Chapter 18

"Ouch! Ow ow ow! Easy old man!" Elder Yong Zhi appeared to be crouching beside Zuojia, while rubbing the injury on his arm, with a large sepal shaped herb, that was secreting a gelatinous substance which seemed to exist from the herb, whenever it got squeezed around Zuojia's arm. "That is for running around and causing troubles and causing a huge misunderstanding!"

Said elder Yong Zhi, before muttering in such a low tone that no one was able to understand such vague words while taping both of his indexes atop the herb, that was placed above Zuojia's injury. When his hand started discharging dim aura that was visible to everyone's sight in the room.

"Woah... Zongse can you see that?" Kaijin watched closely, as he was being inspired with awe to see such a unique healing technique.

"What? Zuojia is getting scolded? Not my fault" Zongse replied bluntly while laying down in a horizontal position, with his arms crossed behind his head, to rest on.

"Not what I meant... I was referring to this technique the elder is using"

Quickly, a voice spoke from a distance across the room "Bujing's healing technique, gold rank, Positive Blessing. It allows the user to release neutral Qi which can treat physical damages applied to one's body" Said Guang. Then he walked up to Kaijin and Zongse.

"It has been a while Zongse" Said Guang as he greeted them humbly and generously.

Kaijin slowly went closed to Zongse as he began to whisper in his ear, at the same time Zongse was nodding in agreement.

"Mhm, I see now, just ignore him... he will go away"

"Right Zongo" Kaijin nodded while they pretended as if he wasn't standing nearby them. "How arrogant! Giving me such attitude while I'm here to apologize?!"

"You should actually apologize to me- Damn it old man stop this!"

Zuojia grunted angrily before being cut by the Elder hitting his bare back with his palm before he started bandaging his arm. "Yohoho! It can't be helped little Liang, anyway we are almost done here" Said Elder Yong Zhi with a joyous face, yet carving a sneaky smile on it.

"My name is Zuojia"

"And I'm Yong Zhi of the Bujing temple!" Said the elder teasingly, while wrapping a thin white bandage around Zuojia's arm.

"I'm not asking for your name!"

Such a joyful yet a funny conversation being held by them made Zongse smirk with relief; it made Kaijin narrow his eyes while staring at them closely "No wonder where he got this attitude from..."

"Great Master Yong Zhi, I believe you owe us an explanation about what happened lately. My questions are yet to be answered, only you can ease my busy mind"

Elder Yong Zhi finally finished wrapping the bandage around Zuojia's arm. Hitting his bare back again "There you go! Don't strain your arm, so you won't feel exhausted" Said the elder, with the same smile on his face, before it all became a soft grin.

"Ow! Should've seen this coming honestly"

"Come and sit here young Guang" Elder Yong Zhi tapped on a specific spot on the floor beside Zuojia.

It made Guang feel a bit odd towards the elder's order, yet he could not refuse since he also had no choice but to sit down in a crossed legged position beside Zuojia. Wearing an unsatisfied expression on his face accompanied by an unpleasant grin, the situation seemed awkward for him. While Zuojia turned around to look at Zongse "Hey partner I'm hungry, did you pick up any leftovers from the inn back then?"

"What?! Like you must be joking right now, why would I do that?! And did you even leave anything behind?" Zongse replied abruptly, surprised to hear such an idiotic question at that time.

"Is this slobbish guy really the successor of the Sky Seal-"

*Dong*

"Ack!!" The elder's staff fell above Zongse's head like a heavy rock, that made him cry loudly. "Now both sides are equal, this is for being rash and reckless. Young Guang-" Suddenly the elder was interrupted by Zuojia's Hysterical laughter as he looked at Guang placing his hand above his head in pain.

"HAHAHA! Did you see that?! Hilarious— woah!"

The elder quickly attempted to do the same to Zuojia and hit him with his staff, however, he managed to move away before it would actually cause him any damage. "Try hard next time... Ouf!" The elder pushed his staff against Zuojia's stomach, in such speed that even Zuojia was unable to track. "Why...?" Zuojia fell on his knees dramatically, wrapping his arms around his stomach.

