When Wei Ren opened his eyes he was in a dark cave. A small lamp was placed in the center. At the entrance of the cave, sat the attacker with his legs crossed and eyes closed.
" You woke up fast. " The attacker said with his eyes still closed.
"Well I am not an ordinary mortal. I have trained my body." Wei Ren said with a chuckle.
The attacker finally opened his eyes and looked straight at Wei Ren. His whole face was covered but it looked as if he was trying to gaze into Wei Ren's body.
"You have a strong mind. Being able to chuckle while in captivity. Too bad you can't cultivate." The attacker said as if he was truly disappointed.
"So why are you doing this. Are you going to extort something from my father for my life?" Wei Ren asked with a carefree smile.
"Who do you think I am? A small thief, kidnapping kids for money?" The attacker looked offended.
Wei Ren had guessed it right. He had figured out his attacker's true behavior. He was very proud and accidentally leaked information.
"Well, you could've killed right in front of Bei Piao. Knocking me out, bringing me to this cave and waiting, suggests that you have some other motive. You know what, I think this whole thing is a ruse. That arrow from the beginning. It could've also killed me but it missed. No one in the wagon was even touched by it. Why? Is my grandpa the main target. Luring him out to kill him. But if he is the target then why did you capture me?" Wei Ren finished with a tone as if he was asking questions to a dumb child.
The attacker rose to his feet in an instant and leaped to grab Wei Ren by the throat.
"A mortal who can't even cultivate dares to mock me. If it weren't for my orders I would have chopped you into a thousand pieces by now. But if you are too curious then look at this." He pulled out a small jade talisman that had the symbol of a small crow on it. After this he held Wei Ren's throat and tightened his grip. He only released his hold when Wei Ren started to choke.
Wei Ren fell on his knees coughing and breathing very hard.
That man returned to the entrance and sat cross-legged as if he was waiting for someone.
When that man looked away, an evil smirk creeped upon Wei Ren's face. He looked at the attacker as if he was a virgin maiden waiting to be devoured.
"Idiot." This was the one word that appeared in Wei Ren's mind.
He had again revealed too much information. That jade talisman was from their neighboring kingdom. Goldfire Crow kingdom. He had spent his past several years fighting the invaders from this kingdom. But the important part was that only a handful of people knew that Wei Ren couldn't cultivate. Even back at the border when he was serving in the military, only the top officials knew about his condition. His subordinates and the low level soldiers were also not aware that Wei Ren couldn't cultivate. They just thought that he was using a special technique to hide his cultivation. Nobody in the Goldfire Crow kingdom knew about his inability to cultivate. So who is this man? Is he an imposter who is trying to blame the Goldfire Crow kingdom for kidnapping the Emperor's son or was the information about him leaked?
"No, it's impossible for my secret to have been revealed. Otherwise I would have suffered assassination attempts from other kingdoms. After all, killing a mortal is the same as killing a fly for cultivators.
"He is an imposter from my own kingdom and he is scared of the implications of revealing his identity so he is using the Goldfire Crow kingdom as an excuse.
Wei Ren took a deep breath and decided it was time to use his trump card.
But to be able to use that trick he needed to be alone.
"I need to think of a plan." Wei Ren went to the back of the cave to sit in the dark so that the attacker couldn't see his actions.
The attacker paid no attention to Wei Ren. Because if he tried anything he could capture him and hurt him within seconds.
Several minutes passed in silence.
"My grandpa is coming to save me." Wei Ren broke the eerie silence of the cave.
"Huh?..." The attacker looked at Wei Ren.
"He is a Soul Spirit Formation expert. No matter how many cultivators surround him, he is going to survive. You are so stupid" Wei Ren added with a solemn voice. His face looked as if he was praying for the attacker's safety.
"Do you want die, kid?" The attacker asked with a shout
"He has a secret weapon." Wei Ren said with conviction.
"Hahahaha, no secret weapon can save him. He is trapped in a sealing formation. We might not be individually strong but if we gang up on him, we can bring him down." The attacker boasted.
