A Bad Omen

Wu Yi walked towards the south. Hundred Man Town was on the northern edge of the continent. He wanted to get away from this place and go as far as possible. He wanted to get out of supervisor Wu Yi's sphere of influence. Wu Yi slowly walked on the narrow road as though he were not escaping from anything. He passed other travellers and he interacted with them as if nothing was wrong. He greeted them and he even sat down with some of them at way stations where he enjoyed meals with the other travellers. At the third way station, after eating his meal and chatting with the other people present, he paid the owner with a small copper coin. This coin was from a foreign nation and did not have any monetary value in the Cloud Empire. Surprisingly, the owner accepted the coin and even treated Wu Yi with the greatest care.He escorted Wu Yi to the back where he gave him a black horse.The horse was very large and muscular.Wu Yi nodded his head before handing the man five spirit stones.This was one of his arrangements to escape smoothly.

Wu Yi got on the horse and rode away at a moderate speed. Wu Yi rode day and night. He passed mountains and crossed rivers before he saw a large city ahead.

He was finally able to sigh in relief.This was River Jade City. It was the capital city of the River Jade commandery. The Cloud Empire had fifty commanderies each governed by a High Prince.

Wu Yi had chosen to escape to this city because it had very strict rules that were enforced by the High Prince . In Hundred Man Town, supervisor Wu may be able to cover the sky with his wealth but in the River Jade city, his wealth was nothing to talk about . It was not even enough to bribe a single official. Wu Yi set out for the city with renewed hope . He could see his future opening up before him. He had changed horses several times during the long journey. He was now riding a white horse that had a thick mane.

Wu Yi had prepared everything needed.This included enough spirit stones to buy entry into the city.He got in without a problem. He was amazed by the sheer size and beaut of the city. Shops lined the streets and vendors were everywhere.

Carriages could be seen moving about from one direction to the other. Wu Yi was overwhelmed by this but he decided to first put all this to the side and go where he should.He walked calmly until he reached a fabulous mansion in the western part of the city.He looked at the place to confirm that this was the location he had been given. After confirming, he walked towards the gate and when the guards stopped him, he handed over a small token. When the guards saw this token, they immediately bowed down as though meeting their master.Wu Yi was respectfully led into the mansion by some servants.He entered the main residence and there, he saw the man he considered to be his one and only parent. This man was more of a parent to him than anyone else in this world. Wu Yi stood there as though he had lost his mind. Tears began streaming down his face at the site of the man. These were tears of joy and happiness.

The old man moved faster than one would expect and hugged Wu Yi.

This old man was Old Man Ma. The old man who had raised Wu Yi.

Wu Yi ad paid off the old man's debts to supervisor Wu and set him free. The two had worked together since then communicating secretly to plan Wu Yi's escape.

With this reunion, Wu Yi became happy. He began living in this mansion with Old Man Ma. This mansion had been built using supervisor Wu's money.Wu Yi had stolen a lot of money from the supervisor but to the supervisor, this money was so little that he considered it a small error in calculations or something like that. Wu Yi and the old man lived simple lives.They spent their time reminiscing.The old man told Wu Yi about his past but he did not go into detail.Wu Yi felt that the old man was hiding something but he did not push the issue. The old man's past seemed to be filled with pain and suffering. The two, one young and the other old were content spending the rest of their lives just like that. Wu Yi was young but he did not have any childish ambitions of conquering the world or even becoming renowned the world over.His thinking processes were extremely mature. He seemed more like an old man who had seen it all.

Two months passed in peace. Wu Yi had still been worried that perhaps the supervisor would show up one day and stir up trouble but after these two months of peace, he began to relax. For the first time in his life, Wu Yi was happy. He did not need anything more and did not want anything more, He only hoped that his hard-earned peace would last forever.

Another four months passed and Wu Yi was now completely calm . He was used to his new carefree life . He did not have to look over his back or plot countless schemes just to stay alive. Wu Yi was happy. The old man was happy. With these two happy, the mansion lost its once gloomy feeling.

On this day, Wu Yi and the old man decided to have an early dinner . The old man felt a bit different. When Wu Yi asked him what was wrong, the old man said that he felt a bad omen approaching them. Wu Yi convinced him that there were no such things in the world.

To cheer up the old man, Wu Yi decided to prepare the old man's favourite meal. The two sat on the dining table enjoying their meal when the door to the mansion was kicked in by a group of soldiers. Wu Yi was startled. When he looked outside through the window, he saw Supervisor Wu leading the charge with the soldiers.His heart skipped a beat. This was indeed a dark omen.

Wu Yi was still looking out of the window when he felt the old man grab his hand and pull him backwards .Wu Yi mindlessly followed the old man into a secret room deep within the mansion.There ,the old man gave him some instructions but it was not long before the door to the secret room was also kicked in.Supervisor Wu entered the room followed by over five guards .Wu Yi looked dazed.He understood that the end was nigh.