Chapter 430: Arriving in Muchuan City
"What do you mean the inn is full? There is no one in the restaurant! How can your inn be full?!" The merchant said clearly in a bad mood. He had traveled all the way from the Yueliang Provence and finally arrived in Muchuan City only to see that the inn he favored refused to let anyone in.
"I am very sorry sir, but the inn really is fully booked!" The servant said with a pleading expression in his eyes. "An expert arrived yesterday and booked the entire inn for the next two weeks. Although we appreciate the patronage of our regular customers, this expert cannot be insulted. I am sorry, but please find another inn for now."
The merchant couldn’t do anything as the servant kept refusing him. Eventually, the merchant had no other option than to leave, cursing his bad luck and whomever it was that had rented out the entire inn.
Seeing the merchant leave, the servant heaved a heavy sigh of relief. His hands were shaking, and sweat had soaked his clothes. There was nothing he wished more than to have the current guests gone, but he dared not offend them.
Two days before a handsome young man had appeared. By his side was a snake-woman and behind him was a group of ten experts. These experts all had a cold air around them, and their eyes seemed as if they registered nothing they saw. Their hair was white, and their skin like snow.
None of these experts had eaten anything since they had arrived. They had said nothing and just took on the task of protecting and guarding the handsome young man and the snake-woman.
To the servant, these experts seemed dead, but even so, they were still able to function like normal humans. This scared every servant within the inn deeply, but no one dared to say anything. All they could do was to keep doing their chores like normal and work to serve the two normal people of the party.
"So my dear Yun, we are back in Muchuan City now." Zhong Fai said as he plucked a few grapes from a bowl of fruit standing by his side. "How does it feel to be back home?"
Sha Yun, looking at Zhong Fai, said nothing but shrugged her shoulders. She had been living with the Frozen General for quite some time now, and she knew perfectly well that he had been the one who massacred her group within the Grave of the Unknown and took her prisoner. Even so, she had a hard time blaming him.
Despite her circumstances he had never mistreated her, nor had he ever declined any request of hers. He had even gone so far as to tell her that as soon as Hui Yue won this alchemist’s contest, he would personally escort her home.
While Sha Yun had been treated well, Zhong Fai had only one thing he wanted her to tell him about, and that was Hui Yue. At first, Sha Yun did not wish to answer any questions about Hui Yue, but as time passed, she felt more and more at home in the Frozen Mansion. The more comfortable she felt, the more information he was able to get out of her, and eventually the Frozen General knew everything about Hui Yue that Sha Yun herself knew.
"Now that we are back will you convince Hui Yue that you are the love of his life?" Zhong Fai asked with a gleam in his eye and a smile on his face as he noticed that Sha Yun was blushing.
"I fear that I am too late." She said as she controlled her emotions and shook her head, "although I love Yue, I know that he loves Wang Ju Long. I have been gone for so long, and they have gone through many things together without me being here. It is only natural that they are closer now than they were before."
"Even if he loves one person, who is to say that he cannot love another?" Zhong Fai asked curiously, and his words stumped Sha Yun before she shook her head. "I don't know if we are capable of sharing him. We don’t have a good relationship." She said while opening her mouth to say something else but closing it again.
"It doesn't matter. As long as I can be of use to Yue, then I am grateful. He took me from the forests and showed me the world outside. I owe him everything; he has never treated me like a beast before. He has always been kind towards me as though I were a true human. To be treated this well, how could I possibly try and want for more?" Sha Yun asked, her words as much for herself as they were for Zhong Fai.
"I see. Well if you need help, just call you uncle Fai here to help you. I am sure that I can make it possible for you to capture the heart of any handsome young man." He said with laughter and his words caused Sha Yun to laugh out loud as well. Having lived in the Frozen Mansion for as long as Sha Yun had she had understood that although Zhong Fai looked handsome and young, he was indeed very old. He was even older than Old Snake who was the king of the magical forest where she came from. Calling him uncle Fai suited his age, but not his appearance.
Sha Yun was aware of the bet between Zhong Fai and Hui Yue. That she would be returned home if he won the contest, but she also knew that although Hui Yue was told that if he failed, she would be killed, Zhong Fai had no intention of killing her. She was the only thing which could help him get closer to Hui Yue, and killing her would cripple his own chances of any amicable relationship between the two.
"Why are you so obsessed with Yue?" Sha Yun suddenly asked, her face frowning and her eyes uneasy. She knew that Zhong Fai was incredibly strong, so for him to take such an interest in another person was without a doubt something she did not expect. There had to be a reason behind it, but even til now she had never understood nor asked about it. Being in the Frozen Mansion she never dared to ask, but now they were in familiar surroundings she felt much braver.
