Author's Note: I was going through the story as a whole, and I noticed somethings (人 •͈ᴗ•͈) that I totally missed out…
Firstly, in the fourth chapter, I mentioned that Fusheng was going to turn 17 in two months, but according to the timeline of the book, it's already past two months. I totally forgot about this, so I am going to make a correction to it now. Fusheng is going to turn 17 in 6 months time, which corresponds with the timeline of her fight with Cheng Chi ( the ShiZhang). Remember that Fusheng was originally supposed to die from that poison on the day she turns 17. So I hope everyone understands ^_^
Secondly, on the second chapter, I wrote that um Meilan was officially joining the academy at the same time as Fusheng, but then along the line it's as if Meilan had always been in the Academy.. I am deeply sorry for this misunderstanding, but Meilan has always been in the academy for years before Fusheng joined the academy…(˘･_･˘)
Oh and I just released this book on Wattpad.
I will keep working hard to make the book better.
~~~
The walk from the market to the inn was fast and quiet, although some people still stuck to Xie Lan trying to make small talks with this knowledgeable Gongzi. While Xie Lan still engaged them in small talks, in his spiritual sea, he was clearly loosing his mind.
"What exactly is he doing here? Is he not supposed to be in the capital being annoying?"
A man with silver hair answered "I could also ask you the same thing, are you not supposed to be in the Academy, learning martial arts?"
Fusheng answered "ugh! Feilong you know just what I mean. The First Prince was never supposed to be here, and besides I came her to get experience and enlightenment to improve my cultivation."
Feilong shrugged "My point exactly, you're not the only one seeking something from this mission."
Fusheng sighed and asked "He won't be able to recognize me right?"
Feilong nodded "He should not."
Fusheng said in a low voice "This just became more difficult."
Yes, the Venerable Xie Lan Gongzi is none other than Fusheng. This was her great plan and disguise to join the mission, but she never thought of the fact that the First Prince would also be joining the mission.
The next morning, immediately after eating breakfast the First Prince let everyone know that they wouldn't be stopping on the road and that he hopes the group would reach the Fu province by nightfall. A lot of people in the group were shocked at the announcement, because just the previous day the First Prince instructed that they take their time with the journey and just now, he's making them hurry up again. Truly the ways of the First Prince can not be understood by mere mortals, it was even said that the emperor sometimes does not understand what goes on in the head of his first son.
Fusheng/Xie Lan did not have any reaction to the news, she just felt thankful that the First Prince did not make this absurd rule the previous day otherwise it would have been difficult to catch up with them and even integrate into the group. Feilong joked "If I didn't know any better I would think the First Prince was purposely waiting for you to join the group."
Fusheng shivered "Please venerable dragon, don't make absurd jokes like that, it's giving me the chills."
Feilong shrugged "I'm just saying…"
They started the journey in earnest, everybody was busy with his/her own thoughts.
Xueying had noticed the new addition to their group this morning. She had no comment, just felt that he was not annoying like the rest of the group and he looked vaguely familiar, but she could not recall ever seeing him before. She did not feel opposed to the new addition, after all if the First Prince allowed him then who was she to complain.
Meilan on the other hand had been sneaking glances at Xie Lan since the previous night in the market. She felt he was exceptionally handsome and she wanted to actually approach him, but she felt he was beneath her status and expected him to actually talk to her first. But to her surprise, Xie Lan seemed to be avoiding her and seemed cold towards her. Then this morning she noticed that for some reason, the First Prince always seemed to want to be next to Xie Lan even engaging him in a conversation. She frowned at this, but told herself that luckily Xie Lan was not a female and that maybe the First Prince was impressed by how Xie Lan resolved the issue at the market. }:‑)
Meanwhile, Fusheng complained to Feilong, "Do you think that the First Prince is being too close with me? I mean he couldn't have seen through this disguise, could he?"
Feilong rolled his eyes "No, you have asked this particular question so many times already. Why would he still not say anything if he recognized you?"
Her forehead furrowed "But he has been acting weird towards 'Xie Lan'." Her eyes widened, "You don't think he has that kind of preferences?"
Feilong frowned, "What are you saying? I don't get anything that you are saying."
Fusheng sighed "I mean what if he is into boys?"
Feilong facepalmed, he really needed to know just how this Fusheng girl's mind worked. He really wanted to tell her that she looked feminine even with the boy's disguise. He just didn't bother with her again and tuned her out to meditate.
(So guys for this Fu province arc I will often refer to Fusheng as Xie Lan. I hope nobody gets confused.)
~~~
Just as the First Prince hoped, the group arrived at the Fu province that evening. The province was quiet that evening, a bit too quiet, sort of eerie. It was not too late in the night yet,so there was no way everyone was sleeping already, but there was literally no sound in the province, although light could be clearly seen through the windows of the houses but it was too quiet, not even the animals were making noise. No matter how one looked at it, it was very weird.
