"?""My Lady, I don"t think it is wise to stay close to a man you have just met. You are the honoured lady of the Feng family."
Felicia had a question mark floating over her head with the sudden remark while Cole had suddenly teleported to her back and cautioned her like a loyal servant. His voice had a lot more subtle emotion than usual and his actions showed that he cared for her dearly.
"It"s fine, w.a.n.g Shu. After all, you"re here to protect me, aren"t you."
"Haa... That"s the problem with you. I can"t always be there to protect you."
"But you have been. Ever since that day."
"Haa.."
Cole, who was now apparently named w.a.n.g Shu and was lady Feng Huan"s eternally devoted bodyguard all of a sudden. Sighed out of a mix of worry and frustration at his Mistress. Zhujiao was still stunned over his discovery and was still processing it.
"..."
"..."
〈「...」〉
"Nii, when did Cole suddenly become a supporting male lead?"
"I think just now."
〈「I didn"t think he had it in him.」〉
They all felt that Cole truly was who he was supposed to be. When they were thinking of his backstory, they got really into it.
w.a.n.g Shu was supposed to be Lady Feng Huan"s childhood friend and loyal bodyguard. After spending the majority of their years together. He eventually fell in love with his pure and kind-hearted mistress.
However, he couldn"t bring himself to tell her about his feelings for he was meant to be a bodyguard that existed in the shadows. Never reaching the light, only existing behind it.
For she was the young mistress of the Feng family, the family that lent their seal and prestige.
And that"s why he was only a supporting male lead. Because she would probably be whisked away by some prestigious and handsome clan heir or some other country b.u.mpkin that had extremely high cultivation and would end up beating up the prestigious clan heir who was actually just cannon fodder.
The two of them really got into making the backstory. Even though it would end up being pointless later on.
They just didn"t expect for Cole and Felicia to actually go through it.
For Cole, maybe he also considered acting as a weapon. Or maybe it was just pure talent. As for Felicia, it could be that she actually enjoyed it.
They had gotten Cole"s name from an article t.i.tled "11 Most Beautiful Chinese Names and What They Mean."
His name was the name of the G.o.d that drives the carriage for the moon in ancient Chinese mythology.
They had thought of just google translating his name and test their luck if it would become something coherent. It just turned into a combination of characters that produced similar sounds like his name.
They also considered making Felicia"s fake name being related to the moon so it would be perfect but went with "Huan". Since it meant happiness and the word that he name was taken from meant "intense happiness."
〈「Anyway, you two. You have to turn mute now.」〉
The twins nodded silently and mouthed out "Okay" to Val.
They left Val to guard the carriage and walked over to the weird triangle of something.
"? Who are these two?"
Zhujiao momentarily forgot about Cole with the new challengers approaching and couldn"t help but ask.
"The boy is Xiao Yang and the girl with Xiao Yin. They can"t speak but they"re good kids."
The twins bowed as Felicia introduced the two. Their faces looked so innocent you would have had a hard time believing that they were the two that speculated whether or not a random dude was gay.
"By the way, what did you mean by "I found you"?"
"Ah! That"s right!"
Zhujiao dropped everything and then kowtowed before Cole. He was taught to never bow down to anyone below him in status but the Fairy Oracle had told him it was best to do so. The Fairy Oracle had said that even if his meridians were healed by the waterfall, the man could still give him invaluable advice.
"Please take me as your disciple!"
"..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
〈「???」〉
The group had entered their fourth or fifth? Moment of silence. With the exception of Val this time. He was only confused as to why Zhujiao was presenting himself as an offering. That was what the humans that were offered to Val often presented themselves.
It was the same for all the animals and monsters too.
"Why do you want to become my disciple?"
"That"s because the Fairy Oracle foretold of your appearance!"
"..."
"Is this guy a crackhead?"
That was the first thought that entered Cole"s mind. It was quickly discarded considering that he was in the Chinese equivalent of the〈Fantasia Zone〉, anything was possible.
He shouldn"t go a.s.sume that a young man at an age where a lot of questionable decisions can be made automatically does weed when they talk about a fairy being an oracle.
Well, any other place and his thoughts would be totally justified.
But Cole"s control of his face was impeccable. It remained the cold and unfeeling mask that it was.
