3 TRIO FROM THE BRANDED MOON

Yulian looked upwards, and his eyes met with a girl's silver eyes. They were wide open and cold like she has never blinked in her entire life.

He felt like he was about to die under her gaze. He couldn't blink, couldn't turn his head and couldn't even think. His awareness of the environment has completely disappeared. All he could see was the girl's silver eyes, and everything else faded from his vision.

His body began to shiver, starting from his fingertips, a numb feeling was spreading through his body. He felt intense fear while his breathing turned heavy. A moment later, he was about to faint, then the girl removed her gaze on him and walked away.

Other two people behind her frowned and left after the silver eyed girl.

When the trio left, Yulian took a sigh of relieve. Sweat poured down from his face and body like torrential waves. He had not seen anything but the eyes of the girl. He wouldn't probably recognize her if he saw her from a different angle after this incident.

Even when he met eyes with his father, he didn't feel this suffocated. It was a terrible experience.

When he bumped the girl and fell to the ground, the two women behind her actually got angry. To them, it was an offense. If this place was their sect, the boy would face a punishment.

Even so, they wanted to pursue the matter here, but then the rumors came to their minds. After walking a distance, the frown on their faces turned to one of a disdainful smile. So it was true after all, they thought.

Yulian got up, still hasn't stopped the trembling of his body.

On the way of the Red Castle Arena, he tried to comprehend what happened there, but failed. He had felt like a lamb about to die, and couldn't understand at all. After all, he wasn't a cultivator. He couldn't possibly comprehend some things about them. So he let the matter go, but still, those pair of eyes were keeping his head busy.

He wondered who she was, then he remembered, his mother was trying to tell him something before he cut her words.

"They must be the guests from afar… why are they here? They shouldn't come here just for watching the competition." He muttered to himself.

Yulian arrived his destination without any problem, entered the room and locked the door.

The room was for storage purposes, the cleaning stuff. A strange odor was at present, and the room was dusty. There was a thirty centimeters space between the arena wall and the ceiling. This was the only opening in the room other than the door. He would have to watch the competition from this opening.

Yulian pushed a few boxes under the opening and made a comfortable spot for himself.

The angle of view was a little narrow, but considering the distance from the arena, this spot was better than most of the spectator stands.

He got his position, quietly waited for the start of the competition while still thinking about the silver eyed girl.

"If I see her again, I'll be sure to get a closer look. Actually, I couldn't see anything but the eyes … sigh."

…

"I bet that boy was the rumored degenerated trash of the Red Castle. Since even the third young master of the Exalted Heaven Dynasty is here, I wonder what kind of face the Master of Red Castle would make when his heir is the topic of conversation. " One of the women said to the other one on the way.

"Shen Lan, someone might hear you. Since we are guests here you should keep your tongue a little more than usual." Said the other mature woman. Her name was Shen Huang. She was the seventh elder of the Branded Moon.

She was an average heighted, short black haired middle aged woman with a few creases on her sharp face. Wearing the formal elder outfit of the Branded Moon, she was clad in white. Actually, all three of them wore white. It's just her elder outfit was different from the other two women.

"I think it's ok, as long as an important figure doesn't hear. All these males here are like peasants. What happens if they hear?" Shen Lan said, she said her last sentence with disdain on her face. Apparently, she was belittling the Red Castle.

Shen Lan was the first disciple of Shen Huang. Unlike the many members of the Branded Moon, she was a very talkative girl. She had shoulder length curly auburn hair and a pair of auburn eyes. In terms of beauty, she was above average.

"Shen Lan!" The seventh elder raised her voice, she continued coldly, "This place is the Red Castle of the West, not a random place. They have equal standing with us on the continent. You are a member of the Branded Moon, talking ungracefully in this place doesn't fit one of us. Behave well and be elegant, even a single member's demeanor can affect our sect's face."

"Yes, master!" Shen Lan bowed immediately. She was a little afraid of her master, Shen Huang. As her looks told, she was a heartless woman and wouldn't tolerate mistakes.

"Do not forget, we are here for the Young Mistress and showing off our power. Normally, we would have wait for the Grand Tournament of Eagenor, but the last tournament just finished a few months ago. Therefore, we requested to them for our young mistress to join the Red Castle's family competition." Shen Huang said arrogantly.

Actually, there was another reason she purposely didn't speak. A reason concerning the third son of the Exalted Emperor.

When the Grand Mistress of the Branded Moon learned about the prince's visit to Red Castle, she immediately requested from Red Castle for the young mistress to join the competition. It seemed like, she had schemes in her mind.

Naturally, Lord of the Red Castle, Martintor readily accepted the offer. He also wanted to see the progress of the number one genius of the Branded Moon in the way of cultivation.

