Farewell (Part 5- Yue Gong)

[Year 1897]

The name Yue Gong was enough to bring a shiver down the spines of any enemy of Xing. He was the first Zhansi among the 12 Zhansi of Xing, which meant he was the strongest warrior in all of Xing. He was a middle-aged man and had been the first Zhansi from past 8 years. His long black hairs and a bun on the top could be easily recognized in a crowded area. And the weapon he always carried with him was a sword passed down from generation. The sword had a transmutation circle at the tip of its handle whose circumference seemed like a dragon, because of which the sword was known as Longfang which meant Dragon's fang in ancient Xingese.

Yue was married to an Amestrian woman who died after giving birth to twins, after which Yue raised the children all by himself. Yue named his son, Yang, and he named his daughter Yin. Yin and Yang were not identical twins, in fact, Yang looked like a typical Xingese, whereas Yin looked half Amestrian.

Every year on his children birthday, Yue took them to his wife's birthplace, which was a border village in the East Area of Amestris. And like every year, he brought his children to Amestris this year too, but he was in some serious trouble this time. He was running with his 10-year-old kids through the barren wilderness. The Amestrian military was behind him for some reason. The Great Desert where Han, the smuggler was waiting for them was only a mile away, and the Amestrian military was also far behind. But still, his fate was sealed when he encountered a military officer on the way, waiting for them, unarmed and alone.

The officer was a middle-aged man and was wearing an Amestrian military uniform of colonel rank. His brown messed up hair was screaming that they had not been combed from quite a long time. And his clouded pupils, clearly saying that the person couldn't see.

When Yue saw the officer in front of him, he kept on running, thinking that the officer couldn't be a threat. But, then the officer said while looking straight toward Yue,

"You have to stop here. I can't let you go any further."

Yue stopped instantly, at some distance before the officer and replied,

"Please stand aside, I don't want to hurt you."

"It's not you who is going to hurt me, I am the one who is going to hurt you and take back whatever you stole," The officer threatened Yue very calmly.

"Fine, if that's the way you want it to be, then be it," Yue said.

Both the children were watching their father taking a few steps forward, but he didn't pull out his sword. He thought he could beat the unarmed blind man pretty easily, but he received a warning from the officer before the fight could begin,

"You better pull out your sword," The officer warned.

"I am not going to fight an unarmed blind man with a weapon," Yue replied.

When he finished off his sentence, he saw the officer was near him, placing his hands near Yue's face. His hands were covered with green scales and instead of normal fingers, he had claws. Yue quickly took some steps back to maintain some distance between him and the officer.

"You should never take your guard off," The officer said while transforming his hands back to normal.

Yue was clearly afraid, not for himself, but because of his children. He looked toward them and said,

"You two go, Han is waiting for you in the desert. I will join you later." He tried to assure them of his safe return, but in inside he was not sure.

Yin and Yang went toward the desert without raising a single question to their father. And after watching his children safely go, Yue pulled out his sword and took the attacking stance. And within the next few seconds, the fight began. Yue attacked the officer with his sword and the officer blocked his attack by transforming his hands back to the scaly form. Yue fought with swords, kunai knives and even used alkahestry to fight the officer, but the officer was way too fast, strong and agile. Even if Yue managed to break some scales, the officer was able to instantly generate new scales on that area. So, it was practically impossible for Yue to cut him, but he was cut by the officer in multiple areas. Yue was bleeding badly and after losing all his strength, he fell on the ground. On the other side, the officer was unscathed. He came closer to Yue without any scales on his body and stood firm.

"You fought valiantly. It has been a long time since anyone made me use my chimera form," The officer said while dusting off his uniform.

Yue laughed out loud when heard the officer's comment, because of which the officer got curious and asked,

"Why are you laughing?"

"What a shame, even after getting the title of the greatest warrior in Xing, I got defeated by a blind man," Yue replied while laughing.

"I may be blind, but I can see all, I can even see through lies and fear. I can even see the two children who are hiding behind the rock," The officer said calmly.

Yue then looked toward the rock which was at a distance behind the officer, and saw Yin and Yang were peeking from behind the rock. He chuckled watching that scene and said with a smile on his face, "Of course." He continued, "Can you please spare my children?"

Yue was a man who would never beg, but that was the moment when he let his pride go, not to save his own life, but for the life of his children which the officer could end at any moment.

"I was here only to kill you, not your children, but the military which is approaching here might have some different plan," The officer replied.

"Please-"

Before Yue could complete his sentence, the officer pierced his hand through Yue's heart. Yue's consciousness was fading away, and fortunately, his final view was his children who were out of hiding behind the rock at a distance. He smiled at his children who were startled at that moment. And when he closed his eyes, they ran toward him while screaming "Papa", and tears were sliding down their cheek. Meanwhile, the officer pulled out some document from Yue's cloth.

When the twins reached near their father, he was already dead. Both of them started crying over their father's dead body.

"You should go, otherwise the military will capture you," The officer said, who was standing right beside them.

Their father's murderer was standing right beside them, but they knew, it was his generosity to let them live. So, analyzing the situation, 10 years old Yang stopped crying by wiping out his tears and stood up firmly like a warrior. He picked up his father's sword lying on the ground and held his sister's wrist and tried to pull her away from their father's dead body.

"Let's go, if we stay here, we will be caught by the military," Yang said with hiccups which were occurring because he was trying hard to not cry. His chin was trembling, still, he was trying to be a tough brother in front of his sister.

"I don't want to leave papa here," Yin said while sobbing.

"Papa told us to go, if we get caught by the military then papa's soul won't rest in peace," Yang tried to persuade his sister.

Yin agreed with what her brother said. She stood up and went with her brother toward the great desert. But, while they were leaving, the officer called them. When the children turned around the man was facing his back toward them. Yin was sobbing and Yang was looking at him with rage.

"Remember me. I promise you, when you will come to take your revenge, I won't run. I will face you like I faced your father," The officer said.

Both of them then turn around and ran toward the Great Desert with complete hatred for that man who killed their father.

.................................….

Yin completed telling the story of the monster her brother teased to Ling about. After listening to the story, Ling was amazed. He asked the one mystery in the whole story,

"What was in the document for which he was killed?"

"The method to create the philosopher's stone," Yin replied.

Ling was stunned when he heard the answer. He couldn't believe that the King sent his best to get the philosopher stone in the past, still, the best warrior was defeated, and the person who defeated him was blind with some weird abilities. He kept on thinking if that man was in Amestris all this time then, why didn't he come to the battle at central headquarters. So, he asked the other question which was also bugging him,

"Are their other beings like the blind man in Amestris?"

"Yang told me that there are 4 beings like him, but the military has the record of only 1," Yin replied.

"How did he find out that there are 4 of them?" Ling asked curiously.

"The officer told him when he went to fight him on his own and got his ass whopped. The officer's name is Krid Novak, and he retired from the military after 1 year into the Ishvalan war. He now stays in a town of East Area," Yin replied.

Meanwhile, someone interrupted them,

"Sorry to interrupt you"

When Yin and Ling turned to look at the man who interrupted them, the man was smiling. He was wearing the traditional Xingese attire and his head was shining like a cue ball. He had a pretty normal physique and was same high as Ling.

When he saw the confused and curious face of Yin and Ling, he introduced himself,

"My name is Hu Zemin, I work at the prime minister's office, and I will be going with you to Amestris." He said with the big grin stuck to his face.

The team was now ready to represent Xing in the first-ever official meeting with Amestris. Ling Yao and Mei Chang were representing the royal family, Lan Fan and Yin-Yang twins were the bodyguards, and Hu Zemin was the political advisor.