Nanming and Yu Shua Bi continued their walk in silence, yet it was deafening. The tense atmosphere was due to Yu Shua Bi real identity being leaked due to his own immaturity.
If he waits just a second longer, then the Golden Boar would've arrived to defuse the situation anyway, no need for him to do all that 'My name is Yu Shua Bi' thingy.
Nanming may not care, not yet. He will leave, its too much to be seen with a member of a Great Clan, for others will make use of him to coax his clan.
Yu Shua Bi knows this, Nanming likely knows about it too, he is just too kind. If he is selfish even by a bit, he would've cut his connection to Yu Shua Bi as easily as one cut a rope of their fetters should they are able.
That's what Yu Shua Bi is, a fetter for himself and others.
'What is the matter with you?'
Involuntarily, the voice of the past reaches out like a hungry ghost, trying to sink him deep into his own darkness.
'You are a Yu clan, behave like one!'
But Yu Shua Bi never asked to be born there, nor was his father, nor was his grandfather. Why is it their responsibility to bear a weight no man should ever held? Why should they give a damn about a life they never choose?
'Peerless is his strength, endless is his energy, you shall be a star that guides the young talent young master!'
Borne out of blood he considered worthless.
'How dare you say that? When others gladly kill for your power? Be prideful, Shua Bi, for you are destined to hold the World!'
Yu Shua Bi knows very well how honored he is to be born in the Yu clan, yet light was with its darkness.
'Why can't we leave? I wanted to play kites with other children! C'mon big bro! Let us play!'
How he wishes to, yet the chain and the tangled string of his life prevent him, deny him his freedom. As if vengeful, unwilling to let him be free, unburdened.
'You are to be a Dawn Star, Shua Bi, for your talent has outgrown yourself… Though tumultuous be your path, it took a great deal of pain to defy one own Karma, so follow its knot, no matter how tangled it may become'
The word of his father echoes, the leader of all the Orthodoxy, and what Yu Shua Bi think is the most exhausted man in Hazhui, in the entire World even.
'And once it hurts to remain tethered, follow it back to where it hurts the most, Shua Bi…'
Shua Bi means brushing pen, yet his pen was never meant to write his own fate, only to strengthen a predetermined marking, to renew a scripture once the written words become faded, a result most expected. Yet what is a pen when it cannot write what the writer thought?
Shua Bi
"Yu Shua Bi"
Nanming calm and aloof voice steady Yu Shua Bi thought back to the waking realm, he stammered his words before the consciousness catches up to his mind.
"Huh? You call?"
Yu Shua Bi said, though his mind is yet to process reality.
"You seem like you had a lot in mind, your eyes looking forward yet it didn't land on anything when a human eyes naturally darts around to scan their surrounding"
Nanming said. Until now, he is still at awe at Nanming ability to read through a person's mind, as if he can read them as easily as he read book.
A reader and a writer, a Southern Brightness and a Brushing Pen. Worlds apart in meaning, why is Yu Shua Bi making connections to Nanming name and his own? Perhaps his mind isn't clear yet.
"You're spacing out again, just to be clear I don't mind if you are a Yu clan"
Nanming said, but when Yu Shua Bi response by adverting his eyes from him, Nanming quickly clarifies.
"I am surprised, but a man are not themselves without their own scheme and trouble. We all have our own secret, and I too, have one"
Nanming then shifts his gaze to face Yu Shua Bi right in the face, the intense stare of someone emotionless feels like he is stripping Yu Shua Bi entire personage bare, revealing what was inside.
"…Is that so? Then…"
Yu Shua Bi felt relieved that Nanming accepted him, he really did, but only harm will come to a nameless like him, no matter how skilled Nanming are, he is a dime of a dozen when those who stood atop the world decide to intervene.
And Yu Shua Bi is always the vocal point of such intervention, as such he should make Nanming walk away, and what better way to do it than to to probe him of his 'secret'.
"Tell me your secret, so we are even"
Yu Shua Bi said with a devilish smile filled with devious intent, or at least he tried to smile that way.
"…I'm from the Demonic Sect"
"Wha—"
"An important one too, I'm sorry but I cannot tell you anything further"
Yu Shua Bi mind went blank at his confession, a Fiend, Nanming is a Fiend, the same one who his clan bare so much hatred towards.
A race of war, death and plunderer. Their entire existence is built around those three things, and one of them was someone he has been close with for days now.
