It has been five days since Kai switched lives with Li Jen, and Li Jen still hasn't returned. Kai have been going mentally crazy with the thought of being stuck here, especially since king Li Wei has been talking about marriage.
Also, more strange things have been happening recently. People are getting taken over by ghostly possession and dying, crops and animals are withering, major haunting are prominent and the palace at the Forbidden lands has become more active.
People have started disappearing, and that made Kai's heart everyday, thinking that Li Jen might be amongst them.
His mother is still the only one that knows about his situation, and she has been lying around to prevent Kai getting caught. Even though she is a woman of honor and tries her hardest to not mislead anyone, when it comes to her family, she would do whatever it takes to protect them. But lying to her husband is the greatest burden she has ever had to ever carry. The first night she went home without Kai, her husband was frantic. He wanted to go out and drag their son home by the ears, but Sue-May had to calm him down. Reminding him about the evil lurking around and how Kai is the safest at the palace. But when the next day came, she started to fret, and what went from Kai staying at the palace because of education purposes turned into Kai who had gone away with Li Jen on a trip to the Jade Dynasty for classes.
Sue-May missed her son so much, and he misses her too. But she knows how he is, he is quite stubborn, and she knows how much Li Jen means to him. So she knew that he wouldn't leave until he saw Li Jen coming back through the gate, unharmed and in one piece. So she does her best to remain silent, secretly bringing him his favorite meals and telling him how much she loves him.
Kai is outside the palace, looking out towards the main gate if he could see any glimpse of Li Jen. The palace has been so busy since the raising of the blood moon orb, with people from within the cultivation sector, and the leaders of the six other kingdoms. Kai had heard pieces of their conversation here and there, especially about Fong Wen's body, which is still locked up deep into an enchanted room of one of the Prospector's Chambers. So I couldn't be him causing all this mayhem, but Kai wasn't worried about all that. He just wanted Li Jen to come home.
Anyways, Kai was so preoccupied in his search that he didn't notice the loose pebbles on the ground and he slipped, twisting his ankle and fell sideways. He closed his eyes waiting for the impact of the hard ground, but it didn't come. Instead, he felt softness and silk beneath his back and around his waist.
Kai's eyes slowly fluttered open, and he slowly gazed up into the most beautiful face he has ever seen. Brown eyes peered down at him, which reminded him of warm chocolate chestnuts. Even though they looked stern, he could see softness and wonder behind them. Kai's eyes travel down to the rest of the young stranger's face, and his breath hitched in his throat when he saw how attractive he looks. His eyes complemented his smooth creamy white skin with a tint of pink on his cheeks, especially as the sunlight shines on him giving him a sparkling everglow. Compere to Kai's baby face, his oval face was spectacularly handsome, with a small straight nose, strong cheek bones, and his medium size full lips reminded Kai of freshly pick cherries. Which got Kai's heart pumping like he had just ran a marathon.
It was just Kai and the young stranger locked into a staring contest. The feeling to Kai was like reading one of Li Jen's romance novels, with the two protagonists meeting under a cherry blossom tree.
Even if Kai wanted to look away, he couldn't. The young stranger has this enchanted glow surround him, and this powerful feel of dominance. Kai took the chance to blind once, before realizing that the young stranger is a Prospector. He couldn't see the aura of where he was from, but he noticed the gold flourishing around him.
'Wow, so beautiful.' Kai thought as he looked deeper into the young Prospector's eyes, and he sense a feeling of familiarity and longing.
Kai quickly got his bearings together, and eased up out of the stranger's arms before pushing him away and straightening out his dress. Clearing his throat as he looked at the guy with a glare, before looking away.
"Did I tell you that I needed your help?" Kai asks in a snarky tone, trying to hide how flustered he is.
The young Prospector smiled as he adjusted his sword that had shifted from his side, before uttering his first words.
"Now, what kind of cultivator would I be if I let a pretty lady fall to her impending doom."
Kai could feel his face and neck getting hot. 'Am I blushing?' He thought to himself. 'He called me pretty. No no Kai, get a hold of yourself. He called Li Jen pretty and not you. If he knew that he was exchanging words with a fraud, he would probably go running to King Li Wei.'
"Pretty lady, pretty lady! Who are you calling a pretty lady? I am no lady!" Kai yelled for no reason at all.
Ok then, my humble apologies princess." The Prospector bowed, but it just riled Kai up even more.
"You…infuriating throng bush, who are you calling a princess?! And why are you bowing?!"
The young Prospector looked at Kai, confusion, yet annoyance and irritation written all over his face. 'Is this girl mental, or is she just shamelessly stupid?' He thought to himself. "Well…. sir," He said with a straight face, never breaking eye contact with Kai. "It was an honor to catch you, but I must bid you goodbye."
