Blue Phoenix

Cai Jie was walking through the mansion looking for Hui Yue. He left him earlier in the day to converse with his friends but it had been hours since then, and he had still not seen him.

“What am I doing?,” He mumbled to himself as he looked through one room after another. “I am Cai Jie, not someone who mindlessly follows behind someone like this. But he reminds me of home.” Hearing what he said to himself, he let out a sad chuckle, “I’ve been alone for far too long. How can anyone on this plane remind me of home.” He questioned himself as he finally opened a door behind which he found Hui Yue seated on a couch. As soon as Cai Jie saw him, he stopped in his tracks. There was nothing like his usual playfulness or positivity on his face; instead, it was replaced by a murderous grim smile and an underlying anger.

Seeing the young man seated in this dark room with his head resting on his hands and also feeling the killing intent which was roiling inside of him, surrounding him even Cai Jie was taken aback at the sight. The person in front of him seemed quite angry at something, and this anger could clearly be sensed from far away.

Hui Yue was so deep in thought that he did not notice Cai Jie. He was just seated on the sofa thinking about the situation he heard about from Deng Wu and Wang Ju Long. To see the tears in their eyes, to imagine the sadness they had to live with, and the feeling of guilt that they would never get rid of was enough to cause Hui Yue to feel enraged. This rage was nothing he had shown to his two friends, but now that he was alone the anger was eating him up from inside.

The culprit was the third prince! That was everything Hui Yue knew, as to whom this third prince was and information about him, he had none right now. Looking at Hui Yue for quite some time, Cai Jie finally sighed. He liked Hui Yue. He reminded him of home, and although he was aware that this feeling had to be fake, it was still something he valued highly since he had not been home for a great many years.

Walking into the room, he sat down next to Hui Yue. The white-haired man reacted as soon as he felt movement near him. He lifted his head, and as he did, his red eyes landed on Cai Jie. Looking at him for a moment, Hui Yue contemplated what to do. For some reason, Hui Yue had a feeling of familiarity whenever he looked at Cai Jie, but even he could not understand what the man truly wanted or wished for by following him.

“I have something I need to do while I am in the capital,” Hui Yue sighed as his eyes slowly returned to their clear blue color. His anger was slowly dissipating somewhere deep within. Deep within Hui Yue’s chest, in his middle datian, was a small flame of anger. This fire was usually contained by Hui Yue’s will and kept under control, but now after the devastating news, it proved hard to control. When it flared up, it would reach every corner of his body and cause for his blood to burn him from the inside out, forcing all his energies to go berserk and allows for his strength to greatly increase. This anger had been under control for the last many years but now, hearing what had happened to Wang Ju Long and Deng Wu families, and knowing how his friends had been treated this flame had finally broken free once more. Although it had withdrawn for now, it would not take much for it to once more flare up and force its way throughout his body. Forcing it back would require quite a bit of energy both physically and mentally, and Hui Yue understood that it was a problem.

Looking at Cai Jie by his side, he once more felt the turmoil within his body slowly calm down. There was a feeling of safety whenever he looked at this young but odd-looking man.

“Tell me what happened. It seems like we have something to deal with before we take on An He,” Cai Jie said with a smile on his face as he looked at Hui Yue and the other man could not help but feel grateful. Cai Jie definitely had many hidden skills, much like Hui Yue, and he was without a doubt very strong. Knowing that he had managed to deal with the Crusaders Hui Yue knew he could rely on him, so he slowly spoke. “Some years ago there were some problems in our old city. Because of this, the third prince used his personal power to destroy two families, the families belonging to my two good friends. They did not kill just the adults or the cultivators; they killed every single member of their families apart from the two of them. They are now full of guilt over it, and I only know of one way to help them, revenge!”

“I see,” Cai Jie said while contemplating for some time. “It seems as like we need to deal with this royal heir then. How troublesome.” He said while shaking his head. “We know nothing about this third prince, but we can get a lot of information two ways.” He continued and Hui Yue was grateful to hear how Cai Jie made his revenge a part of own agenda.

“We don’t need to rush” He said, and Hui Yue nodded slowly. “We can get some information from Gao Yan.” The white-haired man said slowly, “He claims to have the most up-to-date information about the different kingdoms. I could definitely use some of his information.” He said as he slowly stood up and stretched his tired body. “Don’t forget about the dinner appointment we have with the City Lord next week,” Cai Jie said, “We can also get some information there I am sure. Although it is only nobles and the City Lord who participate in the meal, none of the royal family’s supporters are there. There might be someone hidden though.”

