Chapter Six

"Kungu's Four Scrolls?" Yu Lin asked all puzzled.

"Yes,Kungu's Four Scrolls are a masterpiece. They contain the details of origin of the seven kingdoms. I thought these were lost or hidden. How did Mother Empress get this?"

"She gave me this. She said it belonged to her childhood friend."

"Childhood friend?"

"That can wait. Brother Long tell me more about this scroll."

Yu Long hummed in response. "Actually there are four scrolls. Mother Empress used to say they are for different purpose. I don't know much about them. Maybe I can study this scroll and look for other three while we are on the journey."

Yu Lin nodded.

"I think if it is of such great value, it shouldn't be discussed in public. It can pit you in danger. People might come looking for it. I can't let you risk your life in this little adventure of yours." The overprotective side of Yu He finally showed up. "We are out of XianXi."

#After one hour

"We will be entering the kingdom of Taijing. Let's stop and change our attire. We need to look like merchants of low status. Concentrate and use your mana to change your appearances and fit into these robes."

Saying so, Yu He threw a pair of plain robes to his siblings. Yu Long opened it to see a woman's dress. "Brother I think this is for Lin. Lin-"

Yu Long turned to look at Yu Lin holding a dress much smaller for her size. It was a young girl's ,mostly seven or eight years old.

"I gave you robes of a definite size. Use your mana to change your body size and appearance and fit into it."

Yu siblings went behind the bushes tried to change their appearances and came out.

Yu Lin looked adorable yet her chubby cheeks stood out. "I don't like this brother." she looked ten years old now.

Yu Long came out dressed as a woman. He didn't need to do much work. Simply changed his facial structure and his flat chest. He looked 26.

They both waited for Yu He. He was taking a lot time.

"Brother He?" Yu Long asked moving slowly towards the bush his brother hid behind. Then they both heard a thud sound. It was loud. It was as if someone fell off a tree or something.

Soon later Yu He made his appearance. He looked like a plumpy man in his late thirties with loose cheeks and a very big stomach.

"Brother?" Yu Lin and Yu long said in unison and then looked at each other for a moment then started laughing. It was a hilarious sight. They both started rolling on the ground laughing.

"O heavens, I had never seen such magnificent use of the transformation technique. It is the best disguise of us three, Brother He." Yu Long said laughing. "That's enough. Now, your names will be WaXia, the daughter and WaYi, the wife. Understood?"

"Wife?"

"Yes, and I will be your husband, WaHun."

"I don't want such a oversized husband, Brother He." Yu Long said while holding his stomach which started cramping from excessive laughter. But this didn't stop him from laughing. He continued to giggle.

"Then go get yourself a good structured husband, Yu Long. We need to leave. So you remember your names?"

Yu Lin and Yu Long got finally serious.

"I am WaXia, daughter of WaYi and WaHun."

"I am the wife of WaHun, WaYi."

"Good. Let's get going before the sun sets. And remember to hide your magic elements. No use of high level techniques. If our cover is blown, we might end up dead in the country that is not our own."

They all hopped onto their small cart and made their way to the city of Ching. This border city had the biggest marketplace in the four kingdoms. Rarest of the rarest herbs, artifacts, techniques, potions, food and delicacies, wines, decorations and ornaments ,all related to magic was available here.

The Yu siblings reached the border at sun set. There was identification and searching at the border but they easily passed with their next to perfect disguises on.

It was growing dark so they decided to settle in an inn for that night. They moved to a small inn, where they were greeted by a small dwarf of a man named Nong and asked for one large room with three beds. They registered with their mana signatures in a small scroll and dropped the right amount of Dais in the token box in the front desk (currency of the four kingdoms were same for easy trading and called Dai).

Then Nong led them to the largest room in that inn. It was a well lit room but was small and cramped. There was very less space to move about in the room. There was an attached bath space. Nong asked them about what they planned to have.

"Your special chicken soup, pickled lotus roots with a good wine. Also get the dried chestnuts, it will be good to have something to munch."

"Yes, Honoured guests. Please rest well."

