Chapter 23

‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍Dejang took a deep breath and he turned towards the large house about two hundred feet from Meiyang and his crew.He was holding a basket of pomegranates and peaches that he bought from a stand .

His palms were sweaty and he was really nervous. He very much desired to take off the clothes that he wore which were suddenly significantly uncomfortable to move in.

He reached the back door and like always it was unlocked.As he pushed, it open his heart bolted rampantly and he felt his soles go cold. The basket without notice became very ponderous to suspend such that he had to cling to it even more absurdly.

The second his feet touched the innerground , an air of heavyness and pushed him downwards. He felt the need to rotate back as he thought he was being foolish. But at the same time he wanted to keep moving forward. It has been more than three weeks since he was last here.

Servents scarried about the place so to avoid being seen he rushed to the chamber wing on the lee side of the mansion.

This mansion is about twice the size of the one that Dejang has been in and it comprises of over eight wings.One is for relaxing, three are for sleeping and the rest server as the house with a kitchen , supply room, study and display room.

It seems unnecessaryly simple but since each wing is a whole complete house , it is actually just exaggerating what is already there.The back door that Dejang uses is behind the sleeping chambers and is surrealistically hidden behind a curtain of flowers and trees. Whoever grew these must have known about the door and for uniformity they spread the whole curtain over a significant portion of the mansion walls.

He continued to navigate in between the sleeping chambers that are arranged in a horse-shoe with the main quarters and he gravitated towards those main quarters.. Stealth was huge priority of his in order to achieve his goal without having to explain his presence to antagonists or the antagonist's boot-lickers.

In two minutes he reached the main chambers and he braced himself to enter

The main chambers are very null for being the center of attraction. Most of the colours used are beige and shades of brown. The decorations is what makes the room alive otherwise the furniture is like an antique portrait with a musty covering

A lot of the stand-alone pieces like bed curtain and the coat hanger are made of wood to emphasize on the vintage look . Even the gigantic bed covers and sheets are made of golden brownish satin and linen. The nightstands are the same colour as the carpet which is yellowish cream-white. A light bronze calligraphic finish was burned on both the bed canopy and the bed rest as well as the nobs of the nightstand. Because the monsteros bed is at the center of the room, it takes a lot of the attention from the exotic sculptures placed on shelves by the windows .

Leaving the bed going backwards, there are two passages on each side going all its length. . Though they separate after a few feet, the passages merge opening to the humongous bathroom and chic modernist walk in closet.

Journeying to the foot of the bed is a large screen that blocks the bed from the rest of the room. It serves in a way such that when one enters through the doors and looks to the left , all they will see is the large block when it closed. To the right would be all other things like the study table and a small zen set up similar to a shrine exclusive of worshipable presences.

As for the wooden flooring , it has a sun-kissed sienna hue with habitual dark latches similar to charcoal glazing. A total of fourteen geometric and abstract lanterns in the room are placed on the six shelves hosting the statues . The lights unlike the room emit a powdery white luminescence that amazingly highlights the warm tones and diffused hues of the theme of the room.

All chambers in this mansion have a table and it is the first thing to see when one open the doors. The table is the same colour as the floor but it is a little bit lighter thanks to the polishing and dressing chemicals used when it was being made. Atop it is just a tray of cutlery that is refreshed every day and a vase with a single tulip.

On the perimeters of the table were a group of four stools from the set . They were just a basic design but still a pricey craft just like the rest of the works in this rooms.

With all that said , the remaining attraction is the roof to floor window that opens to the backyard. It is made of a dense paper like the one that hides the dressing zone. Most of the time the windows are locked during the day but that is only when the master of the mansion is not using the backyard .

The said backyard is where Dejang is currently standing. Following a few short -breathes , he slid a card-paper and undid the latch so that he unlocks the door.

He stepped into the room and the scent of rosemary slapped him on the face. It was nose-cripplibg and seemed like someone just drenched tonnes of the stuff in the entire room but that was not the case as it means that the owners of the room are not home yet so by the time they return the ordour will have diffused.

He walked closer to the bed and he went to the right side. Afterwards he kneeled down and he opened the furniture. Inside where a few pieces of jewelry and some creams. This is not the rest of it as most is in the closet and the skin care stuff is in the bathroom. Anyway his interest isn't in taking them but leaving his note.

' Hi, I hope you like the fruits ', he read it before he carefully placed it inside. Soon afterwards, he slid the basket underneath the bed .

The chest was still not closed so he innocently admired the jewelry inside. There was a jade peacock brooch and a silver dragon's eye enclosed in a clamshell necklace alongside a few others. It's quite amazing that she would leave these laying causally but then again no one dares to enter this room without knowing the dire consequences.

He stood up as he was starting to feel sad reminiscing . Just then he heard someone moving from the bathroom. His mind immediately ran to his Xia'Qi. She is usually home now and that might explain the rosemary scent and she could have been taking a bath.

" Xia'Qi!", He sweetly sunmoned her but he didn't get an answer bac. On pulse, he hastily shut the drawer and he zoomed to behind the curtain block. Something felt offish as she is always thrilled by his presence but her not reacting to that name is a bad sign.

Seconds after he attended caution , the person he called Xia'Qi stepped out . They walked into the room and they navigated towards the nightstands .

" Oh !! what is the matter?", A female voice echoed from outside and she tapped on the doors before she drifted in. Her calm and ready-to-serve face change to an electrified one the moment she spotted Dejang. She smiled like a teenager but her happiness thawed at lighting speed when her eyes displayed the seasoning of her dismay moving in the room while Dejang was inside .

