Chapter 8: Fengshu City, the heart of Xia Kingdom // Their new home

The Xia Kingdom possessed a long history since it had existed through numerous eras.

One can even say that the Xia royal family is an ancient clan since their ancestor and the founder of the kingdom was an Immortal.

Zed collected and reviewed the information he gathered from asking around. He made sure to keep in mind the noble families they had along with their current youths.

The Royal Xia family had a princess whose beauty was rumored to be similar to a goddess. Not only did she possess an extraordinary temperament, but she was also extremely talented in martial arts.

It is said that she naturally unlocked her Qi by herself which is an extremely rare occurrence. Her talent was so great that she was personally invited by an elder from the Cleansing Jade Sect, a first-rate righteous sect that boasted several Immortal experts.

The Cleansing Jade Sect had an even deeper history than the Fengshu mountain and its capabilities and significance could never be fully grasped by mortals.

Although, what is known about them is that they are an incredibly large sect that has several branches throughout the world. They were a reputable sect that existed as one of the best sects for a very long time.

Zed failed to gather accurate information about the sect because everyone he asked either praised it blindly or just received the knowledge from someone else.

What he did find out though, is that the disciples of the Cleansing Jade Sect were very conservative since they never leave the sect for a very long time.

Each disciple must contribute and they are required to live in the sect. Except for missions, they are not allowed to leave the sect.

These conditions were reasonable since the sect contains everything a cultivator would need and getting accepted as a disciple could already be considered a blessing of a lifetime.

After all, who wouldn't want a chance to become an Immortal?

Moving on to the influential figures of the kingdom, Directly under the command of the King as well as the head of the military was Marshal Tian, a ferocious commander that had won several wars for the kingdom.

The Tian family had authority over the military while all their children specialize in martial arts and military strategies.

Unfortunately, the current heir and grandson of the great Marshal Tian was a famed degenerate and debauchee.

Tian Delun was a famous pervert known throughout the kingdom. He was also known for having a bad temper and hating martial artists.

He had a very large and robust figure and he loved to oppress martial artists he met with his background.

Rivaling his debauchee fame was young master Wan Chao. He hailed from the Wan family which was another deep-rooted noble family in the Fengshu Kingdom.

His reputation was even worse as he was a certified evil that exists as a menace to society. He would have no trouble killing and raping mortals since his family would be there to save him.

Meanwhile, his family didn't care about his actions since they didn't care about the lives of commoners.

In any case, Zed decided that Wan Chao must be avoided at all costs.

Other influential youths were Shi Zedong and Shi Jingfei. They were siblings from the Shi family, a family that rivaled the Wan family in terms of history.

Both had the same amount of influential power making the two families have bad blood with one another.

Shi Zedong was rumored to be a handsome scholar who was famed for his gentle behavior and artistic works.

He was also a diligent martial artist since he was aiming to join the Cleansing Jade Sect.

Shi Jingfei, Shi Zedong's younger sister by a year, was also known as Fengshu's flower. She had a beautiful appearance and a smile that would dazzle the onlookers.

She possessed a bright and innocent personality. She also had a close relationship with the current royal princess and they treated each other like sisters.

She was also known for her monstrous talent in martial arts, one that rivaled the royal princess. Unfortunately, she hadn't been able to naturally unlock her qi by herself and so she was training to enter the Cleansing Jade Sect to continue her rivalry with her best friend.

Those were the current influential youths that Zed took notice of.

Zed spent an entire week gathering information and the best piece he received yet was about the Cleansing Jade Sect recruitment.

It is said that in 5 years, their disciples would visit their Kingdom and invite promising youths to participate in their test.

Only those who passed their test would be taken back with them to the sect.

Zed was planning on joining the sect with his sister and seeing if he could find any clues about what happened to his and Lan'er's family.

Xia Meixiang, the royal princess of the Xia family, was hailed as a legend in the kingdom for being personally invited by an elder from the Cleansing Jade Sect.

However, due to unknown circumstances, she had to wait for the next recruitment before she could join. Though, she didn't need to participate in the test anymore because of it.

In the meantime, Zed successfully sold most of their rare materials which amounted to several hundreds worth of gold taels.

Some of their materials were so rare that he could put them in an auction house.

45 silver taels were worth a year of an official's salary and 16 silver taels were worth 1 golden tael.

In short, they managed to amass riches that could last them for a very long time.

Zed carefully accounted for their budget and never failed to splurge a bit just so his sister could taste a little luxury in life.

They no longer had an outlandish appearance as they wore normal robes that weren't too costly. Every attire looked fashionable on Lan'er and she had also switched from the wooden mask her brother carved into a white mask with patterns resembling a fox.

After familiarizing themselves with the city, Zed managed to buy a small plot of land on the corner of the city.

Security wasn't an issue and there were also famous nearby stores so the plot of land should've been quite costly.

It had a house and a considerably large courtyard but it was still cheaper than the average price.

