even now this was one thing which he would never back down from, yet although he was stubborn, there was no longer any hesitation in his thoughts when it came to killing the foes in front of him. Everyone who would cause injury to him and his friends were people whom he had to dispose of.

While moving up the stairs to the academy, Hui Yue had been in deep thought thinking about these various things, and when he finally looked up, he noticed that they had reached the arena. A sheepish grin appeared on his handsome face as he looked out on the deserted mountaintop.

After killing Li Shing in the final, Hue Yue had never again entered the arena mountaintop because he had been busy cultivating in his courtyard and attending the lessons, but now that he was here he felt no sense of guilt within.

Contrary to the guilt, a small feeling of excitement started bubbling inside, as Hui Yue moved to the small arena on the side where he and Wang Ju Long had fought each other that first day, one year back. The smile grew in size as he thought of how he would not have to partake in the fight, but rather he could just enjoy it as a member of the audience.