Fang slowly went down the three steps leading up to his throne, and walked down the red carpet to pick up the pot. "Now. Let's see, shall we?"
He held the pot up with one hand and popped off the lid. The inside was filled with glowing blue liquid. "It looks well made, at least." He raised the pot to his mouth and took a mighty gulp.
When he lowered the pot, his eyes widened. "This is..."
Yasuo smirked.
Jing looked up at the Emperor. "What is it...?!"
Fang looked down into the pot. "I don't understand it but... this really is a high grade saint-realm elixir."
"So...?" Yasuo asked.
Fang closed his eyes. "I'm a man of my word, you are cleared of suspicion. You may stay here in Liu, and a house will be arranged for you."
Yasuo pumped his fists. ("Yes!!")
"But on one condition!!"
Yasuo's smile dropped. "Condition? No fair! We had a deal!"
"I am the Emperor. You should be grateful that I even listened to you. I can still kill you right here and there would be no consequences against me."
Yasuo pouted. "Fine."
Fang put down the pot. "You will be assigned a senior alchemist. They will oversee your progress and keep an eye on you."
Yasuo sighed. "Alright, whatever." ("Senior alchemist? Hah, there isn't a man or woman in this world who could be my senior in alchemy!")
Fang held out his left hand. One of his guards handed him a map. He opened it up, looked at it for a moment, then lifted a finger and shot a thin red laser beam in a location, leaving a small hole. He handed it to Yasuo. "I marked the property you will be staying in. Now leave my sight."
Yasuo snatched the map and headed for the door, waving it in the air. "It won't be long before I become the senior! Just you wait!"
"Hmph." Fang went to sit back down. "He's the real deal. Jing!"
"Yes, Lord Fang?"
"Don't give him anymore trouble. I want good relations with him."
"Of course, Lord Fang."
—
"That old man... THIS ISN'T THE KIND OF HOUSE I MEANT!!"
Yasuo was completely disappointed. He was fuming.
The house that the Emperor left for him was old and tattered, from the roofing to the floor. Everything was grayed, broken, ripped up, or simply not useable in the least.
Yasuo slid open the front door.
Dust flew out in his face. He started coughing. "How old is this place?!"
< "Answer. No one has lived here in 197 years." >
"197 years?! He just gave me a house no one else wanted! Wait until I see him again, I'll teach that bastard a lesson!"
The wooden floor creaked as Yasuo walked inside. The house was decently sized, but it was run-down from top to bottom.
"There isn't even any furniture in here... what a let down. What do I do now...?" Yasuo sat down on the floor. "I want to go look for that cute girl with the purple eyes... but I haven't the slightest idea of where she might be. I didn't even get her name... Jishi, can you tell me anything?"
< "Yes. The girl you are referring to, her name is Xiao Yun. She belongs to the Emperor Jade Sect, a wealthy sect to the north of the city." >
Yasuo's eyes lit up. "Perfect! I'll go visit her! Anything's better than this dump!"
-
Yasuo walked until he got to a section of the city where the buildings' color scheme changed from red to green. "This must be it. The Emperor Jade Sect's territory."
He continued onward.
"Hey!"
Yasuo stopped.
A guard in a pine-green uniform holding a spear headed his way. "I've never seen you before, what's your name and business?"
"My name is Oh Yasuo. I'm looking for Xiao Yun."
"Friend of hers? I didn't know the missus had friends outside the sect. I will escort you. This way."
Yasuo followed behind. He was led deep into the Emperor Jade Sect's territory until they came to a one story emerald-green house with a pine-green rooftop. This was the color scheme for most of the buildings in the area.
The guard knocked on the door. "Miss? There's a boy here looking for you. His name is Oh Yasuo."
"I'm coming!" A gentle feminine voice called out.
Soon the door slid open.
Yasuo was caught off guard by her beauty, once again.
Just like he remembered, Xiao Yun was a pretty young girl with long black hair that flowed like a prairie stream and eyes that gave off the same color and shine as amethyst jewels.
She took a look at Yasuo. "You're... the boy from Alverus, right?"
Yasuo nodded.
Yun looked him up and down. "You've grown since we've last met. It's only been some days..."
Yasuo laughed nervously. "Growth spurt?"
"Well I'll leave you two to it." The guard bowed and took his leave.
"Why are you here in Liu? You're really far away from home." Yun said.
"I wanted to see you again, so I walked the entire way here."
Yun's eyebrows went up. "You... walked all this way... to see me?"
"Yeah, I'm just following my curiosity."
"I... see... I wanted to ask you, how did you make that elixir? It was saint-realm right?"
"Sure was! I'm a genius alchemist. So what were you in Alverus for?"
"Ah... my fiancé had a meeting with the king."
