CHAPTER 16: Easy peezy right?
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On the other hand the elder continued speaking, his voice sounded softly across the table.
"All I want from you lads," Elder Zhen said, while leaning back slightly, "are just two favors."
The boys paused again.
Clank... Ren Tie dropped his spoon. He was clearly uncomfortable with the intense situation. "Just two favors?"
Wen Chong's jaw was now locked.
Bao Zi whispered, "Favors? What type?"
This time even Yin Zhe had paused his spoon stock in mid-air. Yin Zhe paused Only for a breath.
They all waited for the elder to reply.
"when you do them," Elder Zhen said slowly, "then you will be free." sudden silence hits the table harder than a punch.
All of them stared at him. Their hearts thumped in their chests.
thump… thump… thump…
"Free?" Ren Tie whispered in a questioning voice.
"Free as in… free?" Bao Zi asked, while rubbing his neck.
Wen Chong bit his lip, muttering, "This man better not be playing with us…"
They all held their breath for a second. Then they continued eating, trying to act like they were not shaking inside. They feared that they were being tricked.
Yin Zhe did look surprised at all.
He kept chewing with a full mouth and raised his head a little.
"What's the catch?" he asked with food still stuck between his teeth.
The boys beside him snapped their heads toward him in shock.
One of them hissed under his breath. "damn it. this boy! Why talk like that?!.. to the elder. He could kill us in the blink of an eye"
Ren Tie whispered sharply, "Are you mad?. Do you plan on dying here?. If you do please don't drag us with you"
Ren Tie covered his face with one hand. "This guy is going to get all of us killed… ahh…"
Ding!!!.
[Cursed reactive point +4 ]
[Suspected reactive points +4]
[Resented reactive points +4]
The system chimed lightly inside his head.
ding… ding… ding…
But Yin Zhe remained calm and his face didn't even move.
He completely ignored all of them and continued chewing.
"You're all scared of the wrong things," he thought while remaining calm and silent. "The real danger in this room isn't my mouth. It's the old man's arrays... Well that's unless we find a way to actually provoke the old man"
He picked up another plate of food.
Every eye was on him now, all angry at him.
But Yin Zhe didn't bother.
Not even a little.
Elder Zhen let out a small breath that sounded more like a soft hmm… Then he answered:
"There is no catch."
His tone was calm and Plain. It felt like he was hiding anything.
Then he slowly raised his right hand.
The boys leaned back in fear.
Ren Tie muttered, "He's about to kill us... Damn you and your loud mouth. Yin Zh"
[Cursed reactive point +1]
Yin Zhe saw the notification but he stayed calm.
Elder Zhen then snapped his fingers.
snap!!.
The sound cut through the air like a whip.
To his side, the floor suddenly lit up.
And a bright circle formed without any warning. Different patterns of Lines filled with spirits essence crawled out from the tiles.
crackle… fwoom… wuooo…
The glowing array spread like fire waking up.
The bright golden lines on the floor slowly dimmed one after the other. until the glow faded away like dust falling apart.
When the last light died, there were now five females wearing maids uniforms.
They appeared as if they had been waiting inside the glow the whole time. Their uniforms were clean, and each one held the same set of scrolls and books pressed against her chest like duplicates.
Yin Zhe's eyes narrowed a little.
"hmm… how did I miss that…"
He felt his chest tightened with a small sting of frustration.
"That golden array… it was active earlier. It was the same energy pattern from the teleportation array in the room. The room where we all woke up. I should have noticed it...tsk."
He pressed his tongue against his teeth.
"I was Careless... I let food distract me. That won't do.. I need to make sure I'm not this careless again... I might die without knowing what killed me"
All the maids separated and walked toward each of the boys, stopping in front of them with calm faces. Each maid bowed lightly and handed over the stack of scrolls and books to a boy each.
The sound of scrolls touching the wooden table echoed through the hall. Tap... Tap... Tap...
Yin Zhe accepted his set from the maid that came to him. His fingers brushed the rough cover. He could feel the thin pulse of energy inside the books. "Cultivation manuals?…".
Elder Han Zhen leaned back in his chair and continued as if he had been waiting for this moment.
"I know some of you here are criminals," he said. "Some of you even deserve death. And some of you are innocent."
The boys froze again.
His words were calm, but they felt like rocks being thrown into water, and making huge splash.
"My offer gives you a way out. Your freedom."
Yin Zhe lifted his eyes slowly.
He scanned his cell mates faces one by one. Without blinking.
Ren Tie's face was calm, with no reaction. He looked like his emotions were buried so deep that nothing slipped out. Bao Zi stared at his bowl, with a thoughtful face. But when his eye landed on the last two. Wen Chong and Tian Zuo. They both had a tiny twitch in their eyebrows, it lingered only for a breaths time. And that was enough.
"Got you," Yin Zhe thought. He felt he was on to something. Perhaps Not everything. Not the full story. But it was enough to start building the right picture.
Ren Tie cleared his throat. "Ahem…" and raised a hand. Like he had a question. The Elder glanced at him and nodded softly.
"What's the favor you want from us?" he asked. His voice tried to sound calm, but his fingers tapped beneath the table.
Elder Han Zhen didn't answer at first.
He reached for a bottle of wine, poured a cup, and waited in total silence.
The sound of liquid hitting the cup filled the room.
Gush… gush…
Then he lifted the cup and gulped it down.
gulp… gulp…
The boys stared, unsure of what to do. Should they continue eating or wait for the old man.
Finally the elder spoke.
"I want you to join the Shattered Star Competition," he said. "It is being hosted by the Iron Vein Spirit Palace. Enter it. Compete. And become disciples of that palace. Easy peezy right?"
Everyone except Yin Zhe gasped. "He just had to say easy peezy"
Wen Chong shook his head. Bao Zi opened his mouth wide like someone punched him in the guts. Ren Tie gripped his scroll tighter.
The Iron Vein Spirit Palace… the name alone carried weight in this region.
Bao Zi inhaled sharply and asked, "Then what is the other favor?"
Elder Han Zhen raised a finger, not looking at him.
"Do the first one," he cut in. "We will talk about the second one later."
Bao Zi shut his mouth fast. thump. and went back to staring at his bowl.
Elder Han Zhen stood from his chair and tapped the table twice.
tok… tok…
"You may finish your food," he said. "When you are done, check the items you were given you'll find tokens. hold the token tightly and stand up from your seats."
He pointed at the scrolls and books.
"In the items given to you, you will find bottles full of spirit crystals. Enough for you to live off for a while."
His eyes sharpened.
"But if anyone tries to escape…"
He let the rest of the sentence hang in the air like a blade.
"hmph. I guess You'll just have to wait and see what happens."