Chapter 4: Changes In The Face

 

Oh! How can I repay the favor?

Lanling was speechless. He thought that if he could not repay the favor now, they may ask a hundred times greater favor in the future.

The black clothed girl continued, “I do not want any money. I only want for the Suo Clan’s lineage to continue.”

Lanling said, ”If I do not promise, will the Suo Clan’s lineage perish?”

“Yes”, The black clothed girl said, “The Suo Clan’s young master, Suo Lun, is now the sole heir of Tianshui City. This city is moreover has been the eyed by the Royal Family for a long time. If the Suo Clan has no successor, this may be a sufficient pretense for the Royal Family to take back the City.”

Suddenly, Lanling became silent.

The black clothed girl said, “If you promise me, not only will you repay me for saving your life, but you are also saving a family with a heritage of over two hundred years.”

Lanling said, “I do like to repay you for saving my life, but I want to be myself too.”

The black clothed girl said, “Three years ok. You only need to pretend as Suo Lun for three years, Just until the Clan’s crisis is over. Three years later, as long as you want, you can be you.”

………………………….

A full quarter of an hour later, Lanling nodded reluctantly and said, “Ok then, I promise you to pretend as the young master for three, only three years.”

“It’s a deal,” The black clothed girl then sighed a long breath of relief.

The younger sister standing on the side wanted to say something, but a cold stare from the elder sister stopped her.

“My name is Ye Jing Yu, and my younger sister is named Ye Jing Feng. Once your body is healed, we will immediately set out for a place where we can alter your appearance.” The black clothed Ye Jing Yu said.

“Alter my face?” Hearing this, Lanling was suddenly startled.

“Rest assured, you will not be in any danger. You can alter it back to your original face in the future.” Ye Jing Yu said, “You take a good rest. We will continue to hurry along until we find a suitable place to sleep.”

Then she took her sister into the carriage and urged the horses to move on forward.

“Sister, the young miss did not agree to this. How can you secretly call the shots and decide on this matter?” Ye Jing Feng murmured.

Ye Jing Yu said, “I believe that the young miss will agree to my decision. I did this for her in order to save the Suo Clan.”

…………………………………

For several days, Lanling continued to recuperate inside the carriage. Then Ye Jing Yu took him to a mysterious alchemist in order to change his face.

His body really went against the heaven’s will. He was rescued a few days ago from death’s door and only took mere days to recover back to full health. He really does not know what this mysterious energy inside of him was.

The three people rode on for five days and had travelled for more than 1000 miles. The places along the way are getting more and more sparsely populated, and they continued to go deeper into the country.

They finally arrived on their destination, a Lord’s castle.

This manor was located in the middle of the mountains. Lanling could not comprehend how it was constructed.

The place was not big, yet it was beautiful to the eye.

The castle itself was black, yet the garden was actually very bright. A very unusual contrast.

It seemed that the master of the place was very, very rich. No habitation can actually be found within a one hundred miles radius. Yet this master actually built his castle here.

Ye Jing Yu, Yi Jing Feng, and Lanling dimounted the carriage and the three entered the castle.

The whole estate was empty, like a ghost town, but the trees inside the garden were neatly arranged and planted.

When they entered the castle, Lanling felt the temperature dropped several degrees.

Every part of the castle was gorgeously decorated, but the lighting was very dim. The atmosphere was beautiful but depressing so that Lanling felt like he was in a vampire castle like in horror video games.

There was no one inside the castle, nevertheless every piece of furniture and every inch of the carpet was spotless.

Ye Jing Feng’s martial arts skill was very high, but the place’s unfamiliarity made her want to hold her sister’s hand though she did not do it. She haven’t been into this kind of atmosphere before.

Ye Jing Yu and the other two ascended the stairs with the coffin and continued to go up. They walked up until they did not know how many levels they already passed. Then they finally reached the topmost level of the tower.

There in front of them was a door, painted in black and was studded with gold. Ye Jing Yu reached out her hand and gently knocked on the door. There was no response coming from the inside. Then the door suddenly opened, as if a gust of wind blew it open.

Lanling was so frightened when the door suddenly opened that he jumped backward.

The whole castle was luxurious and exquisite, only the top floor can be considered as hellish.

Lanling first saw the numerous skulls then the various limbs and bones scattered about. There were jars filled with strange liquids and the room was covered in smoke which had a strange taste..

Besides human parts, there were also various parts of other creatures. Some broken eyes still move unexpectedly.

The whole place was a laboratory. Behind a huge table, sat a skinny person clothed in a black robe and a pointed hat. At the first one may think that no one was inside the robe, this person was too thin. The outstretched hands looked like branches.

This mysterious person was the master of the castle.

“What do you want?” The master asked. His voice sounded like a dead wood, one cannot determine if it came from a man or woman.

