"Greetings to the Grand Chief!" They had landed in the middle of a wide courtyard that looked like the front of an emperor's throne room. Yi Hei glanced around him in wonder. A number of the mercenaries who were on one knee had their faces covered with grotesque looking masks. Li Sihan paid them no mind and marched forwards, towards the big building marked as the 'East Hall'. Yi Hei quickly followed after her, trying hard to ignore the appraising stares of the kneeling mercenaries.
The two emerged not long after; Li Sihan had fashioned him a mask. Outside, the crowd was larger, trying their best to look inconspicuous and failing. They all straightened up when the Grand Chief came outside again.
"This person will be the Guardian of the Medicine Hall," Li Sihan announced in a low voice, yet everyone present heard it. Guardian was fine, though quite a number of mercenaries were miffed. However, what was the Medicine Hall? There was no such thing in the Mercenaries.
"Grand Chief-- we -- we don't have a Medicine Hall. We only have an Alchemy Guild," Flaming Spear spoke up. Li Sihan shrugged.
"We will now. Go down into town and get builders. Bai Xian, draw up a plan for a three floor structure. Liu Lan will be in charge of the protective matrixes cast on the site."
"Yes, Grand Chief!" The people who were named quickly left to do their tasks.
"Grand Chief, who will be in charge of inducting this-- guardian?" A older mercenary asked.
"I have done that myself," Li Sihan crossed her arms. A low murmur ran through the crowd.
"Grand chief, this--"
"Be quiet. You may all leave,"
That was how Yi Hei had become a Guardian upon stepping foot into the Si Lak Mercenaries. A lot of people were displeased with this, but unable to go against the orders of the Grand Chief. In the early days of his stay in the Mercenaries, Yi Hei was an envied person. Occasionally, some hot blooded angsty second and third tier mercenaries would dare to barge into the Medicine Hall and cause trouble. However, after everyone saw the consequences: detention in the Boilers, relegation to the hatcheries, and even once, expulsion from the Mercenaries! They all gave the Medicine Hall a wide berth. Offending Guardian Yi Hei became tantamount to offending the Grand Chief. The man himself also started achieving exemplary cultivation prowess. A small consolation for the other meeceneries, though, was that despite his strength and influence, Yi Hei never made it into the Top Thirty Mercenaries.
***
The present, Li Manor
Yi Hei stood in a glum mood next to a gleeful Jun Ru and Tao He. His expression was not as readable as his mood. Ever since Li Sihan had switched bodies, he had not set his eyes on her. He would have pouted if these two annoying snotrags were not pres
"Well?" Li Sihan set down the cup she had been drinking from. Lemon tea again. "I heard you fought with Jun Ru,"
"Yes," Yi Hei shrugged.
"When did you learn the Piercing Thrust?
"A few years ago," Yi Hei responded. It was no good hiding things from this yama.
"A few years ago? Meaning around the time I was ambushed by the Scorpion Hall and Yan Temple and fell into a vegetative state?"
Yi Hei clenched his fists under his sleeves. That time had really scared him, and once the silver of thought that she might be gone forever entered his mind, his ambition skyrocketed. He had not even been aware that he had such designs. Before he knew it, he had broken into the Grand Chief's treasury and gathered several forbidden techniques. He entered secluded cultivation and learnt all of them in a jiffy. Then, horrified by the thoughts running through his head, he started to hatch a plot of how he would overthrow the Four Seniors, especially Flaming Spear Xi Yun. On the day he stepped out to act on the first step of the plan was the same day the Si Lak Mercenaries, under the charge of Xi Yun, sent out a notice that they would do anything for anyone who had a Soul Transfer Matrix. Yi Hei had been rooted to the ground, confused. Was there hope for...for the Grand Chief? Was she not dead already?
That night he sneaked into the East Hall and for the first time looked at her broken body. She wasn't even breathing. Yet it seemed that she was still alive? How?
He suddenly had another obsession. Sneaking around the Four Seniors gave him bits and pieces of information he added together on his own. His Li Sihan...the Grand Chief, was still alive, but her body could no longer hold her soul. They would have to find a body for her to inhabit. Both Flaming Spear and Red Monkey had volunteered. Storm Sword had vehemently disagreed with Red Monkey, causing a rift between them. Charming Leopard wasn't pleased with how things had turned out as well, but he eventually agreed to Flaming Spear's idea. In terms of cultivation, strength, and others, it seemed Flaming Spear was the best alternative.
