Playing The Victims [BL]

Chapter Sixteen | First World

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The neutral land once belonged to a man who was plonked in the middle of every disagreement; long before any of the clans had fully formed independently. He was a peaceful fellow who didn't wish to anger anyone, so he found allying himself with one or the other was out of the question.

With time, the newly-instated clan leader's found the peaceful man's actions treasonous. Purely out of their own conceited view, as they believed anyone would wish to ally themselves with such strong individuals.

For a long time, the man who owned this expansive amount of land suffered many hardships by the hands of the bigoted clan leader's. With his dying breath, he left one rule for his heir to follow, and that was that the neutral-land should remain as so. And as promised, the eldest son of the previous kind-hearted man, stood true to his father's last words.

Unbeknownst to the cocky clan leader's of course, as they descended once again, flirting with the idea of getting the son to sell the neutral-land to them, or to ally themselves with their clans. They promised safety in a time that was unpredictable, promised wealth that the neutral-land did not possess, and then there was the undeniable friendship that would stand the tests of time.

But once again, they were rejected. But either clan wouldn't risk attacking the neutral-land, as that would likely force an alliance to be made, but not with their own clan. The neutral-land is filled with pure energy, which at the time, helped any man advance in their cultivation. Over time, as it has been stored, utilised and sold on for a higher price, the worth of the neutral-land increased exponentially.

Then it became that the neutral-land possessed more, in terms of wealth, than its surrounding clans. This meant that the neutral land had become so wealthy that they didn't need to tether themselves to another clan, if anything the other clan's would be the beneficiaries of the agreement if they did so.

ShuNing could tell when ZhangFeng spoke, that the older man was quite fond of the neutral-land's history. He happily and easily divulged the information, over-sharing in some instances. Though ShuNing was interested in everything this world had to offer, there was only so many hours he could listen to someone rabbit on about clan politics.

The only reason he asked, was to swiftly get off the subject of his sudden and unexpected arrival into this world, and how much of a change he had already made.

Fortunately, ZhangFeng spent most of the time sleeping peacefully, hogging up the lack of space within the carriage whilst ShuNing partially stuck his head out of the window, like a dog observing his surroundings. They had long since lost sight of XeTown in the distance, and were now travelling through the dense heart of the surrounding forests. The earth was far from flat though, meaning the driver had to manoeuvre them around valleys and sometimes along precarious cliff edges.

They stopped every three hours, stretching, eating the foods that ShuNing reluctantly offered up and relieving their bladders. Each time both ZhangFeng and ShuNing stepped out alongside each other, the driver disappeared to give them some privacy.

The next time they stopped, ShuNing was beyond delighted to see an actual tavern. It was a surprisingly well-kept establishment, with some carriages stored to the side. Three out of four of the carriages possessed the blazon red symbol of XeClan on the side; making ShuNing's insides twist uncomfortably.

If possible, he would like to avoid anyone else from the same clan, other than the space-hogger that was unfortunately his new travel-companion. ZhangFeng fortunately didn't sense his unease, and seemed not to worry about being identified as he shared a few words with the carriage driver. They pulled up alongside the others' and hopped out.