Light as a fairy. That was what the third entity had done. My whole body was like a feather floating in the wind. Every move was less awkward.
I jumped a little, only to discover that the height reached was beyond my normal limits. A day ago, my jump would have shown me the wall.
Now I could jump up enough to glimpse part of the depressing scenery of greyish-yellowish tired looking buildings beyond the walls.
Glancing at the stone garden table, my immediate thought was to try out this new move and test my agility. Bending my legs, my feet pushed against the hardened soil, sending me springing into mid-air like a gazelle.
A mysterious buoyancy in the air lifted me up while I watched every movement in slow motion. With a slight change to my landing action and my body ended up in a partial kneeling position on the table.
The landing was stable.I pushed myself up to stand and look at the dull sight of the garden before me. No falling back and the impact of my landing could barely be felt. My balance had improved beyond the usual awkwardness.
The wall nearest to the table was now a tempting prospect. I could try leaping up. A broken bone would be nasty, since this world doesn't seem to have morphine at all. The only ground would be the hardened soil of this harsh northern climate.
Shoot. There was nothing to break a fall. The half dead bushes looked like a bunch of dried twigs ready to supply the nasty scratches. The only sad looking tree has over ten yellowing green leaves. One could almost imagine a tumbleweed running across the garden.
"Third Prince, what are you doing?" Xuanjing asked.
"Practicing my leaps," I replied.
"I better stand by and help. Xuanyi will probably kill me if you are injured. He is like an old woman nowadays."
I laughed. "Yeah. He is a bit of a nag. I don't need baby sitting."
"Ssshhh, don't let him hear that," Xuanjing approached me with his finger on the lip.
We both chuckled at poor Xuanyi. He was acting more like a worried mother than my bodyguard. Then again, his life depended on how long he could stay alive.
"Where is he?" I looked around the vicinity for him.
"Went into the city markets to get your prescription for the blood tonic. We don't trust the city administrators or their underlings," Xuanjing said.
"JI FENG!"
That was Aguzen, calling out from the entrance. I wished that he would stop yelling my name out, especially in this city where the administrators appear to be sticklers for etiquette.
Xuanjing looked in that direction, stunned. "That is inappropriate."
I shook my head. "Inappropriate for Lingyu commoners. He is not a commoner, but a chieftain's son. So I guess rank on par?"
Never gave a shit about social ranks. The etiquettes were tedious and stuffy. Every move had to be memorised into a habit which wasted time. Even when drinking the damn tea in a formal ceremony required at least ten steps before you could take a sip.
"He's Hu…," Xuanjing lowered his voice as Aguzen walked in and looked around the courtyard before waving to me.
"So what? We need their tribes on board." I flashed a smile. Xuanjing stepped behind me and bowed to him.
Before Xuanjing could say anything, Aguzen grabbed my wrist and pulled me.
"Hey, where are we going?" I called out after he began dragging me along.
"Something to tell. You know, will be better," Aguzen replied and then turned to look at a meek Xuanjing tailing behind. "He no go."
"Why?"
"Undead spirit, we talk you. You only. Not him," Aguzen said as Xuanjing raised an eyebrow.
The Hu knew something about those creatures.
"Big secret?"
"Yes," Aguzen nodded as he dragged me out of my courtyard, down the narrow path towards their living quarters and around the bend. We ran quickly past General Xu and his men on their way to their quarters.
"Third Prince," General Xu called out after me.
I stopped Aguzen for a bit by wrestling my wrist, much to his annoyance, and went up to the General. "What is it?"
"General Han had informed me we might want to depart the city as soon as possible, instead of staying the week here. If your health can withstand it."
No way of using my health as an excuse to stay on since he saw me running along with Aguzen.
"What's the plan now? Why the change? And what about those things that come at night?"
"Governor Zhao," General Xu pulled out a small message scroll from his belt pocket and presented it to me. "He is sending reinforcements here. They will come in two days and that's the suggested departure time."
I didn't have the time to inform Governor Zhao in Xuanlong. What games are the deities playing with me? Unrolling the scroll, my eyes went through the handwritten orders. Nothing unusual.
"And if we meet those creatures on route to the other city?"
"We won't. The next city, Zhonghou, will take half a day. We will reach before sunset if we depart once those creatures withdraw. So you don't need to worry."
General Xu sounded too confident for my liking. If we can't reach Zhonghou, those hordes of zombie-like creatures may overrun our troops.
Aguzen waited in silence beside me. His furrowed eyebrows and expression told me more than I should know.
"That's all?"
"Yes, your highness. My men will have to prepare the provisions now."
"Very well, be on your way," I waived them aside and turned to Aguzen, "So let's go."
He feigned a smile and gestured to me to follow along as we hurried on the stone pavement past the patrolling soldiers who bowed before continuing on their way, and then the both of us finally stepped into the Hu men's quarters.
Some of the Hu were playing some games with bones, ignoring my presence amongst them while they chattered amongst themselves. Others gave me a gruff nod of recognition as I made my way to Okutai.
"Okutai," Aguzen called out to the old shaman sitting cloaked near the cindering wood. The shaman beckoned with his hand for me to sit next to him.
"You. Star gods bless," he muttered.
If this darn old shaman is referring to Zaixing, he could spare me the envy in his eyes.
What was I doing at 13 years old during my days on Earth? Studying for my exams, or playing chess at the school club. Not fighting zombies or struggling to survive in the succession brawl between my brothers.
"Aguzen said you know something about the undead spirits," I came to the point.
"Your sword. Permanent vanish, poof," Okutai pointed his finger at Yoturuki. "Star God's gift."
How did he know about Yoturuki? How did he know Tsukuyomi gave me the sword? Never had I once mentioned anything about my sword to Aguzen or Okutai.