Was he a spy? Did Nanming already know who Yu Shua Bi was? He also said that he is surprised when Yu Shua Bi was a Yu clan, then why is he here? And why aren't his eyes red?
Nanming is quite the opposite of those Fiends in term of look alone, sure Fiends are famed for their beauty, even male Fiend is as pretty as a fairy. But the thing that makes them stand out, their red glowing eyes were not present in Nanming.
He takes another look at Nanming, his pale white skin that looks ashen, the long white hair that seems to be styled in favor of hiding his face, and the purple eyes who seems depthless with how it looks.
Yeah, he's not a fiend. From what he read from the Yu clan records, the Fiend red eyes are something they cannot change, something about their Karma or something.
"So, we're even, right? I know your secret and you know mine"
Nanming said as he searches Yu Shua Bi face for any shred of emotion in that cold yet somehow warm eyes.
Now Yu Shua Bi felt ridiculous, so much so in fact that involuntarily, his mouth let out a chuckle.
Releasing all his tension, his stress, his worry away. A word has broken him, an action even more so, he had tasted the extraordinary and is cast away because of it, he had the gift of heaven and is suffering because of it.
The unspeakable 'pleasure' and 'pain' that he cannot describe painted his life, yet the ink of his brushing pen remains grey, unwashed and dull.
Yet the simple fact that Nanming, a person he should hate, a person unfamous yet so incredibly powerful and extraordinary didn't care that he belongs to such a massive and powerful family is the one thing that truly opened his eyes.
Not the apathetic word, not the wary 'friend' nor his tired father had made him realize.
That what he experienced isn't the World in its entirety, that the people he interacted with didn't represent the entire humanity, what he had experienced and feared of them is just an instance.
There is still so much of this World that he didn't experience yet, and he dared to make assumption.
"Hahahahaha!"
He laugh, the angst he felt has become nothing more but a vocal now.
Yu Shua Bi then raised his head to meet Nanming gaze, still as cold and unmoving as ever.
"Yes, we're even…"
He smiles, for once, someone he can truly call a 'friend' is here. Someone who truly regards him as Shua Bi, or Jing-U or whatever name he picks.
When the name Yu leaves him, Shua Bi is certain that Nanming would still regard him as a friend.
"Now let us go to Hang-Bei, I doubt the Golden Boar is patient enough to let us bicker"
Shua Bi said, and Nanming nods.
But a small, fleeting tug of his smile was noticed by Shua Bi, even Nanming had his own welled up emotion, and Shua Bi is determined to help him smile fully one day.
.
.
.
The Southern Academy.
Wu Chen is tired, but this time it was from training rather than socializing.
Body drenched in sweat mixed with blood, the acrid tang and sharp smell of both permeates his otherwise pristine skin.
He had trained in that secluded courtyard for weeks now, and it's not like he was forced to allocate most of his time doing it since he didn't have anything else to do.
After being kidnapped, the Academy has put him in a cage of sort, to not let any kind of similar accident happen again.
So, the only thing Wu Chen is allowed to do was to train or read books, and he chose the former.
Since the time for his bet with Wu Yincang is edging closer, who will be chosen to represent the Sect during the Spirit Rise event.
Something that is going to be hard to do since most of Wu Chen own follower has deserted or switch side. But he still had a plan up his sleeve.
The bet was to prohibit either of them from participating directly, but if Wu Chen were to become 'someone else', he can enter the Selection Test while adhering to the rule of the wager.
The problem is, Wu Yincang definitely knows about this plan, and if Wu Chen were to become someone else, then the real Wu Chen wouldn't be able to exist within the boundary of the Academy and thus, the wager would be null.
So, he needed a way to make Fake Wu Chen as his stand in within the Southern Academy, there is a spell that let this happen, 'Multitude of Selves'.
A spell, or a technique, or a way, the book he read didn't know which classification it belongs to, can let him have multiple 'selves' that he control remotely.
So, wherever he is, he can still control, know and direct his other selves. Wu Chen knows one of the Lord of Bloom retainers has this spell, but he needed a way to establish contact and be on a favorable term with her.
"…You've come"
Wu Chen was reeled back from his thinking, for a figure entered his empty room. He wears an intricate crimson robe layered with black fabric, one of the Elder that is under scrutiny for his 'suspicious' action.
Elder Nang.
"I greet the Demonic Prince, this self have heard that you wish to discuss some 'things' with this self"
Elder Nang said, though he hide his face through the bowing gesture and the sleeve of his robe, Wu Chen can tell that he held no amount of respect nor honor towards Wu Chen.
