Dinner had just finished and both Jin Meng Yao and Jin Mei Rong are mulling about their newfound knowledge about this new cousin of theirs.
According to their mother; Wu Li Hua, her older brother; their uncle, Wu Zhang He had adopted a son a couple of years ago since he needed to have an heir but hasn't found a woman to marry and doesn't have any plans of looking for one anytime soon.
At first, Wu Zhang He didn't have any plans to adopt a child but apparently, during one of his travels, he encountered a group of bandits who had ambushed a group of people who was just some guards that were escorting a physician during his journey to the next city.
During the bandits' attack, most of the guards were killed while some had fled leaving the injured physician and his young son. It was at that time that their uncle, Wu Zhang He came across them and since he was a strong and talented cultivator, dealing with the bandits was as easy as squashing a bug.
Unfortunately for the physician, even with Wu Zhang He's arrival, it was already too late for him and he was already at death's door because of his grave injuries. His last request was for Wu Zhang He to please make sure that his young son lives on and in return, the physician gave a lot of precious medicine and herbs to him so Wu Zhang He had made sure that the young boy live on one of his estates as an apprentice to one of the physicians under the employment of the Wu family.
After that Wu Zhang He almost forgot the boy entirely until one incident where his niece, Jin Mei Rong had an attack that caused a complication and the medicine needed needed an extremely rare herb. It was then that the emperor's most trusted vassals started to look for the missing herb and luckily it was given to them by Wu Zhang He who had apparently gotten it from the herbs he had received from the physician.
Upon realizing how precious the herbs and medicine that was left to him was and how much the old physician had helped his beloved niece, it was that he felt an overwhelming gratitude which is why their uncle had decided to also personally take in the orphaned son of the physician.
When their uncle got the young boy and started training him in the ways of a cultivator, he found out that the boy had a huge talent for it so in turn, instead of keeping the boy with him here in Thunder Vale Country, he got the boy a master and had the master cultivator take the boy on his journeys to help him grow and when the boy departed with his master, their uncle; Wu Zhang He decided to keep his decision of adopting him private and didn't let the public know, only letting his parents and his subordinates know of the boy's existence.
Now that they found out, both Jin Meng Yao and Jin Mei Rong didn't know what to feel. The fact that they had no idea about their cousin's existence was already disconcerting but when they thought of how their parents never showed any plans to tell them before made Jin Meng Yao think that there may be something more to the story than meets the eye.
After dropping off his sister; Mei Rong to her courtyard, Meng Yao slowly made his way back to his own quarters, deep in thought.
Thinking back to what his mother said, the only concrete thing both he and his sister knew about their cousin was his name which was Wu Jun Qiao.
Aside from that, they knew nothing else and this made Jin Meng Yao wonder what kind of person his cousin was, where he's been in the past years and when exactly is he going to arrive.
Unknown to Jin Meng Yao, the very man he was wondering about was actually nearer than he thought.
In a city close to the imperial called Splitting Hammer City, residing in one of the more exclusive inns was a tall young man with long silky raven black hair and a lithe yet muscular build, dressed in simple yet obviously high quality black robes, stood in front of a window, gazing into the dark midnight sky while another man who looked older than him silently stood behind him with his head respectfully bowed as if waiting for the young man to speak.
Silence engulfed the two men in the room and no one moved, nor made any sounds.
The older, middle-aged looking man just patiently stood there, waiting.
Even if the middle-aged man seemed much more intimidating with an oppressive aura of a strong cultivator, he didn't dare show negligence when it comes to this young man in front of him.
In fact, the middle-aged man started to feel nervous with the continued silence of the young man!
The silence was broken when the young man shifted his stance and placed both of his hands behind his back and leisurely turned his back to the window and gazing at the middle-aged man with a cold, impenetrable gaze that seemingly shone out from behind an intricately detailed half mask that covered the upper half of the young man's face. His cold, shining eyes seemed to aloof and unfeeling to the point that it made it seem that he doesn't care in the slightest but the strange glint in his eyes made his gaze seem extremely sharp which made the man shiver slightly as sweat started to form on his back under the scrutiny.
A full minute passed making the middle-aged man feel increasingly uneasy before the young man finally decided to speak.
"Ting Zhe, it's been three years..." the young man softly spoke, his voice seemingly amiable and tranquil yet there was an underlying coldness underneath which made the middle-aged man named Yi Ting Zhe gulp.
"Young Master, this servant has failed you! Please punish me as you see fit!" Yi Ting Zhe said as he dropped down on his knees and kowtowed three times before remaining bowed on the floor.
Sighing, the young man slowly shook his head with disappointment before turning his back on the kneeling Yi Ting Zhe and turned to gaze out of the window once more.
"Stand up Ting Zhe! I will not punish you... I just need you to work harder. I need to find her and I need to find her soon! It's already been too long..." the young man spoke to him with cold voice that seemed to have a hint of melancholy at the end.
This made Yi Ting Zhe feel increasingly guilty about not accomplishing his master's order as he lifted his head and declared that he will give his utmost to complete the task given to him.
Ever since he found the young master when he was injured, the moment he woke up and found out that Yi Ting Zhe was now assigned to him as his subordinate, the young master only gave him one absolute order and nothing else.
That was to find a young girl.
Just like what his young master said, it has already been three years and yet he still hasn't found any traces of her and this not only frustrated him but also slowly turned his young master colder and more distant as more time passed by.
The fact that his young master never got angry at him and just tiredly sighs everytime his disappointed with Yi Ting Zhe's lack of results and never punished him made Yi Ting Zhe feel gratitude and also more motivated to increase his efforts at finding the girl, at the same time, Yi Ting Zhe also worried about his young master's well-being everytime he leaves to search for the girl.
Standing up, Yi Ting Zhe looked at his young master's back and hesitantly asked, "Then what does Young Master plan to do?"
Unseen by Yi Ting Zhe, the young man's lips lifted slightly to form a smirk before he answered.
"I'll be going on to the imperial capital, the Golden Thunder City. I heard that my dear aunt actually made a fuss to welcome her new nephew and as such, I should be fillial and make sure to greet my imperial aunt."