The Red Scorpion

Chapter 3. The Movement

Qiu Ye jumped high with his qigong. Once his right foot touched the tree branch, he jumped higher. His hands spread widely as if he was flying. He went to Xia Palace. Near the palace’s border, he collected his two hands, putting them on his chests. He took a deep breath and jumped high with two of his feet over the towering wall.

There were many guards in train guarding the courtyard. Qiu Ye knew exactly where he headed to without making any suspicion. He sneaked into one room through the door.

The room was extravagant and spacious, full of wooden artistic furnitures. He walked through one of wooden partition door.

There were two men waiting for him inside. One man sat on a long red cedar hardwood bench with two tigers crafting at the backside and armside, a small table stood in the middle together with a full set of white jade wine pot on it. The man who sat on the bench was dressed in embroided black bamboo leaves silver robe. He had a long grey hair, smooth fair skin, pair of black eyes with long eyelashes. He had a charismatic aura alongside his elegant moves each time he took a sip of a wine. Hard to believe this man was actually a middle age man, he looked young and handsome.

The other man was dressed in crimson robe, kneeling down before him trembly. He subdued his head to the floor. Qiu Ye kowtowed paying respect to the man in silver robe, “I, Qiu Ye, leader of Jiang Province Hongxie, come to give a report to Master Wang Qing.” The man smirked, he put down the wine cup with his left hand on the table, then answered, “Qiu Ye, you can drop the formality.” Hearing that, Qiu Ye perspired; he stood up bending his upper body and stretching both of his hands, clasping them together as respect.

Wang Qing nodded and opened his mouth, "Luo Xiong, five units were dispatched from Qing, and you are the only one survive. Explain that.” Wang Qing spoke slowly with intimidating tone.

Luo Xiong hit his head hard on the floor leaving blood traces, “My apology, Master. We tracked his carriage to the foot of Qingya Mountain. It was actually a trap; some men in black were hiding and waiting for us. They were hard trained with good martial art. Among them, there was one young man, who was really remarkable in both martial art and cultivating. We are no match for him, not even Xuan Rong, the Shadow Fang. He was one of the red lotus.” His voice was raised a bit high with vibrant tone.

Qiu Ye calmly listened to the conversation. Shadow Fang was one of WuJun, the five leaders of hongxie. He was a veteran soldier from the past. He made his name during the war of Xin Chang, Northest Gallium War, he was a bruteless soldier named ‘A man worth of 1000 soldiers’. He killed thousands of Xin soldiers with his own hand in one of the bruteless war in Gifu history. He was promoted as Shuzu (Garrison commander) at Bei Xing (northest part of Gifu). When the war was finally over, he started to kill civilians and low rank soldiers to satisfy his lust for battlefield. His real name was Xuang Rong, he adapted Shadow Fang as his name when he joined hongxie. If Luo Xiong told the truth, this young man who killed Shadow Fang possessed tremendous skills. The phrase of ‘red lotus’ intrigued him more.

“Interesting...” Wang Qing stood up and walked toward Luo Xiong, “Do you know what I hate most?”

Wang Qing lifted Luo Xiong head with his hand. Luo Xiong was shivering, his robe was drenched with sweat and his eyes were watery, “M—aster, I dare not to lie. That man was holding a paper fan, but I could see it, behind the paper fan, his eyes were as red as blood.”

“Luo Xiong, making up a lie for your incompetence is unacceptable. What a pity!” No a single word uttered from Luo Xiong’s mouth, his neck was twisted by Wang Qing. He felt on the ground with his head facing back. Qiu Ye was adamant seeing the dead body before his eyes.

Wang Qing stood up. He walked to a small stand where a basin of a water and a piece of towel folded neatly on it. He washed his hand and wiped it cleanly with towel. “Qiu Ye, what do you think of Lord of Qing?”

“Honestly, I do not know much of him. I heard that he was the third prince lover, and he loved going to brothel, wasting his family wealth and fortune. He was not worth for our lord to concern.”

