Good or Bad (3)

Thankfully, none of them were Chen Rongguang, or any of his close relatives. At the very least, they wouldn't cause too much trouble according to Wulan.

Chen Liang whispered, "Why are they here? They shouldn't have any business around here as far as I know!"

And to make matters worse, the three men decided to sit at a table beside them, as it happens to be the only empty table left.

Wulan quietly answered, "Lan Jing Forest."

The two kids had a look of understanding once they heard that.

Based on Chen Liang's words, it seemed that no one from the Chen Clan should have any business around this area. Moreover, this place should be managed under the Tan Clan.

If it were just one person, it could be argued that they originally came from around here, or that they were just visiting. But there were three of them, which might indicate something more.

As they weren't wearing any clan uniform or crest, Wulan concluded that whatever they needed to do had to be done discreetly.

What other explanations fit better than the matter of Lan Jing forest?

Wulan held out her hand and spoke.

"A-Liang, give me one of your paper talismans. The one with a concealing spell."

"Huh? Oh, here."

Wulan grabbed the paper and laid it out on the table. She then grabbed one chopstick and dipped it in soy sauce, before starting to draw some strokes on the paper.

"...Ew," Zhou Xin commented.

"What are you doing?" Chen Liang asked.

Wulan explained in a low voice as she continued to focus on the strokes, "A modified concealing spell can be a disguising spell. It wouldn't be completely effective, but your face will look distorted to others and become unrecognizable."

Zhou Xin complained, "Do we have to do that? Why can't we just go? It's not like they're a match to you," 

"Usually, that's what I would do. But someone here is from their clan, and it will be a problem if news spreads that the Lone Pirate kidnapped someone from the Chen Clan!"

"Sorry!" Chen Liang whispered.

Once she finished drawing on the paper talisman, she handed it to Chen Liang.

"Here. Stick this somewhere unnoticeable."

Chen Liang stuck the paper talisman behind the outer layer of his robes. In that instant, the features of his face distorted slightly. From a distance, one might recognize him as 'Chen Liang', but if they got closer and looked at the features of his face, they would think that they were mistaken. 

The disguised person would feel no difference at all, as he wouldn't feel that anything had changed from anywhere on his body.

Unsure, Chen Liang turned to Wulan, then Zhou Xin.

The latter snorted.

"You look like a pig," Zhou Xin said, which made Chen Liang pout.

Indeed, his face had changed to one resembling a pig. His cheeks had become rounder, his eyes slightly farther apart, and the tip of his nose was more upturned.

Chen Liang pointed at Wulan.

"Why aren't you in disguise? I have more concealing talismans. Just use them!"

"Unlike you, those mages wouldn't care about me… Well, other than my bounty. Besides, people recognize me by my appearance rather than my face. The spell would be useless."

"Then couldn't you at least make my face more handsome? Or can we just sneak out without disguising me? I'm short enough that they wouldn't notice!"

But Wulan hushed him, "Alright piggy, quiet down. Let's pay up and get out of here."

As the three of them got up from their table, the mages next to their table subconsciously turned to look, just as Wulan expected. 

With that distance, it wasn't hard to identify the sword and the outfit of the Lone Pirate.

"Hey, wait!"

"That's the Lone Pirate!"

Wulan, Zhou Xin, and Chen Liang continued to walk to the counter without heeding them when one of the mages piped up.

"Hey is that…? Wait a minute, that's Chen Liang!"

"Huh? Why is he with a pirate?"

"That can't be, Chen Liang's supposed to be in Tan Academy. That's miles from here."

"No, he's right! That's Chen Liang!"

The mages got up from their table to approach the group.

Since Chen Liang wasn't facing them, they could only see his figure from behind, which still looked exactly like him. Therefore, the mages started to be certain that he was definitely Chen Liang.

One of the mages grabbed the boy's shoulder, forcing him to turn around.

They were all perplexed once they saw his face.

"What? A pig?" the mage said.

The next mage smacked him in the head. "You idiot. Don't say that to the kid's face."

The third one politely bowed, "Apologies, we mistook you for someone else."

