CHAPTER 19

Journey to the West

LUO FAN

“What’s keeping Master for so long?” Huang Wen asked while we sat side by side inside the carriage.

More than an hour ago, Ruan Yanjun had decided to drop by the imperial palace and told us to wait a moment while he checked on some important matters. Thousands of moments had already passed.

While waiting for Ruan Yanjun to finish his concerns with the emperor, I probably should take this rare opportunity to discuss with Huang Wen some things that had been bothering me for a while already.

“I have a question if you don’t mind?” I said.

“Go ahead and ask.”

“Is… your master a tender type of person?”

He turned to look at me but did not give me an answer.

“No?”

He sighed. “That depends on his mood.”

“If he’s in a good mood, then he is?”

“That again depends on the person.”

“If the person is good to him, he returns the favor?”

“That again depends on his intention.”

I frowned. “Must everything depend on something?”

“That’s correct. That’s why he’s unpredictable.”

I sighed. “Ever since I’ve first heard of his name, nothing good was ever mentioned about him. They said he’s evil and we were warned never to interact with him should we encounter him by chance… But so far, he’s been treating me well. Now I’m starting to wonder whether those rumors are fabricated or exaggerated.”

“I don’t want to comment on that. Master is too aware of those rumors being spread about him, but he pays them no mind. Those things never bothered him, so it should not bother me, as well.”

I nodded. “I apologize for all the questions. It’s just that… he baffles me.”

“Priest Fan, I hold you in high regard, and so I give you a piece of advice.”

“What is it?”

“When it comes to my master, do not believe what you see.”

I frowned. “Can Disciple Huang care to elaborate?”

“You know what I mean. You don’t have to ask.”

“Are you saying he has not shown his real color yet? That he is just pretending to be someone he is not?”

He chuckled and did not answer.

I took his silence as an affirmation, but that did not surprise me much. I had already heard a lot about Ruan Yanjun, so I had also suspected that he was just feigning kindness, only because he needed something from me.

For whatever purpose he had in mind, he was adamant to find out the complete formula of the drug that had killed Crown Prince Sheng. If not for the fact that it would benefit me somehow, I would not have agreed to continue with this experiment.

“I understand,” I said a moment later. “But there’s just something about him that confuses me. I’m trying to ignore it and not think about it, but it only baffles me more.”

“What is it?”

“Is… Lord Ruan… into men?” Finally, I had dared ask the question that had been bothering me for some time now.

His sudden gasp sounded like a hissing snake. I could almost imagine his face flushed all the way to the back of his ears.

I waited for an answer, but as soon as he recovered from shock, he quickly looked away and cleared his throat.

I leaned towards him to remind him that I was waiting for an answer.

“Don’t ask me such a thing,” he said, raising a hand in between us as a cue for me not to cross the boundary.

I sighed. “I’m not asking that question out of mere curiosity. I’m asking so I’d know what to do whenever… because he sometimes acts strangely and I’m having a hard time trying to figure out what to do because I know very little about him.”

He pushed aside the curtain and peeked outside. When he thought it was safe, he dropped the curtain back in its place. “Priest Luo, I am in no position to speak about my master’s sexuality because ever since I became his disciple twelve years ago, he has not once taken in a lover. If he had, he probably had kept it a secret. It’s not my place to stick my nose on his personal affairs. Whether he’s into men or not, such a thing has never crossed my mind until you came along. So to answer your question, we share the same dilemma. I, too, am confused as to why Master treats you so tenderly that his eyes shine every time he sees you. He’s never treated anyone in such a way, not even anyone from the royal family, not even the most beautiful princess in the palace. But who knows? Maybe you’re one of the very few people that he adores, or maybe because… he needs something from you. But even so…” He paused and sighed. “I don’t know. I’m confused. Maybe we’re just overthinking things. Let’s just try not to think about it instead so we can both have peace of mind.”

“Easy for you to say because you’re not the recipient of his inappropriate actions,” I said.

“Lucky for me, I suppose.”

“Since you know your master too well, I have one last question for you… Suppose your master holds your hand, or he pulls you to his embrace… what will you do?”

Just hearing the question made him stiff and speechless. I saw his chin pointing forward, so I could tell that he had his eyes up and was probably imagining himself in the situation, and then he shuddered. “I don’t know.” He shuddered again, this time with a brr as if he just stepped out of a chilly place. “I don’t even want to think about it.”

“If you push him away, will he get angry?” I asked.

“That’s for certain. As his disciple, he’ll punish me or might even dismiss me and call me unsuitable to join his sect. Master is mostly unforgiving when he’s offended, so nobody dares to offend him even the slightest.”

We sighed almost at the same time.

“Maybe your best course of action is to do nothing,” he said after a long moment of pondering. “Because if you act against it, he’ll get mad and who knows what he’ll do to you. If you reciprocate his tenderness out of courtesy, he might get the impression that you’re into it and might do more improper things to you. But if you do nothing, he won’t get the satisfaction he seeks and will eventually get bored and leave you alone.”

