Ink ran from Xia’s hair to the bowl in his hand as Yan Yan applied the cleaning product on his head. Messing with his hair color was always annoying, both when doing it and when cleaning it. He wanted to sigh but knew better than to move when Yan was tending to him. Her hands were small but firm, slowly taking away any remains of external substances from his hair.
“That’s all of it.” She said finally and held a mirror for Xia. His hair had returned to its natural bright red.
Being a Yang had a lot of benefits, but being able to blend in was not one of them, even with high quality hair ink he was not able to completely cover it.
“Thank you, Yan Yan, helpful as always.” Yang Xia smiled at her, but she just exhaled through her nose and began to take away the things used in the cleaning process. She was a small woman, in their mid 20s, with black hair and eyes and an oval face. Today, like most days, she was wearing the red robe that symbolized her status as a servant of the Yang Family.
“Now get dressed and go see Xiao Jian, he arrived when you were in the bath.” Xia got up and walked out of the bathroom. He stopped by the full body mirror in his bedroom to look at his naked body. It had been 3 days since his fight with Long Fen but the places Xia got hit by his attacks were still purple.
Adding the costs of the medical supplies to the scroll had made the entire enterprise pointless, if he was doing this just for the money he would’ve never accepted to fight an adversary so close to his power level. Luckily for him, although he still needed to make money, being a Yang guaranteed that Martial development was the ultimate goal, everything else would follow through.
His bedroom was simple for someone of his status, if he was in the main Yang compound he would have quarters appropriate to his station, but living in the Villa of one of his sect’s merchants subjects he couldn’t demand much more. Just a single bed with red blankets, a meditation mat in the center, an oak wardrobe, a dressing table with a mirror and shelves to store his potions, scrolls and weapons.
He called for the Help and 2 servants entered the bedroom and began to put his clothes on him, a sharp pink robe with purple details showing that he was part of the main Yang Family and indoor sandals. Xia then sat on the chair next to the dressing table and opened the rightmost drawer. There he stored all the equilibrium flowers his mother had given him when he was a kid. He thought about what he should wear today.
A simple red would suffice today. He picked 3 Blood-Sucking East Flowers and arranged them as a crown on the top of his head. They were perfect for little children to train their posture. Yang Xia didn’t need them anymore, he probably could fight with them on without problems, but they served as a reminder of his mother.
Closing the flower drawer and opening the one below he collected the things Xiao Jian would want, Long Fen’s dantian to prove his death and his Hidden Tooth membership token. The poor bastard didn’t have a lot more than this on him, a couple of coins, his saber and half a bag of Paralysing Smoke. Too bad for him he never thought Yang Xia was as strong as Zhuan Lei or he would’ve used it to escape again.
Ren Qiu’s Villa, the merchant Yang Xia was staying with, was bigger than it was rich. A gigantic property southwest of the Auction House with plenty of room for servants, storage and guests but very little in comforts, his garden, if you could call that a garden, had nothing more than a fishpond and some exotic plants scattered randomly. But that was enough for Xia, if he wanted to be spoiled he would’ve stayed home, he was here to get stronger.
Xiao Jian was waiting for him in the main room of the Villa, but he was not alone. Next to the short, pale skinned man wearing a white robe was a beautiful young lady with long black hair and also wearing a white robe very similar to Xiao Jian, she looked like she was in the same age range as Xia and in the Nascent Realm, even if barely so. And to their right there was a slightly fat woman with a square face and short hair in a ponytail and wearing a black robe. This woman was also in the Nascent Realm but with a way stronger spiritual presence.
They were kneeled by one of the red floor tables in the center of the room with servants filling their cups of tea. Yang Xia bowed to them. The two woman looked at roses in his head but made no comment, Xiao Jian had already seen him like this before so maintained a pleasant look on his face as Yang Xia got closer to them.
“Good morning honorable guests.” Said Xia and sat on the ground by the table with them. “I’m sorry but the master of the house will not be able to greet you, Ren Qiu is out on business at the moment.” One of the servants brought a cup of tea to him.
“No matter, young master.” Xiao Jian's voice was feeble “We came to see you anyways.”
“Yes, yes.” The older woman said while blowing air to her face with a gold fan. “We heard you finally took that trash out.”
“I’m sorry for my lack of manners, young master.” Xiao Jian intercepted “This is Zhuan Lei from the One Eye Society, and this young lady is my daughter Xiao Lin.” The older lady just nodded to Yang Xia but the younger one gave a shy smile to Xia.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you ladies.” Yang Xia bowed again. “And yes Madam Zhuan, I’ve eliminated Long Fen.” Xia then produced the token and the dantian and rested them on top of a handkerchief at the center of the table.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
Xiao Jian took the token and inspected it with his eyes and aura.
“Yes. This is the token I gave Long Fen all those years ago.” His voice was bitter. “And to think someone I trusted so much would not only act like a monster but also run away when it’s time to face consequences.”