Both Zhou Xin and Wulan faced the other way, trying to hold in their laughter.

Chen Liang could only nod his head in embarrassment. He refused to speak because he was afraid they would recognize his voice immediately.

But the mages seemed to get the wrong idea.

"Kid, are you alright?" one of them asked.

Another one drew out their sword and pointed it at Wulan.

He declared, "You. You're kidnapping these kids. What are they? Hostages? Or are you smuggling them?"

Hearing those words, The mage who had grabbed Chen Liang's shoulder tightened his grip and pulled the boy away from Wulan.

He shared a look with the third mage, pointing his chin towards Zhou Xin.

The third mage nodded and was about to approach the girl, when they heard laughter coming from the sloppily dressed pirate.

Wulan turned to face them, a grin on her face.

"Wrong guesses! Hostages? I can get whatever I want without those! And smuggling them would be such a waste! Hahahaha!"

Chen Liang was confused with how Wulan reacted to the accusation.

He was pushed backwards by the mage that had grabbed him. The rest of the two mages then pulled out their swords as well.

All of a sudden, Wulan's smile turned sinister.

She walked towards the sword pointed right at her, and spoke slowly at the same time.

"I have a much better plan for them. I will take them to my ship, then build up their fear and resentment. I will force them to walk the plank, before pushing them overboard, watching them drown to their deaths. The remains of their spirits will become the feed for my sea magic."

Zhou Xin paused and looked at Wulan.

Like her voice, Wulan's eyes were just as cold.

For a split second, the mages had bewildered looks on their faces. It was because something that Wulan had said had struck them. 

Zhou Xin saw it.

The short flash of disgust and guilt from the way their faces wrinkled.

Wulan said those words on purpose. Perhaps, it was just a way to find out if they were involved in it, or maybe it was a way to see how they feel about it, and to make them realize the weight of those acts. But no one there could really know what Wulan was thinking.

How would anyone feel against someone who kills innocents to harvest their resentful energy?

What if they had done so themselves? Especially those who partake in the massacre of villages?

By this time, Wulan's face was within the reach of the frontmost mage. Just a step forward, and the blade of his sword could pierce through her neck.

Gritting his teeth, the mage lunged forward.

Whip!

Wulan dodged by tilting to her left, grabbing the mage's wrist and pulling him forward. Once he was out of balance, she struck his stomach with her knee.

"Ugh!"

Crash!

The mage to his right had also been attacked by Zhou Xin. Meanwhile, Chen Liang had pushed the remaining mage till he fell to the ground.

"What's going on?"

"A fight? What happened?"

"Pirates!"

"There are children!"

The ruckus had gained the attention of the whole restaurant. Those who had watched from the start weren't sure what to do. They had heard the mages mention something about a pirate. However, since the mages wore robes with no indication of any ties to a particular clan, most would assume that they were rogue mages.

Wulan motioned for the kids to run away.

She sprinkled some coins on the counter before sprinting out through the door. Chen Liang and Zhou Xin followed right after.

The three mages scrambled from the floor to go after them.

"The kids! They're with him! They're with the pirate!"

They rushed out of the restaurant, and looked around in the open street, trying to find the figure of the young pirate with two children.

And yet, they were nowhere to be found.

A few miles back, at the residence of the Tan Clan, where the presence of Wulan, Zhou Xin, and Chen Liang had also been long gone.

The sect leader had just sent out invitations to other clans in the Peninsula to form an alliance.

The matter regarding Lan Jing Forest, the Prohibition Act, and the Chen Clan could possibly change the laws of magic within the Southern land. To anticipate this, the Tan Clan needed to take actions on what follows. There could be riots, uprising of sea mages, non-magic users, and rogue mages. 

Of course, there was the matter of Tan Clan's involvement with the incidents through Tan Yan.

It was a good thing that Shin Minji was here as a witness. She had also offered to form an alliance, not only for the Tan Clan, but to bridge the connection between mages of the south and of the west.

The sect leader spoke towards the clan head of the west.

"Are you sure that only one is enough?"

