[Word Count 1969]
Chaos blossomed during that night.
Pandemonium spread like wildfire all over the Zhao Clan.
The death of a clan elder shook everyone's mind like a turbulent storm.
Many couldn't really believe it. The most shocked amongst the non-believers was, in fact, Zhao Yijian.
He was rendered comatose when he found that it was his father, Zhao Tianjian, that had succumbed to the jaws of death.
When Zhao Wei had escaped after finishing off Zhao Tianjian, the clan had been quick to respond and secure the crime scene. And they curbed the news from spreading any further than the confines of the clan.
In order to pacify the worries of the disciples, during that night the Head of the Zhao Clan, Zhao Tiancang, came up with a terse explanation - Qi Deviation.
Clan Elder, Zhao Tianjian, had suffered a severe backlash when he was practicing an incomplete dangerous secret technique that had sadly caused his unexpected death.
To the clan higher ups, the situation was a very serious matter that had to put under very tight reins. It wouldn't be good if the information was diverged to the outside and the other clans learned about it.
***
"This is definitely the work of an extremely deadly poison that took him out in a matter of seconds." The Head of the Zhao Clan, Zhao Tiancang, analyzed with a deep frown on his face. He was Zhao Linglong's adoptive father. He had shoulder length grey hair, grey eyes and a prominent goatee.
"Just looking at those dark needles makes the hairs on my neck stand on end. This is no normal poison. It seems to be a combination of a variety of unknown poisons that I am not even privy to." A white-bearded old man commented while adorning a grave expression on his ruddy face. This white-bearded old man was the one who guarded the Martial arts library. He was a great elder of the clan and was called Zhao Yusong.
"Elder Zhao, I don't understand how someone could be killed inside the hallowed grounds of our great Zhao Clan. Whom did Zhao Tianjian share enmity with?" Zhao Tiancang sighed heavily.
A somber mood loomed in the atmosphere.
"How could I know? Zhao Tianjian like to keep to himself. You know very well how he had been the type of sneak around. This professional murder seems to be the work of an experienced veteran assassin, there are no mistakes. Everything is perfect and clean." Elder Zhao pondered with great worry showing in his deep eyes.
"Whoever could hire such a deadly assassin that could easily sneak inside our clan and escape our senses is possibly one of the three clans or maybe not."
Zhao Tiancang shook his head. "I have a feeling that it may not even be the people from the other three major families. What benefit would it serve them to kill one of our elders? We would have to question ourselves."
"Reducing our strength? I really don't think so. We are currently existing on a balance and restricting each other and no one would really go out of their way to just kill an elder. It just doesn't make any sense." Zhao Tiancang slumped himself on a chair and rubbed his hand down his face before holding his grey goatee.
"In short, since we have no substantial evidence over the matter then we can only consider this peculiar murder case as closed. We have no leads and can't even track the assassin that could easily slip between our security measures." Elder Zhao finalized his thoughts on the matter at hand.
"This will surely tarnish our reputation and we would lose a lot of face when those old fogies from the other clans catch wind of the news. It's only a matter of time. We can't hide it for a long time." The head of the clan nodded in understanding before abruptly rising from his seat.
Zhao Tiancang then turned his gaze to the room adjacent to the one of the deceased. The door to the room was wide ajar, exposing a mahogany bed with an unconscious young man sleeping on it.
The room belonged to Zhao Tianjian's son, Zhao Yijian.
"Did his son tell you anything?" Zhao Tiancang casually asked but his tone carried no hope.
"He saw nothing. If a peak sixth rank Martial Artist can easily be assassinated without even him knowing how he died, how do we expect a little peak fourth ranker to even know anything?" Elder Zhao replied with a solemn sigh.
"Anyway, the dead cannot resurrect and we can only hope that his soul is at peace, whether in reincarnation or the underworld." Zhao Tiancang put his large hands behind his back while examining the necrotic neck of the corpse.
"Then will the main tournament continue as usual or will it be adjourned?" Elder Zhao asked. The Clan Elder was ultimately the overseer of clan matters at the end of the day. And major decisions of the clan were made by him under the council of elders and their various propositions.
"Everything will continue as it was initially supposed. By the way, are there any promising younglings among the competing outer disciples?" Zhao Tiancang asked in a nonchalant tone while slowly walking towards the exit, his back facing Elder Zhao.
Zhao Tiancang had already cleaned his hands off the strange and unexpected murder of one of his elders. There was nothing he could do about.
His hope ultimately lay on those outstanding disciples. With enough resources, he could groom them into an elder or even someone worthy of ensuring the Zhao Clan's future prosperity. That was the clan's system. The system was their to facilitate the thriving of the clan and tie the genius younglings to the clan.
"I don't think I have anything to say. You will see for yourself." Elder Zhao played with his long white beard while speaking in mysteries. An image of Zhao Wei unknownly flashed in his mind.