Zhuan Lei took the dantian and after analyzing she smashed it between her fingers.
“That’s his dantian alright.” Only venom could be detected in her tone. “My only regret is that I was not the one that hunted that beast, but that will have to do.” She looked at Xia, her expression melting into a satisfied smile. “Thank you, young master. You don’t know how much peace you have provided to my family by doing this.”
“I was just fulfilling my contract.” Xia bowed again.
“And you did it very well.” Xiao Jian stored the token in his robes. He then signaled to a servant waiting by the door and the servant gave a purse to one of Ren Qiu’s servants. It was not proper for cultivators to handle money directly.
“There is an extra there, from me.” Zhuan Lei said.
“Thank you, Madam.” Yet again, Xia bowed. Maybe he would be able to profit from this contract after all.
“Now that this sorry business is over.” Said Xiao Lin. “We didn’t come here just for this.”
“Yes, yes, my dear young master.” Zhuan Lei closed her fan. “We came to present you with an invitation to a most prestigious event.”
“Prestigious huh I wonder.” Said Xiao Jian but produced a scroll from his white robe.
* THE COALITION OF WEST SOCIETIES ANNUAL COMPETITION -
Read the top of the scroll, below this was a drawing of a green snake dragon with golden claws, but no other text.
“Every year, the younger members of the Hidden Tooth Society, One Eye Society, Blue Society, Grievous Wound Society and Everlasting Moon Society meet at a secret spot to engage in a series of tests and competitions, with prizes to be won. The next tournament will be 2 weeks from now in the Guo Family Villa.” Xiao Jian inhaled strongly after finishing talking, he looked more and more tired as the conversation progressed.
“You, of course, are not a member of our Societies.” Zhuan Lei had a small smile on her lips. “But we won’t miss the chance of having someone as strong as you to show our youth how someone from the main Yang family fights.”
I bet you won’t. Thought Yang Xia as he stored the scroll in his robes.
“I will think about it.” Said Yang and smiled politely. His guests took the clue and excused themselves.
This tournament was not something Yang Xia would normally attend, but it would be a good chance to fight Nascent Realms experts, exactly what he needed right now. And without the chance of getting killed in an alley for once. Maybe he will go after all.
“Ancestors, I thought they would never leave.” A voice came from behind Xia, but he didn’t need to turn to know it was Mei Yun. She kneeled by his side and gestured for the servants to bring her tea.
She was an elegant young woman, almost exactly one year older than Yang Xia. Wearing a baby blue robe that contrasted with her short black hair she was always the center of attention wherever she went. She had a perfect jade-like skin, obsidian eyes and slightly red lips, a combo enhanced by the light make up she always wore.
When the Yang Sect conquered Pear City during the Sisters Wars they left the power structures almost intact, only integrating the clans and families into their power structure. The only foreign Family they brought with them was the Mei Family, the subsidiary family that was serving under the Yang Sect since the Classical Times.
The children of the Mei Family often served as playmates and companions for the Yang heirs, especially when they were born away from the main Yang centers of power and didn’t have many eligible elites on their level to play.
Yang Xia knew Mei Yun since he was 8 years old, he had just begun to cultivate and his teachers thought that having a slightly older companion to accompany him was a wise decision. And now 9 years later she is still by his side.
“It’s not everyday you have access to someone like me.” Xia drank a sip from his tea and frowned. Too bitter, not hot enough. He placed the cup back on the table and one of the servants collected it.
“You don’t intend to go to this collection of the best of the trash in the city do you?” Her voice was cool and firm.
“Who knows. I need to practice against people at my level.” The servants brought another cup of tea. He took another sip. Still not good enough. He placed it back on the table and it got collected again.
“Then why don’t you go back home?” She raised an eyebrow.
“Like I would have the chance to really improve there.” He couldn’t hide the annoyance in his voice. “For a cultivator to grow he needs real fights, not having an instructor holding his hand at every move.”
“Real fights that end up with you almost dying and having to use a Spirit Scroll to survive?” Her remarks burned through Xia’s fresh wounds. “How many times will I need to nurse you back to health before the Games? You should’ve let me accompany you on this mission.”
“It was a stealth mission, Long Fen certainly had people watching the area around him for suspicious people. The last thing I would want in this type of mission is someone as beautiful as you to alert every male spy in the region.”
“Well…” She coughed and took another sip of her tea. The servants brought another cup for Yang Xia. He drank it. Ah. Now it’s good enough. He gave a slight smile and placed the cup back on the table.
“Anyways!” Mei Yun continued. “You need to take care of yourself better, you can’t grow stronger if you end up dead by the blade of a low-life in some dark part of the city.”
“I will try not to do that, thank you for the advice.” He took another sip of the tea. Good but not what he really wanted. “Now, let’s put our outside boots on, I need some cultivation resources to train before my next mission.”