"But you don't even know what his secret weapon is?" Wei Ren said with a laugh.
"Oh! Is it really that great? Go ahead. Tell me about this secret weapon." The attacker said with a mocking tone.
"It's just a simple Ten Thousand Mile Teleportation Talisman." Wei Ren said as if he was talking about a very trivial thing.
A shiver went down the attacker's spine. A Ten Thousand Mile Teleportation Talisman is probably one of the most precious treasures of the kingdom. It can teleport the user anywhere within a ten thousand mile radius. Even the Emperor can't use something like this without the permission of the High Council of Ministers. If Wei Tian truly has this treasured talisman then their whole plan is in danger. If that happens their identities would be revealed. This would also land the person who is giving them the orders in a lot of danger.
"Wait a minute. What if this kid is lying. A treasure like this is too precious to be given to a general. But the Emperor loves his son and his safety is the most important, so maybe he has the talisman. Ahh… this annoying brat I want to kill him. I can't take chances with this. I should join the others and kill Wei Tian and then decide the next move." The attacker pondered while looking at Wei Ren's smug face.
"Cough.. cough…, I will be back in a few minutes don't try anything stupid or I will cut your tongue. We just need to keep you here for two days then you can leave." The attacker made an excuse to leave and join the others in killing Wei tian.
"Where are you going? Already scared?" Wei Ren sneered like a sarcastic little girl.
"you…" The attacker looked angrily but didn't do anything. Right now his first priority was to help his team.
"He revealed even more information." Wei Ren chuckled in his heart but on the surface he showed a carefree look.
The attacker waved his hand and five small flags appeared in his hand. He placed them at the entrance of the cave and a green colored wall appeared and sealed the cave.
Wei Ren waited for some time to make his move.
"Just when he left he said he needed to keep me alive for two days and then I would be released...hmm. What is their goal?" Wei Ren pondered as he looked for something sharp in the cave.
His dagger had fallen off his waist when the attacker kidnapped him. All that talk about Ten Thousand Mile Teleportation Talisman was a lie. Wei Tian didn't have any such treasures. He just wanted to send the attacker away to launch his plot.
Wei Ren found a long thin piece of stone. After that he sat down. He reached inside his breast pocket and pulled out a very small envelope. He gently opened it and pulled out a pale yellow paper.
Just looking at this piece of paper made him remember his father.
When he left for his journey to train under Wei Tian, his father had given him this yellow paper for safety. It had a qi imprint of his father. His father gave this to him as a safety measure. If his life were in danger, he just had to dip this paper in his blood and burn it. This would shatter the qi imprint and his father would be notified that Wei Ren is in danger. This was a trick used by a lot of cultivators in case of emergencies.
Wei Ren grabbed the stone and sharpened it by rubbing it on the stone wall. He rolled his left sleeve up. His mountain shaped birthmark was still there. For some reason he wanted to slice his birthmark. But he didn't. He made a small cut on his thumb, placed the qi imprint on the ground and dropped several drops of his blood on the paper.
Usually cultivators don't need to do this. They just use their own elemental qi to activate the imprint. But Wei Ren couldn't follow this method. The only way he could activate the imprint was by using his blood because mortals also have some tiny amount of elemental qi in their bodies. Blood, bones and muscles have tiny remnants of elemental qi.
The imprint was soaked in blood. Wei Ren took the paper and held it over the flame of the lamp that the attacker had left in the cave.
Whoosh!
The imprint burnt immediately leaving nothing behind.
After doing this Wei Ren breathed a sigh of relief. This was not the way he wanted to meet his father. Asking for help the day he got back. He truly felt sad for his fate.
He rarely felt sad. Very little things bothered him. Cultivation. He wanted to cultivate so badly. But he was basically a cripple when it came to cultivation.
"Rest is up to father and grandpa…" He closed his eyes and started pondering over the whole event.
"Why did he capture me? What is the motive?" He thought.
"The coming of age ceremony!!" He suddenly remembered.