I thought about it and realized that he made sense. “That’s a good suggestion. Thank you.”

“Master’s coming,” he whispered. “No more questions.” Then he jumped out of the carriage and greeted his approaching master.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

After giving brief instructions to his disciple, Ruan Yanjun entered the carriage and sat down beside me. I was glad the seat was wide enough to accommodate us both and there was still a gap left between us.

He did not say anything to me and his breathing was a bit heavy so I assumed that he was not in a good mood.

I dared not utter a word or he might throw his frustration at me.

As the carriage moved, we remained silent, until he turned in my direction.

“Are you alright?” he asked.

His question surprised me. He sounded concerned. I should have been the one to ask him that. “Of course, my lord.”

He sighed. “The poison has just been identified. They call it ‘The White Vulture’.

“The White Vulture,” I uttered the words silently. It was the first time I had heard of that name.

“Don’t wonder if you’ve never heard of it before,” he said. As always, he could tell what was in my head. “It’s based on an ancient formula made for the sole purpose of assassinating the royal family of the Great Empire five hundred years ago. After the successful infiltration, the creator burned the formula after witnessing its deceptive and destructive nature. However, it seems that someone managed to write down a portion of it and passed it down to his descendants in an attempt to recreate it. After five hundred years, one descendant has finally solved the missing pieces and successfully reproduced the White Vulture.” He paused and turned to me. “And do you know who that descendant is?” he asked.

“I honestly have no idea, my lord.”

He smirked. “It’s an alchemist named Han Bao. Does it sound familiar to you?”

A wrinkle formed at the center of my forehead. No matter how hard I tried to recall, it just did not ring a bell. “I don’t think I’ve heard of that name.”

“How offensive,” he said and snickered. “If he heard that, he’d want to kill you even more.”

“I don’t understand why a person I had never seen before would want to kill me.”

“A-Fan, I have no idea how your master raised you. Have you been confined inside the temple all by yourself that you never even heard of the former Divine Mage Han Bao?”

I stiffened. So he was the holder of that title before it was passed down to me?

“That’s right, A-Fan. You dethroned the old man and he did not take it too lightly.”

I still found it hard to believe. “I still don’t understand why such a small thing could drive a righteous man to kill another.”

“Do you always equate light cultivation to righteousness?”

“Light cultivators always follow the path of righteousness, my lord.”

He laughed. “A-Fan, my A-Fan. You are so naïve. Had I known that your former master would raise you that way, I should have carried you out of that mountain when you were still a child.”

“Lord Ruan, growing up in the temple is actually not that bad. In fact, I was happy. Although I did not have many friends and had very few people to talk to, it was a very safe place. I could walk around freely, unarmed and unguarded, and no one would even think about harming me.”

“And you were satisfied with that kind of life?”

“I was very content. In fact, if things had not happened, I’d still choose to live the rest of my life in Frost Mountain.”

“My dear A-Fan.” He sighed. “There is a reason why they had to keep you confined in that desolate place. Do you want to find out?”

“Lord Ruan, please enlighten me.”

“I will, of course, but my words alone will not suffice. You’ll have to see it for yourself.”

“You may tell me now. If it makes sense, there’s no reason for me not to believe it.”

“Be patient, darling. We’ll get there.”

Darling?

My eyebrows met, but I’d pretend I heard nothing or I’d shudder like how Huang Wen had been shaking out his shudders earlier.

“Are we going to meet with this Han Bao?” I asked.

“Why do you want to meet your murderer?”

“I just want to ask some questions. I don’t think his motive is that simple.”

“You are correct. He had never thought about killing you until someone had persuaded him. Given the chance to reacquire his title, he had taken the opportunity.”

“Who would want to kill me? And why?”

“Why?” He snickered. “You were a seventh level. You brought shame to your master. You made your senior sect brother, the crown prince who happens to be the niece of your master, so insecure. And when you displease the crown prince and bring shame to the brother of the emperor, the whole empire will hate you.”

My fingers tightened on my lap.

I was seeing the picture now. I had never looked at the situation from that perspective before. “I understand. Thank you for your valuable insight, Lord Ruan. I understand if some people wanted to get rid of me to save the royal family’s face, but I don’t understand why they had to implicate my master.”

“That is the most interesting part of it,” he replied and laughed as if he was that amused to think about it. “I want to see through this until the very end. It must be very entertaining to watch.”

I had heard this rumor about Ruan Yanjun, that he liked observing people that caught his interest, especially people who were so down on their luck. He would follow them, watch them suffer, and then laugh at their misfortunes. He considered human suffering as entertainment, and he had always preferred a tragic ending.

It was not just a rumor after all.

But my story had already ended. What more does he want to see? What ending is more tragic than my own ending? I would have preferred to have just died than go on living in shame and regret.