"Heh, I don't know why this seems entertaining to me" Zongse said while smirking, yet he seemed calm at the same time. "Zongse are you a sadist?" Kaijin asked whole rubbing his chin and staring at Zongse suspiciously

"Nope"

Silence prevailed... Elder Yong Zhi sat down before a wooden chest with a flat surface that had silver linings on various sides of it. Elder Yong Zhi finally decided to speak, which made everyone listen silently and carefully to each word he was about to say.

"Long ago, the land was being ruled by one domineering man known as Shu Bu Jiang, one who lived the life of an immortal. He was merciless, had taken so many lives and torn down families, even from his own people. Not a single souls could rebel against such fearsome man with no sense of dignity nor humanity"  Elder Yong Zhi paused as he turned around to face them while they listened carefully to the words he spoke. "Not even the, not even the Twelve masters of superiority were able to take him down, despite their numbers and their unique arts. All but one... who sealed nullified this evil, sealing him and ending the age of salvation rendered by this merciless one. It is said that in order to break the seal and release this evil emperor to this world once again; the unique Qi essence must be extracted from each of the Twelve masters of superiority..."

Elder Yong Zhi remained silent while closing his eyes mildly.

"But what does that have to do with Princess Yue Xing after all..?" Zongse Asked. At the same time, Elder Yong Zhi opened his eyes to look at both Zuojia and Guang. Both of them seemed to know the answer to such question, yet elder Yong Zhi responded.

"You see, Princess Yue Xing is the third seal. The successor of the Bloom Seal!"

"Another one?!" Kaijin seemed stunned when he heard such words.

"That explains everything now..! They must have wanted the Princess's essence, but isn't such essence impossible to extract?"

Zongse's reactions quickly changed, to be taken over by fanatical ones.

"Good grief trader Zongse, you never ceased to amaze me"

"They needed the extraction scroll... only one of a kind protected within the Bujing's territory, that can handle such force and contaminate it. The Twelve masters had no ordinary Qi... it would cause anyone who tries to extract such power to be demolished within seconds if they are not careful enough. The essence can only be extracted when the bearer is willing to pass it down, this is how delicate such power can be" Guang explained briefly everything about the scroll and the relation between the scroll and the princess kidnapping.

"I'm amazed honestly, they planned this to be a 'Two birds one stone" plan..." Zongse Said, while crossing his arms before his chest and falling into deep thoughts.

"Why would the princess come here at the first place?" Zuojia asked a sudden question, no one would have expected. But the elder seemed to have been waiting for this question, which would break down the whole mystery.

"Dear Yue has an illness, because of the amount of Qi her body poses, her meridians sometimes cannot handle the Qi flowing through it. This would cause her body to receive major damage and burn marks sometimes, it is a miracle that she was able to inherit such power, however, her meridians have been week ever since she was born, So she visits here from now and then to receive special medical treatment to keep her Qi flow stable, and not to break out, she is enduring and going through all that just for her people"

T.S: Meridians are like vessels, within the cultivator's body, as Qi energy flows through it instead of blood.

"....." Zongse shut his eyelids down, with a disappointment, a small grid formed over his countenance "You will be fine without me Zongse, I'm sure of it"

Such Nostalgic event brought an unpleasing memory into his thoughts, to an unclear vision of a young female covered in the blood oozing out of her wounds, as she placed her painted in red palm over his cheek gently, yet her facial expressions were unclear, all but a gentle smile carved on her lips.

Kaijin finally decided to speak, at some point, the boy knew that something was odd, he started scratching his head in confusion and pity for the princess's situation.

"So the princess was suffering from such thing for so long... Wait a minute! Everything else has a decent sense of interpretation, but who would be behind such a thing? If you think about it..."

"It's a plot!" Zuojia said, interrupting Kaijin's deep thinking state. His conclusion brought all the attention to him. Elder Yong Zhi narrowed his eyes as if he started suspecting something as well, he definitely gave Zuojia the attention when he said so. Guang spoke, extending his flattened palm before his torso, at the same time he gave Zuojia such a deep gaze, as he thought about what he said.

