The Flame of Huo Lan 1

"maybe staying here is the best thing for you brother, outside this pavilion the only thing that exists is deceit and hypocrisy, it is impossible to pull out the grass of corruption by its root in this world, even I wish I could just stay here forever with my mother and you but I can't and neither can you," Changlin said, "can you guys stop being sentimental, you are boring me," Xiaodi said, then they all turned to look at her.

"Seems like we need some fun to appease Xiaodi's anger," the old man said, "what do suggest we do for fun," Ruansong asked.

"let's have a drinking contest, ever since Changlin came here we have been drinking tea when we have the best wine in the whole empire," Xiaodi said.

"Then let me get the wine from the store," the old man said then he stood up from his seat and walked out of the courtyard, he returned later with ten bottles of wine and he placed them on the table.

"This is the peach blossom wine which was personally made by me," Ruansong said while pointing at the wine in front of them.

"seems like I have really missed a lot, even if the whole world is suffering from starvation and lack, I doubt that blossom pavilion will ever be included," Changlin said

"so, who wants to compete," Ruansong asked then he looked at them

"I"

"I"

"I"

Xi Feng, Xiaodi and Changlin said as they raised their hands, then Ruansong poured the wine into the cups and passed it to them with three more bottles for each person, the three of them started drinking, after they finished the one Ruansong poured for them they poured another one into their and finally they finished the third bottle without any drunk reaction.

"seems like we would be needing more wine for them," Ruansong said, then the old man returned to the wine store then he brought fifteen more bottles of wine and placed them on the table. The three of them then resumed drinking, this time the competition is to compete for the person who can finish most of the wine in a short amount of time. Without even flinching, Xiaodi and Xi Feng had already finished drinking four bottles in four minutes while Changlin was still trying to finish the fourth bottle, by the time Xiaodi and Xi Feng finished two more bottles Changlin had just finished his third bottle then he passed out. Ruansong shook him several times to check if he had really passed out but Changlin didn't wake up so he confirmed that he must have really passed out.

"tchctchtchtch, he is such a weakling, how can he pass out after drinking just seven bottles of wine," Xiaodi said as she nodded her head.

"Other people can't withstand five bottles of this wine but he still managed to drink seven bottles, although the peach blossom wine in the blossom valley is sweet, it is also very strong, but he learnt how to drink from me so he still tried," Ruansong said

"the both of you can drink that much only because you have been staying in the blossom valley for a long time, it is now time to take him back," Ruansong said, they all gave him a confused look after they heard what he said.

"Your highness, what do you mean by loading him," Xi Feng asked

"Did you guys think that he would go back to the palace willingly, I let him participate in the drinking competition so that when he passes out I can take him back to the palace, Xi Feng carry him back to carriage in front of the pavilion and spray the knockout perfume so that he won't wake up until he reaches the palace" Ruansong said

"but if he goes back in that condition, the imperial consort might get worried," Xi Feng said

"then make him sniff the knockout antidote before he enters the palace," Ruansong said, then Xi Feng carried Changlin out of the pavilion and placed him in the carriage after Ruansong takes a final look at him Xi Feng rode the carriage back to the palace. Ruansong then returned to the courtyard and poured wine into a cup on the table and drank it in one shot.

"Why didn't your highness let him stay for a while before sending him away, when he wakes up, he will be angry with you for sending him back after he became drunk," the old man said

"No one wants him to stay here more than I do but I have a feeling that very soon the court and the jianghu world will become lively once again," Ruansong said then he poured wine into his cup again.

"so your highness thinks that him staying here for long will make him be at odds with the other princes in the palace, but what if he encounters danger on his way back if he is unconscious then he can't protect himself," the old man said, Ruansong and Xiaodi smiled then Ruansong said "I did not send Xi Feng with him just to be his driver, Xi Feng is the best swordman I know after me, he is more than capable of protecting him," Ruansong said then he drank the wine in his cup.

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Water flowed from the mountain waterfall, the sounds of birds chirping filled the whole entire place, the green and red coloured leaves from the trees hovered and shook continually until they began to fall. As the waterfall giggles excitedly the sparkly water powers down the rocks like a champion skier on the downhill. The waterfall wistfully winds as they fight in the mountain.

Clink!

Clink!

Clink!

He turns around and moves forward swiftly with the tips of his sword pointing at her, she blocks his sword with her sword but the force with which he makes the attack made her slips back continuously as she tries to overpower him, she pushes him away with a kick in his stomach, the both of them started attacking each other from the side with the other blocking the sword from each direction.

He leapt into the air and then brought his sword down on her but she quickly bent her back downward, he raises his sword up while in air and brought it down again, this time she spins round in an attempt to block his attack but he continued striking his sword against hers, she decided to stop defending herself then she landed a powerful upward strike on his shoulder, he wasn't expecting her to attack so quickly so he couldn't defend himself quickly, instead with his left leg he propelled himself and lunged into the air swiftly, he spun around her and landed behind her then he pointed the sword at her neck, the attack was so swift and sudden that she didn't even have time to react until his sword was pointing at her neck.

