Time swiftly flew by but the third prince could not see any hole.
Worse, Jiang Yehan who used to run to him for protection have permanently glued himself to the wheat girl. And identified her as his friend and fiancé.
When Celes came across his path, she pulled her lips up to smile. "Your highness."
"En."
"Ahuh, well then, ciao!"
The older prince lifted a brow. "Chow?" She was clearly speaking in another language once again.
This girl verbally treated him like a prince but her actions deemed him as a fellow without social status. His rank did not matter, neither was his power.
The third prince looked at the disappearing figure walking into the ominous fog. His calculative eyes turned dull. Terror rampaged on his entire being. Celes has become a big eyesore.
In the beginning, Jiang Yehan was just to be brought back to Empress Dowager. But the fateful encounter between his younger brother and that silly servant just really tested his patience.
He sighed. The longer it takes to bring the little white bun back to the Empress Dowager, the shorter his life span would be. The Empress Dowager has raised Jiang Yehan herself!
The third prince's eyes narrowed at the direction has disappeared in. 'The little bun can only be brought back if that brown twig was to go with him, right?' He concluded.
With a small move of his feet, the third Prince flashed through the swamps to find the untraceable Celes. 'Just where did you go?'
Meanwhile, the missing girl was actually hopping from pit to pit and trying to sense the an aura similar to her Master's. As there was no time to sit down and consume the condensed Qi, Celes was able to pass by at least five pits within a few minutes.
Just then, she felt a gravity defying pressure coming from behind. Celes clicked her tongue as she sensed that it was a Martial Supreme's! In a haste, the Martial Warrior suppressed her Qi and hid within an empty tree. The pit beside her would be a great spot but having been awakened in one of those left her mentally traumatized. It was disgusting and awful.
Celes waited, hoping that the stronger person would just leave as soon as they arrive. Hopefully so she would not have to make use of her trump card, Devour. Using that one would end up complicated.
In her head, if that indiscriminate Devour was to be used against the Martial Supreme, it may have chances of never going back to eating condensed Qi from the pits once it tasted a better quality of food. That was as complicated as it would be.
If Celes can be honest, she felt that it was too much work. No time to fight. No time to purify. Master Ling Hou's uncle is dying. She did not notice how humane her thoughts were, no longer being greedy as it may have all been blamed at her Devour.
Nevertheless, a certain third prince was not a high ranked Martial Supreme in name only. The moment he came to Celes' location, he sensed her spiritual Qi thus increased the pressure. A smile drew his lips upwards, pretending as if he was still looking despite having found her in just a matter of seconds. 'A little revenge shouldn't hurt,' he thought.
Celes groaned and finally walked out of her hiding place. Her expression couldn't display her non-chalance but rather an annoyed face. She glared at the cold, vengeful man. While doing so, she slowly made her way but every step she made was rather heavy.
The third prince's eyes widen. 'The pressure, why can she move?'
In response, he increased the spiritual pressure and observed once more. It was harder for Celes to take another step but she was still inching forward!
Little did he know, her Devour was slowly eating the Qi used by the spiritual pressure. As it surrounded Celes' entire being, it was eating it and pushing her to move so that the more muscles moved, the more Qi was released to increase the pressure. The Devour's greed surely was unsurpassed.
Thankfully, Celes' highly tempered body was of a Martial Honour's and could withstand the violent force of the pressure.
The third prince blinked and lost all his vengeful thoughts against her. This strange girl seemed too abnormal. Her growth in power would spectatcular and a sight to see. Therefore he withdrew the spiritual force. It was better to start earning good vibes from the twig than creating an enmity between them.
The third prince's cold demeanour and indifferent face relaxed once Celes lifted her head to see the person's face. Deep inside, she sighed in relief to see that it was Jiang Yehan's brother.
"Your highness, third prince," she greeted first. Celes knew very well how hiearchy was deeply rooted into their heads. Well, except that plump white bun.
"En."
Celes also knew that he wanted to bully her on purpose. She sighed in her head. Id she could remember, Jiang Yehan barely acknowledged this older brother the whole time since he arrived.
"Your highness, Third Prince, what brought someone of your significance to this damp, humid and dirty place?"
He looked at her with slightly furrowed brow. Given that Celes was not as scheming or shallow as those people in the empire, he did not if she was mocking him or simply stating some facts.
Only Celes knew how truly sarcastic she felt. He felt wronged after being ignored by his little brother but it was not her fault, she was that charming.
