Red Talon Piercing The Darkness

"Really, give it some thought Zhu Bai." Hong Zhao said as he looked at the sky above. The cherry blossom branches blew slightly in the breeze, giving an overwhelmingly calm atmosphere. If there was a such thing as a calming time within the day, it would be this. The sun hung above him and his friend as he lay on the grass, looking up.

"This is one topic I don't think I'll be able to indulge in." Hong Zhao's friend coughed into his hand. "Honestly, Hong Zhao. we have been good friends for what, two years now?" He looked down at his friend who seemed to just be laying down completely relaxed without a care in the world. "You should know by now that I am content with my life as your simple servant."

"I don't think friend and servant should be used in the same sentence." Hong Zhao sighed as he sat up and stretched. "Anyway, what harm could it cause to have just a simple conversation?" He raised an eyebrow as he looked at his friend with a condescending glance.. "All I'm saying is that you wouldn't have to step down as a servant, instead you would be moving into a position where you would be servant to all. Leaders who see themselves as more than a servant to all would be considered tyrants, would they not?" He smiled as he looked up once more, staring at a slow moving cloud while deep in thought.

"Zheng Guo is still the City Lord, as was the intention of the great Li Xiao." Zhu Bai sighed as he looked down at the windswept grass beneath him.

"That is true." Hong Zhao muttered. A long silence followed those three words. It was quiet long enough for Zhu Bai to feel like the conversation was over. Before the silence could turn awkward, he cleared his throat. "Though you have been hearing of the oppositions that have been popping up all over Yuan City, right?"

Zhu Bai's open mouth shut without one syllable uttered. Of course he knew of the opposition that had been sprouting up over the city. Even though he was just a simple servant now, that was not enough to cut off the connections that his father had cultivated over the years. As soon as he expressed interest in the goings on in the city, it seemed like old friends of the previous city lord flocked to him. He knew all too well the uprisings that had started a few years back when the prominent families lost an heir each as they plotted the end of Zheng Guo's reign. Though what stuck in his head were not the names of the heirs, but how they died. Each one breathed their last after just a sip of ale.

After the deaths of the first uprisings passed, the City Lord had even more opposition as the families began to retaliate. He remembered sweeping in a meeting room as an entourage met with Zheng Guo, preaching of war if he wouldn't step down. After this meeting, much more of the opposition began to die off, just one heir per family. As time went on, even neighboring villages began to harbor ill will towards Zheng Guo due to similar deaths within their families. Even though the man was still City Lord, it had now become a hallow title.

"Have you even seen Zheng Guo in the last few years?" Hong Zhao raised an eye skeptically, his entire demeanor was one of challenge. Though this was a casual conversation, more rode on the answer than just a friendly response.

"It is true that Zheng Guo has been withdrawn into his studies lately." Zhu Bai hesitated. "Though I don't blame him. In the last few years, there has been at least three different assassination attempts. If it wasn't for that insanely strong guard of his, they would have succeeded on the first try."

"Do you find those attempts to be justified?"

"Yes." Zhu Bai breathed out the word like it was burning his mouth. "For what Li Xiao had done to this city, as well as this continent in general a thousand years ago, I believe that him and all of his followers have forfeited their right to live."

Hong Zhao's eyes went wide. He was still expecting the previous city lord's youngest heir to hold true to his servitude, yet something inside his friend seemed to snap. He could see the anger within Zhu Bai's eyes. He could almost see the boy's father's head on the pike within his own mind.

"Let's leave such grave topics for another time." Hong Zhao cleared his throat as he rose. "How is your cultivating going?" He raised his hands in a stretch before lowering one in offering to Zhu Bai.

"I've reached the fourth star of the warrior rank." Zhu Bai said under his breath. "Though I've raised my strength so much, it doesn't seem like anyone really cares." He shrugged his shoulder as he clasped hands with Hong Zhao. "I thought that if anyone were to reach the rank of disciple, they would be thrown into the dungeon."

Hong Zhao chuckled slightly as he pulled his friend to his feet. He almost dared the city lord to interfere with his plans. Though Zhu Bai hadn't seen Zheng Guo in years, it didn't mean the same for him. Within the two years of tireless training and planning, he had never taken his eyes off of the man, or rather, his shadow puppet's eyes off of him.

For months, he had seen Zheng Guo's eyes go wide as he saw Zhu Bai's strength. Every time he had seen the boy, he would be ready to summon Xuan Hua, yet whenever he was about to, he would feel a piercing feeling in the back of his neck. When he put his hand to the area as if to swat at a mosquito, when he looked at his hand, it would be covered in blood. Slowly but surely, Hong Zhao had pushed the City Lord into the life of a recluse. Even if he wanted to go outside, he would feel an icy cold breeze against his face even on the warmest of days, warning him of danger the moment that he stepped outside.

As Hong Zhao dismantled the City Lord's life, he also took the man's daughter out on dates from time to time. Ren Cai delighted in her father's discomfort almost as much as Hong Zhao did. This was because the man could plainly see that Hong Zhao no longer had any reservations about going outside. He walked out in the open where all could see him instead of in the cloak of night. This was a silent message for Zheng Guo. It stated that there was no longer any opposition which could challenge the boy.

As the years went by, during the day Hong Zhao would split his focus from Zhu Bai to Ren Cai. Neither of his friends were kept in the dark about the other. In Zhu Bai's eyes, Hong Zhao was without a doubt courting Ren Cai. Though Hong Zhao had mentioned Ren Cai from time to time to him, he still didn't know where the girl had come from. Since no one within Yuan City knew Ren Cai's origins aside from Xuan Hua and Zheng Guo, she was safe enough to use her alias around the city while spending time with Hong Zhao.

Hong Zhao cracked his neck as he looked at Zhu Bai. "Why don't we put that strength to the test?" his mouth went into a half smile as he took a ready position.

Zhu Bai chuckled as he too took a stance. "As if you would allow me to say no."