Although the city had quite the amount of advanced mechanisms compared to their neighboring cities, they were rather small in number. However, despite their population, their city was also rather rich in minerals and jewelry. No wonder most Wu city officials consider it a city for but the nobles.
"Your highness, General Feng, over there."Zaishan reluctantly pointed towards the nearest inn upon entry. It looked maliciously extravagant; the price was definitely going to take more than just a few pennies.
"O-oh! Your royal highness Wu!" The guests turned their heads rather fast, eyeing the man in his royal attire."Keep the change."He handed the man 50 gold coins, that's quite a lot...(The original pricing was 20.)
"O-oh my...t-thank you! Your highness, thank you ever so much! Please, allow me to escort you to the finest room we have!"The others felt rather belittled by this, burning holes through the crown prince and the general, and yet no words were uttered throughout the entire ordeal.
Upon entering the first class room, Zai shan immediately requests for another room, in order to give both of them some "space".The owner of the inn subsequently agrees, leaving the two alone to speak of their private matters."Feng, what are we supposed to do now, considering we can't return to Wu city at the moment?"
"The insignia. Has it begun to crack so far?"
"No.I don't think so."
Wu Xiao chen reaches for it inside his pocket, further inspecting it."Do you really think that this thing can give us any more leads? Now that we're out of Qin city, this thing is bound to be useless. It only seemed to be reacting to that atrocity of a city; I'm not in the mood to be carrying this old, crooked thing around."
"Oh, will you knock it off? It might come of use to us sooner or later, and what do you think will happen if it's not with us anymore? Hm?"
The prince sighed, before rolling his eyes. He put it back in his pocket, before urging Feng to take a plentiful amount of rest."Fine, fine. I'll be listening to you now that we've got nowhere else to go, and that I no longer reside in my city's jurisdiction."
"Hah? It's not even your city yet, ridiculous. It belongs to your father, it doesn't matter if it's not your biological one. Would it still matter, as much as you don't want to speak of them?"Xiao Chen simply gestured him to shut it, before heading to bed without another word.
"What? Are you still sulking over your mother?"
"I don't even know her, what makes you think that way?"
"Nothing. I just feel like you need some time."
Xiao Chen shed tears under his breath, but he did not show such. That same night, a close to a hundred footsteps had begun to barge into the inn. They searched every room, daring to look through every nook and cranny. Seriously, who searches that much...
The owner of inn was clearly nervous, hoping nothing was to go wrong with the inspection, not with his majesty Wu and General Feng around."...Sir, we've found them."
A man, with facial features of those gallant, approached the two, sound asleep. He was a lot taller than he looked; he eyed the young general."...Feng Luo Xi."He turned to the owner with a staid look.
"Correct?"
The man nodded, quite anxious of what may happen."Not to worry good sir, we have no intention of harming you or the crown prince of the Wu Family, especially General Feng.
"His royal highness Ho(also a crown prince, but Ho city's.)has just taken quite the interest on both of them. Now that we are aware of their current whereabouts, we will be taking our leave now."
"Oh, and please, do keep either at their best conditions. We don't want their sudden passing on the royal court."He leaves with all the rest of the soldiers, like nothing had ever happened. Well, it turns out both of them were awakened by the rather clamorous event that had just taken place.
The owner of the inn then takes a good look at both of them, confirming they have not been deprived of their leisure. By the time the owner had left their room, their eyes instantaneously opened, knowing they could not facilely dismiss of this sudden visit. The general, facing the ceiling light, muttered softly:"Wu Xiao Chen."
"I can hear you. If you want to ask me of the strange man's identity, it's not like I came from here."
"Of course you don't. We're in the Ho's territory right now; we didn't even eat your own city's specialties."The crown prince turned to the opposite direction of the sofa(?), making sure it was easier for them to pretend they were sound asleep. The sofa was facing the bed, so it would only make sense he would turn to the other side.You know, just in case someone barged in on them.
"Why would they put ours on their menus anyway?"
"Just forget about the food. That was but an example, I hath never told of such to take it personally."
"Enough with the refined chinese, I'm clearly too dumb to understand your way with words."
"And you call yourself an architecture student."
"That's exactly why I chose that course, you kn—"
"We're not here to discuss our course intel, your royal highness. Have you already forgotten why we're here?
"You still haven't told me,Feng..."
"Right...but, something was definitely telling me we should be here."
"And who do you think told you so?"
"I'm surprised you asked about my opinion, and not how their appearance is set."
"You really ought to leave a bad impression on me like that?"
"I never did. That's just how you see my words as."
Despite arguing in the middle of the night, they still had a goal, but neither knew exactly what it was. Their purpose of arriving to Ho city wasn't as easy to determine as the insignia's leads were. Sure, they had intel regarding the founders' identities,(Feng's parents)but what were they supposed to do here?
"Ho city...what was this city known for again?"
"Advancements in technology. That's all I can remember, as far as father had told me."
"Look at you, calling him father now..."
"Will you just get on with your point already?"
"Fine.I've reached a conclusion that maybe my parents have seeked help from either the emperor or the crown prince."
"The emperor, maybe that's who we have to go and see."
"No, considering what just occured earlier, the man mentioned that the crown prince wanted to come and see us."
"For what reason?"
"I should be asking you that. He referred to you more, you should at least know something."
"Me? As far as I'm concerned, I have no gathered findings of neither the emperor or the crown prince of this city. Even pestering me won't help, I know of nothing."
"You don't need to say anything more. I get it, but maybe that crown prince could help us out."
"He's obviously looking for us not because he wants to arrest us, but because he needs something from our mouths or our pockets."
"I'm guessing you still remember that old present that rotten candy cane gave you?"
"What rotten candy cane—Wu Xiao Chen!"
"I've got it, I've got it...however, have you opened it yet?"
"No. I still have it with me, but I guess it truly is about time I open it."
"How about we open it outside for more context?"
"Context my ass. You know what, let's just open it in the morning."
"Great idea! That way we don't have to worry about the owner finding out we're wide awake."
"If you keep raising your voice like that, he's bound to find out."
"Alright, alright. Let's go back to sleep for now, that way we don't have to look like bastards who stayed up all night to drink and forget about that conversation."
"For when we meet either of them?"
"Exactly. Either way, have a nice rest."
Barely half an hour has passed, and neither of them have fallen asleep. Its 2 in the morning. Feng turns to look at Xiao Chen's direction, with guilt written all over his cheeks."...Wu Xiao Chen. Are you still awake?"
The man doesn't respond, as he wants to get something out of the young general's mouth."...I know you're awake, but I'll speak of it anyways. Don't you miss your family, dead or alive?"
"You do realize that's offensive, General Feng."
"I know what I'm saying. My parents are gone, I have nothing left to lose but my adoptive family now."
"Are you trying to tell me that...you no longer want to go back, even after all of this dust has settled?"
"That's not what I meant, what I'm trying to say is...if there comes a time one day that I die before all of this has been dealt with—"
"What do you plan to do?.."
"Just go on without me. My sister will eventually make it through all the world wants to throw at her, and it'll certainly be much easier since I've passed on...another burden off her shoulder."
"You've got to be kidding me. If the owner wasn't here right now, I'd have screamed at you to the point your eardrums come off."
"Ahahaha! Very funny, Xiao Chen. I find it hard to believe that you're out here trying to help me with my personal affairs...maybe one day will come when I'll finally allow you to help."
[To be continued in the next chapter, please be patient for the next one. Thank you for reading.]