Chapter Two
"You learn quickly, young yin. But I have held back all these years from asking you what your motive is for doing all this." Mo Qing Yin stared at the back of her master and memories flashed in her mind, forcing her to ball her fists for a moment before she released them and smiled.
"I can't tell you all my cards, now can I?" She asked and he laughed, the sound short and sweet and her heart fluttered but apart from that, she made no other move.
"Well, it would seem I taught you too well. At least give me a hint?" He asked with a sigh and she glanced around the small area they were standing at, her gaze turning distant as she spoke up.
"Nothing much, just a few scores that I need to settle. As promised, I'll get you the Blood fruit this evening." She smirked as she said this, plans already forming in her head and her master smiled.
"As much as that's not what I want to hear, I know one thing, your motive is tied to the lady you buried… precisely, your hand maiden." He drawled lowly and her eyes widened a fraction but she quickly did away with the expression and smirked.
"So you heard quite a lot that day. I'll tell you this, what I'm going to do is going to shake the very foundation of this dynasty, and not the kind that comes with flowers. What I'm going for is blood and I'll get it, one way or another." Then she smiled widely before she gestured at the entire place.
"But first, let's get through your Blood fruit hunt. I know just the place." She muttered and quickly left the place behind. Unbeknownst to her, her master actually shuddered when she made her explanation to him.
Shaking his head, he muttered. "Such plans… Hmm, the weather will change very soon, I'm sure of it."
Stopping in front of the Temple after a whole day of walking, she sighed with relief and a small smile of anticipation crossed her lips as she took slow steps towards the door of the temple.
Her clothes shimmered slowly and quickly transformed into a deep red costume, taking out a pill from her pouch, she quickly swallowed it and tapped on some acupuncture areas on her body to speed up the effects.
Stumbling forward, she yelped softly as she fell straight at the Temple's front door and the pill instantly kicked in.
She cursed internally but her face remained soft, tender even as she glanced up, her hands clawing at her skin as heat began to spread all over her.
"Who are you?" A voice asked from above her and she slowly took her time, glancing up to find a man staring down at her. He cocked his head to the side in question and she slowly stood up.
Stumbling slightly and falling straight into his arms and the heat seared through her skin like hot magma.
It would seem she used too much of the pill… crap.
He eyed her. "Please.." she murmured softly, and he shook his head as he pushed her away and she went tumbling to the ground with a perfectly timed shriek of pain.
She knew exactly who this was… he was Emperor Long Ye Chen, her most sworn enemy.
"I hate this kind of pathetic attempt, did you drug yourself with hopes that I'll take pity on you?" He asked, shaking his hands and she shook her head.
"I…please, help me.."she pleaded again, her eyes watering as he continued to stare at her with an unreadable gaze.
"Your highness, I have arranged your room. You should have some rest before the aphrodisiac fl-"
Her eyes lit up at the approaching male and she quickly stood up and began for him on unstable legs.
"P-please, help…I - I'll pay," she said, grabbing the collar of her costume to peel it off her body and a sudden hold stopped her, causing her to grin internally in triumph.
"Are you that shameless? Throwing yourself at the next available man when I refused?" He fired questions after questions at her and she groaned, flattening her body on him and whining softly.
He sighed, his eyes scrutinizing her all over and carefully picked her up. He admitted, she was a sight to behold and most likely, she might have also been a victim of that aphrodisiac gas they had used on him.
Or maybe she was the perpetrator.. he stopped in his tracks but then her hand began to run along his neck, peeling his costume from the chest open and as soon as her lips connected to his skin, she bit down.
He groaned, pleasure shooting straight into his groin and his arms unconsciously tightened around her as he instantly began to walk again, this time his pace was hurried.
That single move had broken through the defences he had put up to stop the movements of the aphrodisiac poison.
His body began to heat up as he slammed open the doors to his chambers and quickly went to lay her down on the bed.
Quickly going to the door, he conveyed his orders to his guard who was grinning foolishly at him.
"Make sure you check that place again, and no one is allowed to disturb me." He ordered and the guard bowed deeply before he slammed the door closed and locked it.
As he returned back to the bed, his breath caught as he watched her wiggle all over the bed, clawing at her arms and faint trails of blood followed the movements, causing him to quickly rush forward to stop her from hurting herself.
"H-help…. It hurts" she pleaded and his fickle control snapped in that moment and his lips descended on hers, his hand raising up to pull down the curtains as he took her to bed.
As he took her over and over and over again that night without stopping, she smiled in satisfaction, leading him into making all his wildest fantasies come true that night.