At the front building of the residence, three mages were present in the guest room. Shin Minji, the sect leader, and an elder of the Tan Clan.

Shin Minji had just picked out an elder of her choosing as representation of the Tan Clan to join her in her journey.

The elder stood firm with a sword and a small bundle made of fabric that he would bring on the journey. His face looked stiff with worry.

"Yes," Shin Minji replied.

She walked up to the elder and nodded at him.

"I look forward to working with you, Tan Xinyuan."

The elder to represent the Tan Clan by going on a journey with the head of the Shin Clan was Chen Liang and Tan Ren's master, Tan Xinyuan.

Tan Xinyuan exhaled a breath, but his voice sounded resolute.

"Thank you for letting me go with you. I hope to be as much help to you as you are to us."

In all honesty, Tan Xinyuan didn't expect Shin Minji to choose him.

He had personally requested to come along a few moments earlier because he wanted to go after Chen Liang, who hadn't returned after disappearing into the forest. Tan Xinyuan was sure that his youngest disciple was with the pirate.

He thought going with Shin Minji would increase his chances of finding the pirate and Chen Liang. However, had Shin Minji denied his request, he would have gone on his own to find them.

Tan Xinyuan wasn't the most skilled mage in the Tan Residence. In fact, he was too young to even be considered an 'elder', and yet, he managed to earn his place and take in apprentices in the academy.

If Shin Minji was looking for younger mages fit for traveling the seas, she could have chosen other mages. There was no shortage of young, fit, and skillful mages in the residence.

Tan Xinyuan couldn't read Shin Minji's intentions. It seemed that she had something planned for the Southern Peninsula. Why mages of the south? Moreover, what is her goal by searching for the everlasting flowers? She didn't seem like the type to be ambitious over immortality.

And her decision to accept Tan Xinyuan as her companion in the journey seemed to contradict her tenacity about this alliance. At least it felt that way to Tan Xinyuan.

Both of them said their farewells to the sect leader and went on their way.

But the moment they stepped out of the building, a young boy was waiting outside with a pack of things on the ground beside him.

Tan Xinyuan was surprised.

"Tan Ren?"

The boy bowed respectfully with his shoulders and spoke in a clear and firm voice.

"Master, and Clan Head Shin Minji. Please, let me come with you."

"Tan Ren!-"

"Until we find Chen Liang!"

He kept his head down. Both his master and Shin Minji were silent.

Tan Xinyuan was about to reject him. Well, how could he let a fifteen year old go on this highly uncertain journey?

Tan Ren continued, "Once we find Chen Liang, you still have to fulfill your duty as a companion for the journey. But I can take Chen Liang back to the residence."

It seemed that he had prepared a good reason to tag along.

Shin Minji might be able to send a trustworthy mage from her crew to escort Chen Liang back safely, but Tan Ren knew it would be more assuring for his master if it was someone he knew.

"Master, Xiao-Liang is my responsibility."

Tan Xinyuan was quite cornered. He was the one who told Tan Ren that when Chen Liang enrolled.

Tan Ren knew that his master had a soft heart. He always had a hard time saying 'no' to people. It was one of the reasons why Chen Liang got admitted below the minimum age requirement.

As the boy held his bowing position, Tan Xinyuan frowned.

Excluding his worry for Tan Ren, another reason that troubled him was Shin Minji. Tan Xinyuan felt he himself was a burden for this task, he didn't want to add another to the plate.

But Shin Minji replied nonchalantly.

"Alright, sure."

Both Tan Xinyuan and Tan Ren whipped their heads.

"Tan Ren, is it? I expect you to know your own limits and keep up." Shin Minji then turned to Tan Xinyuan, "He'll be safe. I give you my word."

As Tan Xinyuan was still speechless, Tan Ren was no longer bowing. His posture relaxed and his face brightened.

"Thank you, Clan Head-nim! I'll try my best to keep up!"

Shin Minji nodded and walked ahead.

Tan Ren grabbed his pack off the ground and was about to follow when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

His master sighed at him, "Behave yourself. And learn as much as you can."

"Yes, Master!" Tan Ren said with a smile.