"I do… regarding Scroll of Nowhere that you covet"
When those words leave Wu Chen's mouth, Elder Nang twitch before his eyes opens to regard Wu Chen, scrutinizing and suspicious look were etched in his aging face, yet he tried his hardest to remain in neutral expression.
"I care not for what you wish to do towards the Scroll nor am I curious about the content inside"
Wu Chen said while smiling.
But still, Elder Nang remained unconvinced by his sly expression and way of speaking.
"The prince must've misheard a passing wind for a definite truth, this self had no idea about this so-called Scroll of Nowhere"
He said, closing his eyes once more.
"Is that so? A passing wind is still a passing wind, either a breeze or a sign of a storm, I am merely exercising my curiosity to know which is which"
Wu Chen said, walking closer towards Elder Nang who appears visibly uncomfortable.
"And I reckon that this 'storm' would become a lucrative mutual trade of effort… And I hate beating around the bush, so let just say I needed your help and I will help you"
Elder Nang ear perks up.
'Not beating around the bush, he said, and yet he meanders in his words'
Elder Nang thought, finding Wu Chen attempt at coaxing him to go along with his plan ridiculous at best. He is just an angsty child, barely holds a candle to the likes of Wu Yincang.
And what would he know about the Scroll of Nowhere besides its Forbidden status? Elder Nang didn't even believe that Wu Chen truly knew what the Scroll of Nowhere even is.
"You said it's a transaction, but one should know about the prize waiting at the so called 'lucrative trade' that you mention Prince, sad to say but this self failed to find your prize to worth my effort"
Elder Nang scoff and turned his back to leave.
"Wasting my time…"
"The Founding Heavenly Demon"
Wu Chen words hold Elder Nang step, as if a chain has bound his foot, preventing it to move further.
"The Scroll of Nowhere had something to do with him, and by extension the Tomb."
Wu Chen said, and slowly, Elder Nang shifts his vision back towards Wu Chen.
"You knew…"
"I do, and I can help you get them; I know where the hidden 8 Tomb is"
Elder Nang was fully intrigued, so much so that he helped himself sit in one of the wooden chairs inside Wu Chen room.
"Explain"
"Why should I?"
Wu Chen taunt serves to irritate Elder Nang further, finding his words to be unpleasant at best.
"I said that it's a trade of effort, a transaction of sort, therefore my position here is that of a merchant"
Wu Chen smiles then twist into a smile, yet his dark crimson eyes remain desolately unmoving, trained to look forward as if it could peer deep inside Elder Nang soul.
"And a merchant won't bother showing their wares to those who aren't willing to buy"
Elder Nang let out a sigh, before he relented and considered what Wu Chen was willing to offer.
"…Fine, consider me willing to cooperate, now say it"
"Say what?"
"The Tomb, its location"
"What Tomb?"
'Motherfucker'
Elder Nang face turned fierce, so much so that his eyes start to glow red, this fucking shit is too full of himself, looking all smug and brave.
"…What did you need me for?"
Elder Nang finally said, knowing full well the intention behind Wu Chen wordplay, to make Elder Nang help Wu Chen first and to establish the hierarchy between their relationship, and perhaps to gauge just how desperate Elder Nang is.
He had to acknowledge it now; there's a reason why him and Wu Yincang share blood.
"Nothing much, just help me look good in front of the Lord of Bloom"
"…"
Elder Nang face that was once sour now look disgusted, before he shifts into something neutral.
"…I didn't know that the prince taste is… unique"
"…What?"
"I wont pry into others desire, so long as it didn't clash with min-"
"You are mistaken, Elder Nang, I just wanted to be on a favorable term with her…"
Wu Chen didn't give in to Elder Nang taunt and remain levelheaded, perhaps too levelheaded. Just another sign that a second Wu Yincang has come.
"A mere jest prince, please don't be so fierce…"
Elder Nang bows, and behind the sleeve of his black and crimson robe, a smile was formed, an expression he quickly hid before he stands up.
"I can help you with that, let us stay in touch to discuss more when the time comes"
Elder Nang said before he leaves the room, and as the door being closed, the room was plunged into a deep silence.
"…unique taste, I prefer those around my age"
Wu Chen remarks to no one, looking at the ceiling, a strange yet familiar face came into view, a very annoying face in fact.
He can hear her giggle and obnoxious laughter even in imagination, and he felt annoyed because of that.
"…Ridiculous"
He closed his eyes and headed out to train once more.