Knowledge often would be considered as power.

The higher ups of the continent often use schemes to weaken or humiliate the other higher-ups at first chance. Since this world had the rule of the jungle, there could only be one place at the peak, and everything was acceptable in the road of gaining power and status.

The trio walked down the castle hall. The disciples they had passed all turned their heads to the trio's way. At first look, one could see, the women never blinked their eyes. Therefore, every disciple was aware of their identities.

The members of the Branded Moon who had their ancestor's bloodline would never blink. It was a characteristic of the bloodline and a widely known knowledge in the continent.

The bloodline of the Branded Moon ancestor was very mysterious. In the continent, very few people knew what kind of powers it granted. So the curiosity was overwhelming for the nearby disciple.

The trio didn't show any emotion on their faces, but looking at the women as they pass among the disciples, could be considered an offense, no matter what kind of identity the women had.

Strangely enough, the least attention was given to the girl walking at the front, despite her incredible beauty.

At the end of the hall, there was a giant door that protected by strong looking warriors. Upon the trio's arrival, they opened the door and made way for them respectfully.

The door was opening to another hall. At the other end of the hall, there were three giant seats that placed a high point. The middle one was bigger and more amazing than the other two. The walls decorated with pictures of the red-clad warriors, fiercely fighting against the monsters. The illumination of the hall was performed using the energy formations. It showed the Red Castle's wealth.

Probably, it was Martintor's order to place formations. He just wanted to show off.

All three of the throne seats were occupied, and three youths were standing at the back respectfully. Two male and one female. They resembled Martintor and the woman seated at the left.

On the middle seat, Martintor was talking to a man sitting at the right of him.

Occasionally, the man was laughing while talking. On the other hand, Martintor was same as always, cold and unfeeling on the surface.

Upon the arrival of the trio, they stopped chattering and turned their eyes to them.

"Shen Huang of the Branded Moon greets the Lord of the Red Castle." Shen Huang stepped forward and said respectfully while bowing slightly.

Martintor got up and walked three steps towards them, "Welcome to my Red Castle, guests from afar." He said, slightly smiling at the same time. His eyes swept the trio and finally focussed on the white-haired, silver-eyed girl. "This young missus must be your Branded Moon's Young Mistress, and the other one should be your first disciple, am I right?"

"Junior is indeed the first disciple of the master and my senior sister is indeed the Young Mistress of our Branded Moon Sect." Shen Lan jumped in and immediately received a sharp look from Shen Huang.

"Please forgive my disciple. She is a very talkative person while Young Mistress doesn't talk much." She apologized politely.

The silver eyed girl stayed quiet all the time. There weren't any changes in her expression, despite all the eyes in the hall that glued at her.

"No need to apologize, I know that your Branded Moon members have strange demeanors. It is said Branded Moon has all kinds of people." Shen Lan's talkativeness didn't have anything to do with her being a Branded Moon member, but Martintor had still chosen to talk in this way.

He continued. "Let me introduce to you." He made a hand gesture towards the right throne. "This gentleman here is the third young master of the Exalted Heaven Dynasty, the son of emperor Meng Long, Prince Meng Heng."

The trio didn't bother themselves by the words he used and looked towards the man at the right.

"This humble one has the fortune of meeting seventh elder and the Young Mistress of the Branded Moon. I had heard many stories about your sect. Unfortunately, I didn't have the chance to visit. I suddenly regret my shortcomings after seeing the Young Mistress." Meng Heng looked at the silver-eyed girl while bowing slightly.

The girl nodded and didn't say anything. She was like a lifeless doll.

Shen Lan got ignored by the people in the hall, causing her to frown for an instant.

After the introduction of Meng Heng, Martintor turned to the left throne. "This lady here is my humble wife, Castilla. And these young men and the girl are my children."

Castilla stood up and made a greeting gesture fitting for a noblewoman while smiling gently. After Castilla, the youths at the back followed the custom.

"This Shen greets the Lady of Red Castle." Shen Huang added after the introductions finished.

Castilla was the second wife of the Martintor, in other words, his concubine. It was a little bit inappropriate for her to be here.

She had blond hair and blue eyes. Her hair combed to the behind of her head and shaped like a butterfly. In her red dress that decorated with valuable stones, and her kind smile added, she looked like a very kind lady. Her demeanor looked top notch, but from the inside, she was disdaining the guests. Of course, the trio didn't notice this fact.

'These easterners and their way of talking… Hmph.' She said from the inside.

"Since everyone is here, we can continue our conversation while watching the competition. If you don't mind, I want to lead you to the Red Castle Arena." Martintor said, without losing any time.

"Of course, Castle Master." Was the reply of the guests.