5.17 Little old man

"Mister Ilseu.. I am not worth it. That man will find me again soon. It has been like this. He has learned to control my pearl and can force me back with it." FengYi said sighing.

"Your pearl?" Shu XinYi wanted to say, don't worry he won't find you but he could only ask this.

"You don't even have pearls?" FengYi said shaking his head in disappointment.

Shu XinYi squinted his eyes to say with a forced smile, "Can you stop pointing our short comings and please explain me your situation, Lord Yi."

FengYi actually smiled saying, "Heh, am I irritating? The pearl is something all people in my city have. It's a source for our power. My father said that, "Either we control our pearl or it controls us." That beautiful man has my pearl. And I can't control it's power yet. So he can just control me with it. When I found the Dào pearl, was the only day he didn't use the pearl to keep me in check. I guess he got busy with somethings but I used that opportunity to escape."

Ah so that's how the timeline changed, Bane was much busier than the original storyline, Since Shu XinYi kept him occupied with his feats. Shu XinYi kept placing random food on FengYi's place as he said, "Ok.. Your pearl. I'll get it back. No. We'll get it back tonight."

FengYi said waving his hands, "No use. That man is very strong. He even killed my parents without any difficulty."

Shu XinYi paused doing everything be was doing to look at the boy. The boy just shook his head saying, "No need to worry. It doesn't sadden me as much as I thought it would. But it's true, that man is powerful."

Shu XinYi furiously sipped on his peach juice and finished it all in one go. Then he wiped his lips with his hands as he said in a determined tone, "I will definitely get your pearl back. Either we take it by force or steal it, I don't care."

FengYi laughed whole heartedly this time, "Okay then. As you want to do."

Shu XinYi said with a calm smile, "Thankyou for trusting me then, Young man."

FengYi said, "Then thankyou for caring about me, little old man."

Shu XinYi said in an irritated tone, "Who are you calling little old man? I am like 3.5 ft taller then you. And only 15 years older then you."

FengYi said while closing his index finger and thumb, "You are like this. Little. The beautiful man is taller than you."

Well it was true that Ilseu's height was smaller then Bane. He was 5.11 while Bane is 6.3. With Saye being 6.4.

Shu XinYi said with more irritation, "Yeah well. Ok then call me little man. Why call me old man?"

FengYi smirked saying, "Heh, If you say that your age should be 250 years then that's very old for me. I am only 90. So you are an old man."

Shu XinYi just crossed his arms and said, "Yeah yeah. Stop teasing me now. Finish up. I have to go to the training arena in a while."

FengYi asked with curious eyes, "Hey, little old man. Can I come too? Will you be training them? I also want to train. My grandfather wants to prepare me to be betrothed, so I couldn't learn anything that requires hardwork."

Shu XinYi was genuinely disappointed but he calmly said, "Sure. You can do whatever you want. Just no crimes. But drop the little old man. I am the military commander of this nation. I deserve some respect. Right?"

FengYi very politely shook his head, "Little old man. That's final."

Shu XinYi just shut up. There was no convincing this little devil. Well it was good that the boy was not holding any major mental trauma. Even if he was, the boy held himself well. He understood the situation and could decide logically. Shu XinYi felt like he was talking with a younger; more irritating version of himself.

After they ate in a private room, Shu XinYi took him to the training arena. The grounds were big and the soldiers would be focused on their training, so it wasn't difficult to hide FengYi's presence. FengYi obviously didn't participate in the training, he just watched with focused eyes.

After several hours of rigorous training, Shu XinYi made his way to the market. This time he hid himself.

"After this we have to get your pearl back. So let's do it quickly. Obviously my clothes won't fit you because I am literally 3.5 ft taller than you." Shu XinYi said entering a fabric shop.

FengYi didn't hesitate to select clothes for himself. After selecting 3 clothes, Shu XinYi quickly bought them for a decent price. They didn't go to the palace, but Shu XinYi took him to an abandoned warehouse a little far away. Obviously Shu XinYi had sent the clothes to the palace with one of his servents.

"And.. What are we doing here?" FengYi said entering the huge empty building.

"Bane will have to come here if he wants to find you. I can't let him know that you're with me, or else it will be difficult for both of us." Shu XinYi said placing his bag. He would have to be careful around Bane. Although his omnipotence wouldn't help him determining the future of the current story line. But Bane still knew the weakness of many because of it. The elves were weak to a particular kind of tulip. The smell of a night tulip would paralyze any elf in a minute, and Bane obviously knew this.

If Bane would be coming here to find FengYi, then he would have prepared himself. Shu XinYi had to handle this matter seriously.

FengYi sat down at a chair as Shu XinYi worked on making a trap with the supplies he had. Shu XinYi didn't want to fight Bane right now. This fight was unnecessary and useless, he just wanted to get FengYi's pearl back and let the original story continue. Slowly he will see as Bane decents into madness having no control over things, even though he believes himself to be omnipotent.

"So who was the other man with you that night?" FengYi carefully asked. Even though the 2 men were far, FengYi had understood some of their words. The 2 men had decided to protect him without any reason. The second man even seemed to know him, calling him FengYi so familiarly.

Shu XinYi kept working as he honestly answered, "Don't you already know? He was your uncle. Sa- uh.. WangZi."

FengYi obviously had realized this, "Uncle Saye huh? He even told you this name? You must really mean something to him. Uncle was closest to only me in the family. When he left out city, he was very sad; disappointed."

Shu XinYi gave a half hearted laugh, "Heh, that man doesn't realise his worth. I don't know how to make him feel secure."

FengYi raised his eyebrows saying, "He is the strongest prince in our city, and you think you can protect him?"

Shu XinYi finished laying his trap as he stood up and dusted his dirt hands, "He is mine, so even if I can't; I still want to keep him safe. Both mentally and physically. But he is gone now so I can just wait here. Heh, now that I think about it, he maybe confessed more because of his crippling insecurity rather than his confidence. Aah. I miss him now."

FengYi sensed genuine sadness from that little old man for the first time. He didn't know what to say, he didn't understand what that man was saying but he was sad. So FengYi could only awkwardly ask, "Are you sad?"

Shu XinYi smiled, "No. Not yet. I have a few days to pass without him so I have to balance my sadness in these days. I can't be sad now when Saye has just left."

FengYi nodded like he understood something, "So you are married to my Uncle. Hmm. Makes sense. My mom says the same things when my father goes away for weeks."

Shu XinYi, "Pfftt, hahaha. Oh. We are not married. Well.. not yet."

FengYi asked in disbelief, "Why? You should marry. My Uncle definitely also misses you. When you meet again then you can marry."

Shu XinYi softly patted the boy's head saying, "Sure then. If we do get married then you'll have to attend it." FengYi happily nodded.

At this moment they felt the presence of an other person on the vicinity. Shu XinYi instantly changed his behavior and said in almost a whisper, "Remember the plan. If you can't then improvise."

FengYi nodded, and Shu XinYi went to a shadowed corner waiting for Bane to approach FengYi. Soon enough Bane came into Shu XinYi's view.

"Wow. You look well fed. Who did you steal from this time?" Bane said approaching.

FengYi's attitude too had changed to that of a scared child, "I-I didn't s-steal. Someone o-offered me f-food."

Bane closed in further and left his grip on the pearl necklace around his neck, as he said, "Ah so now you are begging instead of stealing. Good for you. The people in your city are so useless. They can't even start a war. Atleast I have you. Heh, once I kill you then they'll definitely opt for a wa-" Bane felt darkness coil around him, like he was eloped with the night sky. He felt suffocated. All his senses were numbed.