Pitiful Yellow Eyes

Third Pov:

"I'm only here for one thing other than money that the Teng Sect has," ZiNuo said as his needle disappeared into gold dust in his hands.

"Oh," the man with white hair spoke as he fanned himself.

"You live here so you must know where it would be right?"

"Stealing isn't right, young man."

"So? If it's to help someone important to me. Stealing would be fine by me," ZiNuo said as he walked closer to the white-haired man.

"Why don't you do some tasks for me, and I'll give you a bottle of it? Fair right? No stealing involved either," the man smiled.

"I don't want to promise anything before you tell me anything, so what are these tasks you are thinking about?"

"Have tea with me, listen to me while I talk, and I will give you a bottle of this cure well after you braid my hair. Make sure you leave silently when I sleep," the man said as he turned his back, walking away into the house. ZiNuo followed the man into the house till he stopped at the very back of the house, where there was a clear view of the capital's buildings and a mini garden surrounding the view. The man seated himself down at the porch and grabbed a tea set out of thin air. "Seat yourself down and get as comfortable as you want," he said as he poured himself some tea. "Drink some tea to get yourself out of that mood of yours with alcohol," he continued to pour some tea into another cup and handed it to ZiNuo. ZiNuo took a sip and looked at the man.

"So what do you want to tell me about?" ZiNuo asked as he placed the cup on the surface.

"It's been so long since someone has been able to listen to me talk. Xiao Qing doesn't even visit me anymore," he frowned.

"You know the spoiled young lady Teng?"

"She's my cousin."

"Where are your parents?"

"Long gone," he smiled as he fanned himself.

"Do the Teng Sect not treat you well enough?"

"I could only say sort of. They give me money to buy what I need, but they never gave me what I wanted. They even told Xiao Teng to not visit me after I started growing white hair when I was in my early twenties. I wonder if she still remembers me?" he questioned himself while fanning. "I can only say what they hold should be mine. Who uses the Sect's poison on their blood-related relatives?"

"Power-hungry much."

"Is power all they want? No, they want to control and they got what they wanted. They are like sneaky little foxes planning every part of the plan to make it as perfect of an uncle and aunt I could have. A fool I was, an effect of the poison is this white hair I have. I found two bottles of this cure laying in this old housing that my mom lived in. Both of those bottles were for my mother, but she decided she would rather die than see me or my father again. I ate one, but it won't last long term. I feel my heartbeat slow down and the beats are fainter. Maybe I wasn't meant to lead the Sect to greater glory other than riches. We could have been a Sect about medicine, but we develop only poison. What a waste," he sighed.

"What's with all the hate you have for your Sect?" ZiNuo asked as he stared into the dark sky.

"Well, where do I begin," he paused for a while. "Let me start with my mother. She is like a porcelain doll, a woman that couldn't properly act or care like a mother. Maybe if I had a string of blood from that man she desired, she would have cared for me. It's like I could have snapped her into two halves because she's just that fragile and perfect."

"Perfect enough to be a victim to a man she desired? Yellow eyes and pitch-black hair dances like a falling leaf drifting through the wind. Is her name Liyao?"

"To think I'll never hear her name out of another person ever again."

"Your mother was a victim of a man, a man from the Yin Sect."

"That man destroyed everything, like a whiny child running away after seeing my mother break down into tears and shouting at him. He never visited her again, and she was like a flower losing its petals, drying up."

"If I ever see that man, his throat would be slashed, and his eyes would be dug out with my bare hands. If it wasn't for that woman who had more power than my mother, my mother would have never ended up like this. All men are power-hungry."

"But aren't we both men," ZiNuo laughed.

"Perhaps different from those within this land. You and I may not last very long if what we long for isn't power, but finding people we could trust."

"Already found one reliable person," ZiNuo smiled.

"That Bai Sect Bai gongzi won't do you any justice," he commented as he tapped his fingers on the ground.

"Why so?"

"He doesn't desire what you have to give him. Isn't he going to fight you someday?"

"Yeah," ZiNuo responded.

"It is so pitiful because this is all for an old tradition, just for a piece of land. Come to think of it, from what I heard, that piece of land is wonderful and fits the word beautiful. Too bad I'm not capable of getting out of this Sect to witness the beauty of such a place."

"Beauty doesn't last forever just like how the sun sets, and every day is a new day with many possibilities."

"Who knows if a beautiful place like that would shed some blood someday," the man laughed. "Enjoy the time, look around the places, explore, and most importantly say what you want to say to the person you value the most. Unlike me, I didn't say a single word when my mother and father were on their deathbed. It's always the yellow-ish golden eyes that hold the worth of many tears, endless beauty, and everlasting pain."

"There's another person with golden yellow-ish eyes?" ZiNuo asked out of curiosity.

"Other than my mother and I, there was a lady who changed everything within these lands. Liu Suying. Yet another tragic story, born to be a beauty, and slowly built her way up to be one of the best swordswomen. Another innocent life was ended by the Yin Sect. Your sect is truly like the flower called lily of the valley," he said before taking a sip of tea. "Enough about me talking, just braid my hair now."

"A strand?"

"No, all of it," he said as he placed the teacup on the ground. ZiNuo started to braid the man's white hair. "I might just be the last one of these pairs of golden eyes, I remember the last time I was able to see another with the same colored eyes was before my mom shut her eyes. I can recall when Liu Suying got her eyes ripped out when the Yin Sect found her body. They still have it, don't they?"

"Not that I know of, I could always return to my sect and ask," ZiNuo said as he finished braiding, tying it with a stripe of yellow cloth the white-haired male gave him. The man got up from the floor and walked into his house, looking through his dresser drawers. He took a white bottle out and walked up to ZiNuo.

"Take it." He handed ZiNuo the bottle. ZiNuo took it and hid it within his clothes. "Take care of yourself and your eyes," he said as he guided ZiNuo out of his house.

"Well I don't have those pretty colored eyes like you, so you don't have to worry about my eyes being ripped out.

"Always protect your eyes whether they are special or not. You need them to be able to see the world in color," he smiled.

"Well thanks for the stories, old man," ZiNuo laughed.

"It is going to rain soon, take this umbrella," he said, handing ZiNuo a white-colored umbrella. "If you ever need something you could come and visit me," the man fanned himself watching ZiNuo leave.