There was a time when all that Yu Wenzhou desired was merely a few hours of silence - perhaps a short, uneventful trip to the nearby local attraction with a friend or two after washing the smell of blood and sweat from his clothes, or maybe the comfortable silence stretching as he immersed himself in a classic old novel, his hand caressing the softness of worn leather. This silence, which was steeped in an overwhelming sense of regret, was not what he had in mind, however. His fingers shook slightly as he brought the cooled cup of tea to his lips.
What was he supposed to say? Long time no see, had you been living well ever since the entire world decided to condemn you of a crime you'd never committed? Had it been satisfying living alone in the middle of nowhere for the past few decades? Did you know that all of your colleagues and disciples had either died, gone into hiding or renounced their allegiance to witchcraft forever?
It had been perfectly alright to speak indirectly through a medium, but now that he was staring straight at those emerald eyes, Yu Wenzhou was unable to find his voice.
"Do you have the traces of soil left behind by the thief?"
The warlock immediately laughed at himself in derision. Business before expressing concerns. Smooth indeed.
Yu Wenzhou tried to pick out any sign of disappointment from the man sitting opposite. It was as futile an effort as hoping to beat the witch in single combat.
"I did."
Wang Jiexi calmly replied, as if it was the most natural thing in the world. He took out a small pouch and handed it to Yu Wenzhou.
The sorcerer examined it carefully, ignoring the faint feeling of sorrow in his heart. The dirt within the pouch was loose and contained sufficient moisture - perfect for planting vegetation. Signs of rummaging were eminent, however, judging from the tiny bits of plant matter left after a root was forcefully pulled away. He closed his eyes and whispered a tracking spell.
Yu Wenzhou prided himself on his perpetual faint yet polite smile, but at that moment, his brows could not help but knit together.
"The thief is currently at one of the tribal states, but I cannot pinpoint where exactly," he said in response to the witch's expectant gaze.
Upon hearing the statement, Wang Jiexi seemed troubled. Yu Wenzhou was rather sure that the man was considering whether to chase him to such a faraway land or return to his simple life in the forest.
The sorcerer continued speaking, an unnoticeable thread of hope in his tone. "If you decide to chase the thief until the end, I will go with you. The closer I am to the target, the more accurate the tracking spell is."
Wang Jiexi lifted his head up. "Wouldn't that disrupt your duties?"
He thought for a while.
"No worries. My teacher, the previous top warlock, would help me manage my affairs while I'm gone."
And it's time for Hanwen and the younger generation to start consolidating power of their own, before the war starts. If I remain in Blue Rain, he would never escape my shadow.
These years, due to the lack of interest and ability from the king, it was well-known that the top warlock of the nation had been acting as regent in an unofficial capacity. The nobles were getting restless - this was the right moment to gradually relinquish control to eldest prince and return to his original post as the top warlock of Blue Rain. Lu Hanwen needed to show his independence and that his capabilities were inferior to none. This period of time - the starting stages of unrest, when the enemies were still merely rumours and irrational bouts of fright - was a perfect opportunity.
Yu Wenzhou had already finished calculating the amount of time for the journey. On horseback, they could reach the tribal region in about seven days, and he was rather confident that he would be able to track down the target within a week. In the worst scenario, he would be able to return to the capital within one month, not to mention his prized ultimate teleportation scroll inherited from one of the ancestors. As for the Demon King... He frowned. According to history, that troublesome figure would still need half a year or more to consolidate his newly inherited power, but some preparations should still be made.
It pained him to know, however, that if the incident had happened at any other time, when his numerous responsibilities to the nation were inevitable and tying him down to this land, he would have chosen not to accompany Jiexi instead. Nonetheless, their friendship had always been like that - brothers in shadows and on battlefields, and political opponents in the harsh light of day. Each of them had their own burden, and unfortunately they both possessed a distinctive sense of duty.
Yu Wenzhou shook his head in frustration. It was precisely due to those reasons that the moments of companionship became so valuable, wasn't it? Why did he keep submerging himself in the distant past?
For a short while, the witch hesitated. His lips tightly pressing together, the man then proceeded to nod sharply.
Joy burst inside his heart.
It was just as quickly dissipated.
Now that he no longer worried about whether the witch would decline his offer, he suddenly felt as if there was something very wrong about this situation. The warlock imagined he (mentally) looked liked a satisfied puppy now, after Wang Jiexi, facing his tear-streaked, pleading eyes, had given him a piece of meat. Wait a second, he mused. Jiexi still needs me to continue tracking the thief, doesn't he? Shouldn't he be the one persuading me to accompany him? Why does it feel as if I'm a useless baggage that he has very generously allowed to burden him?
And what's with the puppy analogy?
The warlock felt as if he had been scarred too deeply by Huang Shaotian's constant stream of rubbish these years, which was why he thought of such a weird image. Another reason to take a trip out of Blue Rain then.
Well, once upon a time, he might have felt guilty for such a thought. Nevertheless, once upon a time, he had yet to meet Huang Shaotian as well.