"Celes Fallon de Lin, yes?"
"I was named that since long, long, long ago."
"What is keeping you here?"
Celes sighed. "I don't really know. What do you think?"
"How dare you respond with a question? Do you know that is impudence against royalty and --"
She rolled her eyes. For someone who outlived these ignorant people, the divine beast thought that they were just humans who would die sooner or later and won't last forever. They were nothing but passing ants in her eyes. In other words, temporary mortals who can't do anything against her.
"What? Cut my tongue off? You tried?"
"No." The third prince never cut a person's tongue but he had dismembered people's heads and limbs. 'Would that make any difference?' he thought.
"Well, that is good for me. As for my head and limbs, wait until you at least break through your highness. Too much excitement is bad for the heart."
"En. Wait, what do you mean?"
"You see, I can't just show my enemies everything. So, your highness, how may I be of service to you?"
The prince previously had a confused expression but soon calmed down when Celes lead the little chat into another topic of significance. His sharp gaze looked into hers, as if trying to drill into her soul and checking for any ulterior motives.
"You are truly brave, little girl. To directly confront me without hesitation, this orince admires your courage."
But Celes atopped listening after hearing two words, 'little girl'. Looking at the prince, he was not much older than her at the first of his twenties.
"Are you thirty years old so you call me little girl?"
The third prince furrowed his brows tighter. 'That is not important.'
"This prince is only 21," he responded but before Celes could retort, he quickly continued, "The little prince is being summoned back to the palace."
"Little chubs?"
The third prince's eyes turned icy. If his imperial brother would hear that, he would burst into tears!
"Slandering royalty once more? Maybe I should start making a list of your crimes," he warned.
Yet Celes treated him like toothless, barking dog with a leash on its neck and chained on a wall.
"Yeah, sure. So you want 'MY' little chubs tp go back to the palace." She smirked and retorted a rhetorical question right after. "What or who is hindering your objective?"
"I want to settle this problem without resorting to violence," he stated as a matter of fact.
But Celes raised a brow, narrowed her eyes, pouted then scoffed. Just awhile ago, he attempted to harm her! "Oh I see, how long have you been a diplomatic person? Are you newly stated?"
"What do you mean?" The girl was obviously thinking far ahead, mocking him and confusing him. He could not follow her train of thought in mere seconds! Given that the prince could not waste any more time, he cleared his throat. "Celes Fallon de Lin, let us make a deal."
Celes crossed her arms across her chest and grinned. "Your highness, I won't dare."
"You do. Imperial brother is the Empress Dowager's favorite. Her majesty has been missing younger royal brother for a week already. What do I have to do to make you come back with Xiao Ye?"
Celes smirked. "Nothing."
"Are you searching for someone?" If he could remember, Ling Hou has gone missing after his master's disappearance. The prince had not been there first hand but heard from his shadow guards about the humiliation of Wisdom Sect's senior elder being taken by his Royal uncle's men. Therefore, even the palace was in a complete unrest from the continuous pressure the sect has been literally pushing on them! Her majesty, the Empress Dowager has been trying to hold all the pressure in order to protect the empire! Worse, that uncke has disappeared without a trace.
Since Ling Hou was here and this brown twig was looking around, it could be safely concluded that the Elder would be somewhere here.
Unlike him, Celes was unaware of the situation.
She simply nodded with a silent smile. Her reddish, pink lips curled up as she patiently waited for the prince to say more before deciding to give up some information.
"I may be able to help." As soon as he said so, the prince spread his right hand to show his fingers. On his thumb was a silver ring embedded with a polished jade gem. He tapped it and fished out an ordinary looking plate with glowing gold engravements on the outer circle. "Are you looking for the senior Elder, Master Ling Fan?"
The girl nodded. She could not remember Ling Hou's teacher by his name but by his scent. She was a divine beast afterall. Her master had previously given her a personal item of that missing man.
"If you give me a belonging of his, we may probably find him in a few hours."
But Celes did not move. "That's nice. Let me borrow it."
"You can't. I will hold it, you follow me."
"Then we don't have a deal your highness."
"Deal? You want to negotiate? Fine, here but before I pass it to you, promise to the heavens that you would come back with us."
"And that little chubs would follow right?"
"Yes."
"However," Celes began as she looked into the third prince's sharp gaze. "What is in it for me? That was for Master Ling Hou.
"You dare?"
"I dare but I will save my wish for later."
"You--"
"Let's go! I have his favorite sake jar here!"