Nong left the room and proceeded to the kitchen to get their meals ready. He was very quick in his hand, with assistance of magic techniques, he got all the items ready and served the dinner within fifteen minutes. This rate of hospitality surprised his guests. Yu siblings had the delicious dishes and left the platters and bowls  outside their room which was collected by Nong.

"Is there anything that Nong can get you?"

Yu Long immediately responded, "Dinner was suffice. Thank you. I don't think we need anything for tonight."

Bowing to his guests and wishing them, Nong retired for the night. Yu siblings were tired about having a good meal they immediately fell asleep.

Next morning, Yu Lin and Yu Long got out of their bed, fresh and excited. They never went out of Guijiang let alone Qinshen. But today they were in another kingdom, another city. They both jumped onto their elder brother's now big,fat wobbling tummy, trying to wake him up. They wanted to go on exploration, but they all needed to go together as this was a foreign city.

"Brother Long, Brother He isn't waking up. Look at his smug face. It is not cute at all."

"Lin, get that jug of wine on the table."

Yu Lin wondered what his brother He was planning on doing with a jug of wine. Drinking wine in early morning is not good for health.

"Hurry up."

"Okay, Brother Long."

Yu Long took the jug of wine and threw it on his brother's face.

"Wake up darling, your wife and daughter are growing restless here. We are starving for a good meal."

Yu He startled and woke up, finally sitting up after tumbling down his bed. This scene made Yu Long and Yu Lin laugh out loud. They had never seen such a clumsy side of their brother. Yu He was always careful and strict with himself. This side of his was a surprise for his siblings. This new disguise of his was completely out of character for him. This heavy body was already difficult to prop and the sudden attack of his younger brother threw him off balance.

"Long, don't do this ever again in future. This body is difficult to balance."

"Father, father, your daughter is hungry."

"Yes, my love, your wife is going to die of starvation. Anyways there is a market down this lane. It is their annual festival. We can go their and check out. Your wife wants to go buy a few jewels and gems, Darling." Yu Long pouted and winked at hia brother mockingly.

"Now that I think, this is dangerous. This whole disguise thing. You both have become more indecent. You bo-" Yu He again fell down while trying to stand up. His siblings again cracked up at this scene.

Yu Long then went to help his brother stand up.

"Darling, lose a bit of weight."

"Yes. This is scary. By the way, where is this festival. And what is it about?"

"Taijing is having it's annual harvest festival today. Ching city is known to be the best at such celebrations. Nong told us that the market or shops starts from down the lane. There will a infinitely long chain of stalls and shops. We can go about some shops."

During this conversation, Yu He concentrated his mana in his core and suddenly his body size changed. His appearance changed. He looked younger and had a smaller tummy than he previously had.

"Now I feel light on my feet. Let's get ready and leave. We cannot stay in one place for more than two days. We need to change our lodging every two days. Same city different lodging. We will move out of Ching in three days and head to the next city. We cannot be found at any cost."

"Okay, Elder brother." Both replied in unison.

They all packed their belongings in a trunk and loaded it in their cart. They thanked Nong for his services and proceeded towards the other side of the Ching city. During this short trip they preferred walking while their cart was being pulled by the mystic animal with wings(mystic animals in this world are of different varieties, some with wings, some with teeth, some with healing powers, some are wild) they bought from Nong. It was faster and easy to control. They then looked through all the stalls. There was a long chain of food stalls on one side of the road while the other side had medicines, artifacts, potions or small accessories shops. The streets were crowded. Yu He asked them to climb up the cart so that they could first find a good inn and park their cart. It was impossible to move the cart through the crowd. They all set the mystic animal to fly. It stretched its wings and roared before setting off. It flew above the street. They could see all the hustle and bustle from above. People were eating and looking about stalls. In the centre of this market they saw a group of female dancers. They were singing and dancing, and people also moved and danced with them. Yu Lin and Yu Long had never seen such festive atmosphere. Qinshen had festivals but they were forced to stay within the palace area. Yu Rong never let his sons and daughter in public in fear of assassins.

