The City Lord's Daughter

"Why does it matter what name I call you?" Hong Zhao didn't care what he called this girl. He had known her as Zheng Chi since his previous life. He had spent years with this girl as they perfected the art of assassination. Whether in this world or the last, she would always be Zheng Chi. "I know you as the name I call you. Why should I call you anything other than your name?"

"You are one to talk, Hong Zhao." Ren Cai called from behind the door with a mock politeness. "What made you change your name, anyway?"

"Could you really see someone from this world walking around with the name Jason Slate?"

Hong Zhao heard light giggling from behind the door. He didn't blame her for laughing, thinking of such a name in this world would make anyone laugh.

When the giggling finally stopped, the hallway went quiet for some time. After a few minutes of silence, Hong Zhao thought Ren Cai might be done speaking with him. Yet before he turned to go back to his room, she cleared her throat. "When I was born within this world, my given name was Zheng Chi, the same as the name I had when I was on earth." She paused again before she could continue. Hong Zhao could tell that what she was going to say weighed heavily on her. "My mother was Zheng Yi, and my father is Zheng Guo."

"The daughter of the city lord?" Hong Zhao's eyes went wide as he paled slightly.

"Don't call me that!" She threw the door open and shrilled at him. As she did, Hong Zhao finally saw just how much she had changed in the last year. She looked flustered with slightly red cheeks, which matched her red robes almost perfectly. Her hazel eyes almost seemed to blaze bright green. "I was born into this world as Zheng Chi, but I took the name Ren Cai the moment I was able to speak. I disavowed that name since the beginning!"

"Why would you get rid of the name you were born with?" Hong Zhao asked as he recovered from her retaliation. Even if her father was Zheng Guo, it shouldn't be enough to change her name completely.

"Why would you change the name you were born with, Jason?" She asked coolly. Her eyes narrowed as she looked at the young boy. "By your age, you should have been born around the same time I was, where exactly did you come from anyway?"

"The woman who brought me into this world's name is Lan. She was the one who gave me the name Hong Zhao." He did not lie to Ren Cai, but he also did not tell the full truth. If he were to tell her that Lan put his soul into a being made of clay and transformed him into a human, she might believe him, but then again, what if she didn't? It was safer to omit some of the truth to make things less complicated.

"Did Lan have a family name?" Ren Cai raised an eyebrow. "I've never heard of someone in this world that didn't have a family name."

"If she did have one, she didn't tell me." Hong Zhao looked her straight in her eyes as he said this. In this truth, he had nothing to hide. If he was to be honest, he had always been somewhat curious about this as well. But the more he thought of Lan, the more questions he had. She seemed to appear whenever something important was going on, as if she knew something was going to happen, or had already happened. She also knew when was the right time to pop into existence. He knew others could see her. She had made an appearance as his master around the Li twins once before, so at least he knew he wasn't going crazy.

Ren Cai thought to continue questioning her wary friend, but then she noticed the look of deep contemplation on his face. This alone was enough to ensure that he was telling the truth. If he were truly lying, why would he look so puzzled? She looked at him sympathetically as she realized that she was in no place to judge. When it came to messed up births, hers was one she could compete with. Though she told Hong Zhao that she gave up her name as soon as she could talk, she had not yet told him why she did this.

Hong Zhao noticed the gaps in her story, but decided not to press for now. If she did not wish to tell him yet, that was up to her. As long as he knew she wouldn't betray him, all else was fine. At least now some of what she had done so far made sense. She was most likely sent to Rantori Village at the behest of her father, the city lord to check into him. He ensured to send the young lord of the village elder back to the village with her, that way all of the attention went to the banished youth, ensuring that his daughter went completely unnoticed.

The more he thought about it, the less he liked it. Not only did she know the secret of his second life, but she also knew where the shadow sect was. Did the city lord already know about his organization? He did not trust her, but he did once. "What have you told Zheng Guo about me?" His tone was light as he asked her. It was not menacing, more curious.

"I told him that you were a freak when it comes to cultivation." She smiled wryly. "And that you weren't too forthcoming with the way you leap through the ranks. Other than that, there's nothing much else to tell." She gave him a knowing look, but it also said 'maybe don't mention anything else here.'

Hong Zhao gave an inward sigh of relief. Though he didn't know if he could truly trust what she was saying, he could trust the facts. He had a shadow puppet skittering around with the city lord for months now. There was never a time he did not keep tabs on Zheng Guo. He knew the moment that the man had intended for Ren Cai to begin following him around and try to convince him to be more useful. He also knew that eventually the city lord would get tired of him and try to have him killed if he didn't show his use, but Hong Zhao only took that as an old man's complaint. Even if he wanted to kill him, it would not be possible unless the ships arrived from Obopin earlier than expected. If that happened, he might be able to handle three or four of the warrior ranked cultivators, but most likely not any more consecutively. If he even so much as glimpsed a note addressed to Li Xiao, he wouldn't hesitate to kill Zheng Chi's father.