Legend of The Young Master

Chapter 178: Petty Secret

"I heard," Yun Ming said. His sword shined. Yun Ming was still as calm as water, but both Wuyi and Xilai knew. One move from Xilai and his head would be flying.

Wuyi took in a shaky breath. "Why shouldn't I have you killed?" he asked Xilai.

"Is your petty secret worth the lives of everyone in the castle?" Xilai asked. "None of you will live through this without me. Even with me, the odds are long. In the name of heaven, boy, you just felt his power, did you not?"

Wuyi wished he could think but that damn being had shaken him well.

Xilai"s use of his clan"s name—Yuanjing—had hit him as hard as the being had in the chamber. He didn"t allow himself to worry about Yuanjing for a while now.

"I have killed, and allowed men to die, to protect my secret," he said.

"Time to stop doing that, then," Xilai said.

Yun Ming didn"t move, and his voice was calm. "Why don"t you just shut up about it?" He shrugged, but the shrug never reached the sword's top. "You being the mighty King"s advisor, and all. You stop talking about some other clan"s young master, and we can all go on together?"

"Three in a secret," Wuyi muttered.

Xilai pursed his lips. "I"ll give my word not to disclose what I know—if you give me yours to talk to me about it. When and if this is over."

Wuyi was irritated. Who was this old man, and why was he so interested in him? Where did he appear from? Statues had told him he wore no ill intentions. Wuyi believed it because if this man did, he would not be disclosing all the details to him openly.

"Fine," he said. He remembered that another Yuanjing young master was lying in the hospital, almost directly above his head. Four in a secret, and one might be my enemy, he thought. From the looks of it, he should be Wuy's uncle or cousin. Wuyi felt weird about it; he couldn"t figure out if Guan would be his cousin or his uncle.

He had an amusing thought, I have a relative now—my lovely relatives.

"I so swear, by my Qi," Xilai said.

Wuyi forced himself to raise his head. "At ease, Yun Ming," he said. "He"s just sworn an oath that binds—if he breaks it, his own power will be crippled." He turned back to Xilai. "You saved my life," he said.

Xilai did not do anything in truth, but Wuyi had to show gratitude. Because when Xilai arrived and saw Wuyi on the floor, he cast a strong Qi skill to protect Wuyi"s consciousness. Xilai must be under the impression that his old master Luding attacked Wuyi"s consciousness. When the truth was Luding couldn"t touch Wuyi"s consciousness at all unless Wuyi allowed him to.

"Ah—some shred of courtesy survives in you. Yes, boy, I saved you from a grisly death—he wanted your power for his own. Did he not? That's how he works," the horrible old man grinned. "He was going to eat your soul."

Wuyi nodded. "I feel as if he did. Or perhaps he didn"t like the taste?" he tried to smile and gave it up. "A cup of wine, Yun Ming."

Yun Ming backed up a step, took his sword away. "Loons," he muttered, as he left the room.

When he was gone, Xilai leaned forward. "How powerful are you, boy? No one in your clan ever mentioned you.I did hear rumours"

Wuyi sighed and gave him an uninterested look—

"Don"t mention my clan again." He sounded childish, even to himself.

Xilai hooked a cushion over with his staff and sat. "All right, boy, sod your clan. I am not like their advisor. How powerful are you?"

Wuyi sat back, trying to recover his—his sense of self. His poise. His Young Master attitude.

"I have a good deal of cultivation, and I had good tutors until—" He paused.

"Until you ran away," the old man concluded. "You were able to escape, which of course you did with some unique bloodline power of yours. Of course, you did. I had heard rumors about the Yuanjing clan having a summoner bastard born. But it was told he died. So, you faked your death?" He shook his head.

"I didn't mean to fake it,they assumed" Wuyi said.

Xilai smiled. "I was young and angry and hurt once, too, lad," he said. "Despite appearances. Never mind—cold comfort. I tried to glimpse your consciousness? It"s stronger than a fortress; there are layers and layers of defenses.