A clear voice cut through his train of thoughts.
"How have you been these years?"
Yu Wenzhou deliberated his reply for a while. "Busy, I suppose. The king is always ill, so as the top advisor, I'm delegated quite a lot of responsibilities by the queen."
By ill, he meant utterly incapable, to the point where the monarch's only ability is to throw a festival once in a while.
Gently tracing the gold lining of the tea cup, he added in a more optimistic tone. "That is going to change soon, though. The first prince is about to reach fifteen. He'll be anointed as crown prince within a year, and enthroned in a few years or so."
At that sentence, the witch's eyebrows raised slightly. "The first prince?"
"Yeah. His Highness Lu Hanwen turned fourteen a few months ago. He has been trained since childhood as the future king, and he is extremely popular with the citizens as well. He will make a good king." The warlock could not help but smiled slightly at that thought.
Wang Jiexi seemed to be considering something, judging from the barely noticeable tapping motion of his index finger. "Does he have his own royal guards yet?"
Usually, only the king or influential members of the royal family had their own royal guards, who responded directly to them. Having a personal squad of royal guards was the marking of power.
"Indeed," the warlock replied. "The best of knights, I'd say."
Wang Jiexi seemed to be in deep thoughts. "Sword Saint?" There was a trace of curiosity in his voice.
Yu Wenzhou shifted. "Indeed. The Sword Saint is a personal knight to the prince. How have you come to know of this title though?"
Wang Jiexi told his old friend about the strange encounter that he had had with the first prince. Upon finishing the story, he suddenly knitted his eyebrows in realization. "Were you the one who told him my real name?"
"No," Yu Wenzhou immediately replied, feeling somewhat chaotic. "I... You said to let the world forget you, so I never revealed your name whenever I told the prince about the war."
"Oh." That simple word was Wang Jiexi's only reaction.
They stared at each other, reading the mutual agreement to stop treading into this dangerous area.
"I need to talk to the prince about going to the Tribal States. He's probably at the training ground right now, along with Huang Shaotian. Since you're already acquainted, do you want to go there with me?" Yu Wenzhou finally spoke.
The awkward atmosphere dissipated slightly as the witch nodded. They stood up, and shoulder-to-shoulder, walked out of the study.
-0-0-
Huang Shaotian felt horrible.
He had spent over three months accompanying Lu Hanwen to various cities for that brat's so-called learning journey. During the course of the journey, the first prince had been constanly enraptured by what-it's-called... ah yes, "commoners' knowledge," which ranged from little things such as mixing egg white with honey to create a skincare mask to extreme ones that a prince should definitely not know about like stealing a wallet from a passer-by. As much as he was incredibly gifted to the point of being a one-in-a-million genius in everything that he learned, the new Lu Hanwen with his bag of tricks made Huang Shaotian nervous about his supposedly brilliant future as a personal knight.
As he leaned against an oak trunk while surveying his surroundings - a bunch of knights fighting each other, the sound of swords clashing into shields reverberating in the air - he mentally noted down their weaknesses. To be fair, he was nowhere near being a proper trainer, but his keen eyesight and acute judgement could spot many things that more veteran knights would have missed. Furthermore, as a personal knight to the prince and the future captain of the royal squad, it was expected that he displayed some leadership skills as fitting of his station. Huang Shaotian was extremely worried about this matter - understand that his prowess in fighting was second to none, but he preferred to be in the shadows waiting for a chance to strike rather than commanding a battle.
Oh well, Yu Wenzhou would arrange something anyways, Huang Shaotian thought. His trust in the old warlock exceeded that in himself.
Speaking of the devil... From far away, he glimpsed the long silver head of his friend and that old blue cloak that appeared as thick as a three-hundred-page book wholly unsuitable for this sunny weather. He had always suspected that the warlock chose to maintain a cooling spell under the fabric rather than switch it for something thinner for the sake of appearance and dignity and whatnot. Walking next to his friend was a hooded man, whom he immediately recognized as the person Lu Hanwen was trying to recruit a couple of days ago. Huang Shaotian's eyes widened in delight, and the bright glint in the blue of his eyes surpassed his golden patch of hair in radiance level for a brief moment.
If Yu Wenzhou could see his expression right now, he would have described it as "a puppy finding a new toy to play with."
Huang Shaotian quickly stood up straight and approached the pair, who looked quite out-of-place in their non-armour attires.
"Stranger-slash-potential-recruit, what a coincidence that we meet again! I see that you're already acquainted with His Excellency the top warlock Yu Wenzhou here, but I'm guessing you don't know anything about the other important personnel, aye? Well, let me introduce you to one of them, me! My name is Huang Shaotian, I'm twenty-two this year, I'm the personal knight to His Highness Lu Hanwen, and I also happen to be the Sword Saint that common folks so duly admire. My favorite food is crab, but other seafood is also fine depending on the type..."
"Shaotian, let's stop here, shall we?" Yu Wenzhou said with a wide smile that did not quite cover the agitation in his eyes.