Eternally Ambitious Wangfei

Chapter 59

For the first time in a long time, the sadness the wrought over her being had happened only once so long ago in a time before she became part of the Sect and before she learned what death was. Mingxia Jie cried as the crowd jeered after Bai had died. True the people had lost an important public figure, but their sadness was not on an emotional level, it was merely an illusion of their sadness, their small worldly troubles were what aroused the evil and temptation in their hearts. As Mingxia Jie started to feel the small ball of sadness sit in her soul she also felt something shifts. A sort of numbness that set in, but she openly welcomed the feeling as she tried to smooth out her thoughts and emotions. The numb feeling calmed her and let her wipe her tears away. When she finally pulled herself together she looked at the man beside her. Peizhi had certainly aged from the last time that she had seen him, but when their eyes met a quiet agreement was concluded as they left their hiding spot. Now that Mingxia Jie had no longer a reason to stay in Jiang, her thoughts when back to what Bai said. Go to Penlai island. The duo walked into a tea house to discuss the next part of their journey. Sitting in the tea house, Mingxia Jie felt out of place after all that had happened in what could only be described as a short lifetime. She exhaled around her and tried to feel what little normalcy that would exist at this moment.

Curiously Peizhi stared at her as he took in her different appearance, it was very different than what he used to. His Master seemed outwardly feeble, but that was far from the truth. In his mind, it didn't matter what form his Master took, he would love her. After ordering the tea, he examined curiously at the table as he peered into his mind as to what would happen next.

-"Peizhi."

-"Yes, Master."

-"We are leaving Jiang tomorrow, pack what you have to and we can steal some horses."

-"Where are we headed?"

-"South Chang. More specifically Penlai island."

-"Do we need companions to arrive safely? Because I know a few."

Mingxia stayed silent for a bit. She thought about companions on their little journey. It would not be ideal since it would bring about questions, but travelling alone with Peizhi would also warrant questions. She was broken out of her reverie by a tiger's roar and a lot of screaming. Both Master and student looking at each other and then walked calmly towards the edge of the balcony. There stood Laohu in all his majesty with five foreigners in his company. Laohu raised his head to meet Mingxia Jie's eyes. The party following Laohu proceeded to do the same. Mingxia Jie let in a sharp breath as she saw the man who she met in the store and the demon from the alley. A thousand thoughts ran through her head. How had they come to meet each other? Did Laohu know he was a demon? Did the other party members know about the demon? Why were they together? But without answers, these questions were of little value to her. 

With a flick of her sleeves, she returned with Peizhi to where her tea awaited her. She heard the soft padding of the tiger approach the room and paw gently at the door. She opened it and the tiger came in and settled beside her comfortably with the party entering the room as well. 

-"Laohu, you have some explaining to do."

The tiger looked at her feigning ignorance as he swished his tail in a bored manner. Peizhi raised his hand to get Mingxia Jie's attention

-"These were the companions that I mentioned before. Last time I spoke to them I told them that we had business to handle and gladly agreed to join us."

Mingxia Jie let out a huff at the thought of strangers randomly joining them without question, she was aware that they held another important agenda but she was unaware of it. The foreigners could feel Mingxia Jie criticize them, but they were more than happy being in the presence of their Queen. Letting out a final sigh she gave up her attempts to understand the people in front of her. 

-"What's the earliest that we can leave at?"

-"Now."

-"Now?"

-"I brought very little with me Master, and my companions are already packed. Now let us go and steal some horses like we use to, for good ol' times sake. How about it?"

Mingxia Jie let out a chuckle at Peizhi's comment, but she shook her head and stood up. Laohu looked at her and huffed out an annoyed whine before following Mingxia Jie out of the tea house. As dusk started to settle in the distance, the gates of Jiang opened in the south where the party of misfits stole some horses and galloped out of Jiang in a flash. 

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Outside of Jiang's northern gates, Kangxi wangye stood tall. The guards of Jiang spoke with respect as they told him that the northern gate would be open by tomorrow morning. He sat in his tent pacing back and forth as he willed daybreak faster. He prayed that his strong-willed wife wouldn't do anything stupid. A heavy sigh escaped his being as he stared up at the sky wondering what could possibly happen in the next few hours. He noticed a firework going off in the distance. It immediately caught his attention. It was coming from far of the edge of the forest on the south side of the city. His instincts told him to not take it lightly. Looking at his tired guards he grabbed a horse himself and urged the beast to where the light had come from. It would at least take him half the night to reach his destination. He slowed the horse as he scanned the scenery in the hopes of catching the shapes of something human. Nothing seemed to stand out immediately as he focused on the growing mass of a house at the edge of the forest before foliage disappeared behind the thick trees. No one would be able to ride a horse through the thicket he assumed. Whoever had set off the firework had some reason to do so. And maybe just maybe, it would have been his wife being inconspicuous for him. 

Arriving at the house at the edge of the forest he found red silk hanging on the door frame which confused him. He reached for it and pulled on the material, the material brought him a piece of paper. He untied the paper from the red silk and read the letter. 

-"Come to South Chang, Guo'er. We're waiting for you. -Peizhi"

Kangxi Di Guo only saw red as he ripped up the paper and set the whole place on fire as he left the terrible place. At the least, he knew that his wife was somewhat safe. He thought, but a little bit of doubt ate away at him knowing that something bigger was afoot. But it eluded him, shrugging off the chill that crept on his spine he rode back to the camp to inform his party what had happened and the change of plans. He sighed knowing that he would have to head home to restock and change out his guards with him in order to be able to even reach South Chang in one piece. He's been letting others handle his current affairs and had been able to reach Jiang, but with this change in plans he did not know when the next time he would be able to escape the capital again to find his wife. At the very least she wasn't dead yet, because he would revive her just so that he could kill her himself for putting them through so much mess in such a short period of time.