Dry Bones

Xueyu walked with the old man until he directed them both to a spot with an eagle eye view. He sighed contentedly as he sat down and tested the setting.

'Hmm... this seems good enough. Thank you for helping such an old man around,' he said with a doting smile in Xueyu's direction.

Out of nowhere the sound of clearing a throat was heard. They both glanced up to find Qui Yang.

'Old man... you move fast these days despite your age don't you,' he chided.

The old man had a blank look of innocence on his face.

'Me? What are you implying Qui Yang?'

Xueyu was surprised. There were not many people who directly called her Master by his full name. Not unless they were on really good or bad terms.

'Huang Chen, don't play innocent with me. Leave my disciple alone.' Qui Yang looked unhappily at the old man.

'Pfffttt... I would never harass such a beautiful young lady, eh?'

Haung Chen's shoulders shook as he chuckled softly. He playfully shot Xueyu a little wink and Qui Yang huffed.

'Meddlesome old man..,' he muttered under his breath.

Huang Chen laughed out loud and moved to get up.

'No! No!'

Qui Yang exclaimed in a rush and Huang Chen gave him a questioning glance.

'Wouldn't want you to hurt your old bones any further,' he roared with laughter.

Xueyu shook her head, disappointed in her master.

'Everytime you meet one of your acquaintances that maturity vanishes and you suddenly have the mind of a ten year old again. Leave grandpa alone,' she said in a scolding tone.

Qui Yang pouted and Xueyu could really see why Jiao behaved the way he did.

'You called him grandpa,' he mumbled grumpily.

'I quite like this one, Qui Yang.'

'But you won't be having this one, Huang Chen. You already stole Little Rui from me.'

Huang Chen sighed while Xueyu listened on with keen interest.

'Qui Yang, You were young and inexperienced. The girl had a special gift. I felt like it needed more attention and more room to form,' he explained, noting the regret in Qui Yang's eyes.

'It's a pity she didn't stay anyways,' he added feeling a bit sad too.

Their gloomy atmosphere was broken when the Frost Fighters Sect walked in with a handsome young man in the lead.

Qui Yang shook his head before grumbling under his breath.

'Less than five minutes of us leaving after that stare down and he starts to kiss up to the General's son.'

Xueyu chimed in with her dissatisfaction and just as she looked down once more , the handsome man looked up... right at her.

She erased all signs of animosity and smiled sweetly before turning away.

She would win by whatever means.

Ning Ye seemed to actually live up to his reputation by the looks of it.

Xueyu remembered the powerful aura she had felt and grimaced. It would prove a challenge to beat him, even at her level.

She spotted him instantly, feeling the chill of his aura playing scales on her spine. He had instantly singled her out when they had their little confrontation. Now, she was trying her best not to turn around to look at him.

'Hey Foxy!'

An obnoxious voice called out from the lower platform of the hall, his voice reaching up to Xueyu.

She gritted her teeth in annoyance and spun abruptly to see him laughing with the rest of his sect members who were of course all males.

'Come on, you know you like my nickname,' he said noting her enraged expression.

Xueyu glared fiercely at him then spun around again to face the old man and Qui Yang who were frowning down at the young man.

'Feisty! How did you know that's how I like them?'

This earned him plenty of slaps on the back and the howls of laughter were deafening.

Huang Chen got up from his seat and glared down at Ning Ye.

'This is what I mean when I say youth have gone from bad to worse now,' he exclaimed.

Ning Ye scoffed as he spotted Wu Yen coming in and his confidence grew.

'Old man, please! Move your dry bones and find somewhere else to spew your nonse-.'

His words were cut off when he felt a tightening around his throat. His hands reached up instinctively and he clawed at his neck, tearing at the skin.

Huang Chen smirked evilly.

In a quiet voice he said, ' Repeat what you said.'

Ning Ye shook his head from side to side and Wu Yen looked at Qui Yang with pleading eyes.

'Oh! You won't repeat?'

Huang Chen mocked Ning Ye with a venomous glint in his eyes.

'Fair enough! Apologise to the young lady first,' he ordered in a stern voice.

Ning Ye nodded his head indicating that he would and Huang Chen reluctantly loosened his spirit palm hold on him.

He kept the presence there with a monstrous pressure to simply warn Ning Ye not to cross the line.

'I sincerely apologise,' he said sounding quite genuine about it.

It was common knowledge though that it was simply an act.

He strode out of the room with a cloudy expression and glared at Xueyu when their eyes met.

Wu Yen rushed after him and so did the rest of the sect while the General's son simply brushed his hands together.

'Well then...'