"I know you think it is an unhealthy interest." Zhong Fai said as he mused for a bit. "I am currently known as the Frozen General to everyone within this plane. I am known as a supreme expert here; a person which no one can defeat. I am on the same level as Wan Qiao and Li Xiaopeng. But the truth is that the three of us are nothing more than Saints. We might be strong for Saints, but that is our limit. We are bound to this place and cannot travel to the various other worlds that are out there." Zhong Fai's voice faded as he looked into the distance.
"This world is not controlled by the most powerful Saints but by An He and his Generals. What I wish is to fly freely and experiences the many vast worlds out there!"
"I wish to breakthrough into the God rank, but to do so, I need something specific. Normally, this is something impossible for me to gain, but if it’s Hui Yue… It might be possible. One day you'll know. I’m sure you will be there when we get what I need." He smiled, and Sha Yun nodded her head.
She asked no more questions; instead, she just waited for Zhong Fai to no longer be deep in thought about this mysterious something he needed.
In Sha Yun's heart, Zhong Fai had turned into a good friend of hers. She really wanted Hui Yue and the Frozen General to become friends and work together. She was sure that Hui Yue would benefit from such an arrangement.
"We are back in Muchuan City, how come you haven't already rushed to Hui Yue's side?" The Frozen General asked curiously as he leaned back into his chair. Looking at Sha Yun, his eyes glistened with amusement, and he could not help but wait to hear her answer. "I am your prisoner, remember?" Sha Yun joked back but deep inside she was nervous.
She had already accepted the fact that Hui Yue and Wang Ju Long were together now, but somewhere deep inside she hoped this was not the situation. She hoped that the two of them were still as oblivious to their emotions as they had been so far. Her heart hurt as she thought about how her Hui Yue had become the property of another woman.
Looking at Sha Yun, Zhong Fai truly felt sorry for her, but he could do nothing other than laugh about it to try and make her feel a little better.
"When will we be going to meet Yue?" Sha Yun finally asked. Zhong Fai gently patted her head. "Don't worry Little Yun, as soon as my alchemist Zhong Hei comes to visit me, we will move straight towards the mansion belonging to your master."
Hearing this Sha Yun calmed down a little. It sounded as though they would really return soon.
"Unfortunately, it seems that losing to Hui Yue was a little more than my dear Zhong Hei could handle. As far as I know, he has not left his chambers after the contest ended. Who knows why he is suddenly so obsessed with creating pills." Zhong Fai sighed. He considered Zhong Hei one of his closest followers, one of the people he really trusted, and he had never seen him like this before.
"He will leave his room sooner or later." Sha Yun sighed. One of the Frozen General’s lifeless experts was stationed right outside the room ready to bring him to Zhong Fai as soon as he finished whatever it was he was doing. Everyone was waiting patiently for him to leave his room.
They had already waited a few days, not to mention, the time it had taken to arrive at Muchuan City. However, Zhong Hei was still busy creating whatever pills it was that he was totally obsessed with.
Day after day went by as Sha Yun and Zhong Fai chatted while watching the city through the windows in the room. They waited patiently for Zhong Hei to finish making his pills, and finally after nine days passed Zhong Hei emerged from his room.
In his hand was a jade bottle and an elated expression was present on his face. Seeing the lifeless expert, he instantly understood that his master was in town and with a quick movement, he swept up all his items into storage stones and followed behind the frozen guard towards the inn taken over by Zhong Fai and his men.
The alchemist was taken directly to the room where Sha Yun and Zhong Fai were seated. They were seated across from one another in the room laughing and randomly chatting about various topics. Seeing the relationship between Sha Yun and Zhong Fai, Zhong Hei was dumbfounded. He had expected Sha Yun to be a prisoner, a person who was under constant surveillance. He expected her to be locked up in a room with guards stationed outside the doors and watching the windows, yet here she was, clearly relaxed and chatting as though she was as free as a bird.
Seeing Sha Yun like this it finally dawned on him that she was never held prisoner in the way he had expected. She had been free, and no matter whether or not Hui Yue won the contest, Sha Yun had never been in any danger.
Realizing that this was the case, Zhong Hei started laughing out loud. He realized that Hui Yue, who had seriously believed that Sha Yun was a prisoner close to death, had been fooled. It was clear that the situation he had been informed about was completely different. The reality of the situation was not serious at all and yet Hui Yue had revealed his precious Silvermoon's Pill for her life. Knowing what Hui Yue had sacrificed to win the alchemist’s contest, Zhong Hei suddenly felt much better.