c28 (1/2)

Chapter 28 – The Refined Iron

Xu Yi felt extremely fortunate to have met General Gu. If it wasn’t for him, he wouldn’t have taken the job as a guard, nor would he have had someone to aid him in these troubling times.

“I really, really appreciate your help!” Xu Yi thanked General Gu one more time.

“Don’t worry, it’s not worth mentioning.” General Gu friendly replied. “Hurry up, you’d better immediately make your way to Guanan. I’ve taken the liberties to arrange a carriage, which is already on its way here to pick you three up. Take care, my brother.”

After saying their farewells, Xu Yi, together with Elder Mu and Autumn, rushed towards the gate of the hospital, anxiously awaiting the arrival of the carriage.

Several minutes later, two horses, hauling a large carriage, were approaching the gate. Before the carriage had even come to a complete standstill, Xu Yi, Elder Mu and Autumn had already entered the carriage. It immediately continued and they eventually disappeared into the foggy and dark night.

…

It was late at night, in the main hall of the White Horse Palace, a subdivision of the Black Dragon Palace, there were flaming furnaces aligned in two rows. A gigantic dragon sculpture on the ceiling, created an ominous atmosphere in the red glaring light of the furnaces.

In the middle of the hall, there was a bronze armchair in the shape of a tiger, reflecting a solemn touch. The man who was quietly sitting in this armchair was named Jiang Shaochuan, the leader of White Horse Palace, as well as the father of the man in black clothing. He blankly stared into the direction of the gate, almost as if he had already pa.s.sed away. He hadn’t even let out a single word, ever since he was informed about the death of his son.

- Clop! Clop! Clop!-

Suddenly, a series of footsteps, which sounded like the sc.r.a.ping between a steel file and a copper sheet, broke the silence.

A man in soaked clothing ran towards Shaochuan, he seemed to be exceedingly overheated, as if he had just exited from a flaming furnace. He was the adviser of Shaochuan, who seemed to have something urgent to report to his master.

“Master, I… I have some bad news for you. Our young lord is… is… d… dead.” The adviser said in a m.u.f.fled voice, while sweat kept dropping down from his body.

“I know! My son is dead!” Shaochuan replied in a squeaky voice, which was as cold and filthy as the water in the sewers.

“Master, the refined iron, which was stolen by the young lord, was lost as well!” The adviser raised his voice, as if to emphasize the importance of this matter.

“What? Say that again!” Shaochuan instantly bounced up from the chair, putting his wrinkled face right in front of his adviser, as he held the poor guy by his neck.

“I… I…” The adviser felt choked.

Luckily, Shaochuan released his hand and the adviser could finally repeat his previous words.

-Boom!-

Shaochuan felt like he was. .h.i.t by a bolt of lightning, he rushed into his secret room. After a while, he came back out with an uncontrollable rage. He even kicked down one of the furnaces. However, this was far from enough to express his fury, he immediately grabbed a large sword from behind a folding screen [1], slas.h.i.+ng it in all directions. Several minutes later, the once splendid looking hall, had turned into the aftermath of a battlefield.

“Son of a b.i.t.c.h! Son of a b.i.t.c.h! I will not shed a tear over your death!” He furiously screamed, as he finally stopped his maniacal behavior and put his sword away.

“Master, we have no time to grumble. Right now, to minimize the consequences, we have to regain the refined iron from that guy who killed the young lord. We must find it before the boss from the Black Dragon Palace senses anything unusual.” The adviser anxiously suggested.

Shaochuan replied with a firm nod, trying to pull himself back together.