Early the next day when he finally fell asleep, she slowly stood up and walked up to the door on wobbly legs, if he was awake then he would only see her fleeing his presence.
But if he wasn't, then that was even better.
She quickly threw out a dart induced with sleeping gas and knocked out the guard standing in front of the door and slowly left the place.
She quickly got to herself, her former clothes returning to her body as she began for the innermost parts of the Temple.
She skillfully avoided the nuns and the ordinary people who came to pray, taking a detour towards the mountain hidden deep within the temples.
It was partially covered by clouds so it was hidden quite well and she had discovered this when she had been making a more extensive search on the Blood fruit.
The Blood fruit was a gray colored ball sized fruit with healing properties. It had the power to heal any type of disease, any type at all.
It was even said to grant immortality once but that was nothing more than a fable, a fairytale. She knew it didn't, it gave your cultivation a boost but it's main property was to heal.
And she knew her Master was suffering from some sort of illness that had been with him since the past three years. He had tried getting the fruit himself but had been met with countless obstacles, it even caused his illness to flare up again.
There were wards in these temples that tampered with anyone who came in with Ill intentions and that was why she had gone through so much trouble to arrange for this particular detour.
The Emperor.
Stopping for a second, she quickly took out the small rounded object she needed from her bag as so many thoughts ran through her mind but one thing stood clear.
A dead man had nothing to say… so she quickly crushed it beneath her palms and knew the poison she had secretly administered to those men she hired under the guise of the Empress would die immediately.
Now, no one would find out that she was the one who did it.
Ducking immediately as words began to reach her, she watched as two nuns stepped out from inside a… outhouse? Adjusting their clothes and giving themselves flustered smiles.
Two minutes later, a man stepped out with a grubby smile on his lips and they each blushed before he turned to look around and quickly left through a back door.
Ah… thanks for the escape route.
She smirked before she continued on her way after they had all left, soon she was standing beneath the mountain.
Her mind pulsed when she tried using it and she immediately stopped, some sort of repelling array.
She sighed, opting to instead take the longer way and quickly she began to climb. The climb took a lot of her energy and strength and by the time she finally got to the top of the mountain, she gaped at the beauty of the meadows resting there.
The flowers seemed to shine, the grass looked far too green to be normal and in the midst of each of them, the Blood Fruit grass stood tall.
She smirked and began to walk towards it but before she could get closer to it, she had to dodge when something whizzed past her feet.
Her eyes squinted as she tried to find what had done that but seeing nothing, she continued on her way but without warning, something struck her legs and searing pain lanced throughout her entire body.
A scream lodged deep within her throat as she glanced down just in time to watch a red colored snake slitter away and disappear into dust. Fuck, she had been bitten.
That must have been the guardian of this fruit.
Shaking her head against the onslaught of pain, she gritted her teeth and continued forward. As soon as she came closer to the fruit, its color began to change before her eyes.
From Gray to a bright red color and then it began to glow luminously as if it was taunting her to take it for herself.
Her brows furrowed at the thought and she quickly recalled the bite from that snake earlier, it wouldn't be a guardian of it wasn't something venomous, would it?
There was no way the guardians of this fruit would leave the protection of such a destructive thing to a mere snake.
She quickly took her own pulse and cursed. She had been poisoned and from how unstable her pulse was, she knew this wasn't a simple poison.
That godforsaken snake! She cursed internally but shook the thought off and returned back her focus to the fruit.
"Come here, you will make a good remedy." She smirked as she leaned forward and quickly picked the hanging fruit and the entire meadow turned black and withered away before her eyes.
What in the heavens just happened? She glanced around in surprise and confusion but found nothing except charred remains, it looked like an invisible fire had razed down the entire meadow.
She turned to the faintly glowing blood fruit in her palm and finally understood, this had been keeping the place alive all these years.
Shaking her head in sadness at destroying such a beautiful thing, she instantly descended down the mountain.
Quickly, she took the backdoor escape route and left the Temple behind but first, she stopped to check up on the emperor and instead discovered a lot more guards than before patrolling the ground.
She had quickly escaped when she recognized a few of them to be close to her level and soon she finally got to the mountain.
"Master!" She called out, quickly hiding the bite mark away and her master appeared before her.
"Qing Qing?" He asked and she smiled with a single nod, causing his whole face to light up for the first time in ages.
"Here, quickly brew it and take it. Don't go dallying or you could give it to your next patient." She chided softly and he gave her a bump on the head.
"Ill do as you've ordered then, but that suggestion sounds awfully like a bet-" a hot glare at him and he disappeared to the kitchen to make the medicine.