"Oh yeah... that guy. Why'd you marry him? He's an idiot."
Yun smiled just the slightest bit. "It was an arranged marriage. I didn't have a say in it."
"Huh? You married someone against your will?"
"It wasn't against my will, I have a duty to my family, and to the rest of the world."
"That's just dumb! No one should have to marry over something like that! Duty for what?"
Yun sighed. "You really should go, Yasuo. You may be stronger than Chen, but if the rest of his family gets involved, it won't end well for you. This is goodbye."
Yun shut the door.
"Wait! Yun! Yun!!" Yasuo yelled. He knocked on the door again. No answer.
The people in other houses nearby peeked out to see what the commotion was all about. "Did Miss Yun reject another one?" "They just keep coming." "Don't they know she's engaged...?"
Yasuo frowned. "I left everything behind to start over, and traveled for six days just to see your face again. I'm not leaving!"
He walked a few steps away from the house so that he was in the middle of the road, and sat down. "I'll be waiting!! Right here!! Until you call my name!!" He closed his eyes and meditated.
-
Nightfall came.
The people nearby stared at him as they walked by. "Just how desperate is this guy?" "Really, it's been hours..."
Yasuo ignored them.
It got cold. In the early morning, it started to rain.
By sunrise, it was raining harder.
As people left the territory, they laughed and ridiculed Yasuo. "Look at him! He's really sticking to it!" "What a fool!"
Yasuo continued to ignore them.
Hours later, lightning struck.
Yasuo was soaking wet and cold.
It rained for two days straight nonstop.
Soon word went around about the selfish man in front of Xiao Yun's home, meditating day and night.
On the third day, it stopped raining. It was cloudy, and Yasuo was still being laughed at.
Xiao Yun peeked out the door. "Is he really going to stay there...? How stubborn can he be?" She closed it back.
Even when Yun left her home to go somewhere, she ignored Yasuo's presence, and Yasuo would still be there when she got back.
This act of desperation would go on for the next two weeks.
It was raining again.
Yasuo was slimmer than before, almost sickly. His hair was longer as well.
At this point, when villagers passed him up, they cheered him on, giving words of encouragement along with their laughter.
Another five days passed.
It was raining once again.
Yasuo was panting. It had gotten much colder. He hadn't eaten anything in over two weeks. He fell back into a puddle of water, lifeless.
Rain poured down on his face.
After some seconds, Yasuo took a gasp of air. He sat back up and remained in his meditation pose.
-
The next day, a red horse-drawn carriage pulled up in front of Xiao Yun's house.
Yang Chen and three burly guards came out of it.
"Huh..." Chen glared at Yasuo. "Hey. You're the kid from Alverus, aren't you?! What do you think you're doing in front my Yun's home?!"
Yasuo ignored him.
Chen growled. "You dare ignore me? Hah!"
thwack!
Yasuo was kicked in the face. Blood leaked from his mouth.
"So you won't even defend? Okay then! If you die, don't blame me! You three, beat him to a pulp!"
The three burly men cracked their knuckles and laughed darkly. They started beating on Yasuo, punching and kicking him.
Some of the nearby people stuck around to watch. They couldn't do anything to offend the Morning Lotus Sect though, so they stayed out of it.
Yasuo was bleeding profusely from everywhere on his face, his clothes were torn up, and yet he still refused to defend himself.
Yun quickly opened up her door. "Chen! What are you doing?!" she yelled. "You three! Stop this at once!!"
The men stopped beating on Yasuo. Blood dripped from their fists.
Yun wanted to reach out to Yasuo, but held herself back. She frowned. "Chen, what is the meaning of this?"
Chen smiled. "Our wedding is only in another week. I came to see how my lovely Xiao Yun was feeling."
"Leave! I don't want to see your face right now!"
Chen huffed. "Still playing hard to get, I see. Fine, no matter, you will be mine soon enough. At least let me kill this brat though."
Yun held her hand out to the side. "You've done enough."
"Tch...! Stupid girl... we're leaving!" Chen and his guards got back into the carriage. They rolled off. "Wait until that wench dies. I'll be the one with the last laugh."
-
Yun looked at Yasuo with pity. She closed her eyes and went back into the house.
-
Three more days passed. The rain washed off most of Yasuo's blood, but now his skin was turning gray.
Yun was directly behind her closed door on her knees, crying in silence. "Why... why are doing this to yourself...?! You'll really die you know?! I won't even live that long for us to become friends... so why are you going so far for me..." She slammed open her door. "Tell me you're still alive...! Oh Yasuo!!"
Yasuo shuddered. He barely opened one eye and managed a pained smile. "You really kept me waiting... didn't you?"
He then fainted, falling back for the second time since he started, splashing into the water.
This time he couldn't get back up.