The group moved along steadily towards the direction of the Mayor's house. As they got to the Mayor's residence, they finally saw human movement in the province. Two guards stood at the Mayor's gates, they were startled as they saw the group of people.
One of the guards stuttered "Who who are you people?"
Du Heng as the leader of the group came forward and introduced "We are the students of the Royal Academy." He also produced the Royal Academy's seal to prove his words.
The guards looked at the group once more as if to confirm his words. One of them took the seal and hurried inside the residence, while the other one said to the group "Hold on a bit, let my colleague confirm."
In a short while the guard came back out with a plump man of average height. Immediately the other guard outside saw the man he hurried bowed. The group guessed the man was the Mayor of the province.
The Mayor on seeing the group hesitantly smiled and said "I am sorry for the wait, my guards did not expect you people so soon. You people really arrived so fast."
The members of the group unconsciously looked at the First Prince. The Mayor was right, the journey from the capital to the Fu province is supposed to last for about 3-4 days, but the First Prince made them go through that entire journey in a day.
The Mayor shook as if he remembered something and said "Oh look at me, so sully I left you outside. Please do come in."
With that he opened the gate wide and let the group in, as the gates closed behind them, something dark flashed in the Mayor's eyes.
***
As they entered the residence, they all alighted from their horses, the Mayor could now see that they were actually still teenagers. His eyes stayed on the masked person amongst them and asked Du Heng whom he assumed to be the leader of the group, "And this is?"
Du Heng froze up a little before awkwardly coughing, "This is a fellow classmate from the academy."
The Mayor nodded, he wanted to ask something else but decided against it, because he remembered that these people were children of various nobles from the capital and some of them had various things going on with them in their head, so he couldn't be bothered about this one wearing a mask although he looked fierce.
The Mayor took them into the house and ordered the servants to serve the guests.
He said with a fawning smile, "I am sorry, your arrival was so unexpected that I did not prepare anything for you all this night. But you should get comfortable enjoy the dinner and rest for the night, you must have been so tired after rushing through the journey."
In truth, the students were tired after all they set off so early in the morning, only just resting now they really could not say no to home cooked meal and a comfortable bed. In a short while the servants already laid out the food on the table and had the students sit down. Then the students were left alone without even the Mayor even accompanying them, he left with the excuse of having something to take care of.
Ever since they stepped into the province, Xie Lan could not shake off the feeling that something was very off about the entire province, the feeling intensified upon getting to the Mayor's residence and seeing the reaction of the Mayor. It was true that they had arrived ahead of the schedule, but still the normal reaction of someone that saw his help come to his doorstep should be happiness, not reluctance and hesitation. Also ever since they got here, the Mayor had not even mention anything about the demonic activities. One important thing about cultivators and exorcism is that it is best done in the nighttime, but the Mayor literally wanted them to eat dinner and sleep. At that point Feilong suddenly spoke up, "Little ancestor, you have to be careful, something doesn't feel right here. Don't eat anything either."
Xie Lan replied "I wasn't even planning to eat anything, but now you've said it what do you think is wrong with the place?"
Feilong continued "I can't really tell, I just know there is a very strong breath of evil all over this town, notice how everything was so quiet."
Just as the other member of the group were about to dig into the food, Xie Lan suddenly said "Don't eat anything that was served here, not even the water."
They all stopped and stared at him in surprise, "Why?" A tiny voice asked.
"Something just doesn't feel right in this place. Don't you people feel it?" Xie Lan tried to explain.
One annoyed voice sounded "What makes you think we will listen to you just because you feel it is not right? Just because you helped us out yesterday doesn't mean that you will always be right. We have been on the road the whole day and I am starving and tired."
Xie Lan was a bit surprised at the outburst, he already suspected that the young man in question did not like him, but he really never expected this outburst. He looked around at the rest of the group, they did not say anything but they agreed with the other person, Xie Lan just nodded and turned to Xueying, he asked her "Are you also going to eat the food?"
Xueying was surprised at being stared at by Xie Lan, for some weird reason she remembered her friend Fusheng. She shook her head "No I don't have enough appetite, I just want to rest."
Xie Lan smiled and said nothing, but he also noticed that the First Prince was also not eating, although he had to admit, he had never seen him actually eat before.
Xie Lan shrugged "Okay" Then walked out of the dining hall and walked up to a few guards and asked for their accomodations. The guards looked startled but still pointed out the direction of their rooms. The Mayor probably taking into account that the students were children of rich nobles in the capital arranged for everyone to have their private rooms, Xie Lan was satisfied at this development and turned to choose a room. While she was walking a noticed a particular fragrance around the house, she scrunched her nose up a little but figured it was probably an incense. She did not feel anything about the incense just that it smelt particular and fragrant…