CHAPTER FIFTEEN

She sat on her chair. The cave silent as the men had fell asleep. Huli opens a scroll and sighs reading the first sentence.

"Emperor Li Xiwang and his husband murdered, killer still not found"

It was too much. She still remembers meeting Li Xiwang, he was just a teen at the time and he looked so sad. Huli managed to make him smile and laugh though.

"Master....what happened that night?" She whispers.

Although Li Xiwang was dead, he will forever be her master. He is the reason why she wants all the species dubbed as 'insignificant' and take them to Lishizu sect and leave there peacefully.

"Master.....i will expose your killer"

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The following morning, Zixin woke up early with Wangzi. The two were outside and Zixin had liquor jars tied to his wrists.

"You're the snake king so you shouldn't be afraid of snakes. Take them as your family, if they feel you're afraid then they'll strike but if you radiate with positive energy, they'll just cuddle with you"

Wei Zixin sighed. That didn't sound too hard.

"Okay" he says.

Wangzi nods and slaps his palms together, his eyes glow blue and the sky turns dark. Wei Zixin could feel the rumbling of thunder on his chest, he looks up and it started to rain. Something thick and cold landed on his face, it slithered into his robe making him gasp and giggle.

"It tickles! Hahaha"

"Shhhh, just focus" Wangzi says before opening his eyes, the rain stopped and the snake in Zixin's robe moved around, Wangzi watched as the young man giggles and shake his legs.

The snake felt comfortable slithering around it's master's skin, the heat between Wei Zixin's thighs was it's favourite spot, so it went upward. Zixin shrieked in panic.

"It's going up there!" He yells. Wangzi chuckles and sits down pouring himself some tea.

"Remain calm, trust that it wouldn't harm you"

He bit his bottom lip, sweat forming on his forehead. Zixin feels the snake move again, this time going up his butt, he shudders. The feeling was kind of pleasant. The snake licks his lower back and it's fangs sink into his skin making the man yelp.

Zixin tries to remove the snake but his arms couldn't move. The liquor jars were filled with gold taels and they were so heavy!

"Wangzi it hurts!" He cries out. Wangzi nods and takes a sip of his tea.

"Let it happen, remain calm"

How dare he! Wei Zixin didn't believe this. This was betrayal mixed with sabotage!

He feels the snake stop moving and he sighs, his vision turns blurry and he drops to his knees. He then hears Wangzi say,

"Just let it happen, don't fight it"

He collapsed.

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"So Jiang Qiang, who is your mother?" Shao Wen asks. Jiang Ji had been invited to have breakfast with the sect leader family, the table was filled with delicacies of the ZhangShi sect. From lotus root soup to spicy meat buns.

"My mother is Jiang Pei Xin" he replies. Zhang Wei and Shao Wen frown.

"Jiang Pei Xin? I haven't heard of her, does she attend the sect leaders conference in the emperor's court?" Zhang Wei asks. Jiang Ji shook his head and says,

"My father used to attend them but he died so my mother doesn't go, too many memories"

Shao Wen nodded, it sounds like the woman was still mourning her late husband. He couldn't help but ask,

"Who was your father?"

"Li Qiang"

Zhang Wei choked on his tea, he coughed for some time before finally getting the ability to breathe normally again. He looked at the young man across the table.

"Your father....was he a sect leader?"

Jiang Ji noticed the disbelief in the sect leader's question. Did his father know this man?

"Yes he was, he married my mother just to appease my grandparents"

Shao Wen felt dizzy. He takes a deep breath.

"What killed your father?"

Jiang Ji shurgged.

"We never knew. One day he just arrived with his golden core crushed, his left eye was blinded and his....ehm, his manhood chopped off"

Zhang Wei stood up and started to pace, Chang Pei on the other hand didn't know what they were talking about, she never knew the people mentioned.

"Your father was an inner disciple of Li Shizu sect. He was a personal bodyguard for Li Xiwang"

Jiang Ji looked up in shock. His father knew Li Xiwang?

"Was....was Li Xiwang a friend of my father's?" He asked. Zhang Wei and Shao Wen share a look. Clearly Jiang Ji respects his father so they wouldn't taint the dead man's name by saying he had feelings for Li Xiwang in the past. Also it seems Li Qiang had moved on so there was no need to mention the whole falling for the young master saga.

"They were good friends....they had two other friends as well, Li Jun and Liu Yang" Zhang Wei said.

"What happened to them?" Jiang Ji inquired.

Chang Pei recognized one of the names, she looks at her father, Shao Wen.

"Liu Yang was our surrogate. She gave birth to Chang Pei but she died months later" Shao Wen says.

Jiang Ji was overcome with shock. So the Li Shizu and Wangshi jaizu murders could be caused by the people they knew?

"I see....what about Li Jun?" He asked. Zhang Wei sighs shaking his head.

"After Li Xiwang's death and having Liu Yang leave her, she gave up the martial arts and left to live in peace. She's now a wanderer in the unknown"

"Dammit....if only i could find her" Jiang Ji whispers. Chang Pei then says,

"There was also another couple my parents failed to mention. Li FeiFan and Li GongSun"

Zhang Wei felt his face turn pale hearing those names.

"We don't talk about those people here"

"Why not?" Jiang Ji inquires. Shao Wen sighed, he downs the cup of green tea. With a tired tone he replies,

"They framed us for killing Li Xiwang....and his husband"

═───────◇───────═

He woke up feeling dizzy, the sun had now set and he also noticed that his wrists were now free. He sits up and finds Wangzi still drinking his tea.

"You're awake, how was your dream?" Wangzi asks without looking at the young man.

"I didn't dream of anything....it was just dark"

"I see....stand up"

He got on his feet and looked around, something was different. If he blinked quickly his vision would flash green and blue. He rubbbed his eyes.

"Let's head inside, tomorrow you'll try to escape from the endless pit"

As they walked inside the cave, Huli and Hei Guafu entered the realm landing on their feet.

"Do you think this will work?" Hei Guafu asks. Huli shrugged.

"There is a storm coming, Wangzi may have taken a short cut but I'm sure the results will be positive and even better than expected"

The spider king sighed. He hopes Huli is right.

"What about last night? You came back with a  dark aura around you"

Huli sighed shaking her head.

"I thought we were under attack, some people were talking by the lake at night. It seems someone is also trying to solve the Murders of the two sects"

Hei Guafu nodded.

"Will you eliminate them?"

"No, let them run around in circles while we solve the real thing." She says and heads inside.

Hei Guafu felt Ying'er crawl up on his shoulder, he sighed.

"Let's hope she's right. Otherwise, we'll all be killed"

The spider uses it's small head and rubs it to  the king's cheek. He smiles.

"Come on, let's find you a locust to eat"

AN- ying'er means baby