"I surrender," she said as she put her sword back into the sheath, he retracted his sword and placed it into his sheath then he smiled and walked to her front.

"you have improved Meng Hui," Lin Bohai said as he displayed his beautiful set of halo white teeth.

"I have improved but I am still not as good as you after practising for a long time," Meng Hui said then she pouted her mouth, he smiled again and said, "if you are able to catch up to me then I don't deserve to be called your senior".

" He is right" a middle-aged shouted from afar as he walked into the mountain, their faces became filled with smiles as they saw him coming into the mountain, the both of them cupped their hands and bowed then they chorused

"Father"

"sect leader"

"drop the formality," the sect leader of the wind sect said then the both of them dropped their hands and stood at ease.

"the both of you have improved greatly but Meng Hui you still need to work on your speed and you Bohai next time you practice take it seriously, you need to stop holding back for her," the sect leader said.

"Thanks for your advice" the both of them chorused and smiled, afterwards the sect leader left the both of them alone. Then they left the mountain some minutes after he left.

"senior disciple Meng, young master" some female disciples greeted as the both of them walked past them.

"He is so handsome," one of the female disciples said as the went past them but the both of them heard what the disciples said.

"you must be happy senior brother," Meng Hui said in a sarcastic tone.

"what do you mean," Bohai asked even though he knew what she was referring to, "do you really not know or are you pretending like you don't know what I am talking about, every time you walk past a female disciple they always praise you," Meng Hui said.

"I can't stop them from praising me, can I?" Bohai said

"I don't care, any way you are mine" Meng Hui said then she walked ahead of him. He smiled as he watched her walk away.

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Three men walked into a cave underground which lies below the building of the wind sect, Her face becomes full of fear as she sees the three of them entering into the cave but there was nothing she could do, her hands and feet are bounded by chains so there is no way she could move, tears begin to trickle down her cheeks and her hair which was tied up had already fallen out of place, it was now scattered on her face, the sweat on her face made her hair slick down on the side of her face, she struggled to free herself as the men had already reached where she was. You had better stop struggling you witch, it isn't like this is the first time you are doing this" one of the men said

"The last set of people that came were burnt by her, we had better be careful in dealing with her," another man said

"what can she do, she just a freak, the other people that can in last time are not as powerful as us, we can surely handle her," another man said, one of them pulled out three long and large pins from a box. As soon as she saw the pins, she started struggling to free herself even though she knew it was pointless, tears began to well down her face as she screamed in fear. One of them gagged her mouth while the other one held her hands to stop her from shaking the chain, the third man inserted the pins into her head slowly then the three of them moved to her back.

They folded three of their fingers and used their index and third fingers to form an arc in the air then they stretched their hands towards her and they began to Infuse Qi into her body, she screamed in pain then the gag fell out of her mouth and the chains shook as she shouted. The men formed an arc in the air again before stretching their hands towards her and infusing their Qi into her body, this time her scream became louder, then the cave began to shake, small rocks began to fall from the walls surrounding the cave. The men began to put in more force as they channelled their Qi into her body, then her hair and eye colour became redder than they were before, flame emerged from her body and the men became alarmed.

"Should we leave now, she is becoming unstable" one of the men shouted, the dust had already filled the cave then the men began to cough.

"We can't leave now, we are almost done," another one said, after a minute the flames on her body began to increase and grow hotter.

"lets us take out each of the pins and leave before she blows us up," one of the men said then the three of them moved closer to her to pull out the pin on her head in order to return her to her normal self but as they touched the pins, they shouted in agony, the pins were already hot and the flames had already reached their hands immediately they touched the pins, they quickly pulled the pin out of her head and the ran towards the door but the flames had already burned their hands and part of their face, as they ran out of the entrance the cave began to shake more than it had before and the rocks began to fall faster.

After they left the cave, she began to scream louder because of the pin they had forcefully pulled out of their head, her body seemed like it was about to blow up but a white shadow that she couldn't see appeared behind her and began to channel its ice power into her body, her screams reduce then the cave became stable and she fainted. The shadow watched her as her head fell on her shoulder, sweat trickled down from her forehead to her chest, her lips which were formally rosy hand now become white and dried. The shadow looked at her but he couldn't touch her because it is a shadow.

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Inside the sect hall, the three men who had entered the cave were carried into the hall, even though they had left the cave, the fire still continued to burn their hands and they couldn't put it out. Everyone that was present in the hall looked at them with pity and shock even though they were not supposed to.

This is after all not the first time such things had happened whenever they sent someone to drain Huo Lan power in the wind sect cave, everyone they sent always had serious injuries when they returned and those who stayed before she flames on her body becomes more dangerous never survived. The three men who had just left the cave were considered the luckiest form the look of their condition.

"so the three of you didn't succeed in draining all her power," the sect leader of the wind sect said as he looked at the pitiful condition of the three men, the men couldn't speak so they just nod their head to answer his question, they started screaming again because of the effect of the fire which was still burning their hand.