Red Talon Piercing The Darkness

Xaun Hua bowed to the city lord before taking his leave. When he shut the door behind him, he let out a pent up sigh. He did not envy Zheng Guo when it came to the relationship between him and the city. The string of deaths within the city were indeed a little suspect. The fact that everyone who muttered rebellion against him seemed to drop dead after muttering the words seemed to point fingers at the city lord. Though Zheng Guo rarely ever left his estate for anything, he could have someone working against the city in his stead.

The guard's thoughts turned to Hong Zhao. The boy was capable of killing anyone on the spot, of that he was certain. It was this guard in particular that had to dispose of the Wei family's bodies after Hong Zhao had so cleanly killed them. Though he thought of this, he knew it was impossible. He had been posted as the guard to the boy's room since he moved in a little more than a half a year ago. The boy rarely ate, instead he focused on his cultivation. He trained with Hong Zhao daily to give him some exercise, and to hopefully use the experience to boost his own cultivation.

Xuan Hua smiled to himself as he clenched his fist. Sparring with Hong Zhao had opened up his mind and allowed him to surpass his old limits. He had reached the rank of third star warrior rank within just a few months of training. Not only this, but Hong Zhao had also gifted him some high quality qi absorbing pills every time he won a sparring match, making it so he would try harder each time they fought.

Though they spent so much time sparring, Xuan Hua felt as though he knew little about the techniques that the boy used. He grimaced when thinking about those qi claws Hong Zhao depended upon. When he used them, even his qi sword seemed to be no match. The boy's qi was a quality that could not be matched within the whole continent of Yuan, even Obopin Continent would be hard pressed to match the quality.

Hong Zhao had was always cheerful around him. He was also very respectful. They talked about a great many things after they were done with their matches, yet whenever Xuan Hua brought up a topic which went towards the boy's family, he would always veer another direction. If he truly thought about it, the most they talked about was the city. Where Xuan Hua's favorite place to eat was, or where he got his clothes. He never asked about the guard's friends, family or anything else. If he were honest, there wasn't much to talk about on that front.

Since Xuan Hua had come to Yuan City from Obopin, he had not thought of anything else aside from his duty. He was friendly enough with people around the city, but he never made any attachments. If he were honest, Hong Zhao was as close to a friend as he'd gotten since finding his way to this backwater town. Though he spent much time with the city lord, the man didn't strike the guard as a friend, more like a boss. If he were truly honest, he didn't even like the man all that much. If he were in the position the city lord was in, he would be trying to gain a relationship with the city, instead of keeping himself holed up within his estate.

Xuan Hua thought of this as well as a great many other things as he descended the staircase to the lowest level. Men and women all groaned and yelled at him while he made his way past, yet none of them were able to break his train of thought. Though he was walking through the dungeon, it was was more like he was walking one of the many corridors he had to frequent throughout his time as a guard. He heard the same groans at least ten times a day as he made his rounds.

As he walked further down the corridor, his eyes landed on a familiar cell all the way down to the left. His eyes dimmed slightly as he recalled a boy which had once resided within the small room. Red still polished the stone ground as he and his fellow guards were not completely successful in getting all of the blood off of it. It was here that Hong Zhao had stayed his first few months within Yuan City. It was here that he sat, waiting for the doors to open to put him in the larger areas where he would slaughter all of the prisoners. He remembered each time he was brought back to the cell, completely covered in the blood of his enemies, yet not a single scratch marred his skin.

The blood in the cell was the blood that dripped from the boy as he sat back down and continued cultivating. Xuan Hua shivered as he remembered the sight. He remembered the cold and calculating look that did not fit the age of the boy that walked back into the cell. He remembered how Hong Zhao had slaughtered all, even those who begged for their lives and wondered how this boy and the one on the third floor could ever be the same person.

Chills went up his spine as if the ghost of the boy still resided in the cell he was walking past. This was the only place within the dungeon where he felt uncomfortable. It was as if the air turned colder the closer he came to the cell, yet when he moved past it, the feeling went away.

Moving past the eerie cell, Xuan Hua made his way to the final door at the end of the corridor. This door was not barred like the rest. Instead, it was a solid iron door with two light stones on either side. The stones gave off a ghostly white light, illuminating only the door, but not the surrounding corridor area.

Xuan Hua tapped a memory stone to a panel near the door, when he heard a mechanism within the door click, he swung it open. Inside, the same stones lined the walls within, yet these ones illuminated the chamber completely. The room itself was quite lavish. It looked almost like the one that Hong Zhao had taken on the third floor, the only difference was that the resident of the one upstairs was allowed to leave at anytime, while this one was made for one person in particular.

As soon as the door swung open, Xuan Hua raised his hand and caught three needle sized qi strands out of the air. As soon as he caught them, he heard a sigh and looked towards the four poster bed. Atop the bed sat a girl with long dark hair and white jade skin. She was at most twelve years old. Her body was just reaching the beginnings of maturing as two small peaks could be glimpsed beneath her lavish blood red robe. "Do you have to catch them every single time?" The girl pouted. "Maybe just let one hit you?"

"The City Lord has work for you, Ren Cai." Xuan Hua raised an eyebrow as he let out a sigh of his own.

"It's about time." Ren Cai's eyes lit up mischievously. "What has my friend Hong Zhao been up to?"