I could not even touch the first layer. How did you build such a strong defense? I am sure even he will have a hard time."

"My Summons," Wuyi said.

There was a long pause. Xilai cleared his throat. "You—?"

Wuyi shrugged. "No, I didn"t absorb my summons. It is a unique summons for my mind palace."

The old man narrowed his eyes. "That"s a summon bound to your consciousness in your mind palace?" he asked. "Inside your head."

Wuyi sighed. "Yes."

"Heresy, demonic, gross impiety, against the heavens and perhaps kidnapping of summon too. You cannot use summons to merge them in your mind. They should not stay in this world after their work is done," Xilai said. "I don"t know whether to ask the righteous path to punish you or ask how you did it."

"Summons help me. They continue to support," Wuyi said.

"How many beings can you summon and what kind?" Xilai asked.

"One or maybe two workings, of which I do one in general, which I can summon without exhausting myself—two if i am in rough situation, and if push comes to shove, maybe more?" Wuyi spoke.

Yun Ming came in with a tray—containing a wine jug and cup.

"No one comes in," Wuyi said.

Yun Ming made a face that suggested he was no fool—but perhaps his Young Master was—and left.

Xilai fingered his beard. "Hmm," he said noncommittally.

"I can summon more than two of them," Wuyi said. He shrugged.

"It is splendid, you might become a summoning powerhouse," the Magus replied. "Why—if I may ask—aren"t you the shining light of your clan and bloodline?"

Wuyi picked up his cup of wine and drained it. "It is not what I want."

Xilai shocked him by nodding.

Wuyi leaned forward. "That"s it? You nod?"

Xilai spread his hands. "I keep saying I"m no fool, lad. So your clan trained you all your life to be a warrior for the clan, I"ll guess. Brilliant tutors, special powers. It all but drips off you—you know that?"

Wuyi laughed. It was a laugh full of emptiness. A very young, horrible laugh he"d hoped he"d left behind him. "They—" He paused. "Leave it, I"m not in a revealing mood, old man."

Xilai sat still. Then he took the wine gourd, poured a cup, and drank it off. "The thing is," he began carefully, "you are like a vault full of grain, or resources, or treasure weapons—waiting to be used in the defense of this fortress, and I"m not sure I can let you stay locked." He shrugged. "I"ve discovered something.

Something so very important that I"m afraid I"m not very interested in what men call morality right now. So, I"m sorry for the hurt your clan caused you—but your wallowing in self-pity is not going to save lives, especially mine."

Their eyes locked.

"A vault full of treasures," Wuyi said, dreamily. "I have a vault full of treasures."

"They taught you well, the tutors of yours," Xilai said. "Now listen, Young Master. The mind that opposes us is not some swampling chief from the hills—nor even a normal territory lord, nor even an angry hive wanting to pass through. This is the shell of a man who was the greatest of my faction, who has given himself to the demonic for power and mastery and as a result is, quite frankly, godlike.

I don"t know why he wants this place—or rather, I can guess at some surface reasons, but I can"t guess what he really wants. Do you understand me, boy?"

Wuyi nodded. "I have a thought or two in my head, thanks. I have to help you, if we"re going to make it."

"Even in the moment of his treason, he was too smart for me," Xilai said, "although, for my sins, I"ve only had to face my own failure in the last few months. I was his disciple; no one knew him as well as I did. Living in the King"s palace thinking everything was going right in the kingdom. He had left a special charm that made me chase ghosts for years.

I should have reached Qi lord status, but with all my knowledge I am still a Qi master. Because of his charm skill, I am not certain how he did it. I was certain I was growing every day in power. I am not sure how he lost control of the charm and I was able to get out, but I did. And when I did, the first thing I did was to try to find him.

His goal is this fortress for some special reason, but he will not stop just here." He shrugged and sat back. He seemed suddenly smaller.

Wuyi downed the wine in four long gulps and spoke, "My summons, they are not always righteous. Just so you know."

"I"d like to survive this, too," he continued "I hope you are not against demonic summons. Because they are my lifeline."