The hand held out

The night was chilly and dark.

Yi Chang strolled down the green wandering winds land. His feet, encased in dark boots made no sound even as he stepped on the dry grass patches. He did not have a defined destination and was basing his path on luck.

The chilly wind cut into his skin. His robes were very light to begin with and tiny goosebumps could be seen from the meshy outer robes. The robes also flapped lightly and to commemorate the stroll, a low hum escaped Yi Chang's lips every once in a while.

The tune he was humming was a famous victory song. This day to him had been great without any exaggeration. He had won and left an impression to many and also the heavens had allowed him to see something otherworldly.

The sound of the tree leaves being swung by the wind filled the place but one could still hear some other sounds coming from between some bushes ahead. The sounds were those of a person or many people.

Yi Chang's steps faltered as his gossipy ears focused to keenly hear whatever the people hiding behind the bushes were saying.

The first voice was that of a man and Yi Chang recognized it instantly, it was Zhao Zili. His voice was as loud as his body and it was laced with anger and deep bitterness. In Si Fengshan, his name was held highly above the rest and the other disciples from the other sects held respect for him whether true or feigned yet someone had completely shattered that image he had purposefully built over the years and that person had been the eavesdropping Yi Chang.

Zhao Zili yelled in anger, "Let us wait and see, I will surely teach that Yi Chang a lesson he would never forget!" His face was swollen at different places, he had a tear on his lips and a left black eye. Coupled with his already ugly face, he somehow manage to look even uglier.

When he spoke, the tear at his mouth continued to open up making blood gush out of it mixing with the saliva in his mouth. When he spoke, this mixture sprayed everywhere making the people beside him take several steps away from him. His eyes were also big and bloodshot making him look like a vengeful ghost. Seeing his face, Yi Chang shuddered a little bit, it was truly scary.

One of the boys beside Zhao Zili spoke up, "Yes we should go and get him! How dare he, a child still wet behind his ears humiliate you like that, big bro we should definitely get our revenge!" his tone was righteous and his faith in his brother strong. This was Zhao Zili's younger brother, Zhao Yuan.

Zhao Yuan calling Yi Chang a 'child still wet behind his ears' was like a pot calling a kettle black. Yi Chang looked at his small frame and scoffed loudly, the sound almost reaching the hidden men. He felt no anger towards those words though. He only took them as words of amusement that should not be thought over twice. Yi Chang continued to listen.

Aside from those two, there were three other men. Once Zhao Yuan had voiced his opinion, the other three backed him up quickly, "Yes we should!...", "That's right!...", "We should get our revenge!..."

Zhao Zili felt much better after this. He was used to being worshiped above the rest. His already ugly face showed traces of a hideous smile. That smile made Yi Chang take a step back. The motion was not as fluid and extremely noisy. His cover was blown at once!

Five men stared at Yi Chang first with bewilderment, then shock and then anger. The three different emotions displayed on their faces made the situation a bit funny.

"Haha," Yi Chang laughed dryly. His left foot was already in motion and just when he thought he had escaped a few steps ahead, a big hand suddenly caught a hold of his collar and dragged him to the floor.

Zhao Zili was mad with anger. Seeing Yi Chang out here came as a surprise even to him. He was also conflicted with what to do because attacking a disciple from another sect during the competitions if found out would warrant his disqualifications from the same competitions.

He wanted so much to kick Yi Chang in the face and dent that stupid smile he always had on but other than the disqualification he was scared of another thing, that Yi Chang would beat him once more!

Being beaten twice in the same day by the same person was more than humiliating especially for a disciple held in such high regards as him. He had fought with Yi Chang in the afternoon so only he truly knew the sheer amount of power Yi Chang held. It was safe to say that even five of them combined could not defeat a single Yi Chang!

Seeing that the defeat was inevitable, he took two steps back with a dark face. The other men were bewildered. Each of them was expecting some exhilarating fight this evening but the person who they thought was going to start the eye candy had already taken his stand.

The one who was disappointed the most Yi Chang. Still on the ground, he taunted Zhao Zili, "Xiao Zili ah, why are you going back, chickening out already?" His tone was light and his pearly teeth out in the open for everyone to see.

That smile of his was already a big annoyance to Zhao Zili and now that the other man was mixing it with such taunting words, his steps could not help but falter and after a while he stood completely. Yi Chang smiled when he saw this.

It was like the ground was comfortable because even after a while he did not get up. Zhao Zili watched him from above and such an angle quenched all the anger still left in his heart. He looked at Yi Chang and scoffed, "he! Young master Yi, just a single fight and you are already like this where do you get such courage from? Let me tell you this right now, just like we are right now, I will make sure that you will only see me from below..."

He continued with some self praising before storming off with his gang. Zhao Yuan even turned around to hiss at Yi Chang during the process.

After they had left Yi Chang was left all alone. He slumped his body on the ground and raised his right knee high. The dark night now had some brightness thanks to the moon. He stared at it and exhaled loudly. At this moment he thought hard about his actions today.

He was never like this. Even during the previous competitions, he never once participated but this time round things were different. The bad treatment of Zhao Qingyang by her own sect members bothered him a bit and it was this nagging feeling that made him stand up and fight.

The consequences of his actions were many but why think of the future when he was not even living in the moment? The night was still young. These troubling matters he would deal with them when the time came.

He stared at the moon. The bright light was especially comforting to be under. Now that his mind was clear, he could make out the sounds in his surroundings. Other than the sound made by the trees and crickets, there were also footsteps, Yi Chang perked his ears up immediately.

The owner of those footsteps was walking slowly but the steps were steady. The rumble beneath Yi Chang made him tremble yet he still did not get up. In this situation, he even closed his eyes so that his ears could focus more on the incoming person and somehow he felt as if he knew who they belonged to.

After a long while, he felt the presence of someone beside him but the person was standing. The place that person was standing on was also the best spot where the moonlight lit. Yi Chang opened his eyes and instantly his breath was taken away.

He had seen this man before but not up close. The person before him was beautiful beyond words. The moonlight seemed to focus solely on him. That face was almost glowing and extremely smooth. His eyes were phoenix like, his lashes long and his nose high. His lips were thin and pale. They almost looked translucent. All in all, this was a beauty that you only saw once in a blue moon and this beauty looked otherworldly.

He was dressed from head to toe in pale blue robes which were almost bright white. They were simple and plain without a single embroidery. His hair was tied high and held together with a silver ornament and on his sleeves were vambraces of the same pale shade of blue.

His right hand was held towards Yi Chang, the motion clear. The vambraces shone which reflected the light into Yi Chang's eyes. He used his hands to cover his eyes immediately yet when he opened his eyes once more, that hand was still held out towards him.

His fingers were long and his nails white and clean. His knuckles were beyond beautiful. Yi Chang felt embarrassed all of a sudden and witout thought, he held out his hand and placed them on top of the other.

The hand was cold yet smooth. It was extremely nice to touch. Yi Chang felt a tug and before he could think, he was already pulled up and onto his feet.

All this while his smile never left his lips. He looked at the stranger and almost spoke up before the stranger beat him to it,

"Do you know where Si Fengshan is?"