The Devil of Scarlet Rain

Chapter 46 - The Immortal Flame (Part 2)

The street was extremely crowded as the people gathered around the main square, waiting for the opening ceremony. Today was an important day for the Mo Empire, as it was the anniversary of the founding of Mo Empire, hence a huge celebration would be held every year in the capital city. As per usual custom, the celebration would begin early in the morning, with an opening ceremony, then followed by a lively grand parade across the Mo Capital City for the whole noon before ending in the night with a sky of fireworks. The celebration would also continue to carry on for the whole week, where the street would be extremely lively with various performances and festivities.

For the opening ceremony, the most anticipated performance was the sword dance that depicted the infamous legend, The Devil of Scarlet Rain. The story of a man who traded his soul to the devil in order to attain immeasurable power.

"Fifth Prince, I hope you did not wait too long."

Jing Yun Sheng raised both of his hand as he greeted a finely dressed man who had been long awaiting him at the viewer's platform that was built exclusively for the nobles and royalties' usage. The handsome young man stood up and greeted Jing Yun Sheng with a bright smile. The Yin ambassador who visited this year was the Fifth Prince of Yin, Yin Long.

"No worries, it was me who wanted to come early to take a look. After all, it is a once in a lifetime chance to be able to witness the infamous sword dance." Yin Long replied.

The two gentlemen took a seat side by side as they overlooked at the crowd below them. The common people had long gathered early in the morning, hoping to get the best spot to view the performance later. There were many street vendors who took this opportunity to do business, as they could see many stalls, packed to the brim with people near the stage.

"It seemed that Fifth Prince was very interested with the opening ceremony." Jing Yun Sheng remarked casually.

"Of course! I heard the sword dance was extremely difficult to master as one needs to be highly skilled. As a martial artist fanatic, I have always wanted to see it with my own eyes." Yin Long explained. His excitement was palpable.

Jing Yun Sheng smiled politely back as they continued to chat a little more before the sound of loud drum interrupted them. It seemed like the ceremony was about to begin hence the two of them shifted their attention back to the high stage in front of them.

Five burly males were already on the high stage. Each of them held a pair of drum stick in their hand as they struck on the surface of the drum rhythmically. Their movements were so perfectly synchronized that if one did not witness with their own's eyes, they would think it was only a single drum being played. The loud thump started slowly, and as time goes by, it became much more intense that the audience could feel adrenaline pumping in their body. As soon as it hit the climax, the sound came to a sudden stop and the entire grand square fell into a dead silence.

The crowds below the stage held their breath as they were completely immersed with the thrilling drum performance. Before they could recover their senses, millions of red petals began falling, as if the morning sky was raining flowers on them. The scene was extremely captivating, and very quickly, a melodious note could be heard. Turning their attention back to the stage again, the five burly males were no longer there, but instead, a scarlet red silhouette stood right in the middle of the stage.

Dressed in an exquisite red scarlet robe, and a white mask covering his face, the person who stood on the stage were holding onto a long fine sword. It was a petite figure that looked like a young boy about the age of eleven or twelve. The boy slowly stepped forward, as he dragged the long sword behind him. The sound created by the sword as it scraped through the wooden floor caused many of the audiences to shiver involuntarily, with their heart pumping in their ears.

The hauntingly beautiful music that started slow and steady, began to pick up pace as the boy quickened his pace. Suddenly, he swung the sword up, and began to dance swiftly, thrusting and swinging the sword fluidly, as if he was one with the sword. The sword that initially looked very heavy seemed to have become as light as feather in his hand, as he continued to dance with the sword under the flower rain. His movement was graceful and agile, as he shot up to the sky like a phoenix, somersaulted and landed lightly on his feet again. The move was complicated yet beautiful at the same time. It was truly a mesmerizing scene to behold.

"Magnificent... the person depicted is the Scarlet Emperor?" Yin Long asked, completely engrossed as his eyes remained glued to the person dancing gracefully on the stage.

Jing Yun Sheng himself was caught off guard by the impressive move performed by the boy on stage, that it took him awhile to register that Yin Long was asking him a question.

"No. The one the dancer is depicting now is not the Scarlet Emperor... but the Devil who had descended into the mortal realm." Jing Yun Sheng breathed, feeling slightly dazed.

Jing Yun Sheng was now paying more attention to the performance. After all, he had seen the opening ceremony far too many times to count. He was only here because he needed to attend to the Yin ambassador. Every year, the performance was always about the Scarlet Emperor and how he came to be known as the legend he is right now, but this time, they actually chose to perform the story from the devil's point of view?

Just like Yin Long, Jing Yun Sheng found it hard to pull his eyes away from the red figure on the stage. For a brief moment, he felt that the person on the stage seemed to be looking toward his direction, but very quickly, Prince Mo Lie Yun turned away again. He continued to dance, and the sword whistled as it cut through the air. The crowd beneath began cheering in excitement. Yin Long who had never seen the performance before was also extremely excited, as he jumped up on his feet and began clapping and cheering enthusiastically as well.

Right at that moment, a loud sound of explosion erupted in the middle of the square. Loud shrieking could be heard, and in a blink of an eye, the whole area descended into chaos. People began running in fear, and before Jing Yun Sheng could register what had happened, he heard a loud scream.

"Assassins!"

Jing Yun Sheng jumped to his feet immediately when he saw a group of masked men in black rushing toward the platform they were on. The soldiers quickly unsheathed their swords and stood in front of Jing Yun Sheng and Yin Long to shield them.

"Prime minister, Fifth Prince Yin, please be careful!"

Jing Yun Sheng's mind began to spin as he wondered who the assassin's target was. He gave a quick glance at Yin Long who was standing next to him. Despite seemingly calm, Yin Long's face was as pale as a sheet of paper. Jing Yun Sheng knew right away that these people were here for Yin Long. To have anything happened to the Yin ambassador, who was also the prince of Yin while he was in the Mo Empire would cause a serious repercussion to the relationship between Yin and Mo Empire.

Jing Yun Sheng frowned as he reached into his sleeve, seemingly wanting to take something out. Right at that moment, another loud explosion could be heard, and this time it was very close to them. Jing Yun Sheng turned toward the direction and saw that the high stage in the middle of the square was shaking and trembling uncontrollably, as if it was on the verge of collapsing.

Jing Yun Sheng's eyes widened in shock when he realized the young prince, Mo Lie Yun was still on top of the stage. The young boy staggered as the stage began losing its balance. Jing Yun Sheng gritted his teeth when he realized this was not just a normal conspiracy to kill the Fifth Prince of Yin, but also to take the life of the third Prince of Mo, Mo Lie Yun at the same time. They were trying to kill two birds with one stone!

"Prince Lie Yun, get out of there!" Jing Yun Sheng shouted in alarm. As if he had heard him, the person wearing the mask looked up, and their eyes met.

Right at that moment, time seemed to have unexpectedly slow down. Jing Yun Sheng was stunned when he saw the scarlet red figure jumping upward at the same time the stage fell apart. The boy opened his arms wide, and with his long red robe trailing behind him, he looked just like the immortal flaming bird descending upon them.