"A plot? Could you please elaborate?"

Zuojia rolled his eyes in a slow manner, he began to illustrate some weird carvings on the flooring, using his index as if he was drawing a plan out.

"Think about it, The Bujing's temple has a completely strong defense force, any special information within this place, is extremely hard to be leaked outside, same goes for breaking into such place"

"Yet you still broke in like a damn thief"

Zongse thought to himself as he let a chuckle escape his tranquil expressions

Zuojia would pause, when he saw small wooden pieces placed on a strategy board, atop the shelf beside him they looked like small wood chips that did not exceed the length of a pill.

**T.S** (Author referred to a famous strategy board game; Xiangqi)

He looked at Elder Yong Zhi and said "May I?"

"Help yourself" Elder Yong Zhi nodded in agreement. Zuojia grabbed six of them that he picked carefully. Each had a significant carving on it, three read 'Guard' and the third one read 'General' and the two others read 'Horse' Elder Yong Zhi slowly walked up to Zuojia with sheer interest, while he was setting the pieces down.

"Consider the first Guard right here the defenses of the southern gate of the temple, say the enemy managed to break through this gate, they would still have to break through the east and west barriers, also known as the 'two other guards' which are guarded by longer range monks who can since any unwanted presence nearby. To be left with the two horses right here.."

Zuojia pointed at both horses pleased parallel to each other, before the two guards

"Wan Gao and Garu.."

Said Elder Yong Zhi as he rubbed his chin in wonder, yet he remained patient until the end. Zongse and Kaijin moved closer to have a closer look over Zuojia's illustration.

"Yes, for someone on Garu's or Wan Gao's level it is going to be hard to break through such defense without taking down the rest. Earlier before the princess and her guards arrived, someone managed to take down the long-range disciples..."

Zuojia said while gazing into the pieces deeply, trying to figure out something until Zongse interrupted his thoughts with a question.

"How do you know about all this?!"

"My master trained me here, under The Old man's approval, I know enough about the defenses" Zuojia tilted his head as if he hooked it aside when he expected that he would be asked this question anytime.

"The only people who know about the princess's visit to the Bujing's temple are Master Yong Zhi and the temple guards, me, ting and the few guards that accompanied us. Other than that, everyone else knew we are going for a trading trip" Guang said while looking at the pieces carefully. Each of Zongse and Kaijin twitched a bit as they wore the same astonished expression.

"And us!" Both of Zongse and Kaijin said at the same time while pointing at themselves in amazement.

"This old man is the one who met us back then when we arrived... In case you didn't notice the bamboo hat on his back, which is simply the 'General" Zuojia boldly narrowed his eyes as he pointed at Elder Yong Zhi who let out a silly laughter "Hohohoho~"

"You knew Chopper mantis?!"

"Yep"

"Tsk... Should have seen that coming" Zongse Snapped with his fingers while letting out a sigh. Zuojia moved one of the guards away, he noticed something odd in the formation before him.

"If the only people who knew about this were just us, this could only mean..."

Kaijin quickly stood up as he moved towards the strategy board on the shelf and picked up another piece, then he placed it in between the other pieces before Zuojia, everyone seemed shocked when the read what was written on as it said 'Horse' but this one was marked in red.

**T.S** (Xiangqi has red pieces and black pieces)

"A third party... Zuojia" Said Kaijin with a grave expression, gazing into Zuojia's eyes as they exchanged the same exact thought.

"Someone must have leaked all the information to the attacker, their purpose was to eradicate the Temple's position and acquire the scroll, someone from either side is an operative spy" Zuojia's expression became glazed, he gave in his remarks towards the network before him while looking at Kaijin in amusement.

"And the princess!" Kaijin replied in awe, the ardor for such valuable information gleaned in his heart.

Elder Yong Zhi wore a bug-eyed expression on his face, for an extended period of time, his eyes remained steady and unblinking, his lips were quickly curved concavely across his face. Exposing a radiant, toothy smile. Such expression seemed as if he was proud of the scene going on before him. He thought to himself silently: "Well well Liang, you gave rise to not just a talented fighter, but a genius who managed to discover another genius!"

