17 Chapter Seventeen

Mother…

Mother…

I can't reach you, mother…

Please run away, Long'er...run..

No, I can't leave you mother...I can't ..

Long'er, they are coming...I can't get you involved in this...so run away..

Mother..please..mother..

Long'er, sorry you had to see this poor side of me...you are indeed...my sweetest ...precious charm..I will always love you...Long..

Mother…

"Mother…", Yu Long suddenly woke up panting.

It's been a while since I had this nightmare.

Yu Long pressed the sides of his forehead.

My head is aching so bad. I feel like breaking it is the only way to stop this pain and the nightmare.

"Mister Yu, you have woken up early today. Should I get your robes ready and do you want to have a bath now?"

"FeiMei, thank you but I will like to talk to your Master now."

"Okay. I will inform Master about that. Are you having a headache now? You are sweating really bad."

"Just a slight ache. Will have a bath."

"Sure. Will arrange for it."

FeiMei immediately arranged for a pair of robes to wear and clothes for drying the body after bath. She then proceeded to add essential oils to the already warm water in the pool. She then arranged a couple of perfumes and scents and placed them by the pair of robes she had folded and laid on the table. Then she went to arrange for the incense sticks and hung them in a golden case near the entrance to the pool.

Meanwhile, Yu Long tried to relax sitting on the edge of the bed as he suddenly remembered the auction, and the fact that soon he would be meeting with his Elder Brother He, Sister Lin and the boy he saved, Li Bing. He closed his eyes remembering his days in Qinshen.

Days when everything was pleasant.

Days when there was nothing to fear.

Days when he was too small and he todded holding onto his Mother's slim fingers.

Days when his birth Mother was alive.

He used to spend most of the time jumping about places, running off to nearby marketplaces or disturbing his Brother and Father while they were busy cultivating. Those cheerful days were all long gone.

Yu Long slowly opened his eyes, staring at the ground, wondering how dramatically his days have changed. He first lost his Mother, then once again when he tried to get back on track, ZhaoShu emperor began his annexations, making his life as miserable as possible.

Zhang XinYi stepped into his life like a hurricane, blowing away all his peaceful days and replacing them with sorrow and pain.

Zhang XinYi. If he was such a good man as Rahu proclaimed him to be, what caused a flip in his personality? Is he possessed by some evil spirit? Or curse? Na na...maybe yes… If not, then why? Did his brain rot all of a sudden that he desired the suppression of the three rebelling countries? He was a golden core. True. But his true power seems to be associated with something more than the golden core. In Shixing he didn't even spell a chant and used his magic. Air element on top of it. He is currently the best cultivator in all the kingdoms. Not as good as the dragons I suppose. Still.

Yu Long heaved a long sigh.

"Defeating the best is not possible at my current state...not yet."

"Mister Yu, bath is ready. Please proceed. I will arrange for a light meal to start your day. Master said you need a healthy and easy to digest meal."

Yu Long thanked FeiMei before proceeding to the pool. He removed his robes as he placed them by the pool before stepping into the pool. The warm water when came in contact to his foot, immediately a sudden current passed through his body. He loved the slight tingling yet soothing feeling of the warm water on his body. The oils had a beautiful lily fragrance. Yu Long dipped into the pool and when he suddenly surfaced to find someone standing in behind him. He thought it was FeiMei and continued washing his long hair. He turned back only to yelp finding Rahu standing near the pool staring at him intently.

"Are you trying to scare me?"

"So naive, scared by a just person standing in front of you? What to do with you, Long'er?"

"Rahu, when is the auction?"

"Afternoon."

"When shall we leave?"

"We? You are not coming. Lu and I will go to claim the scroll for you."

"But I want to go."

"You can't. The emperor will be there. From what I know, he wants you for some reason. Anyways you are too weak to protect yourself. I can't always protect you."

"I don't need your protection."

"Really?"

"But I want to see the great annual auction of ZhaoShu. My Brother might even come to the auction. I need to meet them."

"You will meet them. But no auction. I have given your brother this location. Wait here to welcome them."

"O-Okay then. If you have given them this location, I will wait. But I wanted to see the great annual auction. Since I might be missing it, you have to come to make it up for it."

"Make it up for?"

"Yes, like the upcoming Annual Harvest festival in Qiying. And also the Annual Warrior Selection examination."

"Annual selection examination? Why you want to go there? Join the royal warriors or something?"

"No, just watch. FeiMei told me that it has many hunting and battling rounds which people go to watch in the Royal Grounds, Qiying. It sounds thrilling. Doesn't it?"

"You plan to go to the capital city? Are you mentally disturbed? Did yesterday's practice cause you to lose your mind?"

"What is wrong in visiting the capital city? That too just for a day or two."

"You are brave enough to think of stepping into the territory of that monster who tried kidnapping you in Liong."

"Kidnapping? Now that you say, I don't remember what happened in the Floating Gardens. I remember drinking a lot that noon."

"Yes. You really have the luxury to rest peacefully messing with the one you wanted to avoid at all costs. Getting dressed as a woman and seducing that Emperor."

