Chapter 3:The Sunrise

Hua Shen cursed his luck in his mind. This is exactly what he didn't want to deal with. He sighed in his heart and decided to try and talk his way out of this. If that didn't work then he would have to Run. He hates fighting, And If he's given the chance then he'll just run away. Even if he is labelled a coward, at least he is alive. 

" I thought your . . . . . Client (?) Already let me go " Hua Shen tried to reason calmly with the baldy but his words didn't seem to get through to him as the baldy threw 5 daggers simultaneously at Hua Shen. Hua Shen dodged them all and watched how the daggers disintegrated everything they touched. 

" I don't trust you!! You've bewitched the other townsfolk, Including my daughter!! Why would I let a demon go free?! " Ai Pang yelled as he pulled out more daggers, However, these were different because they had black blades instead of silver like the ones he threw previously. The other ones had a very small amount of regular poison, but these ones were on a whole different level. 

Mó dú* Hua Shen recognized the poison as soon as he smelt the fragrance the daggers were giving out. He felt shocked in his heart but didn't show anything on his face as he looked at the Daggers in Ai Pang's hands. 

This guy Seriously thinks that I'm a demon. 

" Why are you so convinced that I'm a demon? I don't have a golden core, I don't cultivate nor do I even remotely look like a demon. You can ask that person next to you, he can sense that I don't have any Qi in me. 

I'm not a threat to you " Hua Shen really hoped that pleading like this would work because he really doesn't want to have to fight these you, especially if one of them has Mó dú. This was probably the most troublesome situation that has happened to Hua Shen since he arrived a few years ago. 

Ai Pang Hesitated, Looking over at QueBan to see if he was telling the truth. " Is that true? Or is he lying? "  He Inquired. He studied Ai Pang's face for any movement but Jian QueBan kept quiet. He started getting nervous about this and he was right to be. 

QueBan was quiet for a while, He looked as if he was thinking about something. Suddenly he smiled, It looked like a normal smile but the 3 other people there with him could feel the pressure he was exuding. Ai Pang and the young boy felt it the most. 

Ai Pang started sweating and his breathing became laborious. His legs couldn't hold him up any longer and he collapsed to the ground. He dropped the daggers In his hands and clutched his robes covering his chest. He couldn't even speak, he felt like his throat was closing, suffocating him. The young boy did the same but their breathing was much more laborious than Ai Pangs. 

Hua Shen, however, Felt barely anything. There was a very small amount of pressure on his shoulders but nothing too bad. He turned his head and saw the 2 other people on the ground, trying to breath but were having a hard time doing so. He then realised that he made a very big mistake. He quickly turned his head to where QueBan was but his spot was empty. 

Shit! 

Hua Shen looked all around him, He tried to use his ears to listen for any sounds but there was nothing in the area. but didn't see him nor could he see any movement coming from anywhere. He was starting to get anxious, Trying to predict what the other person was trying to pull. All of sudden, His eyes focused on the boy that was breathing heavily and was leaning against the door frame on the ground. 

His gaze faltered when Hua Shen sensed something wrong. He ran over to the boy and saw the shackles that were on his wrists start tightening. They were crushing the boys wrists and were very close to breaking. 

Great, Well I can't really ignore this now. Why did this have to happen? I simply wanted to take a peaceful walk around the lake and yet this had to happen!! Curse you, God!! Do you have to plan my every move?! 

Hua Shen glanced around again and when he saw nobody and felt no more pressure, He swiftly picked the boy up and ran as fast as he could back to his home. It took more than 5 minutes to get back to his siheyuan. 

He had to run around the lake, Through the city, and Down a forest path to get to the gate of his Siheyuan. 

He quickly made his way through the inner courtyard and quickly entered the Main room/ Principal room. 

He closed the sliding bamboo door and hurriedly laid the young boy down on his bed. The boy's breathing had gotten worse and his face had started paling. Hua Shen hurriedly looked around the room and found a grey fluffy rag next to a basin of water. 