"YOU!" Kai yelled. His face is even more redder, but from anger. But he couldn't deny the fact that he found the young Prospector attractive, and he felt a sense of disappointment when he bidden him good bye. But he couldn't call him back, not without getting flustered. So he just ignored the ridiculous feeling and smooth out his clothes and turned back to face the gate. But not before uttering a word insult to cover up his....well he doesn't have a word to describe this...feeling.
"Cocky bastard." Kai mumbled, but enough for the young Prospector to hear.
The young Prospector halted in his steps, and became stiff for a second, before Kai heard him chuckle humorlessly.
"Shameless girl." He said before walking away.
Kai huffed and puffed for a few minutes as he watched the Prospector walk up the steps leading to the conference room, and through the door and now out of his sight.
"That idiot." Kai hissed, as he stared at the door. "No discipline, and he calls himself a Prospector. " Kai takes one last look at the door before turning back around to continue his search.
Meanwhile at the Forbidden lands
Fong Woo sat upon his throne, as three of his guards held up a beaten up cultivator. He is a Mage from the kingdom of the Honshoo Mountains Sect, who decided to venture out to see what was happening in the Forbidden lands. He was ambushed by Fong Woo's undead creatures and blood thirst guards. He fought with the honor of his sect, but was eventually defeated.
Now here he was, in front of a demonised Fong Woo. All battered and beaten, but never once regretted his decision of coming alone.
"Muhaha!" Fong Woo laughed, as he paired down at the young disciple. "So they sent out a youngling to come and scout for them. Haha, your sect isn't what it used to be. Your sect used to be known as the ruthless of them all, but I guess it couldn't live up to the name. Has Master Dishi gone soft, or has he just become a lousy old man!"
"How dare you disrespect my late master!" The disciple yelled in anger, as he struggled to break free of the arms holding him down. "You will never be half the man my master was, just like how your father could live up to his duty as the king…." But Fong Woo didn't let him finish, as he flew up from his throne and landed in front of the restraint disciple and grabbed his throat in a tight grip.
"My father was cheated from what was rightfully his, and he came here and created something evil and greater. And yet, he was cheated from that too."
"You mean, he manipulated someone to steal the Dark moon orb and unleashed evil and killed hundreds of inn-'' Fong Woo grip his throat even tighter and lean down closer and snarl in his ear, leaving the disciple shivering a bit. "My father didn't steal or manipulate anyone. He just saw an opportunity, and he took it. And for those hundreds that died, they were just obstacles in his way. Don't you think so?" He started laughing when he saw the disciple struggling to breathe. He laughed even more when he saw the fear in the young one's eyes, and also the crunching and the blood coming from his mouth as he crushed his gullet.
Fong Woo eased back from the disciple a bit. He hated the little brat with his sharp tongue, but he did admire his confidence and saw him as a great asset to his army.
"Young disciple of Dishi, you are not so bad. Join me, or go bad to your sect as a failure in a body bag."
"I will never join you! I'd rather die a terrible death than become a monster like you!" The disciple spit in Fong Woo's face.
"Master!" The two guards that held up the disciple yelled. Fong Woo puts up his free hand and tells them that it is already, with a small conniving small on his face as he wipes the saliva away from his face
"Oh, so you got balls I see. Haha, your master must be proud as he watches you in the afterlife. Well…" He paused for more dramatic effect, and the smile stretched even more when he felt the disciple's Adam apple start bobbing rapidly. "...you will know soon each!" Fong Woo pushed down even harder, sinking his long claw-like nails into the disciple's neck, making his struggle to breathe as he started choking on his own blood. The disciple thrash around, trying to get oxygen to his already empty lungs. "You took a brave face, thinking that you could come here and beat me!" He laughed darkly as he saw the disciple's eyes rolling to the back of his head. "You thought that you would leave here a hero, well little one, you thought wrong!" The disciple gasped to try taking a breath, but Fong Woo started to do something that even got his guards scared a little.
As the disciple gasped for breath, Fong Woo started sucking some former white essence from him. And he didn't stop until the disciple became stiff in the guard's hold, and then dropped his dead, shriveled, dried out body on the ground.
"Master?" The guards questioned as they looked from the once young body, to their master who looked ten times younger than he did just a few minutes ago.
The guards gasp, as Fong Woo smiled darkly at them and said. "I sucked his life and youth from him, and now, I look like this. A good perk of having the dark moon orb in my presence." He cackles as he flashes his robe as he turns and walks back up to his throne and sits down. He looked at the disciple's body on the ground and scowled. 'Let them come, let them all come. Father, I will not fail you.'