Wang Qing turned to Qiu Ye, smiled with ulterior motive behind, “ You are right. Lord of Qing, Bei Yuan is known as a ‘Wasted Prince’. He was an illegitimate child of Lord Bei with a courtesan. Lord Bei was fortuneless having such heir. A garbage should not be a thread, but who knows, some puppies can grow fangs one day and eat their master alive.” He caressed Qiu Ye’s firm jawline seductively.

Qiu Ye tried to adjust his composure, he clearly understood Wang Qing’s intention. “Do you have anything to say to me?” Wang Qing’s lips were tracing Qiu Ye’s jawline and whispered gently to his ear.

“The mission accomplished.” Qiu Ye answered with a bland exppression.

“What about the Jade Dragon Seal?” His left hand slipped into Qiu Ye’s black robe and his right hand unlocked his black coat. The coat fell down to the floor.

“No information about it. It was possible that the Jade was not in Gao Zhang’s possession.” After uttering that words, Wang Qing sealed Qiu Ye’s lips with his. His right hand was behind Qiu Ye’s head, caressing his ponytail hair. He licked his Qiu Ye’s lips and said, “You are lying...” Qiu Ye widened his eyes in puzzle.

He released Qiu Ye and walked toward the bed, sitting on it with both of his hand behind his body. “Tell me, Qiu Ye, how long are you going to deceive yourself? What is the good thing about that little one for you to go this far to protect him? Did he even know your feeling?” Wang Qing smirked.

“I do not know your meaning.” Qiu Ye tried to hold his feeling but his eyes could not lie. “Qiu Ye, you are not a fool. You went so far by giving half of your qi to him. Ah, it brought back memory, when you threatened me for demanding his life after Yuan Chi’s death.” Wang Qing stared intensely and waved his hand inviting Qiu Ye to his bed.

“I will give you a little advise. That puppy of yours is not trustworthy. One day, he will betray you. As one of WuJun, you should have clear conscience and discernment. I am patient enough to tolerate him. However, it will be different if the case reach the Lord's ear. His death or life is not only mine to take.” Wang Qing fondled Qiu Ye’s hair as he got closer to him. He stared directly to Qiu Ye's anger eyes.

“Don’t you dare...” Qiu Ye threatened him. “You can test me. I won't be merciful...” Wang Qing brought down Qiu Ye with his left arm, stripping off his robe one by one and ravishing him with passion. The night was short and hot for two men whom was consumed by the lust. Wang Qing’s words kept hanging on Qiu Ye’s head, he closed his eyes as Wang Qing forced himself into him, tears came to his eyes, yes, he is worth it.

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As the dawn came, Qiu Ye was standing outside Mao Shan’s hut. He wanted to get into Mao Shan’s room but hesitantly did so. There was a sound of a door being open, Qiu Ye turned back, seeing Chan Yi behind the door. “Master Qiu Ye, what are you doing here?” Qiu Ye smiled at Chan Yi, he was still as innocent as before. That would be good if he or Mao Shan adapted that trait.

“Chan Yi, you wake up so early, are you going to city?” Chan Yi nodded, “I want to buy some meats for master. Lately, he did not have any appetite for food or beverages.”

“You are such a good kid. You take care of him so well. Take this money. Buy him some good wine from Long Qiao.” Qiu Ye took out a pocket of copper coins from his sleeve and threw it to Chan Yi. That boy received it, bowed his body to thank Qiu Ye. “I need you to relay a message to him. Tell him, I will be waiting for him in Luhan.” Qiu Ye pointed his forefinger, and a piece of letter flew into Chan Yi’s hand. When Chan Yi tilted his head to see Qiu Ye, he had already gone.

Qiu Ye looked at Mao Shan’s sleeping face. He stroke gently his pale face, feeling the cold and the smoothness of Mao Shan’s skin. Qiu Ye had been captivated by Mao Shan’s exquisiteness since he firstly saw him. Qiu Ye remembered the past, whenever he was in agony and loneliness, Mao Shan was always there. Mao Shan was more than a friend or brother to him. “Mao’er, you are so stupid, but I am willing to sink with you. I guess I am more foolish than you.” Qiu Ye bowed down to kiss his forehead. With the sadness in his eyes, he disappeared from Mao Shan’s room.

