21 To the Stables.

Dinner went by as usual with Wu Ji and Rai Lin being their animated selves. Xiao Xia didn't seem edgy at all as she laughed along with their antics. 

Tai Yang quietly drank his pomegranate and strawberry juice, not paying much attention to the conversation. His mind was preoccupied with plotting his great escape.

'If I were to somehow escape the vicinity of the castle, I could do something dangerous. That would definitely put me on the line between life and death. If a Netherworld shows up, I'll make a deal with them.' He glanced up at the ceiling, keeping his lips on his goblet.

'If they want my soul, I don't mind really. I am destined to die soon anyway, but I'd like to say goodbye to Professor An and Bed-jiejie before I go.'

His eyes drifted down to the plate before him that Xiao Xia had mounted with food. 'I definitely can't afford to stay here and live forever.' He absently rolled some off the peas on his plate about with a fork. 

'I'll have to do everything wrong here so that I don't master any of those techniques.' He exhaled. 'One step at a time. For now, Tai Yang. Focus on escaping the castle and making a deal with a Netherworld.'

Li Jun sipped his wine and stared at Tai Yang who was deep in his perusing. He'd been watching him for quite a while, and the Mushroom seemed to be quite out of it since dinner began.

'It can't be that he's scared that I may execute him because of Xiao Xia. He doesn't look scared. No. He's most likely thinking about something peculiar.' Li Jun thought, propping an elbow on the arm of his chair and placing his cheek on his knuckles as he silently observed the odd man. 

Ji Ru who had barely touched his food ignored Li Wei and Wu Ji who were arguing again and peaked at Tai Yang. 

After their conversation, Ji Ru had come up with at least fifty different scenarios for what could have happened in Tai Yang's childhood. Very few of the scenarios were plausible without some involvement of Earth 394; that is if taking into consideration Tai Yang's body's reaction to Li Jun and himself trying to meddle with his mind.

When Ji Ru had first told Li Jun, Li Jun understood instantly what the implication of not being able to react to Tai Yang's attack was, because only the Royal family was let in on what Tai Yang had been studying.

Tai Yang had been working on something inconceivable before his death; and from what Ji Ru knew, Tai Yang was on the brink of making a breakthrough when he was murdered.

In addition, whoever murdered him had tried to extract his knowledge or memories. 

Ji Ru wasn't sure if they'd intentionally taken his memories, or if they'd really meant to extract his knowledge. Either way, nobody has tried to infiltrate the castle to find Tai Yang's extracted knowledge that was in Ji Ru's possession. They probably knew that Ji Ru was unable to view it, just like they were unable to view Tai Yang's personal memories.

Then there was the timeline. With the information Tai Yang had told him a few hours before, something clicked in his mind.

'Tai Yang, do you know that three days in this world is a single day in yours?' He thought, glancing down at the bowl of soup Li Wei had placed in front of him, still arguing with Wu Ji.

'So a year in this world is three in yours. Seven years in this world is twenty-one in yours. Seven years ago, your predecessor was assassinated, and twenty-one years ago, you went into a coma, and can't remember anything before it. Tai Yang, I don't know what's going on, but something is strange.'

He glanced at Xiao Xia. 'And your female doppelganger wants to talk in private. This is way too much of a coincidence, Sunshine.'

"Ji Ru, love, you've barely touched your gammon, and sausage pile. Are you unwell?" Li Wei asked, checking his forehead temperature. Ji Ru snapped out of his thoughts. He quickly smiled and held Li Wei's hand that was at his forehead.

"Oh, sorry master. I'm alright. I was thinking of a study I've been working on and dazed out."

"Ooooh, do tell us what you're researching Wolfie-darling." Wu Ji said, propping his elbows on the table and putting his chin on his interlocked fingers.

"Yes, I'd love to hear about your work too!" Xiao Xia said.

'Ah shit. Give a man a break.' Ji Ru thought. Li Jun glanced away from Tai Yang who was still in a daze to look at Ji Ru. Ji Ru was quiet since he'd gone over to his room. 'He must have been thinking about Tai Yang.'

"My apologies. It's a confidential study for me." Li Jun said. "Oh..." Rai Lin, Xiao Xia and Wu Ji echoed. 

Ji Ru silently thanked Li Jun for the intervention and started to eat a mutton sausage. If his mouth was full, they couldn't ask him any questions.

"I'm sure Atarah, Valor, and Pyronnia have some interesting research projects. Why don't you tell Ji Ru and Tai Yang about it? I'm sure they'd enjoy that." Li Jun said, sipping the last of the wine in his goblet. 

Wu Ji visibly tensed. "I haven't been to the castle in a while. So I can't tell you anything interesting, to be honest." He said, removing his elbows from the table. His voice was taut.

"Research at Atarah has been quite slow over the last few years." Xiao Xia said. "But the new interns have been showing great potential." She smiled. Tai Yang's brain slowly eased back into the present conversation.

"That's great!" Ji Ru said. "We have three interns right now, but they're off on missions."