“Face change.” Ye Jing Yu said.

…………………………..

“The two faces needs to have a similar bone structure for their appearance to look the same.” The master said.

“Yes. Their structures are very similar.” Ye Jing Yu said and then opened the coffin.

As if a gust of wind, that skinny being instantly appeared in front of Lanling. He saw her face under the black cloak.

The person was a woman. She was too old to determine her age and her face contained many layers of skins. The reason why they knew that she was a woman was that her lips were painted very brightly. Furthermore, she was blind, her two eyes were empty and dry.

He reached out her chicken feet like hands and touched the face of Lanling. Suddenly, all the hairs in his body stood up, he felt that a ghost touched him.

She felt his face very carefully, every inch and millimeter. She then went and did the same to the face of Suo Lun. She did not leave any places unchecked.

A quarter of an hour later, she opened her mouth and said, “Can change the face. A thousand gold coins.”

Lanling was unknowledgeable on this world’s currency. He knew not whether a thousand gold coins is more or less, but his sister, upon hearing this sum, will undoubtedly scream and may even cry.

Ye Jing Yu said, “We haven’t bought that much money. Can you change his face now, it is an important manner. The remaining coins we can pay next month.”

“No.” The master said.

Lanling said, “We can go get the money first and then come back here afterwards.”

Ye Jing Yu shook her head, “Too late.”

The alchemist said, “Either you pay now, else my mind will change in the future, and refuse to alter the face..”

Ye Jing Yu said, “As I said, we haven’t brought that much gold coins.”

The master asked, ”How much do you have?”

Ye Jing Yu said reluctantly, “I only have 98 gold coins.”

98 gold coins and 1000 gold coins. The gap was too great. The looks on the woman alchemist, showed that there was no room for negotiation. Suddenly, Lanling did not know whether to rejoice because of the girls’ misfortune or not.

Ye Jing Yu said, “Is there anything we can do? This face matter is really important to us.”

"Your problem has nothing to do with me. I just want the money.” The master said.

Lanling finally knew why her estate was luxurious, she was really, really rich.

“There is one thing that you can do.” The master said suddenly.

Ye Jing Yu was pleased, “What is it?”

The alchemist pointed straight at Yi Jing Feng, “I like her, she stays with me for three years. Your 902 gold coins debt will be nulled.”

Without even thinking, both Lanling and Ye Jing Yu said simultaneously, “No.”

Throughout these days of travelling, Lanling was very fond of Ye Jing Feng. Her martial arts seemed to be higher than her sister. However, she was very timid and innocent. She was also short and was solely dependent on her elder sister.

As for Ye jing Yu, since they were small, both of them were inseparable. They were like conjoined twins, where one goes, the other also follows. Although her sister’s skill was higher than her, she was still protective of her.

Being separated for three years was really like her heart torn in two. Not to mention that her sister was also terrified of this castle. She cannot accept this knowing that Ye Jing Feng was timid and get easily scared.

“If you do not agree, then leave.” The alchemist coldly said.

Ye Jing Yu stood there and can’t decide on what course to follow. However, Lanling was extremely reluctant to let Ye Jing Feng stay here.

“I promise.” Ye Jing Feng suddenly stood and resolutely spoke out.

“Sister.” Ye Jing Yu exclaimed in alarm.

Ye Jing Feng calmly said, “Elder sister, Master raised us. The Young Miss also regards us as blood sisters. I cannot bare to watch the family which I treasured so much to end. This little sacrifice of mine is just too small to express my gratitude of being a part of such family.”

Ye Jing Yu’s turned red, “But can you really do this? You have never ever left my side.”

“I don't know.” Ye Jing Feng said. “Elder sister took care of me so well that I am just similar to a child.”

Ye Jing Yu sadly closed her eyes. She took a deep breath and then opened them again, “Well, I agree to let my sister stay with you for three years. You will not do terrible things to her right?”

“Of course…” The master said with a smile. “Well, I have to do the face. Watch out.”

The master took a box and opened it. She quickly reached her hand inside and took out a weird living thing. The creature was completely transparent. It was like water. After taking it out, the creature screamed out of fear, Is she gonna use this to alter my face?

They can only watch as much, and Ye Jing Yu and the other two were forced to leave the room.

……………………………..

Merely two hours later, the laboratory door slowly opened.

Lanling instantly saw the unsightly corpse of the Suo Clan’s young master. Not only the entire face was gone, but every skin of the body was also gone.

Yet on top of the table lay a mask.

The mask was entirely different to what Lanling was imagining. It was not a mask made out entirely of human skin, instead it was composed out of a thin layer of semi-liquid crystal, about two or three millimeters thick. It completely fit a face’s contour. It was transparent but it also flows, as if it has a life itself.

“Lie down, I will now change your face.” They alchemist said.