Although she could never be as strong as her master, she knew he had to take his health seriously and what other way could he do that if not by listening to her.
As he brewed the medicine, she forced on a small smile as she took out a piece of paper and scribbled something down on it before she went to take something from inside the small house.
Before her master returned from the kitchen, she had already left the mountain.
Her master sighed from the kitchen, aware that she had already left before he waved a hand all over his face and the illusion he had had on him all these years disappeared, revealing his true face.
He'll find her… not to worry.
Mo Qing Yin's thoughts ran a mile an hour as she stepped back into the capital she had fled three years ago, her gaze turned misty as she glanced around, fleeting images of her happy times and sad times all over the place.
She balled her fists in anger, hatred burning hot in her chest as she blinked her tears away and began her search for an inn to stay or mainly, a brothel to place her next plan in.
It didn't take long, asking the first lady by her side who stared at her with something akin to disgust at such a question, she finally made her way to the inn.
Her veil swished around her neck as she stepped into the place and soon, she was surrounded by smiley women but one of them stood out.
Although she was a bit old, she still dressed impeccably. That must be the owner.
She stepped up to her and greeted her, her voice soft and sweet. "You must be the owner, Hello." The woman stared at her with an appraising look before responding.
"I am, who's asking?" She smirked as she answered.
"You don't need to know that, I came here for business. I can help you make more than what you make a whole month in two days. My only request is a place to stay and the necessities I need provided." She said and the woman's brows raised, curiosity filling her eyes.
"Oh… and how do you intend to accomplish that?" She asked, taking a step closer as if to whisper but she smiled and slowly took her time in taking off her veil.
With a face like hers, this place was a mere step stone for her.
And judging by the way the woman's eyes lit up with surprise and shock, she also felt that way too.
"Come, come, come… Important guest in the house, ladies gather for a meeting!" She called out and the women around all followed behind us as she led us all upstairs and into a perfectly decorated room.
"This is our most important guest, she will be going through the schedule and plan for the next two days with everyone. Remember to be courteous or get out." She smiled at the women who nodded in smiles.
It seemed like they had a very good relationship with their owner, it was none of her business but it would help her cause.
Turning to her, the woman smiled widely and gestured forward. "Please, the floor is yours."
She nodded and stepped forward. "For the next two days, I want full cooperation with all of you, to please a client is easy but to keep them with you is hard." He paused when they each nodded.
"Now, what if we use a pill… not just any aphrodisiac pill…" she paused for effect and saw their eyes widen.
"I have one here that can make a man wish he knew nothing else but pleasure, it's called The Pleasing Pill. This pill doesn't have any side effects but the only effect it has is….." she stopped and laughter reached her ears.
They all knew what she wanted to say so she opted not to complete her words and turned to go speak with the widely smiling owner of the brothel who was excitedly chatting with her girls about her earlier words but a voice stopped her.
"And how do you expect us to trust you? We haven't even seen your face and if we're right, then the dancing would be left to you, right?" She asked and Mo Qing Yin stopped in her tracks.
She smirked as she turned to the strikingly beautiful girl and took her time in pulling off her veil and instantly, gasps covered her ears.
"Will you believe me now? Or rather trust in the process. I'll be ready in the evening, don't let me down." She smiled before she left with the owner of the brothel.
That evening, she freshened up and got ready and quickly descended down to begin her performance.
There were lots of people gathered there and the longer she danced the enchanting dance, the fuller the place became and she couldn't help but let out a soft sigh of pleasure at how easy it all was.
As she came to a satisfying end, the area was so silent no one dared to breathe for fear of breaking whatever trance she had put them in.
But soon, a clap came and then everyone followed and soon they began to disperse and some even came forward to ask her to play with them.
Shaking her head at their drowsy look, she began to head back to her room when she bumped into a hard object and went falling backwards.
But suddenly, arms swept around her waist and pulled her forward and she yelped as her veil swished and almost went tumbling off her face.
Righting herself, she glanced up only for her eyes to widen with shock. What was he doing here? She had arranged everything for tomorrow evening, she didn't expect him to be here today and neither was she given that information.
How did he end up here?.
"Have we met somewhere?" He asked, his eyes glancing all over her face and she quickly shook her head as she righted herself and quickly fled for fear of being discovered too soon.
How had he?... Argh f
orget it, it would help her plan anyways. Now, she had no doubts about him being here tomorrow night. He would come, if not for anything but to make sure she wasn't the woman in his dreams.
Dog Emperor, just you wait.