Zhujiao felt his will dwindling bit by bit the longer he was under Cole"s scrutinizing gaze. He felt the urge to lift his face and look at him in the eye rise up many times but he didn"t want to face the fierce stare head-on.
He didn"t know how long he was stuck in the same position, he felt like he spent hours like that when in reality it was only a few seconds or minutes.
And then finally, Cole opened his mouth.
"...Why should I take you in as my disciple?"
Zhujiao felt all kinds of reasons enter his mind. A few examples were "Because it was meant to be!", "Because I"m the heir to the Nan Clan!", "Because the Fairy Oracle foretold such!"
A few of them were filled with pride for him being the eldest son and heir to the Nan Clan, but how long would that last?
His father had already considered handing over the heir seat to his little brother. His father loved him dearly and was even now searching for a way to heal his broken meridians but he had to do what was better for the clan.
Well, they were already in an okay enough condition for him to resume his cultivation but could he still catch up?
He didn"t have enough confidence in himself to do so. He would need expensive herbs that were difficult to get and the waterfall had properties that sped your cultivation speed faster, but that would be cheating, wouldn"t it?
He felt scared at the man gazing down at him with no exact reason and he didn"t even sense the tiniest bit of Qi in him. It could be that he was a hidden expert and was merely hiding his cultivation but if he truly had none and yet he could still hold such a gaze...
"..."
"...There is no reason."
"There is only a young boy who got his meridians crushed and followed the words of a fairy that might have just be a figment of my own imagination..."
"..But still!"
Zhujiao lifted his head and his expression was just so earnest. It would make anyone feel pity for when that earnest expression was turned into disappointment.
He wanted to speak more but he was then cut off by Cole"s cold and emotionless voice.
"What? Are you going to answer with "I want to become strong! At whatever cost!"?"
"Do you think that those are some magic words that will fill me up with hope and make you appear to be full of promise and at the same time showcase your resolve?"
"Will it suddenly make me want to make you into my disciple?"
With each sentence, Zhujiao felt his heart crumble bit by bit. Each of Cole"s words was true and Zhujiao knew that. He wanted to interrupt but Cole crouched down right in front of him and stared Zhujiao down right in the eyes.
Zhujiao felt his soul being sucked out from him. When the Fairy Oracle told him "eyes of the abyss", she really meant it.
"No. No it won"t"
"Because that"s reality."
"If you really want to show me your resolve..."
Zhujiao"s will was nearly crushed by all of his words and stared down at the ground in shame and his nails dug deep into the palm of his hand which caused small trails of blood to drip down.
But when Cole extended a sliver of hope, Zhujiao raised his face in expectation.
"Jump into that Dragon"s mouth."
Zhujiao followed Cole"s line of sight. It was in the direction where the carriage was. Zhujiao was still stunned from Cole"s verbal onslaught and a bit of confusion was added when he looked at the black beast hooked up to the carriage.
It looked more like a giant scaly horned lizard rather than a Dragon to him at least due to how Dragons were often described to him as a child.
Cole then gave the Dragon a signal. It received it and shooked off the reins attached to it and stomped its way over to the party.
Up close, he was the size of two horses. His size intimidated Zhujiao a bit but he did his best to stand up and face the "Dragon", right in the eye.
"Val, expand."
「Hmph!」
Smoke came out of the Dragon"s nostrils and it was as if had snorted.
Then, black smoke started to emerge from the ground the Dragon was standing on. It swirled around the Dragon"s body and formed a giant black tornado that reached the skies.
The sky darkened and purple bolts of lightning similar to the one he was struck by last night. They roared with a dragon"s ferocity and it struck fear into Zhujiao"s heart. He broke out into cold sweat and felt like fleeing but he remembered Cole"s words.
"If you really want to prove your resolve..."
The black tornado started to fade away but in its place, a black beast with scales that had a royal purple shine that was only able to speak for one-tenth of its true majesty.
Claws that could tear through anything. Robust legs that could crush kingdoms and empires on a whim. Jaws that probably ate humans for breakfast.
"Jump into that Dragon"s mouth."
Zhujiao could feel a helpless grin forming on his face. The urge to p.i.s.s his pants came and evaporated at the same time for the same reasons.
And for a second, He thought he could see a sneer riding on the Dragon"s face.