Yi Hei had returned to the Medicine Hall aghast. Xi Yun...? Xi Yun would become Li Sihan? How would he look at her from then on? Yi Hei had never liked Xi Yun. The first Senior made it one of her life's callings to make things difficult for him. There was also the fact that after the Grand Chief, her word was law in the Mercenaries. Yi Hei did not like her laws.
But now? The Grand Chief...his Li Sihan, was going to inhabit Xi Yun's body? No!! Every cell in Yi Hei cried out vehemently against it. But what could he do, what? He had no say. A number of mercenaries had been expelled already for saying the wrong things, or for showing too much ambition. Xi Yun was almost manic. Only Charming Leopard was capable of restraining her.
Resigned to his fate, Yi Hei entered secluded cultivation again. If Xi Yun... If Xi Yun became the Grand Chief, then he never wanted to see the light of day again...
So he had not been there to witness the good news. By utilising the Soul Transfer Matrix, the Grand Chief's soul appeared in Phoenix Empire. Jun Ru was dispatched at once; he was the one most familiar with her aura. Not long after, he returned with jubilant news. The Grand Chief had successfully transmigrated! She was now alive again! However, the Scorpion Hall already knew her identity. Also, the body the Grand Chief inhabited was that of a seven year old.
The Top Thirty Mercenaries had been summoned not long after. Yi Hei had exited closed door cultivation to meet a deserted camp, devoid of the powerhouse expert. Was this a good time to rebel? He imagined sitting on the Grand Chief's bronze seat. A passing disciple of the Spear Squad snapped him out of his dangerous aspirations.
"Guardian, the Seniors and the Top Thirty has gone to see the Grand Chief! Perhaps she will return with them! Finally!
Yi Hei had been stumped. Wasn't the Grand Chief inhabiting Xi Yun's body? What happened to that plan? Who was the Grand Chief inhabiting now? Red Monkey?
"No," the disciple had shook his head, "the Grand Chief's soul is somewhere in the Phoenix Empire. We juniors are not allowed to know who she is yet; but she will always be our Grand Chief!" He had added with a fiery passion. Yi Hei had escaped from the main courtyard hurriedly. Not Xi Yun, not Red Monkey, that was all he could think about. He returned to the Medicine Hall in peace.
However, would she believe him now? Would she emphasise with his reasons? Or would he just be branded a traitor and expelled?
"I--" Yi Hei opened his mouth
"Give me your hand," Li Sihan interrupted. Yi Hei was slightly surprised, but he thought nothing of it. He moved forward and placed his large hand in the small dainty one. Li Sihan drew a matrix formation on his palm and activated it. Immediately Yi Hei's head felt light and dizzy. All the thoughts he had just now swam before his eyes again. Li Sihan sneered. She let go of his hand. Yi Hei lost his balance and fell, clutching the gazebo table for support on his way down. Jun Ru and Tao He were puzzled and curious. This reaction...had the Grand Chief performed the Mind Reading Arts on him? Ahh-- what wouldn't they give to also become Martial Sages! This power was extraordinary.
"Yi Hei, Yi Hei," Li Sihan sighed and shook her head. Yi Hei rose up and lowered his head. He had completely forgotten about the Mind Reading Arts. This was why he had refused to appear before her in the first place. But now she knew everything. What did she think of him? What...what was she opening her mouth to say now? Was this...was this the end? Would he be expelled from the Mercenaries now? Would he be homeless once again?
"You're such a dummy," Li Sihan smirked, "a silly dummy. Go, return," she sighed, "go and prepare for the Cultivators Gathering. You might meet you old nemeses from the Yan Sect there, so be wary. I was always too lazy to wipe them off for you,"
Tao He and Jun Ru exchanged glances. What was this situation? What had the Grand Chief read from Yi Hei's mind? Why was she not punishing him for learning the forbidden technique? Why was she still letting him go to the Cultivators Gathering? Jun Ru suddenly felt really annoyed. Was he still the Grand Chief's closest confidante? Or had he been one-upped by this annoying bastard? Jun Ru gave it careful thought. But Yi Hei had never been in close rapport with the Grand Chief ever. He was always holes up in that dank ugly Medicine Hall of his. Jun Ru sighed. The Grand Chief's word was law. If she said Yi Hei was going, then he, Jun Ru, should forget about it. After all, he consoled himself, staying here at the Li Manor and guarding those the Grand Chief loved the most were of more importance, than a stupid Cultivators Gathering.