The whole reason he was coming back to the royal City was because of his coming of age ceremony. Several other noble princes and nobles would also be attending this event. If any of the prince is late or does not join the ceremony they would be excluded from all royal functions.
"Holding me captive for two days can serve only one good purpose. I miss my ceremony and also lose any right to the throne." This is the job of someone from the royal families. But who wants to do that. Father has great relations with all the royal family heads?" While Wei Ren was pondering, a great bang broke the green wall that the attacker had laid.
"Father? Oh no..." Joy appeared on Wei Ren's face as he hastily got up but realized that the man who had arrived was not his father but the black clothed attacker.
"What did you do, you little rascal?" The attacker yelled and pounced at Wei Ren. He grabbed Wei Ren by the throat and squeezed it tight.
"No..nothing…" Wei Ren struggled to speak.
"Then why did I sense a burst of qi from this cave. I was not too far away. You thought I would run away just because of a possibility that your dear general has a Teleportation Talisman? I waited to see if something would happen. By now your grandfather would have used it. But he doesn't have any secret weapon. You lying brat." After finishing, the attacker kicked Wei Ren's stomach and sent him flying to the end of the cave. He immediately fell unconscious
"Maybe I should just kill you and leave you here to rot." The attacker started walking towards Wei Ren and pulled out a sword from his void ring.
"Kill my son? Who do you think you are?" An ice cold voice echoed in the cave. The attacker froze in horror.
He slowly turned his head to see that a man in white robes with blue roses embroidered on it was standing at the entrance of the cave with an expressionless face.
"We..Wei Yan!!!!!" The attacker yelled in his heart. The moment he saw that familiar face he realized his death was certain.
He immediately sprinted towards Wei Ren's body.
Emperor Yan realized what the attacker was trying to do. He turned into a blue blur and charged at the attacker. But he was too late.
The attacker held the sword at Wei Ren's throat and yelled," Halt, or your precious son dies."
Emperor Yan stopped immediately but his expression changed a little. He furrowed his eyebrows in worry. This was what he feared the most. Even though he hurried all the way from the royal palace on his flying sword, he was still a little late.
"If my son dies I will make sure to shatter your soul when you die." Emperor Yan said with an icy voice.
Gulp!
The attacker sucked a deep breath when he heard this. Getting your soul shattered means never being able to enter the sacred river of reincarnation.
"If you make any move I will slit his throat. I just want to leave. Take your son and leave. But promise me to leave me alone. I am tired of following his orders. Leave the cave and go back a thousand meters. Only then I will leave your son." The attacker made up his mind to run away. He didn't even care about the mission he was given; he just wanted to save his life.
"No chance. Hand my son over and I will think of a lenient punishment for you." Emperor Yan didn't even consider the attacker's offer.
"No, you will kill me, leave now or your son dies." The attacker yelled.
Emperor Yan didn't say anything. He just coldly looked at the attacker.
"You made me do this, Wei Yan." The attacker gave a sinister laugh and kicked the wall of the cave while holding Wei Ren by the throat.
Boom!
The entire cave exploded. Rocks and dust flew everywhere. Two bodies flew out of the rubble. The attacker turned around to run. Emperor Yan thundered with his voice," halt."
Even his yell was a powerful move. The attacker who was running away felt as if he had been crushed by a mountain. His speed dropped instantaneously.
He turned around and saw that Emperor Yan's hand had almost reached his shoulder. He as if death was slowly reaching with its claws.
"Ahhhhhhh. WEI YAN." He swung his sword and slashed Wei Ren's left arm.
Emperor Yan immediately stopped in midair. His heart pounded and his face turned grey. His son was getting killed in front of him.
The pain he felt suddenly turned into heaven defying anger. And looked at the attacker and spoke slowly," Take. Your. Hands. Off. My . Son"
Wei Ren had also woken up because of the pain. He looked at his arm and say that there was a long cut on his left arm. It was right above his birthmark. One could even see his bones. When he looked closely he saw that there was a dark symbol flashing on his bone. For a second he thought he was dreaming.
