Chapter 2 | Red
It took him a minute to come back to his senses and he immediately introduced himself. "I'm Zhao Guan, deacon of the Golden Crane Sect,"
Deacon Zhao watched him for a moment, stunned. He expected fear, maybe a bit of humility from Yuan, but instead he saw only mild annoyance.
Yuan raised an eyebrow slightly, unimpressed. "Golden Crane Sect?" He glanced back at the black monkey, then back at Zhao Guan, uninterested. "So, what do you want?"
"I came here for you." Deacon Zhao said, a little more sharply seeing Yuan's nonchalant attitude.
But Yuan's expression remained unchanged. "For me? Why?" he asked.
The monkey he was fighting earlier now stood behind him like a guardian knight, ready to take action instantly. This amazed Deacon Zhao. He immediately realized he won't be able to coerce Yuan using force. So he decided to take a humble approach.
He hesitated, then, in a low voice, explained. "The guardian beast of our sect is fallen sick. It's been unconscious for three days, and nothing we've tried has worked. Sect needs help. I have come to find you because I was told… you might be able to help."
Yuan was taken aback as a frown appeared on his face.
"Who told you about me?" he asked in a sharp voice.
"I have a friend working in your pavilion. He told me about you and where I can find you." Deacon Zhao explained as a ray of hope flashed in his eyes.
Yuan couldn't understand why Deacon Zhao was looking for him. Although he had studied books and learned as much as he could about beasts, but with golden crane sect power, they could easily hire someone way more competent than him.
After remaining silent for a while, considering his options, he waved his hand. "You can leave now. I will go to the Golden Crane Sect as soon as possible." he said, his voice cautious
Deacon Zhao was once again taken aback. He considered the deal done when he mentioned the guardian beast of 'Golden Crane Sect'. Who wouldn't want to get in the good books of a big sect in the area, but Yuan words gave him a reality check. He wasn't like those people who chased after fame and money.
Deacon Zhao face changed. Sect had sent out many people to find someone who could treat the guardian beast and offered great rewards in return.
Deacon Zhao was hoping to get promoted to a position in inner sect using this opportunity, instead of staying as outer sect deacon.
With Yuan earlier performance, his hope grew higher and higher, so, how could he let go this opportunity? He immediately spoke, "Mr. Yuan, I-We are in real need for your help. If you are worried about this being a trap, I can take a blood oath if you want."
Yuan was taken aback by hearing about blood oath.
Blood oath was the oath taken on using cultivation and blood force as a guarantee base. If someone were to break the oath, most likely result would be the receiving heavy backlash, cutting the path to further cultivation as well as losing blood force and vitality, shortening your life span.
But in some severe case, a person might end up being cripple or worse dead.
This was also the reason no one dared to take an oath easily.
Yuan remained quiet for a moment, his face thoughtful, before he finally nodded, though he still seemed wary. "Fine. Let's go then."
He waved his hand, and from the tree behind Deacon Zhao, a small red fox jumped onto his shoulder. Yuan stroked its head, a soft smile curling at the corners of his lips. This fox was his contracted pet, Red.
Zhao Guan stared in surprise. He had kept his senses active all the time he talked with Yuan, but still wasn't able to sense the fox at all. Its presence was almost… non-existent.
[This fox isn't normal beast at all] he thought.
A strange tension lingered in the air as Yuan gestured for Zhao to follow him, the fox still perched on his shoulder.
Without a word, the two of them left the Monkey Valley for Clear Cloud City. Yuan gaze was filled with natural confidence despite not being able to cultivate which amazed Deacon Zhao, he couldn't understand the reason behind it though. But something told him that this strange young man might just be the key to saving his sect's guardian beast.
*****
When they arrived at the Menghao Beast Pavilion, he saw his mother standing at the entrance of pavilion with an old man in purple clothes (2nd elder of Golden Crane Sect, Elder Jiang).
Seeing 2nd Elder Jiang, Deacon Zhao heart sunk. All his hopes of getting promotion were dashed into gutter. He knew he won't be able to calm any credit in the presence of him.
"Yuan come with me" Mother Bing said when she saw Yuan walking toward her and directly got in the carriage without waiting for his response.
Yuan sighed helplessly and got on the carriage. His mother was one person he wouldn't dare to go against, ever. Deacon Zhao sighed and joined 2nd elder in the carriage.
Yuan was 19-years-old young man.
3 years ago when he turned 16, Pavilion Master Menghao (His Father) and Mistress Bing Shang (His Mother) organized a small party to celebrate his birthday as well as check his cultivation talent.
16-years-old young ones were considered full-fledged adults in Amber Realm. At this age, their bodies were considered to have been fully developed and could withstand the spirit qi, allowing them to cultivate it and grow stronger.
Yuan had been waiting for this day for a very long time and finally, the day had arrived.
His parents knew about his dream of becoming Awesome Beast Master and enthusiastically checked his spirit roots, but they were shocked to find that both his meridians and dantians were blocked and he won't be able to cultivate at all.
Yuan felt his whole world falling apart. This was very disastrous for him, seeing his dreams crumbling right that instant. He had lost all his hope.
It would have been fine if it was only his family knew about this, but because of the presence of so many people in the party and the high prestige of Menghao Pavilion in the city, the shocking news quickly spread. In just a single day, he became the biggest laughing stalk in Clear Cloud City.
This caused the shift in his personality from cheerful person to a less socialized person. He began to maintain a low profile. Over time, the rumors settled down, however, he still got the tag of useless man of Clear Cloud City.
To escape from suffering, he began spending his time in the Cloudy forest. At the beginning, he just wanted to escape from his worries and people, but gradually he began to like spending his time in the Cloudy forest.
Now, he spent most of his time with nature which further fueled his ambition to become the world's best Beast Master. This was also the reason Deacon Zhao had to enter Cloudy Forest to look for him.