"What? I seduced with the emperor? Impossible. I was dressed as a woman so he mustn't have recognized me."

"He recognized you as Yu Long. Even your alias WaYi won't work. That noon the scene I saw blew my mind. If blushing, whispering, panting and letting him fondle your fake breasts isn't seducing than what?"

Listening to this accusation, Yu Long wanted to kill himself.

I let him...touch me? Wait wait...my dream that night was...don't tell me...I even kissed him?

Yu Long screamed at the top of his voice.

"Noooooo….I couldn't have done that. Right? You are lying right?"

"Seriously? Now you will blame for lying? I am the legendary guardian and that too a higher rank species…. A dragon..someone you stupid, weak human should worship."

Pride. Waaaa...too much pride. Anyways if he is telling the truth, that means...I…

Yu Long unconsciously touched his lips before crossing his arms safeguarding his body as if protecting his modesty.

I kissed that….loathsome demon? I must have gone insane. Unbelievable. I detested that man to the core yet I in my subconscious state...kissed?

Yu Long felt his soul departing from his body.

"Stop acting like damsel in distress. No one can save you this time. So stay here and wait. You are not leaving this place till I give you permission for it. You are weak. Going out whenever you wish and always waiting to be rescued, that is troublesome for other people. You become a liability. If you want to fulfil your wish of helping those in misery, start with yourself. Become stronger mentally and spiritually. I am there for you. Soon your family will be here for you. Practice and cultivate here. Once you are ready, we will go to meet the next guardian."

"You know where to find the next guardian ?"

"Yes, that halfwit stays in the Timeless Forest."

"Timeless forest? Where is that?"

"It is in the central greenlands of ZhaoShu. East of Qiying. To reach Qiying, you need to cross that Timeless Forest. It almost covers a major part in the central region of ZhaoShu."

Yu Long's eyes were sparkling with this information.

Next scroll. Another dragon. I can wait for that adventure. But first I need to get strong and impress this prideful dragon. So for now, I will devote my time practicing.

"Which weapon can you use comfortably?"

"Weapon? Sword? Bow and arrows?"

"Both. Why?"

"Practice both. You have Water based magic. Try to control the amount of water in this pool. I will leave for the auction now. I hope you will be able to practice something." Rahu grinned before he disappeared into thin air.

"What was that smug face? Anyways should I try control this scented water?"

@Auction house of Kusan #an hour later

Rahu wore a red mask covering his face, and changed his hair colour to black. He disguised himself as WangXi, a wealthy merchant from the Taijing. He wore expensive silk as always, tied his hair up and wore some jewelry and an aura of pride and arrogance to complete his look. He could notice the crowd outside the Auction house. All silver and golden cored rich people or elites as they are usually called, had gathered to take part in the auction. Apart from them other regular merchants, people with regular bronze core had also gathered to meet and greet their Emperor. All rich maidens from high class families had arrived, all well dressed and had heavy makeup masking their face. But in this crowd, Rahu didn't go unnoticed. Instead everyone one looked at him all mesmerized or awestruck.

"My eyes can't lie,he must be from some house of elites."

"Wishing he notices us. I hope he has no fiancé. He looks so handsome even with the mask on. So mysterious. Aaaa…"

"He might be from the Royal Knights...o heavens I might die."

All the ladies swoon over his appearance. His mask didn't hide his attractiveness instead added a mysterious aura which seemed alluring to most of the ladies. Men obviously hated his looks. They noticed his arrogant and prideful aura.

"Must be a spoiled brat of some noble lord."

"Seems arrogant and prideful. Only Heavens know, why these young women are acting as if he is the prince of their dreams."

"I can bet that he is ugly if he takes off that mask."

These remarks didn't affect Rahu. He never paid attention to these worthless conversations of the lower species. He waited for the inauguration ceremony. The host came up to the platform laid in front of the Auction house pavilion.

"Our guests have arrived. We will like the participating parties to proceed in a queue to the guards for verifications and medal allotment. There are four guard stations near the entrance. Golden core and silver core owners are only eligible to take part in the Auction to be held in the special halls in the Kusan Auction house. The bronze core owners have a special auction for themselves this year. It has different types of mystic beasts, meat, wines, jewelry and effigies. The guard stations are there in the entrance of the grounds just behind the Auction house. A small entry fee is charged in all stations. Full entertainment for all participants. Refreshments in the auction arenas are on the house."

As soon as the announcement was over,the guests appeared. The honourable guests were the provincial heads, the Minister Jin, Commander Zadong, Commander Wen and the most desired Emperor. There was a roar of applause and praises before the Emperor moved into the Auction House followed by his council of important men. Satisfied with the short time of worshipping their handsome lord, Zhang XinYi, most of the crowd proceeded to the field area behind the auction.

This time XinYi had his original getup. No disguise. His eyes were the enticing black as usual. The hair was long and black loosely tied. His attire was that of golden and black. Each and every angle just flaunted his firm physic and fanciable aura. He was a vision of ecstasy for all the young maidens. Firstly because the empress post was vacant. Secondly he was the most desired man for his looks and power.