He soaked the rag in the water before ringing it out and started to gently wiped away the sweat in the boy's face and arms. When he got to the chains still fastened to his wrists, He saw the boy's wrist had started turning purple. He set the rag down and placed his left hand on the chain that was squeezing the boy's right wrist. 

He closed his eyes and started chanting something in an ancient language under his breath. Soon after, The window behind Hua Shen burst open, Allowing the chaotic wind to thrash around the room, Messing up the blankets, Vases, and other nik nacs in the room. Hua Shen didn't even flinch as he focused on the chains. 

Hua Shen's left hand started faintly glowing a grey colour as a faint grey mist appeared and began wrapping around the chain on the boy. Once the mist was tightly wrapped around the red rusty chain, It started to emit a dark light and cracks started spreading across the chain, allowing it to fall off the boy's wrist. His wrist had turned purple already and was now slowly regaining its porcelain colour. 

Hua Shen then did the same thing to the other chain and watched as the suffering boy slowly started calming down. He was relieved that it worked but he was exhausted now. Doing things like this usually used up a lot of his energy. Finally, He tucked the boy in with the white silk blankets that had golden lotus stitched into them, which were a gift from a townsperson who liked collecting different types of silk from other countries. Hua Shen had gifted him a painting before so He traded the painting with a silk blanket. That was what all the city-folk had agreed on, They would trade a product of theirs for a painting. Hua Shen had experienced how stubborn the city-folk could be so he agreed with that plan.  

Hua Shen left the room after making sure that the boy was sleeping soundly then headed to the kitchen, that was just down the hallway from the bedroom, because his stomach was yelling at him. He didn't have much in the kitchen as he didn't eat much. He only ate when he used the technique he had just used, Otherwise he wouldn't eat at all. 

After grabbing some apples and meat buns from the cabinet, Hua Shen remembered that he had some work still left to do in his study room. He took a bite of the meat bun before spitting it out. He looked at the old meat bun that had mold and dust on it before quickly throwing it away along with the rest of the meat buns. He wiped away the dust on the apple before dunking it into a clean water basin to wash away the remaining dirt. He took a bite of the apple as he walked out of the kitchen. 

He headed there after nodding to himself. As he was walking down the brightly lit corridor, He looked up at the night sky that was slowly turning an orange-ish red-ish colour as the sun rose from the east. Hua Shen was mesmerised by this scene no matter how many times he saw it. Back on his mountain, He would watch the sun rise and set with his mother and . . . . . 

No no, stop thinking about that! I have things to do!! I can't afford to be distracted right now !! 

Hua Shen shouted to himself as he furiously shook his head, Taking his sights away from the beautiful scenery and quickly walking to his study room which was just a corridor away from his room. He took one last bite of his apple before he stored it in his inner robe. He slid the doors open and surveyed the room to make sure that everything was In place before entering the room. 

He walked over to the table and picked up some 5 paper scrolls and 2 paper books. He looked them over before deciding to put most of them in his storage ring. Most of them weren't very urgent, Except for one. It was a scroll that was fairly new, you could still smell the scent of ink coming from the words that were neatly drawn on the page. Hua Shen sat down in his chair that was crafted out of oak and started reading over the scroll. 

After 3 or 4 minutes, He put the scroll down and sighed quietly. The scroll was a request from a noble family that wanted Hua Shen to paint something for their daughter's 3rd birthday, which was next month. The family didn't care what the painting was as long as it was beautiful and of high quality, They even said that they would pay him for it. They said that no matter the price they would give it to him, It was anyone other than Hua Shen. They would have accepted right away and probably demand many ridiculous things. 

Hua Shen was considering whether or not he should accept this request because he doesn't like mixing with the nobles when suddenly he felt a slight disturbance in the air coming from his bedroom. He guessed that his guest was awake, So he decided to put the request at the back of his head for now and went to check on his guest. 

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Mó dú = Demon poison 

Main Room/ principal room = The homeowner's bedroom, usually in the back of the property with 2 side courtyards next to it.