Rai Lin grinned. "Yeah, about Valors research. I think our Research department's last Cognitive cultivator got eaten by a lake monster last week."

Tai Yang's eyes widened when Rai Lin and Wu Ji suddenly burst into laughter. "Oh, but don't worry, he isn't dead yet." Rai Lin snickered. 

"Yeah, his upper body will grow back in no time!" Wu Ji cackled cynically. Tai Yang's eyes flicked to Ji Ru, wondering if he was hearing the situation correctly. Ji Ru was staring at them wide-eyed, mid-bite holding his gammon slice. "Oh, you guys should have seen how the beast ate him! It was amazing! What was that beast again?" Rai Lin asked.

"A Carnirion, I think? Right Wolfie, the meat-eating lake monster, with red eyes, needle teeth, and four legs?"

Ji Ru simply blinked and looked at Rai Lin who started to speak again.

"I think that's what it's called. Oh, you guys would have loved it. Guts were everywhere! The beast slurped up his long intestine like a noodle!"

'Who in the world would have loved seeing that?!' Tai Yang choked, spitting his juice back into his goblet involuntarily.

Li Jun looked at them in disgust along with every other servant and guard in the room- Though they tried to hide it. Even Xiao Xia was looking at them in irritation as they cackled. Li Wei cleared his throat, looking ready to leave the table. Instead, he turned to Ji Ru. 

"Sweetling, more gravy for your gammon?"

"Huh? Oh! Yes, puppy. Tai Yang, another sausage?" 

"Yes, please. Xiao Xia, would you like another garlic roll?" Tai Yang asked.

"Yes, please. Li Jun, more wine?" Xiao Xia asked.

"I'd love some. Li Wei, more steak?" Li Jun asked. Everyone was effectively trying to drown out the two mannerless fools at the table. 

When dinner ended, Li Jun cleared his throat. 

"Since you'll all be off soon, let's take an evening walk down to the stables."

Xiao Xia looked slightly flustered and glanced at Tai Yang who was pretending to be very immersed in a wall painting. 

"Yes! That would be lovely." Ji Ru said, linking his arm with Tai Yang's.

"Let's go then!" Wu Ji said, more than happy to agree with anything Ji Ru said. Rai Lin shrugged. "Why not?"

Xiao Xia let out an inaudible sigh then smiled too. Everyone walked through the palace gardens, talking about casual topics. All the while, Xiao Xia seemed quite antsy. Li Wei and Ji Ru regarded her from the corners of their eyes. 

"Have you ever rode a horse before, Tai Yang?" Xiao Xia suddenly asked when they neared the stable. Tai Yang shook his head. "I've never even seen one up close." He admitted. 

Xiao Xia grinned. "Let's ride one together then." She said. Li Jun and Li Wei glanced at one another. "Can we?" She asked Li Jun. Li Jun blinked. "Yes, of course. Choose whichever one you like. They're very sweet-tempered."

Xiao Xia smiled and looked at Tai Yang.

"O-Okay." Tai Yang said.

"I'll sit in the front, and you can sit behind me since you're not used to it. A fair warning, your thighs will really hurt when we gallop." She said, going forward to pet an ebony horse.

"Let's not gallop, my thighs are next to non-existent." Tai Yang murmured. Xiao Xia laughed and got up on a horse without help. 

"Come on, you'll have a great deal of fun." She patted the spot behind her.

Tai Yang stared at the horse, its legs and back, then it's behind. He wasn't sure how to mount it as Xiao Xia had, and there were no stairs. He fiddled with his hands in front of his chest and looked at Ji Ru with lost eyes. 

'Oh, my poor Honey-boy. Ji Ru's coming Sunshine, don't you worry.' Ji Ru thought, starting towards Tai Yang and the horse.

Wu Ji suddenly clicked his fingers and said, "Ohhhhhhh, I see, I see. He doesn't cultivate yet, so he doesn't know how to go up." Rai Lin started to say, "Ohhh!" too.

Before Ji Ru could cast a Levitator, Li Jun let out a tired sigh, lightly clicked his tongue, and walked forward. "Up. Lift your right leg. There." He said, suddenly picking Tai Yang up by the waist with ease and putting him neatly on the horse behind Xiao Xia. The well-groomed eyebrows of Li Wei and Ji Ru shot upward, and Ji Ru stepped backward, realizing his help was no longer required.

Rai Lin and Wu Ji both blinked and glanced back at each other, but they said nothing. 

Meanwhile, Li Jun crossed his arms behind his back and walked to a light brown horse. He looked back at everyone nonchalantly with a quirked brow. "Well?"

Wu Ji and Rai Lin coughed and feigned composure. "You'd kill the horse if you sat on it." Rai Lin said to Wu Ji.

"I don't have melon breasts like someone we know. I'd be lighter on its back."

That earned him a slap, but like the sociopaths they were, they both ended up laughing as they picked horses. 

The others mounted their own horses, and with that, they all took off into a flowery meadow.