They soon landed near another small inn near another end of the Ching City. They put their belongings in their room. Their mystic animal was put in a stable. They then set to enjoy the festival.

Yu He let his younger siblings have fun. It was better distraction for them and probably him. But in his heart he was worried. His kingdom was in danger. His father and mother were in a battle. His younger siblings had no knowledge of the cause of this war. Neither could he find out the effect and impact of the war. He closed his eyes and prayed for his father and mother to be safe.

"Father and Mother will be fine. They are strong. They will ask us to return sooner. I believe it, Brother He."

Yu Long tried to ease up his brother's heart. But whenever he thought about Qinshen in war, he remembered Zhang XinYi disguised as XiYi. He shook this thought and pulled his brother by his hands into the crowd.

"Let's enjoy today, Darling. Our daughter is waiting for us at that sweet stall." Yu He couldn't help but smile and nodded while taking the lead.

@Qinshen, one day ago

"They are here, Your Majesty." CaoYi informed Yu Rong about their enemy at the gate of Guijiang.

"All the cities have been secured and the enemy was directed to Guijiang."

"I get it. Tell everyone to be ready for my orders."

Yu Rong rose from his throne and made his way to the entrance of Guijiang.

"It's been a long time,Yu Rong. I have come for an answer. Yes or no?"

"You will never have Yu Long. Not in this lifetime."

"We will see about that." Zhang XinYi laughed. It suddenly turned sinister and venomous. His eyes glowed red. His appearance was that of an emperor, majestic and alluring. His long black hair tied up and well combed, fell all the way to his waist. A red mark similar to that of the lotus, on his forehead glowed and soon the mark extended forming two thin lined band on his forehead. His expression started becoming villainous and slowly the air surrounding him began to become tempestuous. The turbulence grew into a storm. The dark clouds appeared in the clear sky overshadowing and thundering over Guijiang.

"Where is he, Yu Rong?"

"Why my son, Zhang XinYi?"

"He is so innocent and charming. I feel like breaking him. You see Yu Rong, I met him once and he made a great first impression. Whenever I close my eyes I see his face, his eyes tearing up, mouth gasping for air, cheeks all flushed red. So how about I take him and I never ever come to Qinshen or overlook all the misunderstandings we had beforehand? I will get him with or without your will, so Yu Rong where is he?"

"You will never get him. You won't be able to find him. Not in this lifetime. Do you know why? He is dead."

"Dead?"

"Yes, he died just after he returned to Guijiang palace after the Shixing battle. He was always a weak child. He had instability in his core and soon his body exploded. We couldn't save him." Yu Rong's eyes started tearing up. These tears weren't fake. He knew he wouldn't live to see his beloved son again.

This story was fake. But it was a tale twisted by the royal family to protect their heirs. Zhang XinYi looked at Yu Rong's face for a sign of faking. There wasn't any.

"Die you old man."

Saying so, Zhang XinYi launched forward and in one step he was in front of Yu Rong. Before Yu Rong could chant his spell or defend himself, Zhang XinYi punctured his lungs with his left hand.

Yu Rong choked and gasped as he fell on his knees as XinYi pulled out his hand.

"It's war time. Proceed." Wei Zadong commanded.

"You should have handed him over. I would have done him better. I came all the way to collect him, Yu Rong. You know I never go to any battlefield or never in my life did I personally go to collect the prize I want. I came here for him because he is special. You are a failure as a ruler but really successful father. Poor filial bonds becomes the cause of fall of Qinshen. Goodbye, Yu Rong. Hope you find peace in your afterlife."

He closed his eyes for a while. Then opened them and telepathically spoke to Wei Zadong, "Find the royal family. Don't kill them. And find me a physician now."

"So let's go, Yu Rong. Time to go. Finally all the kingdoms are under my rule. But I still lost to you. So let's celebrate together."

He grabbed Yu Rong, who had fainted from excessive bleeding, from the collar of his robes and made his way to ZhaoShu.

That day marked an important day in Zhang XinYi and Yu Long's life. They both were innocent in the play that Heavens was orchestrating without them realising that their fate was sealed the very day they met.