Claustrophobic

Hong Zhao put the ring on his other hand. He was starting to get quite the collection. If he were to put any within one storage ring, it would in his own opinion be disrespectful to those who had given him the rings in the first place.

"You wish to go to Yuan Academy?" Elder Ji looked expectantly at Hong Zhao.

"Yes your lordship." He bowed slightly. "I wish to become strong. To see the top of this cultivation latter."

"You have much more spunk than I did when I was your age." Elder Ji nodded while looking at his own grandson. "You are third star student rank, are you not Little Yi?"

Huang Yi turned a shade red while looking at the floor. "Yes grandfather. I just obtained rank three a week ago."

Elder Ji nodded. "A week ago and you are still at the beginning stage of rank three. You are seven now. You only have three more years before you turn ten. Do not fail to bring honor to this family." He said simply and looked at Hong Zhao. "You are second star student rank in the middle stage, how old are you?"

"This humble one is five years old, your lordship." Hong Zhao said quickly.

"Only five years old!" The old man guffawed. "You speak as if you were my son, not some five year old."

"Times have taught me to grow quickly." Hong Zhao said with a sympathetic look. "I didn't have parents to rely on, and I was raised in the forest. I gained much of my knowledge from the few interactions I've had with the Li family. They helped me past my language gap and even showed me proper courtesy when talking to someone of a higher authority." Hong Zhao bowed his head and smiled slightly. He was of course speaking the truth in a way. Li Wuhan did try to instill some respect in him before entering the city. He could still see the older boy's face when he turned on his charm.

Hong Zhao had been a master spy. Etiquette was second nature to him. Regardless of where he ended up, a slight bow and a smile seemed to be all that was necessary to make friends.

"Truly, that Li Wuhan is a model child. He always looks after those less fortunate." Elder Ji's gaze somewhat clouded over for a moment before looking back at Hong Zhao with a curious expression. "Maybe you can learn from him as well."

Hong Zhao didn't need to look at Huang Yi to know that his grandfather just made a mistake. From this day forth, he knew that he would have to dodge this grandson, that is unless he could do something about him. Hong Zhao made another mental note of the secret passageway. One thing he had always known since the moment he had signed on to be a special forces operative, if he left a loose end, it would end up coming back and biting him in the ass.

"Honored Elder," Hong Zhao said in a silky sweet five year old voice. "I would like to get a head start on the books you have given me. Would you mind if I take my leave?"

Elder Ji blinked once as he thought. "A young man who understands the importance of studying. Yes, you may take your leave." He waved away Hong Zhao. "Little Yi, stay here for now. The guards will take Hong Zhao back to the Li estate."

Hong Zhao inwardly let out a sigh of relief. If Huang Yi were to escort him back, he would have the time necessary to enact his revenge for his loss of face. He needed to get back to the Li estate and start cultivating. Taking a deep bow, Hong Zhao followed the guard escort back out of the estate.

When he arrived back at the Li estate, Li Wuhan was sitting outside the gate waiting for him to come back. "So, do we have to pack your things?"

Hong Zhao gave the boy a smile while he showed him the storage ring he had received from the village elder. "I actually escaped in tact with a new friend. He gave me many books to read with the promise of more."

Li Wuhan's eyes narrowed slightly. "I have never heard of the village elder doing that for anyone." Hong Zhao could see his skepticism.

"When you meet with the elder, where do you look?"

"Usually to the floor in a bow."

"Have you ever looked at the books?"

"That would be disrespectful."

Hong Zhao took an exasperated sigh. "That's the point. The reason why you don't get any books or favors from the elder is simply because you don't see him as a man. You worship the ground instead of looking up at his achievements."

A knowing look came across the older child and he felt foolish. He could obviously see all of the times he had missed out on the opportunity to improve, only because of his own self doubt.

"I will let you read some of them too," Hong Zhao took one of the books out of his new storage ring. "As long as you give them back right away. I am going to be done with the others he has given me in a few months time. Just give back the one you complete and I'll trade it out for one I've already read."