She is now knows that who ever called him was not her husband but her ' brother ', but most importantly she realizes that if she makes the wrong move, a rabid bull would be easier to tame

". Can you go and get me some tea?", He commanded her coldy . The way she questioned informally knowing that is was merely Dejang who called her forgetting that her wedded personification of doom was inside, earned his thoughtless dismal and her edgy . He is cruel on the daily but even worse when he feels like he is being underestimated especially by people he feels don't compare to his standard, like his wife.

He believes that because he married her and gave her the riches of the world , she is entitled to him . She is to obey him at all costs. If he says crawl, she simply does it even if it means doing so on shards of glass and if he says scream, she must shout till her voice runs flat. Whatever his commands and demands regardless of big or small they must be addressed or else hell will break lose.

She hesitated to leave but she can't disobey an order from him ever. So on that note Xia'Qi swayed out of the room. When she was unwilling and frightenedly closing the doors, she eyed Dejang and smiled once more. She can't help it even though Uzier would skin her alive if he knows he is around, he is her favorite priority after her 'son', Emid.

The owner of the room took large steps towards the bathroom and when they were no longer audible, Dejang exhaled in relief. He hasn't seen Uzier in over two months because he is constantly working but he doesn't mind , that man has the apperance of a human but the humanity of a ghoul. Basically that means he doesn't even want to exchange a single statement with him considering the fact that he is always so vile. But the main reason for Dejang's lack of aquintancy is because Uzier doesn't know that Dejang exists . But thanks to Emid's lose lips, he blurted out that Xia'Qi has someone visiting her and Uzier thought it was a secret lover so he has been on the watch out for that. Moreover he has become even more eruptive towards Xia'Qi.

All the times that he has tried to catch her in the act so that he can discipline her were beyond infite. Despite his selfish and slightly sadistic pursuits,he failed miserably because Dejang is slippery . Since he is a man that never lets his ego topple, he started to take an extreme note of her behavior. Xia'Qi is always a bit happier after meeting Dejang so he would know that he has been around. After he became convinced of his hallucinations, he had someone ,Retyil spy on her to make sure. And for the last year that Dejang has decided to keep coming to see her, Retyil has been guarding her like a hawk and taking notice of all her motions and the people she has been meeting

At this present moment, Retyil knows that Dejang is in town and that he came with some people but he has not yet told Uzier . There are three reasons for this. The first is that , Dejang was accompanied by some powerful people and that might mean he is one of them or he practices their magic too. This implies that Retyil can't foolish have Dejang suspect him or that could be counterproductive. Second is because if he informs Uzier now, Uzier might act foolishly by trying to catch him without actual evidence that he is a home-wrecker. The third and most important reason is that Retyil is the chief detective and he is currently dealing with affairs that are happening at the palace. In direct approach it concludes that he is too preoccupied at present to approach him. He can't leave the office as much as he pleases without raising alarms but eventually he will have to make a plan .

He looked towards the door that he got to see Xia'Qi and he had to leave to go back to Meiyang.

As he rotated his body over the curtain the house master already collided onto him and he pinned him against the frame.

His eyes were dressed in a fiery red and his skin a lethal white. The porcelain chiseled face he poses mimicked a white dragon with a lighting roar. Though his hair was collected in a bun, his face seemed like it was hiding behind a dark shield of murderous intent. It was easy to see that he harbours a vicious dose of a hot temper and the pride of a useless cobra. He is a predator that barks and seldom bites but whenever does, he tears apart whatever is at his mercy .

He pressed further onto Dejang 's neck and he swiftly moved his hand towards the mask but Dejang dodged it then he slammed him towards the floor.

The house master quickly jumped for Dejang and he strangled him causing him to inevitability collapse on the floor. All the strength that he planted on his grip was without a doubt with the aim to end Dejang. And though he wanted to fight back, Dejang might do worse given his scary aura , should he act on his burning urge to humble this man with a condensnding personality the size of Shangri La. Immediately then Uzier crossed his legs over Dejang and continued to cling for dear life . Uzier instructed his hand to Dejang's face to peel the mask but Dejang again turned over and flipped so that he is atop him.

He would want to punch him right now but he can't bruise Xia'Qi 's husband so he pirouetted him to the side . Unfortunately Uzier grabbed his foot and swinged him turned towards the bed. With the gained advantage, the house master grabbed the sheets and he flew them onto Dejang before climbing onto him again.

He also can't attack him as it would be assault which he can't have on his portfolio especially since this man could be his wife's secret lover plus Dejang isn't being a threat though he is tresspassing. But he can make him pay later if he can just see his face.

The young master was seating ontop of Dejang and Dejang was pinned underneath that cover with him like that so he violently pushed him off and bumped him onto the ground face first. Soon after when he attempted to crawl to the door, the master pulled him by the leg again forcing him to grip on the floor and carpet causing the mattress to fall off.

Uzier held on with his bare nails such that as he was glasping, Dejang's garment were getting damaged. But since they are not real cloth and just feathers as Uzier furiously yanked and yanked , the cloth tore off but immediately became feathers that descended to the ground and some in his hands.

This shocked the house master making him let go. Dejang seized the opportunity to flee out the room by storming to the door. The young master regained his mind , stood up and blasted after Dejang . To his misfourtune as soon as he stepped outside Dejang was gone. The feather in his hand shrivelled to black dust under the sun' heat and eventually melted into the wind

His eyes browsed around and he stared all over the place but his object of interest was absent.

Dejang laid hyperventilating on the other side the house. He could not leave as of yet because everyone was moving about but also because the house master is like a vigilante, directly infront of the door Dejang used to walk into the premises.

" What am I going to do?", Dejang asked himself , fully aware that Uzier is in kill mode and the target is Dejang.