Chereads / Prince Of Spirits / Chapter 18 - Yin Yue

Chapter 18 - Yin Yue

The Yin family were most known for their silver hair, hence the 'Yin' as their family name. Yin Yue was born under a full moon and under superstitious belief, the family named her Yue.

The Yin family held prominent power in the Lan Tian clan, Yin Yue's grandfather was a village elder. She was raised to be a powerful warrior and a pawn for the village, a future which Yin Yue did not wish for.

Every now and then, she would hear stories of the menace Zhang Jian and the ruckus he would cause. One particular exploit of his intrigued Yin Yue deeply "Zhang Jian kidnapped a cow and it was found on top of a man's shop, can you believe it?!" the servants whispered to each other, not knowing that the young Yin Yue could listen to their words very clearly.

That day, Yin Yue went outside and roamed the village, she heard that you could find Zhang Jian walking around with his elder brother, looking for children to fight. She found only Zhang Jian and not his elder brother, in the bamboo forest near the borders of the village.

"Hello, what are you doing all the way out here?" The child Yin Yue asked, the boy was punching a thick bamboo tree, his fists bleeding red all over. Blood was being splattered here and there from the constant punching, the boy did not seem to care.

Zhang Jian turned, he had a black eye and a face clenched in rage and anger. "What is it? who are you?" Blood leaked from his fists and dripped onto the ground, this scared Yin Yue a bit but she could understand his situation.

"My apologies, my name is Yin Yue. I wanted to meet you, are you training for something?" She said with a smile and struck out her hand. Zhang Jian stared at her hand, then at her "Why?" He was confused.

"Why what?" Yin Yue still kept her hand out "Why do you want to meet me?" Zhang Jian is avoided by everyone in the village, it is reasonable that he questions why someone would want to meet him.

Yin Yue giggled "You intrigue me." After a moment of reconsideration, Zhang Jian lost his clenched angry expression "Intrigue huh?" Zhang Jian pulled out a roll of bandage cloth and began rolling around both his hands, a somber expression on his face, as if it were reminding him of something.

After trying his best to wrap his right hand properly, Zhang Jian shook Yin Yue's hand "Its a pleasure to meet you, I am the one and only Zhang Jian. You said your name was Yin Yue?"

Zhang Jian, contrary to what all the rumors were, was a kind and understanding boy. He only menaced the village because he was trying to send a message. Yin Yue found herself enjoying his company for the brief time that they were friends.

That time of the youth, of pure innocence, the kind of time you would just relax in the sunlight and be happy doing nothing all day. The bamboo forest became something like a new home, yellow rays mixed with the green upright trees and clear, fresh grass.

Zhang Jian would explain things, encourage Yin Yue to question and challenge what she thought she knew. They would go searching for animals and small streams of water to hang around as they chatted.

This was all taken away, taken away by the Lan Tian clan, taken away by her family and everyone who watched. In the Lan Tian clan exists a force of Spirit masters called the Blue Swans that listen directly to the Elders and Clan Leader, Yin Yue's family gave her up to increase their standing in the clan.

Zhang Jian never knew what happened to her, Yin Yue just stopped showing up.

Years of her childhood were spent training, following orders and barely seeing the light of day. Her one wish was to just tell him, tell Zhang Jian that she was sorry, that she had no choice, anything that would give some kind of ending.

The Awakening ceremony was the first time she got to free-roam outside in years, Yin Yue didn't approach Zhang Jian as it was a very stressful time for everyone there. She was shocked to see that Zhang Jian got F Grade, which was quickly replaced by worry.

After her awakening, which turned out to be a mediocre C Grade, Yin Yue followed after the path Zhang Jian and his brother took. She heard screaming in the distance, Yin Yue hid behind a tree and watched Zhang Jian ruthlessly beat a group of 6 boys.

Even though he was F Grade, he was talented with martial arts and a force of nature when it came down to fighting. His hair was a lot more grown out now, Zhang Jian had a bun on his head with a hairpin through it, something which didn't quite fit him in Yin Yue's eyes.

It was brutal and merciless but Zhang Jian was smiling and having fun, which put a smile on Yin Yue's face as well.

Yin Yue thought about talking to Zhang Jian after he was done fighting but he ran home as soon as he finished. She tried to follow after and call out to him but Zhang Jian was just too fast!

"I could wait outside his house but his parents are not going like his grade..." Yin Yue muttered to herself until she heard shouting from Zhang household, followed by beating.

"I am going to kill you!" Could be heard from one side of the house, Yin Yue recognized that voice, that was Zhang Jian! Before she could knock on the door, a wall burst open from another side of the house.

Yin Yue slowly creeped around the sides of the Zhang residence, hearing noises of grunting and shouting echoing across the bamboo woods that surrounded the backside of the residence.

As Yin Yue made her way to the back gate of the residence, a painful howl could be heard from just behind the wall. Hiding herself just by the wall, Yin Yue watched Zhang Jian dragged his father into the woods.

Out of fear and morbid curiosity she followed after, the father and son engaged in battle again. But this was different, Zhang Jian got hit badly in the head. Yin Yue considered interfering, just as she was about to reveal herself..

"Crack!"

the following traumatized Yin Yue and sort of made her fear Zhang Jian. Zhang Jian mercilessly bashed his father's head against a boulder, the same boulder they used to hand around. The blood red light from the setting sun perfectly blending with the blood spilling onto the rock.

Just as it couldn't get worse, Zhang Jian destroyed the boulder completely, along with Zhang Qian's head.

Yin Yue puked, she couldn't handle that sight, that horrible murder. How could he? how could Zhang Jian kill his own father? nothing made sense to Yin Yue at that moment, she couldn't think straight.

"I did it... I won" Zhang Jian was breathing heavily, he trudged back to his house. Not noticing the Yin Yue hiding in a nearby bush.

"Just what the fuck is going on here"

  1. "Yin" (银) can mean "silver" in Chinese
  2. "Yue" (月) in Chinese primarily means "moon."