Zhang Feng's eyes widened "I knew it! Your-" "SHHHSSSSH"
Zhang Jian sighed, the waiter brought out two jars of sweet rice wine. "Thank you, unfortunately I do not have change. Will 1 Yin be enough?" The waiter then explained that they did have change and went to go get it. He brought out a small stack of paper notes, Zhang Jian exchanged the Yin for the change and looked through the notes. It was off-white with black inky writing. The edges of the note were bordered with intricate patterns and had large characters stating that it was 1/50 of a Yin coin and that it was issued by the Empress herself.
"You know what this is?" Zhang Jian did a money spread with his two hands in front of Zhang Feng. "What? Is that money?" "Ding, Ding, Ding!" He showed one of the notes to Zhang Feng.
"Brother Feng, we cannot talk about our past lives, that stuff is considered evil and demon-like." Zhang Jian pointed at their surroundings. "Okay then, I have a lot of questions. But I suppose that can wait. Now, what are you planning?" He took a sip of his wine and found it surprisingly good.
"Well we are aiming for Rank 9 right? Lets get admitted into a school. But that's for later, right now just enjoy the wine." Zhang Jian took a sip of his wine, both of them looked out the window. Most of the people that passed through this area were mortals, you could tell by the clothes and ornaments.
"Brother Jian, reaching Rank 9 is a goal of mine. But I also want to change this world." Zhang Jian turned to face his brother, who had a sorrowful look on his face. "Let me guess, you want to abolish this slavery of mortals?" Zhang Jian replied with a wide smile across his face, "How did you know?" Zhang Feng looked up at his brother, Zhang Jian took another sip "Its quite obvious, you do not know how to hide your feelings. Ever been rejected by a girl?"
"Nah, I've never asked a girl out in the first place." And the two of them laughed, this conversation carried on until they finished their drinks and left the inn. They walked down the road aimlessly until they heard shouting from a town crier nearby.
"AN S GRADE HAS AWAKENED IN LIANHUA! AN S GRADE HAS AWAKENED IN LIANHUA!.." A crowd gathered near the man to read a bulletin board where the news had been posted. The two brothers turned to each other. "You wanna go to Lianhua? I think there's a school there we can go to, if we are lucky we can fight the S grade." Zhang Jian offered, a sneer on his face. "Are you mad?"
"Probably. So is that a yes or no?" Zhang Feng then sighed "I cant think of a reason to say no." And the brothers set a new destination, Lianhua city. This time however they had to just get on a carriage, by the next day, they were in Lianhua.
The Capital city Qingyun was a beautiful place, but it was more of a merchants hub than a city. Lianhua could only be described by the fresh smell of flowers and wine, the entire city was rejoicing, men drank openly in the streets, decorations like flowers were strung and hung up everywhere. "Excuse me, what's going on? Is there some festival?" Zhang Feng asked a stranger who was passing by "We are going to find out who the S grade is today, in fact, we will be seeing her!"
Zhang Feng turned to look for his brother, who was being coerced by a group of women to come to the brothels.
"Don't go off again, and give me the money, I cant trust you." Zhang Feng said after scolding Zhang Jian. "Its not my fault all the ladies love me." He said pouting while passing Zhang Feng the bag that contained their valuables.
"So, what's going on?" Zhang Jian asked as they walked through the streets, the crowd growing in size and noise. "Whoever the S grade is, she will be showing up today apparently." Zhang Jian turned to him "She?" Zhang Feng looked back at him "What about it?"
A small, very miniscule idea passed through Zhang Jian's head, it would not come to fruition for a few years, "Nothing. So, where is this S grade?" Just as he said that, they came across a wide street with the crow on both sides cheering as loud as possible. Up the road, a big carriage of white and gold colors moved along slowly. "how much are you betting that's her?" Zhang Feng pointed, "I have no money" Zhang Jian replied, both of them staring at the glimmering carriage.
As it passed, flowers rained from the buildings above. The screams of joy seamed to deafen out, Zhang Feng and Zhang Jian managed to get a glimpse of who exactly was inside. A girl around their age, with luscious golden gleaming hair and bright sea blue eyes. You could almost feel the light coming off her.
In that almost paused moment. Ling Tianshu gazed out her carriage window, she could feel her spirit resonating with something. She saw among the crowd two Spirits that heavily resonated with hers. Her Spirit essence was shaking with fear, its those two boys her age in high-class robes. One had long hair in a man-bun, he had a calm relaxed look, contrasting with the loud crowd nearby, the other one...
Ling Tianshu's eyes widened with fear, she nearly fell back in her seat. The boy next to him looked similar to the other Spirit, except he stared directly through her eyes- through her Spirit, it could only be described as encountering a snake among the grass. He had free flowing hair that smoothly went down below his shoulders, Jade green eyes that seemed to grab ahold of her head and force Ling Tianshu to look at him. His smile, oh his smile! Even though her instincts told her that she should run away as far as possible from him, Ling Tianshu couldn't help but stare at the boy who was staring back. At least until that fraction of a moment was over.
"Yo dude I think she was looking at me" "In your dreams, lets go, we have a school to enter."
It was easier to leave the crowd than enter it, the brothers roamed the streets looking for a shop that was open, it seems most people have gone to see the S Grade. "What the big deal anyway?" Zhang Jian said, his hands held behind his head in a relaxed manner.
"Hm?" Zhang Feng's mind was on the entire school thing. "That S Grade woman, what's so awe-inspiring about her? She looked pretty scared to me" Zhang Feng squinted at him, trying to remember what he was talking about, after a second of recollecting he replied "S Grades haven't appeared in more than 500 years. The fact that there's one in their city is something most people would take pride in." Zhang Feng tried to collect his thoughts.
"Brother Jian, I've noticed that you speak about people like they are animals. You act like an unhinged maniac one second and a philosophical saint the next, but when it comes to getting things done you put your everything into it. Zhang Jian, what's the deal with you?"
Zhang Jian took a moment to understand the question. He replied "I don't really feel any strong emotion when it comes to the state of anything. You could say that I am indifferent, yes.. I am indifferent to the pain and pleasure of other people. Anyone that isn't in my best interests isn't in my interests at all. That is the type of many that I am, what about you brother? How is Fathers murder affecting you?" Zhang Feng could understand his indifference to people, it slightly bothered him but it wasn't really a problem.
"Honestly... I don't think I feel bad. I've never considered that drunkard my father. I'm more worried about you, since killing someone is bound to have some lasting effects." Zhang Feng replied, it had sort of itched in the back of his mind. "Well, not really. If I had gone back in time, I would do it all over again."