XinYi came out along with his ministers not just to greet his people but to look for his most wanted man. But soon he was disappointed being unable to trace his face or core in the crowd. He immediately turned back and moved into the Auction House. Before he settled down in his position in the inner hall, he ordered Wen to send his men to look for Yu Long at the guard stations.

At that time, the crowd had disappeared from the entrance of the Auction House, and elite participants started proceeding to the stations. The elite stations and waiting area was definitely luxurious. Rahu was the last one to enter that hall. In fact all the elites were already in the waiting hall. The air smelt of arrogance, very typical of the golden and the silver core cultivators. There was no line instead everyone peacefully waited for their turn. They were called to the stations based on their ranks. Golden core users had a special stations. Silver users had their special stations. There were hardly ten golden core bearers including Rahu. Silver core bearers accounted to be fifteen. They were handed a medal of their core colour with a seat number written on it.

Rahu received his medal in the end and then a lady came to escort him to his place.

In the auction house, the stage was below, the silver bearers had their seats in the front at the lower level, all the golden core bearers had special seats at an elevated platform, above them sat the council of ministers and the emperor. The seats could accommodate three people and hence were too spacious for Rahu. He sat comfortably but subconsciously he missed the company of Yu Long. The young man was nothing but trouble and he had made a mess as soon as he stepped into his life.

Rahu smiled to himself.

A pleasant breeze or a violent windstorm. A secret for me to decipher. My Master, huh?! Since when did I become so attached to you?

"As everyone has settled down, let's proceed with the auctions without any further delay. All the exquisite and exclusives items have arrived from sellers from different parts of the kingdom that will definitely pique the interests of all our honorable guests and participating parties. In front of you, is the first item of the day. The Elixir of Xu, the drink which is said to be one of the rarest elixirs available with the ability to change the core change to higher shade. So let's start with the calls."

As the calls, XinYi looked at Wen wanting him to give a positive response. But Wen shook his head. XinYi was disappointed and

Soon all the items started being displayed and bids started rising. Some items like the Sword carved out of white Magic Stone were sold for twenty million Dais. The value would have been enough to buy two Lamborghinis in today's world. But Rahu started growing impatient as one by one items were being sold. He thought these animals spent so much money on such meagre stuff.

Are these magic stones that rare for these species? Just how much are they spending on that sword carved out of the white magic stone?

The sword was bought by the provincial head of current Xianghua, Shi Zheng.

After five items came the one that Rahu was looking forward for, the Kungu's scroll with the red jade stone symbol of the dragon. Unlike the scroll that Yu Long possessed, this scroll was rusted on its outer surface but at the edges showed a dull golden tint.

"So let's start with the calls."

Hardly any hands were up in the hall. The host started panicking until slowly he looked up to notice two hands up. One was the red masked man and the other was unexpected. The Emperor himself. It was rare for the Emperor to take part in an auction.

There was nothing he couldn't get if he wanted but he is taking part in such tiny pleasures nowadays? Anyways just him taking part will help with us attract more customers soon after. Good for us.

"So, our esteemed guest Your Majesty and wealthy participant WangXi, let's begin with a thousand Dais."

"Two thousand."

Zhang XinYi stayed quiet for a while as he stared at the mysterious masked man, before he called a double.

Rahu didn't hesitate for moment before calling for a five thousand.

XinYi raised his call to another double.

Rahu again called for an eleven thousand.

Too resolute, aren't you masked man. Trying to compete with the emperor, you do have guts.

If it would have been any other person, they would have drawn back already. But it wasn't just any other man. It was Rahu, one of the legendary dragons. A worthy opponent for the mighty emperor. XinYi called for a twelve thousand. Rahu again raised it by a thousand. This went on till the value reached forty thousand Dais. Still no one was ready to back out.

No one has the guts to stand up to to me. Unless…

XinYi smirked before putting his hand down. Everyone in the hall was astonished, including his childhood friend, Commander Wen. The host was at loss for words.

"As...a-as Your Majesty has withdrawn from the bidding, the scroll is sold to our respected participant, WangXi for a forty thousand Dais."

Rahu didn't sit for the rest of the auction. He left the hall and proceeded to pay counter to pay the bid amount and collect the Scroll.

The man at the counter counted the Dais and checked and rechecked the amount. It was time consuming but worth the wait as Rahu soon received the scroll his so called Master, YuLong waited for. He could totally imagine the look on the face of tiny human. He couldn't help but smile as he took the scroll in his hand. The scroll glowed, the rusted surface started to dematerialize revealing the pure golden scroll with the glowing red jade symbol. Suddenly the mana started concentrating in that scroll, causing a turbulence in the area. The man in counter closed his eyes unable to bear the bright light. But soon everything came to an halt as Rahu's disguise was dispelled and revealed his red fiery hair with glowing golden reptilian eyes, hands now had scales and the nails were more sharp and pointed.

"Isn't it you, Rahu?"

Rahu turned back to face the person who called him out.

"It has been a while, XinYi."