"Such preposterousness! How could this ever be true...?!" Guang's will broke down, his anger almost took the best of him, yet he placed his hand on his forehead in distraction, when he gave the situation some thought, he noticed that everything is connected to the point that made it all sensible and valid.

"Fascinating Zuojia! And I thought you were brain dead. HAHAHAHAHA!" Zongse said before bursting in laughter as he laid back, he began to admire Zuojia, especially after the great performance which he gave while solving the mystery.

"I thought you were brain dead to my boy. Hohoho~"  Said Elder Yong Zhi, while placing the tips of his fingers before his mouth, when he gave the same silly laughter once again.

"WHAT?!"

"But how do we make sure that this is all true..?" Guang still had the slightest doubt within his heart, that the information Zuojia gave would be false.

"We should lay down, and not act as if it is obvious, for what might come, leave the rest to me now Young ones" Elder Yong Zhi spoke as the smile vanished from his frame, they agreed to keep things secretive for the time being. Until a sudden question stroke Elder Yong Zhi's mind so quickly

"Say, Little Liang why brought you back now? Weren't you planning on writing a book?"  The only ones who seemed hyped for such question were Zongse and Kaijin, who were waiting gravely to hear the answer from Zuojia himself. Zuojia's eyes remained steady, thoughtful and tight-lipped for an extended second. Until he finally decides to speak, his eyes moved to the corner, to be able to look at Elder Yong Zhi.

"Its been years of traveling now, I even forgot the way to the temple, hence why I asked Zongse to guide us here... I thought about everything carefully. Never imagined I would ever get for such thing but.."

Zuojia paused for a second, as he looked at both Zongse and Kaijin who listened carefully to what he was saying. "I want to break through the Sky den stage, and awaken the supreme stage of the sky seal" Determination was visible in his eyes, a courageous smile slides up his face and settled in, such fierce words caused a wave of chills to run down Zongse and Kaijin's spines. "I am going to help the people that Master couldn't help, and I need all the power I can get. And I already have them by my side" Zuojia would point at both Zongse and Kaijin, before exposing his courageous smile to them. Which left them both speechless, yet excited for what's to come.

"Magnificent... such brilliance Zuojia-"

Elder Yong Zhi was interrupted by rapid knocking on the door, followed by a young voice which belonged to Wan Gao.

"Master Yong Zhi! Please open up! It's urgent!" Said Wan Gao anxiously and desperately.

"Oh dear!" Elder Yong Zhi Quickly moved towards the roller door, slipping it to the side, to be faced with Wan Gao who wore an unsettling expression mixed with worry.

"What's the matter boy?!"

"It's princess Yue Xing, She's..."

＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿

Near Baekuen Forest

On the way to the Jeihong town

A bizarre humanoid structure composed of heavy armor, the helmet that looked like a horned beast's head. The eye holes were releasing greenish aura, the same went for some radiant parts surrounding the armor. The structure was riding a horse. Accompanied by two men who wore Royal clothing, both were riding their horses as well. Followed by a few royal guards as well.

"Are you sure that such information is legitimate?" The bizarre structure spoke, letting out an eerie metallic voice, which was spooky enough to be heard by anyone.

"Yes, it is all accurate. Our telepathic eagle sent us signals during these unfortunate events! We only want the safety of her Highness" One of the two royal men spoke, with an irritated face. Followed by the other's speech "Such negligence from the Bujing temple to let such thing happen!"

The Bizarre structure stopped his horse for few seconds, then he turned around while scanning the surrounding ambient with his absent radiant eyes, to stop and gaze across a specific instance. Before he finally returned back to their route, heading to the Bujing Temple.

Xingfu remained hidden, as she seemed to use a specific ability, that prevented the Bizarre structure from tracking her out. She took off her hood exposing her cold sharp eyes, as she looked at them move away until they became unclear. "Yuzen of the Qinlong council and the Durian family heads, what's going on there?"

She said before she dissolved into the thick trees, to become completely vague to anyone's eyes.

TO BE CONTINUED...!