The only reason why I had not taken my own life was because I believed that fate must have other purpose for me, and that was why I was being kept alive, why Jinjing had found me, and why even the devil Ruan Yanjun was willing to waste his precious time and money to keep me alive.

I did not want to discuss that matter anymore, so I changed the subject.

“Lord Ruan, I heard you’ve investigated the assassination attempt on me before. Have you found out the mastermind?”

He smirked. “Don’t worry about that. I’ve already taken care of it.”

The cold tone of his voice made me shiver. “What did you do?”

“Sent him to the execution chamber, of course.”

“D-do you mind telling me who he is?”

“You really have no idea?”

I shook my head.

“A-Fan.” He drew a deep breath as if he was getting tired of my ignorance. “There was only one person who had been rude to you. You shouldn’t forget those people who offend you, because most likely, they have wicked intentions toward you.”

I tried to recall all the people that I had met along the way since I arrived in the capital. Aside from that terrifying princess, everyone had been nice to me especially in the presence of Ruan Yanjun, except for one.

“Is it the imperial physician?” I asked.

“Very good. I was beginning to think you’ve lost your intelligence along with your martial arts.”

I compressed my lips.

Compared to that imperial physician’s discreet insults, this man’s blunt sarcasm is ten times more offensive.

“Has it been proven that he was the one?” I asked.

“Do you distrust my judgment?”

I flushed.

Why did I ask such a stupid question? This is Ruan Yanjun, the real authority behind the great emperor. How could he make a mistake?

“Forgive me, my lord.” I lowered my head. “I was not thinking properly.”

He smirked. “I’ve accepted the fact that you’ve lost your martial arts, but you should retain your brain, otherwise, you’ll be of no use to me.”

I suppressed the urge to glare at him.

This man is really unbearable.

“That physician was actually the one who prescribed your so-called destructive drug to the crown prince,” he explained. “Since I was the one who brought you in, he knew that you were someone special. He feared that sooner or later, you’d discover the truth, so he tried to stop you. Unfortunately, he’s left some clues behind which led the investigation to him. Last night, he wrote a written confession and then killed himself.”

My jaw dropped. Although he had attempted to kill me, I still felt sorry for him. I could only fold my hands and close my eyes to wish peace for his soul.

He chortled. “Are you praying for him?”

“He may have done some terrible things, but in the end, he has decided to do the right thing. He deserves redemption.”

He laughed. “A-Fan, he did not do that because he had a change of heart. He did that because he knew that his death was inevitable, especially after he learned about the crown prince’s demise. He feared for his soul in the afterlife, so he confessed hoping doing so would exonerate him from his sins.”

I looked at him in disbelief.

Even if that were true, I would never accuse a dead person of such a thing. He was already dead, so he deserved the benefit of the doubt.

“Lord Ruan, do you really see him in a wicked way?”

“I see every person in the same way,” he returned. “Every person hides a certain evil within them and they only do good things to look good in the eyes of this hypocritical society, but their hearts are as black as the depth of the sea.” He paused and looked at me for a long moment as if he was gauging me. “And that includes you.”

His last words froze me. I had no idea why he saw me in such a way. “Have I done anything to his lordship that must have offended him?”

He huffed. “I must admit you are a rare one, but that’s only because you haven’t been fully exposed to the tyranny of the secular world just yet… It will come.”

I lowered my head and decided not to prolong the subject anymore. I wasn’t sure what had happened to him in the past that had convinced him that everyone was evil, but nothing that I would say could change that.

“Has Shao Wei received the medicine?” I asked instead, referring to the pills that I had refined two days ago to help Shao Wei recover faster.

“Shao Wei has not reported back to work yet. He’s still resting. I’ve entrusted the medicine to Eunuch Zeng, so you don’t have to worry about it. Shao Wei will get it soon.”

I heaved a relieved sigh. “Thank you, my lord.”

“You’ve given him those pills as a sign of gratitude for saving your life. I, too, saved your life, didn’t I? So what do you have for me?”

Dumbfounded, my jaw dropped.

What can I possibly give this man that he does not already have?

“Lord Ruan was not injured during the fight, was he?” I replied.

“Of course, I was. After the fight, I suffered from qi deviation and until now I still have not fully recovered.”

I smiled. Only a fool would believe that a level-three coreless assassin could give that much damage to an immortal. “That assassin must have been exceptional.”

For a long moment, he remained silent, but I could tell that he was staring at me. “Alright. You’ve just paid your debt.”

I frowned. “I don’t understand.”

“You have a beautiful smile,” he retorted. “All the while, I thought you’re incapable of smiling.”

I quickly erased the smile off my face.

So what’s so beautiful about a man’s smile? Does he see me as a woman?

I discreetly moved an inch away from him.

I really should take extra precautions around this man. There were just so many things about him that I found peculiar.

Of all people, I was his unfortunate victim.