CHAPTER FOURTEEN

"Guafu I-"

"Save it! Your imbecility almost costed me my life!"

Wei Zixin flinched and chewed on his bottom lip. Guafu was right, he acted recklessly. Everyone gasps in shock as Zixin dropped to his knees and prostrated himself at Guafu's feet.

"Brother Guafu....I'm sorry, it won't happen again"

Gaufu sat there in shock. No one has ever done that before, it was both scary and impressive to see.

"It's okay.....right Guafu?" Wangzi asks seeing that the older man had been stunned to silence.

"Y-Yeah....it's fine Wei Zixin, stand up"

Wei Zixin got to his feet and nodded.

"I'll go outside now" he whispers.

Huli smiled watching him. She sighs before saying,

"You see? He's going to fit in very well"

Wangzi sighed. Huli always had the craziest ideas. But that didn't matter now, his brother came first.

"Guafu....are you okay?"

The man nods and staggers to his feet. It seems he has to keep his spider, ying'er close to him from now on.

"That reminds me, look what I bought you. It's new strings for your bracelets" Wangzi says with a smile. Hei Guafu smiled looking at the thin strings. He's sure he'll be fighting with no fear from now on. He ruffles Wangzi's hair.

"Thank you, i like it"

Huli then cleared her throat. It seems these two forgot they weren't alone.

"What about Zixin's training?" She asks making Hei Guafu sigh.

"He's terrible. I don't think he's the one we're looking for" he says. Just then Wangzi snapped his fingers.

"How about tomorrow I train him. If he fails with me then he's definitely not the person we're looking for"

Huli was hesitant about that, if Wei Zixin is not the snake king then who is? She has to gather these people before they turn evil or else....chaos will reign within the martial arts world.

"Let's do it"

═───────◇───────═

He coughed up two of his teeth after being punched in the face. He heaves a tired sigh. Hua Ling washes his hands and stands next to Xin Ai.

After the fight, the three young men had tied their attackers up and now they were interrogating them.

"I'll ask again, who sent you?" Xin Ai asks. His voice as calm as water yet it had a lingering malice towards the end of his sentence. Being a general at a young age meant Xin Ai had to be ruthless in the battlefield, to make people know he was worthy of his title.

The tied up man cackles revealing his blood filled mouth.

"Why should I tell you? Are you going to give us your blood?"

Lang Fei, who was sitting on the corner stood up and dusted off his robe.

"Young master, this man is clearly possessed, we should just go"

Hua Ling nodded in agreement. Xin Ai sighs, if they leave, wouldn't that mean they ran away?

"We'll come back once the night hunt is done" Hua Ling whispers into his ear as he saw Xin Ai's resistance.

"Fine go pack up, we leave now"

═───────◇───────═

They stood before the dark lake. Chang Pei's disciples were standing behind her ready for orders. Jiang Ji knelt down and touched the ground. The soil was warm, someone had just walked here.

"Someone was here"

"Could it be that your friend found a way out?" Chang Pei asks in wonder.

Jiang Ji summons his zheng, the instrument landing with a thud on the ground. He starts to play a spell, the wherever whenever spell.

The others watch in wonder was the murky water ripples and an image starts to form on  the surface. A young man could be seen, he was looking at the sky, in his hand was a fan. Chang Pei frowned looking at it but she didn't utter a word.

"He's still in there" Jiang Ji says as he stops the spell, the water turned back to it's murky colour. He sighs.

"He seems okay so I'm not worried about if he's dead or alive. We should find a way inside"

Chang Pei nods.

"We'll try again when the sun is out. It's late now, who knows what's lurking in the woods"

Jiang Ji nods in agreement, it was a reasonable choice.

"Alright, let's head back"

═───────◇───────═

"Are you hungry?"

He turns around and sees Wangzi with a plate of food. Wei Zixin smiles and nods.

"Yeah, what's for dinner?"

The two sit down at a table Wangzi had set up. The seats were made from tree stumps. Wangzi places the plate on the table, roasted fish.

Wei Zixin smiles seeing this meal. This meal, it was the last thing he had with his mother, it was also the last meal he had with Jiang Ji.

"You look sad"

Wei Zixin shook his head and sniffled.

"I'm fine"

Wangzi looked at him, it seems Wei Zixin wasn't ready after all.

"Here's a secret....that pit inside the cave is a secret way out. All you need to know is how to master the free motion spell, then you can go wherever you want"

Wei Zixin looked up from his plate. Wangzi was giving him the information just like that?

"What's the catch?" He asks.

Wangzi places his chopsticks down and his face turns serious.

"The catch is....you have to train. Your power is low and we need it high. Huli is planning on making every undesirable animal have representations, you're the snake king and so far you have the capability to be more powerful than all of us and possibly even rule us all"

What was he hearing! Him? The most powerful?

"But....but why?"

"It's your fate. Accept it"

He stuffs his mouth with a bun. It seems he won't be leaving until he masters his powers.

"Let's do it"

═───────◇───────═

Their horses ran through the silent night. Xin Ai could feel his heart pound against his chest because of the adrenaline. They see the moon's reflection on a lake making them slow down.

"What's the matter?" Hua Ling asks. Xin Ai pulled out a flare from his satchel and shot it up to the dark sky.

The white flare lights up revealing an abandoned cove. He frowns.

"Something is not right here"

Lang Fei got off his horse and looked around.

"I agree, the killing intent around this place is strong. We won't survive the night"

Xin Ai sighs. Did his brother pass here?

"Let's keep moving, the map says ZhangShi sect is nearby"

"Yes sir"

As they galloped away, the lake water separated and a figure came out, walking to the lake bed, it's hair flowing with the gentle breeze, it watched them and it went back inside the lake.