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“Master, I brought you a new robe.” Chan Yi got inside the room. He dressed neatly in ordinary green color robe. His long hair was tied neatly to a ponytail. He was a quite cute guy. He hung the blue robe on the cloth hanger, several folded white robes was put on the counter under the hanger.

“Master, do you need more herb to your bath?” Chan Yi shouted while looking at the bamboo partition wall, where Mao Shan soaked himself in a giant tub. “I am fine. Chan Yi, did you hear anything from the city?” Mao Shan washed his black long hair with the hot water.

“Did you mean yesterday’s incident? Yes, the whole city is talking about it. Apparently, the west side of Jiang City is being blocked by Jiang Army. Both south and north entrance gates are guarded heavily. I made a lot of effort to get into the city. Luckily Master, I bought you a chicken and a piece of mutton. We can stop having bamboo shoots for a while.” He cheered happily.

“What about those boys? Have you checked on them?” Mao Shan pouted a bit. He actually disliked a chatty person. According to him, such person could not be trusted, he might leaked the secret as he ran his mouth. But, he treated Chan Yi differently. He found Chan Yi's personality added a new colour to his life, making it more lively.

“Yes I did. But those boys were still sleeping..”

“Of course, they drank a sleeping potion that at least allowed them to sleep for three days.” Mao Shan got up from the bathtub. “Chan Yi, can you give me some space to change my robe?” Hearing his master words, Chan Yi left the room.

Mao Shan walked nakedly to the other side of bamboo partition wall. He dried himself with a white robe, then put it aside. He had fair skin, a slender figure, the perfect six muscle packs on his stomach, and a slim waist. His hair was black and shiny. He put on two layers of inner robes when Chan Yi stepped inside the room again bringing the comb and some hair pins.

Chan Yi stood in an awe; he almost had a nosebleed seeing his master in inner robe. “What are you doing there? Help me with my robe and hair.” He lost his words. Chan Yi nervously help Mao Shan with his robe. He chose blue robe for his master; the robe was quite blant and plain but it was made of smooth silk, a high quality fabric.

Chan Yi tied Mao Shan hair in half up ponytail, leaving his long back hair loose. He peeked at Mao Shan's face, a diamond shape face, stern jawline, long eyelashes, thick black eyebrows, the pair of charcoal eyes, those thin lips along with the pointy nose, and that small mole on his right cheek. He did not understand how a man could be so beautiful, more than any women.

“Why are you so quiet? Are you running out of words?” Chan Yi blushed nervously. He paid too much attention to his master. After he finished, Mao Shan took a look at a mirror. He touched his face and pressed some parts. He cover his face with his sleeve. When he put down the sleeve, his face was changed completely. His new face was a dull one, round shape face, with olive color skin, and full of red freckles around his face.

“Master, you give me a heart attack. That face will surely haunt me in my sleep tonight.” Chan Yi yelled surprisingly. Mao Shan ignored him, he put some of hairs on his facial. “Master, should you change your face? I think your original face is really pretty. Aren’t you afraid that this ugly face affecting your beauty?”

“You talked too much.” Mao Shan hit Chan Yi’s head. “This is a qi transmutation technique. It change the shape of qi. This art allows my qi to transform into material to fill the skin and add some textures to my face. This facade acts as a mask, to protect me from physical damage. It will only wear off if my qi flow get distracted.”

“Ah, Master... I remember now. Master Qiu Ye came by early in the morning. He said that he would wait for you in capital city and asked me to hand this letter.” Chan Yi took out a letter from his robe handing it to Mao Shan.

"Qiu Ye came?" Mao Shan opened the letter, read it and squeezed it, “They know. We have go to Long Qiao and send those boys to Lord of Qing.”