When he looked up he saw his father standing in mid air on a flying sword with a scary expression on his face. This was not how he remembered his father. The only image he remembered was his father smiling lovingly.
"Ahhhhh." The attacker suddenly screamed. He raised the sword in his hand.
The sword started coming down towards Wei Ren's head.
Emperor Yan's body turned into a blue blur. Just when the sword was two feet above Wei Ren's head, a short yellow sword came flying and knocked into the attacker's sword. He was suddenly caught off-guard.
He looked behind. Bei Piao standing there trembling. He had thrown his sword at the enemy at the most crucial time.
Emperor Yan, flew like a demon, immediately grabbed the attacker by the throat.
The attacker tried to fight back. But it was too late. He already entered the dragon's mouth. Survival was out of option.
Thap!
Emperor Yan slapped the attacker and sent him flying. When his body hit the ground it turned into a meat paste. Blood and gore flew everywhere.
One slap. That was all it took for Emperor Yan to kill him. But that was not all. Just when the attacker had died. Emperor Yan pulled out a small antique lantern from his void ring. There was one word written over it. The word was 'BURN'.
A white shadow flew out of the attacker's dead body and was pulled into the small lantern. It immediately started burning.
Emperor Yan waved his hand and collected the lantern back into his void ring. He had killed the attacker but he captured his soul in this strange lantern.
He rushed to his son.
Wei Ren looked at his father. He went on his knees and started kowtowing. He banged his head on the ground.
"I am sorry father. I have failed you. I came back after all this time and I only brought more problems." He said with a pained voice.
Emperor Yan was shocked. Tears welled up In His eyes.
"No son, I have failed you. I could have prevented this if I had come faster." He picked his son up from the ground and took him in his embrace.
Bei Piao, who was standing in the back looking at the scene, couldn't help but cry.
When Wei Ren looked at him he immediately dropped to his knees.
"Young master...ahh ahh…. I was so scared… I am so uh sorry." Snot and tears made Bei Piao's face look hideous and comical at the same time.
Seeing this scene both father and son duo couldn't help but start laughing.
"What about grandpa? Is he okay?" Wei Ren suddenly asked.
"Don't worry that old fart won't die so easily." Emperor Yan laughed.
"He is coming towards us right now. I can sense him." He added.
Emperor Yan and Bei Piao both looked towards the west. A man in his forties was coming towards them at an incredibly fast speed. His upper body was completely bare. It was full of muscles covered with scars.
Wei Tian looked at Wei Ren and Emperor Yan and sighed with relief. He also looked at Emperor Yan and gave him a stern look.
"You were late, weren't you." He yelled. His long brown hair was unbound so when he yelled he looked like a lion roaring at the top of his lungs.
Emperor Yan gave an honest smile and said," looks like you are still doing fine at your age, old man."
"Who are you calling an old man? Wei Tian yelled again.
"We can do this later. First we need to take care of Ren'er. He is bleeding fast." Emperor Yan completely ignored Wei Tian.
"Humph." Wei Tian didn't say anything. He just pulled a black robe out of his void ring and covered his muscular body.
Bei Piao immediately rushed to tend Wei Ren's wound. He was trained especially for times like this.
He examined the wound and said," young master needs stitches, I can stop the bleeding but I don't have my tools to take care of him properly. "
"No worries, I will just take him. Back to the capital immediately." Emperor Yan said.
Bei Piao used a special hand sign to dry up the wound but it still looked gnarly.
After he was finished Emperor Yan stepped on his blue flying sword with Wei Ren in his arms.
It took them less than a second to fly high into the sky.
Wei Tian had a faint smile on his face. He finally relaxed. He looked at Bei Piao and said," have the report of all the events, ready for me to read by tomorrow."
Bei Piao had a weak smile. He wondered if he should also write in the report about how he had let his young master get kidnapped. His knees felt heavy as he wondered about the way he would get beaten by Wei Tian.