Red Talon Piercing The Darkness

"To think that I believed you to be just a sheep! Xuan Hua felt elated to know that he was no longer the only warrior ranked cultivator within the Yuan Continent. Knowing that no one could match him in strength was good and all, but if there was no one as strong as him, where was the challenge? "All this time you were really a wolf in sheep's clothing!" He could do nothing to hide the wonder that was plastered on his face.

Hong Zhao scratched his head sheepishly. "I thank you for your praise, but I really must be going." He smiled a half smile at the man as he raised an eyebrow. "We did have a deal after all, didn't we?" As he looked Xuan Hua, the man shifted uncomfortably under his gaze. "If you do not stop me, we can come back here every day and go all out in this arena." He knew Xuan Hua had to be bored of just standing around and guarding people. If he were a true cultivator, he would want to test his strength and try to reach even higher levels. He decided this was more than enough to get the man to bend. If he couldn't yet beat this man into submission, he would at least hit him where it hurt.

"I can't exactly let you out of my sight." Xuan Hua looked down at the boy. "My orders are to keep an eye on you and make sure you stay in the compound." Giving Hong Zhao an apologetic smile, he raised his hands in defense as he saw him getting ready to argue. "My orders are what they are, if there was anything I could do, I would. Trust me."

"What were your orders exactly?" Hong Zhao could tell that if this man could find any way around this current predicament, he would. There was a way to appease both parties, he just needed to find out what that was. If he could find a loophole, he would. His mind went back to the trinket that Lan had given him. She had said it would come in handy while he was in Yuan City. The inner working of a plan started to unfold within his mind. All he had to do now is get the information.

"I was told to keep an eye on you and ensure you stay in the compound." Xuan Hua let out a sigh as he continued. "If you walk around the grounds, I am to accompany you. I can be a friendly companion who you talk to, or a shadow behind you. I am to show you where the dining area is, as well as the bath house, in case you don't want to use your own bath. I am to show you the entertainment we have within the estate, and then show you to your room. When you go to sleep, I am to stand outside your door while you sleep. Since I'm a warrior ranked cultivator, sleep is no longer much of an issue to me. That being said, I only need to check up on you every two hours to ensure you remain within your room. If you escape, I will hunt you down and drag you back to the dungeon, then stand guard outside the door to ensure you don't escape this time."

"Right, so basically if I'm out and about, you need to be near me." Hong Zhao rolled his eyes at Zheng Guo's paranoia, then an idea surfaced. "Can you sense my aura right now?" He didn't have his qi blocking uniform on now or the qi suppressor. To anyone who saw him that was above the student rank, they would be able to sense the presence of a warrior ranked cultivator.

"Yeah, your aura matches my own. I wouldn't be surprised if the city lord knew about your cultivation rank already, now that your nifty black clothes are no longer on you."

Hong Zhao nodded, a smile creeping up on his lips. "You know, I'm actually quite tired." He yawned and stretched out his arms in a mock stretch. "I think I would like to go back to my quarters now, if you don't mind." He rubbed at his eye, giving him the appearance of an adolescent child who had stayed up too late.

"You are too much." Xuan Hua chuckled and shook his head. "Then follow me, young master. I will make sure to tuck you in." He pointed his hand towards the estate and they began their walk back.

Making good time, they arrived back at Hong Zhao's room and the boy walked in and looked back at the guard. "Didn't you say something about tucking me in?" He gave Xuan Hua a pleading look that only a truly innocent child could trump.

"Good night, Hong Zhao." The man said flatly and then shut the door on the boy and then posted to the side of it. "That kid is not normal." He said under his breath. Of course he wasn't normal. He was an eleven year old child who had a cultivation base which could match his own. No matter how he looked at it, he couldn't make sense of what was going on. Either the boy had heaven sent luck and ran into one of the last expert's graves and chanced upon a cultivation technique which had not been altered by Li Xiao, or he was not a boy after all, but a man masquerading as a boy. He was close to believing the latter, after their talks, but he couldn't shake the nagging feeling that this wasn't it either.

As Xuan Hua pondered what to make of the day's events, Hong Zhao took out the qi decoy trinket that Lan had given him before he had left the sect. The item was made from a wood that he couldn't identify. It was shaped like a lion's head, with it's mouth open as if in a perpetual roar. The talisman was no bigger than his hand, and was flat upon his palm. "And now for my next trick." A smile crept up on his lips as he inserted his qi into the talisman. When all the qi left his body, Hong Zhao put on a fresh set of clothing. This set was a black robe with small gold lion patterns on it and then sat on the bed. Taking out a qi stone and a qi grasping pill, he popped the latter in his mouth and entered meditation.

As Hong Zhao allowed himself to be taken completely by his cultivating, Xuan Hua had looked in on him once and almost seemed disappointed. The man would have bet a month's salary on the boy escaping if he had anyone to bet with, but seeing him there, he sighed and shut the door.

As soon as he heard the door shut fully, Hong Zhao stopped cultivating and went to the window. He couldn't help but chuckle slightly, but then all went still in the room. If anyone were to look only with their senses, they would sense him still where he had been only moments before.