The reason for this was that the house was rumored to be haunted by the previous daughter of a merchant who committed suicide from her father's abuse.

No one visits that place since they were scared of getting cursed and rich people didn't want to risk it so all of them dismissed buying the house.

When they arrived at the place, the poor and unmaintained state of the house was evident.

But Zed still bought it since it could be fixed with a little help of magic.

Standing in front of the house, the windows were broken and cobwebs could be seen from within. The floorboards were decaying but the foundation of the house was strong.

The courtyard had a fairly wide size since it should be 100 square meters.

From above Zed's shoulders, the small girl tapped him and asked him a question.

"Brother, will this be our new home?"

"Yes. We won't have to move now."

Lan'er jumped off of him and exclaimed. "Really?!"

Her adorable actions caused Zed to chuckle and he affirmed. "Really."

"Oh... Wow! This is Big brother and Lan'er's home now!" She proceeded to excitedly explore the surroundings and check out each and every corner of the courtyard.

The courtyard still needed some fixing since the ground was uneven, shrubs were growing and some large stones were hidden within the patch of grass.

As for the house, it just seemed abandoned.

"Be careful Lan'er! Don't run!" Zed warned when he saw that Lan'er was getting too excited.

She stopped in her tracks and walked normally. "I won't!"

Zed smiled in satisfaction when he saw Lan'er's child-like actions.

'Now then...' He turned to the house.

"Let's get some cleaning done," Zed said as incantations of spells resounded in his mind.

-

It was nighttime when Zed finished cleaning the entire house. He made sure to get rid of all the dust, cobwebs, decaying wood, and pests.

Some furniture was left by the previous owners but most of them were unusable. The only pieces of furniture that survived the passage of time were a few decorative furniture such as vases and calligraphy art.

The house had two bedrooms, a kitchen, a large living room, a bathroom, and a basement.

He had yet to clean the basement because he found numerous junks that collected dust throughout the years.

Zed didn't explore the basement too because he wanted to focus on cleaning the entire floor first and make their room clean.

By the time he was finished, his mana had been exhausted and he was lying dead tired on the floor of one of the bedrooms.

The wooden door slid open as Lan'er entered the room and snuggled to his chest.

"Tired?" She asked.

He answered honestly, "A little."

After all, he did his best to research and gather information for the past week while looking for a suitable place for them to stay.

He also had to manage their wealth while selling their rare materials for a higher price through bargaining.

And lastly, he still had to worry about their new house's condition such as materials for repair and the state of the courtyard.

He had many things to do, but for now... his 11 years old body couldn't help but feel exhausted.

"There, there.." Lan'er rubbed Zed's head.

Her actions caused Zed to be mildly surprised but he welcomed it.

"Brother has been working very hard."

"Mhmm..."

He let himself be spoiled by his little sister who wanted to make him feel better.

The interior of the house was dark because it didn't have any lamps for them to use. Only the moon's light acted as their night light while it shined through the window of the bedroom.

The two siblings fell asleep on the hard ground in the middle of the room.

Unknown to the two of them, a shadow crept from the dark corner of the room. It observed the two with interest before disappearing.

-

The next day, Zed and Lan'er woke up early to buy the materials they needed to repair their house. After Zed saw the extent of the damage to their house, he made a rough estimate of how much he could spend to buy materials.

He also needed to buy furniture but decided to put that in the least of his priorities because he still had to repair their house and clean the basement.

Shandong district was the part of the city where Zed and Lan'er's new home was. It was a peculiar sight for the residents to see a young boy carry his masked younger sister above his shoulders while also carrying wooden planks that were three times bigger than his height.

"Brother, I am heavy so I should probably walk by myself." She suggested it because she knew her brother was probably suffering.

"It's fine, it's fine. Little Lan'er barely has enough weight. Have you been eating properly?"

Lan'er slightly frowned because she knew her brother was changing the topic.

She also wanted to remain like this but her conscience wouldn't let her. She felt bad for becoming a burden to his brother.

Zed noticed that she was feeling bad so he reassured her, "No need to worry Lan'er, I'm doing this because I'm worried that we might get separated or someone would kidnap you."

This was precisely his anxious worry and he felt more assured when he felt Lan'er's legs above his shoulders.

This way, in the case that Lan'er was grabbed by someone, he would be able to react.

"After all, my little Lan'er is too cute," Zed said.

Lan'er felt good from getting compliments from Zed and since her brother said so, then she let it be. Besides, it's not like she didn't like seeing things from his brother's height.

She loved it since she could always hug her brother's head.

They attracted attention from the Shandong residents because of Lan'er's peculiar appearance of a child wearing a mask with long silver hair.

Silver hair was an unusual color to see in their country since almost everyone had the same generic black hair color.

Lan'er and Zed naturally didn't escape the eyes of those people with evil intentions.

Edited By: WorthyAdversary