"Hoho, trying to act mysterious with me. Then I can't wait to see how this year's tournament will be. Will there be any kid capable of rivaling Linglong?" Zhao Tiancang boisterously laughed before disappearing outside.
Elder Zhao also didn't want to stay longer in the same room with a corpse that was already starting to rot. It seemed the poisons also had the effect of accelerating corpse decomposition.
Elder Zhao called for the clan guards and ordered them to cremate the corpse and then send the ashes to the Ancestral hall so as they could offer a respectable memory service for the departed soul. He also left instructions to be relayed to the unconscious Zhao Yijian. The clan had to offer him a reasonable compensation as his late father had performed past meritorious deeds.
And just like that, the issue of Zhao Tianjian's death was resolved and kept under wraps.
The following day, Inner Court,
Zhao Wei could be seen playing chef. His long silky obsidian hair freely fluttered under the evening breeze, making him look like an immortal mortal - a mortal being that gave off the illusion of the qualities of immortality. Yes, the day had already passed by just like that. There were currently like at least 3 days remaining for the main tournament to begin.
And here he was the main culprit of the homicide acting free and leisurely frying chicken.
A pleasant aroma of herbs and fried chicken intertwined to form a tapestry of heavenly scent that if one took a whiff they would directly be sent flying around above the nine heavens.
The golden color of the chicken was visually stunning and could easily make one's mouth water with greed.
It was crusty and fried to absolute perfection.
'When it comes to fried chicken, the crunchier the crust was, the better.'
Zhao Wei then cut off a little piece from the chicken's breast and threw it inside his mouth.
"Chef's kiss."
'It's good that the murder case ended just like that. If there were Holmes kind of guys out here then it would have been a pain.' Zhao Wei licked the oily tidbits of his fingers.
Suddenly, he turned his head towards the courtyard's entrance as if sensing someone heading toward him.
A visitor. A familiar one.
What did the girl want again?
"Yufei, what brings you here?" Zhao Wei casually asked while proceeding to enjoy his sweet time munching on a crusty chicken wing.
Zhao Yufei who had just arrived sniffed the extremely refreshing scent in the air and she couldn't help but feel hungry.
"I didn't know that you could also cook something like that. What else can't you do?" Zhao Yufei wondered in amazement as her pretty smile stretched across her tantalizing pink lips.
"There are many things that I can't do. I am only a man and not a god or anything. Well, even gods can't do everything." Zhao Wei replied without facing her as he enjoyed the sacred moment of food eating.
"I want a taste!" Zhao Yufei inadvertently found herself blurting without even thinking. The golden sheen radiating off the silver pan seemed to calling onto her like a hypnotizing wave.
She couldn't unnail her gaze off the celestial meal. She just couldn't.
After hearing Yufei's words, a strange expression momentarily flashed on Zhao Wei's face.
"You want a taste of my cock or what?" Zhao Wei said blandly while he continued to exaggeratively lick his index finger.
A red flush of shyness and embarrassment quickly spread on her soft creamy cheeks.
Zhao Yufei had never heard such vulgar words being spoken so casually and freely without a care.
"C-Cooccck!"
"Y-You… H-How can you speak such obscenities in front of a maiden as if it's nothing?!" Zhao Yufei spoke in a panicky tone while tightly clutching onto the hems of her long beautiful blue skirt that subtly showcased the soul-stirring curves of her hips.
"Little girl, you should always make your intentions known straight away or else such misunderstandings will keep on happening," Zhao Wei's lips curved into a slight one-sided grin while he pointed a little bone at Yufei.
"I am not a little girl!" She fiercely retaliated and then moved so that she was directly in front of Zhao Wei.
Looking into his deep abyssal eyes for a moment, she turned her gaze away and started meekily speaking in a low voice.
"Can I have a piece of that juicy meat? Please!" She then quickly pointed at the mouth-watering fried chicken when she remembered Zhao Wei's words about making it clear what she wanted.
And when Zhao Yufei saw that playful glint in his eyes, she knew that if she hadn't pointed at what she wanted then Zhao Wei would have come up with another dirty joke.
"Okay." Shaking his head, Zhao Wei went and served a well cut piece of chicken meat on a plate.
"Here." Zhao Wei placed the plate on her already outstretched expectant hand.
In a matter of minutes, Zhao Yufei found herself nullifying the food that existed on her plate.
It was so damn sweet.
The taste of herbs, fats, and flavours exploding inside her mouth left her wanting more. She needed more of that heavenly taste.
For the chicken, she decided to throw away her fairy-like face.
"I want more!" Zhao Yufei couldn't help but moan with delight when she licked a crusty remnant off the corner of her lips.
'Hella sus!' Zhao Wei scrunched his brows before serving Yufei another plate and then kicking her off his courtyard, much to her disappointment and expectations.
'Hmph, she's lucky that I am astute follower of Bonk Dao!' Zhao Wei sniggered and decided to practice with a bat during that night.
Days passed and the main tournament finally was about to start!
***