Considering what Cai Jie said Hui Yue nodded his head for a bit. “I would prefer getting as much information from Gao Yan first, and then we can get some information from the dinner party later. Although they are from different factions, we don’t know if there are people we cannot trust. If anything I think we should gather information about everyone who attends the dinner party to see who we can trust and who we can’t.”

Cai Jie nodded his head and his gaze became distant. “Come on then,” Hui Yue said with a wry smile on his face. “Let’s go find Gao Yan and hear what his little birds have to say when it comes to the third prince and our friends from the City Lord’s mansion.”

Cai Jie stood up and together the two young men went to find Xu Piao. The older man, who now was spending all his time training, was working for Gao Yan after he returned to the surface. He had experiences with working a desk job before, and he welcomed any job that would keep his mind of off the loss he had suffered. All his time was used drowning in work. His tasks were to file and compile information, sort through sources, and to set up new sources for information gathering.

Moving through the house, they found Xu Piao in the same office he had been in before, but unlike last time, Xu Piao was now sitting on the ground. His legs were crossed, his arms resting in his lap and his eyes closed. He was clearly frowning, and Hui Yue could feel that although over a year had gone by, Xu Piao had not gained any strength whatsoever since the last time he had seen him. He was still King ranked, and now his strength was equal to Hui Yue’s.

Xu Piao slowly opened his eyes and as he saw Hui Yue and Cai Jie a smile formed on his lips. The older man was incredibly grateful for the information Hui Yue had given him, and he was willing to assist him any way he could. Seeing that Hui Yue sought him out, Xu Piao was aware that he was needed for something.

“What can I do you for?” He asked curiously while slowly stretching his body. Listening to the sounds his body was making it was easy to guess that he had been seated for many hours like this cultivating his inner energy.

“We need some help.” Hui Yue said smilingly, “We need information about the third prince of the Taiyang Kingdom, and we need info about every member the dinner parties the City Lord hosts. I need everything you have about them. Perhaps you can help us out?” He asked. Xu Piao was after all the one filing all the information, so Hui Yue hoped that perhaps he had the information already, but unfortunately, the older man shook his head apologetically.

“All the information is at Gao Yan’s office further in the city.” He explained, “You will have to go there to get the information.”

“His office is a room at an inn in the city. The inn is called the Black Lion. Head to the second floor door seven and kock, and tell them you need Gao Yan. They should let you through.” Xu Piao explained, and Hui Yue nodded his head as he made a mental note to remember. Nodding his thanking Xu Piao, both Hui Yue and Cai Jie left the house and started to walk through the city. Muchuan City was filled with humans, but they still gave strange looks to the two odd looking young men walking through town.

At first, they were in the area belonging to the nobles and wealthy merchants. These streets were mainly traversed by guards and nobles in carriages. The roads were not very busy but the closer they got to the center of town the busier the streets became. Commoners crowded the streets, and the carriages were forced to move at a snail’s pace. Kids pushed their way through the hordes of people, sometimes snatching a purse.

Hui Yue and Cai Jie were moving with the current, and they soon reached one of the biggest marketplaces in the city. Here many carriages from outside the city were parked, and one person after another was yelling out the prices for their wares. As soon as they reached the marketplace, the crowd entered the area with the stalls, making it easier to get through the roads outside the marketplaces themselves. As Hui Yue and Cai Jie walked around the markets they kept an eye out for the Black Lion.

After walking through the massive marketplace for quite a while, Hui Yue finally let out a long sigh and grabbed a young thief who was running past them. Withdrawing a large gold coin from the storage stone around his neck, Hui Yue showed it to the young thief whose eyes were shining with greed and disbelief.

“This is yours if you show us where the Black Lion is,” Hui Yue said with a smile on his face. Moments after the young man led them through one alleyway after another until they had reached a torn down and dirty part of the markets. At the border to the poorest area of town was a large inn with a worn out sign hang by from one of its hinges. A drawing of a black lion with most of the paint falling off could be mostly made out on the sign. Seeing this, Hui Yue raised an eyebrow, but he quickly gave the gold coin to the kid. Together with Cai Jie, the two young men stepped inside ready to find Gao Yan.