Li Wuhan smiled and gratefully took the book. His eyes shined as he took the book and put it in his own ring. "Thank you, little brother Zhao. I will return the favor one day."

As Li Wuhan left, Hong Zhao mentally added a tally to the favors he had obtained.

Without pause, Hong Zhao went into his own courtyard and to the upstairs balcony. He sat in the lotus position and took one of the three qi grasping pills he had gotten from Lan. Swallowing the pill, he began to cultivate once more.

He knew his limits. Though he was a five year old with a cultivation of a second star student, he knew it was a world away from a third star.

The day progressed smoothly. He cultivated for most of the day on the balcony, and when the sun set, he went to the back yard of his courtyard and trained his vortex thrust and devouring qi claws.

For the next month, Hong Zhao had the following routine. He would wake up at dawn, cultivate for two hours, then join the Li family for breakfast. He then trained in his abilities until noon. By then, his qi would need to be replenished, so he would eat lunch, talk with Li Wuhan about the books they were reading, then cultivate once more for two more hours.

By the time a month had passed, he was at the bottleneck once more and could do no more with his cultivation. After having been in the Li estate for a month and not roaming outside, Hong Zhao began to feel slightly claustrophobic. He needed to get back out to the wild and kill some fierce beasts. He could feel his blood boil as he thought of the hunt and knew he had to go if he wanted to progress. He looked at his best friend Shadow who was curled up in the corner. He could tell that the shadow panther was feeling much the same. "Are you ready to hunt?"

Shadow stood and stretched out his muscles, yawning, Hong Zhao could see how the feline's claws kneaded the wood floor, splinters showing when he walked away. His shadow panther had grown once more. Now he was close to Hong Zhao's thigh.

Hong Zhao himself had grown a few inches since the last time he set foot outside. He was hoping that maybe Huang Yi had enough time to cool down within the month before he left, though he knew that he would not be so lucky. If he knew the young man's actions well enough, he'd bet that someone out of the Li estate had been posted so that the young lord might be informed when Hong Zhao left. If he did, Huang Yi would bring a few of his friends with to rough him up a little, and get him to leave the village.

Keeping this in mind, Hong Zhao waited until long after night passed. The moon was not visible in the sky this night, which was why he waited until this moment to leave. Putting on his midnight black robe, even with the gold embroidery it was hard to see against the night sky. He headed out to the balcony of the second floor and jumped onto the railing. As he did this, Shadow prowled in the darkness below. If he didn't want anyone to see him, people rarely did.

Using vortex thrust, Hong Zhao propelled himself upward onto the roof of his home and took a running start. Before he hit the edge of the building, he built up a huge gust of wind at his feet, pushing him upward to the Li elder estate. He then scaled the building to the top where he would have a good aerial view of the village.

As far as he could tell, the other buildings were almost level with the walls. If he could use the buildings as stepping stones, he would be able to make it out of the village without being noticed.

"It's easy to come up with a plan, let's see if it's as easy to enact it!" He used his vortex thrust and launched himself off of the building. Before he landed or broke through the first roof, he used vortex thrust again to stop his descent. Instead of breaking through, to his amazement he actually landed without a sound. Running to the edge of the home, he kept vortex thrust activated, giving him a layer of wind between his feet and the roof. If he used the ability right, no one would even hear him running on the roof.

Jumping from rooftop to rooftop, he easily made it past the oblivious guards and citizens of the village. Even if someone were to look up, unless they had a torch directed at him, they wouldn't even see a reflection of the gold on his robes.

Hong Zhao made the one last vortex thrust infused leap and cleared the wall in one fell swoop. Landing on his feet outside of the village, Hong Zhao kept vortex thrust activated as he disappeared back into the forest. Right behind him, he heard the rhythmic beating of Shadow catching up to him. "Let's go." He sprinted deep within the forest at a speed that last month would have seemed impossible. He went further into the forest than he had started out at with Lan. He knew that the further in he went, the stronger his opponent might be, and he was looking for a match to his own strength.